Artscope Magazine

New England's Culture Magazine

Login
Artscope Magazine | September/October 2024

Subscribe to the Magazine

A vibrant, dynamic magazine with arts news, reviews and info you can use, delivered right to your door!

Subscribe now

Sign up for our Email Blasts!

Special Artscope updates in your inbox every two weeks!

Sign up

Music

MUSIC PREVIEW: IAN ASTBURY ON THE REVOLUTION 3 TOUR, THE SONIC EVOLUTION OF THE CULT AND MUCH MORE…

// Artscope Online, Music

by Jacob Cutler

With summer just around the corner, three iconic bands are preparing to hit the road. Stone Temple Pilots, Bush and The Cult will be accompanying each other on the Revolution 3 tour. The Cult, a band of many controversies and sounds will be bringing there iconic sound and frantic stage antics to Boston on July 30. The mysterious group transcends the post-punk label of their early days through singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy’s ability to masterfully straddle multiple genres while reimagining their classic tracks. The Cult continue to keep their fans on surprised despite the fact that their most recent album was released two years ago. The band is currently practicing and curating the ultimate experience for their viewers. In an interview with Artscope Online, Ian Astbury, the lead singer of the Cult, discusses the sonic evolution of the Cult along with possible future … [Read more...] about MUSIC PREVIEW: IAN ASTBURY ON THE REVOLUTION 3 TOUR, THE SONIC EVOLUTION OF THE CULT AND MUCH MORE…

A Portable Block Party: Funky Dawgz Brass Band at the Middle East

// Artscope Online, Featured, Music, Review

by Shem Tane

On April 19, I saw Funky Dawgz Brass Band  at the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Mass. I ended up at this specific show through multiple recommendations from friends who couldn't stop talking about the raw energy that the band blasts out of its trumpets, trombones, saxophones and tubas. My curiosity was piqued and I headed over to see and hear for myself. This a group that has spent years performing and touring around the country building its foundation on a certain tool in a musician's toolbox: call and response- one of the main pillars for early jazz, blues and gospel music. The idea of call and response creates a stronger connection between the performer and the audience. This was fully on display in the Funky Dawgz's performance as they assigned different roles to various sides of the venue, including choruses and dance moves, with band members like  a nervous … [Read more...] about A Portable Block Party: Funky Dawgz Brass Band at the Middle East

COLD AND ALIVE: EZRA FURMAN AT GREAT SCOTT

// Artscope Online, Featured, Music, Review

by Shem Tane ALLSTON, MA -- On the evening of March 5, sandwiched between two nor’easters, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to watch the band, Ezra Furman, led by its namesake, a Boston native turned nomad, perform at the Great Scott down in Allston. In an ever-shifting political climate and divisive political scene, Ezra plants their feet on the ground and spits back in the collective face of conformity. Their musical toolbox varies from performance to performance, with a backing band of drums, bass, saxophone, synth, guitar and electric cello. There is a certain grit to Erza's voice that dips its toes into the glam soaked pitch of T-Rex as well as the stale cigarette stained ramble of Tom Waits. As the set rolled on they announced to the crowd, “You thought we were fun, but turns out we were really just weird.” This statement was a comment on the success and … [Read more...] about COLD AND ALIVE: EZRA FURMAN AT GREAT SCOTT

THEATER PREVIEW: BOSTON OPERA COLLABORATIVE PRESENTS “AS ONE” AT PICKMAN HALL

// Artscope Online, Featured, Music, Theatre

By James Foritano Cambridge, MA — I’m occupying the cat-bird seat in the intimate recital space of Cambridge’s Longy School of Music at Bard College at a pre-performance interview with cast members of a new operetta, “As One,” which will be presented January 25-28 by the Boston Opera Collaborative at Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall. The two male vocalists sitting at our conference table are young, intense, and talented. They are bursting with information about what it’s like to represent with their resonant baritones the existential struggles of a young man, a boy really, transitioning to a mature woman. I’m trying to focus as much as possible on the sense of what they’re saying, but the sensuousness of their trained voices short circuits, repeatedly, my hard- headed note taking. I’m rescued, anchored by an anecdote related to me by vocal coach Jean Anderson Collier, sitting to my … [Read more...] about THEATER PREVIEW: BOSTON OPERA COLLABORATIVE PRESENTS “AS ONE” AT PICKMAN HALL

Honk Fest 2017

// Audio/Visual, Featured, Music

Shem Tane   CAMBRIDGE, MA -- This past weekend the city of Cambridge celebrated its 11th year of HonkFest, which is a three day festival of brass bands from around the U.S. performing in both Davis and Harvard Squares. The core of the festival is to bring the community together through music. As I witnessed the many different bands performing and interweaving through the crowds I could feel an increasing sense of unity. Everywhere you turned, those two social centers of Cambridge were pulsing with dancing, discussion, and music. One of the bands that I caught was this rag tag collection of musicians from Seattle, Washington. At one point of their set they performed a cover of “Pink Elephants” from Dumbo. This set the crowd into a frenzy as the musicians began expanding into the crowd inches away from my face; the resulting adrenaline rush was palpable. The second group I … [Read more...] about Honk Fest 2017

A BLAST FROM THE PAST — THE LEMON TWIGS AT THE SINCLAIR

// Featured, Music

By Shem Tane CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- The Lemon Twigs is a rock band from Long Island, New York. They have already performed on Conan, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and many more television programs. The band’s sound seems as if it has been marinating in a time capsule basking in the sun outside the Sunset Strip during the 1970s. The crisp and tight melodies of brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario shine through even the darkest venue, even competing with the stage lights. The group performed at the Sinclair in Cambridge on September 28 and I got the chance to witness the musicians’ flair and devotion to music from decades ago. The first part of the set featured Michael on drums who quickly became a twister of tom fills and drumstick twirls. This brought visions of what it must have been like seeing The Who’s Keith Moon live hunched over the drums and cymbals snarling like a wild … [Read more...] about A BLAST FROM THE PAST — THE LEMON TWIGS AT THE SINCLAIR