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

Monday, March 27, 2006

Mp3s: Billy Bragg in Somerville, MA

Billy Bragg came back to the Somerville Theatre on his 'Hope Not Hate' tour last Thursday... just the man, his guitar, and a well-worn voice that registered a little lower than usual. He attributed this ragged edge to all the touring and talking he's been doing in support of his recently released box set, Volume 1, especially the "180 interviews and 70 gigs" he did at SXSW. He's using the new low range to develop a new persona called "Johnny Clash", which is "sort of low, and kinda cockney, kinda political, kinda country and slow...". He predicted a set that was 'low and lonesome', but it was far from either.

You know you're in for a good bit of between-song banter at a Billy Bragg gig, and this one exceeded all previous. A two hour show with maybe 45 minutes of top-notch ramblin', ranging from the usual subjects (politics, women, and Woody Guthrie) to the not-so-usual (indie kid fasion at SXSW, curling, and King Kong's anatomical incorrectness). Fortunately for us, he also brought along a few new songs: a touching number about Rachel Corrie, a little Bush-basher, one about having faith in the American people, and a brand new one that he wrote that very night.

Now, when most singers mention they've written a new song 'since soundcheck', they're likely joking or exaggerating a bit. But not Billy. He penned something likely titled "People Are On The Move" just before the show, and my being an ex-college DJ from Vermont, it sorta spoke to me. The first couple verses...

I've got a friend who lives in Vermont
Couldn't find the music he wants
Sick and tired of the corporations
Went and started his radio station

Now he's on the air each day
Tellin' the people about another way
He plays Billy Bragg and a bit of Green Day
and "I'm so bored with the U.S.A!"

~~Here's~~ Here was Billy's entire set, including every spoken word...

Billy Bragg

Live at the Somerville Theatre
Somerville, MA
Thursday, March 23rd, 2006

(note: files removed on 6/5/2006)

01. Train Train
(DeFleur / The Count Bishops)
02. A Lover Sings
03. ramble 1
04. Greetings to the New Brunette
05. ramble 2
06. The Myth of Trust
07. ramble 3
08. John Barleycorn / England, Half-English
09. ramble 4
10. The Wolf Covers Its Tracks
11. Like Soldiers Do
12. ramble 5
13. All You Fascists Bound to Lose (Guthrie)
14. Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
15. ramble 6
16. Ingrid Bergman (Guthrie)
17. ramble 7
18. The Saturday Boy
19. The Story of Rachel Corrie (new)
20. Help Save the Youth of America
21. World Turned Upside Down
22. ramble 8
23. N.P.W.A.
24. ramble 9
25. I Keep Faith (new)

(encore 1)
26. Pinball Wizard vs. Fulsom Prison Blues (Who / Cash)
27. ramble 10
28. People Are on the Move (very, very new)
29. ramble 11
30. Bush War Blues (new)

(encore 2)
31. ramble 12
32. To Have and To Have Not
33. There Is Power in a Union
34. A New England

According to the man himself (and as you'll hear in one of the rambles above), the Volume 2 box set should be out in October, as should a book Billy's been working on for a year about "Englishness, identity, and belonging", inspired by the political situation back in his hometown.

A couple of links...

On Friday, Billy made a recent studio recording of "Bush War Blues" (an adaptation of Leadbelly's "Bourgeois Blues") available as a free download. Grab it here.

Abby was also at the show, so she's got some words and a little video clip for ya.

Chromewaves covers Billy's Toronto stop, as well as an in-store appearance, with excellent photos as usual.

The postscript: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left).

Songs recorded with a Sony minidisc, converted from .wav to 192kbps mp3s, and are made available for a few weeks.

With such a crazy week of shows now ended, I've got a backlog of live stuff to edit down and share up. I've decided to post them in reverse order, so first was Mr. Bragg, and soon I'll have some stellar sets from Th' Faith Healers, Silver Jews, and New Radiant Storm King. Waiting seven days to share up each might be tough, so I may end up breakin' my own rules...

Labels: livemp3s