bradley's almanac - a boston-based music blog

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wednesday and thursday

february 10th and 11th

the magnetic fields

laura barrett

@ the wilbur theatre

thursday, february 11th

v66 reunion

with rod & cones, big city rock,

the fools, o positive, animotion,

right turn, digney fingus, ernie boch jr.,

lizzie borden and the axes, & more

@ house of blues

thursday, february 11th

found audio

the first annual

the rockefeller fortune

boone

@ oliver's / cask 'n flagon

friday, february 12th

kings of convenience

franklin for short

@ the paradise

saturday, february 13th

one happy island

human hearts (with franklin bruno)

boy genius

free! @ toad, cambridge

saturday, february 13th

a benefit for haiti

the okay win

new son rising

the elevators

@ copperfields

saturday, february 13th

tegan & sara

holly miranda

@ the orpheum

sunday, february 14th

we were promised jetpacks

bad veins

royal bangs

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, february 15th

a benefit for haiti

with big bear, ketman,

chris brokaw, monique ortiz,

art decade, & the dirty dishes

@ the middle east downstairs

tuesday, wednesday, & thursday

february 16th, 17th, & 18th

3 nights with jonathan richman

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, february 18th

editors

the antlers

@ house of blues

friday, february 19th

28 degrees taurus

el jezel

the broken river prophet

metal feathers

@ o'briens, allston

friday, february 19th

taken by trees

el perro del mar

@ the cambridge ymca theatre

saturday, february 20th

dawes

corey chisel & the wandering sons

jason boesel (rilo kiley)

@ great scott

monday, february 22nd

boy without god

ryan lee crosby quartet

the wailing wall

sleepy very sleepy

@ tt the bears

wednesday, february 24th

wild beasts

still life still

dj carbo

@ great scott

saturday, february 27th

hadoken (cd release)

caspian

irepress

slowest runner

@ tt the bears

monday, march 1st

rogue wave

@ the paradise

tuesday, march 9th

jet

crash kings

@ the paradise

monday, march 15th

one happy island

standard fare

summer cats

@ great scott

monday, march 15th

letting up despite great faults

the brother kite

plumerai

singing bridges

@ the middle east upstairs

wednesday, march 17th

joanna newsom

@ the sanders theatre, harvard

wednesday, march 17th

henry rollins (spoken word)

@ the somerville theatre

sunday, march 21st

the clientele

field music

@ great scott

saturday, march 20th

air

@ berklee performance center

thursday, march 25th

aloud

action camp

hello ninja

@ great scott

thursday, march 25th

the donnas

@ the paradise

friday, march 26th

basia bulat

marissa nadler

lady lamb the beekeeper

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

your say party! we say die!

the new collisions

static of the gods (cd release)

@ tt the bears

saturday, march 27th

the big pink

a place to bury strangers

@ the paradise

saturday, march 27th

spoon

deerhunter

@ the house of blues

sunday, march 28th

beach house

bachelorette

@ the paradise

monday, march 29th

the soft pack

nodzzz

beaters

@ great scott

tuesday, march 30th

shearwater

wye oak

hospital ships

@ tt the bears

tuesday, march 30th

manchester orchestra

the features

biffy clyro

o'brother

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

japandroids

love is all

girlfriends

@ the middle east downstairs

wednesday, march 31st

miike snow

delorean

@ the paradise

wednesday, march 31st

a sunny day in glasgow

pants yell!

bearstronaut

@ great scott

thursday, april 1st

girls

dum dum girls

@ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

the xx

jj (late show only)

two shows @ the paradise

friday, april 2nd

drive-by truckers

lucero

langhorne slim

@ the house of blues

saturday, april 3rd

nada surf

@ the paradise

sunday, april 4th

serena maneesh

depreciation guild

@ tt the bears

tuesday, april 6th

wilco

@ the orpheum

wednesday, april 7th

florence & the machine

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 7th

rocky votolato

brooke waggoner

@ great scott

friday, april 9th

midlake

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

xiu xiu

tune-yards

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 10th

ted leo & the pharmacists

obits

@ the paradise

saturday, april 10th

pissed jeans

confines

sqrm

@ great scott

monday, april 12th

the wedding present

play their 1989 lp 'bizarro'

with openers girl in a coma

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, april 15th

red sparowes

doomriders

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 17th

kaki king

an horse

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 17th

the morning benders

miniature tigers

@ tt the bears

sunday, april 18th

the thermals

past lives

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, april 19th

trans am

@ the middle east downstairs

tuesday, april 20th

owen pallett (aka final fantasy)

@ the ica boston

tuesday, april 20th

elvis costello & the sugarcanes

@ the orpheum

tuesday, april 20th

the low anthem

@ the paradise

tuesday, april 20th

quasi

let's wrestle

@ the middle east downstairs

saturday, april 24th

los campesinos!

here we go magic

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

gogol bordello

devotchka

jesse malin

st. mark's social

@ the house of blues

thursday, april 29th

frightened rabbit

@ the paradise

friday, april 30th

corinne bailey ray

@ the house of blues

friday, april 30th

the album leaf

sea wolf

@ the paradise

wednesday, april 28th

little boots

dragonette

fan death

@ the middle east downstairs

monday, may 3rd

yeasayer

sleigh bells

@ the paradise

thursday, may 6th

shout out louds

@ the paradise

tuesday & wednesday

may 11th & 12th

dr. dog

deer tick

@ the paradise

thursday, may 13th

small brown bike

bridge and tunnel

your skull my closet

wallcreeper

@ great scott

tuesday, may 25th

smittens

allo darlin'

one happy island

horrowitz

@ toad

wednesday, may 26th

reverend horton heat

cracker

miss derringer

@ the house of blues

wednesday, june 2nd

the national

@ the house of blues

friday, june 4th

brian jonestown massacre

@ the paradise

saturday, june 19th

james taylor

carole king

@ the garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

If I didn't have these soundboard recordings, ticket stubs, and an old disintegrating t-shirt as proof, I'd have a hard time believing that Sub Pop's 1992 Vermonstress Festival actually took place. As an indie-rock-lovin', college radio DJin', drum-learnin', band-startin', early-20-something kid living in the relatively isolated Burlington, Vermont, imagine how stunned I was to hear that one of my favorite record labels was planning a music fest pretty much on my doorstep. No travel necessary. Fifteen bands over two autumn days, some on the Sub Pop roster and others that the label just loved, and for no discernible reason. All I'd heard was they dug our little college town (pop: around 40,000), and who knows... maybe this was just a fun way to blow some cash from the post-"Nevermind" explosion.

Whatever the reason, the SP team and all the invitees descended upon the Champlain Valley and blessedly rescued me and my friends from cheesy cover bands and Phish for a weekend (and inspiring a friend and I to start up our own yearly fest, but that's another post). With Pond crashing at our band house for a few days beforehand (they were on their way back to home from their first UK tour, opening for Throwing Muses), and with us hosting a big party in the middle of the madness, the whole thing felt like one long celebration, and as a local, it was easy to tell that most of the sell-out crowds had traveled down from Montreal or up from Boston and NYC.

the Vermonstress tee (click to enlarge)

It was a surreal couple days, to say the least, with the Metronome stage hosting current faves and newfound revelations -- so many bands I'd have driven a great distance to see (Codeine, Velocity Girl, Come, Drop Nineteens, Beat Happening, Buffalo Tom), and others I'd consider myself lucky to hear so early on (Six Finger Satellite, Eric's Trip, Barbara Manning, Giant Sand, Sloan, Green Magnet School). Hell, brand new Sub Pop signees Pond hadn't even released their first album yet, and getting to see them then was a true gift. Their set was frenetic, intense, and totally inspiring... maybe the best of the weekend, and given the amazing lineup, that's saying a hell of a lot.

the Vermonstress press release (click to enlarge)

A few years back, in the relatively early days of the Almanac's current incarnation, I finished converting, editing, and sharing up all of my Vermonstress soundboard cassette recordings. 130 songs by 15 bands, adding up to almost 9 hours of digital goodness. And so, in honor of this week's celebration of Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary, I was inspired to remaster all the songs (I've learned a bit about that in the years since) and share them as higher quality Mp3s (from original .wavs as 192kbps vs. the former 128kbps).

A few things of note...

Included are some excellent covers: Chris Harford doing Prince's "Pop Life", Pond with the late Bo Diddley's "Pretty Thing", GMS's take on Neil Young's "Don't Cry", Barbara Manning covering The Bats, and yes, two different Madonna covers.

Unfortunately my original cassette of the Buffalo Tom and Gravel sets disappeared years ago (the victim of a band-house party, I think), so their sets are sadly missing. Also missing are a few song titles below, especially from the HP Zinker set, so if you know any of them, kindly let me know in the comments.

As is often the case with multi-band festivals, soundchecks were a rarity, so the mix can be wonky at the beginning of each set. They improve greatly as they go, though, so hang in there.

I'll have these up for a fairly limited time (a couple weeks, max), as it eats up most of my server space and will no doubt do the same with my monthly bandwidth. And if you're dreading clicking on 130 links, you'd do well to grab Firefox and the DownThemAll add-on. If you don't already use it, you'll thank me later. If streaming is more your style, don't forget to hit up the Almanac page at the Hype Machine.

Enjoy the wealth of greatness below, as if I had to tell you that...

Vermonstress - Day 1
Saturday, October 10th, 1992

Codeine
01. Realize
02. Jr.
03. Barely Real
04. Cave-In
05. Hard to Find
06. D
07. Broken-Hearted Wine

Come
01. Dead Molly
02. William
03. Submerge
04. Last Mistake
05. Fast Piss Blues
06. Bell
07. Car
08. S.V.K.

Drop Nineteens
01. Delaware
02. Mayfield
03. Winona
04. Astral
05. Happen
06. My Aquarium
07. Reberrymemberer
08. Angel (Madonna cover)

Velocity Girl
01. Doesn't Matter
02. 57 Waltz
03. Copacetic
04. Pretty Sister
05. Stupid Thing
06. Warm/Crawl
07. My Forgotten Favorite
08. Creepy
09. Crazy Town

Crow
01. Eyes are Bruised
02. Railhead
03. Light
04. Prisoner
05. The Charley Horses
06. God-Fearing Shareholders of the World
07. EJ

Pond
01. Grinned
02. Young Splendor
03. Perfect Four
04. Wheel
05. Pretty Thing (Bo Diddley cover)
06. Spots
07. Agatha / Filler

Beat Happening
01. Tiger Trap
02. Teenage Caveman
03. Sleepyhead
04. Dreamy
05. banter
06. Red Head Walkin'
07. Other Side
08. Revolution Come and Gone
09. Nancy Sin
10. Noise
11. Godsend
12. Cry For A Shadow
13. Me Untamed
14. You Turn Me On
15. Crashing Through

Vermonstress - Day 2
Sunday, October 11th, 1992

Six Finger Satellite
01. Sex Transistor
02. Niponese National Anthem
03. Laughing Larry
04. Polish the Shine (Satchmo)
05. Home for the Holy Day
06. Crippled Monster Bearing Malice

Green Magnet School
01. Sonic Exterminator
02. Noxin
03. Barmecide Room
04. Don't Cry (Neil Young)
05. Singed
06. 12 Guage
07. Penance

Sloan
01. Sleepover
02. Lucky For Me
03. Shame Shame
04. Ill-Placed Trust
05. Underwhelmed
06. Take It In
07. Marcus Said
08. Pretty Voice

Giant Sand
01. Neon Filler
02. Song 02
03. Sage Advice
04. Wearing the Robes of Bible Black
05. Solomon's Ride / Stuck
06. Unwed and Well Sped

Barbara Manning
01. Never Park
02. Breathe Lies
03. Someone Wants You Dead
04. Don't Rewind
05. Winter Song
06. On On and One
07. Smoking Her Wings (Bats cover)
08. Lock Yer Room (up tight)
09. Scissors

Eric's Trip
01. Kiss Me Baby / Smother
02. Listen
03. Haze
04. Belong
05. Happens All The Time
06. Float
07. Belly
08. My Chest Is Empty (part 2)
09. Blinded
10. Bring Down the Rain
11. Easier Last Time
12. Open Your Heart (Madonna cover)

Chris Harford
and the First Rays of the New Rising Sun
01. Swinging Bridge
02. Raise the Roof
03. Looking For Light
04. Road With You
05. If You Forget Me
06. Pop Life (Prince cover)
07. You Brains
08. The Living End
09. Gather Round / Sing, Breathe, and Be Merry

HP Zinker
01. Song 1
02. Song 2
03. Song 3
04. Trapped
05. Song 5
06. Song 6
07. Song 7
08. Song 8
09. Song 9
10. Warzone City
11. Song 11

There's been some cool coverage leading up to Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary shindig this coming weekend, including a lengthy interview with SP founders Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt over at Pitchfork, as well as an audio interview with Poneman courtesy of NPR's World Cafe.

During that NPR chat, Poneman tackles the difficult task of naming his five fave SP-released songs. For the curious, they are: Pernice Bros.' "Monkey Suit", Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal", Iron & Wine's "Lion's Mane", Vaselines' "Dying For It", and Zumpano's "Here's the Plan". Don't think I could ever force myself to pick just five from their catalog... hell, I'd probably have trouble just naming five faves from the discographies of certain Sub Pop bands. The label has been helping to make my life better for so many years, and it's an understatement to say I'm grateful. If you're fortunate enough to be attending SP20, my jealousy is directed your way. Wish I could be there.

(and if Pond had reunited to play, I probably would be!)

Labels: livemp3s

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