Tag: On the Scene (1-10 of 61)

Apr 29 2013 10:50 AM ET

On the scene at Vampire Weekend's AmEx 'Unstaged' concert in New York, directed by Steve Buscemi

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Image Credit: Donald Bowers/Getty Images

Ivy League rockers Vampire Weekend have always been a unique musical math equation: One part house-party pop and two parts sonic safari, multiplied by Cape Cod plus keyboards, all squared by the new millennium.

The New York foursome took the stage at the Roseland Ballroom as part of American Express’ “Unstaged” series last night — its past alumni include Jack White, the Killers, and Coldplay, matched up with directors like Wernor Herzog and Gary Oldman; watch previous clips here — on the final night of the Tribeca Film Festival. And with the set’s turned-up bass drum and synchronized lights, the Roseland suddenly felt less like a rock venue than full-on dance hall. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 6 2013 08:59 PM ET

Acoustic bliss: Glen Hansard and Iron & Wine's Sam Beam perform together in L.A.

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Image Credit: Jeremiah Garcia/KCRW

South Carolina and Ireland are literally an ocean apart, but Sam Beam (better known under his performing name Iron & Wine) and Glen Hansard of Once fame are closer than ever in their musical stylings. Friday night, a few select Angelenos were treated to a rare acoustic performance, complete with the pair taking requests from the audience, at the Sayers Club in Hollywood.

Hosted by public radio station KCRW, the night featured solo sets by both artists and a couple of covers that they played together at the end of the show. The two moody songsters share a manager and clearly have become quite close through that relationship, as they were joking with each other and the audience throughout the night.

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 29 2013 01:44 PM ET

Green Day live: 21 thoughts from the scene of their long-awaited return to the road

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Image Credit: DANIEL BOCZARSKI for EW

On Thursday night, Green Day made their long-awaited official return to the road at the Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago. I was there both as a professional (you can read my full critical take on the show in next week’s issue of EW), and as a longtime admirer of the group whose fandom has waxed and waned over the course of their career. Below is a series of musings about the scene that was.

1. Green Day performed a handful of club dates leading up to their South By Southwest showcase, but this was the first show of the proper arena tour (dubbed the 99 Revolutions Tour, after the track on ¡Tre!) the band was supposed to start a few months ago. Though frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has been in rehab for the last few months, there were no references made by the band that they had ever been away. It was business as usual, without any nods to the news.

2. Just because the band ignored it didn’t mean the crowd did as well. There were a handful of signs held up by fans on the GA floor expressing their support of Armstrong through his recovery. One read: “You are always here for us, now we’re here for you.” There was also a guy who brought a cardboard cutout of Justin Bieber, a reference to Armstrong’s infamous on-stage rant in Las Vegas last fall—the incident that led directly to his rehab stint. (Too soon, dude!)

3. Even if the show wasn’t strictly sold out, the band will most certainly make up the difference in merch: The lines for T-shirts (and hoodies and hats and copies of Kerplunk on vinyl) were huge, which meant that the bulk of the crowd missed opening act Best Coast in favor of snagging gear. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 13 2012 08:09 AM ET

Bruce Springsteen, the Who, Billy Joel, and Beatlevana: On the scene at 12-12-12

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Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Wednesday night’s 12-12-12 benefit concert for Sandy relief was an unqualified success: Before even a single note was played on stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden, more than $30 million had already been raised for the Robin Hood Foundation through ticket sales, merchandise, and corporate pledges.

As a charity event, 12-12-12 was a slam dunk. As a musical entertainment endeavor, it was more of a mixed bag, full of plenty of glorious, triumphant moments for sure, but also bloated with curious choices and inexplicable performances.

Bruce Springsteen had the honor of kicking the show off, beginning his band’s brief set with “Land of Hope and Dreams.” As Jersey’s greatest ambassador for well over three decades, Springsteen sweated and howled through the opener’s anthemic refrain, only to raise the stakes on “Wrecking Ball,” a defiant anthem of hope from the album of the same name.

“Wrecking Ball” started a running theme of transformation through out the night: Familiar songs became re-packaged and recontextualized, and themes of renewal and rebirth crept up during the finest performances. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 13 2012 11:30 AM ET

Dave Matthews Band showcases new album ‘Away From the World’ at Hollywood Bowl

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Image Credit: C. Flanigan/FilmMagic

Dave Matthews Band wrapped up their summer tour at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday night with a show spotlighting tracks from their latest album, Away From the World.

It’s the band’s eighth studio album, and boy, how things have changed in the music world since they first hit the scene in the early ’90s. Matthews said to the crowd after the second song of the night, “We had a lot of fun making this record even though making a record is kind of a weird thing to do these days.”

But make a new record they did. The band clearly was eager to put a spotlight on their new music; nearly half of the concert’s set list drew from the Away From the World, but the new tunes weren’t met with significant enthusiasm from the crowd. There was an audible buzz of the chattering crowd during “Mercy” and “Sweet,” and it was during the first few chords of new songs that a stream of audience members filed down the aisles to grab another beer.

The first song that brought the whole audience to its feet and had everyone singing along was 2002 hit “Grey Street.” The band also brought down the house with an explosive rendition of “All Along The Watchtower” (prefaced by another nod to Jimi Hendrix as Stefan Lessard cranked out “The Star Spangled Banner” on the bass) and with “Jimi Thing,” which put on the night’s strongest display of the band’s beloved jam sessions. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 7 2012 02:07 PM ET

On the Scene: What you didn't see on TV at the VMAs

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Image Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

With cameras strategically placed all around Staples Center at the Video Music Awards, MTV gives its viewers at home a pretty full view of the award show — from close-ups of the performers, to bird’s-eye views of the crowd, to cutaways to stars like Katy Perry and Olympic medalists in the VIP section. But there’s still more the camera didn’t pick up on. Lucky for you, EW was on the scene last night and has a few tidbits about what you didn’t see on TV.

Pink woos the crowd
Before Pink performed her show-stopping number, she ascended the platform in the middle of the audience at the beginning of the commercial break, giving her plenty of time to pump up the crowd with some beating on that electric snare drum. With the audience turned her way, many waving at her and snapping photos, she made sure to wave back with her drumstick and flash them all a big smile. What else did she have plenty of time to do? Test out that aerial rope. Wouldn’t you want to test it out a few more times, make sure you’ve got your form right, no matter how long you were in rehearsals the day before? But Pink only gave the rope one quick check, and then got back to charming the crowd. READ FULL STORY »

Aug 12 2012 10:03 PM ET

On the scene: Norah Jones fires up the Hollywood Bowl

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Image Credit: Didier Baverel/Getty Images

Mixing old and new, jamming on favorite inspirations and building on her own class of standards, Norah Jones took the Hollywood Bowl under her spell Friday night for a one-night special performance celebrating her new album, Little Broken Hearts, a collaboration with Danger Mouse (Brian Burton).

Jones, performing in L.A. en route to the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco, performed an inspired set that included covers of the Grateful Dead and Hank Williams, plus old favorites and a good selection of songs from her new album.

A well-received opening set from indie folk rockers Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons set the tone for a country-twanged evening before Jones took to a stage bedecked in jewel-toned lights and hanging paper cranes. Broken Hearts, which EW gave a “B” after its May release, recounts a brutal breakup, but Jones’s spirited performance with a wink and smile made it seem like the heartbreak is miles away.

“She’s 22,” a viciously sweet song about jealousy over an ex’s new love, led straight into the album’s title track. One of my favorite lines off Little Broken Hearts, “Bring me back to the good old days/ When you let me misbehave” led off “Say Goodbye,” which Jones performed slyly in a sweet pink dress and cowboy boots, looking just mischievous enough as she sang at the keyboard alongside her bandmates.

Jones also turned to some classic covers, including the Grateful Dead’s “It Must Have Been the Roses” (at Outside Lands Saturday, she was joined on the track by Dead guitarist Bob Weir), Tom Waits’ “The Long Way Home” (which appears on her 2004 album Feels Like Home), and Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart.” Her country/jazz mashup ethos, delivered live with ethereal keyboards and a band supporting her, felt like a country-noir extravaganza.

In tribute, perhaps, to her roots (Jones grew up near Ft. Worth), the chanteuse closed out the night with “Lonestar,” off her debut album Come Away With Me, introducing the song with a proud “I’m from Texas, you know,” before an encore that included two of her biggest hits, “Come Away With Me” and “Sunrise, Sunrise.”

Jones may be a Starbucks staple, but her live set showed off much more than the hits — the elements of electronic music infused by producer Danger Mouse on the new album highlighted her soulful voice and gave new layers to her piano playing. for some 90 magical minutes on a beautiful summer night at the Bowl.

Set list:
She’s 22
Little Broken Hearts
Say Goodbye
It’s Gonna Be
Chasing Pirates
Take It Back
All a Dream
The Long Way Home (Tom Waits cover)
Black (a 2011 Danger Mouse/Rome track)
It Must Have Been the Roses (Grateful Dead cover)
Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams cover)
Miriam
After the Fall
Happy Pills
Painter Song
Don’t Know Why
Sinkin’ Soon
Stuck
Lonestar
Encore:
Sunrise
Creepin’ In
Come Away with Me

More on EW.com:
Outside Lands Day One: Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Beck and more
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s will bars use of his work in ads
Hear four unreleased Lana Del Rey songs here

Apr 9 2012 01:46 AM ET

On the Scene at 'MTV Unplugged Florence + the Machine': A Review

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Florence-and-the-MachineImage Credit: Paul Redmond/WireImage.comDuring her MTV Unplugged session that aired Easter Sunday Florence Welch proved why she named her first album Lungs.

Though her voice fiercely registers on her records, freed from all those wall-of-sound arrangements it is truly something to behold. It’s not a perfect instrument, mind you. But every crack comes across like a world-weary badge of honor. When those final oh-whoa-ohs explode out of her throat during the a cappella closing of “Drumming Song,” it rattles you with Biblical force, like she isn’t just trying to put on a show. She’s trying to raise the dead. Kind of the perfect programming for Easter, huh?

Actually, Florence + the Machine’s entry into MTV’s venerable Unplugged franchise was perfect Sunday night fare for another reason too. With her delicate bone-colored dress and flaming red hair parted Druid-like down the middle, Welch could have been a stand-in for Carice van Houten as Melisandre on Game of Thrones. (Kanye West, sitting in the front row, could have been Salladhor Saan.)

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 13 2012 03:47 AM ET

Grammys 2012: An on-the-scene report from inside the Staples Center

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Image Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

Partially designed as a live concert for 28,000 fans, the Grammy Awards are truly made for their much larger TV audience.

So when it comes to the annual kudos-fest, what you see on your screen at home is largely what you get inside the show at the Staples Center in downtown L.A., too. There isn’t much fanfare during the commercial breaks or off-screen activities happening, and — since the Staples Center is so huge — it’s overwhelming to zero in on what little delights could be happening around the arena.

But, I was there last night, and since I was, I thought I’d share with you the few little tidbits that you might not have seen on your own televisions, like which classic Grammy performances they played for the Staples audience during the commercial breaks, and how the crowd reacted to various performances and moments. Here’s the tick-tock of the night from inside:

READ FULL STORY »

Jan 31 2012 10:47 PM ET

Ringo Starr talks Beatles days with Russell Brand... but is there anything we don't already know?

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Image Credit: Rob Shanahan

A trim and tan Ringo Starr regaled a select group of fans yesterday in at a SiriusXM “Town Hall” held the Troubadour in Los Angeles, to promote the release of his new studio album Ringo 2012, out today. If you didn’t know the former Beatle was 71 years old, you would not have believed it — rarely has a septuagenarian rock star looked this good. He gamely bantered with host Russell Brand, who has held back on a sex joke. “The whole day is sort of designed to elicit relentless ejaculation,” Brand told the crowd at the Troubadour before the event began. (“If I talk about relentless ejaculation now,” Brand added, apparently talking to a SiriusXM producer, “it probably won’t be part of the broadcast.”)

Sex jokes aside, a great deal of the hour-long audience Q&A — the second half of which was moderated by music producer Don Was — was spent on Beatles nostalgia, from reminiscing about their final rooftop concert (yesterday was that event’s 43rd anniversary, a fact that took Starr by surprise), all the way back to when the drummer would watch the Beatles perform before he’d joined the band. READ FULL STORY »

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