That voice! Legendary Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music fame wrapped up his solo tour at the Greek Theatre complete with a full band (including Roxy Music’s original drummer Paul Thompson) and backup singers and dancers. Ferry brought elegance, class and style to the packed house. Photos of Bryan Ferry from October 15, 2011 by Debi [...]

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Is he from the future or the past? Bryan Ferry’s career as a recording artist began nearly 40 years ago, with the release of Roxy Music’s first album in 1972. Even with the proliferation of countless rock subgenres in the intervening years, Roxy Music’s combination of nostalgia and science fiction still seems to point a way forward to pop music that does not yet exist. Ferry answered my questions by email from the road. This interview by Oliver Hall.

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Photos of Elbow from October 1st, 2011 by Lindsey Best. Setlist: 1) The Birds 2) The Bones Of You 3) Mirrorball 4) Neat Little Rows 5) Grounds For Divorce 6) The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver 7) Great Expectations The Night Will Always Win 9) Puncture Repair 10) The River 11) Lippy Kids 12) [...]

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Florence & the Machine brought it in pretty colors to the Greek Theatre on June 13th and it pleased the gods very much. Photos by Lindsey Best. Setlist: 1) My Boy Builds Coffins 2) Between Two Lungs 3) Cosmic Love 4) Heavy In Your Arms 5) Blinding 6) Ghosts (acoustic) 7) Hurricane Drunk (acoustic) Drumming [...]

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There was not a single Quizno’s uniform in sight on this chilly night, on which the clear skies and bustling wind made for a dramatic atmosphere suitable for Spektor’s dramatic performance. Spektor, looking like she dressed in her Little Bo Peep costume a few days too early (but adorable nonetheless), took to her grand piano backed by a string quartet and famed session drummer Matt Chamberlin.

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Anyone who watched Cool Runnings as much as I did as a kid knows how relevant it is to most parts of life: work, school, relationships. And yet I was still surprised to discover just how closely the Monsters of Folk concert experience—featuring M. Ward, Jim James, Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis—resembled that inspiring story of the Jamaican bobsled team coached by John Candy.

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I can report Karen O. has matured into one of this-minute rock’s most affecting performers- a life-battered, kohl-eyed waif with an almost frightening emotional range in her cooing and choked syllables. They had the audience with them all the way, from the rambunctious opening through a confetti snowstorm to the coup de theatre at the end when the giant floating eyeballs were let loose.

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Phoenix, the current French electropop band du jour thrilled a sold out Greek Theatre on Wednesday with a one hour musical equivalent of eating an entire can of cake frosting with a spoon. At first it’s good, then you start to feel a little sick, you smoke some pot with the person sitting next to you, it starts to become enjoyable again, and then by the time you’re finished, you realize that you’re left both full and hungry at the same time.

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Dream Theater are perfect antidote to overexposure to loose three-minute power-pop songs. It was over a hundred degrees this Saturday night during their performance at the Greek Theatre, and the burning hills provided smoke before the band even hit the stage, but that didn’t stop these progressive metal extremists from hitting an insane amount of notes over the course of their two-hour-plus set. They opened with a 17-minute version of ‘A Nightmare to Remember’ and that wasn’t their even their longest song for the evening. Not even close.

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Fans of Grandaddy probably sensed they would one day hear again from Jason Lytle, the band’s former singer/songrwriter/reluctant leader, for despite its well-documented struggles, Grandaddy proved to be resilient. Now Jason Lytle is back. Though he’s relocated from Modesto, Calif. to Bozeman, the fifth-largest city in Montana, his distinctive sound is unchanged. This interview by Nina Gregory.

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