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, 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... ![]() Beirut Live at The Lily Pad Cambridge, MA Saturday, June 24th, 2006 01. The Gulag Orkestar 02. Zebra Safari / Jersey Shore 03. Mandaccordion / Monster Island (aka Brandenburg) 04. Postcards From Italy 05. Mt. Wroclai 06. Carousels 07. Maspeth 08. Montauk 09. Ederlizi 10. After The Curtain 11. Closing Song 12. Siki Siki Baba 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... 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. Labels: livemp3s $blog_id=115121250761410206; $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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