The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source
It’s painful to imagine the absolute horror faced by these people, clientele and management alike, still we must do our best if there is to be any sense of sanity restored to the downtown area.
The Tony-Winning Actress stars in the world premiere of a symphonic Sondheim on Sondheim with Boston Pops
A new film aims to shatter stigmas around public housing
Since I don’t plan on unearthing any fresh dirt in this rather brief note to our readers, I will at least explain how this sort of thing comes to pass.
At this point, anyone who pays attention to current affairs in even a cursory manner will be aware that President Donald Trump’s proposal for the next federal budget is a savage attack on working families.
Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich explains where stories really come from
From political persecution to medical acceptance
From Cousin Stizz to Hannibal Buress, the music festival proves its early acts are worth your time, as is the new and improved comedy tent.
Ahead of their Boston Calling performance, Converge talk about Boston hardcore and how their evolution came about.
Chance the Rapper, Deerhoof, and Sigur Ros impressed, but the festival is learning that booking big names comes with big logistical issues.
The term ‘lifer’ can have some negative connotations, an inference that it’s slog along the journey, a burden rather than a dream. But for others, it’s a lifestyle, a calling, and none quite underlines that ethos quite like Scott “Wino” Weinrich. If you scan the pages of the Encyclopedia of Doom Metal, you’ll find countless references to him as history of that Sabbath-fueled movement unfolded. Saint Vitus, The Hidden Hand, Spirit Caravan, Premonition 13, all the way back to the unrecorded Warhorse from the mid-’70s. The man has been involved with countless classic riffs and the first band who charted this course was The Obsessed. After a minor dalliance with resurrecting this band (a one-off reunion show at Roadburn in 2012; a Guy Pinhas-less lineup at Maryland Death Fest the year after), Wino has re-established the brand with a new record, the just-released Sacred.
The touchstones are there-the snarling vocal delivery, the hard crunch of chords that worm their way into your brain, and the thunderous rhythm section. A very early song “Sodden Jackyl,” dating from their first single in ’83 was dusted off and reworked for the record, and you’d never know that it predated other material by decades. Wino’s got a preternatural knack for creating music that is lasting, and while the formula doesn’t vary too much, why fuck with a winning recipe? You wouldn’t want something like apple pie to feature kale and cheddar cheese-stick with the basics.
The support cast was a great complement, courtesy of Grayskull Booking who know their way around crafting a solid metal bill. Karma To Burn took riffs to the most basic element possible by completely eschewing vocals and letting the amps and drum heads do the heavy lifting, aside from an out-of-the-blue “Tequila!” shouted out by guitarist William Mecum towards the end of their set. Lo-Pan took a similarly heavy approach, but the vocals of Jeff Martin have a subtlety and fluidity that you don’t expect from bands who typically steamroll their audiences. Local heros Gozu are just back from a West Coast tour, and they tightened their already tight delivery to a ridiculous level. Like Martin, singer/guitarist Marc Gaffney’s got a singing style that belies his physically foreboding appearance, while slinger Doug Sherman walks a razor-sharp line between the shred and the flash. Keep an eye out for a new record that should drop sometime this year.
Click on Wino for photos of all bands:
From sour beers to comedy sets, here's everything you need to know to maximize your fun this weekend.
There are a few places I can think of that really needed a safe space. I feel like the work is important, I feel like it’s not just some march through the towns dressed as Hedwig demanding equality.
Why won’t the Worcester DA release a 66-year-old murder file?
The second in a series profiling aging lifers seeking commutations from Mass prisons
Cannabis consumers and users could have worse problems. I'm not complaining here, but rather simply indicating that we can really use your help staying on top of things.
Will I be dazzled by the variety and fine quality of storebought weed? Maybe not: I’m an undiscerning cheapskate.
"Recently, since about at least two months ago, your publication distributed in the Downtown Crossing area has been seriously compromised."
Among other things, we have had a team of more than 10 media makers over the past several months producing an elaborate multimedia series on bicycle safety and street infrastructure.
An obscure Southie bar hidden under a legendary space
Boston has chosen a different approach—one of partnering with Verizon, which seeks to use Boston to demonstrate to Wall Street that it is a company looking to the future of digital entertainment and smart cities.
"It’s a historic issue. There isn’t really a culture of democratic accountability for the police, and when it comes to elected towns and officials, in many towns and cities across Massachusetts, sometimes they may not have the power to oversee the police department properly. "
Metallica, aside from having the talent and drive to make it where they are today, made two critical and correct decisions very early into their career. The name they chose and the logo they designed helped cement their band as not only the standard bearer for thrash, but for metal in general. That’s a crown they’ve held for quite some time, and while there were significant bumps in their journey, their latest record, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct hearkens back to the sort of adrenaline rush that sucked in so many heshers and non-heshers alike in the first place.
And while the metal scene initially looks forbidding and unwelcoming to outsiders, my experience shows that it’s the complete opposite. For the most part, people just want to have a good time and forget about the stresses of society that press down every day. James Hetfield immediately addressed that same concern-“We don’t care what sort of food you eat, what you look like, what religion you may or not practice. None of that matters. We’re here to celebrate heavy music, not as fans but as Metallica family. Let’s forget about all the shit around and just rock heavy!”
High stanchions above the stage were used to inflate giant balloons depicting the more recent record art, the stage itself flanked by the twin jagged lightning bolts of the famous Metallica logo, and the foursome busted right into the title track from Hardwired. The martial snare of Lars Ulrich called the twin guitars from idle to full throttle and the gig was off. And there was never any let up from the accelerator. An early deep cut of “For Whom The Bell Tolls” got the weathered geezers with thirty year old Metallica patches sewn to their battle vests to launch their fists into the air, again and again. Random mosh pits formed in the expanse of the general admission floor, and enough pyrotechnics were blasted out into the warm, humid evening air to heat a small Eskimo village for a year. Yeah, the set was off to a good start.
One of the upsides to seeing a band in a giant arena is the production cum spectacle, and Metallica didn’t skimp on this. There was a large fleet of tractor trailers parked outside the stadium, and the stage allowed for massive video displays that alternated between live camera feeds or programmed material, such as the war images that precluded “One.” Extra fortunate fans shoehorned into a small area that was flanked by ramps from the main stage, forming a ring that penned them in extra close to the action, when Hetfield, Robert Trujillo or Kirk Hammett decided to stretch their legs and do some walking. At the end of the set, Lars got to see what the view from there looked like as well, when roadies shifted a drum kit to the end of the ramp. Hetfield described the barebones arrangement as what their garage from the early 80s looked like when they were just getting going. “Seek And Destroy” was a missile directed right at the audience, and much fist pumping and horns in the air ensued. I’m sure that hardcore fans would have liked to have heard more than a handful of the Kill ‘Em All through Master of Puppets material, but I’m pretty sure that no one walked out of the stadium disappointed with the performance those four guys just dished out.
More photos here (click on the pic):
"The music I’m doing today is dismissed as something simple or fun, and it’s neither. It’s more negative than I wish for it to be, really, but that’s life usually."
If I named all the local comedians who could perform at Boston Calling I'd be here all day. I think comedy will be a big part of this festival for years to come. So much talent ...
