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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




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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Mp3s: Rob Crow in Cambridge, MA

I didn't know exactly what to expect from a visit by Rob Crow (he of Pinback, Goblin Cock, and a slew of other bands), as I hadn't read anything about the first part of the tour that brought him to our TT the Bears in Cambridge a couple weeks back. Would it be just the man and his guitar, or had he'd thrown together a backing band to rock the songs from "Living Well", his latest solo album? What I sure didn't expect was any kind of Heavy Vegetable reunion, and that's a big part of what we got.

Admittedly, I didn't recognize any of the four players that Rob brought on stage with him that night, but just a few quick songs into the set and I knew they must have some serious history. They were just so damn tight. Way tighter than a band who was 12 dates into their first tour had a right to be. Rob hinted at that history when he said "I haven't played with Travis or Manolo in 13 years", and when the band barreled through a special mini-set at the end of the main one, I realized what he meant. Yup, on stage was three out of four Heavy Veggies: Rob, drummer Manolo Turner, and Travis Nelson (who switched from guitar on Rob's solo songs to bass on the rest), along with non-Veggies (but frequent Rob collaborators) Kenseth Thibideau on bass/guitar and Donny Van Zandt on keys. Just after a cover of Brian Eno's "Here Come The Warm Jets" (or "Here Come the Hot Pockets", as Rob dubbed it), a 75%-reunited H.V. served up "Song For Wesley", "Intro", "Couch", "Bully", and "Junior" from their mid-nineties Headhunter albums. It was something to behold.

But it was Rob Crow's solo work (and the sonic similarity to the parts of Pinback I love so much) that got me there in the first place, and the band honestly improved on the songs I'd been already liking from "Living Well". I'd only heard its predecessor, 2003's "My Room Is A Mess", a couple of times, but those songs fit right in with the newer stuff, and we even got a mini-medley of some far older solo material. Without Pinback to seemingly rope him in, Rob cuts loose with rapid-fire short, sharp, shocks of songs; brief blasts on subjects both trival and grand. Twenty-five songs in under an hour, in fact. And there's not much that could amuse my inner geek more than seeing a full band rocking through an ode to World of Warcraft ("Leveling"), or a polarizing comic book artist ("Liefeld"). Speaking of geeking, there's nothing quite like seeing someone trying to dance to Rob's jaunty, sharp-turning songs. I felt like I owed part of the ticket price to the goofy guy in front of me.

For an encore, just Rob and his guitar gave us the gift of two covers: one Misfits and one Minor Threat. It was an obvious display of his early influences, on a tour that incorporated his own personal musical history. Two songs to demonstrate why he started playing music, and longtime bandmates who showed part of how he did.

Here's the set in Mp3 form. Buy "Living Well" from Temporary Residence, and keep an ear out for news of a new Pinback record, which Touch & Go Records says should be out this fall.



Rob Crow

Live at TT the Bears
in Cambridge, Mass.
on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

Rob songs with the band...
01. Focus
02. Helicopter
03. Leveling
04. Some Things
05. Bam Bam
06. Subtle
07. If Wade Would Call
08. I Hate You, Rob Crow
09. Taste
10. Medley
11. Over Your Heart
12. No Sun
13. Liefeld
14. Catching The Trap
15. Up
16. Some Secret History
17. Over The Summer
18. Here Come The Warm Jets (Brian Eno cover)

Heavy Vegetable songs...
19. Song For Wesley
20. Intro
21. Couch
22. Bully
23. Junior
24. encore applause

Rob and his guitar...
25. Astro Zombies (Misfits cover)
26. Minor Threat (Minor Threat cover)


Some Rob Crow links...
  • The very thorough Rob Crow fan site, Rob's MySpace page, his Wikipedia entry, Temporary Residence label page, and his Absolutely Kosher label page.

  • Mp3s: "I Hate You, Rob Crow" (Single Version), from "Living Well", which is actually longer than the album version. "Some Things" from "My Room Is A Mess". Pinback's "Fortress" from "Summer In Abaddon".

  • Video: The official clip for "I Hate You, Rob Crow" from "Living Well", directed by Matt Hoyt. Live footage of Rob's 7-minute solo encore at the Empty Bottle in Chicago on February 23. The video for Pinback's "AFK" (mov). And here's a link to a Rob Crow YouTube search, where you can find a few more live clips.

  • Sid from Too Much Rock was also at TTs, and offers up his own review right here. As always, he's got some great photos from the show, including shots of openers Glorytellers and Genghis Tron. He also shares his own video of part of Rob's solo encore (mp4).

  • More of my own pictures from the TTs show can be found here.

  • As always, you can listen to all 'Nac-hosted tracks on the Hype Machine.

  • After the set, Rob mentioned how horrified he was by his performance when Pinback played the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary fest in Chicago last fall. I begged to differ, having been in the crowd and dug it, but he swears he's dreading that eventual Monday morning when the Pinback clip appears on the T&G website. Whatever song they choose to share, I hope it'll prove he's being far too hard on himself.

  • Catch one of the two remaining Rob Crow (& friends) solo dates, either as part of South By Southwest in Austin tomorrow night, or the final show of the tour at Brick By Brick in San Diego on March 21st.

  • postscript action... If anyone has any issues whatsoever with this live set being made available, just say the word (contact info in the 'nac faq). I am but a fan trying to share and spread the word. Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Tracks are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

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