The lights of ELO‘s spaceship return to the skies after a 14-year absence with the release of their newest album Alone in the Universe. Sweet, sweet is the night, now that ELO has returned, this time dubbed Jeff Lynne’s ELO. Jeff Lynne and ELO have essentially been two halves of the same entity, more or […]

I first saw Rush over 30 years ago in 1984 in a place that’s no longer with us called The Spectrum in Philadelphia. At the time, Rush still played “short” sets and had opening acts. Over the years, I stuck with Rush as one of my favorite bands and saw them all over the Philadelphia […]

I first saw “Weird Al” Yankovic when I didn’t even know that I was going to a concert. I was on a theme park trip in the mid-‘90s to visit a friend in Southern California. He scheduled our day at Six Flags Magic Mountain to coincide with a Weird Al show. “We’re seeing Weird Al […]

It has been a terrible winter all across the country, and we were really pounded hard in the Philadelphia area in February. It was a treat to be able to get out of the house on a Saturday night in between snowstorms to go to a concert. This wasn’t just any concert, but it was […]

There are few firsts in your life, and they’re almost always special. Music is in my blood and bones, so the first time I see an act in concert is (hopefully) memorable. Among those first concerts, there are very few of those that will remain with me forever. The first time I saw Kiss — my […]

Summer is perfect for all kinds of events outdoors under the stars. Some cities show movies in public spaces, especially calling to mind drive-in theaters. Other cities have open arenas for concerts, and Philadelphia is lucky enough to have two such places. How great would it be to combine music and movies in one event? […]

Who knew that there was a time machine at the Underground Arts club on Callowhill Street in Philadelphia on January 26, 2013? As in the distant past, the hottest ticket in town this Saturday night was to see legendary Philly rock act The A’s, and we were all taken back 30+ years to the late […]

I grew up during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and really became aware of “current” music in the mid-to-late 70’s. That put me on a direct collision course with some of the very biggest bands in rock history and it clearly had an influence on my tastes in music. The differences between the music my […]

On May 18th HDGiants (formerly known as MusicGiants) filed for bankruptcy. By Friday only the CEO and a single support guy were left working there. Everyone else had been let go. This is sad news for me. HDGiants was the only source for CD-quality (lossless) digital music. The future seemed even brighter when, late last […]

I am not a fan of American Idol. The show just doesn’t work for me. Apparently there’s a British version of the show called Britain’s Got Talent that works pretty much the same way. If you haven’t seen the most recent episode that aired on April 11th then you missed something truly heart-warming and, frankly, […]

I do not believe in DRM (Digital Rights Management) for music or any media. It’s a form of copy protection and I’ve written many times about the issues of copy protection. It protects almost nothing, annoys most everyone (except the pirates) and reduces revenue. Anyone thinking this helps capitalism doesn’t have a clue what they’re […]