I said it when I last caught up with The National, headlining two nights at a New York City festival of their own curation last year, and it bears repeating now: it’s still a little weird for this band, of all bands, to have made the leap to arenas. But Thursday’s sold-out show at […]
FOTOBOM: WILCO @ WANG THEATRE
The joke inherent in Wilco’s new record Ode to Joy – the band’s eleventh full length – is that it’s actually kind of a downer. The Chicagoan collective who perpetually straddle the lines of indie, art-rock and alt-country have never been the cheeriest band to begin with – the centerpiece of what’s arguably their sunniest […]
FOTOBOM: VINCE STAPLES @ HOUSE OF BLUES
Vince Staples wants to know if you’re having fun. Whether or not he is remains up for debate. The Long Beach rapper posed the question several times several times during the recent Boston stop on his “Smile, You’re On Camera Tour” – memorably before a performance of the aptly titled “Fun!” from last year’s mini-LP […]
FOTOBOM: BEIRUT @ HOUSE OF BLUES
If you entered the House of Blues in search of something surprising on a recent Tuesday night, you may well have left disappointed. The unexpected is not in store for you at the Beirut gig. But for the faithful who braved a snowy winter evening to pack the cavernous room on Lansdowne Street, the all-business […]
FOTOBOM: THERE’S NO LEAVING NEW YORK
At first glance, The National might not strike one as a band who command a following that fills arenas. The group’s literate, self-effacing gloom certainly lends itself to a certain cultish devotion, but few artists making music that sounds this way have translated the approach into the clout to personally curate and headline a […]
FOTOBOM: ARCADE FIRE @ TD GARDEN, 9/15
Strange as it may have seemed once, former indie rock darlings Arcade Fire have settled comfortably into the role of festival and arena headliners. Their shows behind 2013’s ambitious, danceable odyssey Reflektor proved what “Wake Up” had always suggested: that the band’s anthemic sound could fill huge spaces without losing its heart. Four years later, […]
FOTOBOM: GORILLAZ @ BLUE HILLS BANK PAVILION, 7/12
In a rare Boston appearance–their first in seven years–the genre-defying Gorillaz brought their full-band roadshow to Boston with a handful of digital guests.
FOTOBOM: RYAN ADAMS @ BLUE HILLS BANK PAVILION, 5/10
Wednesday was just the second night of the season for the Pavilion, Boston’s tented harbor-side venue which remains perpetually at nature’s mercy.
FOTOBOM: AT THE DRIVE-IN @ HOUSE OF BLUES, 3/25
At The Drive-In made a memorable return following an 11-year hiatus.
FOTOBOM: BOB MOULD, TED LEO @ PARADISE ROCK CLUB, 5/1
After 90 minutes of standing a few feet from Bob Mould’s jet-engine-roar guitar amps, it feels a bit like someone has turned down the volume knob on the outside world. Mould – prolific solo artist, frontman for 90s alt-rock trio Sugar and co-leader of punk legends Hüsker Dü – maintains at age 55 that louder […]
