Opener "Islands of Men" shimmers with rapturous possibility. A steady drum beat punctuates the crowd's anticipation before Emily Green's guitar throbs to life, and then frontman Cameron Winter's vocals warble in the foreground, a tentative entrance that quickly builds into an infernal madrigal. As the opening tease explodes into driving chords-"Will you stop running away from what is real?"-a keyboard riff dances underneath the chaos.
The Feelies don't really tour, and it's even rarer to find them playing outside of the East Coast. Fans fly from all over the world to their shows, which are usually marathon sets that include lots of covers alongside their own classics.
When Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records in 1959, only a select few had any clue about the cavalcade of indelible sounds, life-changing songs, and beautiful faces that were about to become part of the American soundscape.
In a full house at the 1,025-seat Toni Rembe Theater, there was an eruption of gasps and shrieks. The grown man to my right reflexively gripped the arm of my seat, sheepishly muttering an apology. In a distant aisle, I spotted one person get up and run out of the theater, their friend trailing closely behind.
"It was a shock - at 46 I didn't think it would happen to me," Michael said. "I was lucky that there was someone with me in the car and lucky that I had handed over the driving to my manager Bryan Buckley. The fact that I blacked out could have been a disaster."
Mariachi El Bronx, the mariachi alter ego of LA punk band The Bronx, are about to release Mariachi El Bronx IV, their first album in 12 years, this Friday (2/13) via ATO. They'll also be playing Kimmel tonight (2/12) and livestreaming their Tijuana album release show on Veeps on Saturday (2/14), and to help usher in the release of this new LP, Mariachi El Bronx vocalist Matt Caughthran has made us a list of five of his favorite albums of all time.
Coming off my latest Tension tour - taking in 54 cities over more than six months - was quite emotional. By the time I began the European leg in Finland, I was thankful for my room at Hotel St George in Helsinki. Even though it's in the heart of the city, it was the perfect calming tonic. It has a spa and there are covers over the TVs, so I wasn't hit with a media wall unless I actively wanted it.
Cabaret legend Justin Vivian Bond is this year's Joe's Pub Vanguard artist, and as part of their curated residency, "drag terrorist" CHRISTEENE played four sold out shows at the venue. Tuesday (1/27) was the final night, and CHRISTEENE covered songs by Lana Del Rey, Sinead O'Connor, Patti Smith, R.E.M., Tori Amos, Tina Turner, and more in addition to playing originals, backed by a band that included Mary Feaster on bass, Lyla Vander on drums, Cole Stone Frisina on sax, Joanie Drago on guitar, James Jackson on guitar and banjo, Cornelius Loy on theremin, and Adam Rineer on piano.
Originally from Illinois and now based in Maine, where he has lived for the past four years, Pokey LaFarge brings a lived-in perspective to American roots music. Drawing from early jazz, blues, swing and folk traditions, his songwriting balances warmth, rhythm and emotional clarity without slipping into nostalgia for its own sake. Over the years, LaFarge has grown into a confident bandleader, known for performances that feel loose but intentional, with space for both musicianship and connection.
Duman'li Gece is a Turkish phrase translated as "smoky night." Its application is often a feature of electronica/indie artists seeking to imbue their work with atmosphere as they develop beat-centric and/or ambient works. In the hands of Silicon Valley-based rock/fusion band Mechanical Turk, Duman'li Gece is a rallying cry for the band's synthesis of Turkish rock traditions and Western sonic textures.
Jim E Brown, the self-professed 19-year-old singer "born in Manchester on September 10, 2001, just one day before the 911″ just wrapped up a short bicoastal run of shows with two sold-out nights at Trans-Pecos in Queens. At night 2 (1/24), backed by a full band Jim E. played such hits as "I Urinated on a Butterfly," "I Know I'm Going to Die of a Stroke," "I'm Naked in my Room Huffing Nitrous Balloons," "I'm Writing Love Letters at McDonald's" and, at five different times throughout the set, "Rat in Bin."
Inflatable hammers. Matching red lab coats that strip down into boxer's outfits. A rainbow parachute, like the one you remember from gym class. A bubble machine. Confetti, sprinkled into plastic cups and thrown on the crowd. Three mini trampolines. These are only a few of the props and toys featured in the live show of dance-pop oddball Gelli Haha. The artist, born Angel Abaya, makes an outrageous commitment to spectacle and playfulness. It works unbelievably well.
Dragging his hand across the piano keys, Nick Cave leaps into the air and charges towards the crowd like a preacher breaking from the pulpit. Bring your spirit down! he cries repeatedly, arms flung wide as the choir roars behind him. It's barely 10 minutes into their set at Fremantle Park in Perth, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have the audience in the palm of their hands.
For Emmylou Harris, it's no cliche to say that every song is a story. The country legend has spent 50 years roaming between folk, bluegrass, rock'n'roll and Americana, curating her own songbook of deeply humanitarian music. On this first stop of her European farewell tour, she says goodbye to Scottish fans as part of the Celtic Connections festival, offering up a suitably career-spanning set-list accompanied by memories of Gram Parsons, Nanci Griffith, Bill Monroe, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson, to name just a few.
They experienced major burnout, band members fell out for the first time and founding member James Johnston pulled out of this tour due to mental health and addiction issues. But their new songs feel rooted in renewal, reconnection and newfound purpose. Neil pays tribute to his departed bandmate on the urgent and zippy Friendshipping, which is an ode to the importance of maintaining such relationships.
Jenny Lewis took her unabashed love for her dog, Bobby Rhubarb, to "Such Great Heights" by "marrying" the cockapoo at her 50th birthday bash. "I married my dog for my 50th birthday," Lewis wrote in a social media post featuring photos from the festivities. "BLESS!" Get Rilo Kiley Tickets Here Lewis, who turned 50 on January 8th, dressed in a white wedding gown for the occasion.
Surrounded by an orchestra and dozens of lights arranged in circles on the floor, EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami gave a more meditative, cinematic rendition of "Golden." The new version placed a greater emphasis on orchestration and the song's drama, particularly highlighting the warm harmonies that Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami sing beneath EJAE's towering melody. As they performed, the rings of lights beneath them began to glow with the song's galloping beat.
Bay Area musicians Steve Wyreman (Grammy-winning songwriter) and guitarist Evanne Barcenas co-lead Effie Zilch & Friends. The duo claims influences ranging from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix to Jefferson Airplane to Memphis legends the Staple Singers. Beyond music, they draw inspiration from visual art (Maxfield Parrish), poetry (Walt Whitman), and classical music (Maurice Ravel). Effie Zilch's latest release, the EP, follows three previous long players, all since 2022.
If you needed one more reason to brave the barricades, and the very real possibility of losing feeling in your toes: Diana Ross will ring in 2026 from the heart of the freezing temps Times Square tonight, just minutes before the ball drops. The legendary icon is set to take the Countdown Stage at 11:37pm on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," performing a medley of her hits that includes "I'm Coming Out" and "Upside Down."
In 2025, we crammed rap and rock legends, instrumental virtuosos, Broadway musicals and, well, puppets and robots behind a desk in the NPR Music office. Never forget: Tiny Desk has the range. We published 115 (!) concerts this year. There's no way to encompass the scope of such a stellar and diverse roster Bad Bunny! Living Colour! Wiz Khalifa! PinkPantheress! so we asked the team that produces, films, engineers and edits these videos to share their favorite Tiny Desks of 2025, yearbook superlative style.
The late '90s saw the advent of new subgenres variously dubbed trip-hop, downtempo, electronica and chillwave. The overall style was exemplified by Massive Attack, Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba, Zero 7...and Thievery Corporation. Deeply hypnotic melodies, sophisticated arrangements, top-flight guest vocalists and an undeniably sexy vibe are among the hallmarks of the music. Decades later, it still sounds fresh. Thievery Corporation was and remains better than most in blending world music elements into the heady mix.
When Willie Nelson performs in and around New York, he parks his bus in Weehawken, New Jersey. While the band sleeps at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, he stays on board, playing dominoes, napping. Nelson keeps musician's hours. For exercise, he does sit-ups, arm rolls, and leg lifts. He jogs in place. "I'm in pretty good shape, physically, for ninety-two," he told me recently. "Woke up again this morning, so that's good."
