Dark Star Orchestra (DSO) returned to Southern California for their biannual two night stand in suburban San Diego’s Solana Beach. This time it was part of their “City Near You” tour, which puts a slight twist on DSO’s distinctive Grateful Dead simulation act. Their simple but rather ...view article
Autumn came late this year to San Diego, "America's Finest City." But the damp, chilly sea air belied the rising temperature inside the Gaslamp District's House of Blues, where Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (GPN) heated things up with their scorching stew of roots-inspired rock that included liberal ...view article
My first exposure to the avant-garde jazz trio Medeski Martin and Wood (conveniently known as MMW) was at the State Palace Theater during a Jazz Fest weekend in 1999 New Orleans. MMW was still relatively new, but had the distinction of opening for Phish in 1995, which stamped them with the Phish ...view article
Led by drummer José Medeles (Breeders, 1939 Ensemble, Revival Drum Shop), Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems is a drummer’s tribute to guitarist and DIY iconoclast John Fahey. Joined for a series of guitar and drum duets with M. Ward, experimental guitarist Marisa Anderson, and Chris Funk (Decemberists, ...view article
Holidaze is not the kind of festival that anyone ends up at by accident or gets dragged to by a friend. It’s an exclusive event for only the most die hard of fans, of which even fewer make the cut to get tickets ten months in advance to see their favorite bands throw down on the beach at the ...view article
Get it while it’s hot people! Yep, Umphrey’s McGee is as fiery as ever, and was hot as blazes in the ragin’ cajun and cool as a cucumber House of Blues in New Orleans. After a wild day and a half of Bourbon Street seafood, cover band, stripper and overdosed slushy shenanigans (I’m talking ...view article
The Independent in San Francisco played host to a night of musical pageantry as former String Cheese Incident keyboard wizard Kyle Hollingsworth and Animal Liberation Orchestra's song writing prodigy Zach Gill played an uninterrupted evening of cheerful songs and joyous jams.17356
As the sun dropped behind the thick timberland's of the northwestern mitten, Umphrey’s McGee came out as cool as the air. Kris Myers and Joel Cummins were facing a double-header of music that evening, as they had just wrapped up another amazing set with their other project, Digital Tape Machine, ...view article
For no other reason than seeming regional proximity, San Diego is sometimes overshadowed by the Los Angeles/Orange County megalopolis; that seemingly unending, 150 mile slab of asphalt and concrete that stretches from the dusty San Fernando Valley in the north to quaint San Clemente to the south. ...view article