Archive for the Concert Reviews Category

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From The Vault: QOTSA End Year On A High Note; Josh Homme Reunites With Kyuss Singer In L.A.

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , on 08/13/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

As has been widely reported but woefully under-discussed in the national conversation about the future of news in the U.S. and around the world, Paramount recently vaporized the online archives of MTV News, which it owns. The vault included thousands upon thousands of news stories, artist interviews and other historically critical pieces of reporting created by me and my former colleagues at the culturally iconic organization.

Paramount’s surprise and shocking move marked the latest in a seemingly unending series of body blows against journalists and exemplified efforts by corporate America to eliminate the trade of journalism, which is already withering on the vine, altogether. (Read the best take on the matter by founder and all-around great guy Michael Alex on Variety‘s website.)

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‘Weird Al’ Proved He’s The ‘Weirdest’ Of Them All

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , on 08/03/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Speaking of “weird,” everyone’s favorite costume-wearing musician, “Weird Al” Yankovic, proved he’s the weirdest one of all at a Hollywood Bowl concert in mid-2016. Check out my FLOOD review of the show.

Take that, politicos.

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Top 100 Best Live Performances Of 2023: Mars Volta, Be’lakor, Hexis, Covet

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , on 01/17/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Head over to FLOOD to read my epic roundup of the best sets among the 150 that I caught last year. Also featured: the Jesus Piece, Show Me the Body, Jason Isbell, Portrayal of Guilt, Cloak, Deafheaven … go here for the full enchilada.

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Toro y Moi, Chai, Liz Phair, Acid King Rock Treefort Music Fest ’19

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on 02/21/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

With just 30 days until Boise’s Treefort Music Fest kicks off — and shortly before the Bad Penny rolls out an exciting interview series surrounding it — here’s a look back in photos (and some words) at 2019’s installment.

(Originally published by Music Connection.)

Treefort Music Festival 2019 Recap

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Scratch Acid, Big Black, Man … Or Astro-Man? Give Chicago Hope At Touch And Go Bash

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 02/20/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

… And here’s my review of the Touch and Go Records’ three-day anniversary concert from September 2006.

(Go here to read interviews with Steve Albini, David Yow, Rob Crow and other indie-rock immortals ahead of the legendary event.)

CHICAGO — Touch and Go’s three-day anniversary bash wasn’t just a lesson in the history of the seminal record label. It was a Cliff’s Notes-like recap of the last 25 years of indie rock itself.

Underground granddaddies Big Black, Scratch Acid and Killdozer spit forth a lethal dose of abrasive, confrontational brutality, while !!!, Ted Leo and Enon courted the crowd with dance-rock appeal. And therein lied the clear distinction between the challenging approach taken by yesterday’s bands and the sheer accessibility of their successors.

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Looking Back: Steve Albini, David Yow, Rob Crow Chat About Touch and Go’s 25th Anniversary

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on 02/20/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

Now here’s a blast from the past. A blast from the past from the past, actually.

Touch and Go Records 4 eva.

(Go here to read my review of the Touch and Go’s legendary, three-day 25th anniversary bash in Chicago in 2006.)

Before Fall Out Boy, before the Academy Is … — hell, even before the Smashing Pumpkins — there was Touch and Go Records. Like those bands, the trailblazing record label’s reach has extended far beyond its Chicago base of operations, but come September, it’ll be enshrining its 25 years of influence with a massive anniversary gala designed to dazzle indie rock’s shrewdest scholars.

Scratch Acid, Big Black, Man … or Astro-man?, Killdozer — while they’re not exactly household names, the underground goons that shattered eardrums and tore punk rock a new one decades ago will be wreaking havoc once again in commemoration of the label that sustained them. Think of it as “A Mighty Wind” for the indie-rock masses.

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Live Review: Lucy & La Mer at LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags on 02/17/2023 by Kurt Orzeck

Dug up this October 2015 article for Music Connection in which I reviewed Lucy & La Mer playing at — of all places — a vegan beer and food festival in Los Angeles. Click on the photo or title below, and you’ll be directed to Music Connection, which houses the entire review. The group’s most recent release was “Don’t It Feel Good,” a single issued in June.

Live Review: Lucy & La Mer at LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival
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We Saw Spirit Mother Play Live — And So Should You, Motherfuckers

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags on 11/08/2022 by Kurt Orzeck

It’s not clear what Boise did to deserve two heart-pounding performances in one year by Spirit Mother. They are one of the best new psych-rock bands on the West Coast — which is saying a lot, given that it’s currently the favored strain of indie music from Seattle to San Diego.

The Bad Penny had the honor of speaking with frontman Armand Lance before Spirit Mother headlined a gig at Neurolux on June 9. And last night, we had the equally great opportunity to finally watch them do what they do best: cause the jaws of dozens of music fans to collectively drop.

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Memento: A Spellbinding Set List From Bewitcher

Posted in Concert Reviews, Features, Mementos, Reviews with tags , , , , , on 07/04/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Bewitcher’s frontman, Unholy Weaver of Shadows & Incantations

Bewitcher, Portland’s most scintillating speed-metal band since Toxic Holocaust, blew the garage doors off the Shredder in Boise once again on Friday night. It was an exhilarating set played by the band that played the same venue with Nile in mid-April, and with Exhumed and Creeping Death in November 2021.

The 50-or-so attendees danced and rubbed knocked elbows during each song, before and after which Bewitcher’s gracious frontman — who goes by the tough-to-memorize moniker Unholy Weaver of Shadows & Incantations — frequently expressed his appreciation for the crowd.

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Brain Tourniquet Turn Minds Into Mush at 1st PacWest Gig

Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags , on 07/01/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Brain Tourniquet

The phrase “time is of the essence” originated during the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad that connected rail networks in the eastern U.S. with the western half of the country. Time is also the essence of live performances by Brain Tourniquet, a D.C. band that is powerfully violent to the hardest of cores.

On Friday night, the trio played their first gig in the Pacific Northwest at Boise’s haven for hard and heavy music, the Shredder. In the spirit of Brain Tourniquet’s speedy set — during which they played about 20 songs in 20 minutes — what follows is a rapid-fire attempt to communicate what it’s like seeing them live.

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