Vibes blog

Neko Case w/ Deer Tick
Knight Theater
Nov. 18, 2009

The Deal: Neko Case zips through 22 songs during Charlotte concert, brings along Deer Tick. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Wolfmother w/ Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2
The Fillmore Charlotte
Nov. 3, 2009

The Deal: Reformed Aussie band hits The Fillmore for hard-rockin’ set, bringing along Heartless Bastards and Thenewno2. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

The third and final day of Voodoo Festival got under way with blue skies and perfect temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. A few people were still wandering around in Halloween costumes, but most had returned from their post-zombie ways.

I made it to the festival grounds just in time to see The Pogues start their brand of Irish rock. Singer Shane MacGowan, in all of his toothless glory, slurred and stumbled his way through the set. Rumors of band infighting went unfounded – some people said there as a bandmate, Spider Stacy, who was escorted or left the stage, but all members could be see on stage at the end of their set.

While Shooter Jennings was on one of the side stages, the Fleur de Tease burlesque show got underway in the Bingol Parlor. Kind of like Big Mama D’s brand of entertainment in Charlotte, the ladies showed off their bodies with class and decorum. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

If there was one can’t-miss day at this year’s Voodoo Festival, Saturday was it. I walked into City Park around 2 p.m. to catch the end of Dan Dyer’s set on the Voodoo Stage and things got progressively better for the rest of the day.

Mates of State were on the PlayStation Stage dressed like The Captain and Tennille, after all, it was Halloween.

All kinds of people were in costumes – from the sexy to the sublime. Couch potatoes, Waldo, hot dogs, the blockheads from Gumby and plenty of zombies. There was an effort at the end of the night to set a record for the largest gathering of zombies.

Next up on the Voodoo Stage was MuteMath, who played a good mixture of their two albums. Drummer Darren King walked out on stage for his regular ritual of duct taping his headphones on. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

The 2009 Voodoo Experience kicked off in New Orleans on Friday, and what started out as a hot and sweaty day quickly cooled off in temperature and heated up sonically.

Thanks to far walks, slow transportation and the help of a man in a golf cart, I finally got checked in around 3 p.m. and made my way out into the festival grounds at City Park.

It’s definitely a different setting, yet similar setup when compared to Bonnaroo. There are two main stages that are on opposite sides of a track. A few smaller stages are set out among the trees and pathways. Odd sculptures dot the landscape.

I caught a snippet of the set by The Vettes – rock fronted by a female, that sounded pretty good from a distance. Next up, across the way, was The Cool Kids who hinted at the hip-hop that was yet to come that night. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Jewel w/ Meiko
The Knight Theater
Oct. 28, 2009

The Deal: Folker gone country artist Jewel brings along new sensation Meiko for acoustic/vocal showcase. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

The Mars Volta
Oct. 22, 2009
The Fillmore

The Deal: Progressive rockers perform energetic hour-and-45-minute set for a crowd of roughly 700.

The Good: The band hit the stage and opened with “Inertiatic” and what seemed to be one never-ending song for nearly two hours after that. The music was fast, furious and non-stop for the duration as guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López picked, strummed and riffed his ass off.

Singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala hit every note and danced his ass off — kicking the microphone around, flipping the stand in the air, giving James Brown’s footwork a run for its money and simply being one of the most entertaining frontmen in music these days.

The band seemed to hit its peak with the mellow “The Widow” toward the end of its set, as most in the crowd sang along. Bixler-Zavala only addressed the crowd once, mentioning the band’s origins in At the Drive-In. “A lot of people weren’t happy when we started this band,” he told the crowd. “But life is about creating visions between the faithful and the morons.”

The Bad: The small crowd.

The Verdict: A visual and sonic experience that’s hard to describe, and a definite “must see.”

Setlist
Inertiatic
Goliath
Cotopaxi
Roulette
Viscera
Halo
Eunuchs
Ilvana
Teflon
Drunkship
Luciforms
The Widow
Wax Simulacra

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Social Distortion
Amos’ Southend
Oct. 21, 2009

The Deal: So Cal rockers make long-awaited return to the Carolinas. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Metallica
Time Warner Cable Arena
Oct. 18, 2009

The Deal: Metal veterans Metallica hit “The Cable Box” for a couple hours of mayhem. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

Blues Traveler with Simplified
The Fillmore
Oct. 15, 2009

The Deal: Blues Traveler, celebrating its 22nd year in existence, hits The Fillmore with local band, Simplified, in the opening spot. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites