bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

thursday, august 21st

yndi halda

caspian

irepress

@ tt the bears

friday, august 22nd

varsity drag

lump

charcoal lavage

jake and the jakes

@ o'briens

friday, august 22nd

obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc)

viva viva

dead cats dead rats

sunday morning music

@ the middle east

saturday, august 23rd

the soft drugs

higgins

the toothaches

drama queens

@ pa's lounge

saturday, august 23rd

amo joy!

franklin bruno

(from nothing painted blue)

one happy island (ep release!)

@ the lily pad

saturday, august 23rd

newbury comics / unnatural axe

30th anniversary bash

the meatmen, queers, nasties,

unnatural axe, sleazies

@ the middle east down

sunday, august 24th

don cabellero

ponytail

irepress

@ harper's ferry

tuesday, august 26th

the final installment of...

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed august residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 27th

liz phair performing

'exile in guyville'

@ the paradise

wednesday, august 27th

xiu xiu

prurient

@ the paradise

friday, august 29th

liz phair performs

'exile in guyville'

@ the paradise

monday, september 1st

the juan maclean

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, september 3rd

ryan's smashing life presents...

justice of the unicorns

tigers & monkeys

spanish armada

wild business

@ the middle east

friday, september 5th

silver jews

hallelujah the hills

who shot hollywood

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, september 6th

my morning jacket

@ the bank of america pavilion

saturday, september 6th

matt pryor (get up kids)

kevin devine

mike fiore (faces on film)

@ harper's ferry

sunday, september 7th

ryan adams & the cardinals

@ the bank of america pavilion

tuesday, september 9th

paul weller

@ the berklee performance center

friday, september 12th

mission of burma

in-store performance

7pm @ newbury comics, newbury st.

friday, september 12th

buffalo tom

as part of the boston arts festival

@ christopher columbus park

saturday, september 13th

wfnx disorientation 2008

the kooks, flogging molly,

alkaline trio, rogue wave,

and more to be announced

@ bank of america pavilion

sunday, september 14th

lymbyc systym

this will destroy you

arms and sleepers

@ harper's ferry

monday, september 15th

lagwagon, mxpx,

only crime, & tat

@ harper's ferry

monday, september 15th

sunset rubdown

@ the middle east

monday, september 15th

james

@ the paradise

tuesday, september 16th

a place to bury strangers

@ the paradise

thursday, september 18th

the walkmen

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 19th

sigur ros

@ the bank of america pavilion

friday, september 19th to

sunday, september 21st

all tomorrow's parties

with my bloody valentine, low

built to spill, mogwai, shellac,

polvo, yo la tengo, lilys, autolux

dinosaur jr, mercury rev, & more

@ the catskills in nyc

saturday, september 20th

mike viola (solo)

(1st of 3 weekly residencies)

with guest blue and their

band, the major labels

@ the lizard lounge

saturday, september 20th

noah & the whale

@ toad

sunday, september 21st

the low lows

magic magic

ryan lee crosby

@ tt the bears

monday, september 22nd

the broken west

@ the middle east

monday, september 22nd

oxford collapse

love as laughter

takka takka

@ tt the bears

monday, september 22nd

mogwai

fuck buttons

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, september 23rd

writer dennis lehane

(release day for 'the given day')

@ the coolidge corner theatre

tuesday, september 23rd

weezer

angels & airwaves

tokyo police club

@ the tsongas arena

tuesday, september 23rd

cut copy

the presets

@ the paradise

wednesday, september 24th

joan as policewoman

@ the middle east

wednesday, september 24th

low

tulsa

@ the museum of fine arts boston

saturday, september 27th

mike viola (solo)

(2nd of 3 weekly residencies)

@ the lizard lounge

saturday, september 27th

built to spill

performing 'perfect from now on'

dinosaur jr.

meat puppets

@ the orpheum

sunday, september 28th

the bird and the bee

willoughby

@ great scott

sunday and monday

september 28th and 29th

ratatat

@ the paradise

thursday, september 30th

boston spaceships

(gbv's robert pollard)

big dipper

@ the paradise

thursday, september 30th

say hi

jukebox the ghost

@ the middle east

thursday & friday

october 2nd & 3rd

baltimore round robin

29 bands playing in a circle,

non-stop, one song at a time,

with you in the very center

with dan deacon, beach house,

creepers, the death set, adventure,

and everyone listed here

@ mass art

friday, october 3rd

death cab for cutie

@ agganis arena

friday, october 3rd

the fratellis

airborne toxic event

electric touch

@ the orpheum

saturday, october 4th

mike viola @ friends

(3rd of 3 weekly residencies)

@ the lizard lounge

sunday, october 5th

old 97s

@ the wilbur theatre

sunday, october 5th

pinback

@ the paradise

monday, october 6th

the wedding present

the jealous girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, october 6th

fleet foxes

@ the somerville theatre

monday, october 6th

stereolab

monade

@ the paradise

tuesday, october 7th

liam finn

the veils

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 8th

wire

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, october 9th

chuck ragan (of hot water music)

ben nichols (of lucero)

tim barry (of avail)

with guest jesse malin

@ the middle east

saturday, october 11th

the feelies

@ the roxy

sunday, october 12th

the residents

@ showcase live, foxboro

sunday, october 12th

the notwist

@ the roxy

sunday, october 12th

jamie lidell

@ the paradise

sunday, october 12th

against me!

ted leo & the pharmacists

the future of the left

@ the wilbur theatre

monday, october 13th

tv on the radio

the dirtbombs

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

ben kweller

whitley

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

jonatha brooke

glen phillips

(from toad the wet sprocket)

@ the wilbur theatre

friday, october 17th

hallelujah the hills

wonderful spells

capstan shafts

@ tt the bears

friday, october 17th

jonathan richman

with drummer tommy larkin

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, october 18th

ra ra riot

walter meego

the morning benders

@ the middle east

sunday, october 19th

the spinto band

frightened rabbit

@ the middle east

monday, october 20th

magnetic morning

(adam swervedriver & sam interpol)

julie ocean

springhouse (w/jack rabid)

@ great scott

tuesday, october 21st

minus the bear

annuals

sylvie

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday & wednesday

october 21st & 22nd

billy bragg

@ the somerville theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

yeasayer

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 22nd

lyle lovett & john hiatt

(acoustic, on stage together)

@ the orpheum

thursday, october 23rd

lykke li

@ the paradise

thursday, october 23rd

deerhoof

experimental dental school

@ the middle east down

friday, october 24th

fujiya & miyagi

@ the paradise

sunday, october 26th

broken social scene

land of talk

@ the wilbur theatre

monday, october 27th

matthew sweet

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 29th

legendary pink dots

@ the middle east down

thursday, october 30th

of montreal

@ the orpheum

friday, october 31st

the rumble strips

birdmonster

@ tt the bears

friday, october 31st

david byrne

performing the songs of byrne & eno

@ the wang center

saturday, november 1st

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the orpheum

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

sunday, november 9th

the hold steady

drive-by truckers

@ the orpheum

tuesday, november 11th

deerhunter

times new viking

the vivian girls

@ the paradise

wedneseday, november 12th

kings of leon

we are scientists

the whigs

@ the orpheum

tuesday, november 18th

m83

school of seven bells

@ the middle east down

thursday, november 20th

bishop allen

@ the middle east

saturday, december 13th

neil young

wilco

@ the dcu center, worcester

visit tourfilter for more shows

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Twilight at the Paradise, etc.

Well hello there.

First, let's get a couple of things outta the way...

The Red Sox lose their season opener, and the media freaks out a little bit. Don't sweat it... it's good to get used to small disappointments early on, and to remember what a bunch of asshats our local sports scribes can be. No worries.

I need a promise to be made, though. Down the stretch, when we're toughing out a close battle towards the playoffs, can we come up with something better than "Cowboy Up"? Seriously, it's hard for anyone, much less a bunch of Boston sports fans, to look good in a cowboy hat. Even cowboys have a rough time of it. I was thinking maybe "Pirate Up!", or even "Spaceman Up!". Much cooler.

Just an hour or so until Curt "the Paladin" Schilling starts his first regular season game. I'll be listening here in the cube.

On the TeeVee front:

This sucks. But it's Fox, so it's unsurprising. Wonderfalls was an excellent show, and therefore had little chance of surviving. Snowball, meet Hell.

On the other hand, this rocks. I got into Farscape way late in its lifecycle, but devoured the repeats and dvds. Glad we'll have some more time with those characters, and to maybe see those loose ends tied up. If only that'd happen with Twin Peaks. Yeah, right. Snowball, etc.

Saw Greg Dulli fronting his post-Afghan Whigs band, the Twilight Singers, on Friday night at the Paradise. Just, um, wow. My expectations were so, so high after the show they played at TTs last fall, and I'll be damned if they met them. What a band. I can't imagine a better live band out there right now. They are the definition of cheese-free rock.

Dear Leader did a fine job of opening up with some solid Perrino-penned songs (he late of the Sheila Divine). I loved the stuff from their EP, great to see it in full-band form. I was surprised to see Tugboat Annie's former bass player Jon up on stage... no clue he had joined up with Aaron. The last time I'd seen him on stage was coincidentally right there at the 'dise, when Tugboat opened for, of all bands, the Sheila Divine. Confluence.

The only thing that might have made the night better would have been a shorter between-band wait. I mean, what's up with the hour-and-a-half action? Just a tad too prima donna for my tastes. Dulli mumbled something about having a 103 degree fever, and (jokingly?) said he'd be hitting the hospital after the show. The excuses didn't matter, because it only took about two songs to forgive and forget it. So, so good.

Snagged a setlist...

Unsurprisingly, personal favorites were the old Whigs songs. Uptown Again killed me, and I got goosebumps when the drum beat for Something Hot started up. We got a fair number of covers and random song-references this time, too. Last October they played most of Outkast's Hey Ya, but not this time. Dulli introduced their cover of Roses with "Hey, remember last time we were here and we played 'Hey Ya'? Well, we're not going to do it again, but have no fear... the second single is here." We also got Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit (with a little Summertime lyrical intro in there) and a cover Bjork's Hyperballad thrown in for good measure. All You Need is Love, the Layla piano outro, and Don't Fear the Reaper made excerpted cameos as well. Yes, we resisted yelling "more cowbell!". That joke is now so old it's growing mold.

The band was so right on, the whole set through. Just top notch players, all around. 'Specially the drummer, Mr. Bobby "Rock Ascot" McIntyre. Totally impressed, once again. Never missed a beat, despite the presence of two overly-flirtateous (with the band, and, um, with each other) tight-clothed young ladies in the front row. Those two were hell-bent on distraction, and Dulli's grin couldn't be contained. "This next verse is for you, ladies!", he said during The Killer. They tried their hardest to get backstage, and I saw them standing by the tour bus after the show. Godspeed, ladies. Keep the dream alive. Sheesh.

Listen, when Dulli returns, whether it's with the Twilight Singers, solo, or as half of the Gutter Twins (his project with Mark Lanegan)... don't miss it. Seriously, just go. We all need a little unfiltered rock n' roll entertainment fix to keep us going.

posted by brad at 1:01 PM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

view previous entries