Jul 01
The Chapin Sisters can harmonize. They can belt it with the best of them (including Zooey Deschanel). The best of their opening set was Let Me Go which crashed over the crowd like a tidal wave. The worst was their set closer, a creepy song Digging a Hole, which transformed them from Cinderella to the evil step-sisters.
Jul 01
That She & Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward respectively) are darlings of the indie circuit is without a doubt. A sold-out all-ages show at the House of Blues Boston and an audience that was down with the duo’s plush, folky arrangements was all the proof necessary.
The first half of the set was rough. Deschanel seemed to have somewhere else to be and rushed through a dozen tracks in nearly as many minutes. They were pitch perfect, sounding just like the album and it was so disconnected, I might as well have been listening to the album. Great studio tracks like Lingering Still and Black Hole came off lacking any sort of warmth. Deschanel channels Peggy Lee like nobody’s business. Waid played his slide guitar with a bottle of Sam Summer, and just about everyone took turns on the keyboard at one point or another. With the Chapin Sisters providing background vocals – and a stellar backing band – it should have been anything but boring.
To be fair, the sound at the show wasn’t great. The backing vocals were hard to hear except when they shouted and given the talents of the Chapin Sisters, they weren’t given much to do anyway. The energy from the stage was lackluster at first and the audience was attentive the way you would be watching television. But it wasn’t until they sent away the band that the remarkable attraction between Deschanel and Waid was apparent. And then sparks flew.
A three-song solo set just She and Him, including a gorgeous duet on Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got a Hold On Me, changed up the energy of the show and proved why people love this band. After that, even with the band back on stage, the entire template for the night shifted. Deschanel seemed to have warmed up, and the audience warmed up to her. Hearing Waid’s unique, muscular vocals was a treat (shame he waited to the last song of the night to take up a lead vocal on a rollickin’ Roll Over Beethoven). They rocked out once or twice too, notably on their singles – a spastic, thumping version of In the Sun and an enthusiastic run through of This is Not a Test. Everything worked better in the second half, including a playful interlude during Sweet Darlin’ where Waid and Deschanel played the same keyboard simultaneously.
The show ended on a proper high. It was a shame they couldn’t capture that energy from the start, but they got there all the same.
She & Him setlist
Black Hole
Thieves
Over It Over Again
Lingering Still
Take It Back
Home
Sentimental Heart
Change Is Hard
I Thought I Saw Your Face Today
Brand New Shoes
You Really Got a Hold on Me
Would You Like to Take a Walk?
Magic Trick
Gonna Get Along Without You Now
In The Sun
Don’t Look Back
This Is Not a Test
Riding In My Car
I Was Made For You
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
Sweet Darlin’
Encore
Fools Rush In
Roll Over Beethoven
Jun 26
I’m a sucker for a good cover band, and ScatterShot was probably one of the better I’ve ever seen. We showed up in time for their second set of the night, complete with a “Sing with the Band” competition (for girls only) and credible takes on Def Lepard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me and Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer. A little Billy Idol, Michael Jackson and Journey found its way into the set. They capped off an hour-long set with The Isley Brothers’ Shout. The crowd was more than happy to oblige.
Jun 26
Cyndi Lauper put together a blues band for her tour and stuck to all but a handful of new songs on the setlist. She was fiery onstage (even with the choice of toxic-red wig) and she was clearly enjoying herself.
The opener Just Your Fool was a good example of why Lauper is a fuckin’ pop star no matter what she’s singing. It was a barn burner. The best tracks from the new album, Memphis Blues, shone onstage when they allowed her to use her vocal range. Down so Low and Don’t Cry No More were the best examples, uplifting anthems as powerful as anything from her past catalog.
The show was divided into an hour long set of songs from her blues album, closing with the non-album track Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (available on digital editions). The second set was a mere five songs deep, but she delivered them with a blues-touch and jammed out for a full forty minutes. Starting with the weepy ballad Who Let in the Rain and then leading into Change of Heart, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and Time After Time, that was it for a run-through of the hits. The songs were fantastic, given a blues treatment and transformed into sing-a-long crowd-pleasing extended jams.
For one last song, she emerged on stage with just her guitarist for a tearful take on True Colors wrapped in a bit of John Lennon’s Power to the People.
Cyndi Lauper setlist
Just Your Fool
Shattered Dreams
Early in the Mornin’
Romance In The Dark
How Blue Can You Get?
Down Don’t Bother Me
Down So Low
Rollin’ and Tumblin’
Wild Woman Don’t Get The Blues
Break
Who Let The Rain In
Change Of Heart
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Time After Time
Don’t Cry No More
Encore
True Colors
Jun 26
David Rhodes, a recording and touring guitarist for Peter Gabriel for the last twenty-five years, played a thirty-minute solo set ahead of Cyndi Lauper at the House of Blues. The music was good, but the overall performance was a little awkward. It came across like Rhodes didn’t have any more of a clue what he was doing opening for Lauper than the crowd did.
Jun 08
On the first night of their 20 Years of Bloodletting Tour, Concrete Blonde was ferocious. Playing at the newly minted Royale Boston (a venue that’s been around forever despite a few name changes), the band, Johnette Napolitano, Jim Mankey and drummer Gabriel Ramirez Quezada, walked casually on stage and then launched into a mind-blowing ninety minute set.
It’s been six years since the band reunited on stage, and the key word this time around was: relaxed. The band seemed comfortable, even suffering opening night snafus like forgetting lyrics on the song True or having to convo to decide which key Run Run Run started in. Napolitano claimed, in jest, that they were old enough that it was hard to remember how to play the songs or to even see the setlist at her feet. The first five songs came off the album Bloodletting released originally in 1990, including a extended version of Bloodletting and the band’s only number one single, Joey.
Hit songs were well represented, covering almost every album including the 1989 hit God is a Bullet and 1992 single Someday? On Mexican Moon, Napolitano put down the bass and just belted the love song with Mankey on an acoustic guitar as accompaniment. For a brief moment, the tone of the performance softened, letting her incomparable vocals shine through and giving her a chance to work the stage with dance. Concrete Blonde even played two of their many divine covers, Everybody Knows (a Leonard Cohen track that was featured on the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack back in the day) and the Jimi Hendrix tune Little Wing.
Easily the best songs of the night where the hardest played, breathtaking renditions of I Don’t Need a Hero and When I Was a Fool that you felt in your brain and in your bones. This was Napolitano at her very best, reaching out through the songs to enthrall every person in the room. Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man and the main set closer Your Haunted Head seared into your brain. Then the band went back to the album that brought them here tonight and closed the show with a soulful encore of Tomorrow, Wendy.
Setlist
Bloodletting
Joey
I Don’t Need a Hero
Days and Days
Lullabye
Scene of a Perfect Crime
Someday?
Everybody Knows
When I Was A Fool
God is a Bullet
Run Run Run
Little Wing
Heal It Up
Mexican Moon
Happy Birthday
True
Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man
The Sky is a Poisonous Garden
Your Haunted Head
Encore
Tomorrow, Wendy
Jun 08
With a deft mix of theatrics and strumming, Jim Bianco warmed up the crowd on the opening night of Concrete Blonde’s 20 Years of Bloodletting tour. Bianco impressively coaxed a lot of sounds out of his guitar and his vocals, whether he was singing about hillbilly weddings or careers changes. In between each song, he added some backstory in a smoothly sarcastic, self-deprecating manner.
He opened with a barn-burner To Hell With the Devil and stuck mostly to tracks from his 2008 album, Sing. He introduced Painkiller as a ballad (term used loosely) and said of Tennessee Wedding, “I don’t perform this in Tennessee.” Each song told a pretty specific story, embellished by Bianco’s natural hammy stage presence. It was engrossing, and he made the best of his 40-minute set, even getting the lighting guy to help set the tone before I Got a Thing for You. The best of the night was the song Elevator Operator (it’s pretty much about what you think it’s about) and Sing.
Apr 15
Concrete Blonde will tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Bloodletting.
Concrete Blonde 20 Years of Bloodletting Tour
Jun 8 Boston, MA Royale Boston Write a review
Jun 10 New York, NY Webster Hall Write a review
Jun 11 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall Write a review
Jun 12 Chicago, IL The Vic Write a review
Jun 15 Washington D.C. 9:30 Club Write a review
Jun 16 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse Write a review
Jun 18 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre Write a review
Jun 19 Austin, TX Emo’s Write a review
Jun 21 Arvada, CO Arvada Center for the Arts Write a review
Jun 22 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot Write a review
Jun 24 Seattle WA Showbox Write a review
Jun 26 San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom-Regency Write a review
Jun 28 Hollywood, CA Henry Fonda Theatre Write a review
Concert information is up to date at time of publication
Apr 09
Chelsea Handler was an unbelievable treat. She was raunchy and loud-mouthed and unapologetic. The biggest surprise of her hour-long set was how far away from her show she took her live act. There wasn’t much in the way of celebrity dish (except a rant of all things against Angelina Jolie). Most of her act was made up of stories about people she met on on her book tour, guys she dated, and her family. She would nail a punchline and then pound it into the ground like a spike, often cracking herself up in the process.
Her delivery of the jokes was something to experience. She would tell a story of rubbing cake on her bedsheets and accusing her boyfriend of shitting the bed. But it’s not just the story but her acting out a scene that makes it work. Her boyfriend reaches into the bed with two fingers, rubs the “shit” and puts it up to his nose and yells at her, “It’s fuckin’ cake.” She apparently thought about breaking up with him a lot. The day she did, he told her, “You’re three weeks sober. You’re not thinking right.”
She also told the audience that she refused to apologize for her act because, in essence, she made fun of everyone. And she certainly ran the gamut of targets during her set. She talked about, then joked about, Asian stereotypes, black stereotypes, stereotypes about guys, gays and Mormons. The centerpiece of her act was dissection of the differences between the bathroom habits of men and women. She was amazing from start to finish.
Apr 09
For a mid-sized venue, Mohegan Sun Arena is actually a nice place to see a show. Even for a comedy show, it wasn’t so totally cavernous that you lost sight of Heather McDonald standing on stage. But it was good thing the large screens were projecting her act because there were nuances of McDonald’s performance that had to be seen to be appreciated.
I wasn’t expecting the bulk of the show to be impersonations, but McDonald’s take on various Housewives (of VH1 reality fame), the Kardashians (sisters and mother) and Drew Barrymore were dead on. She also bagged on Marlee Matlin (and chided us for laughing then panned, “She can’t hear us anyway”).
McDonald was a laugh riot. As crude as she was at times, she made you feel like just one of the girls. The rest of her 30-minute set was dishing on her family life. She deftly used physical comedy to make her point (a lot of faces, a lot of kicking) and she was amazing.
Jan 30
I love a good cover band any day but this wasn’t one.
Totally Inappropriate played two 45-minute sets for the Saturday night bar crowd that got better for those smart enough to keep drinking during the break. Songs like Hey Jealousy, I Don’t Wanna Be were ripped through with abandon – enthusiasm being the only thing this band had going for them.
The bass and drums were too loud, the singer’s voice was drowned out and still terrible (either he couldn’t sing or couldn’t hear himself but the bottom line was painful). Tom Petty got two nods, the Black Crowes and some Red Hot Chili Peppers found themselves on the set.
As a weird sidenote, the lead singer was kind of vulgar with his between song banter. Something about screwing “with your clothes on” and similar such nonsense. Totally inappropriate, indeed. And decidedly unpleasant to boot.
Jan 15
Alternative Rock, Jam Band No Comments
Bluesy rocker band fronted by Celeste Griffin who adds a good deal of authentic vocal grit to an already stellar performance. The set was ethereal and graceful and wholly captivating to anyone in the bar tonight.
Aug 31
Alternative Rock, College Rock 1 Comment
Despite illness canceling one show earlier in the week, the Counting Crows were in fine form during their Boston stop on the Traveling Circus and Medicine Show. Lead singer Adam Duritz started on the festivities with an extended PSA for the non-profits at the venue. Then the full company, the band plus Michael Franti and Spearhead and Augustana, came out for a rousing two-song introduction to the party. The Counting Crows took the stage on their own for the opening set that included a beautiful version of If I Could Give All My Love.
For their two sets, the Counting Crows covered a lot of ground, including a healthy dose of August and Everything After, Omaha, Mr. Jones, and Anna Begins. They brought out a rarity, the Nanci Griffith track Going Back To Georgia (which Duritz sang on and co-wrote), and from the new album When I Dream Of Michelangelo.
This was a fine, fine performance, and the format of the night, each band playing a shorter set intermixed with collaborations, actually worked. There was a seemless transition between sets. Some of the best songs were collaborative efforts, like Why Should You Come When I Call and a cover of Bob Dylan’s Just Like a Woman. The night ended as it began, with the full company on stage, pounding through a rousing version of Paul Simon’s Cecilia and the Crows’ own classic Rain King.
Aug 31
Augustana contrasted pretty sharply with the other bands by being an understated cross between Coldplay and Bob Dylan. Their two sets during the night where fine performances despite being low key pop affairs, giving the crowd a break from the frenetic energy of Michael Franti and Adam Duritz. Their music was mellow-bordering-on-emo, and their stage presence was completely swallowed up by the other bands. It was hard to see how they could carry a show on their own.
Playing the track Boston would have been pandering except it was the highlight of their set.
Aug 31
Reggae, Rock and Roll No Comments
Michael Franti and Spearhead managed a level of energy during their two abbreviated sets that was unmatched by either of the other bands. Playing a mix of rock and reggae, and playing the musician and the master of ceremonies of a wild dance party, Franti was a force of nature on stage. The highlight of the night was a full company run through of their track Hello Bonjour.
For what it’s worth, they seemed to stick to a hits-heavy set, Say Hey (I Love You) and rousing version of Yell Fire!. Probably most everyone in the venue had never heard of Spearhead, but they converted fans tonight by the masses. They were hugely entertaining.
Aug 17
Alternative Rock, Rock and Roll, Singer/Songwriter 1 Comment
Tori Amos gave an exquisite performance, starting with a three-song whammy including a big, big version of Big Wheel. The Sinful Attraction tour rolled into Boston for the last U.S. stop showing no fatigue from the twenty-plus dates that came before. The show began and ended on a euphoric high. The setlist was heavy with American Doll Posse tracks and a big nod to From the Choirgirl Hotel.
There wasn’t much talking, aside from introducing the band, but just a seamless run through some of her best tracks, including a heavenly solo version of Silent All These Years on the Bösendorfer (during the Lizard Lounge segment). The new material was pretty, but simply couldn’t match the depth of her older tracks which was more obvious by her pairing Tear in Your Hand against Welcome to England (the new album’s first single). Of the new material, Flavor, stood on its own the best, bookended by two amazing performances, Space Dog and Hotel respectively.
She picked a lot of songs that really focused on her vocals and keyboards, shunting Matt Chamberlain’s drums and Jon Evan’s guitar parts to the background. Especially songs like The Power Of Orange Knickers and Digital Ghost which climaxed on her performance alone, the backing instruments very much seemed like an afterthought.
The surprise of the night was when Tori came out in her Santa persona (from the ADP album) to pound through throbbing versions of Raspberry Swirl and She’s Your Cocaine and Body and Soul during the encore. Holding a martini glass, Santa flicked her drink on the crowd in the front row. But here’s the thing, the costume change revived the energy of the show in a way I couldn’t have predicted. The collective vigor of the venue, including from Tori herself, took a huge upswing with Santa on stage, matching the power of Big Wheel in a way that nothing in between could hold a candle to.
Tori Amos setlist
Give
Big Wheel
Cornflake Girl
Bells For Her
Space Dog
Flavor
Hotel
Tear In Your Hand
Welcome To England
Jamaica Inn
Silent All These Years
You Know I’ve Gotta Go improv
Cool On Your Island
Lady In Blue
The Power Of Orange Knickers
Talula
Digital Ghost
Precious Things
Strong Black Vine
Encore
Raspberry Swirl
She’s Your Cocaine
Body And Soul
Aug 17
Heard two songs of their opening set for Tori Amos. The music seemed chill but didn’t make an impact. However, a couple people who saw the whole set only had rave things to report. We got a free sampler disc of their music so I will give it a listen.
Aug 05
Alternative Rock, College Rock No Comments
Jason Mraz spent the first few minutes on stage introducing his band, a unique way to get the party started. But it was a rippin’ party, complete with a short set from the back of the venue that gave the crowd back there some lovin’. Mraz is an awesome stage performer, with a beautiful range and a way of transitioning between ballads and long extended jams that feels natural and keeps the audience engaged from start (an introduction by Bushwalla) to finish (a lengthy goodbye to the audience just Mraz on stage by himsefl). There were no hiccups in the almost two hour set, highlighted by a soaring version of Only Human, a singalong of I’m Yours (complete with Bob Marley’s Everything’s Gonna Be Alright).
Marz stripped down to the bare essentials for a short set from the back of the venue, shown on the video screens in black and white for the benefit of the people in the front of the house. Included a spine-tingling version of At Last that segued into Sleep All Day. The band jammed while Mraz made his way back to the mainstage for an encore of Clockwatching (including a hint of the Charlie’s Angels theme song) and The Dynamo Of Volition.
Jason Mraz setlist
Fun, Fun, Fun
The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)
Make It Mine
Who Needs Shelter
If It Kills Me
Live High
Only Human
Unfold
Beautiful Mess
I’m Yours/Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
Butterfly
Back of the Venue
Lucky
Never Too Late
At Last/Sleep All Day
Copchase
Encore
Clockwatching
The Dynamo Of Volition
Aug 05
G. Love & Special Sauce spent the first half of their set as a credible jam band with a prevailing jazz feel. The songs weren’t especially memorable but the performance was surprising tasteful and their musicianship was stellar.
That all flew out the window half way through the set when G. Love introduced the song Booty Call. He asked the audience to vote for the clean version or the dirty version (as if the band was in any way prepared to sing the clean version…) The harmonica overload that led into the song was intriguing. The song was dumb and the chorus was obnoxious. And the rest of the set followed suit.
The next song was so stupid, I am here to offer the partial lyrics to the song: “Bring your own beverage Just make sure it’s cold.” The song is called, you know, Cold Beverage. WTF?!? It’s like G. Love is a 10-year old latch-key kid trapped in a man’s body, writing about stupid shit he does after school while waiting for his parents to come home.
Guess it wouldn’t be a G. Love & Special Sauce concert with Baby’s Got Sauce. Move over, Jimmy Ray, you’ve got competition for the lamest song ever to become a hit. Whatever cred G. Love built in the first 25 minutes was demolished in the second 25.
Jul 31
Alternative Rock, Electronic No Comments
Depeche Mode ripped through an impressive set during their Boston-area stop of the Tour of the Universe. The band, Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher plus two backing musicians, tore through a hits-heavy set drenched in dance grooves. They transformed their songs into club classics and it was a shame that the show wasn’t at a standing-room only venue. Instead, it was at the craptastic Comcast Center in Mansfield 20 miles south of Boston on a rainy, humid day with people crammed into their seats, bouncing along as best they could without whacking a person around them.
The stage was set in a wash of lights with an enormous disco ball mounted above the band that acted as a secondary projection screen. The images though, were more distracting than illuminating, especially in light of the pure sound that turned electronic classics like Policy of Truth and Enjoy the Silence into pulsing techno tracks. Gahan’s voice, which has never been that fluid, held up well. Though granted, he let the audience do the singing on the chorus of a song more than once (kind of a cheap trick, that is, but then he’s always taken some vocal breaks down their shows).
DM opened with three songs from the new album, In Chains, the sinister and superb Wrong and Hole to Feed. From there, they turned over the show to classic and current hits from the exceptional stripped-down version of the Gore-sung Home to one of DM’s best post-Violator tracks It’s No Good and their recent smash Precious. They closed the main set with Never Let Me Down Again and went way back for the encore with Stripped and Master and Servant.
Depeche Mode setlist
In Chains
Wrong
Hole To Feed
Walking In My Shoes
It’s No Good
A Question Of Time
Precious
Fly On The Windscreen
Little Soul
Home
Come Back
Policy Of Truth
In Your Room
I Feel You
Enjoy The Silence
Never Let Me Down Again
Encore
Stripped
Master And Servant
Strangelove
Encore 2
Personal Jesus
Jun 27
Electronic, New Wave No Comments
Burnt Fur’s second show in a month was in the seedy underbelly of the Cantab Lounge, a place optimistically referred to as the Club Bohemia. Burnt Fur nailed an hour long set with their signature mix of electronic beats and industrial edge. The band was brilliant, tackling the jangly new wave track Redux and the sound effects-heavy Pixelated Black with the same aplomb. It took a couple of songs to find their groove, but once it clicked with the track Warm All Day from their first LP release Unfurl , the energy levels shot through the ceiling.
Fronted by Scott Harrison, he managed to channel his inner Siouxsie Sioux even on a minuscule stage at the Cantab. The foursome traded off guitar duties during their set and sole female Jean Kennedy even took a vocal turn on a sublime cover of The Cure rarity The Upstairs Room. Rounded out by Ian St. Germain and Patrik Tirda, the band pays homage to their pop sensibilities on tracks like Radiate. But the real highlight of the evening was the triumphant new track, Reverie, slated for their upcoming EP release later this summer.
Burnt Fur setlist
Strange Vacation
Radiate
Warm All Day
Redux
Reverie
The Upstairs Room
Cats
Homage
Vitriol
Pixelated Black
May 27
A supposedly “joke” band, the Bozos were fronted by a straight shirtless guy. The music was more Top Gun than anything, it sounded good and looked good but it was obvious this wasn’t a real band. They headlined for the Burnt Fur on purpose, I heard.
Entertaining but who was left to care.
May 27
Electronic, Goth, New Wave 1 Comment
Burnt Fur were awesome. Why they were playing at Ramrod, a leather bar, I don’t know (on recommendation of a DJ that works there if the stories are true.) The band found a credible vibe between the Cure (which they credited as an influence) and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The entire set was polished, high energy songs that walked the fine line between punk and new wave. Songs like Warm All Day were at one end of the spectrum while a track like Cats was at the vast other end. But it all worked.
The band traded off instruments and vocal duties and far surpassed expectations in the decidedly un-Ramrod crowd. A cover of The Glove’s Orgy sealed the deal. A magnificent performance.
May 16
The B-52’s continue to put on a dance party despite being on the circuit since 1979. Sticking to a nice mix between their latest set Funplex and their classic material like Love Shack and Rock Lobster, they kept the audience dancing with every transcendent note. Their music translates well in the live setting and even the cavernous hall of the House of Blues couldn’t dull their energy. Fred Schneider introduced Strobe Light as a love song, “of the 7,000 written, this is the one we recorded.” He stumped for Obama before Channel Z “8 years of shit is enough” and generally kept up the wise cracking between songs.
The beginning of the set, Mesopotamia and the new track Ultraviolet, highlighted their vocal harmonies at their best. The night’s best was the rare party mix track Give Me Back My Man, with Cindy Wilson on vocals. Wilson constantly mixed it up with her vocal contributions, and used her sex appeal on stage to full effect. The B-52’s have definitely entered the realm of bands that take breaks in between songs more for their own benefit than for that of the audience, but they kept up the banter and did a good job of keeping their reputation as the preeminent party band intact.
The B-52’s setlist
Pump
Mesopotamia
Ultraviolet
Private Idaho
Give Me Back My Man
Funplex
Strobe Light
Quiche Lorraine
Juliet of the Spirits
Roam
Party Out of Bounds
Love in the Year 3000
Hot Corner
Channel Z
Love Shack
Encore
Planet Claire
Rock Lobster
May 03
Blue October has raised their game to stratospheric levels since they busted into the mainstream with Hate Me, and this show was stellar. Justin Furstenfeld has evolved into an endlessly sexy, entertaining frontman, howling his way through all twelve tracks (in order) from their new release, Approaching Normal. Furstenfeld acknowledged the birth of his daughter as inspiration for a happy song (Jump Rope) but her influence was clear enough on the track Blue Does and perhaps on the band’s overall vibe.
They manage to crank up both the volume and the energy to deafening levels at times, tearing through their recent hit Should Be Loved and the blistering break-up track The End. The crowd head-banged their way through X-Amount of Words and Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek which were the heaviest offerings. A softer side does exist, the ode to his daughter, Blue Does, which made for a better live song than a studio track. As does Congratulations , which is the closest the band comes to balladry.
The second half stuck to mostly tracks from their breakthrough release Foiled, excepting the rare appearance of the gorgeous Libby, I’m Listening which opened the encore and fan (and band) favorite Come in Closer. And stuck in between the two was Hate Me, a song which launched them into the mainstream, and has taken on almost iconic stature among fans.
Blue October setlist
Weight of the World
Say It
Dirt Room
Been Down
My Never
Should Be Loved
Kangaroo Cry
Picking Up the Pieces
Jump Rope
Blue Skies
Blue Does
The End
Congratulations
She’s My Ride Home
Into the Ocean (w/Steve Schiltz)
X-Amount of Words
Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek
You Make Me Smile
Encore
Libby, I’m Listening
Hate Me
Come in Closer
May 03
Longwave has been around for a decade, give or take, and took a supporting slot with Blue October at the House of Blues in Boston. They put on a polished performance which included a rare performance of I Know It’s Coming Someday with Justin Furstenfeld on vocals. They closed out their set with the atmospheric track Life is Wrong with Jeremy Furstenfeld on additional percussion.
May 02
Okay, when you’re slotted into Lecture Hall C in the Science Center at Harvard University, you know the acoustics and performance space are not going to be ideal. The ‘Cliffe Notes, an all female a cappella group, gamely took to “the stage” at the bottom of the auditorium to perform as part of Arts First Weekend at Harvard University. They launched into fairly rote versions of Love Song and Call Me. Despite the a cappella arrangements, there wasn’t anything particularly novel about their interpretations of the pop songs. Isn’t the point of performance to put your own stamp on it?
As if to prove exactly that, it was the last number, a medley of Abba songs, that not only showcased their vocal talents, but also provided a spark in their performance. Finally, the girls looked like they were loosening up and having a fun time and the arrangements were dynamic and creative. They ended on a high note, literally.
The ‘Cliffe Notes setlist
Love Song
Call Me
Son of a Preacher Man
Abba medley
May 02
The Noteables, a performance group focused on musical theater, were helped by neither the venue nor their songs choices during the showcase as part of Arts First Weekend at Harvard University. For starters, the acoustics in Lehman Hall were painfully stifled, half of the performers were mouthing the words but no one in the audience could hear the sound. A percussion performance in another building pounded its way through the room to compete with the piano accompaniment for the entire twenty minutes.
But even that would have been overcome had the performance itself not been pretty weak. Half the troupe seemed ill prepared for the opening number There’s No Business Like Show Business, as if they had never seen the choreography before. The song choices were particularly strange since half of the songs were tasteless, totally inappropriate for the crowd of parents and young kids like the lament from Chicago, Class, which is mostly a string of vulgar observations. Don’t Be the Bunny was enjoyable, if a little out of context. That left their signature song, Corner of the Sky, which at the least showcased the performers at their best as a group. But considering they were trying to pitch their upcoming full-length performance, this montage seemed really ill-considered.
May 02
The Harvard Pops Orchestra, led by conductor Allen Feinstein, performed a classical piece, the limbo and an original composition for the showcase as part of Arts First at Harvard University. Feinstein couched the performance as “how a garden hose can inspire classical music” before launching into a version of Limbo with the garden hose as the limbo stick and members of the orchestra performing the limbo. The final piece featured a soloist using the garden hose as a horn. It sounds indelicate, but the entire performance was polished, surprising and thoroughly enjoyable.
May 02
As part of the Arts First Weekend at Harvard University, the Opportunes put on an enthusiastic a cappella set that featured radio-friendly interpretations of well-known songs. The set started with a Michael Jackson medley that included Smooth Criminal and a wicked version of Man in the Mirror. Various players took turns with solos, and Daniel Oshima handled the beat box (apparently more appropriately titled “vocal percussion”) throughout the set. A gorgeous rendition of Heart of the Matter showed both the creativity and energy that the vocal group put into their arrangements, and their version of Forever even featured some dance choreography. They closed with Change in My Life before running out of time because a mariachi band was waiting in the wings for their turn.
The Harvard Opportunes setlist
Michael Jackson medley
Heart of the Matter
Everybody Knows
Forever
Last Name
Change in My Life
Apr 19
Kings of Leon was so much background noise to the rest of my weekend. They supposedly graduated to arena rock on the strength of their latest album Only by the Night and the radio hit Sex on Fire. It’s a catchy song, and along with their other single Use Somebody, those got the crowd roaring. But in between, there was a lot of generic noise, formless and indistinct dirty guitars and pounding drum beats. The songs relied too heavily on lead singer Caleb Followill’s vocals (who by the way, is unbelievably hot) to the convey the tune and then each song dropped off abruptly, not so much ending but just over as if someone had turned off the radio.
The 5-song encore was more energized and performed with more finesse than any songs that came before it, showing hints of possible future rock star cred. To be fair, the crowd seemed into it. But that’s what a crowd of mostly college students will get you, unbridled enthusiasm in the face of mediocrity. The performance at its best was average. Good for the guys to score a radio hit or two, now they need to work on their showmanship.
Apr 16
Folk, Southern Rock 2 Comments
The Indigo Girls came to Boston for a brisk two-hour set that covered their career of classic tracks and the full breadth of their new album Poseidon and the Bitter Bug. The Indigo Girls have polished their performance to the point that their songs stand as a testament in their own right, even stripped of all the flash of the full band performance like on the heavenly version of The Wood Song. Backed only by Julie Wolf on keyboards, accordion and vocals, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers scorched the stage with their trademark vocals and gospel harmonies. The crowd embraced old and new songs, lending their voices to Power of Two and an enthusiastic rendition of Closer to Fine (one verse of which was given to opener Lucy Roche who couldn’t compete in personality or stage presence with Ray or Saliers). The highlights included a jam on Shame on You that brought the crowd to their feet, and the live debut of the scorching ballad True Romantic to lead off the encore.
Indigo Girls setlist
Love of Our Lives
Sugar Tongue
Fill It Up Again
Dairy Queen
Power of Two
Driver Education
What Are You Like
Reunion
Run
Yield
Get Out the Map
Shame On You
Fleet of Hope
Moment of Forgiveness
Digging for Your Dream
Ghost of the Gang
The Wood Song
Second Time Around
I’ll Change
Land of Canaan
Closer to Fine (w/Lucy Roche)
Encore
True Romantic
Galileo
by Andrew Marx and Dara Shifrer
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