Available for ghost writing, research, band bios, liner notes, marketing copy. Early rock and roll / classic rock / punk / NYC. Most recent book: WHY PATTI SMITH MATTERS.
Bruce Springsteen Opens Toronto Show With a Rallying Cry ‘for My Country,’ Then Lets the Music Do the Talking: Concert Review
On Wednesday night, Bruce Springsteen took the stage at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena over an hour late with profuse apologies — there was plane trouble, apparently. He then declared, “This is a fighting prayer for my country,” and roared into an emphatic version of his 2007 song, “Long Walk Home,” following immediately with an enormous, majestic rendition of “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
Stevie Wonder Soars Through Hits, Calls Out Trump at Hometown Detroit Show: Concert Review
“What up, doe?!”
With that traditional, very Detroit greeting, Michigan native Little Stevie Wonder brought his “Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” tour to Little Caesar’s Arena in the Motor City on Tuesday night.
The last word on the MC5
The first time music journalist Ben Edmonds heard about the MC5, it was from musician friends in a band called Magic Terry and the Universe. He liked what his friends had to say about the band, so Edmonds made sure to go to the MC5’s first New York City show at the Fillmore East. The verdict? “I thought they were hands down the best rock and roll band I had ever seen in my life. It’s an opinion I hold to this day,”
caryn rose's jukeboxgraduate dot com
Weekly newsletter publishing original articles, analysis, commentary and discussion. Concert reviews, book reviews, album reviews, features and more.
Last Night in Clarkston (by Caryn Rose)
This is the Outlaw tour, but the stage setting is entirely still Rough and Rowdy Ways, down to a red curtain along the back.
Diana Ross, Eminem, Jack White and Many More Light Up Detroit’s ‘Concert From Michigan Central’
When your all-star Detroit concert opens with none other than Miss Diana Ross gliding down the stage catwalk in an enormous cloud of orange chiffon singing “I’m Coming Out,” you are setting the bar high from the jump — especially if you’re kicking off an event with Eminem, Jack White, Jelly Roll, Common and many others.
She is Diana Ross, daughter of the Brewster Projects, queen of Motown, representing some of the city’s glorious past on two levels: She is here in front Michigan Central train...
The nearly forgotten story of the 'Born in the U.S.A.' remixes
The idea of something disco-adjacent was still, at this point, uncharted territory for an artist so deeply rooted in rock and roll, but it was absolutely a destination of choice and not a random decision on the part of the label to which the artist had no input.
Rolling Stones Perform ‘Time Is on My Side’ With New Orleans Legend Irma Thomas at Steamy Jazz Fest: Concert Review
“We haven’t done a matinee show in years,” Mick Jagger observed drolly, halfway through The Rolling Stones’ first appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Thursday evening. As usual, the Stones began their set with “Start Me Up” — but shortly after 5 p.m., launching into an early but enthusiastic 18-song set of old hits and new numbers from 2023’s “Hackney Diamonds,” and a couple of local surprises in honor of the occasion.
Jagger began the evening wearing a glittery turquo...
Why Patti Smith Matters
Patti Smith arrived in New York City at the end of the Age of Aquarius in search of work and purpose. What she found—what she fostered—was a cultural revolution. Through her poetry, her songs, her unapologetic vocal power, and her very presence as a woman fronting a rock band, she kicked open a door that countless others walked through.
Last Night in Evansville (by Caryn Rose)
Last night, Bob Dylan concluded his latest leg of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Barring any Farm Aid-level surprises, that makes this his final show of 2023, with no future dates announced as of now. The year-end finale took place in Evansville, Indiana, and we’ve got an on-the-ground report from writer Caryn Rose.
A band, a brand, a spectacle, a Sphere
In Las Vegas, U2 harnesses its superpower: relentless earnestness
Who’s Next : Life House (Super Deluxe)
An exhaustively comprehensive 11-disc box set explores a defining work by the classic rock band alongside the ambitious, shelved concept album that would become Pete Townshend's white whale.
1980: Pete Townshend, Empty Glass
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend tells you everything you need to know about his first real solo album[1], Empty Glass, with the (literally) iconic cover image: Pete as an angel, with his sacrament (brandy) in front of him, flanked by acolytes, two beautiful women offering their best come-hither looks. It is a record both casually and deathly spiritual, with Townshend engaged in the latest plane of the spiritual inquest he’d been engaged in since 1968’s Tommy.
All 234 U2 Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best
On the occasion of the release of U2’s 14th studio album, Songs of Experience, it is worth noting how remarkable it actually is that this band has remained a going concern for over 40 years, since Larry Mullen Jr. put up a notice at Mount Temple Comprehensive School: “Drummer seeks musicians to form band.”
U2: Songs of Surrender
After 50 years as one of the biggest bands in the world, there’s something charming in the way that U2 keeps acting like they have something to prove.