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Frank De Blase on January 31st, 2012
Songstress, author, and knitter Christine Lavin is one of the most astute comics you will ever hear. I say "comic" because everything this Geneva native does is peppered with homespun charm and wit. She's like Garrison Keillor if he were your grandmother (and had a much higher voice). Lavin
Music Articles
Frank De Blase on January 17th, 2012
Julia Nunes strolls through the door of the rock joint du jour with her ukulele and into a world of misperceptions, misconceptions, assumptions, and pigeonholes. The world is full of female singer-songwriters. The world is full of ukulele jokes.
"I guess the biggest joke that I hear is when I
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 17th, 2012
Bryan Adams is the Canadian Peter Frampton, in that you never had to own any of his records to know all his songs. He was all over the radio in the 80's and 90's. In 2010 Adams released "Bare Bones," an acoustic grab bag of his biggest hits. And
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 17th, 2012
It's a precarious balancing act - or maybe it's more like juggling chainsaws. Bands that blend a couple styles in search of fresh ground in which to plant their own flag have got it easy. But when you're a band like This Other Life, with myriad influences - roots
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 17th, 2012
A cappella (the stuff I dig, anyway) got its start on the street and in the barbershop. Based on the dramatic coifs sported by members of Orlando's 42Five, these cats have spent some time in the chair and under the clippers. When you give this quintet's music a spin,
Music Articles
Frank De Blase on January 11th, 2012
"I mean, who's going to write a song about Judge Reinhold?" asks Matthew Mischief, drummer for The Anderson Stingrays. The Anderson Stingrays is a relatively new local pop-punk trio that adheres to the sacred rule of three chords, speed, and lyrics that don't make you sit down and think.
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 10th, 2012
It's funny, but some of the new music on Enter The Haggis's new CD, "Whitelake," is a whole lot more than just the exuberant strain on traditional instruments to which we've all grown accustomed. It still burns bright, but the band's incorporation of a rock rhythm section, and fewer
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 10th, 2012
I haven't heard anything quite so beautiful in a long, long time as Old Tapes' Tympanogram EP "This Is Goodbye." A little less atonal than the Velvet Underground with Nico, and even dreamier than Mazzy Star, this relatively new trio - Lisa Kribs (that's right, the DJ), her brother
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 10th, 2012
That tight Southern boogie you hear from Little Feat started out a whole hell of a lot wilder than it sounds today. Crazy doesn't always have to equal Zappa, but in this case it does. Created by ex-Mothers Of Invention guitarist Lowell George, The Feat crafted music influenced by
Choice Concerts
Frank De Blase on January 10th, 2012
Beer and rock 'n' roll; one leads to the other. When you rock 'n' roll, you get thirsty. When you drink beer, you want to rock 'n' roll. This wheel of perpetual joy is going to spin as Three Heads Brewing, Custom Brewcrafters, Rohrbachs, Naked Dove, Roc Brewing, and
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Frank De Blase on January 9th, 2012
Rested, invested, and road-tested, Teddy Geiger returned to Water Street Music Hall to pack the club side with adoring fans Friday, January 6. Geiger's fan base has grown up, as I spied a lot more heels and make-up in the audience than his previous teen-idol status might have implied.
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Frank De Blase on January 3rd, 2012
The year 2012... Christ, if I thought I'd live this long I would've taken better care of myself - my ears, anyway. All the bands I've loved over the years come to bed with me at night in the form an incessant ringing in my ears. This week, the
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Frank De Blase on November 23rd, 2011
Thee Oh Sees played a blistering set to a packed and seething crowd Monday night at the Bug Jar. People had been raving to me about this band all week and now I see why. Goddamn, this was a rock 'n' roll show! This San Francisco band is dynamite
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Frank De Blase on November 17th, 2011
Shuffling my way through the pre-show fog, I had high expectations and even higher hopes for the Judas Priest/Thin Lizzy/Black Label Society show Wednesday at the Main Street Armory. I needed a good old-fashioned rock show to clear out the cobwebs. The Armory was packed, the vibe was palpable.
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Frank De Blase on November 3rd, 2011
Drenched in a genuine casual cool, The Pixies always let the music supply the drama. I mean, for as utterly intense as this band sounds, it so does not look the part. But then again, a quick eyeball across the crowd of around 4000 gathered at the Main Street
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Frank De Blase on October 27th, 2011
Earlier this week the Xerox Rochester Jazz Festival honchos announced that club passes for the 2012 festival - with new dates June 22-30 - will go on sale Friday, October 28. Passes will cost $155 (plus a $4 service fee) through January 15. After that prices will increase to
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Frank De Blase on October 26th, 2011
Up until last night I had experienced nothing quite like The Flaming Lips. That's because up until last night I had never experienced The Flaming Lips. With what can only be described a celestial pageantry, this band blew my doors off when it played Main Street Armory. I'll never
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Frank De Blase on October 24th, 2011
Maybe they couldn't find a babysitter. Or maybe they just sound good together and wanted to bring it to the people. Regardless, the Tedeschi Trucks Band is a gale force of classic rock fortified with the blues, with a little r&b tossed in as well. Saturday night the band
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Frank De Blase on October 17th, 2011
Gary Cherone's new band, Hurtsmile, put a smile on my dial Friday night at Montage Music Hall. Other than his work with Extreme and the 10 minutes he spent in Van Halen, I really didn't know a whole heck of a lot about Cherone. But I got wise to
Music Blog
Frank De Blase on October 10th, 2011
Saturday night I started off at Water Street Music Hall where I see-sawed between both the main stage and the club side. Mrs. Skannotto opened up its set with an atmospheric, surrealistic preamble that resembled Pink Floyd. Adding to this peculiar and hypnotic tone was not one, but two
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