Within the first few songs it was clear two different factions had come to see Larry McCray—those who wanted to check out the latest guitarist to join Phil and Friends, identified by their baggy clothes, dreadlocks and ability to dance through searing solos, and those who came to see Larry McCray the blues giant, who stood in awe, arms crossed, soaking up those same solos. Both sides came away satisfied

Photo by Alex Anderssen

Gazing out onto the crowd, which looked like a sea of bobble heads, a gigantic grin on bassist/vocalist Jake Sproul’s face, Rose Hill Drive charged through an explosive set that closed out its recent spring tour. Comprised of brothers Jake and Daniel Sproul and drummer Nate Barnes, Rose Hill Drive’s raw, emotive rock has earned the group high praises from both critics and fellow musicians alike.

 Marching lively through the crowd, the Jeff Coffin Mu’tet’s 16-minute opening number, “Move Your Rug…Processional,” filled the venue with fluttery saxophone melody and 1920s swank. Coffin, only four minutes into the show, had already begun playing two saxophones at once. An audience of widow’s peaks, pony tails, crew cuts and dreadlocks stared gratefully as the convulsive virtuoso erupted into the night’s first fit of saxophone epilepsy.

Photo Wes Orshoski

It feels like hyperbole, but, in all honestly, like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Radiohead before them, without much pomp and circumstance, Arcade Fire has changed the essence of what the live performance can and should be all about. If a Grateful Dead/Phish show was all about space and a Radiohead performance is all about atmosphere, then an Arcade Fire concert is most certainly all about intensity: the barrage of onstage musicians, the pulsating drum beats, the death-laced lyrics and, especially, the giant, Springsteen-like grandeur of guitarist/frontman Win Butler.