Happy Friday, everyone! It’s been a busy week, so I’ve got a quick one today…a few songs that I’m digging at the moment.

How about you? Have any picks?

Imagine Dragons, “It’s Time.” And that chorus from this Las Vegas band gets me every time, too.

Speaking of Las Vegas, welcome back to The Killers with their awesome fist-pumper, “Runaways.”

Grouplove, “Tongue Tied.” You might remember them from an Apple commercial last year. And for today’s trivia, the band’s drummer Ryan Rabin is the son of former Yes member Trevor Rabin.

fun., “Some Nights.” And you thought “We Are Young” would make them a one-hit wonder. (Since the official video includes some language that might offend, here’s the clean version of the song.)

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Continue reading Friday Riffs: Some current songs to dig »

“Neil Young Journeys” – 87 minutes. Rated PG. Opening exclusively at Landmark Midtown.

 
As he rumbles through his old hometown in a 1956 Crown Victoria, Neil Young states, with typical coolness, “That’s why you don’t have to worry when you lose friends because they are still in your head and in your heart.”

It would be a throwaway comment in many other documentaries, but in “Neil Young Journeys,” the third collaboration between the hall of fame musician and director Jonathan Demme, it speaks to Young’s personality.

The film, like most music documentaries, is meant as a treat for fans rather than a vehicle to convert those who couldn’t care less about Young’s upbringing.

It’s a simple premise – Young cruises around Omemee in north Ontario, pointing out his boyhood haunts while on the way to a solo concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Chronology isn’t a priority here, as chunks of the show fill in the blanks between Young’s tour guide duties.

The sound is impeccable as Young …

Continue reading Neil Young’s “Journeys” provides intimate glimpse »

Lydia Loveless has become a frequent visitor to Atlanta wjile promoting her 2011 album “Indestructible Machine.” She’s at Smith’s Olde Bar on Friday, July 27. Photo: Paula Masters Travis

FRIDAY
Lydia Loveless
If you love Neko Case but long for an extra dash of grit in her solo work, you must hear Lydia Loveless. Her gorgeous country-flavored wail reaches in and grabs you by the heart on her stunning debut album “Indestructible Machine.” You have to be curious about an artist with a honky-tonk heart who lists Richard Hell, Charles Bukowski, Loretta Lynn and Britney Spears as inspirations.
8 p.m. July 27. $10 in advance. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-875-1522.

FRIDAY
Brandi Carlile, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band
Carlile has a killer voice that combines the disparate but complementary styles of two of her musical heroines, Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. She can pull off both the gruff power of the former and the sweet clarity of the …

Continue reading Concerts: Corndogorama, Seal, Allman Brothers, Wiggles, Yes »

Barry Manilow released his first concept album last year, "15 Minutes." Photo: Courtesy Stiletto Entertainment

For the past seven years, Barry Manilow’s life revolved around his Las Vegas residency, first at the former Las Vegas Hilton, and then for nearly two years at Paris Las Vegas.

In December, a day after wrapping his tenure on the Strip, he underwent hip surgery, a painful, complicated procedure from which he has recovered “about 90 percent.”

Now, the mega-selling Manilow (80 million records worldwide and counting) is back on the road playing three dates every other weekend — enough, he says to keep his band together and keep him fresh without sending him back to the operating room.

One of those stops will be Sunday, when he visits Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

As for those Vegas years, Manilow paused briefly when asked if he misses his regular gig.

“It was great. But do I miss it? It was fun and I don’t remember one bad show or moment. We would come off the stage and …

Continue reading Barry Manilow singing the old songs and writing new ones »

Willie Nelson performed at The Tabernacle earlier this year, as well as Chastain in June. Photo credit: Robb D. Cohen/www.robbsphotos.com

Willie Nelson is hitting the road in a most unconventional way.

The country legend is headlining the second Railroad Revival Tour, a train outing that will travel between towns with the acts aboard 16 vintage 1940s rail cars and set up pop-up concert venues around the railroad tracks where they stop.

The eight-day tour launches Oct. 20 at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth. Joining Nelson are Jamey Johnson, Band of Horses and John Reilly and Friends (yes, the actor John C. Reilly).

The concept originated last year with Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show traveling to six cities. The shows were filmed for the documentary, “Big Easy Express,” available on DVD/Blu-ray.

Early bird tickets for the Duluth show are $55 for general admission, $125 for the
“collector’s bundle” and $245 for the …

Continue reading Willie Nelson train tour launching in Duluth »

[As of this week, I'll be on with my rock 'n' roll pal Kaedy Kiely at 97.1 The River every Wednesday at 6:50 and 7:50 a.m. to talk about the latest rock news. Tune in to see what's up!] 

Look, a roller coaster loop! Oh, and a girl hanging from it. Taken at Motley Crue's July 20 show in Virginia. Photo credit: Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images

It’s another blandly named tour (see: Summer Music Festival) that is the antithesis of dull.

 “The Tour” is Motley Crue and KISS, sharing a bill and seeing who can light up the stage with the most pyro and rattle your chest the hardest.

 It’s a draw, really, between these two titans of tinnitus-causing rawk and if you’re a fan of both bands’ fist-thrusting, innuendo-filled pop-metal, then you couldn’t have left Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood disappointed Tuesday night.

 The show setup has Motley Crue performing first (you think Gene Simmons will ever “open” for anyone again?) and there was something fundamentally wrong with watching the …

Continue reading Motley Crue and KISS light up Lakewood Amphitheatre »

Joe Perry says Aerosmith's new album was put together the old-fashioned way – with everyone in the studio together. Photo credit: Ross Halfin

[As of this week, I'll be on with my rock 'n' roll pal Kaedy Kiely at 97.1 The River every Wednesday at 6:50 and 7:50 a.m. to talk about the latest rock news. Tune in to see what's up!]

Aerosmith is in the midst of a gut-kicking tour and Steven Tyler just announced that he’s departing “American Idol” to return to his first love as Aerosmith’s ringleader. But what Joe Perry really wants to talk about is the band’s new album.

 “I’m really anxious to hear what fans have to say about it. It’s different than anything we’ve done in a long time, but the energy that runs through rock ‘n’ roll has stayed constant through all the years. Mostly by now I’m so sick of listening to the [new] songs, but now I’m listening for the fun of it,” Perry said.

 He’s calling – coincidentally – an hour after Tyler publicized his decision to vacate his post as a …

Continue reading Joe Perry talks new album, new book and Steven Tyler »

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend will bring the Who’s “Quadrophenia” to the Gwinnett Arena in November. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 27. Photo: Mark J. Terrill / AP

ON SALE NOW
Fabolous. 9 p.m. July 27. Center Stage. Free. RSVP at www.superglued.com/sonyatlanta
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. 8 p.m. Aug. 17. Delta Classic Chastain series at Chastain Park Amphitheatre. $25-$35. TM.
The Rocketboys, Bearcat, Maggie Smith. 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Vinyl. $12; $10 in advance. TA.

ON SALE JULY 26
David Choi, Clara C. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14. Vinyl. $20; $15 in advance. TA

ON SALE JULY 27
Chris Edmonds. Aug. 10. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 in advance. TA.
Red Cup Party. Sept. 6. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 in advance. TA.
April Showers and Friends. Sept. 8. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 in advance. TA.
The Cheaters. Sept. 16.Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $8 in advance. TA.
Gbanjah. Sept. 22. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $15 in advance. TA.
Jimmy Herring. 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22. Variety …

Continue reading Tickets: The Who, Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo, Sinbad »

When The Gaslight Anthem started to make some public noise a few years ago with “The ’59 Sound,” it was tought not to take notice.

Yes, there was something familiar in singer Brian Fallon’s plain-spoken observations about death (“Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over? Did you hear your favorite song one last time?”) and his poetic musings set against a driving guitar and thunder road drumming (“Young boys . . . young girls…ain’t supposed to die on a Saturday night”).

 That the band is from New Jersey brings the obvious comparisons to Bruce Springsteen – an influence which The Gaslight Anthem wears unabashedly – and there are more than a few undercurrents of Bon Jovi running through the  nimble rock ‘n’ roll guitar lines from Alex Rosamilia.

 But while comparisons to the hometown brethren are fine, on the band’s fourth album, “Handwritten,” The Gaslight Anthem demonstrates exactly why they are ready to stand on their own.

 The 11 songs on …

Continue reading Tuesday Tunes: Spotlight on The Gaslight Anthem »

D'Angelo made his return to TV at a BET Awards performance earlier this month. Photo credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

The return of D’Angelo continues with his joint tour with Mary J. Blige this summer.

The duo – along with guest Melanie Fiona – will perform at Chastain Park Amphitheatre at 7 p.m. Aug. 28.

Tickets for the show – priced at $55.75-$125.75 – are on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday through all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com and 1-800-745-3000.

This is a regular table set-up show, so coolers and carry-ins are welcome.

D’Angelo has been on a gradual comeback trail after being pretty much MIA for the past dozen years. Earlier this month he made a respectable return to TV, singing and playing “Untitled (How Does it Feel)” and the new “Sugar Daddy” at the BET Awards and a few days later performing at the Essence Music Festival.

This joint “Liberation” tour launches Aug. 18 in D’s home stage of Virginia and will play 20 dates. The last record found of D’Angelo …

Continue reading D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige coming to Chastain »