ToneAudio teams up with MusicGiants to bring you more live
concert coverage and interviews outside of ToneAudio Magazine
as well as additional photos from concerts covered in the magazine.
Find music from these artists at MusicGiants.com where you can buy HD (CD quality) and Super HD (SACD/DVD-a quality) downloads.
Scroll down the page for more concert coverage!
Curtis Peoples
Sept 11, 2008 Imbibe!
Portland, Oregon
Text and photos by Jeff Dorgay
Arriving at the show a little bit early, we found that Curtis’ original gig (with his full band) had been cancelled and he managed to put together this show with a friend from Portland. Definitely the mark of a man committed to the music. Peoples played an acoustic set, consisting mostly of work from his recent self-titled release to a sold out crowd and was very enthusiastically received.
While the CD has more of a pop feel, perhaps in a Wallflowers or Tom Petty kind of way, his acoustic set was a bit reminiscent of early Ryan Adams. The level of passion that he played with showed not only how much he enjoys what he’s doing, but that he does have a mastery of his material to be able to mix it up this well and still pull it off with ease.
Having just heard his new CD recently, it was a treat to hear this alternate version. Curtis will be on a short tour for the next two weeks, but starting up again mid- October. Watch for the October issue of TONEAudio, where we have a full review of his CD and an interview.
Keep an eye on this one, he’s got what it takes.
Carrie Rodriguez
Sept. 13, 2008 The Aladdin Theater Portland, Oregon
If you’ve listened to Carrie Rodriquez’ new album She Ain’t Me, you know this lady can sing. However, it might be easy to pass her off as yet another highly competent singer/songwriter that blends in with the fold. The disc is good, but somewhat subdued.
Her live show is a completely different story. Opening for Alejandro Escovedo, she calmly walked onto the stage to introduce herself and then exploded. Alternating between the fiddle, electric mandolin and tenor guitar, she matched licks with guitarist Hans Holzen to offer up a powerful presentation.
The combination of such a good band with such a powerful voice was the surprise of the evening. Having listened to her CD a couple of times, I was expecting a much mellower performance but was pleasantly surprised at how well she can belt it out. The big bonus of the evening was watching Carrie play in Alejandro Escovedo’s band too.
I truly hope her next CD lets us see more of this woman’s amazing talent. She Ain’t Me is only telling part of the story. Here’s the rest of her tour schedule:
Alejandro Escovedo
Sept. 13, 2008 The Aladdin Theater
Portland, Oregon
Having just reviewed Alejandro’s CD in the last issue of TONE, I was anxious to see him live. Alejandro has a long musical history with roots rock/alt country music, including time in Rank and File, The True Believers as well as a few others.
But tonight’s show was far beyond that.
Playing a wide range of his music, he performed the title track from his current CD, Real Animal along with a few other tracks from this disc. This show was a lot more rock than alternative with Escovedo jumping around the stage like a 25 year old.
Towards the end of the set, he told us about performing at the Democratic convention and that he was now playing “Castanets” again. (Escovedo had stopped playing it for a few years because he found out President Bush had the song on his iPod) At the end of the show, when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better, he came back out for an encore and announced he was going to play a David Bowie song.
We were rewarded with the best version of “All The Young Dudes” I’ve ever heard and I’ve seen Mott the Hoople more than once. With the crowd on their feet, he looked down and said “Yeah, I like that song”.
There are still quite a few dates left on the tour, don’t miss him. And to the audiophiles in the crowd, the woman that runs Alejandro’s board on tour is stellar. This was by far the best live sound I’ve ever heard at the Aladdin. The live mix was perfect!
You can see the rest of his tour schedule here:
Previously OnTour
Fleet Foxes
October 19, 2008 The Moore Theater
Seattle, Washington
Check out TONEAudio issue number 18 for the full review of this performance....
Here are a few extra shots that we didn’t have space for in the magazine.
If you’ve enjoyed the Fleet Foxes first CD and wondered if they can pull off those great layered harmonies live, the answer is YES!
The Fleet Foxes are not to be missed.
Boy Eats Drum Machine
October 16, 2008 Holocene
Portland, Oregon
Article By Marc Phillips Photos By Jeff Dorgay
If you’re still reluctant to acknowledge the musical skills of modern DJs and turntablists, a night with Jon Ragel might change your mind. As the lone member of Boy Eats Drum Machine, Ragel mixes his sampling wizardry via beatbox and turntable with live percussion, tenor sax and a voice strong enough to create a successful career without the digital accompaniments. Ragel is the 21st century one-man band, dancing wildly behind his equipment table, bouncing between his turntable and sax.
Ragel was at Holocene (one of Portland’s most progressive clubs) to celebrate the release of his new CD, Booomboxxx, reviewed in issue 18 of TONEAudio. Ragel also has major prowess in the kitchen, baking dozens of cupcakes that were strategically placed around the bar. His secret is placing a Junior Mint at the bottom of each one before baking.
And yes, I had more than one.
Opening acts Southern Belle and DAT’R revved up the crowd, but Ragel owned the stage when he arrived. He has built up a substantial following among beautiful, hip twenty something girls. One of them screamed “Jonny!” at the stage and was visibly stunned when he calmly replied “What?” as if they were having an intimate conversation.
One of the advantages to these newer digital beatboxes is the ability to recreate a studio mix accurately in a live performance, and it was amazing to see Ragel produce the same urgent precision that was found on the CD. On songs such as “Planets + Stars,” “Demonic With Horns” and the strikingly original title track, I was able to anticipate every note and every sound effect. There were times, however, when Ragel allowed the mixes to build frantically and nearly implode, but he was always able to reel the mix back in at the last minute. This created a palpable excitement through the crowd, who were notably impressed with the musical—yes, I said musical—talent of this mature and inventive new performer.
Meaghan Smith
November 8, 2008 Berbati’s Pan
Portland, Oregon
Text and Photos by Jeff Dorgay
Meaghan Smith has definitely overcome her issues with stage fright.
Playing to a full house at Berbati’s Pan, she took charge of the stage immediately. Thirty seconds into the set her dreamy yet powerful voice had everyone in the audience smiling as they swayed side-to-side, many slow dancing out on the dance floor.
Make no mistake; Smith can belt it out as well, as she did on a few numbers, in a style somewhat reminiscent of Patsy Cline. Playing all of the tunes from her current EP, The Cricket’s Quartet, she also performed songs from her upcoming album that is due out in February. You can count on a full review as soon as it is available and we will have a brief article on Smith in the December issue of TONEAudio.
This was the second night of the tour and she will be out on the road for the next six weeks. You can check her schedule at www.meghansmith.com to see where she will be playing next. Smith ended the show telling us “we should all stay in touch, you’re such a great audience.”
Smith has just signed a four album contract with Sire Records, so you can expect to see and hear a lot more great things from this incredibly talented (and adorable) singer. If you have been hankering for a great new female vocalist, don’t miss Meaghan Smith.
Sword
November 1, 2008 The Rose Garden
Portland, Oregon
Text and Photos by Jeff Dorgay
You have to have something up your sleeve to open for Metallica.
Unlike the pompous guys from Down that were the middle act in the Death Magnetic show, this brilliant metal band from Austin delivered the goods. Rather than parade around the stage, demand that everyone “get up off their seats” and use a limited vocabulary to converse with the audience (mostly limited to the word, fuck) Sword did it old school and played their asses off.
Limited to a 45 minute set, they played material from both of their albums, Age of Winters and their current release, Gods of The Earth. Lead singer John Cronise has a classic metal voice that has often been compared to Ozzy Osbourne, and rightfully so. As you can see from the photo, lead guitarist Kyle Shutt never stayed still long enough for me to get a shot of him not in motion.
If you like your metal served up the classic way; loud and proud with a generous helping of heavy riffs, make sure you check out Sword on the current Metallica tour. And let’s hope to see these guys as headliners soon.