Sounding Off On Sound

Widespread Panic at the Orpheum Theatre: Master musicians at their very best

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Courtesy Widespread Panic

On April 14, the Orpheum Theatre was struck by Widespread Panic, inciting a completely sold out house of revelers to create absolute pandemonium. Fans of this veteran rock powerhouse are nothing if not faithful, wildly devoted to what can only be called an extreme. It must be pretty thirsty work, because when Panic hit the State Theatre across the street on Hennepin Avenue in 2011, the bars ran out of beer before the show was half underway—so, quite sensibly, things were moved to the larger venue and the venue laid in a stronger supply of brew.

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"Aberration of Starlight": Playwright Walter A. Davis gets to the heart of Emily Dickinson

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

There aren't a great many male playwrights who do well creating female characters of any dimension. In fact, the list of famous names is fairly short. After William Inge, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson you have to scratch your head pretty hard to come up with more. Which makes it all the more fascinating that accomplished author Walter A. Davis (The Holocaust Memorial: A Play About Hiroshima, Trim: The Tiger Woods Story) is bringing his work back to the Twin Cities with the premiere of Aberration of Starlight: A Play About Emily Dickinson.

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Brett Newski & the Corruption: From Vietnam to Lyn-Lake

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Brett Newski & The Corruption, a pretty damned good pop-rock outfit, are coming to the Twin Cities on May 4, launching their second U.S. tour at Cause in Minneapolis, hailing all the way from—you ready for this?—Saigon, Vietnam. Just when you thought you'd heard of everything.

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Boz Scaggs at the State Theatre: The fastest 90 minutes known to humankind

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Courtesy Boz Scaggs

On April 8, just under 2,000 fans were happy as hell to see veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist Boz Scaggs stroll onto the State Theatre stage; they greeted their man with a cataract of cheers and applause.

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Q&A with Melissa Oakvik: An unlikely blend of R&B and soft rock

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Photo credit Hanna Voxland

I've caught at least a couple strong talents on their way up in Twin Cities music. Alicia Wiley before she got big. Shannon Johnson of Kymara. While it's still early to roll the dice, rookie singer-songwriter Melissa Oakvik strongly bears watching. For someone not yet 25, she has an uncanny grasp of how to blend R&B with soft-rock. Think back to Felix Cavalier's ingenuity with The Rascals classic. "Groovin'." That potentially is kind of power this kid is wielding. Her voice has a world of texture. Full-throated, sultry with good, clean and clear projection. Show business being what show business is it doesn't hurt, either, that she's not hard to look at.

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