Yonder Mountain String Band @ The Pageant, 2/20/2010

Photo by Nathan Burrell. More on Flickr

“I’ll do this ‘till the day I drop dead in front of you,” Yonder Mountain String Band’s Jeff Austin shouted to a packed crowd at the Pageant Saturday night. This was the second night of their two-night stand, and YMSB were going to leave it all on the stage. At one point Austin, the group’s mandolin player, even looked at his watch and said, “we’ve got an hour and forty minutes till they kick us off.” It was that kind of night. (more…)

This entry was written by John Stanley, posted on February 24, 2010 at 12:05 pm, filed under Live and tagged Jeff Austin, The Pageant, Yonder Mountain String Band. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Keller Williams @ The Pageant, 1/30/10

Photo by Nathan Burrell. More on Flickr

As the second set of Keller Williams’ show at the Pageant began, it became clear that he was getting down to business. A one-man-show with  no opener, this was truly “An evening with Keller Williams,” as the ticket stubs had advertised. Just a few minutes into this second set, Keller began the looping for which he’s famous – and the crowd got down. (more…)

This entry was written by John Stanley, posted on February 1, 2010 at 7:09 pm, filed under Live and tagged Keller Williams, The Pageant. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Built to Spill @ The Pageant, 9/29/09

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Built to Spill’s frontman, Doug Martsch, sings with a delicacy that seemingly couldn’t work with indie rock… yet it does. Perfectly. Going from foot-tapping, driving rock songs, to melancholy 6/8 time ballads, Martsch’s voice is the common denominator. His resonant bell-like tone is both soft and focused at the same time and BTS’ vocal melodies soar over the roar of three Fender guitars with grace. At Tuesday night’s show at the Pageant, his lines like, “You were right when you said, we are all just bricks in the wall. And when you said manic depression’s a frustrating mess,” were sharp enough to cut glass but warm enough to feel like a letter written in longhand.

(Video after the jump)
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This entry was written by John Stanley, posted on October 2, 2009 at 12:51 pm, filed under Live and tagged Built to Spill, Doug Martsch, The Pageant. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Rum Drum Ramblers @ Off Broadway, 9/13/09

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As Rum Drum Ramblers got further and further into their set at Off Broadway, the stomping and grinding guitar chords, the mellow tone of a stand-up bass, and the screaming blues harmonica all strutted on in perpetuity.  Having played their new album, Tradin’ Dollars for Dimes, in its entirety, this was no short set. And as the guys threw it all out on the stage, the crowd did the same. Solos matched with woops, shouting choruses matched with yeas; the pulse of their songs was shared by everyone in the room. Because when you’ve got someone on the stage shouting at you, you can’t help but shout back. (more…)

This entry was written by John Stanley, posted on September 15, 2009 at 1:45 am, filed under Live and tagged Off Broadway, Rum Drum Ramblers. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.