By Scott Roberts; photos By Sue Volkert Any trepidation I had about seeing a legendary L.A. punk rock band whose members are in their mid-50s (at least!) playing 30-year-old songs was joyfully and powerfully obliterated approximately 10 seconds into the opening song of their set at Variety Playhouse on Saturday, June 13. All four original […]

By Julia Reidy It began with "Runaway." The nine-member incarnation of The National, complete with three horn players and a keyboardist, began the set with a new, mesmerizing, post–Boxer song. Poignant and compelling even on the first go-around, everyone listened with rapt attention. Then, like one communal exhale, guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner launched into […]

By Noel Wurst As someone who doesn’t know every Mastodon song by heart, there came a time at their show in Atlanta on Friday night when I had to stop trying to make out any of the words – whether from the band themselves, or the maniacal fans around me – and just sit back […]

By Ben Grad Seeing your favorite singer/songwriter play in person is always disappointing. With a rock band, you expect the muddier live sound – that in-your-face, energetic dissonance is part of what defines “rock.” But singer/songwriters (even ones who play with three-piece backup bands, like Kevin Devine) are defined by the clarity of their sound […]

By Julia Reidy Three white animatronic cats perched atop a speaker preceded the five men of Man Man onto the Variety Playhouse stage after they finished their plain-clothes sound check and ventured off to get into costume. The cats would stay still barely long enough so that you’d think they were lifeless, then move just […]

By Stephanie Roman Player/Kommander describe themselves as "a splash of New York glam with motor oil under their nails." Equally at home playing L.A.'s Viper Room or a juke joint on the Mississippi delta, PK brought their unique style of glitterbilly rock home to Atlanta on Friday night. The band did not let the venue's small crowd prevent them from launching into an […]

Our very own Angela M. Scarola took these awesome pictures of the coolest duo to come through Atlanta since Johnny and June.        

By Julia Reidy  After two-piece Guidance Counselor, who shared drummer Keil Corcoran with the headliners, played to a moderate Saturday night crowd, the aforementioned headliners took the stage without all the attention-grubbing, social climbing behavior their band’s name might suggest. Leaving affectation at the door, Portland quartet Starfucker humbly launched into a mixture of tracks […]

By Scott Roberts; photo by Sue Volkert An especially sparse (even for a Monday night) crowd at The EARL did not deter hometown darlings Magnapop or veteran headliner Tommy Keene from delivering entertaining sets of energetic, rock-tinged pop. The humble, yet appreciative, crowd was first treated to a loosely confident performance by Magnapop, who opened […]

By Stephanie Roman Saturday night at Lenny's closed out three nights of fantastic local performances. On tap this evening were locals Can Can, along with Living Things from St. Louis (pictured above and below), and international gay bar champions, Electric Six. I was secretly thanking Lenny's for enforcing a "no-smoking indoors" policy tonight since I had a sore […]

By Stephanie Roman A late-night audience from the Criminal Records' in-store performances this evening spilled out into the streets of Little Five Points to enjoy the cool air and investigate The Faint and Ladytron show. A substantial crowd had gathered outside Variety Playhouse by the time we reached the door. Small groups of fans murmured their frustration as the words "sold out" filtered down […]

By Scott Roberts; photos by Sue Volkert From the familiar beginning arpeggiated chords of show opener “I Often Dream of Trains” to the slightly shambolic ending of final encore “Listening to the Higsons” with its familiar sing-along “wo-wo” refrain (and guest star Mike Mills joining in on guitar), Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 delivered […]

By Alexandra Edwards; photo by Ian Darken Some days, it feels like Venice is Sinking is finally getting the recognition they deserve. Their video for "Ryan's Song" premiered on the front page of Stereogum in February and since then the band's new album, AZAR, has received glowing reviews from the likes of NPR and Venus […]

By Eileen Tilson When a young Butch Walker first came onto the scene in 1997 with Math and Other Problems, he swaggered on stage without an air of pretension, but the ability to convert a crowd, even if they had never heard of Marvelous 3 before. The music wasn’t difficult; it was catchy, upbeat pop […]

By Stephanie Roman A dreary and wet evening belied the roster of high-energy performers waiting inside The EARL on Thursday. We entered the room to find Pictureplane (pictured above) – one man tinkering with squeaks and extra reverb from behind a Korg draped in a banner featuring one seriously psychedelic Yoda. The lyrics were muffled, […]