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the almanac last.fm page got one of your own? the almanac rss feed or use the feedburner link 'my life or some dream' |
boston area events of note:
thursday, january 8th
forest henderson
the new collisions
the lights out
sir q
@ great scott
saturday, january 10th
head automatica
radio 4
@ great scott
sunday, january 11th
whistlejacket
voxhaul broadcast
local natives
the union line
@ tt the bears
monday, january 12th
varsity drag
the rationales
nate rogers (ex-scamper)
@ tt the bears
thursday, january 15th
illinois
@ great scott
thursday, january 15th
the raveonettes
@ the paradise
friday, january 16th
dear leader
hallelujah the hills
faces on film
@ the paradise
saturday, january 17th
the rosebuds
the love language
the fatal flaw
@ the middle east downstairs
sunday, january 18th
frightened rabbit
@ great scott
sunday, january 18th
department of eagles
@ the brattle theatre
saturday, january 24th
longwave
wheat
bon savants
@ great scott
saturday, january 24th
arts at the armory benefit
mission of burma
the neighborhoods
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, january 24th
vic chesnutt
elf power
@ the middle east
tuesday, january 27th
annuals
jessica lee mayfield
what laura says
@ the paradise
friday, january 30th
andrew bird
loney dear
@ the orpheum
wednesday, february 4th
the pretenders
@ the orpheum
thursday, february 5th
illinois
mean creek
you can be a wesley (cd release)
@ great scott
wednesday, february 11th
the godfathers
@ the middle east down
friday, february 13th
los campesinos!
@ the paradise
saturday, february 14th
animal hospital
travels (cd release!)
arms & sleepers
mary page
@ pa's lounge
sunday, february 15th
the pains of being pure at heart
pants yell!
the depreciation guild
@ the middle east upstairs
sunday, february 15th
fujiya & miyagi
@ the paradise
wednesday, february 18th
m. ward
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, february 21st
norm macdonald
@ the wilbur theatre
tuesday, february 24th
ben kweller
the watson twins
@ the somerville theatre
tuesday, february 24th
tapes 'n tapes
wild light
@ the paradise
wednesday, february 25th
comedian eugene mirman
'the will to whatevs' book tour
@ the brookline booksmith
thursday, february 26th
jimmy eat world
'clarity 10th anniversary tour'
@ the new house of blues
thursday, february 26th
blizten trapper
alela diane
@ the paradise
saturday, february 28th
swirlies!
gregory & the hawk
@ the middle east up
saturday, february 28th
fountains of wayne (acoustic)
everyday visuals (acoustic)
@ the paradise
saturday, march 7th
airborne toxic event
alberta cross
henry clay people
@ the paradise
wednesday, march 11th
fleetwood mac
@ the garden
saturday, march 14th
throwing muses
screaming females
50 foot wave
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, march 14th
a.c. newman (new pornographers)
with dent may & his
magnificent ukulele
@ the paradise
sunday, march 29th
morrissey
@ the house of blues
visit tourfilter for more shows
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Mp3s: The National live in Mansfield, MA
In interviews since their opening slot on REM's North American tour over the summer, the National have unsurprisingly had nothing but good things to say about their treatment by the headliners, and having spotted Mike Mills at stage left, enthusiastically bobbing his head to the band's late-evening set at the Great ComTweetWoods Center in June, it looks like they weren't just hosts, but real fans. And what a treat it must have been to see Matt Berninger & co. night after night. This was my third time seeing them in four years, and it was in sun-showered contrast to the previous small-club shows (TT the Bears in 2005 and Paddy O's last fall) -- even though many seats remained empty while REM fans streamed in, it was still a larger crowd in total than both of those previous area shows combined. You could spot us punctual National fans easily, and so could the band, dedicating one of the late-set songs to an enthusiastic girl near the front.
While the large venue promised the opposite of intimacy, my choice seat, the setting sun, and the band's flawless performances of songs I hold dear ended up impressing me even more than I'd expect. I didn't assume their set would measure up to those other sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder shows I'd seen, but it did. They'd made efforts to mix things up for the tour, both obvious (adding two horns and a bassoon player) and subtle (new drum hits during the "Mistaken for Strangers" intro), and didn't let the cavernous environs dull their energy -- Violinist/keyboardist Padme Newsome was absolutely on fire, the build-up of "Brainy" was more frenetic than ever, and Berninger powerfully bellowed "I WON'T FUCK US OVER!" through the massive sound system during "Mr. November". I especially appreciated the set selection, which included moodier pieces that lured the audience in, bringing up the energy occasionally, then easing us back with "Fake Empire" just before pummeling us on the way out. Glorious.
Here's my recording of their set, with some noteworthy links below...
The National
Live at Great Woods
in Mansfield, MA
on Friday, June 13th, 2008
01. Start a War
02. Brainy
03. Baby, We'll Be Fine
04. Slow Show
05. Mistaken for Strangers
06. Squalor Victoria
07. Racing Like a Pro
08. Apartment Story
09. Fake Empire
10. Mr. November
Some National links...
Info: Their official site, MySpace page, Wikipedia entry, and their Beggars label page. Additional Audio: Sadly the band has removed the three older Mp3s they had shared at their own site, and Beggars doesn't have any available either, but you can still stream songs at MySpace, of course. The 2007 DC show that NPR shared is also still available to stream here. Video: There's a YouTube clip of the band performing what may be their first new post-Boxer song, "A Thousand Black Cities", in Copenhagen last month. Links to all of their "proper" vids can be found here, as well as through a National YouTube search. Photos: My Flickr-hosted shots are here, or have a look through a full National Flickr tag search. Hope: An edited, instrumental version of "Fake Empire" has been used in a new Barack Obama campaign ad, which you can watch while sporting your Obama-fundraising "Mr. November" t-shirt. Upcoming live dates: The band is taking it (relatively) easy this fall after a road-heavy summer, with just a handful of scattered shows, including two west coast stops later this month, an NY show in October, and a trio of dates in Brazil before they hit the November 8th Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. And here's hoping that fest is extra fun-fun-fun because Obama wins on November 4th. Celebration over commiseration. Easily stream 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
 week of december 29th, 2008 dirty on purpose live at the middle east in cambridge, ma on october 11th, 2008 |
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latest comments...
on the mp3 player
on the screen
on the nightstand
other boston-area music blogs
- anti-gravity bunny
- the ash gray proclamation
- aurgasm
- band in boston
- beginning to see the light
- clicky clicky
- drive blind
- enough cowbell
- exitfare
- forgotten disc friday
- the giant panther
- hip to be square
- los amigos de durutti
- melophobe
- morkelson
- new artillery
- onward charles
- pocket|trax
- ryan's smashing life
- soho the dog
- under 21 in boston
- under the rotunda
- zed equals zee
boston music media
boston live show info
music blogroll
- between thought & expression
- brainwashed
- brooklyn vegan
- captain's dead
- the catbirdseat
- cerulean's love of music
- chromewaves
- coolfer
- comets, stars, & moons
- donewaiting
- ear farm
- excellent online
- extrawack!
- fluxblog
- for the records
- gorilla vs. bear
- hard to find a friend
- harmonium
- heartache with hard work
- the hype machine
- i am fuel, you are friends
- idolator
- i guess i'm floating
- ijamming
- information leafblower
- junkmedia's world of sound
- kingblind
- lacunae
- largehearted boy
- the late greats
- leaky sparrow
- little hits
- more cowbell
- music for robots
- muzzle of bees
- my old kentucky blog
- pitchfork
- quick before it melts
- said the gramophone
- scenestars
- shake your fist
- sixeyes
- skatterbrain
- song, by toad
- the sound of indie
- stereogum
- too much rock
- the rawking refuses to stop
- too much rock
- unfinished
- yeti don't dance
music audiocasts
surf-worthy
- amie's flickr page
- andi's nonsequiturs
- bitter-girl
- brian wood
- bridget's journal
- ckelly's ink
- the dead part of you
- falfa's milk
- the great leap forward
- heath's media diet
- hedgehog's dilemma
- the icebox journals
- jim's flickr page
- jen's jenville
- jen's blossom
- joe sizzle's
- kimprobable
- march to the sea's musings
- marm0t's livejournal
- mickipedia!
- miller's memorables
- mishie's tear
- off on a tangent
- rsl's ostracons
- the shy turnip
- sooz's dot com
- steve's f.r.h.m.
frequent haunts
boston-centric
- boston.com
- boston phoenix
- boston online
- boston common
- boston blogs
- craigslist boston
- exploit boston!
- boston wireless
- surfacecity's boston
- tourfilter
- the middle east cafe
- tt the bears place
- the plan @ great scott's
- wmbr concert report
- wzbc concert report
- phoenix movie listings
- coolidge corner theater
- brattle theater
- red sox / dirt dogs
- sox: surviving grady
- patriots / go pats
- celtics
- mass pike traffic
( < | > random list )
some cele-bloggers
