Something old...

I'm busy this week catching up on concert reviews for Sunset in the Rearview and I'm finally back to my concert going self, seeing no less than four this week. I saw Bell X1 last night (pictured above) and it took me back to the days when I loved just about every song featured on Fox's hit show The O.C.--Bell X1's "Eve, You're The Apple of My Eye" being one of them (they did play it last night). Hearing it again reminded me of other bands from that era of my music obsessions: Doves, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Rogue Wave, Modest Mouse, Kaiser Chiefs, Spoon...you get the idea. One of the songs I listened to obsessively back then was Metric's "Police & The Private". Just to jog your memory and brighten your day, I think you should hear it too.

You can also stream all the O.C. mixes HERE. They really did the music well for this show so don't knock it before you try it. Many of the bands they featured became fairly big indie success stories and are still thriving today. 

Boston Concert Roundup 5/23 - 5/29

Last week I wasn't feeling so great and more than anything I was concert-ed out. As a result I missed some big ones like Tune-Yards, Fleet Foxes, and Lykke Li, but at least my wallet is happier. Now that I haven't seen a concert in 10 days, I feel ready to get back out there. This week provides some good ones and Wednesday is full of tough choices and amazing talent. There'll be some good weekend concerts too in case standing in back yards at memorial day barbeques becomes redundant or too rainy. Specific venue information and links can be found on the Boston links tab.




Monday 5/23
Stay in tonight. Get ready for the week ahead.

Tuesday 5/24 
Chris Thile & Michael Daves @ Brighton Music Hall
Chris Thile & Michael Daves - My Little Tennessee Girl (cover)
Major Lazer @ Middle East downstairs
Allison Weiss @ Middle East Upstairs

Wednesday 5/25 I genuinely want to see each and every one of these bands at some point.
Hey Rosetta! w/ Old Abram Brown@ Great Scott
Hey Rosetta! - Yer Spring
Austra w/ Trust @ Brighton Music Hall
Austra - Lose It
Cloud Cult with Wilderness of Manitoba @ Paradise
Wilderness of Manitoba - Orono Park
Diego Garcia @ Cafe 939
The Booze @ O'Briens Pub
The Booze - Down On Your Luck
Coyote Kolb @ Precinct

Thursday 5/26 
Times New Viking w/ The Babies @ Great Scott
Times New Viking - Fuck Her Tears

Friday 5/27
Friendly Fires w/ Wise Blood @ Paradise
Friendly Fires - Blue Cassette

Saturday 5/28
Stornoway w/ Sea of Bees @ Brighton Music Hall
Stornoway - On the Rocks I saw them a few months ago and this song was amazing live
Sea of Bees - Wizbot
Man Man @ Paradise their live shows are supposed to be a whole other level of insanity
Mean Creek, Hands & Knees, and more @ Great Scott local show full of awesomeness

Sunday 5/29
I got nothing. Enjoy your weekend. Be Safe. Wear seatbelts when applicable.

Best Week of Concerts Ever?

Last week brought a few nights that were stacked with concerts that led to some tough last minute decisions. This week brings the big guns with Fleet Foxes and Lykke Li coming to town along with some other people I'm dying to see live for the first time like Tune-Yards. Luckily, this week it is perfectly spread out over 7 days. There's not a difficult decision in sight unless you count the internal debate of whether or not it's practical to go out every night this week. Considering the line up I think it is. Here's what we have to look forward to this week in Boston.

via The Examiner

Monday 5/16
Tune - Yards with Buke & Gass at Brighton Music Hall
Super buzzed about, P4K best new music, and yeah it's only $10
Tune - Yards - Powa

Tuesday 5/17
Fleet Foxes at The Orpheum
Why would you not go?
Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean

Wednesday 5/18
Diego Garcia at Cafe 939 [show postponed to 5/25]
Diego Garcia - You Were Never There

Thursday 5/19
Great Lakes at O'briens Pub
Great Lakes - Ghost brother
Local show: Movers & Shakers at Plough & Stars

Friday 5/20
Lykke Li with at House of Blues [almost sold out]
  Tonight by LykkeLi

Sunday 5/22 
Junip at Brighton Music Hall
Junip - In Every Direction

May 10th: A Concert Goer's Hell/Heaven

Tuesday, May 10th has been an ominous day looming on my calendar, full of difficult decisions. At this moment, I still don't know for certain which shows I'll pick, it's that arduous of a task. I've known for a few months about some big and exciting concerts that will be in town tomorrow and of course in the last few weeks some smaller and equally as exciting concerts have been added as well. The grand total of places I'd like to be all at once comes to six different concert venues. And just wait until you hear who all is in town. Also Chelsea Handler is in town, but I'd see music over her any day.





Paradise: Sleigh Bells with CSS
If you're in the mood to get your ears blasted to pieces, and feel music, especially bass, in every microscopic cell of your body, this is where you need to be. I'd see CSS just to hear "Music is my hot hot sex" any day.
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
CSS - Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above


Brighton Music Hall: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. with Princeton
It took me a while to get past their name but once I did I realized I'd been missing out big time. I'm seriously considering running back and forth between BMH and Great Scott to burn off the beers I'll be drinking and to maximize the greatness of May 10th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Morning Thought
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Simple Girl

Cafe 939: Cass McCombs with Sleepy Very Sleepy
Cass McCombs. What more could I say? Unfortunately this is not conveniently close to any of the other venues.
Cass McCombs - County Line

Toad: Robert Sarazin Blake with Jefferson Hamer
Blake puts on one of the best concerts I've ever seen with adlibing poetry materializing in front of your eyes. Hamer is a killer guitarist who will play with and after Robert Blake. I saw them three weeks ago, and because this concert is super early I'll be seeing him again. Can. not. wait.
 We Can Roll Down Tonite/ Dublin To Belfast by Robert Sarazin Blake


Great Scott: Tornado Relief benefit with Old Jack, Larcenist, The Wandas
Three talented local bands plus money goes to a good cause plus my favorite Boston music scenesters will be there. What more could a girl want? Highly recommend this show to anyone/everyone.
Old Jack - Chorus Line
Larcenist - Leon


House of Blues: Manchester Orchestra with Cage the Elephant, O'Brother

It's been awhile since I thought about Manchester Orchestra but there was once a time that I listened to them every single day. I miss them. Plus Cage the Elephant is intriguing as well.

 Pensacola-Simple_Math by Manchester Orchestra 

Cage the Elephant - Shake Me Down

As long as the bus doesn't break down while traveling between venues, I think it will be a memorable tuesday evening. I couldn't be more excited. There are some tough decisions to make but it's hard to complain about always having such an overwhelmingly good music scene in Boston, like some old band once said, "It could be heaven or it could be hell". What shows would you choose?

Listen Local the Boston Music Scene

I want to let everyone know that I am working hard on creating a mixtape and writing blog posts that feature local Boston area bands. The culmination of this project will be a mixtape that I will be distributing to other Boston bloggers, as well as to a few bloggers outside of the local scene. The mixtape should be ready in a month, but in the meantime I will be exposing you to some of my favorite local artists as I work on getting this project together.

 My goal  is to help local bands achieve the recognition that they deserve on a local and hopefully national level. Boston is a musically diverse city with all sorts of different shows being played on any given night. The more time I have spent going to concerts, the more I have been impressed and surprised by the talent that is hidden among us here in Boston. Hopefully I can help showcase some of what I have experienced.

Lastly, as this project is a work in progress, (and something I am doing for free and because I love music) if you could help spread the word or if you want to help out, I would really appreciate it. You can reach me via e-mail (jessnewmusicco [at] gmail) or on Twitter.

• If you are a band and would like to be a part of this please e-mail me or find me on twitter. 
• If you have a reccomendation for me about a band let me know
• If you are a designer or artist and want to do the cover art for this, it would be a huge help.
• Anybody else, comments, questions, and feedback are all greatly appreciated.  

Thanks everyone, and I am very excited to be sharing this with all of you.

Dan Mangan - Road Regrets

I have been patiently hoping, since I first came across him in April, that I would be lucky enough to see a Dan Mangan concert without having to make a visit to Canada. Not that I would mind going to Canada, but for a concert that is a little extreme. So often these awesome Canadian bands bounce around that huge northern country for years, building up a loyal fan base, and then when they are ready to tour the U.S. they are too popular for me to afford a ticket or they completely skip over Boston. (I really wish The Arkells, The Zolas, and Good Lovelies came here). But lucky for me, I have secured a ticket for tonight's concert in advance (I never do that) and I will be seeing Dan Mangan who is opening for the Wooden Birds at Great Scott. I know almost nothing about The Wooden Birds except that Matt Pond of Matt Pond PA is a part of the band, which makes tonight like a dream come true.

Play Dan Mangan - The Indie Queens Are Waiting

        In the meantime, you can expect some concert tweeting from me, and you can watch this video which I have been enjoying. And listen to one of my favorites, "The Indie Queens are Waiting" Above. Check out more from Dan Mangan and The Wooden Birds via the links.

Dan Mangan - Road Regrets from Arts & Crafts on Vimeo.

Boston Concerts Updated

Here is a list of Boston concerts that I keep on the sidebar but you might not come across it if you don't scroll down often. I just updated it today. While it is not a complete list of Boston area concerts, it is rather thorough. I did leave out quite a few concerts for space issues, but I think I included a lot of good ones, especially if you are interested in the national acts. There are some really good ones coming. The venues include: Lizard Lounge, All Asia, Middle East (ME) upstairs and downstairs, TT the Bear's Place, House of Blues (HOB), Paradise, Cafe 939, Great Scott, and Harper's Ferry. Take a look at the following list, you may be surprised by who makes it to Boston. If there are any concerts I should add, please let me know. Thanks!

• 5/30 Besnard Lakes @TT the Bears
• 6/1 Blue Rodeo & Cuff the Duke @Harpers Ferry
• 6/1 Stars @Paradise
• 6/3 The National @HOB
• 6/5 Matt Pond PA, Wintersleep @Great Scott
• 6/8 Junip (Jose Gonzalez) @Great Scott
• 6/9 Moon Taxi @TT the Bears
• 6/9 Cowboy Mouth @Paradise
• 6/11 Joe Firstman & Josh Hodge @cafe939
• 6/11 Buffalo Tom & Peggy Sue
• 6/11 Future Islands @?
• 6/12 Plants and Animals @tt thebears
• 6/14 Peter Wolf Crier @Great Scott
• 6/16 Civil Twilight @Paradise
• 6/17 Soda Frog @tt the bears
• 6/18 New Pornographers @HOB
• 6/19 Tift Merritt @Paradise
• 6/20 Born Ruffians @Great Scott
• 6/24 Yacht Club @Harper's Ferry
• 6/25 Modest Mouse @HOB
• 6/27 Yukon Blonde @ME Upstairs
• 6/28 Delta Spirit @ME Downstairs
• 7/01 Ad Frank @Great Scott
• 7/02 Everyday Visuals @ME downstairs
• 7/09 Powder Kegs @All Asia
• 7/12 Delorean, Mystery Roar @GreatScott
• 7/17 Au Revoir Simone @TT the bears
• 7/25 Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes @North Hampton, The Pearl