The Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D. World Tour opened at sold out Philips Arena Thursday night, February 4. The extremely diverse and multi-cultural crowd were first treated to Ludacris and LMFAO. In addition to Jennifer Brett’s live tweeting of the concert, Robb Cohen was also handy with his camera. Click here to see the full photo gallery.

And if you attended the show, tell us about what you saw.

(Photo Credit: Robb Cohen/ www.robbsphotos.com)  For other concert photography linked to Access Atlanta, please visit for Atlanta Concert Photography Galleries. by Atlanta Photographer Robb Cohen www.RobbsPhotos.com

Continue reading Black Eyed Peas & Ludacris Sell Out Philips Arena »

The Residents in classic eyeball mode, one of many anonymity-protecting get-ups the group has utilized.

FRIDAY
The Residents
The Residents were weird before, during and after weird was cool. Toiling anonymously, the musicians behind this project have been deconstructing pop music and crafting frightening worlds of sound since the early ’70s, when, according to the band’s always suspect self-created mythos, the members moved from Shreveport, La., to the San Francisco area. The group’s complex discography, secretive methods and otherworldly music make them both fascinating and frustrating for the uninitiated. Check the official online realm of the Residents, for a sample of the group’s strange and unusual catalog.
8:30 p.m. Feb. 5. $25-$27.50. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave., Atlanta. 404-524-7354.

FRIDAY
David Allan Coe
From the honky-tonk to the jailhouse and back, this country outlaw has traveled a hard road, and his gritty, darkly humorous songs reflect every inch of …

Continue reading Live music picks, Feb. 5-11 »

The Residents

Concert preview
The Residents
8:30 p.m. today, $27.50. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta, 404-524-7354, www.variety-playhouse.com.

By Bob Townsend

Elvis Costello’s famous quip, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” seems even more Zen koan-like when it comes to trying to describe the Residents.
Since the early 1970s, the San Francisco-based avant-garde ensemble has wrapped itself in mystery, never divulging the identities of its members and appearing in a wild array of surrealistic costumes, most notably tuxedos, top hats and giant eyeball masks.
Influenced by the likes of composer Harry Partch, jazz pioneer Sun Ra and Frank Zappa cohort Captain Beefheart, the Residents’ music can be difficult, comical, brooding and beautiful. Defying perceptions of what constitutes a “band,” making music is almost always part of some larger conceptual, theatrical or multimedia work.
The Residents will be at Variety Playhouse in Little Five …

Continue reading The Residents at the Variety Playhouse »

Lady Antebellum (from left, Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley) performs at the CMA Music Festival at LP Field in Nashville in June 2009. Photo: AP / Josh Anderson

Lady Antebellum is on a winning streak.

The country trio, which includes Augusta boys Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, are fresh from a Grammy win for best country performance by a duo or group for their No. 1 hit “I Run to You.”

Now the group puts the cherry on their winning Sunday with a No. 1 album. “Need You Now,” the band’s second album, debuts at No. 1 on the latest Billboard 200 chart with sales of 481,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s the highest debut for a country act since Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” landed at the top with 592,000 in Nov. 2008, Billboard reports. For the full details, see Billboard’s item on this week’s chart.

The trio is set to play with Tim McGraw at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood on May 15.

Continue reading Lady Antebellum’s No. 1 album »

LN = Live Nation, 1-877-598-8698, www.livenation.com
TM = Ticketmaster, 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com
TA = Ticketalternative, 1-877-725-8849, www.ticketalternative.com

Ben Folds is coming to the Tabernacle on March 14. Photo: Sony

ON SALE FEB. 5
Mountain Sprout. 8 p.m. Feb. 21. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $8 advance. TA.
Wirerose, No Parachute, Jonathan Gale and Deep Cut. 8 p.m. Feb. 24. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $7 advance. TA.
Brock Butler. 8 p.m. Feb. 27. Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta Room. $10 advance. TA.
Hightide Blues. 8 p.m. March 6. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $8 advance. TA.
Cross Canadian Ragweed. 8 p.m. March 9. Variety Playhouse. $20; $18 advance. TM.
Ben Folds. 8 p.m. March 14. The Tabernacle. $30-$35. LN.
Cary Hudson. 8 p.m. March 15. Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta Room. $8 advance. TA.
Ben Deignan. 8 p.m. March 19. Smith’s Olde Bar – Music Room. $10 advance. TA.
Tea Leaf Green. 8 p.m. March 20. Variety Playhouse. $20; $17.50 advance. TM.
Chelsea …

Continue reading Hot tickets, Feb. 2 »

A modest but enthusiastic crowd was treated to the Gift of Music Live concert Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. In addition to Bishop Hezekiah Walker and Yolanda Adams, the community benefit also featured choirs  from Voices of Faith, Beulah Baptist Church, Shiloh High School, Hopewell Baptist Church, the Friendship Baptist Church Praise Team, Holy Hip Hop artist MPH, Edward Long, Jr. and comedian Spike Davis. And while we weren’t there to cover it, Robb Cohen was handy with his camera. Click here for a complete photo gallery. And if you attended the show, tell us about what you saw.

(Photo Credit: Robb Cohen/ www.robbsphotos.com)  For other concert photography linked to Access Atlanta, please visit for Atlanta Concert Photography Galleries. by Atlanta Photographer Robb Cohen www.RobbsPhotos.com

Continue reading Spirited Crowd Celebrates Gift Of Music Concert with Hezekiah Walker & Yolanda Adams »

Yonder Mountain String Band. Photo: Tobin Voggesser

FRIDAY
Yonder Mountain String Band
This exuberant acoustic-based group has a rootsy sound, but the band is just as popular with jam-band fans as it is with traditional bluegrass lovers. The quartet’s latest release, “The Show,” expands the group’s sound (especially on the minimal, pulsing “Isolate”) and brings in former Elvis Costello and the Attractions drummer Pete Thomas for six of the album’s tracks.
9 p.m. Jan. 29. $32.25. The Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-659-9022.

McCoy Tyner. Photo: Gene Martin

SATURDAY
McCoy Tyner Trio
Tyner was the pianist in sax great John Coltrane’s classic quartet, the group that unleashed the intense, revolutionary “A Love Supreme” in 1964. Tyner’s made brilliant records of his own, including 1967’s “The Real McCoy,” since that landmark, and he’s still a fleet-fingered, percussive wonder at the keyboard.
8:30 p.m. Jan. 30. $32.50. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave., Atlanta. …

Continue reading Live music picks, Jan. 29-Feb. 4 »

LN = Live Nation, 1-877-598-8698, www.livenation.com
TM = Ticketmaster, 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com
TA = Ticketalternative, 1-877-725-8849, www.ticketalternative.com

The Drive-By Truckers are coming to Variety Playhouse on March 12-13. Photo: Jason Thrasher

ON SALE JAN. 28
Sherwood. 7 p.m. March 5. Masquerade. $12 advance. TM.
Wavepool CD Release Party. 8 p.m. March 20. Masquerade. $8 advance. TM.

ON SALE JAN. 29
The Drive-By Truckers. 8:30 p.m. March 12-13. Variety Playhouse. $27.50; $25 advance. TM.
Megadeth with Testament and Exodus. 7 p.m. April 21. The Tabernacle. $35. LN.
Porcupine Tree. 8 p.m. April 27. The Tabernacle. $25. LN.

ON SALE FEB. 5
The Album Leaf and Sea Wolf. 9 p.m. May 6. The Loft. $15; $13 advance. TA.

Daughtry will perform at Gwinnett Arena on June 5. Photo: Frank Ockenfels 3

ON SALE FEB. 6
HIM. 7 p.m. May 3. Center Stage. $36. TM.
Daughtry. 7:30 p.m. June 5. Gwinnett Arena. $29.50-$39.50. TM.

UPCOMING SHOWS
Between the Trees. 6:30 p.m. …

Continue reading Hot tickets, Jan. 26 »

Robin Thicke made an appearance Friday night at Echelon 3000 Bistro in Stone Mountain. I say appearance because the show lasted all of five songs and about 15 minutes.

You may be wondering why Thicke, who in December released his latest album “Sex Therapy,” was performing at a nightclub. “They paid me!” said Thicke backstage before the show.

Well, Thicke and his lovely wife, actress Paula Patton, are expecting their first child in May so he is all about saving (and making) that money, he said, but he added that Atlanta is one of his favorite cities and that he was invited to perform by Janet Jackson “one of the coolest girls in Atlanta.”

No silly. Not THAT Janet. This is Janet Jackson the promoter (pictured right), who was celebrating her birthday while several hundred of her closest friends (club patrons) crammed into Echelon to hear Thicke sing four of his hits plus one bonus song.

Thicke strolled onstage in shades and a black European cut suit singing “Shakin’ it 4 Daddy” …

Continue reading Robin Thicke serenades Patti LaBelle and Janet Jackson »

David Nail. Photo: Anthony Southam

TODAY
David Nail
After a failed run at country stardom in 2002, David Nail returned and scored a Top 10 hit with last year’s “Red Light.” The Missouri-born singer was first signed to Mercury and completed an album that was never officially released. He finally got a debut album, “I’m About to Come Alive,” in stores in August 2009.
9:30 p.m. Jan. 22. $12-$100. Wild Bill’s, 2075 Market St., Duluth. 678-473-1000.

FRIDAY
Bang on a Can All-Stars with Glenn Kotche
Percussionist Kotche (of Wilco) joins the edgy ensemble for a program of contemporary works. Among the pieces are Bang on a Can founder and artistic director David Lang’s “Sunray” and  Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood,” originally composed for claves and re-imagined by the ensemble’s percussionist David Cossin. They’ll also perform several works by Kotche, including “Clapping Music Variations,” which is based on Reich’s 1972 duet for clapping hands, “Clapping Music.”
8 p.m. Jan. …

Continue reading Live music picks, Jan. 22-26 »