When it rains, you get wet

By Spencer Schyma

Jeff Beck- April 24th - Verizon Wireless Theater

Out of all the Rock guitarists that blessed the 60’s, Jeff Beck has been as innovative, technically, and (besides Hendrix) creatively gifted as anyone. Not only that, but no group or artist still performing from the sixties has consistently evolved their style and even sharpened their musicianship quite like Beck has. Over the course of his career, he’s changed the language of electric guitar. The haphazard way he approached his career and his idiosyncratic style however has prevented him from achieving the amount of commercial popularity that Clapton, Page or Hendrix have attained. Beck, saying in a recent interview with Rolling Stone: ”You can go up to any guy on the street and they know who Eric Clapton is….They don’t know who I am.” Having said that however, his website boasted 2024 as “his most successful year ever“ and as it stands 2024 looks like it will be even better for the guitar virtuoso. He’s dropped his typical reclusive behavior and finally putting himself out there more than ever. At the Grammys this year, he performed an incredible tribute to Les Paul with Imelda May in front of a national audience and won an award for best instrumental performance for an equally amazing cover of “A Day in the Life.“ He’s also putting out his first studio album and touring America extensively for the first time in seven years. There has NEVER been a better time to see this man. At 66 years of age this guy is playing like he’s in his twenties. If you play guitar, see this show.

Beach House - April 23rd - Walter’s On Washington

Riding the tidal wave of excitement over their new “sub pop” album ‘Beach House’, the duo out of Baltimore will have a very busy April ahead of them making a stop at Walter’s On Washington as one of their 26 shows this month. Their distinctive brand of Indie pop has caused quite a bit of buzz among Pitchfork junkies lately. Drawing their listeners into a world filled with the soulful siren swoons of Victoria Legrand over trippy organs and repetitive drum beats. Embellishing their pop melodies by utilizing David Gilmour-like slide guitar and sleepy keyboards Beach House’s beauty relies on their ability to craft hypnotic landscapes and psychedelic textures that wash the listeners ears in cascades of sounds. Dream pop fans, where ever you are, you won’t wanna miss this one.

Esperanza Spalding - April 24th - Jones Hall
Esperanza Spalding is truly a marvel. She has been hailed as a prodigy of the double bass at the age of 15 and at 21 she became an instructor at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.  By blending Afro Cuban and Bop influenced Jazz, with her multilingual soulful singing and pop appeal, she has become one of Jazz’s brightest young stars. With an incredible sense of melody and song craft, a gorgeous voice, and virtuosic bass playing, in her early twenties Esperanza’s a triple threat. Her self titled, Esperanza, proved to be exciting at every turn a wonderfully diverse and exceptionally well executed set. It makes you wonder how the hell a 23 year old could accomplish such a feat. She’s already done more than most Jazz musicians accomplish in their whole lifetime. Catch this sexy maple-skin afro jazz queen at Jones Hall the 24th. She’s the sexiest thing to hit Jazz since Billie Holiday and sure to knock them old yuppies dead.

Lupe Fiasco - April 26 - House of Blues

The past decade saw an array of extremely talented emcees arise from the Chi-Town underground Rap scene. Initially lead by the formidable talent of Common, the Chicago Rap scene blossomed into the strongest in the country producing artists like Rhymefest, Kanye West, Consequence, Pharrell Williams, Typical Cats, and arguably the most talented: Lupe Fiasco. The Muslim MC spits the most intricate and articulate rhymes to bless Hip Hop since Mos Def’s early recordings. His last two albums despite having radio hits with both “Superstar“ and “Kick, Push“, have been relatively ignored by the mainstreamers and even the critics. With masterful storytelling and absolutely magnetic productions (courtesy of Soundtrakk), both albums have both been bonafide hip hop masterworks. The album he’s putting out this year and touring for, Lasers, is exploding with expectations among fans. I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to follow up his last two efforts but I’m willing to put in the effort and time to download it for free and find out. Let’s hope he hasn’t gone all mainstream and turn into a radio whore like Common and Kanye. See Alternative Rap’s highest hope at the House of Blues on the 26th.