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recommended boston area events

friday, saturday, & sunday

february 3rd, 4th, & 5th

ladyfest boston!

more great bands than should

be legally allowed for one event

all weekend @ cambridge ymca


friday, february 3rd

jack's mannequin

jukebox the ghost

allen stone

@ the house of blues


saturday, february 4th

the sheila divine

@ the paradise


wednesday, february 8th

dum dum girls

widowspeak

@ the paradise


thursday, february 9th

tea leaf green

ha ha tonka

@ the paradise


sunday, february 12th

happy jawbone family band

bozmo

zebu!

trabants

@ great scott


wednesday, february 15th

yellowbirds

quilt

@ great scott


thursday, february 16th

slowdim

you won't (cd release!)

friendly people

the suitcase junket

@ tt the bears


friday, february 17th

o'brother

junius

@ brighton music hall


saturday, february 18th

cuffs

woollen kits

headband

@ the plough & stars


saturday, february 18th

the wandas

aloud

when particles collide

the bynars

@ radio, somerville


wednesday, february 22nd

the del fuegos (reunited)

@ the paradise


thursday, february 23rd

heartless bastards

@ the middle east downstairs


thursday, february 23rd

sharon van etten

shearwater

@ the paradise


sunday, february 26th

the twilight sad

micah p. hinson

forest fire

@ brighton music hall


thursday, march 1st

travels

eratok

the broken river prophet

l.r.a.d.

@ o'brien's


thursday, march 1st

jennifer o'connor

thalia zedek

choo choo la rouge

cotton candy

@ church of boston


friday, march 2nd

tennis

hospitality

@ brighton music hall


monday, march 5th

fanfarlo

young man

@ the paradise


tuesday, march 6th

kaiser chiefs

@ house of blues


thursday, march 8th

atlas sound

white rainbow

carnivores

@ the paradise


friday, march 9th

anti-flag

the flatliners

have nots

@ brighton music hall


friday, march 16th

obits

fists

plus guests

@ tt the bears


friday, march 16th

new multitudes

(woody guthrie tribute)

with will johnson (centro-matic),

jay farrar (son volt),

anders parker (varnaline),

& yim yames (my morning jacket)

bobby bare jr.

@ the paradise


monday, march 19th

music 2.0: tools + tech for

musicians, marketers, & managers

6-9pm @ microsoft n.e.r.d. center


tuesday, march 20th

the postelles

fort lean

@ great scott


friday, march 23rd

the wedding present

(performing 'seamonsters' & new songs!)

jet age

pinky piglet

@ brighton music hall


friday, march 23rd

ben kweller

sleeper agent

the dig

@ the paradise


saturday, march 24th

martin sexton

@ the house of blues


saturday, march 24th

bowerbirds

@ the paradise


monday, march 26th

chairlift

nite jewel

@ brighton music hall


monday, march 26th

bruce springsteen

& the e street band

@ td garden


tuesday, march 27th

delta spirit

waters

@ the paradise


tuesday, march 27th

kasabian

@ house of blues


thursday, march 29th

swervedriver

@ brighton music hall


friday, march 30th

young adults

soccer mom

autochrome

night fruit

@ tt the bears


friday, march 30th

the joy formidable

a place to bury strangers

exitmusic

@ the paradise


saturday, march 31st

wild flag

the labor pool

@ the paradise


sunday, april 1st

of montreal

loney dear

kishi bashi

@ the paradise


monday, april 2nd

cursive

cymbals eat guitars

@ the middle east downstairs


friday, april 6th

nada surf

an horse

@ the paradise


friday & saturday

april 6th & 7th

the magnetic fields

devotchka (acoustic)

@ the berklee performance center


monday, april 9th

the ting tings

mndr

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 11th

dinosaur feathers

grandchildren

onslo

@ church of boston


wednesday, april 11th

the horrors

small black

@ brighton music hall


thursday, april 12th

snow patrol

ed sheeran

@ the orpheum


thursday, april 12th

white denim

hundred visions

@ the paradise


saturday, april 14th

white rabbits

gull

@ the paradise


tuesday, april 17th

lambchop

@ the paradise


wednesday, april 18th

amy ray

kaia wilson (team dresch)

@ brighton music hall


saturday, april 21st

death cab for cutie

backed by the

magik*magik orchestra

with openers low

@ the wang theatre


sunday, april 22nd

portugal. the man

the lonely forest

@ the house of blues


monday, april 23rd

rodrigo y gabriela

@ the orpheum


tuesday, april 24th

we were promised jetpacks

breton

@ the paradise


friday & saturday

april 27th & april 28th

archers of loaf

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, april 28th

wu lyf

@ brighton music hall


thursday, may 3rd

bear in heaven

@ brighton music hall


friday, may 4th

school of seven bells

@ brighton music hall


sunday, may 6th

andrew bird

patrick watson

@ the house of blues


monday, may 7th

feist

@ the house of blues


tuesday, may 8th

m. ward

lee ranaldo band

@ the house of blues


wednesday, may 9th

the dear hunter

performing 'the color spectrum'

in its entirety

@ the somerville theatre


wednesday, may 9th

m83

i break horses

@ the house of blues


wednesday, may 9th

spiritualized

@ the paradise


saturday, may 12th

the feelies

@ the paradise


friday, june 15th

foster the people

tokyo police club

@ boa pavilion


friday & saturday

june 15th & 16th

the figgs!

25th anniversary shows

@ church of boston


saturday, june 16th

mogwai

@ house of blues


tuesday, august 28th

beirut

@ house of blues


visit tourfilter for more shows






Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Mp3s: Grand Archives in Allston, MA

Seattle-based Sub Pop signees Grand Archives are in the final week of North American tour that took them across the northern U.S. and into Canada before hitting Boston a couple weeks back. The show previous saw them in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont, making the most of a very tiny audience at Higher Ground (such is the risk of weeknight shows in college towns), so I, and they, didn't know what to expect from a Wednesday night at Allston's Great Scott. Happily, a plentiful and welcoming crowd filled the place, and infectious openers You Can Be A Wesley even got some of 'em in a dancing mood. I could tell that YCBAW brought lots of friends along, and it speaks loudly of them that they not only all hung around, but appeared to love every minute of the headliners' set.

I'll admit that I hadn't spent much time with Grand Archives self-titled, February-released debut (aside from picking a couple stand-out tracks for my last River Gods DJ set), but if I had, my presence at the show wouldn't have been in question. To say I'm glad I made it out is an understatement, as their layered, laid back, harmony-fueled set of pop-rock will probably end up on my year-end best-of-shows list. And I'm not alone... I've talked to more than a couple people since who say the same, and the smiles and gratitude from the stage makes me think it might end up on the band's own list as well.

The only real bummer of the evening was the absence of tourmate (and labelmate) Sera Cahoone and her band, who had to cancel when Sera came down with a nasty case of laryngitis the day before. Fortunately for NYC, she rested up after skipping Boston and Philly and was able to play down there a few days later.

For the uninitiated, Sera and Grand Archives frontman Mat Brooke were bandmates in Carissa's Weird with Ben Bridwell, and all three went on to start Band of Horses (Sera drummed and Mat played guitar on BoH's debut disc). Sera moved on to her solo project as Mat started up Grand Archives, and the whole fam damily wound up on Sub Pop. Got it? Good.

Here's the full Grand Archives Great Scott set, shared with Mat Brooke's blessing, which includes a couple fun covers and new songs, too. Enjoy...


Some Grand Archives links...
  • Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and Sub Pop label page.

  • Additional Audio: Sub Pop has shared Mp3s for two songs from the GA album:
    Mp3: Grand Archives - "Torn Blue Foam Couch"
    Mp3: Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"
  • Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here. Prefix has lots of photos from the June 13th Bowery Ballroom show. Check out the full Grand Archives tag search, or the band's own photo collection on MySpace.

  • Video: The band made a video for the track "Miniature Birds" (.mov / youtube), and performed the song live in 107.7 The End's studio. One of the new songs above is "Liberty Bell", and you can watch a live performance of that here. Their network TV debut came in April on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, where they performed "Torn Blue Foam Couch". For more, try a full Grand Archives YouTube search.

  • Sound Bites was at, and wrote about, the GA Bowery Ballroom show a couple days later.

  • Upcoming tourdates: Just a handful of shows left on this tour, then a couple weeks off before the band plays the big Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival in mid-July...
    June, 24 2008 @ Santa Fe Brewing Co. in Albuquerque, NM
    June, 25 2008 @ Plush in Tuscon, AZ
    June, 26 2008 @ Casbah in San Diego, CA
    June, 27 2008 @ The Echo in Los Angeles, CA
    June, 28 2008 @ Slim's in San Francisco, CA
    July, 13 2008 @ SP20 Anniversary Fest at Marymoor Park, WA
  • 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.

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