Yonder Mountain String Band - 18 October

Had the pleasure of catching Yonder Mountain String Band last night at the Roxy in Boston. Here's the transcript from a live chat with the self-proclaimed biggest combo YMSB/Red Sox fan.

Kitschdork: You psyched man?
YondahSawx#1@aol.com: Yeah dood!
KD: Should be a good show. Hopefully people show up despite the big game tonight.
YS: Awwww yeah! Check it Check it yo, they got the game on huge screens. Dope!
KD: Oh boy...
YS: Here comes Yondah, bring it on doods!
KD: Time to get down n boogie...
YS: Whoooooooooooooooo!
KD: Yeah this jam is tight.
YS: No no, Yooooooooooooook. Home run baby! Go Sawx! Look at Kaufmann the bass player, he's a huge Sawx fan just like me, he's eatin this shit up.
KD: Funny.
YS: This is like watching the game with Yondah hanging with me on my couch. Oh and they have instruments and their playing my favorite tunes.
KD: You must be in heaven then.
YS: I think I just soiled myself. Go go go go go, YES. Manny just knocked in Papi!
KD: But what about this heady jam?
YS: That's just Yondah bein Yondah.
KD: O...K...
YS: Hey dood, are you air mandoing?
KD: Uh...maybe.
YS: Only Yondah can make bluegrass headbanging music. Love this shit. Show's over, game is in the bag. What a night.

But seriously, show was great, game was a bit distracting for the non fans, but the band was into it commenting on it throughout the night and the playing didn't suffer, so it was all good as they say. If the game went south I would have hated to see what that would do for the mood of the place so you had to be rooting for them regardless of your affiliation or lack thereof.



We also headed over to Boston's newest jazz club, The Beehive, just down the road a ways, to catch the Superpowers, formerly known as Boston Afrobeat Society, the latter name pretty much sums up their sound. Great nightcapper, and it is a great space. Much bigger and open than I thought it would be. Been wanting to check the place out and also to check this band out for a while, so got a nice two birds with one stone deal. Here's a taste.

Apollo Sunshine & Dr. Dog @ Paradise - 3 October

Somehow managed my way out into the dark fall Boston night again last week for some more sweet sweet music. This time to catch the tour opener for what is sure to be an amazing one featuring Dr. Dog and Apollo Sunshine. For this night only Apollo Sunshine would be closing the show. A-OK by me.
I remembered that I saw Dr. Dog once before about 2 years ago opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at TT the Bears. I don't remember too much from that set, so it still felt like my first time seeing them. But I have been listening to them fairly regularly since before then, so I am fairly familiar with their music. Their sound gets the Beatles/Beach Boys references constantly, and not without good reason. The influence is there and it isn't always subtle. But during their set, they reminded me of some other "B" bands, like the Band, Blues Brothers, and yes, even the Beastie Boys. I really thought going into it their set would be pretty low-key and song-oriented. But these guys flat-out impressed the heck out of me live. I can't believe I have not heard more about how good their live show is. The energy, the playing, the full-on band mentality, super tight, super loose, super fun. These guys can bring it, and they did. AWESOME! Check em out.


They were a GREAT warmup for Apollo Sunshine, but it will work great the other way too I am sure. AS was once again joined by Quentin on guitar and some percussion and occasionally by Oli on percussion, same lineup from when I caught them at the Middle East earlier this year. Not sure if they are touring with this band, or if it is just a Boston thing. According to their myspace page though it is their current lineup. I can't decide if this show was any better than their set at the Middle East, but it wasn't any worse. When this Lord action (video proof below) comes at you on the second song in, you know there are going to be some asses kicked.

They sprinkled some new tunes into the mix from their forthcoming album. All sounded awesome and I am definitely looking forward to that release. Quentin sang on most of them so it was tough to tell if they were all new AS tunes or if some were old Mazarin tunes. We'll soon see. They encored with a new one called "Pop a Woody" or something and then a mind-bending Phyllis that had me walking out in pain, joyous pain. I don't know if I should have been surprised, but I couldn't help but be a little surprised when the crowd didn't thin much if at all after the Dr. Dog set. These bands were a much better match together than I imagined. Great great show!

Sea and Cake @ MFA - 30 September

Scored some free tickets from the Phoenix so I unexpectedly went out to see the Sea and Cake at the Remis Auditorium in the Museum of Fine Arts. I had just seen them right before the summer, and now completed my summer sandwich by seeing them right after the summer. I don't know the music well enough to claim this for sure, but it easily could have been the exact same show. That is to say it was awesome, but still, totally unnecessary for me, but free it was free so who's complaining? The biggest difference was the venue, in this case a small auditorium. The sound was a lot better, but the energy was a little less. On a Sunday night though it was a nice setting. Settle back, enjoy the tunes, really concentrate on the music. The bass playing of Eric Claridge stood out for me at this performance, some really fine stuff there that really holds it all together. The crowd, which was again. not a sellout but decently full, was completely rapt, you could hear a pin drop between songs. There were a few uberfans in the crowd who were literally able to have conversations with the band, albeit heckling and slightly annoying ones. And as per always, some vids:

Random thought: If there is ever perchance a Sea and Cake cover band, it should be called Sea is for Cookie. No good?


Meg Baird of Espers opened. She played folky finger-picked floating songs that highlighted her beautifully Baez-esque voice. Coincidence? Set break music was Joan Baez. It was a weird opening choice for the Sea and Cake but enjoyable nonetheless.

Iron and Wine @ Orpheum Theatre - 27 September

Last week was a rough week pour moi, so thankfully I had a ticket in hand for some live music, something I haven't enjoyed since mid-summer, ie way way too long. The music that would fill my ears this evening would be provided by Iron and Wine, touring in support of their, er his, new album The Shepherd's Dog. My week called for more of a head-banging rock yer ass off kind of cure, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Beam's backing band was larger than expected, but expectedly excellent. Piano/keys (with an actual baby grand on stage, though underused), female vocals/percussion/fiddle, drums, percussion, guitar/accordian etc, bass, and pedal steel...a nice full octet that brought a lushness to Beam's already lush songs. The new tunes lend themselves more to a live full band setting, though on this night I really thought the sparser (generally older) material worked better. The show as a whole lacked a little something, a show-stopper yes, but more specifically those live moments that just make your face light up and that stick with you long after. The music was more fleeting here. But consistently it was beautiful and quite enjoyable.
Some videos:

Beam interestingly chooses to play History of Lovers, which was originally recorded with Calexico, as a solo piece. The show was not lacking for rearrangements of the album material. Though in many instances I probably would prefer the album arrangement. Also some major flubs on this one...


The opener was Arthur and Yu. They had a nice sound, somewhat of a retro-pop thing. The album tracks I could find online have some great harmonies between Arthur and Yu, but live this was almost completely lost unfortunately. Her voice was not miced properly, she had almost no projection and her light and airy voice was nearly lost. I will keep my eye on them, I enjoy the recordings I found moreso than the live set I saw, though as they mentioned it was the biggest room they ever played, so they get a pass on that. They're opening for Great Lake Swimmers in Boston tomorrow night at the Middle East Upstairs so if you're headed to that they are definitely worth getting there a little early for.



Speaking of the room, a word on the venue. The Orpheum Theatre. What a shithole. But it shouldn't be. It's the old classic theater venue that every city seems to have. But it is neglected and is in serious need of an overhaul. The tickets are generally overpriced, but they put no money back into the venue. And were so cheap as to not turn on the air at all during the show making for one hot and sticky evening, and this show was not sold out and no one was dancing. So no blame to excessive body heat on that one. The seats are old and dingy but for some reason you can't bring your overpriced beer to enjoy at your seat. This place makes no sense. The sound left a lot to be desired as well. I don't know how much would be to blame on the venue for this one, but there was an audible hiss throughout the show that made it feel like I was listening to a 4th gen cassette recording of the show. They had a history of the theater slide show running in between sets that listed Jerry Garcia as a recent performer. As recently as when? Morons...