[Boston Ticket Giveaway] BUILT TO SPILL at the Paradise this Thursday
Posted on September 28, 2010 at 4:20 pm | No Comments
I’ve gone on record as saying last month’s Built To Spill show out on Cape Cod was my favorite of the year so far, and in the time since nothing has topped it (although last week’s Superchunk/Versus gig and Sunday’s Come reunion show came damn close). It was the perfect combination of setting, sound, setlist, and summertime mood. Something really special.
The Idaho quintet returns to Massachusetts later this week, this time to our capital city, for a pair of nights at the recently remodeled Paradise. Now, I’m not saying these shows will be your faves of the year, but the potential is most certainly there. Part of the reason I had such a ridiculously good time in Wellfleet? The kick-ass opening bands, one of whom was Boston’s own Pretty & Nice – and they’re tagged to open both Friday and Saturday’s ‘Dise shows. While the also-excellent Boise-based band Fauxbois won’t be making it a total Beachcomber lineup flashback, and I don’t know much about openers Revolt Revolt, you’ve gotta put your faith in BtS’s choice of playmates.
Wanna go to Thursday night’s show, for free and with a friend? Yeah, you do. So send an email to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com, simple subject line: “Built To Spill“. One condition, though – If you win, you go. I’d hate these two list spots to go to waste, and I’ve had that happen a couple times lately with people who enter on a whim without being able to actually take advantage. A freebie faux pas, fer sure.
Get me your entry before 1pm on Thursday, and if I randomly draw your name, I’ll let you know right away that you and a friend have surprise plans that night. Really great surprise plans.
Buy tickets to Thursday’s show here, or Friday’s right here. Prepare yourself by checking out the Built To Spill @ the Beachcomber write-up and live recording I shared up last month. The second half of “Kicked It In The Sun“? Mind-altering, I tell you.
[One-Day Boston Ticket Giveaway] TEENAGE FANCLUB at the Royale Boston on 9/25
Posted on September 23, 2010 at 11:36 pm | No Comments
My complete inability to make timely Almanac updates has resulted in my giving short-shrift to this most-excellent of giveaways: A pair of tickets to tomorrow night’s Teenage Fanclub show at the Royale here in Boston. So this is going to be a quick one, with no dilly-dallying: You’ll need to enter by following the easy instructions below before 4 o’clock this very afternoon, and I’ll let you know toot-sweet.
Joining the Scottish rock legends are their ace Merge Records labelmates from LA, Radar Bros. (making this the second all-Merge show at the Royale this week, after Tuesday’s killer Superchunk / Versus team-up). I caught Radar Bros. live for the first time last summer at the XX Merge festivities down in North Carolina, and while they were one of the few Merge bands I was relatively unfamiliar with, I walked away a pretty big fan. And despite my being a Teenage Fanclub fan since, oh, 1991, I’ve never had a chance to see them play. The time has come.
Each band has a new album to hawk – Teenage Fanclub released “Shadows” back in June, and The Radar Bros. gave us “The Illustrated Garden” in March. Both records are part of what has become an all-around banner year for Merge, and can sit proudly alongside the higher-profile Arcade Fire and Superchunk releases.
To catch tomorrow night’s show for free, send off a quick email to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com (subject: Royale Teenage Radar). Include your city of residence, be sure you’re free on Saturday night, and get it to me by 4pm today. Shortly thereafter, I’ll drop the winner an email, and it’ll be their job to ask (or make) a friend to join them. Piece of pie. Easy as cake.