Tag: orpheum
Beth Gibbons at The Orphuem: Outgrowing Your Own Creation
Rob Shepyer
April 23, 2025
Beth Gibbons at The Orpheum Theatre was more than just a showcase of new music, it was a showcase of a new Beth Gibbons for all Los Angeles to enjoy. When you think Beth Gibbons and Portishead, you think of a specific sound. An elevated, urbanized jazz that pairs well with a Bond movie, maybe, or you think of the trip hop moniker developed by her band and other English groups like Massive Attack. Beth Gibbons’ solo work, and especially her 2024 album Lives Outgrown doesn’t so much as develop on the song she help originate and cultivate though, it outgrows it with a new evolution in her artistry that includes influences from folk, psychedelic, medieval, and world music sensibilities. Driving to the Orpheum theatre on a drowsy Thursday evening, her new album gave my trip a surreal feel, making each beat of time pass by with more meaningful reflection, and each tree outstretching over the freeway walls more tranquilizing with the nature-vibes captures on songs like “Floating on a Moment” or my favorite on the album, “Whispering Love”. Skimming through the tracklist now and looking back on the show, I see both as a statement on identity, lost and
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Icon on the Ivories: Tori Amos at the Orpheum Theatre
Rob Shepyer
June 21, 2022
When rock and roll finds its vehicle in a piano player, often the label put on these artists is “Piano Man’, thanks to one certain ‘big shot’. The names that come to mind are the likes of Billy Joel, Ben Folds, Tom Waits, and a few more. After seeing Tori Amos live at the Orpheum though, it’s very clear to me, none of these men are able to rock as hard on the piano as she is. She has her songwriting to thank for that just as much as her fingers, Tori just knows how to craft anthems of personal rebellion through lyrics and song structures that are often outside the box but deeply meaningful and able to carry just as much quiet love as they are overwhelming rage. related content: Sensory Interference: Thom Yorke at the Orpheum Theatre I wanted to catch this show to get a bigger picture and deeper understanding of Tori and her space in the cultural landscape. She is after all, one of the iconic feminist voices in the history of music. This concert took her out of the feminist sphere for me and placed her right at the helm of rock and roll Valhalla’s
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