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

Friday, November 02, 2007

Mp3s: The Waterboys acoustic in Boston

I've got a bit of a backlog of live recordings to share, so I'm going forego my "once a week" tradition and just let them loose as they're ready...

I'll admit up front that I lost complete track of Mike Scott and his Waterboys for oh, about fifteen years or so. I initially discovered them as many on U.S. shores likely did, back when U2 invited them along to open some dates in the mid-80's, and kept playing their songs as tour intro music for months afterwards. I think the first time I heard "The Whole Of The Moon" (which I still count among my favorite songs) was waiting for U2 to take the stage in Montreal in 1987, and picked up the Waterboys' third album (and last featuring future World Party frontman Karl Wallinger), the sweeping "This Is The Sea", shortly after that gig. My love for that record (yes, when it was actually a record) prompted me to grab their self-titled 1981 debut and the sophomore "A Pagan Place", though I was not nearly as struck by those two, nor by 1988's "Fisherman's Blues". I liked them well enough, but found myself going back to "This Is The Sea" far more frequently.

By the time 1990's "Room To Roam" came out, my musical tastes had drastically transformed, and the Waterboys fell off my radar until a two-disc remastered version of "This Is The Sea" was issued in 2004, inspiring me to finally replace my well-worn vinyl copy. In the intervening years, I discovered the band had released a few more albums, a couple of greatest hits collections, as well as a live disc.

Which brings us to the Waterboys, present-day. Mike Scott and his mates are still making music, and in August released a new disc called "Book of Lightning" on Decca Records (it came out in the UK in April). The five-piece (a lineup that has changed a bit over the years) just kicked off a short North American tour for the album last night here in Boston, with a stop tonight at Webster Hall in NYC, and winding up in San Francisco on the 13th. While I didn't see them play here last night, the band is back on my mind after a free, WBOS-sponsored acoustic show they put on at the First Act Guitar Studio back in late August. Mike was joined by longtime collaborators Steve Wickham on fiddle and Richard Naiff on keys, and the trio ran through a full set of songs, most from the new album, with a few old ones and an excellent Willie Nelson cover as well (alas, no "Whole of the Moon", but I won't fault them for skipping the obvious). No doubt about it, Mike Scott still has that voice, and as when Dinosaur Jr. played an in-store earlier this year, I've got much respect for a band who will give it their all for even a small (and non-paying) crowd. No three-or-four-song token performance was this.

During an in-set anecdote, Mike off-handedly said "... just as people might bootleg this concert", and he was right on. Here's the full Waterboys set. Tour dates are below, and I'll share a couple of Mike's anecdotes down there as well...

The Waterboys

Live at First Act Guitar Studio
in Boston, Massachusetts
on Thursday, August 30th, 2007

01. Everybody Takes A Tumble
02. You In The Sky
03. Strange Arrangement
04. She Tried To Hold Me
05. Nobody's Baby Anymore
06. The Crash of Angel Wings
07. It's Gonna Rain
08. Red Army Blues
08. Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground (Willie Nelson cover)
10. The Return Of Jimi Hendrix
11. Bring 'Em All In (stopped)
12. Bring 'Em All In (slower)

A couple of anecdotes...

You'll notice that the last song, "Bring 'Em All In", is stopped and started again, and this was a deliberate choice by Scott, who was suddenly inspired to slow it down. Before the restart, he told us of his late-seventies obsession with Patti Smith bootlegs (he was "mad about them", but not mad angry... mad crazy). He'd collect recordings from the same tour and be fascinated how the band would slow certain songs down (specifically, Smith's "Kimberly") from rockers to heavy, powerful dirges. So in the middle of "Bring 'Em All In", that's exactly what he decided to do... slow it down and give it the "Kimberly-treatment".

While the song "The Crash of Angel Wings" is a new one, its title has been around since 1982. Back then (and this was news to me), Mike was in a short-lived band called The Red & The Black with bass player Matthew Seligman (who would go on to be one of the Soft Boys with Robyn Hitchock), eventual Waterboys Anthony Thistlethwaite on sax, and Kevin Wilkinson (who would later play in Squeeze, and sadly commited suicide in 1999) on drums. All four bandmates would actually end up contributing to "This Is The Sea". The reason for the history lesson? It was Soft Boy Seligman who came up with the song title "The Crash of Angel Wings", and it took Mike Scott a mere 25 years to use it. And as of this late August performance, he still hadn't told him.

Some Waterboys links...

Their official site, MySpace page, and Wikipedia entry.

Additional Audio: No officially-sanctioned Mp3s to speak of, unfortunately, but you can stream a few songs on their MySpace page.

Video: MySpace hosts many Waterboys clips. And, of course, there's always a Waterboys YouTube search.

Photos: My shots of the acoustic Waterboys appearance are here. For many more photos, here's a Waterboys Flickr tag search.

The Waterboys' Fall 2007 Tour Dates:
Friday, Nov. 2nd, 2007
Webster Hall, NYC

Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2007
Keswick Theatre, Glenside, Pennsylvania

Monday, Nov. 5th, 2007
The Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario

Tuesday, Nov. 6th, 2007
Park West, Chicago, Illinois

Friday, Nov. 9th, 2007
Moore Theatre, Seattle, Washington

Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2007
Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver

Sunday, Nov. 11th, 2007
Aladdin Theatre, Portland, Oregon

Tuesday, Nov. 13th, 2007
The Fillmore, San Francisco, California
Stream all 'Nac-shared Mp3s on the Hype Machine.

the fine print... 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