Reviews: Blink-182, Guns N’ Roses, Culture Club, Jim Lauderdale, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel

Guns N’ Roses @ Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., June 23 – “Squint, and it was the Guns N’ Roses of yore: Axl darting across the stage like he’s trying to up his Fitbit numbers, doing that side-shuffle-in-place move, and looking like a demon serpent while howling into his microphone; Slash, virtually unchanged in appearance from the Appetite for Destruction days, ripping solos in a sleeveless black T-shirt, black leather pants, a black top hat and mirrored sunglasses; and Duff, bass slung low (and adorned with a Prince symbol), somehow looking 10 pounds leaner than he did in 1987 and still every bit as cool.” – Adam Graham / The Detroit News

Blink-182 @ Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa., June 23 – “In a surprisingly sharp and strong performance, blink-182 gave easily the event center’s best concert this year, and the best blink-182 show an area audience has seen at least since the band reunited in 2009 – and perhaps in more than 15 years, since it played  Allentown Fair in 1999.” – John J. Moser / The Morning Call

Culture Club @ Zepp Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan, June 21 – “As Culture Club tore through its set list, it became obvious that the 13-piece band’s newer arrangements are the aural highlight of its current tour, sounding amazingly fresh by keeping things clear and simple.” – Laurier Tiernan / The Japan Times

Jim Lauderdale @ Natalie’s in Worthington, Ohio, June 23 – “Lauderdale promised an hour and a half of country, bluegrass, gospel and a few other styles, and delivered them all with an unmistakable, singular identity.” – Curtis Schieber / The Columbus Dispatch

Paul Simon @ Places des Arts in Montreal, Quebec, June 22 – “Somewhere between the unexpected funky organ solo in ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ and the Elvis pose struck by Paul Simon during a wonderfully spirited ‘That Was Your Mother,’ it became obvious that one of popular music’s most enduring catalogues has never sounded so alive.” – Bernard Perusse / Montreal Gazette

Art Garfunkel @ Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, June 22 – “Garfunkel was at his best when he allowed himself to commit to his reedy, high-pitched tones on ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – the latter of which was met, inevitably, with rapturous applause.” – Patrick Smith / The Telegraph