bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

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

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Mp3s: Interpol in Boston

It took me five years to get around to seeing Interpol, but it wasn't for any lack of loving a healthy number of their songs. "PDA" and "Obstacle 1" (off their 2002 debut, "Turn On The Bright Lights") have found their way onto many a mix disc of mine, and while I wasn't as enamored with the follow-up (2004's "Antics"), I still figured I'd catch them on stage eventually. I just never made it a priority, and thinking about it, it may have been a combination of the conventional so-called wisdom that their stage presence lacked a certain spice, and my ever-increasing aversion to affectation, especially when it comes to a band's wardrobe (yes, this is coming from a guy who long ago flirted with his own goth phase, and actually donned a black trenchcoat).

The day that tickets went on sale for their performance last week at Boston University's Agganis Arena, that particular morning I was ears-deep in their latest record, "Our Love To Admire", and by the time "Who Do You Think" rolled around, I made with the mouse clickin' to see what kind of seats were available. The new album is a marked improvement on "Antics" (although each would have made absolutely perfect EPs with some trimming), and knowing the band now had three discs worth of material to pull their live set from, a good spot on the arena's floor was enough to get me in attendance.

When I arrived, after a paranoid pat-down from arena security (they made me ditch my man-bag, but seemingly had no interest in cameras or recording gear. I'm guessing they were primarily safeguarding against smuggled alcohol or weapons. And free Mentos samples.), Liars were already on stage, and making one hell of a racket. They're all about the cacophonous rock, but in the echo chamber of a not-yet-half-full arena space, it wasn't quite working. I'd imagine in a club, up close, and with a soundman who focused as much on their mix as the headliners, these guys would kill. Still, frontman Angus Andrews courted the crowd with a Paul Pierce Celtics jersey, and the fact that they gave it their all despite the environs was enough to get them solid applause from us early arrivals.

Liars' sound mix had me prepared for the worst when the lights came down and Interpol took the stage -- without serious tweaks, it was going to be a muddy, imbalanced mess -- but my fears were fortunately unfounded. Whoever was behind the board worked wonders with the massive room, and from the 18th row it sounded as good as it could have in there. The band ran through all the expected singles and faves, with three old ones to close things out. Here's the entire set...

Interpol

Live at Agganis Arena
in Boston, Massachusetts
on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

01. Intro
02. Pioneer to the Falls
03. Obstacle 1
04. C'Mere
05. NARC
06. Say Hello to the Angels
07. Pace is the Trick
08. Mammoth
09. Hands Away
10. No I in Threesome
11. Slow Hands
12. Rest My Chemistry
13. The Heinrich Maneuver
14. Evil
15. Not Even Jail

encore...
16. NYC
17. Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
18. PDA

For those keeping score, that's a very even split between all three albums: six pulled from "Turn On The Bright Lights", five off of "Antics", and six from the latest. I was a little disappointed not to hear "Who Do You Think", but they made up for it slightly by delivering "Pace Is The Trick", another standout from the new stuff. Other high points were both "PDA" and "Obstacle 1", a fantastic "Rest My Chemistry", and main-set closer "Not Even Jail". "Evil" sounded a little loose, and, at least in the arena setting, a couple other songs (particularly "Mammoth" and "The Heinrich Maneuver") were victims of their own on-disc studio production -- the recorded versions are so full and punchy that their live performances paled a bit in comparison. Makes me sorry I waited so long to see 'em, and likely missed out on the chance to ever see them in a smaller, more powerful setting.

Some Interpol links...

Their official site, Wikipedia entry, MySpace page, and Capitol Records page.

Additional Audio: Capitol is pretty stingy with the official Mp3s (i.e. there are none from the new album), so head to MySpace for streamage. You can also stream a remix of "The Heinrich Maneuver" at P4K. Links to lots of live audio can be found in a thread in their forum.

Video: Their latest video is for "No I In Threesome", which follows a performance clip for "Mammoth" and the slo-mo vid for "The Heinrich Maneuver". Watch the band perform four songs for a Spinner session. There's a clip for "Stella Was A Diver..." out there, and also a bunch of other videos from their first two discs over at their old Matador Records page. An Interpol YouTube search will turn up tons of footage, of course.

Photos: From the Boston show, over at P4K.

Tour dates: Interpol continues their North American tour in support of "Our Love To Admire" over the next couple months, after which they head back over the Atlantic through December.

As ever, easily listen to all 'Nac-hosted tracks on the Hype Machine.

the ol' footnote... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.

Labels: livemp3s