Photos by Ari Strauss
For those that have never had the pleasure of a real New Orleans live show, its not your “sit down and enjoy” type of event. I say event because that’s exactly what it is, an Event! Performers from the Crescent City don’t know how to do small. That in mind, on Saturday June 23rd the perfectly named “Big Sam’s Funky Nation” showed up, and showed out.
On Friday, June 23, 2018 Richard Marx came to Annapolis MD to the Maryland Hall of the Creative Arts. I have been a fan of Richard Marx since his first album. Loved his album so much that I had to take the CD back to the store three time to exchange it because there was an issue with the CD. In the late 80’s I saw Richard Marx in concert when he opened for The Hooters for a Toys for Tots concert. I am fans of both, but think I was more excited to see Richard Marx than the Hooters.
On Monday, June 11th, the pop-rock and soul duo Hall & Oates performed at the Capital One Arena. Looking around the arena, there were not a lot of empty seats.
Greta Van Fleet has been hailed by Sir Elton John as “the best rock and roll I’ve heard in 20 f**king years.” It’s no wonder each one of Greta Van Fleet’s 2018 tour dates have sold out in advance. They also made an April 13th appearance at Coachella. Tonight they crashed Rams Head Live in Baltimore and were joined with Dorothy.
Gov’t Mule (or Mule as fans like to refer to them as) graced the stage of the Hippodrome last Saturday night in Baltimore. Lead by The Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Hayes. The psychedelic blues Southern rock ensemble has been dishing out serotonin since the mid-nineties. They were joined by Black Stone Cherry.
A crumbling RFK stadium provided the backdrop to a much more delightful scene this St. Patrick’s Day. The lot eight parking lot. Throngs of people wearing green bowler hats, shiny plastic beads and green and white striped knee-highs steadily marched across the asphalt seeing the world through four leaf clover tinted glasses. On a cloudy day just past high noon on the grounds of RFK Shamrock Fest was about to begin.
Jonathan Wilson performed at the Rock and Roll Hotel in DC on Thursday March 8th. He plays guitar and keyboard on Roger Waters latest album, and touring with him supporting the new album. They performed last year at the Capital One Arena, at a concert which I attended.
Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to rock? I know you are, and that’s why I’m here to tell you about Saxon’s new album “Thunderbolt”. This album is filled with powerful and awesome tracks, such as “Sons of Odin”, “A Wizard’s Tale”, “Sniper”, and the title track “Thunderbolt”. The legendary band is currently on tour in the UK, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy their music in the comfort of your own home. Now, if you could just turn up the volume on your speakers to the highest decibel possible…
The Awolnation, Here Comes the Runts Tour transcended a Sold Out Fillmore in Silver Spring Saturday night for an evening of good ole fashioned hard rock. They are fresh off having just released the Here Comes the Runts album February 2nd on iTunes, CD, and Vinyl. They were joined by Nothing But Thieves and Irontom.
Friday Feb 23rd, I was at Pearl Street Warehouse to see David Cook perform to promote his new EP Chromance. This was my first time at Pearl Street Warehouse. It’s a small club with an upstairs that looks down directly at the stage to give the viewers a birds eye view of the performance.
