Results tagged “House of Blues”

We don't normally gush over the weather, but since Saturday's debacle it's actually been reasonably nice in town. At 8:30 tonight, the sun may have set but the Sunny will just be beginning, as the stars of the highly uncouth comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia bring their musical The Nightman Cometh to Boston's House of Blues. This is the first night of a multi-city tour that hits NYC and Philly Wednesday and Thursday, then goes west to Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles next week.

    

Providence rockers Deer Tick opened for Jenny Lewis at the House of Blues last week, capturing the crowd’s attention from the start by testing their mics with “Happy Birthday” and the “Dan Man” song from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They band aired well with Lewis’ act, capturing an intensity and rawness that set the tone perfectly for sometime Rilo Kiley frontwoman Lewis.

                 

Dan Deacon and the Wham City crew compose the most irresistible arts community in America, consistently producing great music and art and promoting it in new and challenging ways. So it pains Bostonist to no end when he discovered the answer to the following equation last night: Experiment + ICA = Epic Fail

          

"Our songs are all autobiographical," quipped Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz during a short break in the band's set Friday night at House of Blues. Hütz may have been referring to his lyrics - punk poetry preaching to the immigrant experience - but the group's unique sound is more fitting than anything else. From Hütz's singing style rife with Eastern European accentuations right down to the band's caustic mix of gypsy folk-meets-anthemic punk, Gogol Bordello are representative of many an emigration tale most Americans grow up learning. The fusion of old world Europe and new world US of A is more distinct and striking in Gogol than any other "punk-meets-(insert "old world" cultural musical tradition here)" on the market today. Considering celebratory, all-out dancing goes hand-in-hand with Ukrainian and Balkan-based folk, it's no wonder Gogol Bordello's live set tended to veer a bit away from the stylistically conservative three-chord punk of the group's peers and create an engaging and exuberant set.

            

This Bostonist can still recall a time, years ago, when he grabbed a couple of tickets to a taping of the Last Call with Carson Daly (don't judge) just to see TV On The Radio. The two-song set by the fiery and still-blooming Brooklyn quintet was forever burned into Bostonist's memory and made the embarrassment of having to watch Daly blather on for half an hour more than worth it. Since that day in April 2004, this Bostonist saw nothing but a bright future for TV On The Radio; while he pushed songs from Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes onto his friends for a solid year, hoping that one day the band would get its proper due. Thankfully, that day came, and those at the House of Blues last evening were all a part of it.

We hope you'll forgive us the crazy analogy, but we sort of felt that Animal Collective's show at the House of Blues on Thursday night was a metaphor for evolution. From the primordial ooze of muddled bass to animalistic screeching vocals to, finally, electro-finessed melodies, AC created an evening that reflected our own development over time—good aspects and bad.

Animal Collective, every hipster's favorite eclectic collective of animals (well, one animal; several other things) and freak-folk noise, will play at the House of Blues tonight, in a sign that they have completely sold out. However, our devotion to "The Purple Bottle" will motivate us to stand in line for hours with other Panda and Grouper (the opener, not a collective member) in hopes of someday hearing the band. Maybe we'll get in next week? Assuming we're able to access the "noise pop" (as opposed to silence pop, of course) show, we'll have a review tomorrow.

Someone you know and love loves Travis. It could be your neighbor, your colleague, even a sibling. Odds are good you would never know unless you happened to be at the House of Blues to see the Scottish band close out its latest tour on Sunday night.

              

Fortunately for concertgoers, lines for the Mates of State and (the "ho-hum") Black Kids show at the recently-reopened House of Blues moved quickly last night. Inside the venue, murals of rock legends and vintage concert posters decorated the walls, while religious symbols like the Hand of Fatima, Mary, Buddha, and the Star of David, created a crown over the stage, perhaps to tell us that what we were about to see would give us something new to believe in. The venue is spacious, and granted even vertically-challenged fans a good view from most spots. The only drawback to the digs was the absence of a merchandise table; however, the club store was open through the end of the show.

-- Kudos to "Curt in the car with a bloody sock" for bypassing the tearful press conference and blogging his retirement announcement. [38 Pitches]

The line “All the girls of note are crying” from opener “Feel the Love” might be our favorite first line of all time, and the washing synths and pounding dance beats are exuberant in that raise-your-hands-to-the-sky-and-rejoice kind of way. Cut Copy write dance-floor epics that draw influence across the past thirty years of dance-rock. Just check the ascending synth freak-out on “Lights and Music,” the retro, early-nineties hip-hop “oh yeahs” in “Hearts on Fire,” or their general, unabashed reverence for everything pop. So danceable, so happy. If there were ever a concert to oh-so-romantically fall in love across a dance-floor at, it’s definitely Cut Copy, during “Hearts on Fire.” At least, that’s our plan.

Ah, Lansdowne Street. The roar of rowdy bros, the click-clack of skank heels, the grate of Boston accents, the smell of stale vomit, the refrains of "OMG why didn't I wear my coat?" from girls in skimpy tops and short skirts. It's exactly the kind of place you'd expect to hear some authentic blues music. Or... not?

          

We knew the Blues would be back one of these days. The House of Blues' flagship venue in Harvard Square closed back in aught 3, and the HoB brass have been promising a return to the Boston area ever since.

2008 wasn't the biggest year ever for Boston music. Our biggest success might have been our oldest, as the New Kids on the Block got back together for a (misogynistic?) record and tour; we called their performance "a polished show infused with moments of giddiness—a lovefest between four guys from Dorchester, one JP product and a screaming hometown crowd." Apollo Sunshine, whose August live show felt like "stumbling upon a drum circle in the field of a music festival," made a couple of best-of lists, as did the Hold Steady, fronted by BC grad Craig Finn. "Bostonians of the Week" Broken River Prophet released an exciting new album that we really dug. Local singer Jess Tardy's work was featured on the TV show Lipstick Jungle. But for the most part, 2008 was just not a Boston-heavy music year.

The House of Blues has bought the Lansdowne Street clubs, including Avalon and Axis. How is this going to affect the renovations of Avalon and Axis, which has had a negative impact on performers and fans since the venues shut down? The Globe reports:

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that...