Author: David LaMason

Live Review: J. Roddy Walston and Palm Palm @ Ottobar — 1/19/20

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J. Roddy Walston and Palm Palm rock a sold-out Ottobar on Jan. 19, 2020. (Photo by David LaMason)

In October of last year, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, posted through social media that “after 14 years, four albums and 889 shows of being creatively betrothed solely to each other, now feels like the time to explore other possibilities…” After sold-out sets in Baltimore and Richmond, J. Roddy Walston and the Business and their raucous brand of Southern rock and Stones-inspired music was on an indefinite hiatus.

But the story doesn’t end there.

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Best of the Year: Top 10 Concerts of 2019 by David

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LP was one of David LaMason’s best concerts of the year. See where she ranked below. (Photo by David LaMason)

Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2019 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.

It’s hard to think we’re nearing the end of 2019. I don’t realize how much has happened throughout the year until I look back and get that “Holy Cow! That was this year?” feeling. And I’ve been experiencing a lot of those lately.

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Live Review: Guided by Voices @ Black Cat — 12/7/19

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GbVBC5 Guided by Voices performs at Black Cat on Dec. 7, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)

There are things that are on almost everyone’s bucket list, but I submit here that among all the mountain sunrises, skinny dipping, and roller coaster rides there must be a space near the top for experiencing a Guided by Voices show. There’s nothing like it.

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Live Review: Christopher Paul Stelling @ Rock and Roll Hotel — 11/30/19

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CPS2 Christopher Paul Stelling shakes the Rock and Roll Hotel on Nov. 30, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)

As someone who has called Florida, Colorado, New York, and most recently North Carolina “home,” it’s fitting that the music of Christopher Paul Stelling has a rambling, seat-of-the-pants feel that’s at once untethered and feels like coming home.

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Live Review: Fruit Bats @ Union Craft Brewing — 11/23/19

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FruitBats24 Fruit Bats rock Union Craft Brewing on Nov. 23, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)

There’s a comfort to the Fruit Bats’ music. Eric D. Johnson writes songs that seem to glide from over the hills from the West Coast to this year’s fantastic Gold Past Life on the band’s new label, Merge Records.

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Live Review: Big Thief @ 9:30 Club — 11/10/19

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Big Thief performs at the 9:30 Club on Nov. 10, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)

Big Thief is one of those bands that is as true to the idea of a band as can be. Each time I’ve seen them, I come away with the feeling that each piece of the whole works so well together. And that cohesion over each record seems to get tighter and seem like second nature. Even when, as she did Sunday night to a sold out audience at the 9:30 Club, singer/guitarist Adrianne Lenker started the evening solo for a newish song “Zombie” (which has been in rotation for their live shows for the last year or so). The rest of the band focused their attention as if performing along through some telepathy.

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