Tag Archives: Concert

Revisited: Widespread Panic – 7 16 11 – Las Vegas – The Joint

17 Jul

If it really was the last time I’d be able to see a Widespread Panic show, what a night it was.  Last night the legendary rockers performed the final date on the Summer Tour at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas and had a capacity crowd going wild from start to finish.  For me I’d have to say the highlights of the first set were easily “Climb to Safety,” and “All Along The Watchtower” followed by “All Time Low.”  As for the second set, “Surprise Valley” into “Heaven” back to “Surprise Valley” into Drums and back into “Surprise Valley” was sick and a random occurrence, Carrot Top came out during “Coconut” and did a little percussion assistance.  And the encore, wow, you couldn’t ask for more; “Ophelia” into “Shape I’m In” was a funky good time and if “Porch Song” is the final song I ever get to hear the boys perform live, no complaints.

I’ve been lucky enough to see Widespread Panic more than a handful of times and if after 25 years this is the final year, their live shows will surely be missed.  I hope that when JB said at the end of the show “We’ll see you” and then paused before saying “sometime,” that there is a chance they won’t be saying goodnight forever.

Big thanks to EverydayCompanion.com for always being my source for Widespread Panic setlists.  Below is last night’s.

1: Henry Parsons Died, Climb To Safety, Radio Child, Sharon, Visiting Day, Rebirtha, Driving Song > Disco > Breathing Slow > Driving Song, All Along The Watchtower, All Time Low

2: Pigeons > Junior, That Don’t Make It Junk, Coconut*, Jack, Surprise Valley > Heaven > Surprise Valley > Drums > Surprise Valley, Space Wrangler** > Tall Boy

E: When You Coming Home, Ophelia > The Shape I’m In, Porch Song

* with Carrot Top on percussion
** with various crew members on percussion

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Tonight: Graffiti6 Plays Vegas

13 Jul

Back in October 2010 I posted about the pop-rock UK duo of producer TommyD and singer-songwriter Jamie Scott who together make up Graffiti6 and tonight they descend upon Las Vegas to perform at Book & Stage at Cosmopolitan.  To say I’m stoked in an understatement and if you are in Vegas I highly recommend you make your way over at 10 p.m. tonight.

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New Music: GROUPLOVE

28 Jun

Another band I’ve been getting into recently and perfect for summer is GROUPLOVE.  Based out of LA but formed out of one wild musical summer on the island of Crete, members hail from Brooklyn, Los Angeles and London.  From the first listen to their self titled EP it was as if I was already familiar with the sound and heard these songs before.  Each of the six-tracks on the EP present a dynamic indie-rock and pop sound with crisp guitars, solid drums and sheer joy but it is Christian Zucconi’s vocals that stand out and impress me the most.  I still can’t pin his voice to who it reminds me of exactly but it captivates you (perhaps a blend of Todd Shaeffer of From Good Homes and Issac Brock of Modest Mouse?).

Fresh off playing the legendary Glastonbury Festival, GROUPLOVE, are touring outside the states but return for gigs at Lollapalooza and Outside Lands this summer.  If you’re going to one or both, don’t miss their show; you’ll want to see them before their debut release, Never Trust A Happy Song, drops this September.

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Revisited: Brett Dennen and DAWES – 6 23 11 – Las Vegas

24 Jun

Last night was one of those concerts you really appreciate, intimate venue and musicians who you could tell were genuinely having fun.  Plus the venue, Veil at the Silverton, is a really great place in Vegas to catch a show.

I was super excited not only to see Brett Dennen in concert once again but also the opening act DAWES and let’s just say neither disappointed.  DAWES ripped through a 45 minute set playing a handful of songs off their new album Nothing Is Wrong, which came out two weeks ago, and work off their debut album North Hills including the crowd favorite “When My Time Comes.”  Two little side notes, last night bassist Wylie Gelber could have been mistaken for the Treme character Sonny played by Michiel Huisman and please if you haven’t already, check out Taylor Goldsmith’s side project Middle Brother which I still can’t get enough of.

A quarter after 9 p.m. Dennen took the stage in Las Vegas for the first time.  He definitely had the crowd dancing throughout while jamming on both his acoustic and electric guitars to deliver a 90 minute set that spanned his catalog and also included a couple sing-a-longs.  As expected, he performed a lot of new material off his latest disc, Loverboy including “Dancing at a Funeral,” “Comeback Kid,” and “Sydney (I’ll Come Running).” The highlight of the show however was the four song encore which began with Dennen playing “Heaven” and “Ain’t No Reason” acoustically before being joined by his band and DAWES for a rocking cover of Steve Miller Band’s “Swingtown.”  Closing with “Blessed” the song that put him on the musical map was a perfect way to cap the night.

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Brett Dennen – Las Vegas – TONIGHT!

23 Jun

After a couple months of anticipation I am excited that Brett Dennen rolls into Las Vegas tonight and takes the stage over at the Silverton.  I’ve seen Brett Dennen perform a handful of times but never as the headliner so definitely interested to see how he stretches the set from the usual opener time of 45 minutes.  Currently in support of his new disc Loverboy, a disc that I am addicted to, Dennen should run the gamut and blend a nice mix of old with the new .  It should be a great show and tickets are only $15 which means any music lover would be foolish to miss this.  An added bonus, DAWES is opening.

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Video: My Bonnaroo

18 Jun

It took a week but I was finally able to put my Bonnaroo 2011 photos into a video slide show.  Everything is in sequential order from the moment we arrived until the final show.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture every band I saw but hope you enjoy what I did capture.  Can’t wait until Bonnaroo 2012.  Let the countdown begin.

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Revisited: Toots & The Maytals

17 Jun

Courtesy of our friend and photographer, Erik Kabik, check out the pics and words from Wednesday’s Toots & The Maytals show at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas.

Toots & The Maytals performed at The Hard Rock Hotel Beach Club as part of the SOUNDWAVES Poolside Concert Series on June 15th, 2011.  Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, known as the man who coined the term “Reggae” in 1968 had led Toots & The Maytals for over 40 years. The reggae legend performed an extended set of classic Toots & The Maytals hits to an enthusiastic crowd who danced and sang along throughout the entire show. At 66 years of age, Toots still performs an intensely energetic solid set of reggae music that evokes the spirit of Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Al Green and is also infused with a heavy dose of Gospel Revival music.

– EK

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Revisited: Bonnaroo 2011

13 Jun

10th anniversary of Bonnaroo is in the books and I’m ready to get tickets for next year. Being a Bonnaroo rookie, it was all about taking in as much of the experience as possible. After an afternoon waiting for everyone to fly in, rent the truck and an off the reservation experience at Walmart, we were on the road.  Some 60 miles and one wrong turn later, we arrived.  After finding the RV and unpacking enough food and booze to feed the entire stage crew for the festival, it was time to get the party started.  Meandering through the festival grounds at night it was hard to capture just how big the Bonnaroo fields are and how over 100,000 people flow in and out.  The first time you see it during the day, your jaw drops at the sight of an entire city being created in virtually the middle of nowhere.  If that’s what it takes for people to get along, be polite and just have a good time, I can live with that.

I also learned that no matter what bands you plan to see, you can go ahead and throw that plan out, it just isn’t going to happen and that’s a good thing.  Getting a chance to pop in and out of shows, listening to some new bands (and some old), wandering around the festival grounds and just kind of going with the flow seemed to be just fine.  Photos will be coming soon (I promise) but here are some of my highlights from Bonnaroo X.

My First Show: The Walkmen

My Final Show: Apache Relay

Best What Stage Show: The Black Keys

Best Which Stage Show(s): G.Love/Warren Haynes

Best Tent Show: Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses

Best Overall Show: Walk The Moon

Biggest Surprise: Childish Gambino

Best Legend Show: three way tie – Robert Plant, Dr. John, Gregg Allman

Random Moment Of Awesomeness: blue blinkers dropping from the sky for Arcade Fire’s set

Overall Stage With The Best Performances: On Tap Stage – shows included Band of Heathens, Apache Relay, Chancellor Warhol, Mat McHugh, Pimps of Joytime, JEFF The Brotherhood, Bobby Long and more

Most Entertaining Show: Lil Wayne for the fact that at least 40,000 festival goers/hippies knew all the lyrics to his songs – you had to be there to understand where I’m coming from

Most Disappointing Moment: Terrible sound quality for the Buffalo Springfield show made it almost impossible to listen to (this saddened me more than anyone will ever know)

Next Big Thing:  Walk The Moon and Apache Relay

Top Party: the overflowing sea of madness for Girl Talk at 2:30am

Oddest Show That Was A Blast: Primus

Funky Good Time Show: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Band I Was Sad To Miss: GIVERS

Angriest Performer: Eminem

Best Intro: Lewis Black for Warren Haynes

What Would Have Been Great: a late night set from a headlining DJ

Top Roo’er: Guy trying to make the “World’s Biggest Glow Stick” (if you saw/met him, you know what I’m talking about)

Top Sports Bar Moment: Game 6 of the NBA finals was like the March Madness scene in Vegas (video coming soon).

Best Festival Eats: Bear Creek Farms’ hand cut French fries and Gravy

Best Broo’ers Festival Beer: Ashville Brewing Company’s Ninja Porter

Best Place To Cool Off: the cinema (if no line to wait)

Biggest Waste of Time: anything that involved a line

Shocker Of The Festival: no rain

Worst Part: Dust everywhere and if you didn’t have a bandana, you were SOL

Clutch Move: renting a pickup truck

Tip For Next Year: less junk food and more healthy food, bring laxatives and don’t go off the reservation

More Tips: flip flops are your enemy, dust sucks, that fountain water is filthier than Vegas’ Rehab, expect rain, drink water and more water

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Now Playing: @Bonnaroo 2011 Theme Song

9 Jun

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Countdown to Bonnaroo: It All Begins Today!

9 Jun

Ah the day myself and close to 100,000 of my closest friends have been waiting for, BONNAROO 2011.  En route to Tennessee and ready to grace the fields for the 10th anniversary festival celebration but don’t worry, I’m not leaving you empty handed.  Here’s a little June Playlist with a Bonnaroo inspiration.  Give a listen and enjoy!

JUNE PLAYLIST – BONNAROO BONANZA (created with Grooveshark)

Catch you on the flip side!

Peace + Love + Music

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