#Boston music

[amandapalmer]

I haven’t been this excited about a show announcement in a while.

Boston, we’re coming home this fall, and we’re bringing our friends from New York City.

Ticket access goes to the dolls mailing list first. Get on the list here. https://found.ee/DresdenDollsMailingList

[greensparty]

Nirvana Boston: Part 4 - Axis

This year marks 35 years since the release of Nirvana’s debut album Bleach and it also marks 30 years since the passing of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain. In honor of one of my Top 3 Favorite Musicians of All Time, I’m doing a multi-part series Nirvana Boston, in which I look at all of the concerts Nirvana did in Boston. Part 1 looked at their July 1989 show at Green Street Station, Part 2 looked at their April 1990 show at Man Ray and Part 3 looked at their April 1990 show at MIT.

The 4th installment looks at possibly their most legendary show they ever did in Boston and their first of the year 1991. Since the last time the band had played Boston a lot had changed. Drummer Chad Channing parted ways and the new drummer was Dave Grohl, formerly of Scream.

September 23, 1991: WFNX 8th Birthday Bash at Axis (Boston, MA)

show flyer (quite a lineup)

Lynn, MA independently owned and operated alternative rock station WFNX was first launched in 1983 on 101.7-FM. The radio station was one of my favorites in the 90s and I was so sad when they ceased operation in 2012. Prior to 1991, WFNX was one of the early supporters of Nirvana in the Boston area, which is why WFNX DJs Duane Bruce and Kurt St. Thomas were at the Man Ray Show in 1990. Nirvana's major-label debut album Nevermind was going to be released the next day on September 24, but just a few weeks earlier on August 29, St. Thomas played the Nevermind album in its entirety on-air for it's World Premiere. So when the radio station was gearing up for their 8th anniversary concert celebrations they set up shows with multiple bands at multiple venues on Boston's Landsdowne Street. At Axis, the bands included Cliffs of Dooneen, Smashing Pumpkins (their debut Gish was just released a few months earlier), Bullet LaVolta and finally Nirvana. Duane Bruce says "I feel bad for the other bands that were on the bill that night, like the bands that were playing over at Bill's Bar. They were all packed houses and nobody talks about those shows. I'd say there were close to 3000 people on Lansdowne Street that night if not more. Certainly 1500 were slammed into Axis." 1500 might be an exaggeration, but not far off.

Nevermind tour poster and Boston was the second stop

Nirvana arrived in Boston the day before on September 22. They stayed at the old Howard Johnson's Hotel on Commonwealth Avenue that has since become a Boston University dorm. Reportedly the band had dinner at Division 16 on Boylston Street with some Geffen Records and WFNX employees. Afterwards, the band went to The Rat AKA The Rathskeller in Kenmore Square to see their friends The Melvins, but they weren't on the guest list and it was local singer-songwriter Mary Lou Lord who urged the bouncer to let them in even though they weren't on the guest list. She formed a relationship with Cobain for a short time. In the documentary The Road to Ruane about The Middle East promoter Billy Ruane (that screened at IFFBoston earlier this year), Lord elaborated that she took Cobain back to Ruane's apartment in Cambridge that night and they listened to his record collection.

Cobain and Grohl doing press with WFNX earlier in the day (photo by Julie Kramer)

MTV News attended this show to film an interview with Nirvana and some backstage tomfoolery including a Twister game gone wild at Bill's Bar next door to Axis! Here is the raw footage of that wild Crisco Twister game with some of the members of Smashing Pumpkins and an interview with the band:

In my friend Jason Steeves' documentary We Want the Airwaves: The WFNX Story, DJ Angie C. noted that for several months the only live footage MTV had of Nirvana was of their coverage at the WFNX Birthday Bash, so every time MTV News did an update about Nirvana they cut to a clip of them onstage with the WFNX banner behind them, so it was like the radio station and the band were intertwined for a while there.

Axis had a capacity of 1000 and it was packed to say the least. Both Nirvana and headliners Smashing Pumpkins were not going to be playing clubs this size much longer. Boston's own Bullet LaVolta had built up a huge following by this point and were WFNX favorites. Their major label debut Swandive was released the same day as Nirvana's Nevermind, and they had toured with Smashing Pumpkins, Mudhoney and Soundgarden. Bullet LaVolta drummer Todd Philips says "For us, it was just another show playing Axis. We weren't even playing the biggest room, there was a bigger room next door at Avalon. Nirvana wasn't even the biggest band on the bill at the time." As Duane Bruce puts it "if the show was a steam train, then after the Pumpkin and Bullet LaVolta, by the time you got to Nirvana it was just pure black smoke". At midnight, headliners Nirvana's set began. Kurt St. Thomas did an intro. The band did a 49 minute set. They did songs off of Bleach and several from the about-to-be-released Nevermind.

Cobain on stage (photo by Steve Gullick)

Novoselic and Grohl on stage (photographer unknown)

Novoselic and Grohl (photo by Steve Gullick)

In terms of highlights, Todd Philips says "Sliver" and "Drain You", which he says "When I heard that, I said - holy shit, this is pop. This should be Top 40 music!" Very true! There is a reason some of the songs on Nevermind made the Top 40.

Here is the audio recording from YouTube:

Of the three times I saw Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters at Fenway Park (the most recent being this past July), I couldn't help but think he had played right across the street at Axis for that legendary show decades earlier.

Up Next: When a fan mentioned that he couldn't attend the WFNX show because he wasn't 18, the band decided to do a last minute show the next day at Axis that would be all-ages. Part 5 is the second Axis show in September 1991.

[thenewlimits]

"Dead Weight," our first original studio recording since 2017 is streaming every where TODAY!

[timmurleyart]

Style and flow. 📻🎤🎶🟥🟢🟧💛

[imolovescats]

Spin it round again

Spin it round again

[orangepeelmystic]

Two OPM shows, see ya there:

NYC https://dice.fm/event/37omx-orangepeelmystic-origin-of-speech-maya-lucia-pho-17th-dec-union-pool-new-york-tickets

BOSTON https://www.seetickets.us/event/nurse-joy/576999

[idiotcoward]

Dinosaur Jr - Youre Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr are one of my favorite bands of all time. Especially when it comes to super grungey 90’s indie music. There’s just a certain somberness and grimeyness to these solos. A certain intensity and closeness from these lyrics and vocal performances. This album feels so personal yet so distant. It’s genuinely beautiful at times and still has its own moments of genuine intensity that I can only imagine is the leftover vibes from their previous hardcore projects.

Dinosaur Jr just is one of the best indie bands to just sit back and let them take you on a musical ride. This band takes seriously the potential and complexity that can truly be explored in guitar music. J Mascis is definitely one of my favorite guitarists from the era and has a certain way with his playing. Just almost an accent to it that feels so familiar yet distinct. So many many many more steps beyond a lot of the three chord pentatonic bands in the scene back in the day and even today (even if I love a lot of those bands). It’s so nice to hear genuinely creative and dynamic guitar soloing / riff composition. That couple with awesome bass playing from Punk Legend Lou Barlow.

[docileeffects]

[aloudonline]

The road to a released song is often long and has many moving parts. Just kidding, it’s all about butts.

We’ll be sending the full making of “Somewhere To Be” video to our weekly email list folks this Friday. If you’re not subscribed, here’s the part where I tell you signing up is free and that we share a ton of stuff there and not here, followed by something clever like “click here lol”. You get it. -H

PS: you can listen to “Somewhere To Be” here: https://www.lemonmerchantrecords.com/somewheretobe/

[indigaux]

Hey, Boston ~̆̈ I’m returning once again to take the stage and eat the mic (❁´◡`❁) come thru to the Mean, a Fest

The antithesis of Nice, a Fest >:) Mean is a festival of noisy electronic experimental music. Hosted at Trendy Shit Town by Deep State Booking, so you know the vibes are punky, weird and radical ***٩(˘◡˘)۶***

When?

Friday, July 21st at 7PM — Late

Place?

Boston, MA (DM @tst.boston on IG for the official addy)

Cover?

$30 max — $10 min (sliding scale)

Lineup?

Maddog | Fear Dot Com | B2B | Jordan Valentino | Hexx Head | Threshold | Iris Ipsum | Tiefling | Indigaux the Fae | Dante | César | Hassel G.

Vendors?

Lesbians Online | Fetal Anomaly

[greensparty]

Nirvana Boston: Part 2 - ManRay

This year marks 35 years since the release of Nirvana’s debut album Bleach and it also marks 30 years since the passing of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain. In honor of one of my Top 3 Favorite Musicians of All Time, I’ve begun a multi-part series Nirvana Boston, in which I’ll look at all of the concerts Nirvana did in Boston. Part 1 looked at their July 1989 show at Green Street Station.

The second installment of this series is their second MA show!

April 18, 1990 ManRay (Cambridge, MA)

ticket stub

Since the last time Nirvana played Boston guitarist Jason Everman parted ways with the band and they were back to being a trio: Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Chad Channing (who was in his final months with the band). The band had done a lot of touring for their debut album Bleach, which was released on Sub Pop the previous Summer. On this particular date, the band was back in town for a show at the Central Square club ManRay, which was known as a goth club at the time.

WFNX's Duane Bruce was one of the early supporters of Nirvana in the Northeast and he was playing some of their songs late night on his show Radio Free Boston. He was at ManRay to emcee the show. He hung out backstage with the band and WFNX's Kurt St. Thomas (another early supporter). According to Bruce (he's also the author of Hang the DJ and the host of the American Debauchery podcast where he has discussed his time with Nirvana), Kurt Cobain said "So you guys are from a commercial station, on the other side of the country, and you play our music?" as Cobain put his arm around Bruce's shoulder and said "That's a first."

There was also an interview the band did before the show. That video has since surfaced online.

Nirvana interview backstage at ManRay

There were about 75 people in attendance. Local band The Bags opened this show. Crispin Wood, guitarist for The Bags, recalls "We hung out during their soundcheck and they hung out during ours." He says "The dressing room area was in the basement of ManRay. Pretty big space. The guys in Nirvana were nice. We partied together. Krist was the friendliest of the three." In attendance was Sluggo, who hosted Nirvana the previous Summer when they played Green Street Station and was in the local band Hullabaloo (they actually appeared on some compilation albums with Nirvana including Hard to Believe: A Kiss Covers Compilation). During Nirvana's set, Kurt dumped a pitcher of water on Chad. Sluggo says "Chad never saw it coming. Poor guy. But I suppose at this point he was use to the abuse - i.e. all the times Kurt would launch himself at the drumset." They mostly played songs from Bleach, although they did preview some songs off of Nevermind released a year and a half later, including "Breed", "In Bloom" and "Stay Away".

Cobain and Novoselic at ManRay photo by JJ Gonson

Cobain at ManRay photo by JJ Gonson

Photographer JJ Gonson, who got some great photos of them crashing at her apartment after the Green Street Station show the previous year, returned to this show to get some pics.

Here is the video recording of the show from YouTube:

Up Next: Part 3 will explore their 1990 show at MIT.

[thenewlimits]

We are psyched to announce that "Dead Weight," our first original studio recording since 2017, will be streaming everywhere on Friday, July 5, 2024.

Has it been THAT long? Yes, yes it has. If you've seen us live, you've heard "Dead Weight," our anthem about cutting toxic people out of your life. We started recording it in 2023 with several other songs and it's finally ready for release. It features Julia on vocals and a killer three-piece horn section. 

The artwork for "Dead Weight" was beautifully drawn by Kat Delitto, guitarist for Indoor Friends. @kattastrophi

Listen to “Dead Weight” streaming everywhere Friday, July 5, 2024. Pre-save on Spotify today. 

[twoheadedgirlband]

Our next show!

[inkskinned]

this is just my opinion but i think any good media needs obsession behind it. it needs passion, the kind of passion that's no longer "gentle scented candle" and is now "oh shit the house caught on fire". it needs a creator that's biting the floorboards and gnawing the story off their skin. creators are supposed to be wild animals. they are supposed to want to tell a story with the ferocity of eating a good stone fruit while standing over the sink. the same protective, strange instinct as being 7 and making mud potions in pink teacups: you gotta get weird with it.

good media needs unhinged, googling-at-midnight kind of energy. it needs "what kind of seams are invented on this planet" energy and "im just gonna trust the audience to roll with me about this" energy. it needs one person (at least) screaming into the void with so much drive and energy that it forces the story to be real.

sometimes people are baffled when fanfic has some stunning jaw-dropping tattoo-it-on-you lines. and i'm like - well, i don't go here, but that makes sense to me. of fucking course people who have this amount of passion are going to create something good. they moved from a place of genuine love and enjoyment.

so yeah, duh! saturday cartoons have banger lines. random street art is sometimes the most precious heart-wrenching shit you've ever seen. someone singing on tiktok ends up creating your next favorite song. youtubers are giving us 5 hours of carefully researched content. all of this is the impossible equation to latestage capitalism. like, you can't force something to be good. AI cannot make it good. no amount of focus-group testing or market research. what makes a story worth listening to is that someone cares so much about telling it - through dance, art, music, whatever it takes - that they are just a little unhinged about it.

one time my friend told me he stayed up all night researching how many ways there are to peel an orange. he wrote me a poem that made me cry on public transportation. the love came through it like pith, you know? the words all came apart in my hands. it tasted like breakfast.

[jonesrocktography]

Right, I remembered I used to write about shows I went to back in the day...so here's a small blurb from when I braved the cold weather, a really cold walk in January from the bus stop to the venue to see Dropbear (Instagram|Spotify) and quite frankly I was blown away by it. I knew of the band via IG stories from SimpsonsXCore, a favorite meme page of mine (and if you know anything about me, Simpsons memes and references are the fastest way to my cold dark heart) so it was a while before the planets aligned and the time to see them live finally came around. What I heard was outstanding. Passionate rock music that gives you a bit of late 90s/early 2000s vibes. If you get a chance to see them live, when they play their next show, do it. It's worth the hike, and depending on when/where, the cold temps.

[beggars-opera]

The fact that the Boston transit system has been a garbage fire for so long that our mascot is a sad little man who is literally stranded on the train until the end of time due to a fare increase. Charlie's desiccated corpse has been riding this train since the 1940s and everyone just sort of rolls with it it this point