On stage, Fishbone performs like an aged fighter backed into a corner and down on points. At the High Noon Saloon in Madison on Friday night, the band reinforced their reputation as uncompromising musical pioneers and thick-headed stalwarts even as bar-band doom stares them in the face.
After years of self-imposed exile from music-making, Jeff Mangum and his underground-rock group Neutral Milk Hotel have seen cult-like audiences grow in their absence — one that sees the group as indie-rock messiahs. Their concert in Madison on Saturday night was a second coming that proved miracles really do happen.
Let’s face facts. When most people think of the Twin Cities, images of blizzard-like conditions and bitter, breathless cold crystallize in their minds as fast as a Minnesota quick-freeze.
Rock legend Elton John gave a Vegas-honed performance Thursday night in Madison that paraded some of the greatest pop-rock songs of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s in front of America’s Dairyland. And this without any assists from Cirque du Soleil.
Like the hobbled hero from some Hollywood movie, a clearly ailing Levon Helm rallied his strength during Tuesday night’s performance to give those who gathered at a downtown Milwaukee casino an enthralling lesson in American roots music.
Long stuck in the shadow of the metal titans Queens of the Stone Age, the Eagles of Death Metal have so primed their swaggering, rock ‘n’ roll engine that no one will mistake them for a hot-rod side project again. Their recent concert in Madison, Wis., demonstrates their groove-oriented tunes can shake hips as well as preconceptions.
Besides indie-rock hipsters, there was something else that filled Chicago’s Metro on Monday night for TV on the Radio’s sold-out concert: Doubt.
This really sucks. Enjoy the Halloween season with a selection of songs that celebrate all things caped and blood-thirsty, vampires. Continue reading
Ready to be shocked? Enjoy the Halloween season with a selection of songs that hearken back to one of horror movies’ most popular characters, Frankenstein. Continue reading
Half a century after his death in a plane crash in Wisconsin, singer Otis Redding still has an uncanny power to move people. Here’s a compilation of songs that offer ample evidence of why Redding deserves a treasured place in pop-music history. Continue reading
Nearly 50 years after they helped usher in the era of progressive rock, King Crimson is continuing to evolve — exploring new musical boundaries, adding new members. At a concert Sunday night in Milwaukee, the band demonstrated just how this combo continues to thrive. Continue reading
George Clinton and the latest lineup of Parliament-Funkadelic headlined Friday night’s beginning of Madison’s annual Brat Fest celebration, demonstrating to those who attended why Clinton and his merry band of funkateers are both beloved and essential in the evolution of pop music despite offering a truly conflicting, confusing performance. Continue reading
With a new year upon us, it’s time to reflect on all that the year 2016 gave — and a little that it took — from our collective listening. Continue reading
George Michael never looked the role of a musical freedom fighter. Between his Adonis-like features, his stylish, camera-ready wardrobe and his devotion to dance music made him appear as a pop star keener to keep the party going than in tearing the whole proceeding down. And yet, Michael once stood up for artistic purpose and threatened to dismantle the pop-music machine that had built him into a global superstar. And he did it with the most unlikely of tools: a hit song. Continue reading
As a treat for all the ghosts and goblins you love, here are a few songs that are worth adding to your Halloween playlist in time for the costume parties to come. Continue reading
At the precipice of a new year, there’s only ever one important question to be asked at this moment in December: What will we remember? Continue reading
Although sometimes seen as a divisive figure among music fans and the industry in general, former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland had an undeniable impact with a steady string of alternative-rock hits in the 1990s and early ’00s. His death on Thursday offers a chance to reflect on those contributions. Continue reading
Soundbytes Music Column 