Category Archives: Music

mavis staples 8/19/11

Leave a reply

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 →

k.d. lang 7/12/11

Leave a reply

It was off to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to catch k.d. lang at the Music Hall. It’s a nice venue, almost intimate, with no bad seat in the house. I’ve been enjoying k.d’s voice and music since she arrived on the music scene in the late 1980s. I think I first saw her in a tribute concert with Johnny Cash that was filmed in black and white and aired on TV. In k.d’s duet with Cash, they sang “Crying,” and I was hooked. Continue reading →

peter wolf

Leave a reply

Peter Wolf fans are getting a treat this month, with Peter on the road for eight shows in 12 days. Dennis and I caught him at the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury on Sunday night. Last time we saw him was in May last year up in Portland, Maine, and I suppose that was the last time I gave him a listen. So it was good to dust off Midnight Souvenirs and Sleepless last week and squeeze them into the Van rotation, getting prepped for the show. Continue reading →

james hunter

Leave a reply

Kudos to the folks at Tupelo Music Hall for booking James Hunter on Saturday night. There was a time back in 2006 when I saw a lot of him – when he was touring People Gonna Talk. That summer I was going to more James Hunter shows than Van Morrison shows. The energy coming from the stage was simply immense. And unless absolutely forbidden by law, I was up there dancing from the first note every night. I like my R’n’B Sam Cooke style. Continue reading →