Show Reviews
by Max Ink Staff Writers
Todd Rundgren - photo by Bruce Alexander
Todd Rundgren - The Highline Ballroom, NYC, 5.6.15
Show Review By Bruce Alexander
Posted: Jun 2015
(1857) Page Views
As he has been for well over forty years, Todd Rundgren is again out on tour promoting his new recording “Global.” Rundgren usually changes up his shows and it’s usually a mixed bag. This was certainly the case here.
Rundgren was actually the only musician on stage. There was a DJ and two dancing girls dressed in futuristic space age disco jumpsuits. Rundgren came out dancing as well, and did some aerobics for good measure. This was all with psychedelic, trippy background strobe lighting. It was a very weird show
The Blues Magoos - photo by Bruce Alexander
The Blues Magoos - The Bowery Electric, NYC, 5.23.15
Show Review By Bruce Alexander
Posted: May 2015
(2641) Page Views
The Blues Magoos is a band from the psychedelic past, and they’ve reemerged to put on great live shows as they always have. I just saw them in a small club in the East Village just like the old days. Having the two original main guys - guitarist/vocalist Peppy Castro and keyboardist Ralph Scala/lead vocalist made for a great night of mind blowing music.
They started heir set with “Rush Hour,” a song from their classic record Electric Comic Book. They followed with more songs from that album. One was a B-Side called “Pipe Dream,” which was quite amazing.The band did a killer version of “Gloria,” which had the whole crowd stomping. Peppy then introduced a new song, saying that he and Ralph it wrote while having food in Chinatown. It’s called “Crapo De Stinko,” and was quite amusing. They then performed another great tune from their ‘Psychedelic Lollipop” album called “Gotta Get Away,” which lead right into a rip roaring take on The Seeds’ “Pushing Too Hard.”
- photo by Bruce Alexander
The Sonics - Irving Plaza, NYC - 4.7.15
Show Review By Bruce Alexander
Posted: May 2015
(2512) Page Views
The Sonics, a band formed in ‘60 in Tacoma Washington by then teen-aged guitarist Larry Parypa are still performing, which is quite amazing. The audience was a mix of young hipsters and older people that are the band’s contemporaries.
This group were the original frat party band along with The Kingsman and The Wailers. With the Garage Rock Revival going strong they reformed in ‘07, (after a few other brief reformations), to play two sold out shows at Warsaw, a small club in Brooklyn, NYC.
- photo by Bruce Alexander
Randy Bachman & The Heavy Blues Band - The Concert Hall, NYC, 4.25.15
Show Review By Bruce Alexander
Posted: Apr 2015
(3462) Page Views
Randy Bachman, a founding member of both The Guess Who and Bachman -Turner Overdrive was out with his great new band that contains two talented and attractive young women. Anna Ruddick, bass, was dressed in psychedelic striped bell bottoms and a fringe vest. Dale Anne Brendon, drums, rocked away behind the skins in a black tank top. The drums obscured the rest of her attire.
Bachman, a very talented guitarist, took care of that. He mainly played a classic sunburst Gibson Les Paul.
Bachman’s new record, titled “Heavy Blues”, is the impetus behind the touring, and there was plenty of blues played. It sounded great acoustically at The Concert Hall, a church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that’s a wonderful venue to hear and see performances.
Miles Davis - photo by Carole Reiff
Carole Reiff at AIPAD Photography Show, Park Avenue Armory, NYC - April 16 - 19, 2015
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Apr 2015
(2495) Page Views
This is the most interesting and far ranging photo show I’ve been to, and I’ve been to a lot. I look forward to it every year. The Association of International Photography Art Dealers is a collective that has been in existence since 1979, and exhibiting since 1980. They currently represent more than 120 leading world wide fine art galleries, with 89 of them participating this year, the 35th anniversary of of the exhibition. U.S., Canada, Europe, South America and Asia were some of the counties represented.
Lily Tomlin - photo by Michael Sherer
Lily Tomlin - NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 3.22.15
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Apr 2015
(2165) Page Views
Lily Tomlin is a true talent and a veteran force in a comedy world that has far more men than women in its stand up milieu. Tomlin is an equally talented actress and can play any type. She’s also an accomplished writer and producer.
This performance was strictly stand up, and Tomlin was all alone. Daunting indeed, but if Tomlin felt that, it didn’t show at all. The stage at Westbury is a rotating one, so that everyone will get a frontal view. It was stationary for this show though, which was a matinee.
- photo by Michael Sherer
Don McLean - BB King’s, NYC, 2.19.15
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Feb 2015
(1941) Page Views
Don McLean has the rare distinction of having a massive number one hit on his hands as early as his second record, ‘71’s break though ‘American Pie,’ where the title song was a eight plus minute smash. Another song from the record, ‘Vincent,’ about Vincent Van Gogh, was also big, reaching number twelve on the U.S. charts, but number one in the U.K. American Pie title song holds the record for the longest number one hit, and wasn’t always played in full on the radio, especially on AM. FM was still in hey day at the time, and often did play long songs. It had the power to break a song, as it did here. It would be the first and last time that McLean had this level of commercial success. He’s always been critically lauded though, including by fellow esteemed musicians and singers, such as Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson.
Justin Hayward - photo by Michael Sherer
Justin Hayward - The Concert Hall, NYC, 11.1.14
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Nov 2014
(3630) Page Views
With The Moody Blues being one of the most respected, intelligent, and experimental bands to come out of ‘60’s England, and with more than 70 million records sold, their guitarist, singer, and songwriter Justin Hayward can quite comfortably afford to do what he fancies. For now, it’s touring in support of his recent solo album, “Spirits Of the Western Sky”. Hayward is employing a simple, understated approach here, with only another guitarist, the talented Mike Dawes and keyboardist/background vocalist Julie Ragins accompanying him. Hayward’s fine voice is entirely intact, and he’s looking fit and healthy. (And smartly dressed.)
Alice Cooper & Anthony DeCurtis - photo by Joyce Culver
Alice Cooper With Anthony DeCurtis, 92Y, NYC, 10.27.14
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Oct 2014
(2781) Page Views
Following a screening of a recent documentary film about Cooper, called ‘Super Duper Alice Cooper’, Anthony DeCurtis and Cooper sat down to talk for a packed house. One of the first questions DeCurtis asked was about the character of Cooper, and where it came from. Cooper, who’s actually named Vince Furnier, explained that most of the performers that he’s been into become someone else on stage. He went on to say that he wanted to be this insane persona that was far removed from the average, simple, American guy that he really was. He secretly wanted to be more like Alice, but never had the nerve.
Initially, The Beatles, but more so the Stones a bit later, planted the seed of what he wanted to do in a rock and roll band. It became clear that a villain type persona was desired, as Furnier saw that his parents hated the more debauched Stones, and that he wanted strong reactions like this. Cooper noted that with his generation being the first to be brought up with television, the medium had an enormous impact. So did black and white horror movies at his local theater in his native Detroit. The most pivotal was called ‘Hell’s A Poppin’, which Furnier saw at ten years old. He said he wanted the insanity of all that, with the schlock element as well, but also the dangerous and scary sides, all in a rock and roll package. Key to this is that it be vaudevillian. He also wanted desperately to be Zorro throughout, which is where his sword came from later. Interestingly, Cooper said it belonged to the one and only Errol Flynn.
George Benson - photo by Michael Sherer
George Benson - BB King’s, NYC, 10.23.14
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Oct 2014
(1609) Page Views
With George Benson releasing his first record exactly fifty years ago, he has enough material to play for at least week straight. In terms of selecting hits though, they began ‘76, with Benson’s breakthrough smash record, ‘Breezin’, which has sold over 10 million copies. This, by th way, makes it the best selling jazz type music of all time, although it’s quite pop infused. Benson opened with its title song, and delved into a trove of more hits from there. They included: ‘Give Me The Night’, ‘Love X Love’, ‘Turn Your Love Around’, ‘This Masquerade’, ‘On Broadway’, ‘Moody’s Mood For Love’, ‘Love Ballad’, ‘Lady Love Me (One More Time)’, ‘Nature Boy’, ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You’ and ‘The Ghetto’. Benson, 71, is a guitar master and can still play at a very high level. His main guitar, a pearl white signature GB 10 by Ibanez, was the only guitar he played. It looked striking against his blue suit.
Aretha Franklin & Clive Davis - photo by Michael Sherer
Aretha Franklin & Clive Davis with Anthony DeCurtis, 92Y, NYC, 10.1.14
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Oct 2014
(2120) Page Views
Before I address the event, I’d like to provide some key context. Aretha Franklin, 72, has been recording for fifty eight years, and is revered to a degree that few singers are. In my view, her best period was the late ‘60’s while recording for Atlantic Records, her second label after Columbia. One of the main reasons for that was due to the great guidance of its vice president, the late Jerry Wexler. Wex, as he was commonly known, also produced Aretha’s best records for the company, and right from the start. The key to this was bringing Franklin back to her church roots with Southern musicians, and making it a soulful, gritty affair. This was in stark contrast to what the late John Hammond did at Columbia, which was to mold Franklin as a “middle of the road” singer in a Rosemary Clooney type fashion. It was only when Franklin was set in Wexler’s cast that she could become her true self and be dubbed “The Queen Of Soul.”
Lenny Kravitz with Anthony DeCurtis - 92Y, NYC
Show Review By Michael Sherer
Posted: Sep 2014
(2882) Page Views
Lenny Kravitz’s has been a busy man lately. His 10th record, called “Strut,” just came out. So did a hard cover, career spanning photo book, simply called “Lenny Kravitz”. Then there’s a film coming out next year that features Kravitz, called “Who Shot The Sheriff.”
Kravitz, 50, was welcomed with a standing ovation when host Anthony DeCurtis announced him to the stage. He immediately appeared relaxed, informal, somewhat soft spoken and thoughtful. The first topic of discussion was the new record. In answering DeCurtis’ question regarding where inspiration came from for the new record, Kravitz replied that it wasn’t anything specific. He said that he had just wrapped up his Black and White America world tour, had filmed for two films prior to that, and wound up on the Atlanta based set of the latest Hunger Games series installment, called “Catching Fire.” His role is that of as a fashion whiz named Cinna. This is an apt one, as Kravitz has always been quite fashion conscious and is very into clothing and having his own style. This event was no exception, as Kravitz was dressed to impress in mostly black.
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