photos by Greg Cristman

Richard Thompson opened his 90-minute set in the Southern Theatre [on 10/5] with a song that contained the line, "One door opens/Another shuts behind." An optimist might have been fooled into thinking the glass in One Door Opens was half-full. Unsurprisingly, however, Thompson soon ran with the second line.

Up next, Waltzing's For Dreamers might have struck a more-romantic note, encasing some shred of hope in a lovely lullaby. But the song also contends waltzing's for "losers in love."

By song number three, the singer simply threw in the towel: "Good things happen to bad people," he sang, "But only for a while." The first two featured a hint of the famed Thompson guitar style, dazzling all evening, through skillfully interlaced chords and runs. Here his axe became little more than a weapon of revenge.

He then promised that it would get a little brighter -- later on.

Thompson was schooled in the university of the English murder ballad. From his groundbreaking '6 0s work in Fairport Convention to the present, he has never been known to wince at emotional blood and guts. -[Columbus Dispatch]

The above review comes from a recent Richard Thompson show that took place in Columbus, Ohio last week. The pictures in this post are from the show at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on September 4th. Both show were part of his ongoing US solo tour that will hit NYC over the weekend at Town Hall on 10/15 and then head to Tarrytown, NY to play Tarrytown Music Hall on 10/18. Tickets for both Town Hall and Tarrytown Music Hall are still available. Full tour schedule, and more pictures from WBPAC (with the setlist) below...

Continue reading "Richard Thompson tour hits NYC this weekend, was in Long Island last month (pics)"

British folk troubadour Richard Thompson, an original member of the pivotal folk rock group Fairport Convention, one half of a more intimate duo with his now-ex-wife Linda Thompson, and a prolific solo artist, is going on an extensive North American solo tour with a number of different openers including My Brightest Diamond, John Prine, and others on select dates. The tour hits NYC on October 15 at Town Hall with support from Sarah Jarosz. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Friday (8/5) at noon with an AmEx pre-sale starting Wednesday (8/3) at noon.

All dates and some videos of Richard and his band at Wellmont Theatre last year below...

Continue reading "Richard Thompson announces tour (dates)"

Man or Astroman? @ NXNE 2010 (more)

Tickets go on sale at 11am for the Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation shows happening at the Beacon Theatre in October.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Big Boi show at Brooklyn Bowl.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Aziz Ansari show at the Wellmont Theatre.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Wolf Parade show at Wellmont Theatre.

Jimmy Eat World is playing Terminal 5 on October 13. Tickets are on sale at noon.

The Henry Clay People are playing The Mercury Lounge on October 16. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Justin Townes Earle show at Webster Hall.

The Richard Thompson Band is playing The Wellmont Theatre on October 22. Tickets are on sale at noon.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the High on Fire/Torche/Kylesa show at Webster Hall.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Dawes/Vetiver show at Webster Hall.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Magic Kids/Bosco Delrey show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Man... Or Astro-Man? show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale at noon for the Mumford & Sons show at Terminal 5.

Sufjan Stevens tickets are on sale (or sold out already)

ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

October 8-10, 2010 | Zilker Park, Austin, TX

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Tickets go on sale today. The 2010 ACL lineup is below...

Continue reading "Austin City Limits announces 2010 festival lineup (Eagles, Muse, Phish, Strokes, MIA, LCD, Spoon, Gayngs, more) "

Elvis Costello @ Bonnaroo 2009 (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH... fuses the best elements of talk and music television and invites viewers to enjoy an intimate conversation between host Costello and his guests, punctuated by rare musical performances by Costello, his guests and a wide variety of musicians.

Sundance Channel in the US, along with CTV in Canada have picked up the show for a second season, with taping scheduled at New York City's famed Apollo Theatre at the end of September.

Dates, lineups, and ticket info below....

Continue reading "Elvis Costello taping 2nd season Spectacle shows @ the Apollo - get tix (Neko Case, Levon Helm, Ray Lamontagne...)"

Richard Thompson's Walking on a Wire is in stores tomorrow. The career-spanning box set includes songs from his Fairport Convention Days, his albums with Linda Thompson, and his solo work.

Mid-summer means the music release list is a bit short, but quality music abounds this week. I can recommend Brendan Benson's My Old, Familiar Friend (check him out on tour), The Cave Singers' Welcome Joy, Choir of Young Believers' This Is For The White In Your Eyes, Mount Eerie's Wind's Poem, The Temper Trap's Conditions, and Ramona Falls' Intuit.

My favorite release of the week is (not surprisingly), Destroyer's Bay of Pigs EP. Destroyer is back in NYC in September.

My favorite Flaming Lips album, The Soft Bulletin, is reissued this week in a 2-LP and CD edition. Other reissues of note include four Musie vinyl albums (Muse: Absolution,, Muse: Black Holes and Revelations, Muse: Origin of Symmetry, and Muse: Showbiz) and The Antlers' Hospice.

If you are already looking to fill your Christmas mix CD, Stockings By the Fire (reissue) has also been reissued, and contains holiday songs by The Bird and the Bee, Hem, Aimee Mann, and others.

What new music can you recommend this week? What's on your shopping list? Have I left any interesting releases off the list?

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"