Chicago, Country, Events, Farm Aid, Neil Young, United States September 23, 2015

30 Years of Farm Aid: Why Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp are still at it

By Nick Krewen | www.samaritanmag.com Posted on September 23, 2015 CHICAGO — To say that Farm Aid, the annual music festival fundraiser for family farms and farmers, “celebrated” its 30th anniversary this month at Northerly Island would be a bit of a misnomer. Certainly, there were some festivities, as an impressive lineup of top musicians including Farm Aid founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, Farm Aid board member…

Composer, Concert reviews, Dance, Grammy, Pop, Producer, R&B, Rock, Songwriter, Soul, United States, Voice September 16, 2015

Janet Jackson delivers sonic bombardment of hits at ACC

Air Canada Centre concert a well-oiled, highly choreographed machine meticulously planned down to each breath Nick Krewen Janet Jackson At the Air Canada Centre, Sept. 16, 2015 Sometimes you just have to laugh at the Spinal Tap-ish practices that often occur in the music industry. The latest: when the Star requested a review ticket for Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable tour, which launched in Vancouver on Aug. 31 and had performed eight…

Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Canada, Composer, Concert reviews, Grammy, Hip-Hop, JUNO, Pop, R&B, Songwriter, Toronto, Voice August 26, 2015

The Weeknd proves he’s Toronto’s next superstar: concert review

R&B crooner Abel Tesfaye, aka the Weeknd, treated crowd at Mod Club to a sort of preview of new album Beauty Behind the Madness. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Wed Aug 26 2015 The Weeknd At the Mod Club, Aug. 25 He’s earned it all right. The climatic moment in the Weeknd’s recent video for his chart-topping hit “Can’t Feel My Face” occurs when the singer is set on fire…

Concert reviews, Events, One Direction, Pop, United Kingdom, Voice August 20, 2015

One Direction on the right track at Rogers Centre: review

One Direction sounded as good as four pop singers with a multi-million dollar aural-and-video production values should sound: perfect. Make that nearly perfect. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Thu Aug 20 2015 One Direction 3 stars At the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Aug. 20 When you consider it, One Direction is the anti-boy-band boy band. Stack them up against the earlier progenitors of poster pop pablum, whether it’s reaching as…

Alt. Rock, Arranger, Composer, Concert reviews, Events, Grammy, Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, Neil Young, Producer, Rock, Rush, Songwriter, United States July 9, 2015

Foo Fighters keep fans and moms on their feet: review

Dave Grohl makes the most of a leg injury, even playing guitar with his cast. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Thu Jul 09 2015 Foo Fighters 3.5 stars July 8 at the Molson Amphitheatre. Dave Grohl isn’t going to let little things like a severely broken leg and ankle stop him from rocking the night away. Lesser musicians would have thrown in the towel and taken the requisite time to…