The Ritz, New York, NY.... Karl Wallinger is fascinating to watch on stage. He's a left-handed guitarist, but like Hendrix, he plays a right-hand guitar. So all of his chords are backwards. On top of that, he normally strummed with a pick but he used fingers only for solos. Each time he went into a solo, he had an eye-catching way of tossing aside his pick to the stage floor to play with his fingertips. I was there with my friend Tim, and he bade me goodbye to catch a train back to Jersey during the encore break. Just as he was exiting the building, World Party returned to the stage with Sinead O'Connor in tow to lend her voice to a few numbers. World Party was originally scheduled to open for her summer 1990 tour (including when I saw her at Jones Beach ), but World Party ended up not being the opening act. Instead, that gig went to Sinead's boyfriend Hugh Harris. (Harris was described in the press as "her new man" or "reported paramour.") It seeme...
The Oaks Theater, Pittsburgh, PA..... It was the final installment of WYEP's Neighborhood Concert Series. A really great show. Nashville's Riccio impressed with versions of her tracks like "Sweet," "For Me It's You," "Whiplash," and her terrific new single "Wildfire Season." She was performing in a trio configuration, backed by drums and bass, and while she started the show with three songs on acoustic guitar, Jobi swapped that out for an electric for the rest of her performance. She played some new songs from a forthcoming album, and mentioned that her bass player has performed on her new material but was newly on the road with her. Buffalo Rose put in an energetic set to start the night, inspiring a handful of people from the crowd to get up and dance in front of the stage. In addition to their own songs, they did their sultry cover of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" from Cake. Jobi Riccio and her band Jobi Riccio shredding a...
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