Tav Falco's Panther Burns at le Poisson Rouge

Tav Falco

Gustavo Falco, known professionally as Tav Falco, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but his family soon moved to rural Arkansas, where he grew up between Whelen Springs and Gurdon. In 1973, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he co-founded the nonprofit Televista "art-action" video group to document local musicians and artists in the mid 1970s. Impressed by a 1978 performance of Falco's in Memphis that culminated in the chainsawing of a guitar, Alex Chilton (Big Star, the Box Tops) teamed with him, and they developed the self-styled "art damage" band, Panther Burns, named after a plantation in Mississippi. They debuted the band in a Memphis cotton loft in 1979, and Chilton remained with the group until 1984. Falco continued the band, renamed Tav Falco's Panther Burns, moved to Europe in the late 1990s and settled in 1999 in Vienna, Austria. Falco is the only constant member of Panther Burns; his band presently consists of Falco, musical director/guitarist Mario Monterosso, bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi, and drummer Walter Brunetti. Panther Burns' 11th and most current studio album, Cabaret of Daggers, was released on November 30, 2018.

In celebration of 40 years as a recording and touring artist, Tav Falco brought his Cabaret of Daggers: Panther Burns 40th Anniversary Howl! tour to le Poisson Rouge tonight. The set combined elements of vintage garage rock and roll, rockabilly, Memphis soul, hill country blues, Tex-Mex pop, big band jazz swing and even tango. Reworked songs from the Great American Songbook were given a smoky feel. Original songs leaned towards both Memphis' Beale Street juke joints and Vienna's old world cabaret culture. Switching from rockabilly to tango is not an easy feat. To say the least, it was an odd mix, a salad so mixed that at times it was difficult to digest smoothly. Falco's innovative vision was curious, but his weak, flat singing voice was the music's most troublesome element, often failing to transport the audience to the place where an unpleasant vocal delivery would not matter.

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

Bob Seger

Born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Bob Seger in the 1960s performed throughout the state in the Decibels, the Town Criers, Doug Brown & the Omens,  Bob Seger & the Last Heard, and finally the Bob Seger System, which gave him his first national hit in 1968. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the 'System' name and performed under his own name. In 1974, he formed Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band and in 1976 emerged beyond regional stardom to international success. Seger has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame  in 1987, and Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012. Seger's 18th and most current studio album is 2017's I Knew You When. Seger presently is based in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band has been playing farewell tours since 1986; on September 18, 2018, Seger once again announced a final tour, the Travelin' Man tour, which tonight included the rain-soaked launching of the summer concert season at a Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, Long Island. With no new music to promote, the set was a career retrospective, including songs rarely played live, like Seger's hit cover of Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon." The song selections dated back as far as the Bob Seger System's "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," but clearly hinged on the Silver Bullet Band's greatest hit peak from 1976 to 1986. Near the end of the performance, Seger's cover of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" was accompanied by a slide show featuring portraits of many recently-dead rock artists. Although he is no longer hitting some of the notes of his youth, Seger was nevertheless in extraordinary voice, projecting a husky, raspy vocal that embodied his blue-collar, heartland compositions. The large band rolled as he rocked, with saxophonist Alto Reed's spotlighted solos bringing romantic sentiments to love ballads and punctuation to the roots rockers. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's killer performance was a first class presentation of timeless rock and roll.

Setlist:

1. Shakedown
2. Still the Same
3. The Fire Down Below
4. Mainstreet
5. Old Time Rock & Roll
6. Downtown Train (Tom Waits cover)
7. Shame on the Moon (Rodney Crowell cover)
8. Roll Me Away
9. Come to Poppa
10. Her Strut
11. Like a Rock
12. You'll Accomp'ny Me
13. We've Got Tonight
14. Travelin' Man (Bob Seger song)
15. Beautiful Loser (Bob Seger song)
16. Turn the Page (Bob Seger song)
17. Forever Young (Bob Dylan cover)
18. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (The Bob Seger System song)

Encore:

1. In Your Time
2. Against the Wind
3. Hollywood Nights

Encore 2:

1. Night Moves
2. Rock and Roll Never Forgets

Rodney Crowell at City Winery

Rodney Crowell was born into a musical family in Crosby, Texas, with one grandfather being a church choir leader, the other playing bluegrass on banjo, his grandmother playing guitar, and his father singing semi-professionally at bars and honky tonks. At age 11, he started playing drums in his father's band, and in his teen years, he played in garage rock bands in Houston, Texas. In 1972 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and worked as a songwriter. Emmylou Harris recorded one of Crowell's songs and invited him to play rhythm guitar in her backing band, the Hot Band; Crowell played in Harris' band for three years. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Reed, Rosanne Cash, Bob Seger, Crystal Gayle and others recorded his songs in the meantime. Crowell then launched a solo deal in 1978, enjoying mainstream popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has won two Grammy Awards, six Americana Music Awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards. Crowell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Music City Walk of Fame in 2007. In 2019, Crowell received the Poet's Award from the Academy of Country Music for his achievements in songwriting. Crowell will release his 19th studio album, Texas, on August 15, 2019. Crowell currently is based south of Nashville.

Rodney Crowell kept his performance simple tonight at City Winery, strumming his acoustic guitar and plainly singing 21 of his well-crafted songs from across 40 years of recordings, accompanied by just two additional musicians on acoustic guitar, mandolin and violin. Crowell did not focus exclusively on the better known songs; the set did not include several number one country hits ("It's Such a Small World", "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried", "Above and Beyond"). The acoustic setting also did not allow for "Ain't Living Long Like This," an early song that rocks hard when he performs with a full band. Instead, most of the songs he performed were recorded after his peak on the record charts, and they were equally strong compositions, given a somber treatment with scaled-down arrangements. These acoustic renditions, performed with so little glitz, allowed for the beauty of his lyrics to shine. Crowell demonstrated that he is more of a gifted writer than a country- rocking entertainer.

Setlist:

1. Glasgow Girl
2. Earthbound
3. Stuff That Works (Guy Clark cover)
4. Come Back Baby (Walter Davis cover)
5. Frankie Please
6. East Houston Blues
7. What Kind of Love
8. Jewel of the South
9. Reckless
10. It Ain't Over Yet
11. Forgive Me Annabelle
12. Dancin' Circles Round the Sun (Epictetus Speaks)
13. After All This Time
14. She's Crazy for Leavin'
15. I Wish It Would Rain
16. Wandering Boy
17. Anything but Tame
18. Famous Last Words of a Fool in Love
19. Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight
20. 'Til I Gain Control Again
21. The Flyboy & the Kid

Imagine Dragons at Radio City Music Hall

Vocalist Dan Reynolds formed Imagine Dragons as a pop rock band while attending university in Provo, Utah. The band name was an anagram for a phrase only known to members of the group. After several personnel changes, Reynolds relocated the band to his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. Imagine Dragons got its first big break when Train's vocalist fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2009. The promoters called Imagine Dragons to substitute, and the band performed to more than 26,000 people. The band first gained national exposure with the single "It's Time," followed by "Radioactive" and numerous other Top 40 hits. Imagine Dragons set records as the band with the most weeks at number-one on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and "Radioactive" holds the record for most weeks charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Imagine Dragons has won three American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, one Grammy Award, one MTV Video Music Award and one World Music Award. The band has sold 12 million albums and 35 million singles worldwide. Imagine Dragons released their fourth and most recent studio album, Origins, on November 9, 2018. Imagine Dragons presently consists of Reynolds, lead guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and drummer Daniel Platzman.

Northwell Health hosted a Memorial Day event entitled Side By Side: A Celebration of Service, which concluded with a concert by Imagine Dragons at Radio City Music Hall. The sponsor gave hundreds of free tickets to military personnel and their families visiting New York City during Fleet Week 2019. Looking out into the audience, the musicians could see only a sea of starched and pressed military uniforms. Reynolds repeatedly spoke between songs about what an honor it was to perform for this audience and several times reached out to shake hands with uniformed personnel near the stage. The performance included lots of close-up projections, a slideshow of archived images of Reynolds in his youth, and confetti canons. Reynolds' introductions to the songs were compelling, particularly the most personal one, where he spoke about his battle with depression. The songs were performed in the most bombastic and dynamic manner. Every note, every lick, every flurry seemed so precisely calculated and perfectly positioned for maximum effect. Therefore, despite the volume and the energy, the performance for the most part lacked the vitality of a rock concert and at its core was a polished, arena-sized pop show.

Setlist:

1. Believer
2. It's Time
3. Whatever It Takes
4. Natural
5. Shots (acoustic)
6. I Bet My Life (acoustic, shortened)
7. Yesterday
8. Every Breath You Take (The Police cover)
9. I'll Make It Up to You
10. Start Over
11. Mouth of the River
12. Thunder
13. I Don't Know Why
14. Zero
15. Demons
16. On Top of the World
17. Radioactive

The Undertones at le Poisson Rouge

The Undertones formed in 1974 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Vocalist Feargal Sharkey, guitarist brothers Damian O'Neill and John O'Neill, bassist Michael Bradley, and drummer Billy Doherty learned about music by listening to British radio and mail order records, and reading an occasional British music publication. They rehearsed cover songs at the O'Neill home and in the shed of a neighbor. In 1976, the band began playing local venues, including schools, parish halls, and the scout hut where Sharkey was a scout leader. Sharkey also worked as a television repairman and delivery man, and used his job's van to transport the band's equipment to the shows. Soon named the Undertones, the band in 1976 gravitated to the new punk rock scene and began performing three-chord pop punk material. "Teenage Kicks" and other songs made the Undertones a U.K. hit, with marginal success in America. After four studio albums, Sharkey left the Undertones in 1983 and the remaining members disbanded. In 1999, the Undertones reunited and recruited vocalist Paul McLoone (Sharkey declined to rejoin), and recorded two more studio albums. The Undertones' sixth and most recent album is 2007's Dig Yourself Deep.

The Undertones headlined at le Poisson Rouge tonight, with another show tomorrow at the Gramercy Theatre. After a fine opening set by Baby Shakes, the Undertones performed all 14 tracks of the group's debut album in celebration of its 40th anniversary, plus 16 additional songs from the band's later catalogue. The fast-paced set matched pop melodies to loud guitar riffs, raging power chords, and firm rock and roll rhythms. The songs' intrinsic arrangements were as basic as they could be, with virtually no extended instrumental solos or experimental flourishes. This simplicity was perhaps the charm of the Undertones' performance, demonstrating that vocal hooks floating over three chords is the eternal definition of rock and roll.

Setlist:

1. Family Entertainment
2. I Gotta Getta
3. Jump Boys
4. It's Going to Happen
5. Tearproof
6. I'm Recommending Me
7. Jimmy Jimmy
8. When Saturday Comes
9. Girls That Don't Talk
10. Thrill Me
11. The Love Parade
12. Male Model
13. Here Comes the Rain
14. True Confessions
15. Teenage Kicks
16. Here Comes the Summer
17. Dig Yourself Deep
18. I Know a Girl
19. Nine Times out of Ten
20. Oh Please
21. You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!)
22. Wednesday Week
23. Girls Don't Like It
24. (She's a) Runaround
25. Get Over You (with Baby Shakes)

Encore:

1. Billy's Third
2. There Goes Norman
3. Listening In
4. Hypnotised
5. My Perfect Cousin

Johnnyswim at Webster Hall

The son of immigrants who fled Cuba, Abner Ramirez trained as a musician in his native Jacksonville, Florida, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, hoping to study and pursue music as a career. Amanda Sudano's family settled in Nashville after moving between the northeast and Los Angeles, California. Sudano had spent summers as a backing vocalist on tour for her parents, Bruce Sudano and Donna Summer. Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano first met in church in 2001, and after Sudano attended a songwriting workshop held by Ramirez in 2005, they started writing, singing and performing songs together. Although both had been unsuccessful in launching solo careers, they ignited a new spark as Johnnyswim. In 2009, they married and relocated to Los Angeles. Johnnyswim released its third and most recent album, Moonlight, on April 19, 2019.

Since its recent reopening, most concerts at Webster Hall are selling out, and Johnnyswim was yet another success on that list. Backed by a three-piece band (guitarist Jonathan Berlin, bassist Brad Connelly, drummer Devon VonBalson), Ramirez and Sudano performed 10 of the 12 songs from the current album, plus another 12 songs from the duo's catalogue. The songs had a common thread, in that the lyrics painted a vivid canvas of Ramirez and Sudano's deeply integrated lives and loves. The soulful vocal interpretation finely articulated the accompanying gains and losses of those experiences. Ramirez and Sudano sang very similarly, at times blurring together such that it was challenging for a listener to determine whose voice was more prominent. Other moments were more punctuated, as he brought the gruff and she brought the sweetness. The songs along with their spoken introductions often opened a window into the intimacy of their lives. Meanwhile, the understated musicians along the back wall provided accompaniment that touched on pop, folk, rhythm and blues and even bolero. In the end, however, it was Johnnyswim's unique vocal chemistry and positive charisma that made the performance refreshingly uplifting.

Setlist:

1. Flowers
2. Bridges
3. Don't Let It Get You Down
4. Say What You Will
5. Villains
6. The Last Time
7. Lost in Translation
8. Interlude
9. Moonlight
10. Amanda
11. Live While We're Young
12. Adelina
13. Marietta
14. Hummingbird
15. Souvenir
16. Home (in the audience)
17. Touching Heaven (in the audience)
18. Lonely Night in Georgia (in the audience)
19. Diamonds
20. Same Old Thing

Encore:

1. Take the World
2. Ring the Bells

Nils Lofgren at City Winery

In his youth, Nils Lofgren and his family left his native Chicago, Illinois, and relocated to Bethesda, Maryland. At age five, he learned to play classical accordion, which he studied seriously for the next 10 years. After studying classical music and jazz throughout his youth, Lofgren discovered a passion for rock music, and focused on the piano and the guitar. In 1968, Lofgren formed the band Grin with the former rhythm section in the Hangmen, and the trio played the Washington, D.C. music circuit. Grin relocated to Los Angeles, California, and a 19-year-old Lofgren joined Neil Young's band; Lofgren has been a recurring member of Young's Crazy Horse since 1970. Grin disbanded in 1974, and Lofgren launched a solo career, scoring a few radio hits in the mid-1970s. In 1984, he joined Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band for the massive Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Lofgren continued to perform in Springsteen's bands as recently as 2014, and also performed on two recent tours of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. Lofgren now resides in Arizona, and was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2017. Lofgren released his 17th and most recent solo studio album, Blue with Lou, on April 26, 2019; the album features five previously unreleased songs that Lou Reed and Lofgren wrote together 40 years ago.

A 2008 hip replacement surgery meant that Lofgren would no longer be back-flipping on a trampoline while playing guitar as he used to do in the 1970s. At City Winery tonight, all the theatrics were reserved for his guitar playing. Perhaps best known for his 50 years as a side musician, this tour was his first opportunity in 17 years to play live with his own band (Nils' brother Tom Lofgren on guitar and keyboards, Kim McCormick on bass, Andy Newmark on drums, and Cindy Mizelle on backing vocals), and so he brought his best rocking self to the stage. Lofgren's understated, reedy voice sang the songs softly and tenderly, until he ripped into fluid, sparkling guitar solos. Several of his songs were eight-minutes long due to his extended guitar solos. The set included his biggest hit, "I Came to Dance," a gentler version of "Because the Night," which he and Mizelle often performed with Springsteen, and three of his Lou Reed collaborations, but it lacked other signature songs, "Back It Up" and "Keith Don't Go." Lofgren in recent years performed several solo acoustic tours, but the best way to appreciate his music is rocking with a band.

Setlist:

1. Walkin' Nerve
2. Daddy Dream
3. Give
4. Too Many Miles
5. Don't Let Your Guard Down
6. Too Blue to Play
7. Girl in Motion
8. Big Tears Fall (lead vocals by Cindy Mizelle)
9. Believe (Grin song)
10. Goin' Back (Carole King cover)
11. Across the Tracks
12. Like Rain (Grin song)
13. No Mercy
14. I Came to Dance

Encore:

1. Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover)
2. Shine Silently

The Joey Ramone Birthday Bash at the Bowery Electric

Before a seven-year battle with lymphoma ended his life in 2001, Joey Ramone planned a birthday concert featuring his musical friends and colleagues. He committed his brother, Mickey Leigh, to make it happen even if the celebrant did not survive -- which he did not. Since then, Leigh has faithfully organized an annual concert on May 19 where musicians and punk music fans can celebrate the birthday of the late vocalist of the Ramones.

This year, the 19th annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash returned to the Bowery Electric, just off the corner of Joey Ramone Place. The evening featured performances by CJ Ramone, Sic F*cks, Mickey Leigh's Mutated Music, and Sea Monster. These sets were followed by a set of Ramones cover songs performed by several of Ramone's circle of friends, accompanied by a house band. The event benefited the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Sea Monster

Mickey Leigh's Mutated Music

Sic F*cks

CJ Ramone

Gonzo Roll

Evil Presley

Andy Shernoff

Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Beacon Theatre

Guitarists Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero grew up in middle-class families in Mexico City, Mexico. They met at the age of 15, at a cultural center in Mexico City, where Sánchez's brother was the director and Quintero was a drama student. Sánchez formed a heavy metal band called Tierra Ácida (Acid Land) with his brother, and Quintero joined them in 1993. In 1997, Sánchez and Quintero left Mexico City for the resort town of Ixtapa, Mexico, and played in beachside bars and hotels for nine months. Growing frustrated with the limitations of the Mexican rock scene, the duo moved to Europe, in 1999 taking residence in the Irish cities of Dublin and Galway despite not speaking any English. Rodrigo y Gabriela performed in pubs and busked on the street, playing cover songs and eventually adding original compositions to the repertoire. Rodrigo y Gabriela began recording in 2001; the duo released its seventh and most recent studio album, Mettavolution, on April 26, 2019. Rodrigo y Gabriela currently reside in Mexico City.

Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Beacon Theatre tonight proved that an amplified pair of acoustic guitars can generate an abundance of excitement. The wide stage allowed Sánchez and Quintero to play to the opposite sides of the audience then return to center stage to play for one another. Capturing inspiration from classical, nuevo flamenco, and rock, Sánchez and Quintero strummed, picked and slapped in their own speedy style, backing, accompanying and sometimes challenging one another. For the most part, the instrumentals were performed as duets, with Sánchez leading and Quintero applying her more percussive style as a counterpoint, but then the roles would reverse. Frequently the musicians, caught up in their rhythms, would join the upright audience in jumping and dancing. Creativity, variety and movement allowed for this performance to last for some 90 lively minutes.

Perturbator at Irving Plaza

In Paris, France, two parents who were music journalists and had played in a tech trance band influenced James Kent's interest in live music. The younger Kent began playing his parents' synthesizer at age eight and played his first guitar at age 11. After brief stints in black metal bands, Kent learned that he would rather perform solo, and electronic music made that possible. He took on the name Perturbator and since 2012 has recorded largely instrumental science fiction-themed music. Perturbator achieved international exposure when his music was used in the soundtrack for the game Hotline Miami; since then, his music has been used in television soundtracks as well. Perturbator has released four albums and several EPs and singles; in February 2019 he revealed a single, "Excess," as a preview to his forthcoming fifth album.

At Irving Plaza tonight, Perturbator's live production incorporated a live drummer, Dylan Hyard, plus ample use of blinding, flashing lights, LED bars, and fog machines. The musicians were barely visible under all the visual effects. Perhaps there was little reason to watch the musicians anyway, as the two musicians were fixed necessarily behind their non-portable gear and the only showmanship their bodies could offer was the bouncing of their heads. Meanwhile, layers of synthwave music throbbed, pulsed and vibrated at adrenalin-pumping speeds, thick and cinematic, as sharp-edged, jarring industrial sounds penetrated the often repetitious melodies. The structures paralleled rave music, but with far more density riding on the floating sublimities. This was cutting-edge cerebral music that has been attempted successfully only by European artists like Carpenter Brut, Goblin and Ulver.

Killing Joke at le Poisson Rouge

Jaz Coleman

As teenagers in 1978, vocalist Jaz Coleman and drummer Paul Ferguson left a band they played in together in London, England, to form Killing Joke. They recruited guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Youth through a classified advertisement in a British music publication, and after a few recordings achieved limited mainstream success in 1985. The band performed in punk clubs to punk audiences, but the music was decidedly not punk, but rather a vanguard blend of proto-industrial and post-punk with a bit of dark metal power. Killing Joke split in 1996 and reformed in 2002, with several personnel changes in both eras; the original lineup reformed in 2008 and comprises the current lineup. Killing Joke's 15th and most recent album is 2015's Pylon.

Killing Joke's two-year 40th anniversary Laugh at Your Own Peril tour rocketed into New York City with Coleman offering a spoken word engagement, Off on a Tangent, at Berlin, followed by band performances at le Poisson Rouge and Saint Vitus. The concerts featured the addition of keyboardist Roi Robertson, and consisted of songs from throughout the band's history as a retrospective. At le Poisson Rouge, Coleman lurked about the stage, wide-eyed and menacing, singing with a haunting scowl, as Walker's shimmery, reverberating guitar licks and Ferguson's dense, tribal drum patterns ignited the thunderous soundscape. Coleman's howls and shouts emphasized his often doom-and-gloom lyrics with electric intensity, as the musicians latched onto crude grooves rather than build to crescendos or spotlight any individual's proficiency. Killing Joke has refined its crunching, thick-as-a-brick, post-punk sound, and after 40 years is perhaps at the top of its game, except that the band failed to introduce new material. Hopefully the band will move beyond the retrospective stage once the 40th anniversary tour concludes.

Setlist:

1. Tomorrow's World
2. Autonomous Zone
3. In Excelsis
4. The Fall of Because
5. European Super State
6. Eighties
7. Bloodsport
8. Wardance
9. Requiem
10. Tension
11. Total Invasion
12. Loose Cannon
13. Corporate Elect
14. Asteroid
15. The Wait
16. Pssyche

Encore:

1. The Hum
2. The Death and Resurrection Show
3. Pandemonium

Tom Morello at Irving Plaza

Born in New York City and raised in Libertyville, Illinois, Tom Morello developed an interest in music and politics while in high school, where he sang in the school choir and was active in speech and drama club. At age 13, Morello joined his first band, a cover band called Nebula, as the lead singer. Around 1982, he purchased a guitar, taught himself to play, and formed a band called the Electric Sheep. After college, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he supported himself, first by working as a stripper, and later by working for a senator. In 1991, his band Lock Up disbanded, Morello met rapper/singer Zack de la Rocha, and the two founded Rage Against the Machine with bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, achieving international success. De la Roche quit in 2000, dissolving the band, so the remaining members paired with former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell to form the likewise successful Audioslave. Cornell left Audioslave in 2007, and the other members rejoined de la Rocha for a series of Rage against the Machine reunions. Morello also moonlighted as a solo acoustic artist known as the Nightwatchman, played in a short-lived duo Street Sweeper Social Club with Boots Riley of the Coup, and performed with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. In 2016, Morello formed Prophets of Rage with Commerford, Wilk, Public Enemy's Chuck D and DJ Lord, and Cypress Hill's B-Real. Most recently, Morello recorded his first solo album; The Atlas Underground was released on October 12, 2018.

In October 2018, Tom Morello introduced his new music with listening parties where he jammed to tracks at the end of the night. This time around, Morello was bringing fans a real concert experience, with a small band along with the backing tracks and politically provocative videos. At Irving Plaza tonight, the concert began with Morello wailing on guitar in the center of the venue, surrounded by fans. The wailing continued as he took the stage, crafting a set with Rage against the Machine medleys, a tribute to the late Chris Connell, and covers of social commentary songs by Bruce Springsteen and John Lennon. The sound was consistently hard and heavy, even the newer bass-drop, EDM-influenced tracks, as Morello used varying guitar styles, feedback, and effects. Morello demanded a quiet moment, however, when he strapped on an acoustic guitar and performed "Save the Hammer for the Man" and "The Garden of Gethsemane." On the latter track, he shared that he wrote the song for Cornell and needed the audience to be quiet. "Pin-drop silent," he said, "and it's nothing but heavy metal bangers the rest of the way." He concluded the show by inviting the audience onstage for an instrumental version of "Killing in the Name of." Even with a bassist and drummer on stage with Morello, much of the backing music, even Connell's voice on Audioslave’s "Cochise" and "Like a Stone," was on pre-recorded tracks. Nevertheless, this was a highly imaginative and extraordinarily ambitious concert presentation.

The Who at Madison Square Garden

Vocalist Roger Daltrey formed his first band, the Detours, in 1959 in London, England. Daltrey met John Entwistle by chance on the street carrying a bass and recruited him into the Detours. In mid-1961, Entwistle suggested Pete Townshend as a guitarist. The band became the Who in 1964, and after a few personnel changes recruited drummer Keith Moon that same year. This quartet became the Who's classic lineup. The Who rode the British Invasion in America with several hit songs, built a reputation as a wild live act, and helped pioneer hard rock music in the late 1960s. The band's popularity soared in 1969 with the release of a double-LP rock opera, Tommy, and sustained its popularity through several more albums, tours and festival performances. Moon died in 1978, and the band continued until a farewell tour in 1982 and split in 1983. In later years, the remaining band reunited to record and tour sporadically. The Who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Entwhistle died in 2002; the Who continues as Daltrey and Townshend plus session musicians in the recording studio and touring musicians on the stage. Townshend announced a second final tour in 2015. The Who has sold over 100 million records worldwide. The band's most recent studio album is 2006's Endless Wire; a new studio album reportedly will be released later this year.

The Who brought the Moving On! Tour to Madison Square Garden tonight, with Daltrey and Townshend joined by guitarist Simon Townshend (Pete's brother), keyboardist Loren Gold, violinist Katie Jacoby, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey, backing vocalist Billy Nicholls, and a symphony orchestra of 48 musicians covering the arena's massive stage. The first part of the show centered on Tommy, followed by a core-band-only mini-set of “golden oldies, just like we are,” as Daltrey phrased it, and the concert concluded with a Quadrophenia-centered set with the orchestra. Daltrey swung his microphone like a propeller and Townshend swung his guitar-strumming arm like a windmill, providing the rock theatrics; visually, the orchestra, stacked in stadium seating and playing as an orchestra does, was grandiose. The orchestra performed on all but five songs in the two-hour, 24-song concert. Sonically, the orchestrated arrangements sounded bold and massive. The highlight of the mini-set was Daltrey and Townshend's no-frills acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again." So then, the question might be posed, "Why was there an orchestra?" What effect was intended by the rock band? The end result was that the orchestra, as mighty as it was, was maybe a touch too much and as such, the Who's repertoire often did not achieve maximum rock drive.

Setlist:

With Orchestra

1. Overture
2. It's a Boy
3. 1921
4. Amazing Journey
5. Sparks
6. Pinball Wizard
7. We're Not Gonna Take It
8. Who Are You
9. Eminence Front
10. Imagine a Man
11. Join Together

Band Only

1. Substitute
2. I Can See for Miles (tour debut)
3. Won't Get Fooled Again (acoustic, performed by Daltrey and Townshend as a duet)
4. Behind Blue Eyes (with string accompanists)
5. Tea & Theatre (performed by Daltrey and Townshend as a duet)

With Orchestra

1. The Real Me
2. I'm One
3. The Punk and the Godfather
4. 5:15
5. Drowned
6. The Rock
7. Love, Reign O'er Me
8. Baba O'Riley

Michael Schenker Fest at Irving Plaza

Michael Schenker was born in Sarstedt, Germany, and started playing guitar in 1964 at the age of nine, joining his first band when he was 11. When he was 14, he and vocalist Klaus Meine started a band named Copernicus. A year later, they both joined Michael's older brother Rudolf Schenker in the Scorpions. In 1972, at age 17, Michael left the Scorpions and joined UFO for six albums, turning the British psychedelic band into a hard rock band. Schenker left UFO in 1978 to rejoin the Scorpions temporarily and then form his own band, the Michael Schenker Group (MSG), from 1979 to 1984. In 1986, Schenker formed the McAuley/Schenker Group with Robin McAuley until 1992. Schenker then embraced a more experimental musical life, recording several acoustic instrumental albums and two very experimental electric instrumental albums. Throughout the 1990s, Schenker toured with UFO, the Scorpions and the Michael Schenker Group. In 2007, Schenker formed Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock, which went on hiatus in 2016. Since 2017, Schenker's current project, Michael Schenker Fest, features four of his past singers, Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, Robin McAuley, and Doogie White, along with guitarist/keyboardist Steve Mann, bassist Chris Glen, and drummer Bodo Schopf. Michael Schenker Fest's debut album, Resurrection, was released on March 2, 2018; a second studio album, Revelation, will be released on August 23, 2019.

Michael Schenker seemed happier than ever at Irving Plaza tonight; he was all smiles throughout the nearly three-hour set. Coming on stage with his band, he introduced himself and named all his earlier band affiliations, and then shared his condolences over the demise of his drummer, Ted McKenna, and his former UFO and Michael Schenker Group bandmate, Paul Raymond. Then he began the rocking. As his three musicians maintained steady grooves, Schenker's extended guitar leads were frequent and flawless, and played with dazzling wizardry. Distortion and effects were kept to a minimum, as his hands did all the swift magic. In an unusual move, Schenker had his floor monitor to the side rather than in front of him; this way he could play at the edge of the stage and work the cheering audience all night. Meanwhile, the cast of four vocalists rotated alternately and also sang in varying combinations, keeping the show lively and colorful. Some 30 songs into the set, the band closed with UFO's "Rock Bottom," with Schenker wailing and ripping into an extraordinary lead for close to 12 minutes; the vocalists came back to conclude the song, and Schenker resumed his scorching leads for another five minutes. Schenker has performed with many band line-ups, but this tour may be the pinnacle of his career.

Setlist:

1. Holiday (Scorpions song)
2. Doctor Doctor (UFO song)
3. Into the Arena (Michael Schenker Group song)
4. Are You Ready to Rock (Michael Schenker Group song)
5. Attack of the Mad Axeman (Michael Schenker Group song)
6. Rock My Nights Away (Michael Schenker Group song)
7. Messin' Around
8. Armed and Ready (Michael Schenker Group song)
9. Coast to Coast (Scorpions song)
10. Dancer (Michael Schenker Group song)
11. Searching for a Reason (Michael Schenker Group song)
12. Desert Song (Michael Schenker Group song)
13. Night Moods
14. Assault Attack (Michael Schenker Group song)
15. Captain Nemo (Michael Schenker Group song)
16. Bad Boys (McAuley-Schenker Group song)
17. Save Yourself (McAuley-Schenker Group song)
18. Anytime (McAuley-Schenker Group song)
19. Heart and Soul
20. Love Is Not a Game (McAuley-Schenker Group song)
21. Vigilante Man (Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock song)
22. Lord of the Lost and Lonely (Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock song)
23. The Girl With the Stars in Her Eyes
24. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock song)
25. Take Me to the Church
26. Live and Let Live (Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock song)
27. Warrior
28. Rock Bottom (UFO song)

Encore:

1. Shoot Shoot (UFO song)
2. Natural Thing (UFO song)
3. Lights Out (UFO song)

Nitzer Ebb at Elsewhere, Brooklyn

Vocalist Douglas McCarthy, synthesizer player Vaughan "Bon" Harris, and drummer David Gooday were childhood friends in Chelmsford and Essex, England. They formed Nitzer Ebb in 1982 to play post-punk and electronic body music (EBM). The trio built a reputation on the British Hard Beat and Acid House scenes, and toured as an opening act for Depeche Mode. Gooday left the band in 1987, and McCarthy and Harris continued as a duo, periodically adding other musicians. The band quietly went on hiatus in 1995, returning with product in 2006. After 11 studio albums, Nitzer Ebb's most recent new recording was 2011's Join in the Rhythm of Machines EP. In 2018, Nitzer Ebb released deluxe reissues of the band's full catalog on CD plus a pair of giant vinyl box sets.

After another respite in 2010, Nitzer Ebb reformed late in 2018 and played a handful of European dates in December, with Gooday back in the lineup for the first time since 1987. Nitzer Ebb’s first North American tour since 2010 intended for the band to perform as a quartet, with the addition of Stark's Simon Granger. Unexpectedly, however, U.S. Customs denied visas to Gooday and Granger, so McCarthy and Harris performed as a duo tonight at Elsewhere in Brooklyn; Harris and McCarthy had no visa issues because they live in Los Angeles, California. McCarthy sang, scowled, working the audience as he paced back and forth incessantly across the stage like a predator stalking its prey, while Harris provided programming and played synthesized percussion. The majority of the music was prerecorded, such that McCarthy basically was singing to tracks that pulsed, throbbed and cascaded through layers of electronic waves and hard beats. These vocals sounded sinister and his constantly-moving body appeared to be menacing, well fit for the cold, aggressive, mechanical nature of the seductive dance music. The 90-minute set ignored Nitzer Ebb's later work, instead focusing on songs from the band's prime era, 1989 to 1991. Perhaps the set would have been more electrifying if half of the band had not been missing, but after a nine-year wait, the live performance was good enough.

Setlist:

1. Come Alive
2. Ascend
3. Blood Money
4. For Fun
5. Captivate
6. Hearts and Minds
7. Getting Closer
8. Lightning Man
9. Fun to be had
10. Shame
11. Family Man
12. Join in the Chant
13. Control I’m Here
14. Let Your Body Learn
15. Murderous

Encore:

1. Godhead

Meat Puppets at Mercury Lounge

In the late 1970s in Phoenix, Arizona, bassist Cris Kirkwood and drummer Derrick Bostrom played a few local shows in a band called Atomic Bomb Club. As the band dissolved, the former high school buddies began rehearsing together with Cris' brother, guitarist Curt Kirkwood, by learning songs from Bostrom's collection of punk rock 45s. The three then moved to suburban Tempe, Arizona, where the Kirkwood brothers purchased two adjacent homes, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced. After briefly toying with the name The Bastions of Immaturity, they settled on the name Meat Puppets in 1980 after a song which appears on their first album. Meat Puppets gained significant exposure in 1993 when Kurt Cobain invited the Kirkwood brothers to back him on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance, where Cobain sang his three favorite Meat Puppets songs. Meat Puppets' 1994 album Too High to Die subsequently became the band's most commercially successful release. The band broke up twice, in 1996 and 2002, resuming the brand with a different lineup in 2006. In 2017, Meat Puppets was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, leading the original trio to reunite for the first time since 1995 and adding two touring members, Curt's son, guitarist Elmo Kirkwood, and keyboardist Ron Stabinsky. The band released its 15th studio album, Dusty Notes, on March 8, 2019.

Meat Puppets headlined at Mercury Lounge tonight as part of the venue's 25th anniversary celebration. The performance marked not only the reunion of Meat Puppets' three founding members but also the first time the band toured as a quintet. Intertwining six new songs with familiar songs from the band's first wind in the mid-1980s and its resurgence in the early 1990s, the band combined its earlier cowpunk and acid rock roots with its heavier alternative rock riffs for a blend perhaps more polished than the band's earlier incarnations. The set allowed for pop, punk, country and psychedelic passages to crank into extended guitar jams. Meat Puppets remained faithful to uncompromising creativity, performing an honest yet quirky rock set that did not conform to conventions and waved the adventurous alt-rock flag once again.

Setlist:

1. Comin' Down
2. Warranty
3. Sam
4. Oh, Me
5. Dusty Notes
6. Movin' On (Curt Kirkwood song)
7. Sea of Heartbreak (Don Gibson cover)
8. Seal Whales
9. Flaming Heart
10. Unfrozen Memory
11. We're Here
12. The Great Awakening
13. Lost
14. Up on the Sun
15. Outflow
16. Nine Pins
17. Plateau
18. Lake of Fire
19. The Selfishness in Man (George Jones cover)
20. Goober Peas ([traditional] cover)

The Drums at Mercury Lounge

Jonny Pierce

Jonny Pierce grew up in Horseheads, a small town in upstate New York, where his parents were pastors of a medium-sized church. As a youth,  he found  in his basement an old analog synthesizer that the church was no longer using, and he started using it to write and record songs in his bedroom. Pierce formed a short-lived electro-pop group initially named Goat Explosion, eventually renamed Elkland, and released one album in 2005 before splitting in 2006. In 2008, Pierce relocated to Kissimmee, Florida, to develop the collaboration that would become the Drums. A year later, the musicians moved to Brooklyn, New York, performed in the NYC Pop Fest, and released an EP. The Drums received immediate media attention: the Drums reportedly became the most Shazamed band of 2009, British magazines lauded the band as a top pick for 2010, and Pitchfork's 2009 Readers' Poll voted the Drums as the "Best Hope for 2010." Band members exited one by one, and by 2017 the Drums became Pierce's solo project. The Drums released a fifth and most recent album, Brutalism, on April 5, 2019.

The Drums headlined Mercury Lounge tonight as part of the venue's 25th anniversary series. Pierce was backed by Bryan de Leon and Tom Haslow switching between guitar and bass and by Bryan de Leon on drums, performing songs from all five Drums albums. Pierce crooned broodingly, as repetitive, spindly guitar lines made the songs bright and bouncy. The juxtaposition of these modes made it seem like there was sunshine on the band but a rain cloud over the singer. Pierce's vocal delivery exuded sadness and vulnerability while the band's taut, shimmering surf guitar and a pounding beat sprung rays of summer-like hope. This was indie-pop music with a Britpop flair and emo sensibilities.

Setlist:

1. Days
2. Best Friend
3. Heart Basel
4. Body Chemistry
5. Book of Stories
6. Mirror
7. Brutalism
8. I Can't Pretend
9. Loner
10. Blip of Joy
11. Let's Go Surfing
12. Money
13. 626 Bedford Avenue
14. How It Ended

Encore:

1. Rich Kids
2. Blood Under My Belt

People's Blues of Richmond at Mercury Lounge

Tim Beavers II

Guitarist Tim Beavers II and bassist Matthew Volkes were already life-long friends when, as college students in 2009 in Richmond, Virginia, they began playing music together as a way to grieve the loss of a mutual friend. This collaboration started People's Blues of Richmond (known to fans as PBR). The blues-rock trio also presently includes drummer Nekoro Williams, son of Drummie Zeb of the Wailers. People's Blues of Richmond released its third and most recent album, Quit or Die, in 2016.

Headlining at Mercury Lounge tonight as part of the venue's 25th anniversary series, People's Blues of Richmond performed dark, grungy and fuzzy blues with classic rock roots, only dirtier and grittier. The lack of polish well served the music, as Beavers' yearning blues vocals matched his muscular guitar leads and thunderous riffs. The lyrics were passionate, and the scrappy arrangements were garage-rock crude, with Beavers doing much of the heavy lifting and Williams and Zeb helping to create a big and full sonic power and intensity. Hard rock may be making a comeback in the public marketplace, and People's Blues of Richmond's mature sound is ready to blast off.

Patti Smith & Her Band at Webster Hall

Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye

Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in southern New Jersey, where she worked a factory job and studied to become a teacher, Patti Smith escaped her mundane surroundings by immersing herself in poetry and rock and roll. In 1967, she launched a new life by relocating to New York City, where she worked in bookstores, connected with an underground enclave of artists, photographers, playwrights and journalists, wrote about music for music publications, and began reciting her poetry in literary circles. In an effort to rattle the poetry scene in 1971, Smith invited her friend, journalist Lenny Kaye, to play guitar accompaniment alongside her public readings. Over a period of several years, Smith found herself singing more than reading, adding more musicians, and becoming revered as an alternative rock icon during the first wave of punk rock. Despite growing fame, Smith disappeared from the limelight for most of the 1980s, raising two children with her husband in Detroit, Michigan. After the passing of her husband and others close to her, she resumed live performances in 1996, with Kaye, bassist Tony Shanahan, and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty; Smith's son, guitarist Jackson Smith, was added to the band in 2016. Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Her 11th and most recent album is 2012's Banga.

Patti Smith's performance tonight was originally announced as the first for the newly-reopened Webster Hall until the promoters slipped in a Jay-Z performance a few nights earlier. Former R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe opened Smith's two-night engagement with an unannounced acoustic set comprised of three new songs. Smith followed with a nearly two-hour set, and was joined at the end by Stipe and her daughter, pianist/vocalist Jesse Paris Smith. With no new songs to promote, Patti Smith relied on her usual set list, performing her better known songs interspersed by lesser known songs and cover songs. As a performer, she was as enthralling as ever, belting nearly every song to the band's energetic rock and roll beat. She was expressive in her singing, and chatty between songs. On this night, she did not read passages from her memoirs or recite poetry. Instead, she assumed her role as rocker while the band provided the heartbeats for the songs. The venue's sound and lights were expertly handled and so they magnified the brilliance of the performance. With this concert, the refurbished Webster Hall made an auspicious reboot; the venue may prove to be the best venue in New York for a rock concert.

Setlist:

1. April Fool
2. Are You Experienced? (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover, with “Third Stone from the Sun” riff)
3. Redondo Beach
4. My Blakean Year
5. Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil cover)
6. We Three (Patti Smith Group song)
7. The American in Me (Avengers cover) (Lenny Kaye vocal)
8. I'm Free (The Rolling Stones cover, with Lenny Kaye on vocals)/Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed cover, with Tony Shanahan on vocals)
9. Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith Group song)
10. After the Gold Rush (Neil Young cover)
11. 25th Floor (Patti Smith Group song)
12. Beneath the Southern Cross (with instrumental of the Beatles' "Within You Without You")
13. Pissing in a River (Patti Smith Group song)
14. Gloria (Them cover, with Jesse Paris Smith)

Encore:

1. Because the Night (Patti Smith Group song)
2. People Have the Power (with Jesse Paris Smith and Michael Stipe)