Movement is coming this weekend and Pathan Du Prince was billed as a festival Pre-Party! Granted, it was a week before the actual festival, but this show was totally worth driving to Detroit twice within a week. His electronic music had everyone at the Marble Bar up and dancing! I couldn’t imagine a better pre-party than this.
I have been sitting on this Tall Heights album for some time, and had to dust it off and re-familiarize myself with it before their performance at Mahalls 20 Lanes. I’m so glad I did! These Boston boys definitely have their Fleet Foxes / Band of Horses influence, but they’re able to maintain a distinct sound all their own. What an enjoyable show!
It had been nearly 8 years since I saw Justin Townes Earle down at the Kent Stage. It was such a good performance, that I knew I wanted to come back down for this one. Though I would have loved to see Tom Evanchuck open again, this time his band The Sadies opened. We missed their performance, but they were back on stage with Justin.
He’s one of those performers that I have most of their albums, but I can’t say I really know any of the songs all that well. But that really makes no difference when seeing him live. His stage presence and sound can keep you full entertained, even if you’ve never heard any of his music before.
My friend Coraine Tate was graduating from CIM with her Artists Diploma. As part of this final performance, she wanted to put a poem (Desiderata) to music as a tribute to Dr. Mary Schiller. She worked with Buck McDaniel to compose a piece that was really amazing. This was also my first time in CIM’s theatre, which was almost just as amazing!
Everyone once in a while you see a live show that just blows your mind. This was one of those shows. I had been checking out the new Flint Eastwood album for a little while, and it had really started growing on me. I’ll admit that I’m always skeptical of bands with names that play on popular culture like Com Truise and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (now just JR JR), but then again I guess I’ve looked past it for those bands. Once I got to the venue, I ran into my friend Barry who tells me he’s seen these guys multiple times already, raving about them! As soon as they started performing, it was perfectly clear why. They were a force of nature on stage, unlike anything I’ve seen since early Future Islands! So incredible. I can not wait until they play in the area again! Check out the video to get the a better impression - albeit paling in comparison to actually being there.
While I usually like to stick to the smaller venues for shows, going at least once a year to a show at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica is like a tradition. I like to look for one good show each season, and was delighted to see The xx would be performing! Even more exciting was seeing that Sampha was opening! I’ve been thoroughly enjoying his album, so this was an extra special treat.
And then The xx.
"But during last night's concert at a chilly Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, the low-end and beats came alive, giving the band space to improvise in an organic way as the XX delivered a passionate performance that warmed up guests that were bundled in blankets and jackets. You can see a slideshow of photos from the concert here.
The band played a number of tracks from their newest album, I See You, and mixed them with a good portion of the older material. The group also played a song from band member Jamie XX’s solo album."
You couldn’t help but hear about this Station Hope event if you were listening to NPR leading up to it! A group of friends were performing as the kick-off to the event. Accompanying them were the Choir of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church performing two songs from Southern Songbook: “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “I Wish I Knew How It Would Be To Be Free” arranged & Conducted by Buck McDaniel.
One of my friends performed with the Cleveland State University Symphony Orchestra as one of the winners of the student solo competition! Great stuff!
This was a double header evening for the Beachland. I was there to see Hurray for the Riff Riff, but also noticed Vita and the Woolf would be playing. Originally I was excited thinking this band was the opener for Hurray, but turns out they were headlining their own show in the Tavern! Vita and the Woolf have a few great singles out, but the full album has yet to be released. That might be the reason for the light crowd in the Tavern that night, but Vita still put on an exceptional show. I can’t wait for that new album, and another night where I can stay in one venue to see them!
Hurray for the Riff Raff returned to the Beachland Ballroom. It’d had been almost 2 years since I saw her last time, and her newest album is pretty incredible. Going again was a no-brainer. The challenge this night was that there was a competing show in the Tavern as well. As usual on these nights, we did our best to bounce between and catch as much as we could of both acts. Having seen Hurray for the Riff Raff before, I did tend to stay over on the Tavern side. But still..
