The new tour for 2018 with Psychedelic Furs launches tomorrow at the Pleasantville Music Festival in New York, and then heads west with shows in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and Utah through the rest of July. The English post punk/New Wave band is one of my favorite live acts, and they did not disappoint with their Singles Tour last year. Definitely one of the tours to catch up with in 2018. [Read more…]
In about a week, R&B hip hop legends Eric B & Rakim will be embarking on their first tour in two decades. After a 2017 reunion show for the 30th anniversary of the debut album, Paid in Full, this will be their first full tour since they broke up in 1993. [Read more…]
After a series of gigs with Lionel Richie in Australia and New Zealand over the next week, Nile Rodgers & CHIC will be playing a number of dates all over the world through the end of August, including many festival appearances. [Read more…]
Yesterday, Coldplay kicked off the second North American leg of their “A Head Full of Dreams” tour at at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This is a follow-up to the first visit to North America in July, August and September of 2016. The band’s seventh tour, it is a return to larger arenas and stadium and in total they will play over 100 shows across five continents. Their latest EP, Kaleidoscope, came out last month. [Read more…]
September and October sees Tears for Fears performing 14 shows in North America, making up for a set of concerts that were previously postponed. More, they are working on a new album with Warner Bros. Records that is due out in 2017, the first since 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. [Read more…]
Rock and roll legends Journey continue their massive series of shows in the U.S. as part of their “San Francisco Fest Tour”, ending appropriately enough in San Francisco in early September. Founded in San Francisco in 1973, Journey has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, recording countless top hits in their career. Neal Schon (founding member and lead guitarist), Ross Valory (original member and bassist), along with longtime members Jonathan Cain (keyboardist) and Arnel Pineda (lead singer) are joined on this tour with Steve Smith on drums – the first time he has toured with the band since 1998. Also performing on this tour are The Doobie Brothers and Dave Mason. [Read more…]
2016 marks Coldplay’s first global stadium and arena tour in years, in support of their seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams. The U.S. leg of the tour began in mid-July and runs through early September. As always, the tour promised surprises and a lot of candy for both eyes and ears, with a setlist that spans their entire career. [Read more…]
Live 105’s BFD 2015 festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, California marked the 21st time that the annual event has been held. Live 105, “The Bay Area’s Alternative”, had a well curated line-up of known and emerging acts, covering a wide range of musical genres that all fall under the “alternative” banner, including 15 local acts. All of this resulted in a quick sell out for the entire show. With a vast line-up, they managed to squeeze it all into one day, with two “Festival Stages” that alternated back and forth throughout the day (to mitigate any downtime – it was literally non-stop music) as well as a “Subsonic Tent” and “Soundcheck Local Band Stage”, which ran concurrently. It all lead up to the “Main Stage” acts within the Shoreline Amphitheatre itself, which ran back to back through the night. A fantastic show that seemed to come off without a hitch, playing to over 20,000 fans. This article features my PART TWO coverage, which focuses on the nighttime “Main Stage” artists and performances.
Last weekend was Live 105’s BFD 2015 festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, California. Representing the 21st time that this annual event has been held, it sold out in advance of the concert date on June 6th. Live 105, “The Bay Area’s Alternative”, had a well curated line-up of known and emerging acts, covering a wide range of musical genres that all fall under the “alternative” banner, including 15 local acts. With a vast line-up, they managed to squeeze it all into one day, with two “Festival Stages” that alternated back and forth throughout the day (to mitigate any downtime – it was literally non-stop music) as well as a “Subsonic Tent” and “Soundcheck Local Band Stage”, which ran concurrently. It all lead up to the “Main Stage” acts within the Shoreline Amphitheatre itself, which ran back to back through the night. A fantastic show that seemed to come off without a hitch, playing to over 20,000 fans. This article features my PART ONE coverage, which focuses on the daytime “Festival Stage” artists and performances.
“All I was trying to say was, that it means a lot to us the day after Christmas that San Francisco shows up… I’m serious; thanks so very much for that… and I say like this… ‘Are You Satisfied?‘…” Jordan Cook, AKA Reignwolf, standing on the kick drum that he dropped into the audience at sold out show at The Independent, before throwing down with his signature anthem that somehow showcases what he is all about – authentic rock and roll. I first saw Reignwolf opening for the Pixies in Los Angeles in 2013, and I have been raving about him since, to anyone who will listen. It’s been more than a year, but Friday night in San Francisco I finally got to witness him and his band do their own headlining show, and it was even better than I imagined (and I went in expecting it to be one of the best shows of the year). The man has such gifts, and taps into them with ease. The only other artist I’ve seen live that has that same mix of innate improvisational ability and also has more music in him than can maybe come out through the traditional instruments of rock and roll is Prince. Since seeing Reignwolf more than a year ago, I’ve been certain that he is destined to be one of our generation’s top rock stars, and I am as sure of that then ever after his show this weekend. It’s really just a matter of how soon he debuts a full album and how long it will take the rest of the world to catch up to this brilliant talent. Needless to say, the concert was phenomenal, and those who didn’t make it out the day after Christmas maybe missed the greatest gift of all.