Front to back, and a little bit more: Ben Folds Five reunites in Chapel Hill
One song into Ben Folds Five's first show in eight years, the regrets were already pooling up. "If I'd known about this gig, I'd have sequenced the album differently," Folds heaved, grabbing for a water bottle as the last notes of "Narcolepsy" were swallowed by the crowd's applause. Fair enough: The song works beautifully as the opener of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, the band's last album, which they played in its entirety last night at UNC Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall at the behest of MySpace and for the benefit of Operation Smile. But in terms of ideal set-list... read more
Plant & Krauss, Joan Baez, more win at Americana Awards
[Above: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant]Alison Krauss & Robert Plant—the roots-music queen and the former Led Zep banshee—pulled down Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year honors Thursday night at the Americana Music Awards, a loose and congenial affair held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the so-called “mother church of country music.”... read more
Low vs. Diamond - Tour Diary
Rod Stuart Loves The Hamptons...I'm in tribeca right now in the basement of a house hanging out with some friends. Great paintings hanging around me. We drove in from small gig in Toledo last night. Getting ready to play my brothers "favorite venue" tomorrow night, Irving Plaza w/Santogold. I think this tour should be a pretty good time. All we have to do is start the night off right... It's easy to forget how good a tall can of Coors Light can be! here it goes.-L ... read more
Neil Halstead - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's - 8/8/08
Photos taken at Johnny Brenda's by Doug Seymour... read more
Ben Folds Five is reuniting tonight, and Paste will be there
I'm hitting the road in a few minutes, heading up to Chapel Hill, N.C. for Ben Folds Five's first live show in eight years, which I still kind of can't believe is actually happening. ... read more
Americana royalty salutes Levon Helm
The Band deserves as much credit as anyone for inventing the country-rock subgenre we now know as Americana, so it made sense that this year’s Americana Music Association conference kicked off Wednesday night here in Nashville with a tribute to The Band’s drummer/singer Levon Helm. ... read more
10 Best Saturday Night Live Female Cast Members (#6-10)
We recently looked at the 10 best male cast members of Saturday Night Live. Now it's time to look at the show's funniest women. 10 Best Saturday Night Live Female Cast Members (#6-10)10. Ana Gasteyer (1996 - 2002) “Oh, I’m so sorry! If I wasn't such a nice person, I’d think I was a showoff!” The Groundlings alum was at her best as a talk show hostess, both with her fictional creations like Margaret Jo McCullen of NPR’s Delicious Dish, Gayle Gleeson of Pretty Living or MTV VJ Kinkaid, and impersonating actual TV celebs, Martha Stewart, Joan Rivers or Sally... read more
10 Best Saturday Night Live Female Cast Members (#1-5)
10 Best Saturday Night Live Female Cast Members (#1-5)... read more
G. Love tour diary - Flying High
Well, I'm flying high, flying home. Wait, I'm not going home yet, I'm going to Chicago, but, I finished my big summer tour. We ended with a bang, too. A sick show at Red Rocks followed by the perfect afternoon at the Blues and Brews fest in Telluride, Co. I woke up the other morning at Red Rocks and I could hear the rain pounding on the bus. What a bummer. But sure enough, the day went on and the skies cleared and by show time the rain was gone. The waxing moon shone full in the skies for a... read more
Fender 50th Anniversary Jazzmaster Concert - New York, NY - Knitting Factory - 9/12/08
[Above: Lee Ranaldo] Photos taken at the Knitting Factory by Victoria Stevens... read more
Monolith Festival 2008: Day 2
After its first day spotlighted depth, Day Two at Monolith was a chance for the big dogs of the line-up to roam free. Sure, there was some sterling Ben Foldsian pop from Washington D.C.’s Jukebox The Ghost to start the afternoon, a bit of smoky folk rock from former Paste Band of the Week The Rosewood Thieves, and a spirited fireball of a set from Tokyo Police Club. But the day belonged to a succession of four artists who dominated the Monolith main stage in four different ways...... read more
TV Detail: Fringe review. Episode 2—The Same Old Story
Maybe it was that the most enigmatic elements of Lost were doled out slowly after characters were more fully developed, and after much more familiar, but still extraordinary, crises were faced—a plane crash, kidnappings, even the unseen creature. The most unbelievable aspects and plot twists were doled out over several seasons after I was already hooked.But already in Fringe, it’s less the events making up the Pattern that seem implausible—it's a sci-fi show, so I’m will to suspend disbelief that the bad guys could have developed a toxin that turns the flesh translucent or a growth accelerator that causes a... read more
Toronto International Film Festival 2008
The Toronto International Film Festival, which wrapped up its 10-day run this past weekend, is arguably the most important film festival in North America. But to the average moviegoer it's not as well known as Sundance, in part because TIFF samples the most promising new film from around the world while Sundance emphasizes home-grown movies, for better or worse. But TIFF showcases its share of English-language films, too -- often with star-studded red-carpet premieres -- and this year some of the festival's best movies were among them:Rachel Getting MarriedI'll have to admit that the new film from Jonathan Demme (Silence... read more
TV Detail: Confessions, revelations and doppelgängers on MTV's The Hills
As an introduction to what may be both the first ever and last ever post on PasteMagazine.com about MTV's The Hills, I feel I should offer some kind of explanation as to why, exactly, I watch this show. Why, exactly, I allow these producer-contrived, forced, unrealistic stories (if you can even call them stories-- more often than not, "loose amalgamation of somewhat related bits of dialog and people staring at each other" would better apply) of these shallow, listless, over-priviledged human beings to suck away half-hour upon half-hour of my life every Monday night. Why, exactly, despite the sheer ridiculousness... read more
10 Best Saturday Night Live Male Cast Members
After the brutally unfunny debut of Saturday Night Live last weekend, we thought it was a good time to remember that this show has wavered between periods of greatness and painful droughts throughout its 33 years. To commemorate the men and women responsible for the former, the staff at Paste voted on the 10 Best Male and Female Saturday Night Live Cast Members. First the men...10 Best Saturday Night Live Male Cast Members... read more
10 Best Saturday Night Live Male Cast Members (#1-5)
10 Best Saturday Night Live Male Cast Members ... read more
Monolith Festival 2008: Day 1
For those who have never been to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, picture an impenetrable mountain fortress. A skyscraper’s worth of stairs runs up and around the main stage, and two towering, triangular rock formations jut forth from the earth, framing an indescribably vast, epic scene.... read more
First Aid Kit (from Sweden)
Just when you think your jaded ears couldn't possibly perk up for one more acoustic sister duo, a mountain man from the big sky valley of Pray, Montana tips you off to a pair of sibs from the other great north country of Sweden. Since I miss nuanced harmony in today's glut of bum thumping bass and Casio melodies, I was instantly struck by how these sisters intertwine their bellows and breaths. Raw, soaring and exquisite, the duo's delivery is simple yet mesmerizing. In this Fleet Foxes cover, captured in the woodsy land of echo elves, F.A.K. keep you wondering how such thick and formidable narratives emanate from these demure youngsters. Wonder away. To Klara... read more
SoCo Music Experience: Altamont, N.Y.
Justice was served Saturday night as the dance duo from France headlined the final SoCo Music Experience tour stop in Altamont, N.Y. The two men from Paris performed crowd favorite and contagious hit single, “D.A.N.C.E.,” toward the end of the set, sending fans home satisfied. ... read more
Monolith Festival 2008 - Day 2
[Above: The Kills]Photos taken by Mark C. Austin at Red Rocks Amphitheatre... read more
