Pop/Rock/Folk

London ReviewsMusic ReviewsPop/Rock/FolkREVIEWSREVIEWS BYSaul Reichlin

Juliet Lawson, Songs From a Suitcase

Delving into her past, Juliet Lawson brings forth from her suitcase, songs and memories, as she says, ‘of angst and passion, with a smattering of self deprecation, humour and other delights’.

In the warm and intimate atmosphere of the Rosemary Branch Theatre, the soulful style and bittersweet wit and rhyme of Miss Lawson, brought sighs of appreciation from her faithful audience, and in numbers like ‘Is It Really You?’, ‘What a Waste Of a Woman’, and ‘At the Sign Of The Fallen Angel’, some truly wonderful songs are on show.

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Music ReviewsMUST SEEPop/Rock/FolkREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTom Williams

Opus 1861 -The Civil War In Symphony

Songs like “When This Cruel War is Over (Weeping Sad and Lonely),” “Shule Agrah (Johnny’s Gone for a Soldier)” and “Follow the Drinking Gourd” were particularly emotionally moving. The Civil War songbook’s rich personal sensitivity toward the angst of war is deeply presented by this group of talented singers. The superb vocals and the honest presentation of the letters home added power to the sacrifice of theses honorable patriots.

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Music ReviewsPop/Rock/FolkREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre Reviews

Spring Awakening

My feelings about this play are fairly well-documented. To put it succinctly: I’m not a huge fan of the material. That said, this production was far more endearing – and overall successful – than the previous Broadway in Chicago venture. They made the material work better for them than their touring counterparts. And to a surprising degree. This troupe really found the comic moments between the words; they had great timing and used space very well.

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ARTICLESMusic ReviewsMUST SEEPop/Rock/FolkREVIEWSREVIEWS BY

Lykke Li – Live at the Vic

She walked onto the stage swathed in sheer black, with matching black drapes hanging from the rafters, drifting through the smoke and light like a raven: cunning, cocksure, alluring. Immediately the deep thundering of bass toms filled the room, as if Glasvegas were playing a rave in Detroit. The sound of electric organ floated through the air and an acoustic guitar brought an earthiness that grounded the otherwise largely electronic aesthetic. Then Lykke Li opened her mouth and it sounded as if Fiona Apple met Joan of Arc on the stake.

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Music ReviewsPop/Rock/FolkREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre Reviews

Eye Inside: The Rock-n-Roll Allegory of Vance Barrett

Eye Inside is a blatantly great concept. It’s – okay, it kind of sounds chintzy at first glance – it’s about an evil agent who takes uniformly good-spirited and magnanimous actors and turns them into fame-whores and coke-fiends. He is a corrupter of the pure. But, honestly, making a rock opera out of the subject – and I’m selling it short, it’s far trippier than that sound-bite summation – well, it just makes sense.

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Lyle Lovett & His Large Band at Ravinia

God damn I like Lyle Lovett. He’s a real craftful songwriter. His songs are funny, bitter, poignant, satirical – sometimes all at once. They are a celebration and satirization of the decadent and depraved segments of our society through joyous absurdity. He’ll cut a record with some of the funniest songs you’ve ever heard, and right next to ‘em will be stuff to make you bawl your eyes out. And live, he’s even better.

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