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recommended boston area events

tuesday, march 16th

bacchus king

croquet

cathy cathodic

the ugly fucklings

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre


thursday, march 18th

TOURFILTER DJ NIGHT!

when tourfilter's chris +

the almanac's brad (aka, me)

spin songs by bands coming to

the boston area sometime soon

9pm sharp @ river gods


thursday, march 18th

apollo sunshine

drug rug

@ the paradise


friday, march 19th

i, pistol

mascara

planetoid

forgetful jones

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 20th

the whitehaus family blastfest

needy visions, manners,

morgan shaker, avi jacob,

and many more

@ cambridge ymca theatre


saturday, march 20th

air

am

@ berklee performance center


sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott


wednesday, march 24th

extraneous noise presents...

golden spurs

spirit kid

some say fire

the novel ideas

@ the middle east upstairs


thursday, march 25th

"thursday night alright!" with

the beatings

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott


thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise


friday, march 26th

eldridge rodriguez (the beatings)

ryan lee crosby

ted billings (age rings/hot protestants)

@ the somerville armory


friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears


saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

magic magic

@ the paradise


saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues


sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise


monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott


tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears


tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise


wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott


thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise


friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

cassavettes

the grownup noise

kingsley flood (cd release)

spouse

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, april 3rd

black rebel motorcycle club

alberta cross

@ the house of blues


saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

dawn landes & the hounds

@ the paradise


sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

black fortress of opium

@ tt the bears


tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 6th

ben fold & a piano

kate miller-heidke

@ the house of blues


wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott


thursday, april 8th

faces on film

hands & knees

st. claire (cd release!)

mr. sister

@ tt the bears


thursday, april 8th

thom yorke + atoms for peace

flying lotus

@ the citi/wang theatre


friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

screaming females

@ the paradise


saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott


sunday, april 11th

fanfarlo

lawrence arabia

robert francis

@ the paradise


monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 12th

titus andronicus

the babies

@ great scott


thursday, april 15th

jakob dylan with guests

neko case + kelly hogan

@ the wilbur theatre


thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, april 16th

guillermo sexo

freddie t and the people

(ex-june of 44 / hoover)

travels

ghost box orchestra

@ pa's lounge


friday, april 16th

have nots (vinyl release!)

the appreciation post

razors in the night

wicked whiskey

the swaggerin growlers

@ tt the bears


saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

heavy trash (w/jon spencer)

the konks

the cobra-matics

@ tt the bears


sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs


monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs


tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston


tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

timber timbre

@ the paradise


tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, april 21st

the church

special 30th anniversary

acoustic career retrospective

@ the somerville armory


wednesday, april 21st through

wednesday, april 28th

the 8th annual independent

film festival of boston

@ various boston area theatres

including the somerville + brattle


thursday, april 22nd

the mary onettes

@ great scott


saturday, april 24th

graham parker with

the figgs

@ johnny d's, somerville


saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise


sunday, april 25th

harlem

@ the great scott


monday, april 26th

echo + the bunneymen

hatcham social

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues


thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise


friday, april 30th

the everyday visuals

the lights out

the flying machines

aloud

@ tt the bears


friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues


friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, may 1st

white rabbits

here we go magic

@ the paradise


monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 4th

gregory & the hawk

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears


tuesday & wednesday

may 4th & 5th

public image ltd.

@ the royale (formerly the roxy)


wednesday & thursday

may 5th & 6th

jonsi (from sigur ros)

@ the house of blues


thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise


friday, may 7th

ok go

earl greyhound

robert francis

@ the paradise


saturday, may 8th

local natives

@ great scott


tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise


thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott


saturday, may 22nd

killing joke

@ the paradise


tuesday, may 18th

spectrum (featuring sonic boom

from spacemen 3 + e.a.r.)

with the broken river prophet

@ the middle east upstairs


tuesday, may 25th

the smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

hearts!attack

a smile and a ribbon

horowitz

@ the lizard lounge


wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues


friday, may 28th

mono

the twilight sad

@ the middle east downstairs


wednesday, june 2nd

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise


wednesday, june 2nd

ryan bingham & the dead horses

@ tt the bears


wednesday & thursday

june 2nd & 3rd

the national

@ the house of blues


friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise


friday, june 18th

reigning sound

movers & shakers

triplethick

@ tt the bears


saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden


sunday + monday

june 20th + 21st

isis

melvins

totimoshi

@ the paradise


thursday + saturday

august 19th + 21st

tom petty + the heartbreakers

my morning jacket

@ the comcast center


visit tourfilter for more shows



Monday, May 01, 2006

Mp3s: Clearing the Decks

It's about time I did another one of my catch-all mp3 posts, pulling together lots of live songs I've been gathering over time but haven't yet had an opportunity to share.

Random live recordings from six bands this time: Five from The Crystal Skulls, a few each from Metal Hearts and locals Frank Smith, a complete Dios (Malos) set, a couple from The Twenty-Twos, and just one from Boston's own The Luxury. Most of 'em were opening acts, and the lack of complete sets is either explained by my own tardiness, or by the bands playing new songs that haven't seen a proper studio recording. I've left those unreleased ones out in deference to the artists (that's the case with Metal Hearts, The Luxury, & the Twenty-Twos).

Much variety to be found below, and remember, an easy way to hear 'em all is to check out the Almanac stream on the Hype Machine, which should update itself with these songs shortly...


It was a year ago, on April 28th, 2005 to be exact, that I first heard of the Crystal Skulls, when they opened for the Wedding Present at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA. Naturally the set consisted of songs from their then-current album, last year's 'Blocked Numbers', but they did play a new one that ended up on their just-released disc, 'Outgoing Behavior'...


Listen to more at the Crystal Skulls' MySpace page, or grab a couple songs from their site.


Another band on the ace Suicide Squeeze label, Metal Hearts, played a strange show at Northeastern University a couple weeks ago. It certainly wasn't their set, which was as good as I'd hoped it would be, that made it strange, but the setting. A large student lounge, and just a few kids in attendance, most of whom seemed to be friends of the 'headlining' pop-punk band. The place made Metal Hearts start early, so much so that I sadly missed the first couple songs. As it was, they were scheduled against a new episode of '24', so most TiVo-deprived students were getting their Bauer on and missing a great band in their own school yard.

The MH duo of Anar & Flora were somehow able to bring the bedroom-vibe of their 'Socialize' album to the odd live setting, and the addition of the recording engineer Sam on drums did nothing to take away from that. He brought just the right touches to the material, and it was great to find out that he's playing on the follow-up. The new stuff I heard that night was promising indeed.

Here are live versions of a few songs from 'Socialize', recorded on April 17th, 2006...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

Metal Hearts
Gentlemen's Spell (live)
Foothills (live)
Vampires / Tendency to Run (live)

Hear more at their MySpace page, where you can also see the new video for 'Foothills' (or try YouTube). Also well worth hearing is their recent live set at WOXY, recorded just a few days ago. Metal Hearts are in the middle of a huge tour that's taking them all over North America, and they'll be back in the Boston area on March 22nd.


I'd read some good things about Boston-based band Frank Smith before I found out they'd be opening for that free New Pornographers show at the Paradise a few weeks ago, but wasn't sure they'd be my cuppa tea until they took the stage. I was overly psyched for the New Pornos, but found myself pleasantly surprised by the laid-back banjo-dusted songs the openers offered up. Here are a few, recorded on April 10th, 2006...

(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)


It's to the point where I don't need to say you can find more at their MySpace page... just assume it, and do it. You can also head to the Phoenix's On the Download blog for another mp3.


I was completely unfamiliar with Dios (Malos) when I caught them opening for Matt Pond PA back on February 8th of this year, and I'm still not entirely sure what to make of them. I do know their recordings have a more lo-fi, meandering feel than their live stuff, which came across as more fleshed out and energetic than the mp3s I've heard since. I think I need to spend more time with the latest album before I call myself a fan, but I do remember enjoying their set as I saw it. Here's the whole thing...


MySpace songs? Yup.


Amie looooved the Twenty-Twos far more than I did when we saw them back on January 20th at Great Scott in Allston, but she's a sucker for girls pop-rockin' it on their guitars. The pure greatness of the Editors set that came after them sort of overpowered any impression I'd had, but Amie had to leave early and was psyched to pick up the Twenty-Twos' self-titled EP. Too bad the thing has that Sony ECP DRM crap on it... not going near my cd-rom drive, thank you very much. At least I can hear some MySpace songs, and a couple live tracks here...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

The Twenty-Twos
She Does (live)
Touch & Go (live)


And lastly, a live song from the Luxury, a Boston band fronted by ex-Halogen Jason Dunn, playing with ex-members of the band Baby Strange. Their full-length debut, 'This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things', is on the way, and you can grab the first song from it at On the Download. They played a bunch of stuff at TT the Bears back on January 22nd that I assume will also be found on the album, but since the song 'Docile' sits in demo form on their MySpace page, I'll share the live version up here...



(note: mp3 files removed on 10/1/2006)

The Luxury
Docile (live)

And speaking of The Halogens, they'll be playing a one-off reunion show this Friday, May 5th, at Bill's Bar. Word is they'll be handing out free discs of unreleased material to those in attendance.


the blahblahblah: If any of the artists above have an issue with this live material being made available, just say the word (email link on left). No worries if you want something yanked.

Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. And keep in mind, sets are made available for a few weeks, and are not reposted once removed.

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