review

Steve Aoki blows power fuses
By Katrina Tulloch
April 23, 2012 - 3:18pm
Review: Even with four power outages at The Westcott Theater, electro-house DJ Steve Aoki kept a sold-out crowd rolling hard.

Steve Aoki started by buttering them up.

“Yo, I just got off a long, f---ing flight from Brazil,” the DJ said before taking the stage a few minutes past midnight. “I was playing for a São Paolo crowd of 15,000 for one hour, because I knew I had to get back in time to play for you."

Screams.

“I knew if I missed this gig, I’d be pissed,” Aoki continued. “I cut that s--- short so I could be with you guys. One of the best places in the f---ing world is right here in New York.”

Syracuse Stage opens season with The Turn of the Screw
By Leah Stacy
September 25, 2011 - 1:03pm
Review: Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation is a do-it-yourself ghost story

A rainy Friday night greeted the 39th season opener of Syracuse Stage: American novelist Henry James’ ghost story The Turn of the Screw. A thick audience streamed in for the performance, swaddled in raincoats and peeking from under dripping umbrellas.  

Christian punks Underoath play up older material
By Chris Ballard
July 23, 2011 - 4:10pm
Review: Underoath and others light up Westcott Theater with heavy metal, strobing lights and projected video amps of energy.

It's been six years since Underoath graced a Syracuse stage.

In 2005, inside the dusty, baby-blue walls of Club Tundra that night, they celebrated the release of their brand-new record, They're Only Chasing Safety, which many fans consider the band's most successful album.

A lineup change and four albums later, Underoath's aesthetically pulverizing set at the Westcott Theater on Friday sampled the new-look Underoath without sacrificing much of the old.

Sex is power in 'Lysistrata'
By Diep Tran
February 25, 2011 - 1:22am
"Lysistrata" at SU Drama or, how many times can you say "sex" in a review? The answer, not enough.

If anyone is wondering where their socks went, look in the obscenely tight pants of the male cast members in Lysistrata, now being performed by SU Department of Drama. It features numerous male cast members in their underwear, which inevitably gives rise to the question: “Is it real or stuffed?”

For this bawdy sexual comedy, this kind of thinking is necessary to enjoying it. So lay back and get in position.

Big Sean brings some G.O.O.D. music
By Ade Coker
February 24, 2011 - 12:25am
Review: SU students avoided the frosty weather at Winter Carnival 2011 kick-off concert Wednesday night.

Rising hip-hop star Big Sean, electrified the jam-packed Schine Underground as 350 Syracuse University students flocked to hear him perform Wednesday night. 

As the youngest member of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. music group, Big Sean has been steadily building momentum within the industry. SU’s enthusiastic student response to Wednesday night’s show provided more evidence that he could be on the brink of stardom. 

Kid Cudi's playing at my house
By Jillian Anthony
November 7, 2010 - 10:44pm
Review: Cornell crowd gets wild at Kid Cudi's intimate concert with opener Cee Lo Green.

The show began promptly at 7 p.m. By 7:15 a kid lay slouched against the bleachers, surrounded by paramedics and onlookers as he vomited on himself. At 7:45, EMTs evacuated a girl on a stretcher. The diligent janitor zipped back and forth from one vomit pile to the next, wiping away any trace of the indiscretion just in time for other people to come and sit in the same spot.

'The 39 Steps': Hitchcock, but with a kick
By Diep Tran
October 27, 2010 - 10:11pm
Syracuse Stage's "The 39 Steps" is a smart and slightly unhinged (but in a good way) production.

It’s a political scandal. Oh wait, it’s an unsolved murder. Or it could be the slow caress of an ankle. Quick! It’s on the run.

It’s (pause for effect) "The 39 Steps" (cue dramatic music).

Syracuse joins the club ahead of the curve
By Shawn Arrajj
October 20, 2010 - 11:09am
Review: Irish up-and-comers Two Door Cinema Club played Schine Underground last night, but could be playing major venues within the year.

Two Door Cinema Club aren’t a household name, but they could be – and soon. This up-and-coming Irish trio have already amassed a considerable following across the ocean and could very well become the next big indie-pop outfit to hit the States.

Phoenix rising
By Nathan Mattise
October 18, 2010 - 9:01pm
Review: France's indie darlings conquer the rock scene in Central New York and around the world.

A friend had a question for me right before Phoenix took the stage last night at Cornell University. The show was sold out for a few weeks and we were packed tightly about 40 rows deep from the stage – this despite getting to the show 45 minutes early.

“So, you think they’re the most relevant rock band in the world?”

A mixed 'Chorus Line'
By Diep Tran
October 13, 2010 - 12:50am
Review: Uneven performances keep 'A Chorus Line' from great heights at the Crouse Hinds Theater.

Difficulties in the Tuesday performance of A Chorus Line, presented by the Famous Artist Broadway Theater Series and playing at the Oncenter, proved that a chorus line is only as strong as the performers within it.