New Music Reviews
Metallica, Twickenham Stadium review - heavy metal titans bring the noiseFriday, 21 June 2019
“You want heavy?” Metallica frontman James Hetfield already knows the answer to that question, and he and his three fellow horsemen of the apocalypse certainly deliver that tonight. This stop on Metallica’s mammoth Worldwired tour is the second of only two UK dates this year – they played an extremely rainy Manchester a few days ago – and they are very pleased to be back. Read more... |
Download Festival: downpours can't dampen spirits at metal bonanzaWednesday, 19 June 2019
Download is Britain’s premier metal festival, attended by all ages. Theartsdesk’s three person team offer up their reviews of one day each, as they navigated their way between Eighties hair metal, contemporary Viking metal and any other metal you might care to imagine… Friday 14th June By Ellie Porter Read more... |
Soweto Kinch, Jazz Cafe review - instant karma in CamdenWednesday, 19 June 2019
Camden’s Jazz Cafe reverberated to the sounds of a 50-year-old spiritual jazz classic last night, as saxist and MC Soweto Kinch and his quintet paid fulsome homage to NEA Jazz Master Pharoah Sanders’ consciousness-expanding album, Karma. Read more... |
Milton Nascimento, Barbican review – besotted audience hails frail legendWednesday, 19 June 2019
Milton Nascimento is 76. Physically, he is quite frail; he had to be helped carefully onto the stage and then up into a high stool for this London concert by a couple of band members. But that arrival and rather ungainly progress were, as one might expect, given a welcome befitting this hero of the Brazilian musical world. Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: R.E.M.Sunday, 16 June 2019
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 was issued by Warner Bros. in October 2003. Hitting shops in time for Christmas, it mixed hits like “Everybody Hurts”, “Man on the Moon” and “Orange Crush” with album and soundtrack cuts, and a couple of previously unissued tracks. Read more... |
Backstreet Boys, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review - 90s boyband showcase grown-up new materialSaturday, 15 June 2019
They showed up with a 30+ song setlist, four costume changes and a floating platform, but the strongest moment of the Backstreet Boys’ tour was when they dispensed with all of that for an a cappella version of “Breathe”, from new album DNA. Read more... |
Charlie Cunningham, Queen Elizabeth Hall review - Spanish guitar and strong songsFriday, 14 June 2019
In a post Ed Sheeran world, with a glut of acoustic singer-songwriters like Lewis Capaldi, Tom Walker or Odell, James Bay, Jack Savoretti – all of whom are big on poignantly penned balladry, phonic flair and harmonious melody – is there room for another young male artist to make waves in the indi-folk arena? Read more... |
Lenny Kravitz, O2 review - gloriously joyful rock 'n' rollWednesday, 12 June 2019
“Lenny’s coming! Lenny’s coming!” When the lights go down at the O2 tonight, it’s not just the small child behind us who’s excited. Read more... |
Bob Dylan Special - Rolling Thunder Revue, NetflixTuesday, 11 June 2019
Tomorrow, Martin Scorsese delivers, via Netflix, two hours and 22 minutes of screen time devoted to Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, following on from the release last week of the latest Bootleg Series boxed set, 14... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Marty WildeSunday, 09 June 2019
Although Marty Wilde will forever be inextricably linked with the late 1950s British rock ‘n’ roll wave he rode, his career did not peter out as musical styles transformed. While he didn’t have the high-profile mutability of Cliff Richard or claim a niche like the moody Billy Fury, he was enviably chameleonic. Read more... |
Pages
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
latest in today
Andsnes. London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Gardner, R...
If there was ever a time for the inevitable "Rach Three” (piano concerto, not symphony) in the composer’s 150th anniversary year - and...
Music Reissues Weekly: Why Don’t You Smile Now - Lou Reed at...
The Velvet Underground first played before an audience on 11 December 1965. A year earlier, their two founder members Lou Reed and John Cale were...
The Teacher review - tense West Bank drama
It’s hard not to review the Israeli occupation of Palestine when writing about The Teacher. The political context of this first feature...
Suor Angelica, English National Opera review - isolated one-...
Puccini elevated the operatic tearjerker to tragic status in three masterpieces: La bohème, Madama Butterfly and...
Joe Rogan, Netflix Special review - US podcaster leaves the...
Before Joe Rogan gained fame for his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, he has been, variously, a comic, presenter of goofball...
The Magic Flute, Opera North review - a fresh vision of Moza...
In an autumn season of three revivals, Opera North begin by inviting James Brining, artistic director of Leeds Playhouse, to oversee his own...
Album: Lady Gaga - Harlequin
Lady Gaga has made clear this is not her official new artist album. It’s a side project, inspired by Harley Quinn, the nom-de-chaos of the Arkham...
Hough, Philharmonia, Rouvali, RFH review - where the wild th...
This autumn, the Philharmonia’s “Nordic Soundscapes” season promises music suffused with the epic vistas, and weather, of high latitudes, along...
The Outrun review - Saoirse Ronan is astonishing as an alcoh...
In 2016, Amy Liptrot made a fine publishing debut with a memoir about her alcoholism, The Outrun. Now she has co-written a...