The Chronicles of Michael Christopher
Music • Culture • Film • Travel • Photography • Vinyl
You've heard of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Well, this year over at Vanyaland, we did something like that...but not really like that at all. The staff compiled a dozen of their favorite songs, films, comedy moments, and more from the past dozen months to close out another loop 'round the sun for "The Year... Continue Reading →
One year ago I was in Portland, Maine for Thanksgiving and to work on some writing. Looking for something to do, I hit up ‘Beatles Night’ that Saturday at the State Theatre, expecting very little. Fab Four tributes are always good for a few laughs but tend to get old fast. That wasn’t the case... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, I sat down over Zoom with Ryan Adams for an interview to preview his show at the Shubert Theatre in Boston tonight. It was to be part of my ongoing 617 Q&A series with Vanyaland, the name inspired by the Boston area code, where I run through six questions, ask the subject... Continue Reading →
Roundly recognized as one of the top films of the '90s, A Bronx Tale first began as an autobiographical one-man play by Chazz Palminteri, who went on to star in the cinematic adaptation, which is also notable as it marked the debut of Robert De Niro as a director. Perhaps most interesting, Palminteri has continued... Continue Reading →
Musicians taking up the paintbrush is nothing new. From Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood to John Mellencamp to the late David Bowie, it seems like anyone who randomly wandered into a Blick art supply store while on tour found a new hobby throwing paint on canvas. That wasn’t quite the case for Paul Stanley. The... Continue Reading →
It's fairly normal for interviews to run a bit longer than the allotted time. Not too much, but sometimes they go over to a point where I'm thinking to myself, "Alright I really need to shut this down, no matter how interesting it is to me." But with John Christ, guitarist best known for his... Continue Reading →
Next Tuesday, the hotly anticipated Alex Van Halen memoir Brothers lands on shelves, but the buzz has gotten even stronger this week after he dropped some bombshells that won’t be included between the bindings. The book tells the story of the unbreakable bond between the drummer and his younger brother, Edward, beginning with their childhood... Continue Reading →
One of the most elusive alternative rock reunions imploded this past weekend as Jane’s Addiction cancelled the remaining dates of their North American tour following an onstage scuffle between frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. The group, which also features drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery, had been plagued by a series of... Continue Reading →
One of the more unexpected reunions in the past however many years was that of Jane's Addiction. Not because bands reconvening is anything groundbreaking in these days of Oasis and Linkin Park, but because these guys had tried it over and over and over again across decades and always had the same problems split them... Continue Reading →
Looking at pop rock albums of the '90s, very few - if any - are good as Weezer's debut, The Blue Album. Tonight at the TD Garden, the outfit led by lord of the geeks Rivers Cuomo, never afraid to pin his nerdiness - or his heart - on his sleeve, bring the "Voyage to... Continue Reading →
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 