FRI 11/19: Art, Film, Rock

In case you're curious, Saturday cheapness is already on the calendar.

The big thing is the free opening day of the new Art of Americas wing at the MFA. I suspect the real clusterf*ck will be in the morning and afternoon, but you can get in until 9:45pm. I might go just to walk in and around the new structure.

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FRI 11/19

6pm to 9pm
Triiibe, "In Search of Eden: A Work in Progress": Reception
at 808 Gallery, 808 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

At the midpoint of this developing exhibit, this group that is centered around triplet-sister performance artists shares the "progress" in their "work" on the themes the biblical story, temptation, and the modern concept of Eden.

Since the multi-media installation really is changing, this is as good of a time for a reception, and you'll probably see all sisters in the same room...

I watched the preview video, and it looks lots of interesting things are going on.

FRI 11/19

7pm
"Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields"
at Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$9.75

While this documentary is being shown several times over the next 3 days, I most strongly recommend tonight's 7pm screening where Claudia Gonson and Chris Ewen (members of The Magnetic Fields) will introduce the film and participate in a post-film Q&A.

When I checked last night, it seemed like tickets were still available...

FRI 11/19

7pm
"Wavelengths": Avant-Garde Showcase
at Bright Screening Room, Paramount Theatre, 559 Washington St, Boston (Downtown Crossing)
$10 / $5 students

This year's Toronto International Film Festival marked the 10th anniversary of the experimental film program. It consisted of 6 different programs, which have been distilled in this collection.

Those into weird visuals that may not seem to make sense, this is the cream of the crop.

Warning: At least one film has stroboscopic effects. (I've seen that warning before, so I might as well let you know.)

FRI 11/19

Runner & the Thermodynamics (Midnight), The Lights Out (11pm), The Organ Beats (10pm), Minor Stars (9pm)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10

As a Boston band of the recent past that was well-loved by local fans and was on track for the brass ring of national attention, it's by sheer happenstance that Runner & the Thermodynamics are playing a one-night-only reunion gig after 5 years. These guys rocked in groove that appealed to classic-rock folks without losing their indie cred. Hey, they went on tour with Alice Cooper!

It gets even better with a solid rock build-up to the main event.

I'd get there early for NC's Minor Stars who also know how to straddle heavy rock and powerpop, somewhat like The Organ Beats who rawk out with a lot of attention to melodies and Noelle's super vocals. On top of that, The Lights Out whips out their punchy, hooky guitar rock (that I still want to call radio-ready, even if a lot of radio won't play it).

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THUR 11/18: Film, Art, Music

So I went to the Billy Ruane birthday party last night and heard a ton of good music. It sure would've been a much more jubilant affair if Billy had not been there in an urn.

There was plenty of good vibes. For example: an old friend of the Ruanes proposed to one of Billy's sisters, and she accepted.

After Chris Brokaw's mind-blowing symphony of feedback, the melancholy welled up and I decided I was ready to go. I know I missed some great acts, but that's how it goes.

I don't think many photos came out well, but I'll try to post them in the near future.

There is more Thursday cheapness on the calendar.

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THUR 11/18

6:30pm
Food at 24fps: "The Secret Of The Grain / La Graine Et Le Mulet"
at Adams House Pool Theatre, about 23 Bow St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE

This film is a long one (over 2 hours) that may start off a bit slowly, but the NY Times gave it a good review a couple years ago. It also won 4 of the top awards at the French Oscars including "Best Picture" of '08.

The story is realistic family drama centered around a Tunisian immigrant dock worker who has a seemingly impossible dream to open a restaurant. In French with subtitles. (The original title is closer to "The Grain and The Fish".)

Alia Meddeb of the delicious, authentic Baraka Cafe will introduce the film, and there is usually some related refreshments afterward. Although free, it wouldn't hurt to throw a buck or two in the jar.

As far as the address, I entered through this door last month.

THUR 11/18

7pm to 10pm
Walter Sickert Presents: The InkDrip Sessions
at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville (Spring Hill)
$7 / All Ages

7pm -- Artists' talk & reception; DJ Metal Tiger Music
8pm -- meff 'n jojo's Tiny Instrument Revue
8:40pm -- Titler
9:20pm -- True Vintage Duo

Of the three weeks of InkDrip Sessions, this one might be the most appealing to me. It's also the last night of this art & music residency curated by Walter Sickert who has the aura of mad genius but I can't say for sure.

Besides his mad-genius music, he makes mad-genius art. He created something everyday for a year, and a portion has been displayed each week along with performances from his musical friends.

Tonight's art theme is "Post Apocalyptic Lounge". Among the performers tonight is the shockingly hilarious Titler who I interviewed a couple years ago before I reviewed his show. The weak-hearted might find his piano-songs offensive, but I laughed a lot. On one side is the more traditional songs via piano & vocals by the True Vintage Duo, and the mirthful mandolin/ukulele tunes from meff 'n jojo.

THUR 11/18

Dennis Brennan Quatro (10pm), Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers (9pm)
at Atwoods Tavern, 877 Cambridge St, Cambridge (near Inman & Kendall Sq)
FREE

As far as I'm concerned you can't go wrong with Dennis Brennan or Erin Harpe, so imagine how damn good it will be to hear them back-to-back. As the "Quatro", Brennan takes his rootsy rock and gooses up the rock quotient. When Harpe is joined by The Delta Swingers, her acoustic early-blues styling is bumped a few decades further for something like the electric bands of Muddy Waters. Good stuff!

THUR 11/18

9:30pm
Jenny Owen Youngs, Paul Dempsey, Lauren Flaherty
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

When I was looking at Great Scott's schedule a few days ago, I swear I didn't see this $10 show...

While Jenny Owen Youngs is the reason I give this gig a big thumbs-up, it should be a full night of kick-ass singer-songwriter types. Youngs (Owen Youngs?) caught my attention with her golden voice and and a lilting song whose chorus repeats "What the f--- was I thinking?" And the rest of her stuff delivers beyond the F-bombs.

WED 11/17: Talk, Film, Billy B-Day, Rock

Hey -- if you see me at the Billy Ruane party (see below) tonight, I have an unopened PBR-theme chapstick in my bag and will give it to the first person who asks for it.

For the skaters out there, the Frog Pond rink is opening tomorrow 11/18 Sunday 11/21. After the skating entertainment, you can get on the ice for free (you still pay for skate rentals: $8 or $5).

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WED 11/17

6pm to 7:30pm
Soap Box Discussion Series: Chris Reddy, "Probing the Plume"
at MIT Museum, 265 Mass Ave, Cambridge (near Central Sq)
FREE

Let's talk more about the Gulf oil spill. Oil isn't spewing out of the faulty well, but there is still oil in the water from the accident (as I read the info from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). One of their people is going to discuss what happened and the current status.

WED 11/17

7pm
Ronan Tynan: Lecture & Performance
at Tsai Performance Center, Boston University, 685 Comm Ave, Boston
FREE

My original impression of this guy was that he was the Irish opera singer who regularly appeared at Yankee Stadium. He has since moved to Massachusetts, and I think he has sang at Fenway. I didn't realize that he was also a physician and a paraplegic athelete.

Doors open at 6:30pm with seating on a first come, first serve basis. I'm not sure how this will work, but free tickets can be reserved at 617-353-8725 or by email.

WED 11/17

7pm
"Arif Mardin: The Greatest Ears in Town": Screening
at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (Back Bay)
FREE

Both legendary music producer Arif Mardin and his son Joe (documentary's co-director) are Berklee grads, so this seems an apropos place for what is probably the Boston premiere.

With Atlantic Records for about 40 years, he worked on loads of jazz, soul, R&B, pop, and more. This guy is the string that connects "Good Lovin’" (Young Rascals), "She's Gone" (Hall & Oates), "Jive Talkin’" (Bee Gees), Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" and "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones.

WED 11/17

7pm to 9pm
Science in the News: "Star Power: New Ways to Harvest Energy from our Sun"
at Armenise Ampitheatre, 200 Longwood Ave, Boston (Harvard Medical School / Longwood)
FREE

This is the last lecture in this year's series, and they're talking solar energy.

WED 11/17

7pm
Billy Ruane Memorial Birthday Bash
at Middle East - Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

I wrote about this yesterday. I have a feeling this won't be the last celebration in his honor, but it's going to be a major two-club, one-price blow-out for a Boston great.

There were about 160 tickets still available as of last night...

WED 11/17

9:30pm
Summer of Aden, Huddled Masses, Mount Peru, Broken River Prophet (solo)
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$8 / 21+

For those interested in some non-Billy Ruane rock, this show looks pretty darn good. I suspect it will have a good contrast of light and dark.

Adam from Broken River Prophet will begin with a solo set of noirish Americana, followed by Mount Peru who have a pleasantly loose powerpop thing going on. Huddled Masses is something like a side project from two of the guys from Guillermo Sexo who are stripping down some of the thick psych fuzz. Summer of Aden is the sunny indie-pop cherry on the sundae.

Maybe Billy would've dug this show...

11/17: Billy Ruane Memorial Birthday Bash

7pm
Billy Ruane Memorial Birthday Bash
at Middle East - Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

Wow. I don't know how to neatly summarize the overwhelming amount of music that's happening in celebration of Billy Ruane's birthday after his untimely death about 3 weeks ago. Even if he can't be there in the flesh, Billy's friends and other music-lovers can celebrate his Birthday.

There's so much that has been said in praise of the man who has meant so much to the Boston rock scene. The Phoenix has quite a bit centralized.

As far as Wednesday night, the last time that TT's and the Middle East held a joint event was probably 23 years ago for Billy's 30th birthday party. Billy Ruane brought live music to the Middle East -- just think about that.

There's plenty of background info about the party is in a Facebook note from one of the organizers, Mary Lou Lord.

Some of the bare basics:
-- It is one admission for both clubs, so theoretically you can move between the two venues. If a room is at capacity, either wait or listen to the other stage.
-- The Middle East will host mainly seasoned acts, while TT's will lean towards Billy's more recent favorites while also sandwiching in the originally scheduled acts: Jon Langford (ex-Mekons) and Chris Mills.
-- The cover charge is going to a fund that will fund various charities, maybe including the Mark Sandman Music Project.

I have a difficult time believing it will stay on schedule, but this may be a good guideline:

Middle East

Opening Song: Lilia Halpern-Smith
7pm -- Drew O'Doherty
7:15pm -- Eric Martin
7:30pm -- Rockin' Bob Cenci
7:45pm -- Randy Black
8pm -- Linda Viens & Catherine Coleman
8:15pm -- Jimmy Ryan & Sean Staples
8:30pm -- Joe Harvard
8:45pm -- Willie Alexander
9pm -- Chris Brokaw
9:15pm -- Hilken Mancini & Thalia Zedek
9:30pm -- Reid Paley
9:45pm -- Pat McGrath, Stephen Fredette, Peter Wolf
10:15pm -- Michael Patrick Macdonald (speaking) & other Billy stories
10:45pm -- Slideshow
11pm -- Tanya Donnelly & Skeggy Kendall
11:20pm -- Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents
11:35pm -- Buffalo Tom
Midnight -- Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
12:20am -- Closing Song

TT The Bear's

7pm -- Emily Forsythe
7:15pm -- Nina Violet
7:30pm -- Fred the Donkey
7:45pm -- Bell & the Bees
8pm -- The Raging Teens
8:25pm -- Slideshow/Speaking
9:15pm -- The Neighborhoods
9:50pm -- Chris Mills
10:30pm -- John Langford
11:40pm -- Drug Rug
12:05am -- Banditas
12:30am -- Frank Morey

I strongly encourage you to get advance tickets. Both clubs seemed to still have online tickets, although TT's version seemed to have less fees than the Middle East.

If you wanted to go in person today, the Middle East box office (up the stairs 472 Mass Ave) is open from 1pm to 7pm. You can buy tickets at TT the Bears after 6pm.

Update: As of 7pm last night, there were about 160 tickets left.

If you wanted to see/contribute to the memorial murals at Fourth Wall Project, your last chances are Wednesday 11/17 and Thursday 11/18, from Noon to 6pm.

TUES 11/16: Talk & Rock

Has anyone tried Four Loko? I'm sure it tastes like carp, but I'm intrigued by how much opposition it's received.

Someone at Harvard called it "badness in a can"... Hey, dude, that makes people want to drink it!

A friend told me they saw some college-age people drinking it on the Red Line, because it's rather ingeniously packaged like an energy drink. Nice work, undergrads!

I might regret it, but I'm going to drink one before it's banned. Wish me luck.

Note: The show of the week is going to be tomorrow's Billy Ruane posthumous birthday bash ($10) at the Middle East - Downstairs and TT the Bear's. One ticket gets you into both clubs, so think about getting an advance ticket -- if there are any left.

Also: My apologies if you click on a MySpace link below. The whole site seems to have become even crappier than before.

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TUES 11/16

7pm
Dyan deNapoli, "The Great Penguin Rescue": Lecture
at New England Aquarium, 1 Central Wharf, Boston (Waterfront)
FREE

Oil spills are on the radar lately, and this incident occurred about 10 years ago off the coast of South Africa. The spill could have wiped out half of the African penguins, but DeNapoli and other experts led thousands of volunteers to avert an aquatic bird disaster. I like that this woman is called "The Penguin Lady".

Registration is requested.

TUES 11/16

7pm
Matt Taibbi, "Griftopia": Reading
at Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline (Coolidge Corner)
FREE

Are you angry -- or pissed off or somewhere else on the spectrum -- about the "financial bailout"?

What bothers me was that the ostensible cause was people unable to pay their mortgages and the tremendously f---ed up set of exotic financial instruments that subsequently fell like dominos.

If the government was going to bail anyone out, shouldn't have been the homeowners/citizens/voters so they could pay their mortgages; then reform the shady world mortgage trading?

Gah! See what happens when one starts to think about this stuff? In his new book, Rolling Stone and Phoenix contributor Matt Taibbi digs deep into many of the stories of the movers and shakers with a good bit of outrage.

TUES 11/16

7pm
Story Slam: "A Boston 'T' Party"
at Precinct, 70 Union Sq, Somerville (Union Sq)
$7 / $6 with Charlie Card

Riding the T is fertile ground for stories. (I'm not sure I'll ever forget the article about a woman giving birth on the Orange Line about 3 years ago.)

This is a chance to tell and/or listen to 5-minute personal stories from the underground (and above). If you have the winning story tonight, you'll compete in the championship in April. Last year's grand prize was a trip to Italy...

TUES 11/16

8:40pm
Corin Ashley Band, The Dirty Truckers, Andrea Gillis Band, Hilken Mancini, Jenny Dee & Friends, Dave Aaronoff, Drew O'Doherty, Brendan Little, Chris Keene, Jonathan Pape, Uke Springsteen
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$7

In this modern world of repackaging the past, Bruce Springsteen's multi-DVD/CD "The Promise" seems like the perfect holiday gift for the Boss-fanatic in your life. There was about 80 songs recorded for his 4th album "Darkness on the Edge of Town", so this includes unreleased tunes and a documentary on the making of the album.

While this is probably part of a massive promotional campaign, Bruce has a ton of awesome songs for this assortment of excellent local acts to choose from as they'll each play at least one from his catalog.

Tentative schedule:

11:45pm -- Corin Ashley Band
11:25pm -- The Dirty Truckers
11:05pm -- Andrea Gillis Band
10:50pm -- Hilken Mancini
10:30pm -- Jenny Dee & Friends
10:05pm -- Dave Aaronoff
9:50pm -- Drew O'Doherty
9:30pm -- Brendan Little
9:15pm -- Chris Keene
9pm -- Jonathan Pape
8:40pm -- Uke Springsteen

Again, tomorrow night will be a giant mass of music as a Billy Ruane Memorial Party. Musicians will be performing at TT's and the Middle East - Downstairs. You can buy a ticket from either place ($10) and get into both as occupancy allows.