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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, August 07, 2006

Mp3s: The Legends live in Cambridge, MA

Last month, Swedish label Labrador Records sent two of their signature pop bands on a week-long excursion to the U.S., with 7 quick stops to the east of the Mississippi River. Boston was lucky enough to be one of 'em, when The Legends and Acid House Kings played TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA on July 10th.

While A.H.K. have been around far longer, I was way more familiar with The Legends thanks to being sent their debut disc, 'Up Against The Legends', a couple years back. Guitar hooks and Motown bass lines, sing-along choruses and handclaps galore, programmed beats and slightly distorted vocals that all came together in twelve short and catchy-as-hell pop songs. And while some of the promo material painted the project as a multi-member affair, a little web-surfing revealed that it was actually all from the mind of Johan Angerg�rd, himself a longtime member of Acid House Kings.

The fact that it's a one-man studio band helps explain why The Legends second album, 'Public Radio', revealed such a drastic change in style and sound... it's easier for a bicycle to negotiate a hairpin turn than it is for a van full of bandmates. While the memorable melodies and warm production remains, gone is much of the distortion and the anthemic choruses, replaced by echoey guitars, subtler vocals, and reverbed drum beats that fans of Seventeen Seconds-era Cure or early New Order will warm to immediately. Fortunately, I'm one of those fans, so I not only took to the disc right away, but was more than a little impressed by Johan's ability to mutate so dramatically.

I will say this, though... sometimes the Cure influence comes off more as blatant homage than incorporation, almost uncomfortably so. Listen to The Legends 'Air' alongside the Cure's 'M' and you'll hear what I mean. And is it simply coincidence that a recent single is titled 'Play It For Today'? If it is, and Angerg�rd grew up in some sort of Cure-free bubble, then color me amazed. Either way, it all makes me very curious to see what's up his sleeve for album number three.

The newer singles may offer a bit of a hint, with dancier material that Johan only-half-jokingly called 'disco' at TTs last month. The studio-project aspect made me very curious about the live show, so I was happy to see a full band (live drummer, keyboard, two guitars, and bass) take the stage. The songs from 'Up Against...' are more obviously energetic, so I wasn't too surprised to find just two songs from 'Public Radio' ('Hide Away' and 'People Like Us') make it into their short nine song set. The rest were from either the debut disc, from the two more recent releases ('Blue Lights' from the 'Play It For Today' EP, 'Lucky Star' from a brand new EP). And as far as I know, the opener 'Darling' has yet to be recorded. Here's the set...



Some Legends links...
  • The Sound of Indie loves The Legends, too.

  • Mp3s, two videos, and a few streams at the Labrador sounds page.

  • Video for 'There And Back Again' and a couple streaming songs from 'Up Against...' at their Lakeshore Records page.

  • Their MySpace page
  • Next week: The Acid House Kings set from the same show.


    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.

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