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recommended boston area events

thursday, july 2nd

the church

adam franklin (swervedriver)

@ showcase live, foxborough


sunday, july 5th

city breathing

deep sea diver

adam rich

steve pardo & lindley cameron

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, july 11th

the luxury

the click five

midatlantic

aloud

@ the paradise


sunday, july 12th

the dead weather

screaming females

@ the house of blues


saturday, july 18th

butterflies

travels

@ pa's lounge


sunday, july 19th

grand duchy (w/frank black)

the bunnies

van elk (w/valerie mistle thrush)

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, july 19th

lymbyc systym

coralcola

the cush

the pandas

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

you can be a wesley (cd release!)

casper & the cookies

everything, now!

magic magic

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

green day

the bravery

@ the garden


tuesday, july 21st

mark eitzel & marc capelle

performing american music club songs

@ the lizard lounge


friday, july 24th

varsity drag (cd release!)

the grownup noise

winterpills

brendan boogie & the best intentions

@ the middle east upstairs


sunday, july 26th

pete yorn

@ the house of blues


tuesday, july 28th

cass mccombs

jennifer o'connor & band

mike bones

@ tt the bears


wednesday, july 29th

foreign born

the veils

faces on film

@ tt the bears


thursday, july 30th

justin ripley & his band

@ pa's lounge


friday, july 31st

destroyer (dan bejar)

iran

wooden wand

@ the paradise


friday, july 31st

depeche mode

peter bjorn & john

@ great woods


saturday, august 1st

alasdair roberts

@ lorem ipsum books, inman square


saturday, august 1st

wheat (cd release show!)

the xyz affair

@ great scott


sunday, august 2nd

soft power (featuring mary timony)

gramercy arms (featuring dave derby)

@ tt the bears


monday, august 3rd

billy bragg

@ the berklee performance center


monday, august 3rd

tinted windows

(james iha, adam schlesinger,

taylor hanson, & bun e. carlos)

@ the paradise


monday, august 3rd

coldplay

elbow

kitty daisy & lewis

@ the comcast center


wednesday, august 5th

the rural alberta advantage

joshua english (ex-six going on seven)

with lisa molinaro

baby teeth

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, august 5th

arctic monkeys

modey lemon

@ the paradise


wednesday, august 5th

joe pernice (solo show & book tour)

@ the brattle theatre (2 shows)


wednesday and thursday

august 5th and 6th

paul mccartney

@ fenway park


friday, august 7th

the electric prunes

love

sky saxon (of the seeds)

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, august 8th

blondie

pat benatar

@ the b.o.a. pavilion


wednesday, august 12th

the warlocks

@ great scott


wednesday, august 12th

the pretenders

cat power

juliette lewis

@ the bank of american pavilion


thursday, august 13th

bat for lashes

@ the paradise


friday, august 14th

six finger satellite

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 16th

the decemberists

heartless bastards

@ mountain park, holyoke


sunday, august 16th

trashcan sinatras

@ tt the bears


monday, august 17th

the breeders

@ the paradise


friday, august 21st

choo choo la rouge (cd release!)

the big disappointments

impossible hair

the operators

@ pa's lounge


saturday & sunday

august 22nd & 23rd

bruce springsteen & the e street band

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, august 29th

caspain

actors & actresses

irepress

arms & sleepers

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 30th

the flaming lips

explosions in the sky

stardeath and white dwarfs

@ the boa pavilion


thursday, september 3rd

kay hanley (letters to cleo)

antisocialites

ingenue

@ tt the bears


saturday, september 5th

the pains of being pure at heart

cymbals eat guitars

depreciation guild

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, september 5th

pet shop boys

@ the house of blues


thursday, september 10th

autolux

sleepy sun

@ the paradise


thursday, september 10th

dirty three

@ the i.c.a. boston


friday, september 11th

kings of leon

glasvegas

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, september 12th

the cult

performing 'love' in its entirety

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 13th

down

melvins

@ the house of blues


tuesday, september 15th

the horrors

@ the paradise


saturday & sunday

september 19th & 20th

boston lebowski fest

with movie screening & bowling

@ the house of blues & kings


sunday, september 20th

u2

snow patrol

@ gillette stadium


tuesday, september 22nd

son volt

@ the paradise


friday, september 25th

township

the lights out (cd release!)

reverse

gravehaven

@ tt the bears


friday, september 25th

charlatans uk

hatcham social

@ the paradise


saturday, september 26th

kmfdm

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 20th

maximo park

@ the paradise


monday, september 28th

sunny day real estate

@ the house of blues


wednesday, september 30th

mono

maserati

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, october 4th

the "loud & rich" tour

richard thompson &

loudon wainwright iii

performing solo & together

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, october 7th

bob mould

@ the paradise


saturday, october 10th

the psychedelic furs

happy monday

@ the house of blues


wednesday, october 14th

loney dear

asobi seksu

@ great scott


wednesday, october 21st

mum

@ the somerville theatre


saturday, october 31st

pinback

@ the paradise


friday, november 13th

janeane garofalo

rob riggle

two shows @ the wilbur theatre


visit tourfilter for more shows



Monday, July 10, 2006

Mp3s: Beirut live in Cambridge, MA

The band known as Beirut arrived in the Boston area during what can best be described as a perfect storm of blog-fueled buzz. The May release of their debut disc, 'Gulag Orkestar', on Ba Da Bing; the music bloggers who gave it an early blessing; the certain taste-dictating website who backed them up; and Beirut's close ties with NMH & aH&aH guy Jeremy Barnes, who mans the accordian on tour; all these factors combined to sell out their recent show at Brooklyn's Northsix, and they've already sold out an upcoming Bowery Ballroom date.

None of this could have been expected when Boston-area booking maven Stacie Slotnick and her Critique of Pure Reason set up the June 24th show at the tiny Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA. A small art-space, it formerly held the Zeitgeist Gallery, and the closer that Saturday night approached, the more the buzz (and potential crowd size) built. Stacie smartly added a second show, leaving the band alone on the bill and allowing them two quick sets back to back. Her best laid plans still shut out dozens of hopeful attendees on that sweltering Saturday night... I'd never seen such a line anywhere in Inman Square, down the block and around the corner into the residential neighborhood behind the main drag (fortunately the unlucky latecomers could take comfort in some scoops of Christina's ice cream).

The show had other strikes lined up against it besides the small size of the space: The PA system was on the fritz, so there was a major delay in the start time of the first set; the improvised vocal setup (through a keyboard speaker) caused some occasional feedback, and left singer Zach Condon's excellent voice moderately muffled; the lack of even a slight stage lift meant that many in the crowd could barely see the band, myself included. And I'm not so short. I found myself raising my camera, snapping a shot, then bringing it back down to look at the lcd screen in order to find out what the band looked like.

And yet, despite those many obstacles, it was a great night. It all came down to the songs and their delivery. I bought 'Gulag Orkestar' after hearing the first couple net-shared songs, including 'Postcards from Italy'. Liked the disc enough at first, but found myself losing interest about halfway through. Not enough variation in the gypsy-flavored orkestrations, lots of songs and sounds blending together. But I'd heard such good things about their shows, and of newer material that was a cut above, so I took a chance (and what a chance it was... I sadly missed Asobi Seksu across the river the same night). Glad I did, though, as the new songs were far more memorable, the album material much improved in a live setting. The natural sound of the eight-piece band didn't need amplification in the tiny room, and I almost wish the vocals didn't either... but better to hear Condon's voice a little muddy than not at all.

Here's Beirut's first set of the night, in its entirety...


As mentioned, a few of the songs above were written since the recording of Beirut's debut disc, and as I read elsewhere, the song 'Ederlizi' is actually a Goran Bregovic song from the movie 'Dom Za Vesanje (Time of the Gypsies)'. Set-closer 'Siki Siki Baba' is a cover as well, originally by Kocani Orkestar.

Some Beirut-related links...
  • Their MySpace page.

  • Another review of the Cambridge show over at Muzzle of Bees.

  • Papermag interviewed Zach Condon back in May.

  • BrooklynVegan chatted with both Zach & Jason a couple weeks back, and posted some pictures from the Northsix show.

  • Zach made a guest-post over at Said The Gramophone on June 21st, and wrote a bit about some of his musical loves.

  • RySpace has a few words and mp3s from Beirut's June 17th appearance at Williamsburg's Sound Fix Records.

  • Plenty of Beirut clips on YouTube.
  • Beirut returns to the Boston area on Saturday, August 26th at the much-roomier Middle East Downstairs (wisely upgraded from PA's Lounge). Tickets go on sale this Thursday, July 13th at the Middle East box office, or if you must, through Ticket$^%&$&#.


    the fine print: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.


    On deck: Stand-out Boston live sets from the Futureheads and Camera Obscura. Well worth a little waiting.

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