Concert Review Site

The Cranberries have a new album and some live performances. It is one of those groups that is known to a relatively small group of people, though you might know recognize some of their songs from hearing them. The audience that comes to their shows is roughly the same as the one that would have come back in the early 90s. It’s almost like the band hasn’t changed at all, though they’re of course older. But they hardly tried to play their new music, instead going with their old hits and keeping things going on that basis. When they did play the new stuff, it wasn’t quite as good as the old stuff. Were the Cranberries a part of their own time and it doesn’t translate? Or have they perhaps not tried hard enough yet? It’ll be interesting to see whether they’re able to take off again or it they will stick with what they already know.

One of the surprising pieces of information this week was that Dave Matthews has a new film out, including clips from various of his concerts this last year and it’ll be interesting to see if they decide to let the film run a bit longer than previously announced. The concerts were partly in outdoor festivals and partly some of the rest of the indoor concerts. But the fun thing is that it’s partly in 3D format. This will make you think that you’re right there, and even in a better place than you might have been during the actual performance. No matter how much fun you think it will be, it will be an amazing movie for you to see. Check out Larger than Life if it’s playing in your area.

Rascal Flatts is right on their way into 2010, when their Unstoppable tour will continue. They have announced a couple dozen dates from January through mid-March, becoming one of the big early tours at the moment. The tour will start with a couple of performance dates in Canada and then they will filter down to the US for shows in Detroit, KC, and several dates in Texas and the Southeast. This year, their Unstoppable Tour included some of the best songs you’ve heard in a long time and gave fans so much fun that it’s hard to imagine. Were you able to see it during 2009? If not, get your tickets for Rascal Flatts and enjoy one of this year’s best current performers.

The last of the singing Clancy Brothers passed away at the end of last week. Liam Clancy was a musician of the top caliber. Back in the 1950s, he emigrated to the US in order to join his brothers who were starting up a strong career. They made a highly touted record at the time and then joined another Irishman named Tommy Makem. The group brought Irish music to a wide audience and also helped to bring the world of folk music to a new generation of musicians. This added to the folk-rock movement, including people like Bob Dylan. They also played their Irish music differently, without putting nearly so much emphasis on ballads (think Bing Crosby) and shifted it more into a bouncy dancing rhythm (Michael Flatly style). We never think that this music wasn’t the norm, but the Clancy Brothers helped to bring it forwards.

Guess who is at the top of the charts this week? It’s not one of the expected musicians. In fact, it’s one of the performers that’s the biggest surprise of the year. Susan Boyle is the biggest musician on the charts! She is the woman who was on Britain’s Got Talent last spring, singing “I Dreamed A Dream” and surprising everyone in the theater. Before that, she was a woman who sang in the church choir and lives with her cats. Now everyone knows her and she’s sold more albums than anyone else right now. She’s possibly the top selling artist of the year. That beats out the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and a bunch of other famous musicians. Who knows if her star will last very well into 2010, but it’s been a great ride for her!

Nick Jonas seems to have struck out on his own. While the Jonas Brothers are officially a real musical group still, Nick Jonas has announced a tour with a band called The Administration. It will be important for fans to realize that this isn’t the same as the Jonas Brothers were and that the music might not be the same. In fact, it might not be as family-friendly as a lot of their earlier efforts were. I honestly don’t know one way or another, but make sure that you read a bit about it if you are someone who likes them for that friendly, safe sound. Nick Jonas isn’t the only one of the brothers to try something new, but he does seem to be the one with the most plans for it going forwards. Check into it and see if it’s something for you!

Now that Rihanna is putting out albums and heading into the recording studio some more. It’s a great time for someone like her to be out. When you have people like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift on tour, sometimes you need to add a little bit of variety in a singer like Rihanna. She is the diva that you don’t want to mess with, according to the article I read about her, and it’s always a lot of fun to see what she’s working on. Her current album, called “Rated R” has been amazing to listen to, because of its attitude and strength. She remains one of the most interesting singers right now with that style. But in the album, she has put some special “introspection” in, which gives the songs an extra special flavor.

Adam Lambert, the recent American Idol runner-up, performed at the AMA Awards this weekend and drew a lot of complaints. He had mentioned that he wanted to push the envelope and he’s the kind of performer that can do so. But onstage, there was a lot of more provocative actions than one normally expects from a male singer. The biggest moment was when he kissed a keyboard player on the lips, for a long time and intensely, during the song. This is the part that people have been talking about for the last two days although there are arguably more edgy parts of the performance. There were comments to ABC from all sides of the issue, from anger to support and everywhere in between. Lambert isn’t one to hold back, so he’s not bothered by the critics at all.

When you see Miley Cyrus in concert these days, it’s going to be different than you might expect. Remember, she used to be the innocent Hannah Montana character, who wanted badly to become a music star and worked hard to do it. Now she’s transitioned from Hannah into full Miley. She has less of the innocent quality, and a little more of the new character, which is a modern pop singer of the highest magnitude. She is talented, and she knows how to put on a cool show. For example, her show starts out with her appearing in a big block of ice. Don’t ask me how she does this, though it might be some kind of Houdini-thing. Either way, she dances in the ice for a few minutes and then breaks out of it, in full metaphorical fashion. But her fans love it. And don’t even ask about the text messaging during the intermission. The fans are supposed to txt something to her and then sometimes she even responds. This keeps people excited through the intermission too. Fun show, but maybe only if you’re younger.

Oasis is done. It has been announced (and I might have missed it way at the beginning) by some of the group’s members as they move on to starting new projects with other bands or as solo members. The latest is Liam Gallagher who said that he was teaming up with several members of the band to start something new. It’s only his brother Noel that wont be part of it, as they apparently had some kind of major falling-out earlier this fall. So the band will seem much like Oasis, probably, but will just have one member missing. Hopefully, it will be good music too, but who knows what it will actually turn out to be. Anyway, the important point is that Oasis has stopped existing as an entity and they are moving on.