Best of the Year: Top 10 Musical Moments of 2021 by David

Posted on December 27, 2021 by David LaMason in Live Review and tagged 9:30 Club, Baltimore Soundstage, Best of 2021, best of the year, Bob Mould, club 603, DC9, Guided by Voices, Jason Narducy, Jesse Malin, Lord Huron, MECU Pavilion, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Modest Mouse, Orville Peck, Ottobar, Sleater-Kinney, Surfbort, Sylvan Esso, The Anthem, Wilco.

Bob Mould’s return to 9:30 Club in September ranked among David LaMason’s Best Shows of 2021. (Photo by David LaMason)

If you would have told me around this time last year that I would have had the opportunity to see concerts again, let alone in indoor venues -– some that I hadn’t stepped foot inside in over a year and half –- I would have thought you were crazy. But not only did I have that opportunity –- in large part to vaccines, mask mandates, and the venues and artists who did everything in their power to make sure it was safe to experience live music again –- but I saw some of the best shows I’ve seen in years!

Live Review: Lord Huron @ MECU Pavilion — 9/13/21

Posted on September 16, 2021 by David LaMason in Live Review and tagged Allison Ponthier, Americana, California, Lord Huron, Los Angeles, MECU Pavilion.

LorHuron1 — ***Lord Huron performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by David LaMason)***

I have to admit that until a good friend of mine turned me onto them a few years ago, Lord Huron wasn’t on my radar. But one spin of Strange Tails and I was hooked. I hadn’t been able to catch them on stage however — that is until Monday night at the MECU Pavilion in Baltimore.

There’s something to the music of Lord Huron that flows from aesthetics of great fiction, whether it be pulp novels of the turn of the last century in Strange Trails; idealized visions of the future in Vide Noir; or the imagined world of early variety television that inhabits Long Lost, the most recent release from this LA-by-way-of-Lansing quartet. There’s a mystic quality that takes the listener along for a ride and keeps them coming back. So, on a hot afternoon overlooking the Baltimore Harbor, I had the great fortune to witness Lord Huron as they took the stage on their first tour since music touring stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Live Review: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead @ MECU Pavilion — 8/21/21

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Casey Vock in Live Review and tagged Brooklyn, jam band, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, MECU Pavilion, New York City, psychedelic.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead performs at MECU Pavilion in Baltimore on Saturday Aug. 21, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock.)

The Grateful Dead certainly aren’t done yet, as a recent stop at Jiffy Lube Live by Dead & Company showed us last week. But even if they were, there are so many musicians dedicated to carrying their torch that fans of the San Francisco-based band can rest assured they’ll be able to enjoy the catalogue of music in some live form for years to come.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, a highly talented five-piece outfit obviously led by respected veteran drummer Joe Russo, who himself is not yet close to passing away, made a timely stop in the Charm City this past weekend to drop two world-class sets of music paying tribute to the Grateful Dead.

Interview: Marc Labelle of Dirty Honey

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Chris R. Smyth in Uncategorized and tagged California, Dirty Honey, glam, hard rock, Interview, Los Angeles, Marc Labelle, MECU Pavilion.

Dirty Honey performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

Los Angeles-based rock and roll band Dirty Honey are beating the odds. As an unsigned band, Dirty Honey has overcome the obstacles that come with not having a major label in their corner, and the band saw their debut single, “When I’m Gone,” become a #1 US rock radio hit in late 2019.

Dirty Honey was supposed to be in Australia right now recording their new album, but the travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus have stuck the band in Los Angeles.

Lead singer Marc Labelle recently spoke with Parklife DC’s Chris Smyth about what it’s like to write and record in this time of coronavirus, the band’s relationship with Slash and Myles Kennedy, their upcoming European tour with Alter Bridge, and when we may see Dirty Honey make their first stop in Washington, DC.

Best of the Year: Top 10 Photos of 2019 by Chris

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged 9:30 Club, Alter Bridge, Andy Grammar, Best of 2019, best of the year, blues, Gary Clark Jr., hard rock, heavy metal, In This Moment, Jiffy Lube Live, Judas Priest, Mark Tremonti, MECU Pavilion, Rams Head Live, Rival Sons, Sevendust, Skillet, Slipknot, The Anthem, The Fillmore Silver Spring.

Judas Priest made the list of Chris Smyth’s Top 10 photos of the Year (but not this particular one). (Photo by Chris Smyth)

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 is an odd feeling when you love and hate something simultaneously. The emotions don’t make sense, yet it’s fully real. That is how I feel each time I am tasked with creating this year-end list. I love looking through my old photographs and remembering each concert that I was fortunate enough to attend, and reliving each show through the images that I was able to capture along the way.

Live Review: Dirty Honey @ MECU Pavilion — 9/22/19

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged California, Dirty Honey, glam, hard rock, Los Angeles, MECU Pavilion.

Dirty Honey performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

The amber sky from the evening’s sunset set a beautiful atmosphere as Dirty Honey took the stage to open the Victorious Sky tour with Alter Bridge and Skillet. While nature’s beauty was on exhibit high above, beneath the canopy at Baltimore’s MECU Pavilion recently, a night of music was commenced by one of rock and roll’s next big things.

Live Review: Skillet @ MECU Pavilion — 9/22/19

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged Christian, hard rock, MECU Pavilion, Memphis, Skillet, Tennessee.

Skillet performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 22. 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

If you think a Christian band can’t rock as hard as their contemporaries, then you’ve never been to a Skillet concert. The rock quartet put on a stage show as captivating as anything going today at MECU Pavilion recently.

Live Review and Interview: Alter Bridge @ MECU Pavilion — 9/22/19

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Interview, Live Review and tagged Alter Bridge, Florida, hard rock, heavy metal, Mark Tremonti, MECU Pavilion, Myles Kennedy, post-grunge.

Alter Bridge performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

On the final night of the summer, Alter Bridge kicked off the Victorious Sky co-headlining tour with Skillet at MECU Pavilion in Baltimore.

Preview: Alter Bridge @ MECU Pavilion, 9/22/19

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged Alter Bridge, Florida, hard rock, heavy metal, Mark Tremonti, MECU Pavilion, Myles Kennedy, post-grunge.

Alter Bridge (Photo by Dan Sturgess)

In October, Alter Bridge releases Walk the Sky, the band’s sixth studio album, via Napalm Records. In the lead up to that release, Alter Bridge are now on tour with Skillet, and the bands appear together at MECU Pavilion on Sunday, Sept. 22, for their Victorious Sky Tour.

Live Review: Beast Coast @ MECU Pavillion — 8/25/19

Posted on September 2, 2019 by AJ Waugh in Live Review and tagged beast coast, CJ Fly, Flatbush Zombies, hip hop, Joey Bada$$, Kirk Knight, MECU Pavilion, New York City, Nyck @ Knight, Nyck Caution, Powers Pleasant, Pro Era, The Underachievers.

Beast Coast performs at MECU Pavillion on Aug. 25, 2019. (Photo by @Waufflez – wauffleznotwaffles.com)

Beast Coasts’ Escape from New York Tour wrapped recently in Baltimore as tie-dye dipped fans plied into MECU Pavilion. The Beast Coast collective is a Voltron-style supergroup is made up by the members of three smaller groups all hailing from Flatbush Brooklyn: The Flatbush Zombies (Meechy Darko, Erick Arc Elliott & Jewice), The Underachievers (AK & Issa Gold), and Pro Era (Joey Bada$$, Nyck Caution, CJ Fly, Kirk Knight & Powers Pleasant). The 10-man army released their first project as a whole “Escape from New York” at the top of the summer and have been touring the country since.