Mp3s: Beirut live in Cambridge, MA
Posted on July 9, 2006 at 11:01 pm | No Comments
The band known as Beirut arrived in the Boston area during what can best be described as a perfect storm of blog-fueled buzz. The May release of their debut disc, ‘Gulag Orkestar‘, on Ba Da Bing; the music bloggers who gave it an early blessing; the certain taste-dictating website who backed them up; and Beirut’s close ties with NMH & aH&aH guy Jeremy Barnes, who mans the accordian on tour; all these factors combined to sell out their recent show at Brooklyn’s Northsix, and they’ve already sold out an upcoming Bowery Ballroom date.
None of this could have been expected when Boston-area booking maven Stacie Slotnick and her Critique of Pure Reason set up the June 24th show at the tiny Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA. A small art-space, it formerly held the Zeitgeist Gallery, and the closer that Saturday night approached, the more the buzz (and potential crowd size) built. Stacie smartly added a second show, leaving the band alone on the bill and allowing them two quick sets back to back. Her best laid plans still shut out dozens of hopeful attendees on that sweltering Saturday night… I’d never seen such a line anywhere in Inman Square, down the block and around the corner into the residential neighborhood behind the main drag (fortunately the unlucky latecomers could take comfort in some scoops of Christina’s ice cream).
The show had other strikes lined up against it besides the small size of the space: The PA system was on the fritz, so there was a major delay in the start time of the first set; the improvised vocal setup (through a keyboard speaker) caused some occasional feedback, and left singer Zach Condon’s excellent voice moderately muffled; the lack of even a slight stage lift meant that many in the crowd could barely see the band, myself included. And I’m not so short. I found myself raising my camera, snapping a shot, then bringing it back down to look at the lcd screen in order to find out what the band looked like.
And yet, despite those many obstacles, it was a great night. It all came down to the songs and their delivery. I bought ‘Gulag Orkestar’ after hearing the first couple net-shared songs, including ‘Postcards from Italy‘. Liked the disc enough at first, but found myself losing interest about halfway through. Not enough variation in the gypsy-flavored orkestrations, lots of songs and sounds blending together. But I’d heard such good things about their shows, and of newer material that was a cut above, so I took a chance (and what a chance it was… I sadly missed Asobi Seksu across the river the same night). Glad I did, though, as the new songs were far more memorable, the album material much improved in a live setting. The natural sound of the eight-piece band didn’t need amplification in the tiny room, and I almost wish the vocals didn’t either… but better to hear Condon’s voice a little muddy than not at all.
Here’s Beirut’s first set of the night, in its entirety…
Live at The Lily Pad
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
01. The Gulag Orkestar
02. Zebra Safari / Jersey Shore
03. Mandaccordion / Monster Island (aka Brandenburg)
04. Postcards From Italy
05. Mt. Wroclai
06. Carousels
07. Maspeth
08. Montauk
09. Ederlizi
10. After The Curtain
11. Closing Song
12. Siki Siki Baba
As mentioned, a few of the songs above were written since the recording of Beirut’s debut disc, and as I read elsewhere, the song ‘Ederlizi‘ is actually a Goran Bregovic song from the movie ‘Dom Za Vesanje (Time of the Gypsies)‘. Set-closer ‘Siki Siki Baba‘ is a cover as well, originally by Kocani Orkestar.
Some Beirut-related links…
Their MySpace page. Another review of the Cambridge show over at Muzzle of Bees. Papermag interviewed Zach Condon back in May. BrooklynVegan chatted with both Zach & Jason a couple weeks back, and posted some pictures from the Northsix show. Zach made a guest-post over at Said The Gramophone on June 21st, and wrote a bit about some of his musical loves. RySpace has a few words and mp3s from Beirut’s June 17th appearance at Williamsburg’s Sound Fix Records. Plenty of Beirut clips on YouTube.
Beirut returns to the Boston area on Saturday, August 26th at the much-roomier Middle East Downstairs (wisely upgraded from PA’s Lounge). Tickets go on sale this Thursday, July 13th at the Middle East box office, or if you must, through Ticket$^%&$&#.
the fine print: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.
On deck: Stand-out Boston live sets from the Futureheads and Camera Obscura. Well worth a little waiting.
Mp3s: Buffalo Tom live in Boston
Posted on July 5, 2006 at 10:52 pm | No Comments
For me, Buffalo Tom is the quintessential Boston band. Around since 1987 with nary a lineup change, the trio’s continued existence is a testament to hanging in there just for the love of making music with friends. No massive stylistic changes over time, peaks and valleys of popularity, from indies to majors and now on their own, but always three guys playing solid songs. First time I saw them was back in ’92 on one of my many trips from Burlington, VT down here to Boston for a good show, and that visit was one of the best: Buffalo Tom, Mercury Rev, and My Bloody Valentine. The stuff from which lasting memories (and ear damage) are made. Got to see BT again just a few months later when they came up to Burlington for Sub Pop’s Vermonstress Fest, and by then I’d become well hooked on both ‘Birdbrain‘ and ‘Let Me Come Over‘, and would soon be equally enamored of 1994’s ‘Big Red Letter Day‘. I admittedly lost track of them just after ‘Smitten‘ came out, when they followed it up with both an A-sides and B-sides collection, as well as a long break from playing out.
While Buffalo Tom never actually broke up, they did hit a five year haitus at the turn of the century while singer/guitarist Bill Janovitz and singer/bassist Chris Colbourn worked on solo material and other projects (Bill with his band Crown Victoria, Chris with former Fuzzy singer/guitarist Hilken Mancini). And as a Red Sox fan, Bill has participated in the ‘Hot Stove, Cool Music‘ project, which brings together both area sports-loving and sports-playing musicians on stage for charity. The next one actually takes place at Fenway Park a week from tonight, on July 12th (update – and at which Buffalo Tom will be playing with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein on guitar, as Mark reminded me of in the comments).
It’s only recently that Bill, Chris, & Tom have returned to Boston-area stages as a trio, with a few Buffalo Tom shows last year and a string of dates this summer. They played the Paradise a couple weeks back for two gigs, one in the Paradise Lounge on Friday, June 23rd, and one in the larger main room the following night. For you, here’s the Friday night set…
Live at The Paradise Lounge
Boston, MA
Friday, June 23rd, 2006
01. Staples
02. Enemy
03. Rachael
04. Summer
05. Mineral
06. Treehouse
07. banter 1
08. Kitchen Door
09. banter 2
10. Bad Phone Call (new)
11. Taillights Fade
12. banter 3
13. Three Easy Pieces (new)
14. You’ll Never Catch Him (new)
15. banter 4
16. Sodajerk
17. banter 5
18. Darl
encore 1…
19. (a stab at Little Red Rooster)
20. Wiser
21. banter 6
22. Tangerine
23. banter 7
24. Clobbered
25. I’m Allowed
encore 2…
26. banter 8
27. Under My Thumb (Stones cover)
28. banter 9
29. Larry
30. Frozen Lake
It was an excellent, energetic night, with songs from all over their discography, although as the band themselves would admit, it wasn’t the tightest they’ve ever been. Whether it was a bit of rust or a little too much beer, I dug it all the same. The crowd was a tad uptight at times, especially for a Friday night; the usual smattering of aging hipsters (aka longtime fans) was filled out by more of a collared-shirt and pleaded pants contingent, possibly some of the mainstream sports-fan crossover crowd that Bill’s been picking up over the past few years. Either way, the applause did come generously, enough to get them out for a couple encores. And the night wouldn’t have been complete without at least one patented song-ending Janovitz-jump…
There aren’t many bands who not only don’t mind that there’s a baseball game on the bar televisions while they’re playing, but actually ask the score inbetween songs (and for the record, the Sox beat Philly 10-2 that night, and again the next day with an Ortiz walk-off homer. BT dedicated their Saturday night set to Big Papi).
They’ve been teasing fans with songs from, and hints about, their eventual next album, so let’s hope there’s more solid news of that in the months ahead. Keep tabs on the BT sites linked above, as well as the lovingly maintained Kitchen Door fansite, where you can find a video clip from their second night at the Paradise. And for a fantastic 3-camera live video of ‘Velvet Roof‘ from the same show, check the BT video page. More song clips should be showing up on YouTube sometime soon.
Buffalo Tom heads to Belgium and Holland for a couple of shows this week, then returns to play the Mercury Lounge in NYC on Thursday, July 13th (tix). That’ll be followed up with a special acoustic set at Joe’s Pub on Friday the 14th (tix).
the fine print: If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.