On August 9, EMM brought The Dumb Tour to The Conduit in Winter Park, Florida for a night of eclectic feminist pop and rock. First up was local Orlando duo Bad Valentine. Singer Jackie Skillet and guitarist Jake Adkins, joined by a touring drummer, delivered a 20-minute set of kinetic pop-punk.  The band gave off […]

In the last decade, beloved rock and roll scenesters The Hold Steady have swapped out years of extensive touring for brief runs in single locations. Perhaps this was timed with the return of keyboardist Franz Nicolay, or frontman Craig Finn’s focus on his solo career. Whatever it may be, the pivot has turned every performance […]

When Chicago blues titan Buddy Guy sauntered into the glow of the spotlight on August 5, 2026, at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium, with one of his trusty Fender Stratocasters slung low, any lingering fear that the elder statesman was coasting on easy nostalgia vanished into thin air. The auditorium thrummed with raw, kinetic electricity the […]

Another Pickathon is in the books, and as always, it’s refreshing to know this little independent festival is not only surviving, but continuing to push the boundaries for what’s possible when artistic communities come together to create something bigger than the sum of their parts. Over the course of several days, from July 30th through […]

After two days of rain, the sun finally broke through, bringing Lollapalooza’s Day 4 to a picturesque close (minus the lingering mud puddles). For rock fans, there was plenty to enjoy in the afternoon and early evening, bouncing between the area with the Tito’s Stage and Bud Light Stage, catching acts like Wunderhorse, Yoasobi and […]

In looking to capture the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll, Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) does remarkably well. The movie itself? Eh, not so much. Some have said that the film’s theme song, “On the Dark Side” by John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, is the greatest faux Bruce Springsteen of all time, and […]

With a title like 24 Hour Party People (2002), Michael Winterbottom’s biopic of the Manchester scene that birthed bands like New Order and the Happy Mondays must be an epic rock ‘n’ roll film, right? The happy answer is “yes.” It takes a while to get there, but the biopic delivers on telling the story […]

CBGB (2013) has some of the elements that make a good rock ‘n’ roll movie, but is missing others. In the end, many viewers may find themselves wondering, “Who cares?”   What does CBGB stand for? Why “Country, Bluegrass and Blues,” of course, though that’s not the music the club was remotely known for. Anyone with […]

Calling PussyCake (2021) a rock ‘n’ roll movie is a bit like calling Friday the 13th a movie about summer camp. It misses the point. PussyCake embodies the spirit of the music. The horror movie—firmly entrenched in the grindhouse tradition—is the story of an all-female rock quartet: the titular PussyCake. And if you can’t guess […]

Before the private jets, the billion-dollar hospitality empire, and the globally recognized shorthand for coastal escapism, Jimmy Buffett was, in the words of guitarist Roger Bartlett, “a mere mortal.” Bartlett was the first-ever member of the Coral Reefer Band, and he is one of many past Buffett collaborators to speak in Occupational Hazard: The First […]

The Blu-Ray release of A Quiet Place II is a lot like the film itself–inconsequential.

The legendary house of schlock celebrates some less revered works in this stunning box set.

A stunning new transfer allows you to see the Kubrick classic like never before.

One of the year’s most surprising treats comes home for the holidays.

The transfer is glorious but the lack of special features disappoints.

As a longstanding professional musician, Greg Anton knows full well the archetypes of that universe as well as their attendant cliches, which, like most truisms, actually contain kernels of truth. Accordingly, he has no qualms about turning the platitudes inside out and on their head during the course of unreeling his fictional story of disputed […]

The efficiency of Bradley Morgan’s U2 Until The End of the World belies its heft. In the 240 pages of the 11″ by 9″ hardcover, the author provides a fairly thorough chronicle of the mega-successful Irish band’s history, without any overt agenda or slanted editorializing. And while the writer doesn’t delve too deeply into the […]

The smiling visage of the late Richard Manuel that adorns the dust cover of Stephen T. Lewis’ biography belies the sorrowful tragedy of the musician’s life. And intentionally or not, the author’s narrative follows the ups and downs of the man’s troubled existence.  As a result, the clear-eyed insights Lewis offers are worth the effort […]

Mike Campbell might just be the most humble musician in rock music. As guitarist for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, he has co-written some of the most iconic American rock songs of his generation (“American Girl,” “Running Down A Dream,” “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl”). He served in one of Bob Dylan’s backing bands, he […]

“Ed’s talent was an asset, not just to me but to him. It was an asset to our band; this thing that was bigger than us would be the vehicle for all of our dreams. Of course, the band was more or less imaginary at this point, but if Ed could play guitar like that, […]