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The Airborne Toxic Event: All At Once

The Airborne Toxic Event: All At Once – Out Today!
See the band live at the House of Blues, Wednesday, May 11 – buy tickets
~ For the abridged version of this article, please see Ryan’s Smashing Life ~

Growing Pains

My god, this is excruciating! I’ve been enjoying The Airborne Toxic Event since first listening to demo tracks in 2008, and followed their steady ascent, which for me began at a downtown Boston Irish bar for about 150 people. They released their wonderful debut album on Majordomo, and proceeded to tour for the next 2-1/2 years in support of it. That album grabbed hold of my ears and wouldn’t let go, yet I now find myself approaching their follow-up, nearly three years later, with a curious mix of anticipation and trepidation. Why? Because in that time, they signed with Island Records, amassed a large audience of “casual listeners” with their radio hit, “Sometime Around Midnight,” and spent 2010 in a fancy Hollywood studio with world-renown producer Dave Sardi (Band of Horses, The Walkmen, Oasis). It made me a little nervous. This is the first time I stumbled upon a band early on, and not 10 years after everyone else, so I’m new to this whole “grappling with success” thing. I’m not sure how the band is coping, but as for myself, not terribly well.

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DeVotchKa with Mariachi El Bronx @ the Paradise, Boston 3/26/11

DeVotchKa

Better late than never… (but I come bearing video)

So who says a band can’t achieve huge success on its own terms? No “formula”. No concern about demographics (unless there’s a new genre called “Eastern-European-Gypsy-Mariachi-Southwestern-Desert-Polka-Pop”). DeVotchKa is deliciously uncompromising, with a wildly unique sound and globetrotting vision. What we have here is a phenomenally gifted group of musicians doing what comes naturally, with increasingly larger audiences (such as their Paris stadium show with Muse for 90,000 last year) delighting in the exotic experience.

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Richard Ashcroft @ The Villa Victoria Center for the Arts 3/24/11

The United Nations of Sound (Richard Ashcroft's new album)

The United Nations of Sound (Richard Ashcroft's new album)

What a wonderful solo acoustic performance from singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft (The Verve) at a venue that usually does not host rock shows, The Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the South End. Also that night, a great acoustic set from Mike Fiore of Faces on Film. Read my review on melophobe.

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Musical Voodoo with Zoë Keating with Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys @ Cafe 939

Walter Sickert and Zoë Keating

Walter Sickert and Zoë Keating

There are decent rock shows, where the bands are solid, the venue’s sound quality is at a good level, and the audience is appreciative. And then every so often there’s an event, some random evening, a moment captured in time and space, when the planets align and something quite magical happens. I suppose in this case there were two such evenings, back to back, as Zoë Keating and Walter Sickert and his ever-enlightening Army Of Broken Toys managed to sell out two shows at what’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite venues to truly appreciate fine music in, Cafe 939. Last Saturday night, it was a potent combination of sophisticated artists, exquisite venue with perfect sound and ambiance, and the audience? Well, put it this way: it was the sort of crowd that made it difficult to ascertain where the spectators ended and The Army of Toys’ Bunny Collective began. Everyone and everything intermingled, boundaries melted away, and we were all performers and performance.

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My Top 10 Shows of 2010

Some of my favorite concert moments - Walter Sickert (& the Army of Broken Toys), Iggy Pop (and The Stooges), Sarah Negahdari (of The Happy Hollows) and Evelyn Evelyn

Some of my favorite concert moments - Walter Sickert (& the Army of Broken Toys), Iggy Pop (and The Stooges), Sarah Negahdari (of The Happy Hollows) and Evelyn Evelyn

While I didn’t get out nearly as much as I would have liked in this crazy year, what I did see was pretty wonderful. New Year’s Resolution: See More Live Shows! Here’s my top ten list, in chronological order.

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Review: Box Five’s full-length debut ~ Leave The Earth Behind

Mary Bichner and Eliza Kopczynska of Box Five (photo by  Justin Moore)

Mary Bichner and Eliza Kopczynska of Box Five (photo by Justin Moore)

It’s understandable that Mary Bichner of Box Five dreamt of one day being accompanied by a full orchestra. Her extraordinary, classically-informed vocals make her sound as though she’s been plucked from a Victorian salon. It’s amazing that Leave The Earth Behind is her debut full-length album, as its virtuosic performances, multi-textured complexity and overall cohesiveness would suggest otherwise.

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Moga releases their debut album: Jamboree!

mogaband-325
I first mentioned Rhode Island-based Moga last March, and in the meantime, they’ve released their debut full-length album, Jamboree, a cornucopia of psychedelia, banjo-pickin’ hillbilly folkiness, bluesy gospel, and early Eno quirkiness; with some little Grateful Dead jams, doo-wop harmonies and calypso percussion added in for good measure. If it sounds wacky, it is, but it really works.

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Review: Dawes and friends at the Royale ~ November 6

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes

It was a gorgeous evening of music with Dawes, Vetiver, and Peter Wolf Crier at the Royale. A musically complimentary and excellent lineup, and Dawes seems to just be getting better and better as time goes on. The new songs they performed from their upcoming album sound incredible. See my full review on Ryan’s Smashing Life.

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The Henry Clay People at T.T. the Bear’s Place ~ 10/17/10

HCP_InAction@TTs

As I told the Siara boys after their deeply gratifying set of life-affirming rock ‘n’ roll, “thanks man, I really needed that.” Yup, tough year. What can I say? Read more of my heartfelt gratitude on Ryan’s Smashing Life. I gave him the photos that didn’t look like I shot them in a dark underwater cave. Apart from the ridiculous volume level for two dozen of us in a place the size of a shoebox, they also have a rather creative lighting technique, whereby they illuminate the audience but leave the performers in semi-darkness. Actually, we later decided that was good for bands with bad hangovers; Joey said it was nice and subdued, and he could see all of us just fine. Awesome.

Joey raises his plastic cup to the 20 of us. No man, here's to <em>you</em>.

Joey raises his plastic cup to the 20 of us. No man, here's to you.

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“All I Ever Wanted: The Airborne Toxic Event Live From Walt Disney Concert Hall Featuring The Calder Quartet”

tateallieverwanted-300x300

On July 30th, 2008, six days before the release of their debut album on Majordomo Records, I saw the Airborne Toxic Event for the first time – upstairs at a downtown Boston Irish bar. It was a crazy radio station event, with guys dressed in bathrobes and cowboy boots, and girls in lingerie (with some strippers hired by the station for added effect). The ‘stage’ was the far end of the room, with maybe 150 of us packed into the small space. A year and a half later, here they are at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, a world-class concert venue, home to the L.A. Philharmonic.

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