My Favorite Artist: Duran Duran

Posted on 03/23/2020 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Duran Duran, England, MGM National Harbor, My Favorite Artist, new romantic, new wave, The Fillmore New Orleans.

Duran Duran performs at The Fillmore New Orleans on Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Editor’s Note: Parklife DC asked its contributors to write essays about their favorite bands. These essays appear in an occasional series, My Favorite Artist, and provide our readers with insights into our bloggers, their motivations, and their approach to covering concerts.

To my ear, music is at its best when it motivates and inspires. Popular music provides a forum for catharsis, surely, but I am most excited when I hear something that stirs my soul, lifts my head, and moves my feet.

Cue Duran Duran.

My Favorite Artist: Lucinda Williams

Posted on 03/18/2020 by Mark Engleson in Live Review and tagged Americana, appreciation, Houston, Lucinda Williams, My Favorite Artist, singer-songwriter, Texas.

Lucinda Williams (Photo by Danny Clinch)

In 1994, Lucinda Williams won her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song for “Passionate Kisses,” a track from her self-titled 1988 turn to Americana. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s cover of the song also won for Best Country Vocal Performance.

While Mary may have taken away the hardware for her performance of the song, Lucinda’s hardcore fans — like me — will always prefer her performance of the song.

My Favorite Artist: Neil Young

Posted on 07/25/2019 by Mark Caicedo in Live Review and tagged appreciation, Canada, folk, My Favorite Artist, Neil Young.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse perform at the James L. Knight Center, Miami, Florida, on Oct. 29, 1986. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)

“It sucks! It’s just a fucking racket. I get totally lost when I’m playing guitar. I’ll just play a melody over and over again and change the tone, bend a string, do all that. But I’m totally engrossed in what I’m doing. At one with it. But I suck! I have melodies, and I have a sense of rhythm and drive. But it’s not about me, anyway — it’s about the whole band. It’s about everybody being there at once. When I play I’m listening for everything, trying to drive it all with my guitar. My guitar is the whole fucking band.” — Neil Young, Guitar World, October 2009