The Tonearm is putting a needle on the cultural wax. Check it out.

A Life of Music Posts

July 11, 2023

Ultramagnetic MCs / Dr Octagon, New York, NY, July 11, 1997

This show took place during the era when hip hop shows had a reputation (and oftentimes reality) of being hit or miss affairs, with late artists, middling sound, stage full of posse (out numbering band members)...off-kilter, chaotic and unpredictabl…

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July 4, 2023

Furthur ’98, Saratoga Springs, NY, July 4, 1998

The Furthur “festival” tours represented the first attempts by former members of the Grateful Dead to carry on in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s passing in 1995, something that seemed unthinkable at the time. In retrospect, it makes to…

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July 1, 2023

Blips on the Release Radar

Each week, Spotify creates a roughly two-hour, custom playlist for every one of its subscribers called, “Release Radar”. According to the company, “Listeners get new music from artists they follow, artists they listen to, other art…

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June 27, 2023

Dean & Britta Lockdown Livestream, June 27, 2020

Once upon a time, a wicked and wretched people were smitten with a catastrophe - potentially of their own making - which ground their world to a halt. Great conflicts and controversies were unleashed, dividing families, pitting neighbor against nei…

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June 20, 2023

Rolling Stones, Pittsburgh, PA, June 20, 2015

When the Rolling Stones announced their Zip Code tour on March 31, 2015 it was to be their first stadium tour of North America since 2007. I had been skipping the stadium shows since even before that, preferring the band as an arena act (and in club…

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June 13, 2023

Tori Amos, New Haven, CT, June 13, 1994

Over the course of a few short months in early 1992, several albums I have spent a ton of time with came out: Tongues & Tails by Sophie B. Hawkins (April), Funky Divas by En Vogue and Ingénue by K.D. Lang (March). My favorite of the bunch…

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June 6, 2023

The Kinks, New Haven, CT, June 6, 1983

“What was your first concert?” Whenever I hear people answer that question, I typically witness either embarrassment or pride. I feel neither when I answer the question but I will say that I have never met someone with the same answer a…

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