Live Music Reviews and Photographs / NYC, Buffalo, Toronto, Pittsburgh
During The Beths show at Brooklyn Paramount, someone in the crowd screamed out “We love you!” prompting lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes to answer coyly, “We’ve only played four songs. That was easy!”. New Zealand’s premiere alternative band swung through NYC on their latest tour in support of their fourth album Straight Line Was A Lie …
Continue reading "The Beths rocked the sold-out crowd at Brooklyn Paramount – Dec 5, 2025"
The revival punk project called The Saints '73-'78 swung through NYC and played the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday with a host of prominent guest stars like Mudhoney’s frontman Mark Arm who provided the vocals. The Saints are a sadly far too overlooked band in punk rock history books but are definitely a band …
90’s alt rockers Shudder To Think played an extremely intimate show at Nightclub 101 in the East Village of NYC toa celebrate the release of a brand new 7-inch called Thirst Walk, their first new music as a band since 1998. In honor of this slow-building comeback, they’ve embarked their first tour in over a …
Continue reading "Shudder To Think rocked intimate show at Nightclub 101 – Oct 25, 2025"
90’s alt rock masters Modest Mouse played the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY as the last stop on their national tour, bringing along the complimenting legendary indie rockers Built To Spill as their opening act. Located about an hour North of NYC, the Capitol Theatre is a gorgeously regal movie palace built back …
Continue reading "Modest Mouse and Built To Spill conquered The Capitol Theater – Oct 22, 2025"
“I came from New York and, even though I now live in LA, this will forever be very special to me and Baby’s All Right is the very first venue I ever played,” said Ella Jane at her one-off appearance in her old stomping grounds of Brooklyn. This intimate setting was a change of pace …
Continue reading "Ella Jane’s homecoming at Baby’s All Right – Oct 21, 2025"
The archetypal progressive rock band Yes swung through Huntington, Long Island to play their seminal 1971 album Fragile in its entirety (along with many other classics) at the Paramount, a former vaudeville theater that opened in 1926, rich with history of its own. To many of their serious fans, Yes is not just a progressive …
The all-female punk pop trio Shonen Knife from Osaka, Japan, who had gained a ferocious following in the mid 90’s with their brand of bodacious bubblegum indie rock, played two sold out nights at the intimate venue called Littlefield in the lowlands Gowanus area of Brooklyn. I was lucky enough to catch the second night’s show which …
Continue reading "Shonen Knife blew the roof off Littlefield – Sept 25, 2025"
90’s alternative rockers Garbage played a sold out show at Brooklyn Paramount on Saturday during which singer Shirley Manson recounted “A long, long time ago we were told we are not a Brooklyn band, and we’re not gonna put you on in Brooklyn, and I don’t wanna toot our own horn, but we sold out …
Continue reading "Garbage rocked sold out Brooklyn Paramount – Sept 20, 2025"
Singer Sophia Regina Allison came out during the set by her band Soccer Mommy and asked “Aren’t these free shows great? I wish I could do them all the time, but I have two cats to feed.” Nashville native Soccer Mommy played the last free show of the Central Park Summerstage lineup of concerts as …
Pulp, 1990’s Britpop forefathers, played the historic Forest Hills Stadium in support of More, their first album of new material since 2001, and they came ready to rock the packed crowd to its core. Frontman Jarvis Cocker was in prime shape as he wooed the audience with his captivating weirdness and wildly insane dance moves, …
Continue reading "Pulp played a perfect game at Forest Hills Stadium – Sept 11, 2025"
Shoegaze sorceress Miki Berenyi will bewitch Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, October 11th with a mix of classics from her beloved 90’s indie band Lush and critically acclaimed solo material from her recently released Miki Berenyi Trio album called Tripla on the Bella Union label. Berenyi was rock royalty in the 90’s indie rock …
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The Aussie absurdist surrealist rock outfit known as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard staged a two night stand at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY with radically different setups for each night. I was in attendance for the first night, which was classically inspired, backed by the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by Sarah …
Alt-pop priestess BANKS cast a spell over the Brooklyn Paramount on Friday night as she swept through town supporting her newest album Off With Her Head. Jillian Rose Banks has been bewitching audiences since 2013 with her genre-bending blends of enchanting sounds that always seem to flirt with the darker arts of goth and industrial …
Continue reading "BANKS cast a spell over the Brooklyn Paramount – June 20, 2025"
Agnostic Front guitarist/vocalist and revered Godfather of Hardcore Vinnie Stigma played a wild and countrified show at Brooklyn Bowl with lots of special guests that included guitarist and frontman Eugene Hutz and violinist Sergey Ryabtsev from the band Gogol Bordello. This was the first show to celebrate the release of his newest solo record Outlaw …
The Philly punk band Mannequin Pussy played an intimate late night show at a sold out Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for an event called Gov Ball After Dark, an after-hours shindig that took place the day after they performed on the big stage at the Governor’s Ball Festival in Flushing Meadows, Queens. This band has …
Continue reading "Mannequin Pussy threw a late night party at Warsaw – June 7, 2025"
The Doobie Brothers threw a delightfully enchanting reunion show and release party for their new album Walk This Road in the intimately cozy venue Irving Plaza, and they left a lucky bunch of their diehard fans floating on air. This is the first album to feature the “classic lineup” in its entirety performing together in …
Continue reading "The Doobie Brothers reunited with an intimate show at Irving Plaza – June 6, 2025"
The classic indie pop band The Wedding Present played The Music Hall of Williamsburg in celebration of the 35th anniversary of their second album Bizarro from 1989 (which they played in its entirety). I was lucky enough to catch them the last time they came through town in 2017 and played the Bell House, promoting …
Continue reading "The Wedding Present went Bizarro at Music Hall of Williamsburg – May 23, 2025"
NYC alt-rockers Sunflower Bean returned to their Brooklyn home ground for a big headlining show at Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to celebrate their new album Mortal Primetime which they self-produced featuring mixing by Caesar Edmunds of The Killers & Wet Leg fame. The trio has been a staple of the Big Apple DIY scene for …
Continue reading "Sunflower Bean had an epic homecoming at Warsaw – May 22, 2025"
The Scottish post-punk icons Mogwai brought their latest tour to Brooklyn Steel for a massive show, and they also brought along some very surprising guests as openers. The band have been going since 1995 and they never really stopped moving forward since their inception. Late last year, these art rock punks released their eleventh studio …
Continue reading "Mogwai shred their way to the heavens at Brooklyn Steel – Apr 10, 2025"
As they embraced their growing legions of rabid fans and their increasing level of fame amassed over the last decade, rocking people’s worlds, the local rising star indie rock band called Pom Pom Squad returned home to play the finale of their Mirror Ball Tour at The Music Hall of Williamsburg. Lead singer Mia Berrin …
The experimental folk-rock band The Weather Station came down from their Toronto homeland to grace NYC with a pair of performances for their Humanhood Tour and I was fortunate to catch their first show at the Bowery Ballroom, for which I received every ounce of artful display and deep conceptual artistry that I expected from …
Continue reading "The Weather Station conjured a spell over Bowery Ballroom – Apr 1, 2025"
In the mid-90s, Tsunami were indie rock darlings and Ida were slow core sweethearts. The bands crossed paths on the scene, sharing bills, side projects, and even members many times in the past. Both bands have also been largely inactive for the last decade or two, with most fans feeling like they may never re-emerge, …
Continue reading "Tsunami and Ida teamed up for the perfect storm at Bowery Ballroom – Mar 29, 2025"
Alternative rock icon Kim Deal brought her very first solo tour to Brooklyn’s gloriously beautiful Brooklyn Paramount to support Nobody Loves You More, the first solo album of her lengthy and illustrious career which has become my most adored and heavily-played album of the year so far. I grew up outside of Dayton, Ohio and, …
Continue reading "Kim Deal gets reborn at the Brooklyn Paramount – Mar 13, 2025"
The electronica duo Phantogram brought their Running Through Colors tour back to their old stomping ground of Brooklyn with an epic performance at the newly renovated Brooklyn Paramount. This stunning venue that’s history takes you way back to the Roaring 20’s and played such a major role in the Jazz and R&B scenes all the …
Continue reading "Phantogram enchanted their hometown fans at Brooklyn Paramount – Feb 6, 2025"
NOTE: All photos are copyright of Dean Keim 2025 The groundbreaking dreampop gurus and shoegaze spellcasters Slowdive are back on the road again after spending the last couple years crossing the globe in a triumphant revival after 2023’s divine Everything Is Alive album was so warmly received. They even attracted a surprising amount of young …
Continue reading "Slowdive casted a spell over Starland Ballroom – Feb 5, 2025"
NOTE: All photographs are copyright of Dean Keim 2025 90’s alt rock band Dramarama played an intimate show at their old stomping ground of Wonderbar in Asbury Park on a chilly January night as part of The Light of Day Festival that raises money and awareness for ending Parkinson's disease, fighting the good fight since 1998. "Light of Day" …
Continue reading "Dramarama rocked out for a good cause at Wonderbar – Jan 17, 2025"