A Life of Music Posts
July 11, 2023
Ultramagnetic MCs / Dr Octagon, New York, NY, July 11, 1997
This show took place during the era when hip hop shows had a reputation (and oftentimes reality) of being hit or miss affairs, with late artists, middling sound, stage full of posse (out numbering band members)...off-kilter, chaotic and unpredictabl…
July 4, 2023
Furthur ’98, Saratoga Springs, NY, July 4, 1998
The Furthur “festival” tours represented the first attempts by former members of the Grateful Dead to carry on in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s passing in 1995, something that seemed unthinkable at the time. In retrospect, it makes total sense given ho…
July 1, 2023
Blips on the Release Radar
Each week, Spotify creates a roughly two-hour, custom playlist for every one of its subscribers called, “Release Radar”. According to the company, “Listeners get new music from artists they follow, artists they listen to, other artists we think they…
June 27, 2023
Dean & Britta Lockdown Livestream, June 27, 2020
Once upon a time, a wicked and wretched people were smitten with a catastrophe - potentially of their own making - which ground their world to a halt. Great conflicts and controversies were unleashed, dividing families, pitting neighbor against nei…
June 20, 2023
Rolling Stones, Pittsburgh, PA, June 20, 2015
When the Rolling Stones announced their Zip Code tour on March 31, 2015 it was to be their first stadium tour of North America since 2007. I had been skipping the stadium shows since even before that, preferring the band as an arena act (and in club…
June 13, 2023
Tori Amos, New Haven, CT, June 13, 1994
Over the course of a few short months in early 1992, several albums I have spent a ton of time with came out: Tongues & Tails by Sophie B. Hawkins (April), Funky Divas by En Vogue and Ingénue by K.D. Lang (March). My favorite of the bunch, Little Ea…
June 6, 2023
The Kinks, New Haven, CT, June 6, 1983
“What was your first concert?” Whenever I hear people answer that question, I typically witness either embarrassment or pride. I feel neither when I answer the question but I will say that I have never met someone with the same answer as me. The…