Fuckin’ A. Midway through a thoroughly gripping, third-tune “Mountain Song,” it occurred to me very clearly: In a more just musical world, Jane’s Addiction would be U2. Or vice versa. In a sold-out, Friday night concert at ...

There’s no reason rock & roll can’t incorporate elements of theater without being cloying. But at some point between The Wall and Whitesnake, practitioners forgot there was a difference between the onstage persona and the ...

About a quarter-century into a career that has earned them a fervent fanbase addicted to their mix of vocal harmonies, acoustic strumming and empowered earnestness, Indigo Girls don’t seem to have a whole lot of ...

Perhaps Evan Dando perceives a subtle indignity in the success of the Lemonheads’ current tour, in which the band—actually, Dando and whoever he’s currently touring with, in this case drummer Brian Nolan and bassist Josh ...

Slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein, a figure in New York’s Downtown avant-jazz scene who’s recorded several records for John Zorn’s Tzadik label, found he needed to head up to Hudson to play a Sex Mob show ...

Pittsfield’s Word X Word Festival offers a pretty soft sell. It lives not by big names but by a concept—and a concept that’s a little hard to explain to begin with. Founder Jim Benson’s pitch ...

I firmly believe in giving Steely Dan the benefit of the doubt. Whether it’s a super-clean snare sound that’s either too-pop-by-half or judiciously slick, or an ambiguous lyric that’s either corny or brilliantly sly, I ...