boston area shows of note: friday, may 9th shearwater clinic wild light @ the paradise friday, may 9th band in boston presents... an organ donation awareness show with drug rug, carter tanton (of tulsa), the tony the bookie orchestra, marc pinansky (of township), george lewis jr., chris warren (of viva viva), and robert rivera @ pa's lounge sunday, may 11th hallelujah the hills girls, guns, & glory and many more free @ mayfair in harvard square sunday, may 11th the lymbyc systym @ the middle east monday, may 12th the cure @ agganis arena tuesday, may 13th british sea power the rosebuds jeffrey lewis @ the paradise thursday, may 15th tourfilter dj night songs by bands coming to town (with djs yours truly & chris tourfilter) 9pm @ river gods near central square thursday, may 15th bishop allen the teeth the self righteous brothers @ the middle east downstairs friday, may 16th ryan's smashing life presents... aloud, murder mystery, miss fairchild, & scuba @ tt the bears friday, may 16th bell x1 @ the paradise friday, may 16th bruce cockburn catherine maclellan @ the somerville theatre saturday, may 17th thee silver mt. zion memorial orchestra & tra-la-la band (members of godspeed you black emperor) @ the middle east downstairs sunday, may 18th snowden colour revolt the epochs age rings @ great scott monday, may 19th daily show writer rob kutner signing 'apocalypse how' @ pandemonium in cambridge tuesday, may 20th x (john doe, exene, bonebrake, & billy) the detroit cobras @ the paradise friday, may 23rd joe lally (of fugazi) glorytellers thalia zedek @ the middle east friday, may 23rd writer neil gaiman @ mit's kresge auditorium friday, may 23rd laura veirs liam finn @ the middle east saturday, may 24th cake, cracker, the english beat, bodeans @ the dcr hatch shell saturday, may 24th son volt @ the museum of fine arts boston saturday, may 24th the mary onettes @ the middle east wednesday, may 28th duran duran @ agganis arena friday, may 30th the gentlemen eric salt & the electric city the rationales (cd release) @ tt the bears friday, may 30th sea wolf the jealous girlfriends @ the paradise saturday, may 31st jeremy enigk damien jurado @ great scott sunday, june 1st ida michael hurley @ the nave gallery, somerville monday, june 2nd M83 @ the middle east downstairs wednesday, june 4thnd hayden @ great scott thursday, june 5th the breeders the montana boys @ the paradise friday, june 6th orbit taxpayer the fatal flaw boone @ tt the bears friday, june 6th styrofoam broken spindles @ the middle east friday, june 6th mudhoney the cynics @ the middle east saturday, june 7th langhorne slim baker @ tt the bears saturday, june 7th pela static of the gods the motion sick shawn fogel @ the middle east sunday, june 8th donita sparks (ex-L7) & the stellar moments @ tt the bears monday, june 9th the kooks @ the paradise tuesday, june 10th swervedriver @ the paradise wednesday, june 11th grand archives @ great scott wednesday, june 11th mark kozelek (sun kil moon / red house painters) marissa nadler @ the museum of fine arts boston thursday, june 12th tullycraft pants yell! the smittens @ pa's lounge thursday, june 12th damon & naomi helena espvall & masaki batoh @ tt the bears thursday, june 12th mission of burma performing the album 'signals, calls and marches' @ the paradise friday, june 13th mission of burma performing the album 'vs' @ the paradise saturday, june 14th centro-matic @ the middle east upstairs friday, june 13th r.e.m. modest mouse the national @ the tweeter center wednesday, june 18th sloan the golden dogs @ tt the bears thursday, june 19th retribution gospel choir (with low's alan sparhawk) @ the middle east upstairs thursday, june 19th the ting tings @ great scott friday, june 20th polvo birds of avalon @ the middle east downstairs friday, june 20th my brightest diamond clare & the reasons @ the berklee performance center saturday, june 21st eksi ekso (cd release) caspian hooray for earth dj die young @ the paradise friday, june 27th devo tom tom club @ bank of american pavillion saturday, june 28th peter murphy @ the roxy saturday, june 28th & monday, june 30th pearl jam ted leo & the pharmacists @ the tweeter center saturday, july 5th cassavettes girls, guns, and glory teenage prayers @ the paradise tuesday, july 8th feist @ the bank of america pavilion saturday, july 12th bottomless pit the kadane bros. (of the new year / bedhead) chris brokaw @ the middle east upstairs thursday, july 31st the police elvis costello & the impersonators @ the tweeter center saturday, august 2nd wolf parade @ the paradise wednesday, august 6th neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3) rogue wave jack johnson @ the tweeter center wednesday, august 13th radiohead @ the tweeter center wednesday, august 20th human league, belinda carlisle, abc, flock of seagulls, naked eyes @ the bank of america pavilion sunday, september 7th ryan adams & the cardinals @ the bank of america pavilion tuesday, september 23rd writer dennis lehane (release day for 'the given day') @ the coolidge corner theatre monday, october 6th stereolab monade @ the paradise visit tourfilter for more shows |
Monday, February 07, 2005 Mp3s of the Week: live Low & Pedro the Lion Saturday night's Low & Pedro the Lion show at the Somerville Theatre was just what I needed after a relatively long personal live-music drought. There's always that dry spell in December & January, with both touring bands & show-going students on holiday break, so with the blizzard blowing a couple shows I'd planned on (and with me skipping last Thursday's Arcade Fire show), it had been too damn long since I'd been out. This was probably the 4th or 5th time I've seen Pedro, and while their latest disc is maybe my least favorite of the four full-lengthers (but hey, still good), this was by far the best I've ever seen 'em play. The rhythm section that David Bazan has pulled together was so right on, Frank Lenz the perfect fit on drums (as he was with Starflyer 59), and Ken Maiuri playing bass and adding ace backing vocals. TW Walsh filled it all out beautifully with second guitar, the occasional keyboard line, and a little shaker-action. It all just worked for me. The live versions of the recent stuff made me appreciate the album much more, they skipped the clunkers, and even the older stuff had well-chosen minor tweakings that fit in really well. Throw in a Neil Young cover (with Low's Alan Sparhawk guesting on tasteful guitar-wankery), and I got the full-on live-music head-buzz. After some recently faded enthusiasm, I am wholly back in the PTL booster club. The setlist, and a few downloadable songs from the night... Pedro the Lion ![]() I'm loving the new Low album, and as much as I was glad to see them again, there was a little something missing. Maybe it's this new-Low, the occasionally-louder, more dynamic Low experience that threw things off... of the many times I've seen them, they've never failed to take me to another place, to transport me somewhere I wouldn't mind living full-time, lulling me into some kind of half-asleep-but-totally-not-bored trance. I missed that Saturday night, although older songs like 'Shame' and 'Violence' nearly got me there. I suppose I have to separate those previous experiences, leave them behind, and just judge the new material, the new live Low, on it's own. That said, they sounded great, Alan's guitar-work has come a long way, or maybe the rockier songs allow him to show off a bit more... thinking back, though, it was I Remember, one of the quietest songs, where I really noticed. It's not just Def Leppard he's getting his tricks from. Their setlist, with some more songs for ya, including a new one with my guess at the title... LowOne thing about the Low recordings... their huge swings in volume definitely presented a challenge for my sensitive little Archos, so some of the quiet moments are a little hissy, punctuated by the occasional cough (and by the clutz in front of me who dropped her cell phone three times during the set). I swear, at one point you can actually hear the kid next to me and his nasal breathing. I really wanted to hand that guy a kleenex. Yuck. And another thing... both bands gave the crowd ample opportunity to speak up between a few songs, and this was decidedly not a good thing. Interactivity can be fun and all, but it's been a long time since I've heard such inanity from an audience, whether invited or not. Dunno if it was the whole Saturday-night thing, maybe a bit too much of the alky-hall, or if they were just naturally retarded, but yeesh. Why don'tcha just yell out "Hey, guess what everyone, I'm an idiot!". Lucky for you, I edited most of that out. We're all better off. Other Low & Pedro related bits... Labels: livemp3s $blog_id=110778318829876850; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> |
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