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

wednesday, september 24th

low

@ 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

tuesday, october 14th

cold war kids

@ 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

Monday, December 05, 2005

Mp3s: Ride's Mark Gardener live in Boston

Last night, while waiting for Dinosaur Jr. to take the stage at the Middle East Downstairs, just after enduring the crapfest that was the opening band, I was kinda conflicted. The crammed-in crowd, the $25 t-shirts, the terrible openers, the milking of (gimme) indie rock nostalgia... I just wasn't feeling it. Sure, I'd seen Dinosaur at Avalon back in July (with an even more terrible opening band), and it was pretty great... but there was another show going on across the river, and I was struck by the feeling that it was over there I really belonged.

So I text-messaged my bandmate Randy, who was at the Paradise Lounge waiting for ex-Ride singer/guitarist Mark Gardener to take the stage with touring partners Goldrush backing him up. There was still time to make the quick drive, so I cruised over, found a perfect parking spot and joined a couple dozen fans for Mark's great set of Ride songs and solid new solo material.

It was a truly memorable evening, as the too-small crowd put Mark & Co. in a conversational mood, chatting between songs, joking around... it felt more like a livingroom show than a club gig. He spoke of the tour so far, of electrical shocks, of dwarf tossing, of taking up a collection so that the Paradise could buy an extra 'R' for their marquee out front (He was "Mark Gardenep" on the sign that night). He kept tabs on another fan's smoking habits, as it was impossible not to notice when she stepped out for a cigarette. "Nasty habit, that..." said Mark, and later on, "She's back! Was it good?". His concern seemed far less parental when he grabbed a quick smoke himself after the show.

It struck me as Mark and the band broke into 'Taste', the first of four Ride songs they'd play, that it was probably a dozen or so years ago that I saw him on stage in this very same building, when Ride played with the Pale Saints in the much larger main room of the 'Dise. A brilliant night, but then again, every time I saw Ride was. A lot of that came rushing back when the 'Taste' bass intro started up... more than a little bit of bliss.

So while I have no doubt that Dinosaur Jr. was very good (and I'll get to see for myself when the DVD they were filming eventually arrives), I know I made the right decision to flee the masses and head for the intimacy. Sitting there, relaxing with other Mark fans, drinking a beer with Jerad Driveblind, watching a guy from one of my favorite bands ever play songs from their best album... it was pretty near perfect.

And here, for you, is the set...

Mark Gardener & Goldrush

Live at the Paradise Lounge, Boston, MA
Sunday, December 4th, 2005

1. intro banter
2. Snow In Mexico
3. Getting Out Of Your Own Way
4. Taste
5. Summer Turns To Fall
6. Rhapsody
7. The Story Of The Eye
8. Where Are You Now?
9. Gravity Flow
10. Vapour Trail
11. Dreams Burn Down
12. In A Different Place

A couple of songs after Mark had joked "So, none of you could get tickets to Dinosaur Jr., huh?", I approached the stage and handed him my used Dinosaur ticket stub. "Waitaminute, you went!? How was it?" Mark asked. "Yeah, I was there, but I left before they came on." was my reply.

"Man, you just made my fucking night," he said.

Nah, Mark... you made mine.

Some links for ya: Mark's official site, his MySpace page, Piero's Mark microsite, and the official Ride site. Buy Mark's excellent new solo album from United For Opportunity right here, and check out a new interview with him in the Toronto Star.

Mark's tour with Goldrush and Hopewell crosses the border into Canada today, with Montreal tomorrow night and Toronto on Wednesday. From there it's on to Detroit, Chicago, and eventually the West Coast for the final six shows. Do go and see 'em.

(the fine print: live songs are recorded with a sony minidisc recorder, converted from .wav to 192kbps mp3s, and are made available for a few weeks. if the artist or anyone involved with making the music has an issue with them being shared here, just say the word... my email address is on the left.)

Labels: livemp3s