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recommended boston area events

wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, march 18th

TOURFILTER DJ NIGHT!

when tourfilter's chris +

the almanac's brad (aka, me)

spin songs by bands coming to

the boston area sometime soon

9pm sharp @ river gods


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


wednesday, march 24th

extraneous noise presents...

golden spurs

spirit kid

some say fire

the novel ideas

@ the middle east upstairs


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 folds & 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

graham parker with

the figgs

@ johnny d's, somerville


saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise


sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ 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, may 5th

minus the bear


@ the wilbur theatre


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


visit tourfilter for more shows



Friday, July 30, 2004

Done DNC

The party's party is over, delegates are waking up from hope-filled hangovers, ready to flee Boston on a hot, hazy Friday morning. The imposed exile from my downtown office has ended as well, so I'm back in cube-land after too work-from-home days. Felt good to wake up early, shave off my WFH-DNC beard, and head back into the city for a dose of the normal routine.

As a Boston-based (and fairly politically-inclined) blogger, I had an opportunity to offer up my running take on the goings on during this surreal week... but I felt oddly ambivalent towards the whole big show. Besides, there was so much ridiculous hype about convention-blogging that it had no appeal to me whatsoever. I was happy to sit back, check the rss feeds, and stay outta the fray, even shying away from a couple of DNC-related events I had invites to. Things I normally would have loved to check out.

I think the whole weeding out process got to me, my initial enthusiasm built up and peaked during my full-on support of the Dean campaign, and disappeared with his chances. Even before the scream heard 'round the land, I was becoming disillusioned not just with a couple of his stances on certain issues, but with the systematic picking-apart of his candidacy by opponents and fellow party-members alike. While no candidate will likely match all my opinions on every policy, I initially thought Dean came closer than Kerry, and could offer up real change. I started believing this less and less as time went on, and as a pragmatist, began seeing his chances fade as the primaries approached. Time proved it to be true, and even though I'm firmly in the "anybody but Bush" camp, it's tough to get truly excited about someone I'm not completely behind.

That said, I refuse to waste my vote. In less desperate times, I wouldn't compromise myself by voting for someone I didn't wholeheartedly believe in. But times simply cannot get more desperate than they are now. We must not use this election to make statements that will not be heard, like so many small trees in too many endless forests. Maybe that time will come, perhaps in four years if Kerry does not live up to the words of last night's defining speech.

Before that, though, we must rid ourselves of Bush, relegate him to the history books, and voting for Nader, or one of the lesser-known candidates, especially a write-in, will not help accomplish that. It's an idealistic choice that in any other time I might admire, but no longer. The last election taught us the reality of such decisions, and we cannot forget the lessons we've learned, the tragic results of a presidency given to the wrong man at the wrong time. It's time to right that wrong, and if John Kerry is the man to do it, I'm in.

His speech last night makes it easier to do so. He's obviously come a long way over this long campaign, and his words actually fanned the political flames that Barak Obama's DNC-defining speech ignited in me. Obama sparked hope I hadn't felt since Dean's flame-out, made me sit up and pay closer attention during the second half of the convention. I can't wait to see where this guy's political road takes him.

The cynical side of me wanted to dismiss this whole pol-apalooza as a waste of money, resources, and time... a serious inconvenience to Boston residents and businesses alike, contrived fakery designed to clean-up a fragmented party like the fresh pavement, flowers, and coats of paint that magically appeared all over our city last week. To make things seem that much prettier to those looking in.

In the end, the optimist in me returned. I finish this week with a renewed sense of hope... a positive, if still fairly guarded, outlook on the months ahead. I know the dirty stuff is imminent... the right-wing ambushes loom, the behind-closed-doors scheming is in progress. I say let 'em come, let the cornered attack dogs do their worst before we put them down. Three more months. Just three short months before we move on.












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sparklehorse
live at the paradise
in boston, mass.
on monday, february 26th, 2009

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