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Friday, May 25, 2012
CD Reviews / Concert Announcement Will Leviathan violinist assert herself?
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, May 25, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Over the past three years, we've seen violinist Livia Sohn perform each season during the lunchtime Bank of America Chamber Music series at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C. Most notably, Sohn played the Kreutzer Sonata, one of Beethoven's supreme masterworks, during the final weekend last year, signaling she was ready to become more prominent in the constellation of instrumental stars who play at the Dock Street Theatre.
This spring, she returns to Spoleto on the heels of her first CD as a member of Trio Latitude 41, releasing Schubert's Piano Trio #2 and Notturno on the Eloquentia label. After receiving the new CD, I sent word back through the label's publicity agent that Sohn needs to know that her name means Leviathan in Hebrew - so I expect her to become more assertive the next time she performs at Spoleto, held in Charleston, S.C., between May 25 and June 10, 2012.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Concert Announcement Inaugural Gnarnia music festival announced
Posted By Caroline Pate on Thu, May 24, 2012 at 2:22 PM
Here's another summer music festival for your calendar - and this time, it's homegrown. The inaugural Gnarnia music festival will take place at the Beech Mountain Resort near Boone on August 9-11.
The festival is the project of Asheville performance artist Bowie Van Ling and promises a roster full of electronic music as well as music from genres as disparate as jazz, folk, New Orleans funk, world music, reggae, classical and bluegrass. Charlotte's own DJ Mindexilir will make an appearance, as well as acts like electronic world music fusion group Beats Antique, "Because I Got High" rapper Afroman, former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann's band 7 Walkers, drum-and-bass artist Dieselboy, and Phadroid, an act that blends electronic music and digital art projection.
Gnarnia also offers alternative performances like immersive theater, cirque performers, aerialists, bhangra dancers, stilt walkers, fire dancers, poets, fashion designers, b-boy battles, mud wrestling tournaments and bicycle jousting. There will also be more health-conscious opportunities like guided movement, yoga, meditation and massage along with instructional workshops on activities from urban farming to performance techniques.
The festival follows in the footsteps of an ever-growing number of North Carolina music festivals like MOOGFest, Hopscotch and Bele Chere - although this is certainly the first one where you can both bicycle joust and listen to electronic world music fusion. To take a look at the full lineup and get more information, go to www.gnarniathefestival.com.
Monday, May 21, 2012
News Bee Gees' Robin Gibb dies at 62
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 9:37 AM
Robin Gibb, one of three brothers who formed the Bee Gees, died on Sunday at 62 after a battle with colorectal cancer. He is the second Bee Gee (and third musical Gibb brother) to die. Solo pop singer Andy Gibb died in 1988 from inflammation of the heart; Bee Gee Maurice died from a heart attack in 2003. The sole surviving Gibb now is eldest brother Barry, who is 65.
Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb had two periods of pop-music success, but the period they're most known for today was their massive success during the disco era, thanks to their three-part falsetto harmonies on the hits "How Deep Is Your Love", "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever." Interestingly, those songs, all of which shot to No. 1, were not even on a proper Bee Gees album, but rather the soundtrack to the pop culture phenomenon Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack went on to sell more than 40 million copies.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Photos / Live Reviews Live review: Monophonics, Double Door Inn, 5/17/2012
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Monophonics
Double Door Inn
May 17, 2012
An hour into Monophonics' set at the Double Door Inn on May 17, 2012, people were still walking in the door of the Elizabeth venue. Apparently, word got out. San Francisco funk-and-soul sextet was absolutely killing it on stage.
While the group brings a retro Motown vibe to its albums, some of that is lost in the live setting - only in a good way. The band drops the retro and drives forward with spirit and soul. Where a studio version might be like a smooth excursion, the live rendition comes through like a roller coaster. Singer/keyboardist Kelly Finnigan was dripping with sweat after the first song and the entire band played with a these-are-the-coolest-songs-we've-ever-heard attitude - swaying, sweating and smiling.
Live Reviews Live review: Kellie Pickler, Whisky River (5/17/2012)
Posted By Mark Kemp on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 11:03 AM
The story Kellie Pickler told about halfway into her free unplugged set at Whiskey River Thursday was wrapped in several layers of irony. Referring to her critically lauded third album 100 Proof, the Albemarle native told the woo-hoo crowd packed in the EpiCentre club like hens in an egg factory how excited she was to have been able to finally cut a record of authentic, traditional, balls-to-the-wall country.
"They kept telling me it was too country," Pickler confided, in that sweet, rural drawl that melted a million hearts - even stony Brit Simon Cowell's - during her American Idol run. "I told 'em you could never get too country for a Carolina girl."
- Mark Kemp
- Kellie Pickler gets up close and personal at Whiskey River
Live review: Styx, REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent, 5/17/2012
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Styx, REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 17, 2012
Styx, REO Speedwagon and Ted Nugent performed at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on May 17, 2012, as a stop on the Midwest Rock 'n' Roll Express Tour. For those in attendance, it was a trip down nostalgia lane and you could easily tell what you'd see before the first notes rang out.
Ted Nugent hit the stage first for an egocentric trip down guitar-flash lane. Would you expect anything less? With a hand's free microphone, Nugent stomped around the stage screaming and singing, letting out as many vocal whoops as flashy guitar riffs. And, of course, there were plenty of hits - "Wango Tango," "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Stranglehold" among them.
When REO Speedwagon appeared, the waves in the audio pool were much calmer than when the Nugent storm rolled through. REO Speedwagon is one of those groups where you can't name one song off the top of your head, but when the band plays, you realize you know most of them. "I heard that Ted doesn't like our songs and thinks they're too soft," singer Kevin Cronin told the crowd. "But, when you go home tonight, would you rather make love to one of our songs or to 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang'?" Cronin (who himself left and rejoined the band) was REO's second singer after original vocalist Terry Luttrell left the band in 1971. Keyboardist Neal Doughty remains the only original member of the group whose setlist included "Keep On Loving You," "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Don't Let Him Go."
The night ended with a set by Styx who was full of flash and smiles. The band members constantly broke into poses, winks and grins that stopped just shy of being choreographed. Singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw is clearly the leader of the pack and made full use of the large stage. The band threw a few hits in their set including "Too Much Time on My Hands," "Come Sail Away" and "Renegade."
So, let's face it. The half-filled amphitheatre and older-leaning crowd proved this tour is clearly a trip down memory lane for most, or a chance to see some radio-friendly rock ballads in a live setting. Familiar? Yes. Cheesy? A bit. Bland? At times. But for fans and performers alike, they appeared to simply enjoy the moment, kind of going through old photos — they're nice to bring out and look at once every few years, but then you put them back in the shoebox under the bed.
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Frank Ocean tops Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll
Annual critics list creates requisite buzz
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Rain doesn't dampen the party with Kesha and Macklemore
Both sets cut short as storms roll through Charlotte, N.C.
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Live review: Fiona Apple, The Fillmore (9/26/2012) 16
Fans ate it up, but it was a trainwreck of tragic and frustrating proportions.
