Appearing like a flash, Jimi Hendrix burst onto the international music scene of the mid 1960’s like nothing ever seen before or since. Born in Seattle in 1942, early life experiences both in the United States Army and as a backing musician for the likes of the Isley Brothers and Little Richard on the Chitlin’ Circuit helped serve as formative groundwork for what was to come.
With the release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first single in December 1966, a never-ceasing whirlwind would envelop Jimi and his music until his untimely death in September of 1970. What’s still fascinating, more than five decades on, is how prolific a creator he managed to be through his not even four years in the spotlight.
Of particular interest is Jimi Hendrix’s…
Category: live
For fans of electronic music, 1977 represents a sacred frontier. It was a time when synthesizers were massive, unpredictable walls of cables and knobs, and live performances were high-wire acts executed entirely without a safety net.
Among the most legendary documents of this era is Tangerine Dream’s performance at the Place des Arts in Montreal on April 9, 1977, during their iconic first North American tour. Performed by the definitive “Sonic Trinity”- Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann- this breathtaking two-hour set captures the absolute zenith of the Berlin School of electronic music, serving as the final, radiant hurrah of their classic lineup right before Baumann’s departure.
Originally broadcast by Montreal’s CHOM-FM…
As a follow-up for their Live feat. Annie Golden album Brooklyn’s power pop meets New Wave band The Shirts look back at their first act again with another rambunctious in concert release. Live at Paradise 1979. The show was recorded for a radio broadcast by local station WBCN at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club on August 27, 1979, shortly after their second album Street Light Shine. The tapes were digitized by Wout de Kruif (Dutch Tape Transfers) and demixed/remastered by retired sound engineer Prof Stoned.
It was a weird time for the band. Lead singer Annie Golden had a part in the movie adaptation of Hair and was under pressure to leave the band and become a full-time actress. She turned it down, but in hindsight this period…
The dominant theme of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s 2023-2024 concerts was mortality, with key songs such as “Ghosts,” “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You in My Dreams” tackling the topic head-on. With their European Land of Hope and Dreams Tour, last year, though, politics started to play a greater role. And their current Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour is even more political. And more urgent.
“We never planned this tour, but we came out because I needed to feel your hope, your strength, and I needed to hear your voices,” Springsteen, 76, said near the end of his sold-out April 20 concert at The Prudential Center in Newark. “My wish is that we brought some hope and some strength for you tonight.”
Frank Zappa’s archival label Vaulternative Records was launched in 2002 by the late artist’s family to present a variety of fascinating odds and ends from his voluminous archive. Now, after a near-decade-long hiatus, Vaulternative is returning from Zappa Records and UMe to continue preserving the experimental side of the Zappa oeuvre.
…Sixteen of the seventeen tracks on Zappa ’66: Vol. 1: Live at TTG Studios are previously unreleased in any format. The release documents the young musician at an October 1966 session at the Hollywood studio just months after the release of The Mothers of Invention’s debut album, Freak Out!, on Verve Records. The new release has been produced, restored, and assembled by “Vaultmeister” Joe Travers and mastered…
…Restored and newly mixed by the band’s Archivist Andy Gamble from tapes found in Francis Rossi’s library. This 2CD edition features the full 18 track concert.
Recorded at the legendary Hammersmith Odeon on 27th June 1979 as part of the bands If You Can’t Stand the Heat Tour, this is regarded as one of the most sought-after live shows from the band and shows Status Quo at their loudest and proudest.
‘Rockin’ All Over the World’ barrels out with cheerful abandon, then ‘Down Down’ grinds forward on that unmistakable Quo chug. ‘Roll Over Lay Down’ stretches into a crowd-pleasing stomp, the band sounding thoroughly pleased with the volume of their own amplifiers.
Few bands could turn sheer volume, chaos, and attitude into an art form quite like Motörhead, and The Löst Tapes, Vol. 8 (Live at Winter Gardens, Margate, 5th Nov 1984) is another explosive reminder of why the band remains untouchable in the live arena. Captured during the turbulent No Remorse era, this newly unearthed recording throws listeners straight into the sweat, distortion, and deafening force of Motörhead at one of their most transitional moments.
What makes this release especially fascinating is the lineup itself. The concert documents the short-lived but powerful 1984 formation featuring Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell, Michael “Würzel” Burston and drummer Pete Gill during a period when the band was rebuilding after major internal changes.
TripleAkuma is the third in a series of essential live documents from Merzbow.
The stage and the studio are not the same place, and Merzbow has an acute understanding of this juxtaposition. Whilst the sheer density of the music might be maintained across both spheres, the live experience of Merzbow is truly something that exists as profoundly physical and moreover, overtly performative.
Merzbow’s live methodologies draw not just from a saturation of frequency at all levels, but a recognition of how frequency can be used to affect the body. Working at the extremes of both low and high sonic energies, he creates a situation within which the fullness of the body can be tested; the aural body, that of our ears…
Alive & Alright a double live album recorded in front of a small gathering of about 50 fans on February 4th, 2000, performing all of the Between The Bridges album plus one b-side,” also filmed for video in an attempt to find a workaround to the emerging problem of music videos costing more than the budget for entire albums, thinking Canada’s music video channel might possibly play various live recordings in lieu of music videos, which they did not.
When attempting to provide an overview of a big story – one that encompasses both the myriad achievements of its subjects over a span of several decades and the impacts of those achievements – you can take two routes. There’s the “just the facts” approach, where you list off…
Let X=X triple-LP / double-CD set was recorded live during a 2023 tour by Anderson and the jazz band Sexmob-Steven Bernstein on brass, Kenny Wollesen on drums and percussion, Douglas Wieselman on winds and guitar, Briggan Krauss on saxophone and guitar, and Tony Scherr on bass. Its cover and interior packaging feature paintings by Anderson. The album features 23 songs, including many favorites from throughout Anderson’s career, performed in new arrangements-plus one by Lou Reed and Metallica, “Junior Dad.”
The New York Times said Anderson and Sexmob’s concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) “wasn’t a historical recreation of past recordings; Sexmob’s sound is a beefier one than on Anderson’s albums.
Bruce Springsteen doesn’t need to risk alienating a small but vocal fraction of his fanbase by taking a stand against what he sees as a clear and present danger to the future of America, a land he clearly loves with every fiber of his being.
But he does it anyway because that’s just how much he cares about the things that truly matter. That’s an admirable trait that Springsteen has embodied for the longest time.
And if the way the crowd responded to his most impassioned speeches taking Donald Trump to task at what appeared to be a sold-out Mortgage Matchup Center on Thursday, April 16, when the Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour hit downtown Phoenix, are any indication?
…He hadn’t even played guitar before setting…
Paul Weller may be something of a cult artist in the United States, but in his native UK and across Europe, he’s a well-deserved living legend. As a founding member of the Jam in the 1970s and the Style Council in the 1980s, he has taken listeners on a journey through punk, soul, jazz, folk, and whatever other styles he likes to try. Live settings are a great way to experience Weller’s music, usually because they put his electrifying on-stage presence on full display, allow him to cherry-pick some of the best songs from his long and varied career, and give him a chance to test out unique and surprising covers. Weller at the BBC, Vol. 2 accomplishes all of this in spades.
While Weller at the BBC was released in 2008 and covered the years 1990 to 2008…
…include a bonus disc with songs from the December 12, 1973 concert at Omni Coliseum in Atlanta.
From Dick’s Picks Volume 1 to Dave’s Picks Volume 58, Curtis Hixon Hall is front and center once again as we shed a little lovelight on the complete, unreleased show from December 18, 1973. On this one, you’ll find the band coastin’ off that Europe ’72 sound (“Tennessee Jed,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” a not-to-be-missed mix of “China>Rider”), testing the tempo of the newly debuted (12/12/73) pretty little “Peggy-O,” and morphing Wake of the Flood tracks (“Weather Report Suite,” “Row Jimmy,” and “Eyes of the World”) into live form. “Dark Star,”…
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Live Trax Vol. 73: Branscomb Memorial Auditorium, Lakeland, FL (2026)
Dave Matthews Band dug deep into their archives for Live Trax Vol. 73: 2/10/1997 Branscomb Memorial Auditorium, which features a previously uncirculated recording of a 1997 Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds show.
Dave & Tim’s stop at Branscomb Memorial Auditorium in Lakeland, Florida came as part of a 25-show winter tour. The concert was the last missing piece from the tour as the only show that had never circulated.
While setlists didn’t change much from night to night that winter, there are a few songs on Live Trax Vol. 73 that weren’t played at the previous show (issued as Live Trax Vol. 24 in 2012). Matthews & Reynolds fit their first cover of Daniel Lanois’ “The Maker” into the setlist in Lakeland.
…these songs resonate as loudly as when they were first created” – MOJO
When they were young, members of Cabaret Voltaire used to walk up to strangers at bus stops in Sheffield and spray them with sounds from reel-to-reel tape recorders. They wanted to liven up everyday life in a Northern industrial town, and observe what would happened when people were jolted out of familiar habits. This pranksterism sticks in the memory, not just because it speaks to the DIY graft that’s part of Cabs’ origin story, but because spending hours splicing sounds onto tape and then blasting them out for a few seconds touches upon a question lurking over the live performance of electronic music as whole: if all the work takes place in the studio…
In 2012 he recorded several solo albums and began touring as a solo artist in Europe and the USA with his own band. Martin’s approach to live performances has seen him perform as an acoustic trio with Dan Crisp (vocals, guitar) and Alan Thomson (bass, guitar) and as an electric band with Terl Bryant also joining on drums, with both incarnations meeting with praise from both fans and critics.
This new album features a wonderful performance by Martin’s acoustic band recorded on 19 April 2025 at The Center For The Arts, Homer, New York and a marvellous set by his electric band recorded at the Woodstock Forever Festival in Germany in August 2024. Both performances feature Martin’s solo work and Jethro Tull classics.
GarciaLive Volume 22: September 25th, 1971 captures almost every note played across the early and late shows at San Anselmo’s intimate Lion’s Share, a tiny Quonset hut on the edge of town. The performances were originally recorded to 1/4″ analog reels by Betty Cantor-Jackson and Bob Matthews.
Jerry Garcia’s partnership with Merl Saunders carved out a parallel musical life in small Bay Area clubs. Joined by rhythmic anchor John Kahn, Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, who recently departed from Creedence Clearwater Revival. This quintet specialized in power pockets and strong grooves, giving Garcia space to elaborate and extend his musical knowledge…
It was clear from the opening moments of Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” concert that the Boss had a few things to say about President Donald Trump and the state of the nation. In a dramatic flash of patriotic red light, he strode onto the stage in his best proletariat preacher mode and addressed his flock.
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ’n’ roll in dangerous times,” he proclaimed during a tour stop at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Monday, April 13. “The America that I love — the America I have written about for 50 years that has been a beacon of hope and liberty around the world — is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and…
Having honed his live chops over many years not only as a solo artist, but also with the celebrated groups The Frames and The Swell Season, Glen Hansard is rightly regarded as a masterful live performer. Recorded over two nights last year in Berlin’s Funkhaus – an historic former radio facility – Don’t Settle (Vol 1, Transmissions East) draws from all stages of the singer’s storied career, making for a powerful and spellbinding listen.
The record kicks off with the title track, which builds from atmospheric ballad to stirring rocker, with a notably streak of defiance: “When they pin you to the corner / Pay no need to their dronin’ on”.
Filled with apocalyptic imagery, ‘Down On Our Knees’ is a driving, intense number with echoes of Joy Division, while the haunting…
At the Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago is the first ever release of piano legend Ahmad Jamal’s trio captured live at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase in Chicago on March 20-21, 1976.
In many ways Jamal entered the scene at the height of bebop with an approach unlike almost any of his contemporaries – rooted in spacing, tension and release, with an uncanny ability to perform lines most would call “busy” while making every note choice sound smooth, logical and inevitable. His influence on pianists from Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner to Herbie Hancock and Fred Hersch, and his enduring admiration from Miles Davis, speak to the singular place he occupies in the music.
Here Jamal leads a remarkable trio with bassist John Heard and longtime drummer…