Reviews: Bryan Ferry, Panic! At The Disco, Patti Smith, Pixies, Margo Price

Read all about it! Today’s collection of reviews includes Bryan Ferry in Atlanta; Panic! At The Disco in Rosemont, Ill.; Patti Smith in Pittsburgh; Pixies in Christchurch, New Zealand; and Margo Price in Blacksburg, Va.

AP Photo / Keystone – Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music
44th Montreux Jazz Festival, Stravinski Hall, Montreux, Switzerland

Bryan Ferry @ The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Ga., March 14 – “Everything about Bryan Ferry is elegant – from his fluttering hand movements to the way he clasps his microphone stand to his ethereal vocals, sometimes delivered with a smile toward his band and other times with his eyes squeezed closed in musical rhapsody.” – Melissa Ruggieri / AJC Music Scene / Atlanta Journal-Constitution  

Leslie Gilliland / Pollstar – Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco
Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Irvine, Calif.

Panic! At The Disco @ Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., March 11 – “Fan favorites ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Nine in the Afternoon’ were highlights as these Panic anthems fed the crowd with great enthusiasm. Panic slowed only once when [Brandon] Urie made his way to the center of the venue for his piano solo on “This Is Gospel” when he was hoisted about 50 feet midair.” – Damian Rico / NWITimes.com / The Times of Northwest Indiana

AP Photo – Patti Smith
2010 ASCAP Pop Awards, Hollywood, Calif.

Patti Smith @ Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 13 – The legendary punk poet is on the road celebrating the 40th anniversary of her staggering debut album, “Horses,” by playing it in its entirety. These sorts of tribute shows can go a couple different ways. Sometimes it takes your breath away. Sometimes it’s too perfect. Sometimes everyone seems bored with parts of it, eager to get on with the good stuff. Rarely does anyone take the album and turn it into a living, breathing piece of performance art, but Patti Smith has always been as much an artist as a rock star, and nostalgia is not her game. – Scott Mervis / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jason Moore – Pixies
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif.

Pixies @ Horncastle Arena in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 9 – “The crowd certainly weren’t disappointed. The Pixies gave them what they wanted and they gave it to them with flair and power. The performance was notably business-like – none of the banter between performers and crowd you’d expect at most concerts. No ‘Hello Christchurch!,’ or letting the crowd sing lines instead of the performers. But maybe the Pixies consider that sort of thing to be trite, which very much fits into their mutinous musical style.” – Julien Lee / Stuff.co.nz

Kirk Stauffer / krstauffer.com – Margo Price
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, Wash.

Margo Price @ Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 24 – “In front of her was an audience of 357, very engaged but a little laid-back. … By the end, though, Price’s powerful vocals, evocative songs and relentless band got the crowd up on its feet, at least a couple dozen making their way to the floor in front of the stage.” – Tad Dickens / The Roanoke Times