Go Memphis Stories: Music Reviews

Concert review: Romance in air at MSO performance

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:09:00 -0000

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra wallowed in romance this weekend. The most intriguing allure in the MSO's Masterworks series concerts was violinist Gil Shaham's extraordinary performance of the "Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto" by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao.

Concert review: Willie Nelson performance is nearly a religious experience

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:00:00 -0000

It was altogether appropriate that, toward the end of their show Friday night before a crowd of about 700 at the Gold Strike Casino's Millennium Theater in Tunica, Willie Nelson and his Family Band slid into a gospel mode, playing a medley of old-time religious favorites "Will the Circle be Unbroken," "I'll Fly Away," and "Amazing Grace" before closing the 90-minute set with Hank Williams Sr.'s "I Saw the Light,".

Best of 2011: Vintage musical year for Memphis, elsewhere

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:02:00 -0000

Whatever else might have gone wrong in 2011 — the economy, Japanese nuclear reactors, Charlie Sheen, Kim Kardashian's marriage — it was an uncommonly great year for music of all types.

Best of 2011: Top music a diverse hit parade

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:41:00 -0000

The past 12 months provided an interesting and more than symbolic glimpse into the current state of music and the music business. In looking back at the best releases of the year, no set pattern revealed itself. Instead, the entries came from local bands and acts from far-flung locales; there were titles from familiar names and forgotten heroes; the records were put out by major labels, indie imprints or simply arrived from the netherworld of the Internet.

Concert Review: At age 66, Bob Seger delivers rock goods

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:00:00 -0000

It's only the most hard-hearted and churlish who would deny Bob Seger. And yet, despite his massive popular success over the years, the iconic Michigan rocker has often been overlooked by critics and the music industry at large. On Saturday night at Downtown's FedExForum, Seger once again showed why he remains, first and foremost, the people's choice.

Concert review: Patti LaBelle shows new look, same style

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:00:00 -0000

In the 50 years since Patti LaBelle started in show business, a lot of singers have tried to imitate the vocal stylings of the R&B diva, with her unique combination of jazzy phrasing, gospel passion and pop drama. But after all these years the pretenders still can't touch the original, a fact made abundantly clear when LaBelle, 67 and currently celebrating her golden anniversary as a singer, performed before an audience of 1,584 at the Orpheum theater on Friday.

Concert Review: Taylor Swift continues the magic at Memphis concert

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:03:00 -0000

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's life has been something of a fairy tale. Her sold out concert Sunday night at the FedEx Forum in Memphis before a crowd of over 13,000 shows that fans want to keep that fairy tale going. Though Swift is 21 now, her base remains young girls, tweens for the most part, who are eager to gobble up her adolescent musical vision of princesses and first loves.

Concert Review: Weather no match for legendary Paul Simon

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:00:00 -0000

Paul Simon's Saturday night concert, which marked the final event of the Mud Island Amphitheatre season, came under less than ideal circumstances: a sudden cold snap plunging temperatures into the low 40s at show time. Despite the challenging conditions, Simon delivered a rousing two-hour-plus performance that offered a tidy summary of a career that spans seven decades.

Concert Review: Superstar Brown dazzles, delights FedExForum crowd

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:06:00 -0000

Say what you will about him, but Chris Brown knows his audience. On Wednesday night, during the opening moments of the R&B superstar's concert at FedExForum in Memphis, he asked the near capacity crowd how many ladies were present. Seemingly, all of the nearly 8,000-plus in attendance responded with deafeningly enthusiastic screams.

Concert Review: Death Cab proves that raw alternative rock perseveres

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:31:00 -0000

Alternative rockers Death Cab for Cutie performed Wednesday night before a crowd of about 2,500 at Memphis' Mud Island Amphitheater. Unlike a lot of touring bands with a new record to sell, Death Cab For Cutie refreshingly did not shove their new material down their fans' collective throat. Only a handful of songs -- generally the most accessible -- from "Codes and Keys" made the 90-minute set.

Concert Review: Crowd wowed by re-energized Journey

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:12:00 -0000

Don't stop believin', indeed. At this stage of their career -- almost 40 years in, down to two original member, and 15 years without a new hit -- the rock band Journey should, quite frankly, be playing casinos and county fairs. But through an unlikely series of events, the band finds itself playing venues like the FedEx Forum, which they filled with about 10,000 fans Wednesday night for one of the better local concert showings of the summer.

Concert Review: Alison Krauss' mood-setting music was crowd pleaser

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:45:00 -0000

Alison Krauss’ Union Station may be the only bluegrass band you’ll ever see that uses fog machines in concert. Their stature also makes them the only bluegrass band you’re ever likely to see that can sell out the 2,400-seat Orpheum on their name alone, as they did here Thursday night.

Concert Review: Scott throws groove-filled 'block party'

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:35:00 -0000

Neo-soul singer Jill Scott's vibrant spirit shone through Wednesday night at the FedEx Forum as she headlined the non-stop R&B dance party billed as “Budweiser Superfest Presents Jill Scott’s Summer Block Party.” The shapely powerhouse, performing before an audience of about 5,800, delivered with a groove-filled 90-minute concert that never abandoned any of the qualities that make her so unique.

Stax students from Memphis make an impression in the Big Apple

mehr@commercialappeal.com (Bob Mehr) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:25:00 -0000

It was a meeting of great American cultural institutions as Stax Academy students brought Memphis soul to New York City.

CD Reviews: Mouserocket, Black Rock Revival

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:16:00 -0000

The local quintet Mouserocket, a sort of supergroup made up of members of such esteemed outfits as Big Ass Truck, the River City Tanlines, Vending Machine, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, is supposed to be an afterthought. Mouserocket only set aside a scant five days to record its recently released third album, "Cicada Sounds." Still, the new record may be the pinnacle of achievement for all involved.

CD Reviews: Cities Aviv, Jackie Johnson

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:23:00 -0000

Cities Aviv is the stage name of Memphis’ Gavin Mays, a former punk rock singer who, in his new persona, has become the most high profile of a new generation of local alternative rap artists that his contemporary Royal’T has dubbed “The Young Alliance.”

CD Reviews: The Memphis Dawls, Egypt Central

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:36:00 -0000

About this time last year, local singer-songwriter Holly Cole announced a new, more collaborative mindset with the eponymous debut from her band Holly & the Heathens on Makeshift Music, the local collective that had put out her 2006 debut EP, Fearless and Free.

Concert Review: Backstreet, New Kids create magic at FedExForum

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:36:00 -0000

The mostly female crowd squealed in FedExForum over the first-ever teaming of the ’80s boy band and their ’90s successors.

CD Reviews: The Bo-Keys, Mister Adams, The Angel Sluts

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:00:00 -0000

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of retro soul bands around the country that reproduce with astonishing skill the ’60s sounds of Stax, Motown, and others. But the Bo-Keys, whose ranks are flush with genuine Memphis soul legends like sax man Floyd Newman, trumpeter Ben Cauley, and drummer Howard Grimes, are the real deal.

Concert Review: Willie Nelson's show Country Throwdown's best

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 05:00:00 -0000

Just hours before he took the stage before a crowd of about 4,000 at Southaven's Snowden Grove Amphitheater Thursday night, news came that country crooner and legendary toker Willie Nelson had avoided jail time that day for a November pot bust in West Texas.