We arrived in Austin smack-dab in the middle of SXSW (South by Southwest), along with 50,000 other people who’d come to Austin to take part in the festival. Continue reading
austin, texas
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Category Archives: Music
memphis – a tale of two cities (part 2)
We didn’t come to Memphis for the food or the river walk or the ducks – we came for the music. Memphis – “Home of the Blues.” Continue reading
new orleans music
Even without the music, New Orleans is a fascinating city, one that is easy to be in – restaurants, shops, a riverwalk along the Mississippi, art galleries, parks – all within walking distance, all filled with friendly folks who are genuinely pleased with life and glad to be spending a part of their day with you. Its narrow one-way streets demand you get out on foot to explore. It’s the only way to see New Orleans, and while you’re out there gawking at all there is on offer, your senses come alive … especially your auditory sense. New Orleans is many things, but paramount is the music. Live music. I daresay there isn’t a city anywhere else that keeps on giving music the way NOLA does. Continue reading
roots of van tour – from belfast to dublin
Van’s show in Belfast, as astounding as it was, was merely the sandwich filling in a day filled with music. Continue reading
van’s belfast show – february 3
If you look closely enough, you’ll see the billboard for Van’s show tonight, as we look out the bus window Continue reading
matisyahu 9/3/11
Another great night outdoors at Boarding House Park in Lowell; tonight it’s to see Matisyahu. If this is a new name for you, check out this video of One Day on YouTube. It’s one of those ear worm songs that I think everyone has heard by now. He performed it as the closer at tonight’s show, inviting all the kids in the audience to come up on stage to sing along. We all felt good. If we’d all had lighters, we’d have had them lit. Continue reading
great big sea 8/26/11
What an absolute hoot! I had no idea a Great Big Sea concert was a dancing party. But that’s what they do and that’s what their fans do. They’re so good that the fans are up dancing before the guys have even plugged in. And here I thought there’d be me and a couple hundred fans to see a band that most people never heard of. Boy was I wrong. It was the biggest crowd of the season for the Lowell Music Series at Boarding House Park. Continue reading
bob dylan 8/21/11
It took Bob to get me down to the House of Blues in Boston, the former Avalon, just behind Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox. I never much liked the Avalon – tight security, difficult sight lines – so it seems much improved in its new incarnation, with three levels, the third level being stadium seating, which is where I sat with my eyes glued on Bob all night. Continue reading
mavis staples 8/19/11
Mavis is still belting it out, good and strong. A night of soul and gospel. My knowledge of Mavis is limited to say the least – her brilliant performance with the Staples Singers on The Weight with The Band for The Last Waltz, and not again until listening to her 2007 album, “We’ll Never Turn Back,” which I’d picked up on the strength of its producer, Ry Cooder. That was enough of a taste to get me down to the Lowell Summer Music Series to catch her set at Boarding House Park. Continue reading
rickie lee jones 8/12/11
They’ve got another top-notch line-up at the Lowell Summer Music Series this summer, and it’s hard to pick and choose among them, spreading my music dollar thin. Tonight was definitely a no-miss – Rickie Lee Jones in town for the evening to perform on the Boarding House Park stage. Continue reading