* The Queens of the Stone Age didn’t exactly play like a band that has scored modern rock hits and recorded most of their material on major labels, but they certainly brought a mega-watt arena rock video screen to provide visuals for their packed Stir Cove show at Harrah’s Casino Sunday, August 4th. Those visuals provided most of the visual stimulation for fans as the band marched through a taut, but untheatrical set of their heavy riff rock. Frontman Josh Homme kept stage banter to a minimum, once encouraging security to let concertgoers to climb onto the shoulders of their significant others to catch a better view. Songs mostly stuck to the band’s 2013 album, …Like Clockworkm and their 2002 smash, Songs for the Deaf. None of the hits from that 2002 record were saved for an encore, as the band ripped through them in the main part of their set. The night’s highlight instead was a towering rendition of 2005’s “Burn the Witch”, a song that cements its choppy lead riff in a sea of darker grooves.
* Watch out for the Hussy, a Madison, Wisc. two-piece that seems poised to explode onto the national indie rock consciousness. The band delivered on some of the positive notices being tossed their way Saturday, August 3rd at O’Leaver’s Pub, 1322 South Saddle Creek Road. The duo splits lead vocals between the guitar playing dude and the pummeling female drummer and the two provided complementary, but distinct songs to the fray. Bobby Hussy plays tight, hard rock-influenced riffs that put his songs firmly in line with contemporaries like JEFF the Brotherhood, while Heather Hussy favors a classic cannon-shot late 1970s punk style that keeps her songs brisk and shoutalong fun. The night was capped off by a packed-house set by Digital Leather, who also helped set up the show.
* All Young Girls Are Machine Guns’ Rebecca Lowry will host a showcase of talented women performers Friday, September 20th at the Barley Street Tavern, 2735 North 62nd St. The ladies revue will feature comedy by Lowry, Elle Loco and Ariel Sinha and music by Ally Rhodes, with other acts to be announced. The event is the first that Lowry is promoting under her new Beckstraordinary Productions banner.
* Jazz vocalist, Deborah Brown, will appear at the Brownville Concert Series for the second time, performing classics by Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and others. She will perform in cabaret Friday and Saturday, August 16th and 17th at 7:30 p.m. and in concert Sunday, August 18th at 2 p.m. The Kansas City-born Brown has resided in Europe the last 12 years. Tickets for the show are available at brownvilleconcertseries.com or by calling (402) 825-3331.