Vermont Symphony Orchestra: they’re good at what they do
September 25, 2013
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra kicked off its Made in Vermont Music Festival at JSC on Friday night, Sept. 20, the first night of JSC’s Alumni/Parents Weekend. Alumni and parents are certainly their target audience, especially the older alumni: once one becomes an adult, one eschews rock ‘n’ rol...
Twiddle wants girls, lighters and guitar
September 11, 2013
Twiddle rocked Dibden on Thursday, Sept. 5. The band members met while undergrads at Castleton State College. They play a fusion of jazz, reggae, funk and bluegrass. Before they unleashed that fusion upon the Dibden audience, band members Mihali Savoulidis, Zdenek Gubb and Brook Jordan sat down in D...
Seeing all-stars at Dibden jamboree
April 18, 2013
It didn’t take long for the seats to fill and then empty as loads of people crowded the dance floor in Dibden. At most rock shows, it takes a few songs for people to really get up the nerve to dance. This was not the case with Dibden’s March 28 All-Star Jamboree. This Creative Audience event was pa...
Gathering of Fools no such thing
April 18, 2013
It wasn’t a gathering of fools. It wasn’t even a gathering of idiot savants. Those assembled, three groups from Brooklyn – Feral Foster (one man), the Whiskey Spitters (four men, one woman) and Avo (three guys) – transplanted American music roots and set ‘em down in the Stearns Performance Space, A...
Gathering of Fools imports Brooklyn country
March 28, 2013
They call themselves A Gathering of Fools, and they’re coming to the Stearns Performance Space at 7 p.m. on Apr. 3. It’s actually a gathering of three bands from Brooklyn: the Whiskey Spitters, Feral Foster, and Avo, playing a mix of roots, folk, Americana and experimental music. All th...
Still smokin’ after all these years
March 14, 2013
The metal-framed folding chairs placed aimlessly in the back of the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, Vt. were occupied with the immobile. The venue had two crowded bars at opposite ends, both charging $5.50 for a meager cup. The 45 minutes I spent idly near the front of the stage gave my ears...
Le Vent du Nord smuggle fun across the border
December 6, 2012
It is impossible to know exactly what went through the minds of Johnson State College’s students as they went to see the band Le Vent Du Nord on Dec. 2, but they may have been expecting something different than what they received. Sometimes, there is a prejudice about foreign music that says it is...
Taylor Swift 4: a panorama flipping misery the bird
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
October 26, 2012
Taylor Swift’s “Red” is one of the loveliest pieces of pop art about young love in recent years. It’s incredible that Ms. Swift’s capable of such a panoramic view of young love and relationships at 22. She’s considered everything she’s singing about with the kind of thoroughness I’d...
Funk, Rock ‘n Milk: Jiver Farmer comes to town
October 6, 2012
An impromptu jam session at The Hub in Johnson among three musicians who had never played together before quickly turned into a new band called Jive Farmer. "The name is testament to the fact that Chris and Fabian have both grown up on a farm and are indeed farmers," says Micah Carbonneau, drummer...
Pretty pleasing, with Sugar Ray on top
April 12, 2012
Sugar Ray and the Bluetones played Dibden on March 23, and if a harmonica was a flamethrower, they would’ve set the house on fire. The first sign of greatness was their opening act, three smoked-out-looking dudes calling themselves the Eames Brothers. There’s Ian and Ralph, the Eames brothers,...
Springsteen’s newest a “Wrecking Ball” for my heart
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
March 16, 2012
Bruce Springsteen is one of the shining idols of my life. I first visited Springsteen when I was 14. Springsteen’s music revealed a brother I’d never imagined was out there—in songs like “Thunder Road” and my freshman year anthem, “Born to Run,” I heard a person just like myself, but...
The Aerolites are poised for takeoff
Anna Maria Liccione, Arts and Entertainment Editor/Senior Copy Editor
March 8, 2012
“Undeniably classifiable.” That’s exactly how I would describe The Aerolites’ unique blend of Americana, rock and roll, funk, surf and soul after an energetic show at Moog’s Place in Morrisville in February. The Aerolites is a new band that is preparing to take the world by storm. This band...
Seven Stories of sound, all of them loud
Tom Benton, Editor-in-Chief
March 8, 2012
Seven Stories violently assaulted my eardrums when they played Dibden on March 2. They did so with plenty enough aptitude for me to pass up pressing charges, but whether they deserved criminal charges depends on one’s attitude toward sonic battery. If you get your kicks having your ears screwed six...
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