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

Monday, March 24, 2008

Mp3s: Mission of Burma live for Burma

Here's something special to mark last week's release of the remastered and expanded definitive editions of Mission of Burma's influential early work...

When the big run of 'seminal' band reunions started up a few years back, I was mostly grateful to get a chance to see some faves I'd either been too young or too far away to catch in their prime. Naturally, my cynical side worried that I'd be seeing only pale shadows of some formerly brilliant selves... I feared hints of disappointment within the good fortune.

Well, those fears were obliterated about three songs into Mission of Burma's hometown reunion gig at the Paradise in mid-January of 2002. Mssrs. Miller, Conley, Prescott, & new sample/looping soundman Weston put on a show, and proved definitively that it's possible to return just as vital, energetic, and passionate as ever. Two solid post-reunion albums and dozens of performances later, MoB hasn't come close to milking or tarnishing their legacy, only strengthening it. Hell, just as they influenced the sound (or at least the independent aesthetic) of so many bands with their early-80s work, they may also have been a deciding factor in some of those very bands getting back together in recent years. Kind of a "if they can pull it off, maybe we can, too" sorta thing. And to be sure, there's been widely varying degrees of success among the reunited.

I figured that first reunion show would always rank as my favorite MoB performance -- could anything after measure up? I've seen 'em a number of times in subsequent years since, and while they've all been great, none had the impact of that Paradise gig -- until six years later, almost to the day, when they played a simpatico "Burma for Burma" benefit show at Allston's own Great Scott. The January 29th, 2008 show was held to raise funds and awareness for the U.S. Campaign for Burma, and if only a sliver of the crowd's enthusiasm translated into action for the cause, they did some good.

It was an intense, career-spanning, two-set performance that touched on the best of the old and the new MoB, with second-era songs measuring up to and sitting proudly beside more-than-25-year old tracks. With Great Scott's capacity of just under 250, it felt like the sold-out crowd was seeing something special, and the band treated the show that way. Peter Prescott's "Incredibles" t-shirt was apropos.

Here are Mp3s of the band's full "Burma for Burma" performance, and be sure to check the links below for some video clips as well (word from the stage was that the full concert recording was to be broadcast within Burma itself). As I share this, I'd also like to note that MoB is one of the gracious bands who allow their live sets to be openly recorded and shared, and specifically made available at the Live Music Archive (~~where I'll be posting higher quality files of this show soon~~ The show below is now available there as well).

Enjoy...

Mission of Burma
live for Burma

At Great Scott
in Boston, MA
on Sunday, January 20th, 2008

set one...
01. intro
02. 1001 Pleasant Dreams
03. Let Yourself Go
04. 2wice
05. Donna Sumeria
06. This Is Not A Photograph
07. You Don't Know Me (Four Commandments cover)
08. Spider's Web
09. Academy Fight Song

set two...
10. Peking Spring
11. Careening With Conviction
12. Good Cheer
13. So Fuck It
14. Wounded World
15. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
16. Secrets

encore
17. The Ballad Of Johnny Burma
18. That's When I Reach For My Revolver

Some Mission of Burma links...

Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Matador Records page. Also visit the U.S. Campaign for Burma site while you're surfing and read up.

Additional Audio: As I mentioned above, MoB allows fans to share live show recordings at the Live Music Archive. Matador made Mp3s and actual .wav files of the remastered version of "Max Ernst" and the live version of "Weatherbox" available here. You can also check out the full tracklistings for all three reissues there.

Video: The Boston Phoenix's On The Download blog has some great video from the show, with full clips of opener "1001 Pleasant Dreams", "2wice", and "Academy Fight Song". But be warned, going to that page will simultaneously auto-load all three clips, all of which start with a loud advertisement. So turn down your audio first unless you want to be driven slightly insane.

Bill T. Miller put together a six-minute video of live footage from the Burma For Burma show as well, including parts of the cause-related speeches that were given before and during the show.

Matador Records' Matablog has been a treasure trove of cool Burma content leading up to the new releases: For audiophiles and the otherwise-curious, you can take a look at what went into remastering the definitive edition reissues straight from the originals in two video clips (part 1, part 2). They've also shared an old performance of "Eyes of Men", and a clip of "Red" from one of the bonus DVDs that is included with each reissued album. Check out this five-minute EPK (electronic press kit) about the new editions as well (quicktime file). For all of the Matablog's Burma-related content, go here.

And don't forget to hit up a full MoB YouTube search for tons of fan-shot clips.

Photos: All my shots from the show are here. Bill T. Miller has some shots of his own here. Check out the full Mission of Burma Flickr tag search.

More: Buy the remastered Mission of Burma Definite Editions relatively cheaply from Newbury Comics. The Boston Herald wrote about the band's legacy here.

Upcoming shows: Four scheduled for the summer, all in Europe. Check the band's tour page for details on May/June shows in Barcelona, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Paris.

Listen to any and all 'Nac-hosted Mp3s at 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