Cult favorite ‘90s ska band Save Ferris, is back on the scene after an 18-year hiatus, and with the release of its new EP, Checkered Past, the reunion is offering fans more than just a nostalgic tour. Win Checkered Past CD To win, follow RIFF on Twitter and RT any…

Photos: Todd Johnson MAPLEWOOD, MINN. — The Myth Live theater is a tiny concert venue for the likes of Sting, yet the rock legend (and jazz tinkerer) brought his “57th & 9th Tour” to the club, just north of St. Paul Thursday for an incredible evening. Sting started off the show himself…

RIFF writers and photographers crashed 20-plus shows at this year’s Noise Pop Music Festival, spending many late nights writing reviews so you would have them by the following morning. A couple of the shows were duds, but most were terrific (thanks for asking). Now that the 25th incarnation of…

The producers of the annual Stern Grove Festival today announced that Grammy Award-winning funk band Kool and the Gang will headline the festival’s 80th anniversary Big Picnic kick-off show. The event will take place June 25 this year, with local soul artist Quinn DeVeaux opening. The admission-free concert will take place at…

Photos: Paige K. Parsons SAN FRANCISCO — Two-thirds of the way through Adia Victoria‘s set at Bottom of the Hill Saturday, the South Carolina-raised, Nashville-based singer-songwriter busted out a song sugarcoated in French. Victoria’s genre was already not easy to pinpoint–a cross between garage rock and scuzzy, reverb-drenched soul–but, after she…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — The Radio Dept.‘s set of dream pop tunes at the Independent Saturday felt polished around the edges, but the band quickly fell flat, losing its audience, failing to gain any momentum and in the end, seemingly not even trying to make any concerted effort to improve.…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO —  Some bands care about more than playing a terrific technically proficient show, and The Joy Formidable proved just that with an intimate set at Swedish American Hall Saturday that included plenty of jokes between songs — which they performed largely acoustically — that spanned the Welsh alt-rock trio’s…

Photos: Gary Chancer SAN FRANCISCO — Gaze music took over The Independent with Deafheaven and This Will Destroy You. Both bands were engaging, but the animated stage presence of Deafheaven lead singer George Clarke roused the room more than anything. The San Francisco blackgaze band showed why they’re so good at their genre.…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — The last time Julien Baker played Noise Pop, in 2016, she fell in with the ranks of rising artists. Thursday, she returned as a bonafide success by selling out the Great American Music Hall, and keeping an entire room on pins and needles…

M. Lockwood Porter photographed before a concert at the Independent in San Francisco on Jan. 28, 2017. Photo: Amanda Limond SAN FRANCISCO — The sound of singer-songwriter M. Lockwood Porter is a finely mixed blend of alt-country, Americana and indie rock sensibilities. But despite having such a strong country sound,…