Jenny and Johnny at Newbury Comics. 9.18
This wasn’t a show, but it was a really, really great day. I didn’t get too many bike rides out of this past year because well, the bike and I didn’t get along as swimmingly as I hoped, but riding down by the Esplanade was one of my favorite things to do in twenty ten. As soon as the weather clears up, I’m bringing the ride right on over to my friend Aaron at Wicked Sharp to have it fixed up!! Anyways, like I was saying the day I went with Becca and Rachel to see Jenny and Johnny was just amazing. We made up a little mini bike gang, chatting and riding down the esplanade. It was a gorgeous day and we waited in line for a ridiculous amount of time to see J&J, all because of my deep and ever loyal admiration for all things Jenny Lewis. In an ideal world, I would one day get a Jenny Lewis inspired pin-up tattoo, because she’s one of my biggest musical inspirations. The night I went to see Rilo Kiley, rode home on Storrow Dr. and thought I’d never seen anything more beautiful was also the night I chose to go to school in Boston. What can I say, Jenny’s got me through a lot. After Jenny and Johnny played probably six songs or so, I thought okay, I got to hear a few songs through stacks of CDs, only making out her features when I jumped on my tippy toes. No. So naturally my first thought was go around the back! We made a run for it and in turn, saw them both on the fire escape and had a little chat with Jonathan Rice while Jenny Lewis was a complete diva, signing autographs for the store. The girls were pissed, but Jenny Lewis is indie royalty. I don’t hold it against her!
M.I.A. and Rye Rye at Royale. 10.04
I snagged tickets to this show through the Dig the day of. They were offered up and I was like it’s a Monday, what else have I got to do? After rushing home to change into my most out-there outfit, I met up with my roommate and headed to Royale. Rye Rye was actually our favorite part. Rye Rye was great, and that’s saying a lot if I’m advocating for a girl rapper. Doesn’t happen often. M.I.A. on the other hand was an onstage trainwreck. She did more handwaving than singing, was offstage more than on, and it was just a shit show. It was too bad, I really thought if anyone can put on a show it’s gotta be her. Good thing it was free!
Florence & the Machine at HOB. 10.31
The week prior to this show, I was supposed to go see Local Natives. I had bought tickets way in advance. But the semester took an unexpected toll on me, and I knew if I wanted to go see Florence I was going to have to make some sort of sacrifice. While I’m sure LN put on a really great show, Florence was well worth it. I couldn’t believe I was able to get tickets to this show through my internship, I thought for sure it was just too high profile. But the Dig came through, as they always do, and I was able to get myself and Rachel into the sold out Halloween show. I can’t say enough about how overly talented Florence Welch is, when it comes to vocals, songwriting and performing in general. For more (and I mean more) see here.
Delta Spirit at Paradise. 11.26
The night after Thanksgiving there was such a good vibe. My apartment was empty, all the roommates home for the holiday, so I cleaned the place up in preparation to host my friends from high school (nothing makes me feel older than saying that.. my goodness, am I really old enough to refer to them as “high school friends”? Just wait until I have to say college friends.. then reality will really hit me). We had such a good night. There was a good buzz and my best friend Brian had just turned 21! I ran into Hil, my music editor, pre-show and it was just a really great night. There was dancing, singing and fun had by all. We stayed up nearly all night just hanging out, catching up with old friends, new friends, you name it. My favorite song of the night was easily off their new album “Golden State” and that’s really saying something if it beat out one of my all-time favorite feel-good songs “Trash Can”.
Cotton Jones at T.T. the Bear’s. 12.12
Cotton Jones. Just the name conjures summery imagery. Talk about beautiful music. I would go into detail, but I already did! You can read the full review here, but in short what I got from the night is that Whitney plays beautiful omnichord, the records do Michael Nau’s voice no justice and wow can these two write some gorgeous chords and melodies. If you need any further convincing, these tracks (“Blood Red Sentimental Blues” and “Little Ashtray in the Sun” ) ought to do the trick. Unfortunately, the band didn’t play a real long set (they were opening for Crooked Fingers) and also didn’t have their drummer with them. But they’ll be back around in the next couple weeks opening for Nicole Atkins at Brighton Music Hall, so perhaps they’ll have a more lively set with a drummer in tow. These guys deserve much more notoriety than they’re given.
And that’s all folks! 2010 is in the bag. Whew. It was a good one. The best, actually. I have little room for complaints. I’m glad that this recap is done with so I can now focus on music of the present and all the great new albums I’ve been listening to. As for next year’s look back, it will begin like this:
2011: First concert of the year was Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger at Great Scott. 1.06. Read an exclusive interview with Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl here.
*Photo source 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
