[Words & Music] The Boston Book Festival Is Here (& MP3s from 2010 Book Revue)
Posted on October 24, 2014 at 3:43 pm | No Comments
With last night’s Herbie Hancock Keynote kickoff, the annual Boston Book Festival is officially underway in and around Copley Square. As much as I appreciate (and mutilate) the written word, my favorite parts of the fest always end up being those that throw music in the mix. The BBF never fails to incorporate at least one music-related event into their programming, and this year is no different: Saturday evening’s grand finale is “Words and Music: A Literary Jam Session” at the Old South Church. The details, from their website:
Between now and then we’ve got tonight’s second keynote speech by Susan Minot and a ton of interesting sessions on Saturday, so be sure to check the full schedule.
This year’s fest gives me an opportunity to flashback to my favorite-ever BBF event, “The Book Revue: Words & Music”, which capped off the 2010 edition. It was an ideal marriage of words & music, with a killer lineup and one hell of a host in Steve Almond (“Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life“, “Against Football”, etc).
After Almond’s introduction, author/songwriter Joe Pernice (Pernice Bros., Scud Mountain Boys) read from his novel “It Feels So Good When I Stop” and performed the Pernice Bros. songs “The Loving Kind” and “Amazing Glow“. Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean & Britta) read “Letter From A Concerned Luna Fan” from his novel “Black Postcards” and played G500’s “Blue Thunder” along with the Dean & Britta track “The Sun Is Still Sunny“. Author Nick Flynn delivered his intoxicating mediation on drinking, “Same Again” before an excerpt from his novel “The Ticking Is The Bomb”. Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave) followed with a couple excerts from her resurrected teenage diary “Rat Girl” and performed both “Flooding” and “Your Dirty Answer“. Lastly, Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) joined Zachary Lipez and Stacy Wakefield to present pieces of their collaboration “Please Take Me Off The Guest List“. The centerpiece of the whole thing was Almond’s hilarious lyrical dissection of Toto’s “Africa“. That bit is worth the price of admission alone.
The BBF shared, and still archives, the entire event in (one giant) MP3 form, so I’ve excised a few bits below alongside the original file. Enjoy…
Steve Almond vs. Toto. For more photos, click here.
[MP3] Boston Book Festival 2010 – “The Book Revue: Words & Music”
[MP3] Joe Pernice – “Amazing Glow” (live)
[MP3] Dean Wareham – “Letter From A Concerned Luna Fan” (reading)
[MP3] Dean Wareham – “Blue Thunder” (live)
[MP3] Kristin Hersh – “Flooding” (live)
Much gratitude to Mr. Tom Johnston for pulling that lineup together, and to the Boston Book Festival’s continued inclusion of music-related programming every year. Have a look at Saturday’s complete BBF 2014 lineup, and hit up the Dig for some recommendations
[50 Years of Boston Rock] WMBR’s Pipeline! Announces Anniversary Lineups
Posted on August 4, 2014 at 3:29 pm | 1 Comment
WMBR‘s venerable live local music show Pipeline! is marking their 25th year on the airwaves by throwing a 5-weekend party at 5 Boston-area venues this fall, and the lineups have just been let loose. It’s crammed with legends, also-rans, familiar names, and obscure oldsters – reuniting a ridiculous number of bands from throughout, and I quote, “50 Years of Boston Rock!”. If scanning through this stacked list of several dozen area bands doesn’t get you excited, then you either haven’t lived here very long, or you’ve grown too old and jaded to care. Either way, your loss. Me? I’m practically giddy. I gasped more than once after this sucker hit my inbox.
Full press release and nightly lineups (not in performing order) below, with my personal standouts following. Read on, snag your tickets (update: all tickets are now on sale, links next to each lineup), and get ready…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PIPELINE! AT 25
PRESENTS
50 YEARS OF BOSTON ROCK!
The Dates, Venues, and Line-ups!
Pipeline!, WMBR’s live local music show, celebrates its 25th anniversary year with 13 shows featuring close to 80 reunited Boston-area bands performing at 5 venues over 5 weekends from September 12 to October 12
Cambridge, MA (August 3, 2014) - WMBR’s Pipeline! show (airing every Tuesday evening 8:00-10:00 with host Jeff Breeze) today announced the dates, venues, and band line-ups for the 50 Years of Boston Rock festival this fall. These bands from decades past come roaring into the present day, among them: The Remains with their stunning garage beat and The Freeborne rediscovering their psych virtuosity from the ’60s; Reddy Teddy and Willie Alexander & The Boom Boom Band bringing back the pre and proto-punk sounds of the ’70s; Stranglehold, The Dogmatics and the F.U’s delivering early ’80s punk proper and hardcore…and later in the decade O Positive and Big Dipper representing the burgeoning indie-rock scene; Gigolo Aunts, Fuzzy, and the Dirt Merchants nearing the millennium with their ’90s indie-pop/rock brilliance; and finally The Sheila Divine and The Charms, arriving in the 2000s, recasting pop and garage verities into their own thrilling style. This is a half century’s worth of the Boston music underground…and this festival revisits a good chunk of it!
50 Years of Boston Rock takes place from Friday, September 12 – Sunday, October 12 at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, The Middle East downstairs in Cambridge, the Brighton Music Hall, the Regent Theatre in Arlington, and Cuisine en Locale in Somerville, a new ballroom-like space with a capacity of 425. There are current plans to add a 14th night to the series. Tickets for the Middle East shows are now available, with the other clubs offering their own nights’ tickets this coming week.
Friday September 12th
at the Regent Theatre, Arlington (Tickets)
O Positive (added)
Cordelia’s Dad
The Freeborne
String Builder
We Saw The Wolf
Saturday, September 13th
at Cuisine en Locale, Somerville (Tickets)
Baby’s Arm
Miranda Warning (added)
The Dogmatics
Eric Martin (of the Neats) & friends
Stranglehold
The Turbines
Friday, September 19th
at Cuisine en Locale, Somerville (Tickets)
Curious Ritual (added)
Nisi Period
Someone & the Somebodies
Pods
Purple Ivy Shadows
Mistle Thrush
Curious Ritual
Ultrabreakfast (added)
Saturday September 20th
at Cuisine en Locale, Somerville (Tickets)
Dirt Merchants
Fertile Virgin
The Gravel Pit
Honeybunch
Evol Twin (added)
The Sheila Divine
Friday, September 26th
at the Regent Theatre, Arlington (Tickets)
The Barnies
Bill Goffrier (of Big Dipper) & friends
Dumptruck
The Jigsaws
Vapors of Morphine
Saturday, September 27th
at the Regent Theatre, Arlington (Tickets)
Barry & the Remains
Cardinal
The Downbeat 5
Sunday, September 28th
at Brighton Music Hall, Allston (Tickets)
Anastasia Screamed
The Flies
The F.U.’s / Straw Dogs
Men & Volts
The Nervous Eaters
Bentmen (added)
Friday, October 3rd
at the Middle East Downstairs (Tickets)
Tacklebox
The Blood Oranges
Buttercup
Robin Lane & The Chartbusters
Fuzzy
Lazy Susan
Saturday, October 4th
at the Middle East Downstairs (Tickets)
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
The Clamdiggers (proto-The Upper Crust)
Crazy Alice
Kudgel
Bulkhead
Quintaine Americana
Orangutang
Sunday, October 5th
at the Paradise (Tickets)
Big City Rockers (Atlantics)
Heretix (added)
The Dents
High Risk Group
Reddy Teddy
Shake the Faith
Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band
Friday, October 10th
at Cuisine en Locale, Somerville (Tickets)
The 360s
Green Magnet School
Luca Brasi
Orbit
Permafrost (Miles Dethmuffin)
The Red Telephone (added)
Hullabaloo (added)
Unnatural Axe
Saturday, October 11th
at Cuisine en Locale, Somerville (Tickets)
The Cavedogs
Drumming on Glass
Flying Nuns
Gigolo Aunts
The Natives
The Rising Storm
Sunday, October 12th
at the Middle East Downstairs (Tickets)
The Bags
Ed Redeeming Qualities with
Carrie Bradley (of The Breeders) & friends
Dave Derby (of the Dambuilders/Gramercy Arms) & friends (added)
The Gizmos
Kenny Chambers / Electric Ears (doing Moving Targets)
The Underachievers
The Voodoo Dolls
Ok, first off: The “Grambuilders” has gotta be a modified version of the Dambuilders, yeah? I’m digging for details. I’ve known about the Green Magnet School reunion for a little, and I’m still internally freaking out about that one. Can’t wait to see my old friends in Mistle Thrush, plus old labelmates Crazy Alice & Fuzzy, and chimp rock progenitors Kudgel (and while we’re at it, let’s hope one of those TBA spots give us a little Swirlies action, eh?). Then there’s Orbit, Anastasia Screamed, Honeybunch, Dumptruck, Mary Lou Lord… hell, if I don’t stop now I’ll just end up re-typing the full lineup. I’ll share more lineup updates on the ‘Nac Facebook page as they come.
Here’s a look at the original schedule image sent out to press (click to embiggen)…
