Steven Page reimagines Barenaked Ladies hits at ‘flawless’ Taste of Syracuse concert (June 8, 2025)

Steven Page is one of my musical heroes. I grew up on the Barenaked Ladies. Their 2003 album, Everything to Everyone, was one of the first CDs I bought with my own money. I think his solo career contains some of his best songwriting. His music, his lyrics, and that voice, have left an indelible mark on my life. 

Which is to say, it’s impossible for me to experience Saturday evening’s performance at the Taste of Syracuse as a casual fan. 

Thankfully, Steven Page, with his bandmates Kevin Fox on cello and Craig Northey on guitar, offered a setlist that included enough 90’s pop rock favorites for the casual fans, the occasional deep cuts for the die-hards like myself, and an impeccable musicality that attracted the passers-by, enjoying the plethora of food trucks available.

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Give me fire: Coheed and Cambria delivers cathartic night of music (May 31, 2025)

Full disclosure: Coheed and Cambria, co-headlining last night’s show with Mastodon at the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview, is a band that completely slipped past me.

It’s rare to approach a band, touring their acclaimed 11th studio album, as a brand new listener. But on this drizzly, but otherwise beautiful late spring night, I was excited to hear new-to-me music for the first time.

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Still got the fire: The Doobie Brothers keep the flame burning in Syracuse (Sept 28, 2024)

Towards the beginning of their set on Friday, September 27 at the Upstate Medical Arena at the Oncenter War Memorial, singer/guitarist, Patrick Simmons, founder, and the only consistent member of The Doobie Brothers, sang “There’s a wind that’s blowin’, such a lonely prayer/ Gotta keep goin’, now I’m halfway there,” from their 2021 song, “Cannonball.”

Continuing a tour that sees the group celebrating over 50 years together, The Doobie Brothers are surely more than halfway there, but as Simmons continued to sing, “I’ll follow this road where my heart’s still yearnin’, still got the fire, and the flame keeps burnin’.”

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Dierks Bentley shows are what summer nights are made for (Aug 17, 2024)

For as long as there has been country music, there has been controversy over the legacy, and future of country music. One need look no further than the writings of Amanda Marie Martinez or Grady Smith’s YouTube channel to engage with the conversation about what country music is, and what it isn’t.

You can almost trace the last 20 years of country radio in the sounds of Dierks Bentley’s radio singles, from What Was I Thinkin’, his first number one from 2003, a bluegrass-infused country song to his 2021 collaboration with Breland and Hardy, Beers on Me.

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