Mike Scott in Boston and The Sad play Boston

I just wanted to throw down some thoughts on teh past week in review.

First I must say how great it is to be lsitening to a couple of new tracks from The Twilght Sad from their Tour EP. Looking at our concert database and our convert photos it become clear its been 5 anbd a half years since we first fell in love


The amazing thing is that during this time the boys have never put out music that was less than amazing and never been less than humble hard working and at times so so self detructive. They should be pushing this tour EP at every turn but yet they keep quiet and trust that people will find their treasures when the music business of today and the oblivious self centredness we see at gigs necessitate pushing people in the right direction. All I can say The Sad should be bigger than Radiohead and I feel so shocked that such talent can be ignored.

We started on Sunday ghoing to see Mike Scott at the Brighton Music Hall, I found Mike when A Girl called Johnny first came out. The concert was half a reading of Mike's autobiography half an acoustic set. To me the self importance and arrogance of Mike Scott puts me off music which could be enjoyable. Steve wickham on the other hand was funny and extremely talented. A good night but not supreme.



Then we have Tuesday, we got to ctach up before hand and also lucky enough to catch a heart wrenchingly beautiful rendition of Nil. Lets face it I am no sap but this version had me totally engrossed and emotionally ravaged.

Errors put on a good show to get the night going before The Sad came on.

Why people have not embraced the new album I have no idea, I loved hearing Alphabet live, Nile was great though not as wonderful as in soundcheck then from Forget The Night Ahead The Sad did a version of At The Burnside which started as a slow burn and layered on powerful guitar and drums to provide a depth around James's wonderful vocal. As I listened I knew I had to thank the sound guy who had managed to keep everything necessary to sow the power and awesomeness that this band can exude when everything falls in place.
How can people not see how seminal and important this band is? I love Alt-J and love the fact they got the Mercury but if The Sad had been nominated (Bad Fat Cat who rarely support the guys the way they should) I really think I would have preferred these boys to win the Mercury an every other award. I say kill Taylor Swift and replace her album in every household with The Sad's music and enrich everyone's aural pleasure.

The twilight sad play Boston tonight

I am sitting listening to the twilight sad sound check and wondering at how great they sound.This will be our 17th time seeing them and it never gets old. Emotional powerful violent and beautiful if you don't love this band you have no emotional iq.
I have elaborated about this band so many times but I want everyone to come see them and give these guys money but if you could just not be around us singing out loud like a spaz because at that point you are detritus.
I also hear there may be two tour eps left so grab them while you can and buy merchant and the guys a drink or four.

Great Bands that played Boston - part 2

To resume (well work occasionally intercedes)

On Saturday Patrick Wolf came to Boston to play the Royale as part of his 10 year Acoustic Tour.Patrick is extremely talented and since leaving home at 16 has been extremely prolific writing many albums all of which refuse to dumb down his emotions or use instruments most people would not correlate with pop music (harp, ukelele viola). The beauty and honesty of these albums may put off some peopel but not his 'Wolf pack'. To be honest I love so many bands I am not fanatical about PW BUT when he comes to play Live and I listen to his music it always astounds me to remember just how good and out there it is.
Taking the tie to revisit his songs and strip them down uncovered beauty and honesty.
The setlist can be seen here and I am not sure what I loved more the beautiful performances or the wonderfully intimate monologues he introduced the songs with.
The lighting was not kind to my camera's ability to catch video but I think the sound quality survived.










after the show we rushed off and saw Dry The River at Brighton Music Hall. The Audience loved the show but maybe I had been spoilt as I felt the band was pushing too hard and the efforts were cliche and overblown, it was fun but it was a poor second to the start of the night.

Sunday was the return of Blood Red Shoes to Boston after way too long.
It is hard to believe that this duo can produce so much power and volume. The Third album In Time to Voices is another example of being brim full of punchy well composed inie perfection well if you love power drums and guitars as I do.

The set was full of old favorites interspersed with great songs from the new album. The vocal was a little low which talking to Steven he did agree that their sound engineer had a heck of a struggle with the acoustics of TT's which seem to sometimes causing issues. Despite that Stephen and Laura put on a strong show. The good news is the duo have a visa for the next year and seem pretty keen on visiting again during that time which would make me very happy.

Great Bands that played Boston- part 1

Wow, I feel so lucky to have seen some of the shows I have in the past four weeks. As noted before Maximo park and Jesus and Mary Chain lived up to my hopes.

Alt-J on the 17th at Great Scott proved no exception. The album has proven to be so different that people are stabbing in the dark for comparisons. Myself I thought of Wild Beasts and Forward Russia! and during their show added These New Puritans. Why? because they dare to go places that others do not, ignore nastiness about the vocal style standing out and use layering and silence to create a building complexity that rewards.
The alt-J show was just a great day from the starting point of non existent traffic going to the show, to the sunny break allowing sitting outside drinking an excellent beer pre-show right through to the final discussions with the band late that night it was perfect.
We managed to sit through the soundcheck which let us know that the sound on the record was reproducable live which allows us to have heard at leats a couple of songs live twice - priceless.
The show was pretty crowded, I guess buzz brings out people including fools who refuse to shut up especially during the support band who were pretty good. Alt-J played through the album and a suprising amount of people knew lyrics and sang along. It is hard to choose favorite moments though of course Tesselate was transcendal and Matilda was beautiful.
The sound was great and it really hit home just how many great songs are on the album.
Side note the band are very down to earth guys who have no arrogance or airs and who love to talk to fans such a great thing to see.



Handmade is the hidden track from the album

September Excess

It was a feast of excess musically this week.
Maximo Park played The middle East Downstairs on Monday night, at the start of the night it seemed horribly quiet but by the time we had suffered through the two abysmal support bands thankfully the place had filled out.
Maximo Park have never been a band that were the most popular but have steady stream of support and have continued to create really great music which if you look at the lyrics can really suprise you as Paul Smith uses terms that are pretty erudite and are way beyond the normal garbage espoused by pop bands such as The Vaccines.Then there is also the fact that Smith is pretty acrobatic out there doing scissor kicks and jumps and generally keeps the audience in the palm of his hand.
On Monday they gave us a 21 song set, listed here .
Full of brilliant pop songs with hooks that kept people going crazy and having a really good time the band showed why they are so important.
Girls who Play guitars, Limassol, Apply some Pressure, books from boxes adn the kids re sick again show that they consistently create strong powerful songs which have the power to make you smile, want to move and raise your spirits. Lets hope its not another five years before they come back.
Talking about long time since a band has played, the Jesus And Mary Chain played The Paradise Tuesday and Wednesday, again pretty low attendance, what the heck is with Boston not knowing when a good thing is happening?
When the show started the band looked so old unassuming and I did wonder if this was going to be less than brilliant. It is probably the brilliance of the original songs but hearing songs like Sidewalking, Some Candy Talking , Just like honey and Reverence. However when they played 'Never Understand' it was transcendental and made e remember exactly why I hold these grumpy temperamental freaks to my heart with awe and wonder. and yes it felt just as wonderful the second night and of course Jim Reid had to throw the odd hissy just to prove he existed.
Such Wonder!
On a different note , Alt-J, a band from Leeds play Boston Monday the 17th.
Alt-J play music that really has quite a different structure to most current songs and the vocals have a almost falsetto note. As always Leeds provides music that goes where others do not helping the landscape keep fresh I am looking forward to this concert very much.

Upcoming concerts

yeah I know this assumes someone else reads this but..............
upcoming in Boston despite the fact that so many bands are tending to avoid Boston

arriving at The Lily Pad Samantha Crain on February 3rd. Looking like someone in the crowd rather than a pop star but with an amazing voice and personable stage presence that has gathered fans like First Aid Kit this gig is worth your time


go see Cate Le bon TT's on February 8th, charming, talented and worth a night out.

We totally fell in love with Slow Club at SXSW 2009, at long last they are playing Boston at TT's. Great on record they produce a knockout show. A duo if Charles and Rebecca they gel like superglue. Rebecca has been known to drink a little and it seems every guy on the UK indie scene has a little crush on her. SXSW 2010 when they closed out the Saturday night Rebecca was wrecked but put on an awesome show, made me laugh and be in awe all at once.


if you have time and know the uk series Come Dine with me watch this and laugh like crazy



At long last The Twilight Sad are about to release their third album - yes the first release was not an album. If you aren't insane like us and joining them in DC they arrive at Brighton music Hall February 26th. The more I listen the more I love this music basically folk music (which you can tell if you see James and Andy do an acoustic set) it is presented as a wall of sound that astounds you.
Their bass player left and Dok joined on keyboard and Johnny from Take A Worm For A Walk both of who are now integral parts of the band.

Just before SXSW Bombay Bicycle Club come back over to the US they play the Middle East Downstairs on March 9th. stunning band - so young you can barely believe that they have three amazing albums and many EPS under their belt. such talent so young. If you ever want to figure how music talent spiders through a family look up Jamie MacColl - yes THAT MacColl.
listen below and if this song isnt about early morning sex then my mind is just too much in the gutter.


Also coming so look them up Dry the River and We Are Augustines

Gigs 2011

saw a few bands............
1/13/2011 Bear Hands Great Scott
1/19/2011 Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin The Paradise
1/19/2011 Two Door Cinema Club The Paradise
1/19/2011 Tokyo Police Club The Paradise
2/4/2011 No Joy The Paradise
2/4/2011 Wavves The Paradise
2/4/2011 Best Coast The Paradise
2/10/2011 Gold Motel Brighton Music Hall
2/10/2011 Now, Now Brighton Music Hall
2/10/2011 You, Me and everyone We know Brighton Music Hall
2/24/2011 broken Records Brighton Music Hall
2/24/2011 Us Royalty Brighton Music Hall
2/28/2011 Porcelain Raft Great Scott
2/28/2011 Tennis Great Scott
2/28/2011 Holiday Shores Great Scott
3/3/2011 Deer Tick The Paradise
3/3/2011 MIddle Brother The Paradise
3/3/2011 Dawes The Paradise
3/6/2011 Esben and The Witch Brighton Music Hall
3/6/2011 Wise Blood Brighton Music Hall
3/6/2011 Jaggery Brighton Music Hall
3/8/2011 Telekinesis TT The Bears
3/8/2011 The Love Language TT The Bears
3/8/2011 Slow dim TT The Bears
3/12/2011 Kid Canaveral Bruar Falls
3/12/2011 Strega Bruar Falls
3/12/2011 Rachel Sermanni Bruar Falls
3/13/2011 Bombay Bicycle Club Knitting Facctory
3/13/2011 Jonquil Knitting Facctory
3/15/2011 The Boxer Rebellion Latitude 30
3/15/2011 Jonquil Austin trade show next stage
3/15/2011 Jonquil Latitude 30
3/15/2011 The Boxer Rebellion Austin trade show next stage
3/15/2011 Bright Light Bright Light Latitude 30
3/15/2011 Pulled Apart By Horses Latitude 30
3/16/2011 withered hand Maggie Mae's
3/16/2011 the twilight sad Maggie Mae's
3/16/2011 admiral fallow Maggie Mae's
3/16/2011 o emperor Barbarella
3/16/2011 kid canaveral Maggie Mae's
3/16/2011 Bombay bicycle club Latitude 30
3/16/2011 jamie woon Latitude 30
3/16/2011 dry the river Latitude 30
3/16/2011 yuck Club De ville
3/16/2011 alessi's ark French Legation Museum
3/16/2011 bobby French Legation Museum
3/16/2011 lanterns on the lake French Legation Museum
3/16/2011 the vaccines church
3/16/2011 withered hand emos annex
3/16/2011 dry the river Red Eyed Fly
3/17/2011 ham sandwich friends
3/17/2011 Bombay Bicycle Club Klub Krucial
3/17/2011 antonio lulic Latitude 30
3/17/2011 Boy & Bear Klub Krucial
3/17/2011 ellie goulding Klub Krucial
3/17/2011 funeral suits friends
3/17/2011 edwyn collins French Legation Museum
3/17/2011 eliza doolittle pure volume house
3/17/2011 neon hitch pure volume house
3/17/2011 yuck flamingo cantina
3/17/2011 erland and the carnival convention centre
3/17/2011 Jonquil emos annex
3/17/2011 the features Latitude 30
3/17/2011 bear driver The Palm Door
3/18/2011 King Kreosote Latitude 30
3/18/2011 esben & the witch Latitude 32
3/18/2011 chad valley Latitude 31
3/18/2011 little comets Latitude 30
3/18/2011 we are animal 512 rooftop
3/18/2011 the people's temple bd rileys
3/18/2011 Jonquil Latitude 30
3/18/2011 babeshadow 512 rooftop
3/18/2011 Gold Motel Maggie Mae's
3/18/2011 Bombay Bicycle Club Latitude 33
3/18/2011 Funeral Suits bd rileys
3/18/2011 Esben & The Witch windish agency
3/18/2011 Veronica Falls valhalla
3/18/2011 Popup Latitude 30
3/18/2011 Rachel Sermanni Latitude 30
3/18/2011 the Lost Brothers bd rileys
3/19/2011 Mystery Jets Klub Krucial
3/19/2011 Clock Opera Latitude 30
3/19/2011 Time New Viking Latitude 30
3/19/2011 The TumbleDryer Babies The Velvetta Room
3/19/2011 The Twilight Sad Annie West
3/19/2011 A Silent Film Rusty Spurs
3/19/2011 Grouplove Klub Krucial
3/19/2011 Brother Klub Krucial
3/19/2011 Wolf Gang Klub Krucial
3/19/2011 Little Comets Latitude 30
3/19/2011 David Thomas Broughton Latitude 30
3/19/2011 Pulled apart By Horses Latitude 30
3/19/2011 Viva City Latitude 30
3/19/2011 Dinosaur Pile-Up Latitude 30
3/20/2011 Popup Arts Center
3/22/2011 Admiral Fallow Lizard Lounge
3/22/2011 Laura Cortese & Billy Beard Lizard Lounge
3/23/2011 Ellie Goulding The Paradise
3/23/2011 The Knocks The Paradise
3/24/2011 Richard Ashcrofy Villa Victoria Center for the Arts
3/24/2011 Faces On Film Villa Victoria Center for the Arts
3/25/2011 A Silent Film Brighton Music Hall
3/25/2011 Civil Twilight Brighton Music Hall
3/25/2011 The Razzle Brighton Music Hall
3/29/2011 Mona Brighton Music Hall
3/29/2011 The Joy Formidable Brighton Music Hall
3/29/2011 The Lonely Forest Brighton Music Hall
4/2/2011 PS I love you TT the bears
4/3/2011 Young Adults Great Scott
4/3/2011 Protokoll Great Scott
4/3/2011 New shakes Great Scott
4/3/2011 andy maher candy bar Great Scott
4/7/2011 Foster The People Brighton Music Hall
4/7/2011 Grouplove Brighton Music Hall
4/7/2011 Royal Bangs Brighton Music Hall
4/11/2011 Marc Pinansky TT the bears
4/11/2011 Liam Fimm TT the bears
4/11/2011 The Luyas TT the bears
4/12/2011 The Boxer Rebellion Brighton Music Hall
4/12/2011 We are Augustines Brighton Music Hall
4/27/2011 Beach Fossils Great Scott
4/27/2011 Craft Spells Great Scott
4/27/2011 Andre Obin Great Scott
4/28/2011 tame Impala The Paradise
4/28/2011 yuck The Paradise
4/28/2011 Yawn The Paradise
5/2/2011 Foals The Paradise
5/2/2011 Freelance Whales The Paradise
5/17/2011 Asobi Sekso The Paradise
5/17/2011 White Lies The Paradise
5/17/2011 Sun Airway The Paradise
5/25/2011 Old Abram Brown Great Scott
5/25/2011 Hey Rosetta! Great Scott
5/26/2011 Glasvegas Brighton Music Hall
5/27/2011 Wise Blood The Paradise
5/27/2011 Friendly Fires The Paradise
5/28/2011 Sea of Bees Brighton Music Hall
5/28/2011 Stornoway Brighton Music Hall
5/30/2011 The Wombats Hurricane O'Reilly's
5/31/2011 The Wombats Bowery Ballroom
6/7/2011 Alessi's Ark Brighton Music Hall
6/14/2011 Gruff Rhys Brighton Music Hall
6/14/2011 Walter Sickert Brighton Music Hall
6/14/2011 Y Niwi Brighton Music Hall
6/15/2011 Grouplove Great Scott
6/15/2011 Walk The Moon Great Scott
6/20/2011 Art Brut Brighton Music Hall
6/20/2011 Reptar Brighton Music Hall
6/24/2011 The Static Jacks Brighton Music Hall
6/24/2011 Mazes Brighton Music Hall
6/25/2011 Lauren Shera Great Scott
6/25/2011 Matthew And The Atlas Great Scott
6/25/2011 Aunt Martha Great Scott
7/13/2011 King Creosote Brighton Music Hall
7/13/2011 Jon Hopkins Brighton Music Hall
7/17/2011 Mona Brighton Music Hall
7/17/2011 RIBS Brighton Music Hall
7/21/2011 Mystery Roar Brighton Music Hall
7/21/2011 Lost Boy? Brighton Music Hall
7/21/2011 Twin Sister Brighton Music Hall
7/28/2011 Brother Hurricane O'Reilly's
7/28/2011 The Kooks Hurricane O'Reilly's
8/26/2011 Doug Paisley The Dance Hall
8/26/2011 We Are Augustines The Dance Hall
9/7/2011 1,2,3 Music Hall of williamsburg
9/7/2011 Bombay Bicycle Club Music Hall of williamsburg
9/8/2011 The Lonely Forest Royale
9/8/2011 Bombay Bicycle Club Royale
9/8/2011 Two Door Cinema Club Royale
9/10/2011 James Vincent McMorrow Brighton Music Hall
9/10/2011 Marissa Nadler Brighton Music Hall
9/13/2011 Grouplove Brighton Music Hall
9/13/2011 Young man Brighton Music Hall
9/20/2011 Beige Brighton Music Hall
9/20/2011 Cymbals Eat Guitars Brighton Music Hall
9/20/2011 Hooray For Earth Brighton Music Hall
9/22/2011 Yuck TT the Bears
9/22/2011 Mean Creek TT the Bears
9/22/2011 Jim Ward TT the Bears
9/25/2011 Alessi's Ark Brighton Music Hall
9/25/2011 Laura Marling Brighton Music Hall
9/27/2011 Bobby The Paradise
9/27/2011 The Static Jacks Brighton Music Hall
9/27/2011 Wild Beasts The Paradise
9/29/2011 The Drums Brighton Music Hall
9/29/2011 Veronica Falls Brighton Music Hall
10/1/2011 The Joy Formidable The Landsdowne Pub
10/3/2011 James Blake The Paradise
10/3/2011 Chairlift The Paradise
10/12/2011 A Flock Of Seagulls Tupelo Music Hall
10/13/2011 The Indelicates Cantab Lounge
10/14/2011 The Indelicates The Speakeasy
10/19/2011 Royal Baths The Paradise
10/19/2011 Crocodiles The Paradise
10/19/2011 Dum Dum Girls The Paradise
10/20/2011 The Wombats Museum Of Fine Arts
10/20/2011 The Damned Middle East Downstairs
10/20/2011 Th' Legendary Shack Shakers Middle East Downstairs
10/22/2011 The Wombats Johnny Brendas
10/22/2011 The Postelles Johnny Brendas
10/22/2011 The Static Jacks Johnny Brendas
10/22/2011 Emmy The Great Spike Hall
10/27/2011 Friendly Fires The Paradise
10/28/2011 We Were Promised Jetpacks The Paradise
10/28/2011 Bear Hands The Paradise
11/2/2011 Into It, Over It Middle East Downstairs
11/2/2011 Andrew Jackson Jihad Middle East Downstairs
11/2/2011 Frank Turner Middle East Downstairs
11/5/2011 Nikki Lane The Paradise
11/5/2011 Noah and The Whale The Paradise
11/7/2011 Caitlin Canty Club Passim
11/7/2011 Alessi's Ark Club Passim
11/22/2011 The Chameleons TT the Bears
11/22/2011 Curtain Society TT the Bears
11/30/2011 Ivan & Alyosha Great Scott
11/30/2011 Hey Rosetta! Great Scott