bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area events of note:

thursday, november 20th

bishop allen

passion pit

electric owls

@ the middle east downstairs

friday, november 21st

robyn hitchcock

performing 'i often dream of trains'

@ the somerville theatre

saturday, november 22nd

sondre lerche

@ the paradise

sunday, november 30th

18th dye

devon williams

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 2nd

nada surf

delta spirit

jealous girlfriends

@ the paradise

tuesday, december 2nd

owen

caithlin de marrais (rainer maria)

el may

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, december 3rd

viva viva

darker my love

the strange boys

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, december 4th

jukebox the ghost

@ the middle east upstairs

friday, december 5th

mercury rev

dean & britta

@ the paradise

thursday, december 4th

sebastien grainger & the mountains

eksi ekso

@ tt the bears

friday, december 5th

constantines

tim fite

@ tt the bears

friday & saturday

december 5th & 6th

wfnx miracle on tremont st.

with franz ferdinand,

vampire weekend, black kids,

airborne toxic event, & more

@ the orpheum

saturday, december 6th

tigercity

taxpayer

lifestyle

midatlantic (bleedin' bleedins)

@ great scott

saturday, december 6th

noah & the whale

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, december 7th

bazaar bizarre boston!

(with djs, including brad 'nac)

12-7pm @ the castle, park plaza

monday, december 8th

love is all

crystal stilts

reports

@ great scott

monday & tuesday

december 8th & 9th

letters to cleo

midatlantic (on the 8th)

modern society (on the 9th)

@ the paradise

tuesday, december 9th

radar bros.

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, december 9th

jeremy enigk

dave deporis

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, december 11th

stella with michael showalter,

michael ian black, & david wain

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, december 13th

neil young

wilco

everest

@ the dcu center, worcester

sunday, december 14th

bon iver

@ the wilbur theatre

wednesday, december 17th

the broken river prophet

quincunx

shepherdess

@ great scott

sunday, december 21st

hallelujah the hills

aloud

nassy

ad frank & sarah rabdau

@ great scott

monday, december 22nd

tristan da cunha

tom fitzgerril

neptune

@ great scott

sunday, december 28th

akron/family

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 30th

caspian & constants

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, january 1st, 2009

one happy island

cotton candy

(mark robinson & evelyn hurley)

the smittens

cathy cathodic

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, january 4th

glasvegas

rails to russia

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, january 8th

forest henderson

the new collisions

the lights out

sir q

@ great scott

saturday, january 10th

head automatica

radio 4

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

illinois

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

the raveonettes

@ the paradise

sunday, january 18th

frightened rabbit

@ great scott

saturday, january 24th

vic chesnutt

elf power

@ the middle east

tuesday, january 27th

annuals

jessica lee mayfield

what laura says

@ the paradise

friday, january 30th

andrew bird

loney dear

@ the orpheum

friday, february 13th

los campesinos!

@ the paradise

tuesday, february 24th

tapes 'n tapes

@ the paradise

visit tourfilter for more shows

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Mp3s: Ida - live at the Boston MFA

The long-awaited return to Boston of NYC's Ida was just the something special I expected, one of those rare nights in an unusual venue that's made comfortable by a great lineup and a crowd filled with friends and familiar local faces.

People started gathering about an hour before the 8pm show inside the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, near the entrance to the Remis Auditorium. The sloped, stadium seating was nearly filled by the time Jodi Buonanno (of the Secret Stars) and a drummer took the stage, playing several songs around a free-form noise collage powered by what looked like a pedal running into a tricorder hanging around her neck. As interesting as it might've been, especially alongside the abstract video projected behind them, it felt a little early in the evening for spacing out, and I enjoyed the more structured parts of the set much more. It'd been a long time since I've seen Jodi play her own stuff on stage, and hopefully it won't be as long again.

Thalia Zedek was next, with the always-excellent Dave Curry on viola and a gent named (I believe) Daniel Coughlin on drums. I've been into Thalia's songwriting since her Come days, but hadn't been this moved by her live performance in a very long time. The trio worked so well together, and I was especially impressed by Coughlin's drumming. The whole set was completely transporting, and Amie remarked that it was the highlight of the night for her...

One of the best things about Ida is how relaxed they seem to be, how effortlessly their songs come across, how easily their three voices flow together. There's a real comforting, almost family atmosphere to their shows. Elizabeth, Dan, & Karla were joined by violinist Jean Cook and drummer Ruth Keating, who were note and beat perfect. Not a lot of older material in the thirteen songs they played (just Down On Your Back, Encantada, and a by-request Shrug), and only five or so from their new album (released today on Polyvinyl). The rest of the set was new stuff, which was a welcome surprise, and my favorite of them was probably Everything (I'm hoping it ends up on their upcoming 3" cdep as part of the Dark Beloved Cloud singles club).

I recorded the entire evening, and here's the Ida set. It was a relatively quiet one, and I did my best to remove a bunch of hiss without sacrificing the high end...

Ida
Live at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, Massachusetts
Sunday, February 20th, 2005

1. Laurel Blues
2. Written On My Face
3. Late Blues
4. What Can I Do?
5. Down On Your Back
6. Still
7. Sundown
8. Everything
9. The Love Below
10. Worrying Mind
11. Encantada
12. Shrug
13. Palomine

Many thanks to Dan Hirsch, who is responsible for booking these stellar shows at the MFA. Upcoming appearances include M.Ward, Magnolia Electric Co., Superwolf (Will Oldham & Matt Sweeney), and the Books. (and a shout out to Julien... thanks for saying hello. visit his site for more photos from the show, and bring your french dictionary.)

I'll probably have tracks from Thalia & Jodi's sets up after I return home next week, so check back for 'em. Meanwhile, I'll be posting from the Teenbeat Records Anniversary fest down in D.C., where I'll be tomorrow through Sunday. Ten degrees warmer is all I ask, twenty and I'll be in heaven. Get ready, CK & Kyle, 'cuz here I come.

Labels: livemp3s

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