Tag: concert reviews

Lana Del Rey Graces Bridgestone Arena

Lana Del Rey is brilliant. She is the queen of rootless melancholy, an emotion many people seem unable to access fully — except through her. She’s a master of her own persona, and she’s constructed it with such consistency across all platforms that it’s baffling. She remains accessible enough to still convince us of her humanity, but remains removed enough that it’s still a question asked: is she real?

Bleachers gets personal at Marathon Music Works

Bleachers, a project of Jack Antonoff’s (guitarist of the notable group FUN. made popular by the hit “We Are Young”), has made an huge splash in the indie pop world in the 3 years they’ve been active. WRVU Nashville had the pleasure of sending two lucky concert-goers free of charge to see Bleachers at their September 13th show at Marathon Music Works.

DIIV Lights Up High Watt on November 12

DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith at the High Watt, November 12. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith at the High Watt, November 12. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

One thing that DIIV has undeniably cultivated is a certain, for lack of a better word, aesthetic—that quintessentially millennial, carelessly cool, baggy-shirt-baggy-pants-European-jazz-shoes Brooklynite look that perfectly matches their laid-back, yet guitar-heavy, washed-out sound. Despite their niche persona (or perhaps because of it), they have wide appeal, and wowed the crowded High Watt last night at their show.

Wild Nothing Comes to Nashville

Photo credit: Haley Brecher
Photo credit: Haley Brecher

My Wednesday started last week with my professor cancelling my 6-9pm class so that he could watch the Cubs game.  I was pretty pumped because having a three hour class on Wednesday nights is beyond brutal, but on top of that, I received a text from my friend Haley begging me to go with her to see Wild Nothing perform that night. While I had never heard of the band before, my love for discovering new music inclined me to say yes, and I am so glad that I did.

Dr. Dog Returns to the Ryman

I was in a bad position for picture-taking but here's a nice picture of the band. Source
I was in a bad position for picture-taking but here’s a nice picture of the band. Source

Last summer, a friend and I somewhat spontaneously decided to go to Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta, partially to avoid the mess of Vanderbilt graduation and partially because of the killer 2015 lineup. We each had our own personal ideas of bands we wanted to see, but as with any music festival (especially a smaller one like Shaky Knees, where there were only at most two bands playing at the same time), we often had a bit of unscheduled time to casually listen to bands that we weren’t familiar with or didn’t know at all. One such band was Dr. Dog.

Kurt Vile’s Sold-Out Show at Marathon Music Works

Kurt Vile at Marathon Music Works 2/25 (photo courtesy of Alexandra Justice)
Kurt Vile at Marathon Music Works last night (photo courtesy of Alexandra Justice)

Kurt Vile tickets were in such high demand that the show moved from Exit/In to Marathon; they eventually sold out there as well. Everyone, it seemed, was clamoring to see the man behind the deep, droning voice whose b’lieve i’m goin down… rounded out the latest addition to his successful solo career.

Tool and Primus Bring Psychedelic Bliss to Bridgestone

I’ll the first to admit that I’m a bit of a fanboy of Tool, and I was definitely a pretty big Primus fan back in the day (I mean, with a bass style like Les Claypool’s, how could I not?), so when I read that the two bands were going to be playing Bridgestone Arena, I did the logical thing and set a reminder on my phone for when to stop paying attention in stats class to buy tickets as they went on sale.  I was a little excited.

Nest, Alex G, and Title Fight’s Chaotic, Sold-Out Show at The End

Alex G at The End (10/29)
Alex G at The End (10/29)

Nest—a local Nashville favorite—Alex G, and Title Fight make for quite the trifecta. It’s no wonder the show sold out rather quickly with a venue as intimate as The End. It’s just as well for those who managed to snag tickets: there wasn’t a dull moment in the small space throughout the show, culminating in Title Fight’s all-out chaotic performance that garnered some of the most intense and committed crowd-surfing I’ve ever witnessed.

of Montreal Gives Intense, Impressive Mercy Lounge Performance

of Montreal's Kevin Barnes at the Mercy Lounge
of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes at the Mercy Lounge

Of Montreal has solidified a well-deserved reputation for being a band best enjoyed live—not just for their intense light effects and dancing characters, but also because of Kevin Barnes’ engaging onstage presence and captivating antics. And the Athens-based group’s latest Nashville appearance did not disappoint, with dog costumes, crowd-kissing, and one ephemeral image of Donald Trump.

Turbo Fruits’ Intimate House Show with The Gills and JAWWS

Turbo Fruits
Turbo Fruits

“I remember when you couldn’t walk a block here alone at night, if you know what I mean,” Jonas Stein said into the mic at Turbo Fruits’ house show appearance Wednesday night. They played with The Gills—it was their album release party—and JAWWS, two enthusiastically chaotic, too-loud-for-the-living-room acts. The show, as Stein hinted, was in an up-and-coming neighborhood in a house that you’d expect to be a tad too small for the Nashville group (who have played for crowds both locally and around the national festival circuit), but the location was good for the modest hump day crowd.