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Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on May 23rd, 2012
Luckily for the members of The Early November - an Emo outfit from just outside of Atlantic City - Richard Reines from Drive-Thru Records happened to make a visit to their hometown of Hammonton, NJ, when the band was beginning to gel. Reines came by to give the group
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on May 15th, 2012
David Mayfield's long and winding musical path began in Kent, Ohio, where, at the age of 12, he picked up the bass in the family band. He traveled from festival to festival with his younger sister, Jessica Lea Mayfield, refining his burgeoning talent for guitar and mandolin, a talent
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on May 15th, 2012
As an infant, Seattle-based singer-songwriter Shannon Stephens used to sit under the piano while her mother practiced hymns for Sunday services. She began to study both piano and voice as a child and wrote her first song at age 7. In 1993, Stephens moved to Michigan and quickly landed
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on April 25th, 2012
Beantown boys Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, and Michael Bivins began singing together in the Roxbury section of Boston in 1978. They eventually added friend Ralph Tresvant, and after taking second place at a community talent show in 1980, rounded out their line-up with the young Ronnie DeVoe. Their choreographer,
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on April 17th, 2012
Brooklyn indie-folk troubadours Leland Sundries and special guest Joan Hutcheson share the floor at Abilene on Tuesday. The former, an imaginative musical project led by Nick Loss-Eaton, has been described by The Boston Phoenix as what happens when The Band meets Lou Reed. Loss-Eaton's baritone, plain-spoken vocals are the
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on April 10th, 2012
Buffalo-based jam band Aqueous definitely lives up to its name, with amazingly fluent live performances that showcase the group's genre-liquefying ability. Although frequent comparisons to the improvisational elite, like Umphrey's McGee and Phish, are fair, this freaky foursome delivers a catalog that is difficult to define. Their radical melodic
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on April 4th, 2012
The Main Street Armory has put together another blockbuster lineup for Rochester rap and R&B fans. The sure-to-be raging and raucous R&B Explosion headliner, Southern hip-hop artist Waka Flocka Flame, is a popular member of 1017 Brick Squad who has seen success with singles such as
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on April 4th, 2012
This sensational six-piece began its rapid ascent to the forefront of the folk/pop scene after being named winners of the 2010 Músíktilraunir - an annual battle of the bands competition in Iceland. Only a year before, Of Monsters and Men emerged as an amalgamation of several solo
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on March 27th, 2012
This delectable dream-pop duo is the symbiotic spawn of sisters Chelsea and Justine Brown. Inspired by their father's old rock records, the Riverside, CA, siblings picked up their instruments at a young age. After a journey through a number of all-girl bands in their teen years, the sisters formed
Choice Concerts
David Yockel Jr. on March 14th, 2012
Derek Walborn graduated from Syracuse University in 2006 with a degree in sculpture. His somewhat aberrant aesthetic, born from a childhood obsession with aliens, insects, and videogames, has since found a musical outlet. Ghostfeeder is an electro-infused "robosexual future rock" band that utilizes a raw guitar sound and hook-driven
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David Yockel Jr. on October 13th, 2011
Indie-folk hero Andrew Bird filled the Harro East Ballroom with his gloriously global sound on Wednesday night. The Chicagoland singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist is an undeniable musical genius. In 1996 Bird received a bachelor's degree in violin performance from Northwestern University, and ever since he has been writing and performing a diverse
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on September 26th, 2011
The fall may be making our days slowly get shorter, but Okkervil River and Wye Oak made Saturday night exceedingly luminous at the Club at Water Street Music Hall.
Wye Oak, the impressive young duo from Baltimore, includes ambidextrous Andy Stack, who plays drums with his right hand and bass
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David Yockel Jr. on September 12th, 2011
The end of summer signals the school bell for thousands on the RIT campus, and The Filthy McNastys came to Lovin' Cup on Friday, September 9, prepared to hand out a lesson plan of its own. This blue-collar blues band has been bringing the heat to Rochester radio recently,
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on August 11th, 2011
Tim Kasher has been an innovative force in indie rock since the mid-90's through his work with bands Cursive and The Good Life. Last winter he released his first solo album, "The Game of Monogamy," and on Monday, August 22, he will bring this new material to Rochester for
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on August 1st, 2011
The gates for The Zone 94.1's Bonzai Music Festival at Monroe County Fairgrounds opened early on Sunday, July 31, and fans that were there from the start were treated to a short set by Sleeper Agent, an exciting pop-rock group from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Bonzai gave the band a
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on June 27th, 2011
Grace Potter was barely old enough to order a drink when she first began blowing away crowded bars with her bluesy vocals. Since her debut album in 2004, the Vermont native continued to grow as both a singer and songwriter. She brought her wide range of talents and her
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on June 5th, 2011
I could say many things about the Ray LaMontagne show at CMAC last night. But the music was so wonderful I won't ruin it by focusing on trite negatives. The first of three acts, The Secret Sisters -- two actual sisters from Muscle Shoals, Alabama -- delighted the listeners
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on August 2nd, 2010
Kings of Leon supported its enormously successful album "Only by the Night" with a stop at Darien Lake last Friday night. The Stills opened the bill with a short but impressive set. The songs had an enticing and ephemeral flavor --- that Pacific Northwest, under-the-bridge, emo feel. The collection
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on July 26th, 2010
*Updated on 7/27/10 to correct Black Keys line-up.*
CMAC continued its impressive summer 2010 concert line-up by bringing in The Flaming Lips Friday, July 23. Indie band Fang Island opened the show with a short set full of heavy guitars and melodic vocals, but it seemed that everyone I talked to
Music Blog
David Yockel Jr. on March 31st, 2010
A band that has been piercing ear drums and enlightening minds for 20 years sent its most prominent songwriter to Lovin' Cup this past weekend. Aaron Freeman -- I mean, Gene Ween -- along with local opening act The Niche, filled the small coffee shop/beer bar with some rock that
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