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sunday, march 14th
a special screening of the
white stripes tour documentary
"under the great white northern lights"
free admission / prize pack drawing
10pm @ the otherside cafe
sunday, march 14th
carbon leaf
@ the paradise
monday, march 15th
one happy island
standard fare
summer cats
@ great scott
monday, march 15th
letting up despite great faults
the brother kite
plumerai
singing bridges
@ the middle east upstairs
tuesday, march 16th
bacchus king
croquet
cathy cathodic
the ugly fucklings
@ the middle east upstairs
wednesday, march 17th
joanna newsom
@ the sanders theatre, harvard
wednesday, march 17th
henry rollins (spoken word)
@ the somerville theatre
thursday, march 18th
apollo sunshine
drug rug
@ the paradise
friday, march 19th
i, pistol
mascara
planetoid
forgetful jones
@ tt the bears
saturday, march 20th
the whitehaus family blastfest
needy visions, manners,
morgan shaker, avi jacob,
and many more
@ cambridge ymca theatre
saturday, march 20th
air
am
@ berklee performance center
sunday, march 21st
the clientele
field music
@ great scott
thursday, march 25th
"thursday night alright!" with
the beatings
aloud
action camp
hello ninja
@ great scott
thursday, march 25th
the donnas
@ the paradise
friday, march 26th
eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)
ryan lee crosby
ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)
@ the somerville armory
friday, march 26th
basia bulat
marissa nadler
lady lamb the beekeeper
@ tt the bears
saturday, march 27th
your say party! we say die!
the new collisions
static of the gods (cd release)
@ tt the bears
saturday, march 27th
the big pink
a place to bury strangers
magic magic
@ the paradise
saturday, march 27th
spoon
deerhunter
@ the house of blues
sunday, march 28th
beach house
bachelorette
@ the paradise
monday, march 29th
the soft pack
nodzzz
beaters
@ great scott
tuesday, march 30th
shearwater
wye oak
hospital ships
@ tt the bears
tuesday, march 30th
manchester orchestra
the features
biffy clyro
o'brother
@ the paradise
wednesday, march 31st
japandroids
love is all
girlfriends
@ the middle east downstairs
wednesday, march 31st
miike snow
delorean
@ the paradise
wednesday, march 31st
a sunny day in glasgow
pants yell!
bearstronaut
@ great scott
thursday, april 1st
girls
dum dum girls
@ the paradise
friday, april 2nd
the xx
jj (late show only)
two shows @ the paradise
friday, april 2nd
drive-by truckers
lucero
langhorne slim
@ the house of blues
saturday, april 3rd
cassavettes
the grownup noise
kingsley flood (cd release)
spouse
@ the middle east upstairs
saturday, april 3rd
black rebel motorcycle club
alberta cross
@ the house of blues
saturday, april 3rd
nada surf
dawn landes & the hounds
@ the paradise
sunday, april 4th
serena maneesh
depreciation guild
black fortress of opium
@ tt the bears
tuesday, april 6th
wilco
@ the orpheum
tuesday, april 6th
ben fold & a piano
kate miller-heidke
@ the house of blues
wednesday, april 7th
florence & the machine
@ the paradise
wednesday, april 7th
rocky votolato
brooke waggoner
@ great scott
thursday, april 8th
faces on film
hands & knees
st. claire (cd release!)
mr. sister
@ tt the bears
thursday, april 8th
thom yorke + atoms for peace
flying lotus
@ the citi/wang theatre
friday, april 9th
midlake
@ the paradise
saturday, april 10th
xiu xiu
tune-yards
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, april 10th
ted leo & the pharmacists
obits
screaming females
@ the paradise
saturday, april 10th
pissed jeans
confines
sqrm
@ great scott
sunday, april 11th
fanfarlo
lawrence arabia
robert francis
@ the paradise
monday, april 12th
the wedding present
play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'
with openers girl in a coma
@ the middle east downstairs
monday, april 12th
titus andronicus
the babies
@ great scott
thursday, april 15th
jakob dylan with guests
neko case + kelly hogan
@ the wilbur theatre
thursday, april 15th
red sparowes
doomriders
@ the middle east downstairs
friday, april 16th
guillermo sexo
freddie t and the people
(ex-june of 44 / hoover)
travels
ghost box orchestra
@ pa's lounge
friday, april 16th
have nots (vinyl release!)
the appreciation post
razors in the night
wicked whiskey
the swaggerin growlers
@ tt the bears
saturday, april 17th
kaki king
an horse
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, april 17th
the morning benders
miniature tigers
@ tt the bears
sunday, april 18th
heavy trash (w/jon spencer)
the konks
the cobra-matics
@ tt the bears
sunday, april 18th
the thermals
past lives
@ the middle east downstairs
monday, april 19th
trans am
@ the middle east downstairs
tuesday, april 20th
owen pallett (aka final fantasy)
@ the ica boston
tuesday, april 20th
elvis costello & the sugarcanes
@ the orpheum
tuesday, april 20th
the low anthem
timber timbre
@ the paradise
tuesday, april 20th
quasi
let's wrestle
@ the middle east downstairs
wednesday, april 21st
the church
special 30th anniversary
acoustic career retrospective
@ the somerville armory
wednesday, april 21st through
wednesday, april 28th
the 8th annual independent film festival of boston
@ various boston area theatres
including the somerville + brattle
thursday, april 22nd
the mary onettes
@ great scott
saturday, april 24th
los campesinos!
here we go magic
@ the paradise
sunday, april 25th
harlem
@ the great scott
monday, april 26th
echo + the bunneymen
hatcham social
@ the paradise
wednesday, april 28th
gogol bordello
devotchka
jesse malin
st. mark's social
@ the house of blues
thursday, april 29th
frightened rabbit
@ the paradise
friday, april 30th
the everyday visuals
the lights out
the flying machines
aloud
@ tt the bears
friday, april 30th
corinne bailey ray
@ the house of blues
friday, april 30th
the album leaf
sea wolf
@ the paradise
wednesday, april 28th
little boots
dragonette
fan death
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, may 1st
white rabbits
here we go magic
@ the paradise
monday, may 3rd
yeasayer
sleigh bells
@ the paradise
tuesday, may 4th
gregory & the hawk
lady lamb the beekeeper
@ tt the bears
tuesday & wednesday
may 4th & 5th
public image ltd.
@ the royale (formerly the roxy)
wednesday & thursday
may 5th & 6th
jonsi (from sigur ros)
@ the house of blues
thursday, may 6th
shout out louds
@ the paradise
friday, may 7th
ok go
earl greyhound
robert francis
@ the paradise
saturday, may 8th
local natives
@ great scott
tuesday & wednesday
may 11th & 12th
dr. dog
deer tick
@ the paradise
thursday, may 13th
small brown bike
bridge and tunnel
your skull my closet
wallcreeper
@ great scott
saturday, may 22nd
killing joke
@ the paradise
tuesday, may 18th
spectrum (featuring sonic boom
from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)
with the broken river prophet
@ the middle east upstairs
tuesday, may 25th
the smittens
allo darlin'
one happy island
hearts!attack
a smile and a ribbon
horowitz
@ the lizard lounge
wednesday, may 26th
reverend horton heat
cracker
miss derringer
@ the house of blues
friday, may 28th
mono
the twilight sad
@ the middle east downstairs
wednesday, june 2nd
kings of convenience
franklin for short
@ the paradise
wednesday, june 2nd
ryan bingham & the dead horses
@ tt the bears
wednesday & thursday
june 2nd & 3rd
the national
@ the house of blues
friday, june 4th
brian jonestown massacre
@ the paradise
friday, june 18th
reigning sound
movers & shakers
triplethick
@ tt the bears
saturday, june 19th
james taylor
carole king
@ the garden
sunday + monday
june 20th + 21st
isis
melvins
totimoshi
@ the paradise
thursday + saturday
august 19th + 21st
tom petty + the heartbreakers
my morning jacket
@ the comcast center
|
Thursday, October 16, 2003 Train of Thought : The Station Agent Reviewed First, an admission: There's a hardcore train nut inside me, just waiting to get out again. I grew up in the small village of Essex Junction, VT, a name first coined in 1853 by conductors working the six rail lines that intersected there. The main line between Essex Junction and Burlington ran right behind my house, and I spent uncounted hours walking the rails (or, rather, the right of way). Sometimes I'd head the few miles east towards my middle school, other times west, all the way into the city. I collected it's rusty, discarded railroad spikes and it's hefty, scattered nuts & bolts. If I was out back, I'd wave to the passing engineers, if I was in bed, I'd listen through my open windows as the engine noise grew slowly louder then faded away. On good days, I'd get to hang out in Mr. Murdough's basement down the block, totally obsessing over the detailed, miniature town he'd built around his O scale model train setup. I've spent hours wandering through hobby stores and train displays, wondering which new car to get or which new tiny building I'd put together. Over the years I'd build my own smaller HO scale layouts on 4' x 8' plywood sheets covered in fake green grass, but as I got older and started moving around, when space got harder to come by, those sets have been reduced to a taped-up box of old train cars and little plastic trees somewhere in the basement. As Amie and I search for a house, invariably my mind returns to "Hmmm... will I be able to fit a train set down here?" when we look at prospective basements and garages. Someday I'll build that little town, and go a little loco out as my trains go 'round and 'round. (Although I promise I'll never wear a little engineers hat while doing it. This I do swear.) Alright, with that nasty little confession out of the way, I can talk about the wonderful little movie that could (and does), The Station Agent.  It's a quiet, involving film about succumbing to, or fighting, the loneliness of life. It's about escaping to small towns, about three people who end up in Newfoundland, New Jersey for totally different reasons, but are drawn together thanks to bad driving and the chance location of a snack truck vendor. I didn't know much about this film other than that it centered around a man with dwarfism, and that it had won a number of awards at festivals like Sundance this past year. When the diminutive title character, Fin McBride (played with dignity and perfection by Peter Dinklage), first appears, staring from the rooftops at passing trains, grabbing a smoke before descending to the model railroad store where he works, I already knew I was going to love this movie. It's reminded me of Lost in Translation a bit in the way that it created a mood all it's own, that it depended on character moments and the atmosphere of place, not on gimics, to pull you in. It was about how emotional isolation can physically pull you away, and how it can also bring people together in unfamiliar surroundings. It all sounds a bit heavy, and some of it really is, but it's all wrapped in so much humor that it's never dour, never overbearing. The interaction between Fin and snack truck vendor Joe (played by the naturally funny Bobby Cannavale) is comedically priceless. Joe's the joker, the NYC-bred non-stop talking Cuban who "loves life" (as Patricia Clarkson's Olivia says in the film). He can't fathom Fin's resistance to hangin' out, he completely overlooks his rebuffs and never gives up. He's one of those innocents who sees a friend in everyone, especially his new next door neighbor out in the middle of nowhere. Joe sees Fin's appearance as a stroke of luck, Fin sees Joe as an annoyance, but the slow progression of their friendship is so well portrayed, so real, you feel the connection they make. Speaking of Clarkson, there's a reason she's been in so many indie films of late... she's just so, so good at what she does that it's natural she's in demand. I've seen her in a lot of different roles (Six Feet Under, Pieces of April, All the Real Girls, Far From Heaven), and as great as she was in all those, her work in the Station Agent was her best so far. I don't want to give away the tragic reasons for her escape to Newfoundland, but she carries the weight of loss and loneliness all over her, in every expression and every line. She's the emotional flashpoint for the other characters in the film, the trigger for changes in all of them, and she's just right. It's one of those performances that raises the level of everyone else around her. All three main characters are ideally cast, I came away wanting to see more work from all of them, especially Bobby Cannavale, and I liked all the supporting players save Michelle Williams as a brief love interest for Fin. While she does a solid acting job, her role seems a little shoe-horned in. I know why she's there, but things between her and Fin seem a bit forced. See the movie, you'll know what I mean, even if you don't agree. I was really glad to see little Raven Goodwin as Cleo, too... I thought she was cute as hell in Lovely & Amazing, and I'm glad she got a second role here. Plus, her character collected railroad spikes. Nice to know I'm not alone. I can't say enough good things about this movie... it's up there with my favorites of the year. Writer/Director Thomas McCarthy came up with something magical here, created a work of art that is deeply touching and universally relevant. His choice of cast, score (a subtle, inventive soundtrack by Stephen Trask, who co-wrote Hedwig & the Angry Itch), setting... all equally inspired. I admit, my love of all things train may have swayed me, but I've got a feeling you'll love it regardless of your opinions on the rail industry. After the movie, as we drove from Kendall Square towards downtown Boston, we hit the Longfellow Bridge and a subway train arose from the tunnel beside us. Mirroring a scene from the film, we chased it all the way across the Charles. The perfect epilogue.  |
sparklehorse
live at the paradise
in boston, mass.
on monday, february 26th, 2009
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boston music media
boston live show / event info
music blogroll
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- information leafblower
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- kingblind
- lacunae
- largehearted boy
- the late greats
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- little hits
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- my old kentucky blog
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- said the gramophone
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music audiocasts
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- amie's flickr page
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