bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area shows of note:

friday, july 25th

comedian joel mchale

(from the soup)

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, july 26th

bon iver

bowerbirds

@ the museum of fine arts

sunday, july 27th

the new collisions (debut)

red quiet

melt

@ tt the bears

sunday, july 27th

sunfold

antiques

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

we are scientists

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, july 30th

earlimart

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, july 30th

spiritualized

the dirtbombs

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, july 31st

the police

elvis costello & the impersonators

@ the tweeter center

friday & saturday

august 1st & 2nd

eddie vedder

liam finn

solo @ the opera house

saturday, august 2nd

wolf parade

@ the paradise

monday, august 4th

coldplay

@ the garden

tuesday, august 5th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 6th

neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3)

rogue wave

jack johnson

@ the tweeter center

saturday, august 9th

margot & the nuclear so and so's

@ the middle east

saturday, august 9th

melvins

@ the paradise

sunday, august 10th

ho-ag

six finger satellite

the in-out

certainly, sir

@ great scott

tuesday, august 12th

thao nguyen with

the get down stay down

david schultz & the skyline

pepi ginsberg

@ tt the bears

tuesday, august 12th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 13th

radiohead

grizzly bear

@ the tweeter center

thursday, august 14th

grizzly bear

violens

outside in the courtyard

@ the museum of fine arts

friday, august 15th

the ex

getachew mekuria

debo band

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, august 16th

+/- (plus minus)

broken river prophet (cd release!)

animal hospital

ba-na-nas

free kickass cupcakes from 9-10pm!

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, august 19th

(and every tuesday this month)

neil cleary's 'doozy'

a guest-packed 4-show residency

@ the lizard lounge

wednesday, august 20th

human league, belinda carlisle, abc,

flock of seagulls, naked eyes

@ the bank of america pavilion

thursday, august 21st

yndi halda

caspian

irepress

@ tt the bears

friday, august 22nd

obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc)

@ the middle east

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

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

monday, september 1st

the juan maclean

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, september 5th

silver jews

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, september 6th

my morning jacket

@ the bank of america pavilion

sunday, september 7th

ryan adams & the cardinals

@ the bank of america pavilion

tuesday, september 9th

paul weller

@ the berklee performance center

saturday, september 13th

wfnx disorientation 2008

the kooks, flogging molly,

alkaline trio, rogue wave,

and more to be announced

@ bank of america pavilion

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

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

cut copy

the presets

@ the paradise

wednesday, september 24th

low

tulsa

@ the museum of fine arts boston

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

thursday, september 30th

boston spaceships

(gbv's robert pollard)

big dipper

@ the paradise

sunday, october 5th

pinback

@ the paradise

monday, october 6th

the wedding present

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, october 6th

stereolab

monade

@ the paradise

wednesday, october 8th

wire

@ the middle east downstairs

sunday, october 12th

the residents

@ showcase live, foxboro

sunday, october 12th

the notwist

@ the roxy

sunday, october 12th

jamie lidell

@ the paradise

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ the paradise

thursday, october 16th

ben kweller

whitley

@ the paradise

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

tuesday & wednesday

october 21st & 22nd

billy bragg

@ the somerville theatre

wednesday, october 22nd

lyle lovett & john hiatt

(acoustic, on stage together)

@ the orpheum

thursday, october 30th

of montreal

@ the orpheum

saturday, november 1st

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the orpheum

monday, november 3rd

coldplay

@ the td banknorth garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Careful Patterns in the Snow

Snow Patrol just returned to Boston for the third time this year, with a couple of acoustic appearances capped off by a sold-out show at the Paradise last night. It's remarkable to see how much their area following has grown in seven short months. Their night at the much-smaller TT the Bears in February was far from sold-out, and another headlining gig at the Paradise in April was maybe half-full. Once again proving the power of heavy alt-rock airplay, the crowd went nuts last night when 'Run' started up. Could hear the guys behind me mutter "Dude, listen up... it's that song."

I hadn't planned on catching them this time around... I've got that silly, uncontrollable tendency to stop paying attention once the masses get on board. I had such a great time at the TTs gig that I figured anything else would be a let down. This proved true when I saw S.P. play London in March... too massive, too packed, too many chatterers who only stop yapping when the single started up. (insert the UK translation of "Dude, listen up..." here.)

So seeing them twice in the past couple days was pure chance. Amie won tickets to a special acoustic set at ZuZu on Sunday afternoon. About thirty of us seated around Gary and Nathan as they played four songs from the most recent record, and one from 2001's "When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up".

A surreal setting, a lazy Sunday afternoon with the bright, early-fall sunshine gleaming in the windows behind them. Not to mention the Central Square street wanderers standing close at their backs, freaking Gary out in a major way. "If they grab me, can someone come and get me?" he asks. Someone in the crowd responds: "Don't worry, we've got your back.", and Gary follows up with "Well, that's the problem... so do they."

I took the opportunity to test out my mp3 recorder and a crappy radio shack clip-on mic. Little hissy, a bit rumbly, but all in all, not bad. (anyone got any good clip-on stereo mic recommendations?) ...

Snow Patrol
(gary & nathan acoustic)
at ZuZu, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sunday afternoon, September 12th, 2004

1. Wow!
2. Chocolate
3. One Night Is Not Enough
4. Spitting Games
5. Run

Amie hadn't seen Snow Patrol before (despite my promises of "You'd love 'em!"), and was pretty well enthralled by their acoustic action... smitten enough to get herself (+1 husband) on the guest list for the Paradise show. (Many thanks to the shall-remain-unnamed 'FNX DJ who hooked us up with that. Much appreciated.)

So, yeah, last night the place was jam-packed... I raced over from a preview of Sky Captain (more on that later) just in time for the lucky parking spot and the first song. A great (if unsurprising) set and an enthusiastic audience, front row fans singing along with every word, Gary in a Red Sox jersey (#11 for Bill Mueller)... but it's not like he needed that to endear himself to the Boston crowd.

Most amusing banter of the night: Boston's been unfortunately overwhelmed with Jimmy Buffett fans, as he played two huge shows at Fenway Park over the weekend. Thousands of so-called "Parrot Heads" everywhere, filling up the bars, and their bellies with margaritas. I don't know where Margartaville is, but it sure as hell isn't supposed to be anywhere near the Northeast. Glad that's over and done with. At least they're not likely to linger around like Dead-Phish-heads do.

So, anyway, Gary's up on stage and says something like: "It's real good to be in Boston again... but what has happened to this town? What is it with all these people wearing parrots on their heads?! Aren't they supposed to be worn on your shoulder? I mean, historically?". Ah, pirate-flavored humor. Can't beat it.