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Monday, November 06, 2006
I've been in love with Rose Melberg's voice and songwriting since the first few notes of Tiger Trap's self-titled K Records debut back in 1992, and feared I'd never get to see her play live when they broke up the following year. With her on the west coast and me up in Vermont, I held out hope that she'd head east with one of her follow-up projects, as half of guitars-n-harmonies duo the Softies or with trio Go Sailor. My wish came true in the summer of '94 when the Softies came through Burlington on a tour with Crayon, and it was as special as I'd imagined. Her voice always hits me just right, and in person it's hard to imagine a prettier sound. Twelve years is way too long to wait for a second fix, but while Rose has been writing and releasing songs all along (solo and with her bands), I've been missing her rare live appearances. Distance and motherhood have kept her off any roads near Boston in recent years (she took an almost five-year live break until 2005), and when her newest (and to my ears, most beautiful) solo album "Cast Away The Clouds" came out last Spring I quietly wished she'd tour for it. Months passed with only a couple dates on the wrong side of the continent (she currently makes her home in Vancouver), until word came from record label Double Agent that she'd be doing a few east coast shows in October... and one was about a block from my house. Although it was a Sunday, I'd rarely seen a night with so many great shows going on in the Boston area at the same time. There were at least three other lineups I might have seen, and all were courtesy of the excellent North East Sticks Together (N.E.S.T) Fest going on that week. But with Rose in town (and also a N.E.S.T. event), there was really no internal debate about my evening plans. All the competing musical choices resulted in a sparser crowd at O'Brien's than I'd have otherwise expected, but one that was no less appreciative. The lighter attendance may also have been due to the unusual performer/venue combo: the Allston bar is more often host to far louder lineups, so pretty-pop fans might have been out of the loop or too far from the T for this one. On this night, the loudest sound during Rose's set may have been O'Brien's cash register, or even the squeaky bathroom door, which almost act as instruments on these recordings. Also accompanying Rose's voice and guitar is keyboardist and backing vocalist Nick Krgovich (of P:ano), who is a big part of the reason that "Cast Away The Clouds" is as gorgeous as it is. Here's their wonderful set...  Rose Melberg Live at O'Briens, Allston, MA on Sunday, October 15th, 2006 1. Ciao Allston (by Ellie Marshall with Christmas) 2. Things That We Do 3. Irene 4. Take Some Time 5. Putty In Your Hands 6. The Orchard 7. Cold Sea 8. Something Else 9. Golden Gate Bridge 10. Me & the Bees 11. Cast Away the Clouds 12. Coldest Night of the Year (by Mann & Weill via Vashti Bunyan) 13. Each New Day  Some Rose-y links...
 the fine print... If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (contact info in the 'nac faq). 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. Labels: livemp3s  |
 the joy formidable live in allston, ma on march 29th, 2011 previously: fugazi - vermont 1991 recent posts on the 'nac... on the nightstand other boston-area music blogs
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