http://www.yesweekly.com/articles.sec-290-1-show-review.html It was a year full of surprises at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Hip-hop hermit Nas made a rare onstage appearance with the Beastie Boys; Bruce Springsteen honored an odd request of %uFFFDSanta Claus is Coming to Town%uFFFD in mid-June and also... ]]> When Chuck D put forth the famous rhetorical question of %uFFFDHow low can you go?%uFFFD in regards to bass, he never could have imagined how much low end could be produced when three of the world%uFFFDs greatest electric bassists brought their heads together on stage. ]]> A long and fruitful relationship between Winston- Salem%uFFFDs handful of live music venues and Americana raconteurs the Felice Brothers (www.myspace.com/ thefelicebrothers) witnessed its latest chapter at the Garage last Sunday, as the increasingly popular troubadours made a visit to the venue amidst another packed house. ]]> It most assuredly happened unintentionally, but two of the most popular live music venues in Greensboro went toe-to-toe over the weekend with two acts of undeniable similarities %uFFFD both led by remarkably charismatic frontmen, both backed by first-class collections of musicians and both just as downright funky as they could be. ]]> For a guy whose music hasn't really set the world on fire since his debut album, Snoop Dogg sure does have an impeccable sense of public relations. ]]> Carolina Blues Festival on Saturday was all blue skies and blues licks until around 5 p.m. when Mother Nature challenged the tenacity of hundreds of music lovers. ]]> Despite having at best a rudimentary command of the English language, French-Algerian singer/songwriter Rachid Taha was unreserved and utterly enthralling in his performance before an abundant audience of Duke coeds and international music fans. ]]> Early indications point to the largest crowd ever to attend the Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival in Silk Hope, as clear skies and warm weather made for ideal picking conditions. That said, here%uFFFDs a rundown of the events between my arrival Friday afternoon and departure Sunday evening. ]]> Veterans of this scene know what to expect: entire families spilling out of modified school buses; chemically enhanced vagrants twirling around to the music in their heads; two-dollar beers from the bottom of the cooler; and plenty of scrumptious hippie cuisine with suspect ingredients. ]]> I once met Brock Butler, front man for the Athens-based jam kings Perpetual Groove www.perpetualgroove.com, at a time when he and his band were undoubtedly in a different position than they are now. Perpetual Groove was slated to play a summertime gig in 2003 at a regrettably now-defunct Greenville watering hole called Peasant%uFFFDs Tavern. He was hunched over at the bar two hours before show time, throwing back Grey Goose and cranberry, with not a soul around. ]]> There are plenty of reasons to believe that Portland%uFFFDs Blind Pilot (www.myspace.com/goblindpilot) is positioning itself to be the next big thing in indie rock. ]]> It%uFFFDs not time for the Heavy Rebel Festival and it%uFFFDs nowhere close to Halloween, but one look at the Greene Street Club crowd on the night of Friday, March 20 and you might have been convinced otherwise. ]]> There were a few questions that needed to be answered leading up to Morrissey's (www.itsmorrisseysworld.com) performance at the Durham Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, March 11. ]]> A lot has been said about bands that retain their name years after the height of their primary popularity, despite sporting a lineup that nowhere near resembles the original. ]]> Even those who write about music need a vacation every now and then, but that doesn%uFFFDt mean that the work stops with it. Mine happened to come in the form of a long weekend with my good friend and college roommate, which explains why there%uFFFDs a review from a concert joint in Indianapolis showing up in a North Carolina weekly. ]]> The story goes that as long as Trigger makes the show, so will the man who has ridden it for the past 40 years. Of course, Trigger is a famed Martin model N-20 nylon-stringed guitar that bears the signatures of musicians, athletes and even a few lawyers, while the man is one of the last great American outlaws and a living legend, Willie Nelson. ]]> This Valentine’s Day was a treat for blues fans, as three phenomenal guitarists teamed up for an evening at Greensboro’s Carolina Theatre. Former Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen led a bill that includedvirtuoso Robben Ford and the soulful Ruthie Roster for Guitar Blues, a tour the arrived with the promise of revived standards and unique collaborations.]]> Something has changed with Old Crow Medicine Show between my first taste of their live experience in June 2005 and now, and it%uFFFDs not necessarily related to co-founder Critter Fuqua%uFFFDs performing hiatus. The Nashvillebased string band still has the same rousing, old-timey sound, but I can%uFFFDt say that they excite me to the same degree that they once did. ]]> Toubab Krewe%uFFFDs (www.myspace.com/toubabkrewe) soldout performance Friday at the Blind Tiger might have been one of the best that this area has seen at a venue this size in quite some time. In fact, the Asheville natives themselves might just be one of the most important acts to come out of the state in the past 15 years. ]]>