Category Archives: music

More Excellent Concert Announcements!

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The good show announcements never end!

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at Bull Run Restaurant – Friday, January 24

Bettye LaVette at Johnny D’s – Tuesday, February 4

Girls Guns and Glory/Sarah Borges at The Sinclair – Friday, February 7

Lake Street Dive at Narrows Center for the Arts – Saturday, February 8

Lake Street Dive at The Sinclair – Friday, February 21

St. Vincent at House of Blues – Thursday, February 27

Habib Koite at Paradise Rock Club – Friday, March 7

Barrence Whitfield at Johnny D’s – Friday, March 14

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (supporting Typhoon) at The Sinclair – Saturday, March 22

Tinariwen at Paradise Rock Club – Tuesday, March 25

Mike Gordon at House of Blues – Friday, March 28

Carolina Chocolate Drops at Somerville Theatre – Saturday, March 29

Johnny Clegg at Somerville Theatre – Friday, April 4

Hurray for the Riff Raff at The Sinclair – Saturday, April 5

Roomful of Blues at Bull Run Restaurant – Saturday, October 4

The Music of Muscle Shoals, Alabama Socked it to Me!

Amy Black, a Boston-based singer-songwriter who I’ve seen perform several times, assembled a number of other Boston-based musicians for an evening called “Sock It To Me”, a celebration of the musical heritage of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at Atwood’s Tavern.

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I knew about Muscle Shoals, but didn’t realize how many amazing musicians had recorded there.  Read the rest of this entry

Joseph Arthur, Musician and Painter! Who Knew!?!?!?

A week before the show, my concert buddy sent me links to a few Joseph Arthur songs, asking me if I knew of him. A friend of his had recently seen Joe and recommended him to us. There was an upcoming show at Great Scott so we got tickets.

Joseph Arthur

Joseph Arthur

What a unexpected pleasure!  Read the rest of this entry

Bombino is Da Bomb!!!

Seeing Bombino perform Sunday night at The Sinclair was an amazing way to end the long Thanksgivukkah weekend!

Bombino

Bombino

This was not the first time I’d seen Bombino. Early last year, I saw him at Johnny D’s which was a fabulous venue for him, and last summer I caught a few numbers from his set at Newport Folk Festival. He just gets better and better, and I sense he’s becoming more comfortable in his role as an international ambassador of desert blues music. I will see him any time he’s in the area!

 

IMG_1723 Read the rest of this entry

Concert Announcements This Week

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Happy post-Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!

Because of the holiday, this was a slow week for concert announcements. For your future listening pleasure, here are some of them:

Sue Foley at Johnny D’s – Friday, December 27

The Low Anthem (with the Felice Brothers) at Brighton Music Hall – Tuesday, December 31

Greensky Bluegrass at The Paradise – Friday, January 24

B.B. King at Lynn Auditorium – Saturday, April 13

Blind Boys of Alabama in Antrim, NH – Thursday, May 22

 

Great Big Sea Rocked My Weekend!

Admittedly, Great Big Sea is one of my favorite bands to see live. They are all excellent musicians who know how to engage their audiences with their wide-ranging songs – from ballads to sea shanties to folk to rock, they do it all!

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This review combines two shows at very different venues, the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, New Hampshire, and The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts.  The former is a 1,300-seat venue and the latter seats 280. Read the rest of this entry

Elvis (Costello) was in the Building!

And the audience was very glad he was!

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello is touring this fall, not in support of his current album with The Roots, but solo acoustic. I had seen Elvis only once, opening for Bob Dylan, and loved his short set, so I was excited to see him do a headlining show.

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The Lone Bellow Delivers Their Trademark High-Energy Show

[Apologies up front – my photos of this show were not as good as the ones I took at a previous show, so I’ve shared some of those shots here.]

I was introduced to The Lone Bellow at the Newport Folk Festival this past summer, where they performed my favorite set of the three-day festival. Going to the show at The Dise (Paradise Rock Club, to us locals) on Wednesday night, I had fairly high expectations.

The Lone Bellow at Newport Folk Festival 2013

The Lone Bellow at Newport Folk Festival 2013

There was tremendous energy and anticipation in the sold-out crowd. I was prepared for an intense performance, and that’s exactly what I got! Read the rest of this entry

New Concerts Announced!

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Peter Karp and Sue Foley at Johnny D’s – Friday, December 27

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Narrows Center for the Arts – Tuesday, January 14

Carrie Rodriguez at Johnny D’s – Sunday, January 19

Jonathan Wilson at Brighton Music Hall – Tuesday, February 11

Noam Pikelny and Friends at The Sinclair – Wednesday, February 19

Bob Weir and Ratdog at House of Blues – Monday, February 24 and Tuesday, February 25

North Mississippi Allstars at Paradise – Saturday, March 8

Ronnie Earl at Narrows Center for the Arts – Friday, April 4

The Milk Carton Kids at Brighton Music Hall – Wednesday, April 30

Haim at House of Blues – Tuesday, May 13

Garland Jeffreys Band at Narrows Center for the Arts – Friday, May 16

Tanglewood 2014 Season announced

 

 

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Going Very Strong After 51+ Years

Wow, Preservation Hall Jazz Band gave us an incredible show at The Sinclair on Tuesday night! This show, presented by Grain Audio, was the fourth time I’ve seen the band in the past two years and it was quite possibly the best I’ve seen them.

Charlie Gabriel

Charlie Gabriel

Yes, I saw the band’s 50th anniversary show in January 2012 at Carnegie Hall in New York from sixth row center and it was amazing, but there was something about the energy in Tuesday night’s audience that made the band soar even higher than they normally do.

 

Ben Jaffe - more cowbell, please

Ben Jaffe – more cowbell, please

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