Every arena band should take note: Confetti and streamers are undefeated, and Muse deployed both like they meant it recently in Columbia, Maryland. It also didn’t hurt that this was the band’s first Merriweather Post Pavilion show in 19 years — the last time they played here, “Knights of Cydonia” was still new.
Oliver Hazard recently transformed Union Stage into a warmly lit living room when the Ohio indie-folk trio opened The Waterville Tour in Washington, DC.
At CFG Bank Arena, Daniel Caesar recently delivered a slow-burning, emotional performance built around a live choir, immersive visuals, and the quiet confidence of an artist who didn’t need to command every inch of the stage.
Herbie Hancock: Standing Ovation
Words by Rahsaan “Wordslave” Eldridge
Photos by Steve Satzberg
Patrons recently filled Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to see jazz icon Herbie Hancock. His all-star band featured Saturday Night Live house bassist James Genus; Grammy-nominated guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke; Grammy-winning composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who also played auxiliary keys; and Modern Drummer magazine’s 2024 Best Jazz Drummer, Jaylen Petinaud.
Fifteen years ago, a group of musical transplants to the Pacific Northwest who met at Seattle’s open mics came together to record their debut album as The Head and the Heart, which was later released by the legendary indie label Sub Pop. The album was met with critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to Americana icons like The Band and The Jayhawks. At Wolf Trap recentluy, they celebrated the anniversary of that record, playing it in its entirety, along with other songs from their catalog and some new music.
There are some shows that are must-sees. The Melvins opening for Tomahawk is one of them. The tour hit the 9:30 Club recently and proceeded to blow the crowd’s collective mind. Any time a supergroup takes over a decade off from touring, it’s going to be special when they hit the road again. Make it a band fronted by Mike Patton and you amplify that.
Nick Lowe has come a long way from his beginnings as a brash young pub rocker with Brinsley Schwartz and his role as the in-house producer for pioneering British punk label Stiff Records, where he worked with the Damned, Elvis Costello, and Pretenders. The same off-kilter wit and eccentric humor that’s always been present in his songs is still there, so it makes a certain sense that he’s taken on the lucha libre mask-wearing Los Straitjackets as his backing band.
But he’s aged gracefully into more of a smooth, laidback crooner. His recent performance at The Hamilton Live was a delightful, relaxing evening of wonderful songs.
Merriweather Post Pavilion recently hosted CAAMP, the Ohio-based indie folk-rock band that has come a long way since Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall formed the group in 2013. CAAMP has grown from playing coffee shops and bars to filling venues as sprawling as the 19,000-capacity Merriweather.
It seems like there’s something special about seeing Stephen Wilson Jr. in concert. There’s something in the air that’s tangible. Maybe it’s the wide variety of fans he’s amassed. In addition to the SWJ shirts, I saw Alice In Chains, Guns ‘N Roses, Willie Nelson, Pelican (that was me), and more. It could also be that, despite the rocketship he’s riding, he’s a regular guy from Indiana. When he emerged onstage at Pier 6 Pavilion in Baltimore this past July 25, you’d never know his single, Gary, had broken the Top 40 on the country charts and that he’s been writing with Miranda Lambert.
Ethereal, majestic, and just a little impish. Those three words captured Tori Amos recently at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia.
