As with last year’s 2012 Year In Review, reflecting on the many shows attended in 2013 and trying to make some sense of it all was a challenge. Having attended nearly 100 events, which usually includes at least one supporting act and a headliner, as well as one 10-day festival and many multi-artist shows, I saw literally hundreds of sets. Miraculously, I can probably count on one hand the number that were “bad”, and the majority were awesome in one or more ways. Still, I feel it is important to highlight the best of the best of the best, in an attempt to celebrate an amazing year of music. You can also check out my Top 100 Concert Photos of 2013 in that separate article.
Cameo Holds Special Concert Engagement at Yoshi’s Oakland and Yoshi’s San Francisco, including “Funky Halloween”
American funk group Cameo will be having special concerts at Yoshi’s San Francisco on October 31std and at Yoshi’s Oakland on November 2nd. The band, best known for 80s hit “Word Up!”, will have a special Halloween show on the 31st, with a “70s vs 80s” costume contest. There will be two shows (early and later) on each date, so four concerts in total. [Read more…]
V101’s Old School Funk Fest 2013 (The Brothers Johnson, Midnight Star, The Dazz Band, and Sinbad) at Thunder Valley Casino Resort | Lincoln, California | 9/7/2013 (Concert Review)
“You can’t be what this is…” Part of comedian Sinbad’s introduction of The Brothers Johnson, headliners of V101’s Old School Funk Fest 2013. The legendary American Funk and R&B group took to the stage after Midnight Star and The Dazz Band through down the bass-driven hits for a few hours leading up to George “Lightnin’ Licks” Johnson and Louis E. “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson rocked Thunder Valley’s Outdoor Amphitheater with classics like “Strawberry Letter 23”, “Stomp!”, and “I’ll Be Good To You”, to the thrill of the sold out crowd at the World One Presents production. It was definitely an evening of sublime entertainment with groups that unfortunately don’t perform on stage much too often these days, though their old school sound definitely is a reminder of a lot of what is missing in music today in many respects.
AM & Shawn Lee Close Out “Sounds of Summer Tour” With Their New Album ‘La Musique Numerique’ and “All The Love”
AM & Shawn Lee are touring their second studio album, La Musique Numerique, with release party concerts in Chicago, IL, Rochester, NY and tour dates spanning California with shows in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego. With AM hailing from Los Angeles and Shawn Lee from London, the duo have collaborated to create a fresh sound influenced by disco, soul, R&B, funk, electronic, and other genres, with a bit of a late 70s/early 80s vibe. The track “All The Love” has earned significant acclaim. [Read more…]
Living Colour at The Fillmore | San Francisco, California | 3/27/2013 (Concert Review)
“Yeah, we rule a very tiny kingdom…” Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid’s modest response to a fan shouting out “you rule” in-between songs during their lengthy set, gesturing to the crowd within the historic Fillmore in San Francisco as they celebrated with their “Vivid 25th Anniversary Tour” last night. The band literally attacked the stage, with drummer Will Calhoun busting a large hole in the kick drum two songs in, with their explosive live performance of their classic Grammy Award-winning 1988 hit, “Cult of Personality”. Playing Vivid front to back, the group put on an amazing concert that underscored what a great work that album was, taking us back to a time when albums mattered, as well as showcasing their innovative blending of disparate musical styles and genres into something really unique and powerful.
The Rock Subculture Journal 2012 Year In Review (Jason DeBord’s Top 100 Concert Photos)
This is the second and last of my 2012 “Year In Review” articles, though this one is mostly a pictorial. I went through the pictures I took at shows throughout 2012 and pulled out 100 of my favorites to republish here, in celebration of an amazing year for concerts and a fun year for me with photography. You can also check out my other Year in Review article with my Top 10 Live Music Concerts and Top 10 Studio Albums & Songs. [Read more…]
The Rock Subculture Journal 2012 Year In Review (Jason DeBord’s Top 10 Live Music Concerts; Top 10 Studio Albums & Songs)
2012 was an amazing year for both new music and live concert events, and although writing this “year in review” proved to be a monumental task, it was fun for me to do it to relive some special moments and appreciate the opportunities I had over the past 12 months to find new music and attend so many awesome live shows. It’s funny because many concerts and tours are announced with little notice, so at the start of any given year, you don’t really know what to expect, and 2012 definitely held a lot of surprises. When all was said and done, I ended up going to 58 concerts in 2012, each of which featured anywhere from one to seven artists, so that is a lot of live performances.