Blog Archives
My Top Ten Shows of 2014
Wow, how am I going to choose only ten shows – out of 177 – as my top shows of last year? So many of the shows I attended were terrific so narrowing the list to ten is not easy.
A Little Funky Music Never Hurts!
Somehow it seemed appropriate that the last Extended Play Session of 2014 brought in the funk! The studio guest that night was the funk rock reggae band, The Get Right Band, all the way from Asheville, North Carolina. Just before the holidays went into full swing, we were treated to some hip-shaking fun.
The Get Right Band
The studio was packed to the gills which made it a little difficult to shake shake shake as much as we wanted, but I saw some serious chair-dancing happening! Read the rest of this entry
Folk The Cold Was a Winter Warmer!
What a great idea for what turned out to be a not-so-cold winter night – a three-act Americana show called ‘Folk the Cold’! The Sinclair was the proud host of this show with The Ballroom Thieves, Tall Heights and Darlingside.
Encore with Ballroom Thieves, Tall Heights, and Darlingside
The Ballroom Thieves were billed as the headliner, but each band seemed to perform similar length sets. It was a great, lengthy show.
Ellis Paul Continues to Impress
I last saw Ellis Paul perform about twenty years ago, so I was long overdue for another show. He has a residency of sorts at Club Passim around New Year’s Eve; I had an opening in my schedule and decided this was the perfect opportunity to see him again.
Ellis Paul
The show I attended, the night before New Year’s Eve, was the first of four shows comprising this year’s residency; I don’t know if all shows sold out, but my show did. Read the rest of this entry
Yusuf/Cat Stevens Captured – or Recaptured – Our Hearts
I admit it – I have been a star-struck fan-girl of Yusuf/Cat Stevens from his beginnings in the late 1960s! I cannot remember the first song of his that I heard but I do recall thinking that I’d love him forever. I was thrilled beyond measure when he announced that he would once again be able to perform in the United States and apoplectic when Boston was chosen as one of the five cities in which he would perform! Forty years are too long to wait to see one of your very favorite musicians in person (I saw him twice in 1974)…
Yusuf/Cat Stevens
Last night, Yusuf/Cat (I can’t help it, I still want to call him Cat) brought his Peace Train…Late Again tour to the Wang Theatre which is the same venue in which he performed his last Boston show in 1976. What a magical evening this was for me and the 3,600 other fans in attendance.
The Sacred Shakers Shook The Sinclair
Several people told me that I needed to see The Sacred Shakers perform because they thought I would enjoy the band’s country-gospel sound. I decided to catch their show at The Sinclair last week, and am so glad I did!
The Sacred Shakers (except Daniel Kellar)
I appreciate gospel music not for the religious nature of the songs cut for the quality of the musicians and the music. The Sacred Shakers delivered great music and musicianship!
Fife & Drom Beat Their Way Into My Soul
Seeing Fife & Drom at the Extended Play Sessions two weeks ago gave me something I was not expecting – no fifes but lots of drums!
Fife & Drom
This is a blues band, but their style is quite different from most blues bands I have heard. Not only that, but this was the first time I have seen an autoharp plugged into an amplifier!
Abby Ahmad
Women Of The World Mesmerized At Regattabar
Someone I met at a show suggested that I would enjoy seeing Women Of The World; when their most recent show at Regattabar was announced, I made plans to be in that audience. I am so glad I attended this sold-out show!
Women Of The World
What an engaging group of young musicians (women and men) from many parts of the world.
The Whole of Eric Johnson and Mike Stern is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts…
And each part – Mike Stern and Eric Johnson – is incredible on its own! Together, they are formidable.
Eric Johnson and Mike Stern (The Wilbur)
Last year, I saw Mike and Eric at two of their four Regattabar shows and they were my top shows of 2013. When they announced this tour in support of their collaborative album, ‘Eclectic’, I knew I would see at least one of the shows in the Boston area. I was extremely lucky to be able to see their shows at both The Wilbur Theatre and Tupelo Music Hall! (Note there is one Boston-area show remaining and it is not sold out yet – Tuesday, November 18th at The Narrows Center for the Arts.)
Eric and Mike (Tupelo)
Davina and The Vagabonds Delivered A Powerful Performance
I go to concerts to see bands with which I am unfamiliar and am almost always pleasantly surprised. Every once in a while, however, an unknown band completely blows my mind.
Davina Sowers
That was the case this week when The Extended Play Sessions presented Minneapolis-based Davina and The Vagabonds. Several days later, I am still shaking my head in amazement at the energy in the room that night.
Davina
suze reviews the blues 