Live Entertainment Blog

The New York band Grizzly Bear is one of the newest and most respected indie-rock bands on the scene. They make a lot of interesting music, clearly drawing a lot of their influence from rock bands of the 60s and 70s that emphasized intricate and complicated arrangements. Variety describes them as the most successful at using 60s hi-fi in a modern low-fi setting. And that seems to be about right. It’s an interesting show, with the musicians not putting a lot of emphasis on intensity. Their melodies seem a bit weird at first and sometimes they start to sound alike. But in their show, they will lull you into thinking that every song is the same and then they throw in something subtle but different. This creates a kind of excitement. These guys are going to be the talk of indie-rock for the upcoming future and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see them rising up the ranks!

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop Music, has passed away at the age of 50. That’s all the entertainment news today. Yes, there have been other television personalities in the last few days that have become ill or have passed on. But Jackson is the biggest name in live entertainment to pass away. He was planning to have a great big comeback next month with a series of about 50 shows in London. He was in the rehearsal process for those shows. But now he was struck down by an apparent heart failure. It might be that some sort of medication did him in. He has had poor health for many years now and there were rumors recently that his health might not allow him to perform in London. Many people in the world are sad today, at his passing, but his music will remain on our iPod-most-played lists for a long time!

The Weavers are one of the examples of strong musical skills and long-staying honorable protest. They were formed back in the 50s of Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman and Lee Hays. They were well known and were at the leading edge of the large growth of folk music in the 50s and 60s. They also became snarled in many of the difficult political situations that came up during that era. But they did their best to settle in and not get involved in too many controversial events and didn’t record their biggest protest songs. A couple years ago, the group was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys, with two of the members representing the rest of the group (one of the members passed away 3 decades ago. Their music is very well respected even now and the people in the audience really understood the example that the Weavers had passed down about how to make music and how to live in a difficult world.

Moby has just debuted his newest album. He has eschewed some of the style of music that he has been making before, including most of the songs in the album Play. It was too sample-laden and electronic for his tastes, at least now. Previously, though, he probably actually liked it. The new album is bluesy and raw in comparison. What nice music it has been, and you can really enjoy the sound of it. In fact, some people like this new album a lot more than the previous one, even when you think of Play as being a major part of the music of the last decade in advertising and in different kinds of dance clubs. Make sure you take the chance to listen to this album when you get the opportunity!

The Playboy Jazz Festival in California last weekend went off without a hitch. It featured a lot of different kinds of jazz, well delivered and it was a lot of fun for everyone. Many of the jazz people who were there were people that I hadn’t really heard of before, although they are quite impressive. Dave Holland was one of the best ones. He is a British musician and he got one of the hardest parts of the lineup: the dinner hour. But he gave a very good set, making the big band style sound young and vibrant. Monty Alexander is another of the better jazz musicians at the fest and he’s a lot of fun to hear. We definitely encourage you to check out his music, because his mix of jazz with local reggae style music is some of the most innovative in the world right now.

This anticipated production by Jessica Dickey was difficult to tell if it was going to work out or not. The topic is one that has been done, but always carries risk. It revolves around the school shooting in an Amish community several years ago. The community’s response was to completely forgive the perpetrator who had killed several children and himself. Dickey, however, makes these religious people to be almost deities themselves, as opposed to treating them as people. This would have been the most interesting part about it, had the performer made it happen. The most interesting thing about the incident is that the victims’ families had to deal with their own feelings, while they remained connected to their ideals. The production is beautiful and well-made, but that one part is missing, unfortunately.

The story of Hamlet has been performed again and again over the course of several centuries. The new production in England does a very respectable job of presenting it. The director is much more a conductor than a person trying to get a specific message across. It’s a great show with several different images of the characters and story that compete with one another, but also rise and fall along the way. This is one of the better productions afoot right now and they are working well this time. You wont want to miss this one. The reviews suggest at Ophelia is a character that they’re having trouble right now defining, but that’s also rather exciting for people to hear about.

If you haven’t seen Steely Dan performing, you’ve really missed out on something. Get Steely Dan tickets and watch this fun show! They have been playing for over 30 years, on and off, and now they are back on. Their mix of rock and jazz is some of the most interesting music that you’ll ever hear and they even combine it with guest artists from the pop music world. But it’s their lyrics that really interest fans of all kinds. They like to sing music about dark topics like crime, depression and also about west coast hippies, who they never liked. It’s always exciting because they sing the things that we’re all thinking and they do it in a way that can be very touching or very emotional. Don’t miss them in this year’s tour!

Much Ado About Nothing is being performed out in London right now, and it’s a pretty nice performance. It’s hard to do this play wrong because it is so well made in the first place. This show does a good job portraying the characters more or less the way they’re supposed to be. The only real weakness is that they have trouble balancing the humor and the drama. This play has both, with the Claudio-Hero relationship having all the drama of a midday soap opera. The Benedick-Beatrice relationship has all the fire of Cary Grant - Katherin Hepburn and it’s always a lot of fun to see how these two somehow move through. This show might not hit that split spot-on, but it comes very close most of the time and is thoroughly enjoyable.