Miranda Cosgrove, best known as the star of Nickelodeon's "iCarly," brings her tour to Center Stage in February. Photo: Matt Sayles / Associated Press

ON SALE  DEC.  3
Big Mike Geier’s “Elvis Royale” featuring Kingsized Orchestra and Dames Aflame. 8:30 p.m. Jan. 7-8. Variety Playhouse. $25; $23 advance. TM.
Reel Big Fish. 6 p.m. Jan. 18. Masquerade. $20. TM
NRBQ’s Terry Adams and His Rock n’ Roll Quartet. 8 p.m. Jan. 26. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15 in advance. TA.
Please PleaseRock Me. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. 8 p.m. Feb. 11. $10; $8 in advance. TA.
Miranda Cosgrove. 8 p.m. Feb. 15. Center Stage. $31.50-$79. TM.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 25-26. Variety Playhouse. $20; $17.50 advance. TM.
Colin Hay. 8:30 p.m. March 11. Variety Playhouse. $22.50; $20 advance. TM.
Graham Colton. 8 p.m. March 18. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15; $12 in advance. TA.
Taylor Swift. 7 p.m. July 9-10. Philips Arena. $25-$69.50. TM.

ON …

Continue reading Hot tickets: Nov. 30 »

Glenn Phillips (left) and Jeff Calder at Southern Tracks studio during the recording of the Supreme Court's new album, "Sun Hex." They'll be at the Red Light Cafe on Friday for their traditional post-Thanksgiving show. Photo: Jimmy Stratton / Music City Photo

FRIDAY
Glenn Phillips Band, Supreme Court
Glenn Phillips, a prodigiously talented Atlanta guitarist, co-founder of the Hampton Grease Band and a local treasure, joins Swimming Pool Q’s frontman Jeff Calder in their traditional post-Thanksgiving show. Phillips has been part of this town’s musical landscape for more than 40 years. The Supreme Court, the pairing of Phillips and Calder with a rhythm section, and the Glenn Phillips Band will both play sets. This year, they’re also celebrating a new album called “Sun Hex.” It’s only the band’s second release, and the first one came out in 1993. “Sun Hex” is an Atlanta history lesson on a little silver disc and proof of the enduring talent and adventurous …

Continue reading Live music picks: Nov. 26-Dec. 1 »

First it was a million-selling-plus debut week for her “Speak Now” album.

Now, Taylor Swift has announced dates for the most ambitious tour of her career.

The “Speak Now World Tour,” kicking off Feb. 9 in Singapore, will hit 19 countries through October.

Her U.S. dates, which begin in Omaha, Neb., in late May, include two shows at Philips Arena on July 9-10 and six at stadiums including Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and Dallas’ Cowboys Stadium.

Tickets for the Atlanta performances go on sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 3 at the Philips Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets are $36-$85.25.

For more information, visit www.philipsarena.com.

Continue reading Taylor Swift world tour includes two Atlanta shows »

Atlanta band the Constellations will ring in the New Year at Smith's Olde Bar. Tickets go on sale Thanksgiving Day. Photo: Jennifer Tzar.

ON SALE  NOV.  24
Royksopp. 8 p.m. March 24. Masquerade. $20 in advance. TM.

ON SALE NOV. 25
The Constellations. 8 p.m. Dec. 31. $25. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. TA.

ON SALE NOV. 26
The Last Straw. 8 p.m. Jan. 6. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10; $8 in advance. TA.
The Dirty Guv’nahs. 8 p.m. Jan. 15. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15; $12 in advance. TA.
The Blue Dogs. 8 p.m. Feb. 19. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $18; $15 in advance. TA.
Danielle Howle, Angelo Gianni. 8 p.m. March 10. Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta Room. $10; $8 in advance. TA.
The Coronas. 7 p.m. March 6. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $12; $10 in advance. TA.

Kid Rock returns to town with a show at the Gwinnett Arena March 4. Photo: Carlos Osorio / Associated Press

ON SALE DEC. 4
Kid Rock. 7 p.m. March 4. Gwinnett Arena. LN.

ON SALE DEC. …

Continue reading Hot tickets: Nov. 23 »

Visually jaw-dropping and acoustically flawless, “The Wall” anniversary tour might be the most technically phenomenal show ever staged in an arena.

The dive bomber careening over the audience and crashing in a fiery explosion. Those menacing, mammoth blow-up marionettes associated with iconic characters from the album (the schoolmaster, a wife, the pig). And of course, the wall, slowly being constructed, brick by cardboard brick, as the show progressed and used as a 240-foot-wide projection screen.

Click here for a gallery of images from the Roger Waters concert.

Roger Waters claims this will be his last-ever tour. And, really, it should be, because he could never top bringing “The Wall” to life.

He’s also managed to contemporize the semi-autobiographical Pink Floyd album, which, even after three decades, works as a complex study of politics and psychology.

Of course, there will always be the faction of fans who views “The Wall” as their best stoner companion, …

Continue reading Roger Waters’ “The Wall” a technical masterpiece »

Roger Waters, founding member of Pink Floyd,  performed “The Wall Live” Thursday night at sold out Philips Arena. George Roger Waters, born in Surrey, UK on September 6, 1943, is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known as the bass player, lyricist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Pink Floyd. Following the departure of fellow founding member Syd Barrett in March, 1968, Waters became the band’s lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. This tour is the first time the Pink Floyd album The Wall has been performed in its entirety by the band, or any of its former members since Waters performed the album live in Berlin on July 20,1990. It is estimated that the production cost alone is $60 million.

AJC photographer Robb Cohen covered the show with his camera. Check out the 17-photo online gallery: Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and The Wall Live. AJC staff writer Melissa Ruggieri also reviewed the show, saying the tour “tour might be the …

Continue reading Roger Waters Brings “The Wall Live” To Sold Out Philips Arena Thursday Night »

South Carolina quartet Needtobreathe plays a Thanksgiving Eve show at the Tabernacle. Photo courtesy Atlantic Records.

FRIDAY
Senses Fail
New Jersey’s Senses Fail gets a boost from lyrical concerns that rise above the adolescent angst of many of their peers. The band’s blend of melodic vocals and oodles of crispity, crunchity guitars isn’t anything new, but it is done with energy and style.
7 p.m. Nov. 19. $15. The Masquerade, 695 North Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-577-8178.

FRIDAY
Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile
Watching Chris Thile play is a jaw-dropping experience. The man coaxes things from a mandolin that you’d think were impossible. With Nickel Creek on an indefinite hiatus, he’s taken up with another group of musicians.
8:30 p.m. Nov. 19.  $25. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-7354.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes were always a band out of time. They emerged just before grunge, but the Atlanta band sounded nothing …

Continue reading Live music picks: Nov. 19-25 »

When the Dave Matthews Band announced earlier this year that it would take a break in 2011 – meaning no summer tour – that sound you heard was the collective wail of every concert promoter who has made millions off the band and every thirtysomething who has dutifully scheduled summer vacations around DMB’s itinerary for the past 20 years.

As one of the few road guarantees – partially due to the band’s ability/decision to keep ticket prices comparatively low – DMB’s absence next year will put a serious gash in concert revenue.

Click here for a slideshow of the Dave Matthews Band concert.

That said…so what? The band is one of the most relentless and dependable in the industry, so give it – literally – a break.

This brief fall arena tour, which winds down with a pair of shows in DMB’s hometown of Charlottesville, Va., and then ends with four shows in Matthews’ current home base, Seattle, is a fitting goodbye-for-now.

It isn’t a show packed with hits – …

Continue reading Dave Matthews Band says goodbye for now at Philips »

The Grammy-winning Dave Mathews Band treated their fans to a rocking jam Tuesday night, November 16, 2010, at Philips Arena. Known to their fans as simply DMB, Dave Mathews Band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. Founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Moore died suddenly in August, 2008 due to complications from an ATV accident. Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin, of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, has since filled Moore’s spot as the band’s saxophonist. Rashawn Ross(horns) and Tim Reynolds(guitar) have also become full-time touring members of the band. With musicians who each have roots in differing genres, including jazz, classical, soul, rock, bluegrass, and hip-hop, the band has created an eclectic sound which has earned them an extremely large and diverse fan base. After twenty consecutive years of touring the band …

Continue reading Dave Mathews Band Jams Out At Philips Arena Tuesday Night »

Jerry Seinfeld returns to the Fox Theatre in March for two shows. Photo: Evan Agostini / Associated Press

ON SALE  NOV.  19
Richard Bicknell & The Shameless Lovers. 10 p.m. Dec. 10. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $12; $10 in advance. TA.
Whynatte Presents B.o.B. at Smith’s: The Homecoming. 8 p.m. Dec. 24. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $25 in advance. TA.
Danny Barnes. 8 p.m. Jan. 12. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15; $12 in advance. TA.
Little Feat, the Roy Jay Band. 8:30 p.m. Jan. 14. Variety Playhouse. $30. TM.
Railroad Earth. 8:30 p.m. Jan. 15. Variety Playhouse. $23.50; $20 in advance. TM.
Cake. 8 p.m. Jan. 17-19. Center Stage. $35. TM.
Gaelic Storm, Sonia Leigh. 8 p.m. Jan. 27. Variety Playhouse. $17.50. TM.
Thirty Seconds To Mars. 8 p.m. Jan. 28. The Tabernacle. $29.50. LN.
Dark Star Orchestra. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4. Variety Playhouse. $27.50; $25 in advance. TM.
Robin Trower. 8:30 p.m. Feb. 5. Variety Playhouse. $30; $27.50 in advance. TM.
Trombone Shorty, …

Continue reading Hot tickets: Nov. 16 »