Lindsey Buckingham, of Fleetwood Mac fame, plays at Alys Stephens Center tonight.
VENUE: Alys Stephens Center
TIME: 8:00 pm
BAND: Lindsey Buckingham
COVER: $69.50 / $60.50 / $47.50
Lindsey Buckingham
“His fingers had done dazzling things: fingerpicking that could be pristine and meditative or pointedly aggressive, counterpoints of staccato thumb-picked bass lines and gliding melodies, quasi-Baroque austerity leading into frenetic strumming. The guitar was the full partner of his voice, and sometimes the senior partner, pacing the songs and stoking their dynamics, supporting the vocals or sparring with them, hinting at ragtime and raga, grabbing the melodic foreground. Mr. Buckingham’s guitar parts tore away the pop exteriors of songs he originally recorded on his solo albums and with Fleetwood Mac. They unveiled the desperation in songs like ‘Trouble’ and ‘Never Going Back Again,’ and they propelled him to howl, moan and shriek. Performing alone, he stretched pained moments into huge crescendos.”
— Jon Pareles (The New York Times)
VENUE: Boutwell Auditorium
TIME: 7:30 pm
BAND: Nicki Minaj
COVER: $39.75 / $69.75 / $75.75 / $99.75
Nicki Minaj
“It seems a strange thing to say about a performance that opens with a woman rapping ‘I’m a bad bitch, I’m a cunt,’ but there’s something oddly restrained about Nicki Minaj’s live show. Given this is a woman who staged a mock exorcism on stage at the Grammys, before being hoisted into the air on wires while singing O Come All Ye Faithful, it’s a relatively stripped-down show, which cleaves more to hip-hop tradition than pop extravaganza. There are costume changes and a confetti cannon, but there’s no band, just a small troupe of dancers, a DJ and a hype man.”
— Alexis Petridis (The Guardian)
VENUE: Moonlight on the Mountain
TIME: 7:30 pm
BAND: Hannah Aldredge / Matthew Craig
COVER: $10
Hannah Aldredge
“[Hannah] has earned buzz this year with a six-song EP, “Wanderer.” … incorporating electronic elements and influences that range from Patty Griffin to Radiohead.”
— Mary Calurso (Birmingham News)
“Her voice just blazes the lyrics to cinders..”
Kevin A. (Leicester Bangs, UK)
Matthew Craig
VENUE: Metro Bar
TIME: 9:00 pm
BAND: Brad Lyons
Brad Lyons
Brad Lyons is a local singer-songwriter who just released an album titles Ten Steps. I’ve embedded it below for your listening pleasure.
VENUE: The Nick
TIME: 10:00 pm
BAND: Venemous Maximus / Stoned Cobra / Red Abbey
COVER: $5
Venemous Maximus
“Venomous Maximus is a fresh band hailing from Houston, TX. They play a distinct style of retro 70′s fueled stoner rock & doom metal. Their grooves are just too doomy for the sound of stoner rock (and the other way around), I would leave them somewhere in the middle.”
— stonerobixxx.com
Stoned Cobra
“Stoned Cobra has a few tricks up their collective sleeve. Give a listen to the three tracks they’ve made available on ReverbNation and you’ll be treated to an ultra-chill Queens of the Stone Age style jam (What Good is a Sword Against Sorcery?), a bluesy, folk ballad (She Burns) and a straight up balls to the wall rocker (Swamp Witch). These guys will lure you in with their wave of psychedelic guitar work and trippy vocal effects and then bludgeon you with their thunderous riffs and monstrous grooves. Give a listen to these Birmingham, Alabama boys and see what Southern stoner rock is all about.”
— Heavy Planet
Red Abbey
“There is nothing unoriginal when it comes to Red Abbey. From the lead singer/violinist’s name Thien-nga (pronounced teen-ya) to the multi-cultural and multi-instrumental nature of Red Abbey songs, Thien-nga and her musical partners Trey Ordaz on the guitar/vocals/tenor sax, Michael Evans on the bass and Nathan Wood on the drums create rock-funk, bluesy, uplifting music that will have listeners energized and engaged. Bulldozer is a diverse collection of music exploring the possibilities of jazz, rock n’ roll and funk (sometimes all in one song).”
— Whitney Lewis (womensradio.com)
About Sam George
Sam George is editor-in-chief of You Hear This, and the former editor of r3vrb.com, BHAM.FM, and Birmingham Weekly. He is also a contributing writer at Weld for Birmingham and B-Metro magazine.
