While I was folding, a song came on that I immediately recognized from the movie Love Actually. Though I don’t remember, it’s also in Four Weddings and a Funeral, which was written and directed by the same guy. I always assumed it was a made-up song. It turns out Love Is All Around was a top 10 hit by The Troggs in 1967 that was written in 10 minutes.

If you want to skip the blah-biddy-blah, here is the Spotify playlist.

Au Pays du Cocaine, Geese

It’s great to see a band like this really blowing up. A Redditor described them as sounding like the instruments are fighting each other. Their unique sound is anchored by Cameron Winter’s drone-like vocals, burning with intensity despite not giving any fucks at all.

Button, Peaer

A weird and wonderful song. Reminds me of Lomelda’s writing style. Love it. Hats off to Pitchfork for this recommendation.

Ultraviolence, Lifeguard

Another Pitchfork recommendation, this was a new band to my ears. What a find. I absolutely love these guys. They remind me of a male Horsegirl, and it turns out the two bands are both from Chicago and know each other. Also check out “It Will Get Worse” and “Under Your Reach” from their debut album Ripped and Torn. “Ultraviolence” is a wonderfully raw, rapturous thrash and the first single released for a presumably forthcoming second album.

Kurayami, Mei Semones

Mei Semones beautifully blends indie vibes, jazz and Japanese math rock. Her guitar is recorded completely dry, offering no cover for inaccuracy as she rips through blazing fast runs. Despite the song’s complexity, it manages to be quite catchy.

Taka, Pino Palladino (bass), Blake Mills (guitar), feat. Chris Dave (perc)

This highly rhythmic jazz tune has such a killer main riff. Pino leads with a bass line that sets the melody, highlighted with flourishes of guitar processed to sound like a magic flute.

Unoriginal, Magdalena Bay

Magdalena Bay completely blew me away on their Mecurial World tour back in 2022. Since then, their sound has shifted slightly away from the electronic vibe of their previous two albums. The singles they’ve released this year have a considerably more organic feel. “Unoriginal” is a beautiful little indie pop song. The B‑side on this single, “Black-Eyed Susan Climb” is also well worth a listen.

Running Errands (Yesterday), U.S. Girls

This two track single released in October comes just 6 months after Scratch It, a full album released in June. The song features some deft sampling, beautifully layered vocals and an irresistible groove.

Ghosts of Tennessee, Beatrix

This beautiful and melancholy melody reminds me of something Sufjan Stevens could have released twenty years ago. The transition around 2:10 kills me.

Guardians, Midlake feat. Madison Cunningham

Midlake is a band I’ve enjoyed since their fantastic 2006 album, Trials of Van Occupanther. This is one of those bands with albums you can safely just put on and let it run. Madison Cunningham, the indie collab queen of late, lends her creamy vocals. Everything she touches turns to gold. What a blend and what a cool song.

T Shirt, David Byrne

David Byrne is killing it lately with some really solid solo releases and having recently done his debut Tiny Desk — a must watch if you’re Talking Heads fan. Here’s another classic pop tune tilted with his trademark quirkiness and humorous social commentary.

Dusty, Hannah Cohen

A breezy 70s feel gets me every time. And then flutes? Stop it. What a chill and pretty tune. I’d never heard of this artist, but it turns out we share the same birthday! This is from her fourth album, Earthstar Mountain.

Only Girl, Man/Woman/Chainsaw

A Spotify new music recommendation, this oddly named act has yet to release a full album. “Only Girl” is a really strong single with a strongly individual sound, so I look forward to see what else they are doing.

Stevie, Warpaint

I forget how this song came to me — it’s a track off Warpaint’s 2022 album Radiate Like This. An infectious and interesting melody, buttery vocals and super chill production. New to me and on heavy rotation lately.

That’s My DJ, Esther Rose

I don’t know this artist well, but this was a Spotify recommendation and I love it. Her most popular songs on Spotify are lowfi classic country. Not really my thing, but this tune is a definite keeper.

Admit It, yeemz

Super chill tune, beautifully performed and produced. I haven’t been able to find out much about this artist. Her first album was released in July of this year.

Night or Day, Chris Cohen

Reminiscent of early 2000s indie music with a slight prog twist. Great harmony, interesting melody. Love it.

Magic, Sorry

I’d never heard of this band before, but they’ve been putting out music since 2016 and are from London. This super cool tune is off their album Cosplay, released on November 7th.

JUNKIE GARDEN, PINKLIDS

PINKLIDS is yet another case of the opening band at a show absolutely crushing it and stealing the show. To be fair, I wasn’t really there to see the main act, more to see an old friend. But PINKLIDS, a still relatively local band, had mountains of energy on stage and played a ferocious string of prog-punk tunes that left me wanting to see them again soon. It makes my heart swell to see a fledgling local band just crushing it with interesting, beautiful music and energy to spare.

PEPPA POT, Major Lazer

I’ve been a longtime Major Lazer and Diplo fan. This is my favorite track from their album GYALGEBRA, released November 21. An outrageous song, to be sure. So much fun, though.

Here is the poem — the words align with the verse melody; everything else is instrumental.

When harpers once
in wooden hall
A shining chord would strike
Their songs like arrows pierced the soul
Of great and low alike

Aglow by hearth and candleflame
From burning branch of ember
The mist of all their music sang
As if to ask in wonder

Is there a moment quite as keen
Or memory as bright
As light and fire and music (sweet)
To warm the winter’s night?
— Adam Christianson

And here’s the Bitwig audio.

Well, sort of. I’ve been a religious user of an online calendar since 2006, so I’ve got a relatively complete account since then. Before then, it’s just what I can remember. I’m missing a lot of mostly smaller shows in the Boston area between 1998 and 2006.

I’ve got this in a spreadsheet, but it doesn’t translate well here, so I had AI format it for me in a list. The spreadsheet also has who I went with, if anyone. Almost a quarter of them were solo.

Here are some stats pulled from the spreadsheet:

• 201 shows/festivals
• 1982 to present
• 85 venues
• 20 cities
• 271 artists

The List

1982-12-04 — Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan

1984-02-17 — Daryl Hall & John Oates
Tour: H2O
NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan

1987-03-15 — Pretenders
Opener: Iggy Pop
Centrum, Worcester, MA

1991-09-26 — Grateful Dead
Boston Garden, Boston, MA

1992-09-11 — Guns & Roses, Metallica, Faith No More
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA

1993-06-19 — Peter Gabriel
Tour: Secret World Tour
Centrum, Worcester, MA

1994-05-20 — Pink Floyd
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA

1996-04-12 — Primus
Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

1998-09-15 — Pearl Jam
Great Woods, Mansfield, MA

2000-07-09 — Dave Matthews Band
Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, MA

2000-09-02 — Elliott Smith, Melody Unit, more
Festival: Bumbershoot
Seattle, WA

2000/2001 — Hip Tanaka (twice)
T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge, MA

2001 — Babaloo
Harper’s Ferry, Boston, MA

2001 — Buena Vista Social Club
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2002 — Pedro the Lion
T.T. the Bear’s Place, Cambridge, MA

2003-03-03 — Daryl Hall & John Oates
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2003-08-02 — Phish
Tour/Festival: IT
Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, ME

2005-01-27 — Secret Machines
Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA

2005-06-10 — Dark Star Orchestra
Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA

2005-06-15 — The Pixies
Aganis Arena, Boston, MA

2005-08-04 — Trey Anastasio
Opener: Matisyahu
Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA

2005-12-01 — Phil Lesh & Friends
Aganis Arena, Boston, MA

2006-02-17 — Raq
Paradise, Boston, MA

2006-04-12 — Deathcab for Cutie & Franz Ferdinand
Aganis Arena, Boston, MA

2006-06-15 — The Motet, The Cat Empire, Oysterhead, Ben Folds, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, G. Love & Special Sauce, Umphrey’s McGee, Disco Biscuits, The Neville Brothers, Beck, Radiohead, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Avett Brothers, Zac Brown Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Phil Lesh and Friends, Brothers Past, Soulive, Superjam (Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Phil Lesh, Joe Russo, Marco Benevento)
Tour/Festival: Bonnaroo
Great Stage Park, Manchester, TN

2006-06-24 — The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA

2006-07-06 — Phil Lesh & Friends with Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

2006-07-19 — Danielson
Middle East, Cambridge, MA

2006-08-26 — Alman Brothers
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA

2006-09-08 — Sand Machine
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA

2006-10-04 — Everything Orchestra
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA

2006-10-06 — Umphreys McGee
Palladium, Worcester, MA

2006-10-10 — Badly Drawn Boy
Paradise, Boston, MA

2006-10-14 — James Taylor
Tour/Festival: One Man Band
Wang Center, Boston, MA

2006-10-31 — Disco Bisuits
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2006-11-07 — Album Leaf
Middle East, Cambridge, MA

2006-12-02 — RAQ
Paradise, Boston, MA

2006-12-28 — Trey Anastasio Band
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2007-02-07 — Mozart Requiem
Weston, MA

2007-03-05 — Badly Drawn Boy
Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA

2007-03-23 — Shimon Ben-Shir Group
Acton Jazz Cafe, Acton, MA

2007-04-12 — Umphrey’s McGee
Avalon, Boston, MA

2007-06-16 — Sand Machine
TT The Bears, Cambridge, MA

2007-11-16 — Dark Star Orchestra
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

2008-06-11 — Lotus
Paradise, Boston, MA

2008-06-24 — Dark Star Orchestra
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

2008-07-08 — Sand Machine
Tommy Doyles, Cambridge, MA

2008-08-22 — The Berklee Latin Jazz All-Stars
O’Day Park, Boston, MA

2008-10-17 — Return to Forever
Bank of America Pavillion, Boston, MA

2008-11-07 — New Deal
Paradise, Boston, MA

2009-01-07 — Femi Kuti
Paradise, Boston, MA

2009-04-09 — Umphrey’s McGee
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2009-04-18 — The Dead
DCU Center, Worcester, MA

2009-04-19 — The Dead
DCU Center, Worcester, MA

2009-05-27 — Cake
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

2009-05-31 — Phish
Fenway Park, Boston, MA

2009-06-06 — Phish
Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA

2009-09-23 — Neville Brothers
Boarding House Park, Lowell, MA

2009-11-21 — Dark Star Orchestra
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

2010-02-12 — Trey Anastasio Band
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2010-10-01 — Dark Star Orchestra
Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA

2010-11-12 — Sufjan Stevens
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2011-01-21 — Aimee Mann
Paradise, Boston, MA

2011-03-05 — FURTHER.
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2011-05-12 — Dark Star Orchestra
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2011-06-07 — Phish
Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA

2011-06-30 — Gilded Splinters
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA
Josh Buckley’s band

2011-07-21 — Dark Star Orchestra, Deep Banana Blackout, Dumpstaphunk, Further, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Jane’s Addiction, John Butler Trio, moe., Rubblebucket, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Toots & the Maytals, Wavy Gravy
Tour/Festival: Gathering of the Vibes
Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT

2011-08-12 — Journey & Foreigner
Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA

2011-08-17 — Derek Trucks Band
Bank of America Pavillion, Boston, MA

2011-10-28 — Blitzen Trapper
Royale, Boston, MA

2012-01-28 — American Idiot (the musical)
Opera House, Boston, MA

2012-02-10 — Umphrey’s McGee
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2012-05-04 — Rubblebucket
Paradise Boston, Boston, MA

2012-09-08 — Various local artists
Tour/Festival: JP Music Festival
Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA

2012-10-27 — Trey Anastasio
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2012-12-08 — Giant Panda Gorilla Dub Squad
Opener: Van Gordon Martin
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2013-03-22 — Van Gordon Martin
Tour/Festival: CD Release Show
Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA

2013-04-12 — Toots & The Maytals, Galactic feat. David Shaw
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2013-04-28 — Victoria Vox
The Burren, Somerville, MA

2013-07-17 — Furthur featuring Phil Lesh & Bob Weir
Bank of American Pavillion, Boston, MA

2013-08-31 — STS9 and Umphrey’s McGee
Bank of American Pavillion, Boston, MA

2013-11-22 — Rubblebucket
Paradise, Boston, MA

2014-01-18 — Secret Rhythm Project
Electric Haze, Worcester, MA

2014-02-08 — The Black Crows
Tour/Festival: BigNightBoston.com fundraiser
Opener: Fitz and the Tantrums
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2014-06-07 — Dark Star Orchestra
Hampton Beach Casino, Hampton Beach, NH

2014-06-16 — Tune-Yards
Royale, Boston, MA

2014-07-01 — Phish
Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA

2014-07-20 — Julia Mark
Tour/Festival: Serendipity
Maynard, MA

2014-08-14 — Bob Weir & RatDog
Opener: The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
Show cancelled due to illness

2014-08-15 — Dub Apocalypse with Van Gordon Martin
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA

2014-10-24 — Lettuce
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2014-11-09 — Rubblebucket
Paradise, Boston, MA

2015-06-04 — Dark Star Orchestra
Tour/Festival: Spring Tour East 2015
Wilbur, Boston, MA

2015-07-05 — The Dead
Tour/Festival: Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years Of The Grateful Dead
Soldier Field (Pay-per-view), Chicago, IL
with Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby

2015-08-06 — James Taylor
Tour/Festival: From Stockbridge to Boston
Opener: Bonnie Raitt
Fenway Park, Boston, MA

2015-11-10 — Dead & Company
DCU Center, Worcester, MA

2016-02-19 — Deep Banana Blackout
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2016-07-08 — Phish
Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA

2016-07-15 — Dead & Company
Fenway Park, Boston, MA

2016-11-18 — Caspian
Opener: The Appleseed Cast
Royale, Boston, MA

2017-01-20 — Rubblebucket
Paradise, Boston, MA

2017-05-12 — Meat Puppets
Opener: mike watt + the jom & terry show
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2017-05-26 — Tool, Major Lazer, Weezer, Run The Jewels, Mitski, The 1975, Tegan and Sara, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Chance The Rapper, Sigur Ros, Sylvan Esso, Mac Demarco
Tour/Festival: Boston Calling (all 3 days)
Harvard Athletic Complex, Cambridge, MA

2017-11-13 — Brit Floyd
Lynn Auditorium, Lynn, MA

2017-12-01 — Tedeschi Trucks Band
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2018-03-08 — Tune-Yards
Royale, Boston, MA

2018-07-07 — Trey Anastasio Band, Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure
Tour/Festival: Levitate Music and Arts Festival
Marshfield, MA

2018-07-24 — Pixies & Weezer
Comcast Center, Mansfiield, MA

2018-07-28 — Taylor Swift
Tour/Festival: The Reputation Stadium Tour
Opener: Charli XCX, Camila Cabello
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

2018-08-10 — Pedro the Lion
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2018-09-08 — Rubblebucket, Caroline Rose, Kalbells, Toth, Diet Cig
Tour/Festival: Rubblebucket’s Dream Picnic
Gateway City Arts, Holyoke, MA

2019-03-09 — Cass McCombs
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2019-03-28 — Buke & Gase
Opener: Fusilier
Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA

2019-04-21 — Dub Apocalypse
Bull McCabe’s, Sommerville, MA

2019-06-22 — Dead & Company
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

2019-07-03 — James Taylor
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

2019-07-06 — Phish at Fenway
Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Thunderstorm delay

2019-07-09 — Stef Chura
Opener: French Vanilla
Great Scott, Boston, MA

2019-09-13 — Grace VanderWaal
Tour/Festival: Ur So Beautiful Tour
Opener: Patrick Martin
Royale, Boston, MA

2019-09-21 — Rubblebucket
Tour/Festival: Dream Picnic Festival
Opener: STRFKR, And The Kids, Guerilla Toss, Toth, Kalbells, Sun Parade
Gateway City Arts, Holyoke, MA

2019-10-13 — Big Thief
Wilbur, Boston, MA

2019-12-13 — Dopapod
Paradise, Boston, MA

2021-09-18 — Trey Anastasio Band
Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA

2021-09-27 — Phoebe Bridgers
Tour/Festival: Reunion Tour
Opener: MUNA
Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA

2021-10-16 — Lucy Dacus
Tour/Festival: Home Video
Opener: Bartees Strange
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2022-02-08 — Courtney Barnett
Boch Center Wang Theater, Boston, MA
Cancelled due to Covid

2022-04-08 — Snail Mail
Tour/Festival: Valentine Tour
Opener: Joy Again
Royale, Boston, MA

2022-04-13 — Big Thief
Tour/Festival: N/A (DNWMIBIY)
Opener: Kara-Lis Coverdale
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2022-04-22 — Giant Panda Gorilla Dub Squad
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2022-05-28 — Metallica, Weezer, Glass Animals, Goose, Japanese Breakfast, Cults, Peach Tree Rascals, Horsegirl
Tour/Festival: Boston Calling
Harvard Athletic Complex, Cambridge, MA

2022-06-08 — Aldous Harding
Opener: H. Hawkline
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2022-06-13 — Tune-Yards
Tour/Festival: Sketchy
Opener: Anjmile
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2022-07-03 — James Taylor
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

2022-07-11 — Gillian Welch
Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA

2022-07-15 — Phish at Mansfield
Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
Pit

2022-07-24 — Lucy Dacus
Tour/Festival: Home Video
Opener: Samia
The Strand, Providence, RI
Lost power, unplugged start

2022-07-28 — Mitski
Tour/Festival: Laurel Hell Tour
Opener: The Weather Station
Bold Point Park, East Providence, RI

2022-08-05 — Burning Spear
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2022-08-07 — Horsegirl
Tour/Festival: Versions of Modern Performance
Opener: Pet Fox, Dummy
The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2022-08-12 — Snail Mail
Tour/Festival: Valentine Tour
Opener: Hotline Tnt, Momma
Fete Music Hall, Providence, RI

2022-08-13 — Hana Vu, Bartees Strange, The Beths, Faye Webster, Caroline Rose*, Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett
Tour/Festival: Here And There Fest
Mass MoCa, North Adams, MA
* Caroline Rose filled in for Men I Trust

2022-09-22 — Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets
Schubert, Boston, MA
Rescheduled from January

2022-09-25 — Amyl and the Sniffers
Big Night Live, Boston, MA

2022-09-29 — Japanese Breakfast
Tour/Festival: Jubilee
Opener: Yo La Tengo
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2022-10-05 — King Princess
Tour/Festival: The Hold On Baby Tour
Opener: St. Panther, two local drag queens
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2022-10-09 — Remi Wolf
Tour/Festival: Gwingle Gwongle Tour
Opener: Jordana
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2022-11-06 — Soccer Mommy
Tour/Festival: Touring, Forever
Opener: Lightning Bug
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2022-11-12 — Magdalena Bay
Tour/Festival: The Mercurial Tour
Royale, Boston, MA

2023-02-03 — Big Thief
Tour/Festival: DNWMIBIY
Opener: Buck Meek
College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT

2023-02-10 — Samia
Tour/Festival: Honey
Opener: Tommy Lefroy
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2023-03-17 — Bogmen
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2023-03-24 — Rubblebucket
Tour/Festival: Earth Worship Tour
Opener: Lunar Vacation
Big Night Live, Boston, MA

2023-04-14 — Church of the Cosmic Skull
Sonia, Cambridge, MA

2023-05-01 — Pedro the Lion
Tour/Festival: Anniversaries of Control, It’s Hard to Find a Friend
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2023-05-20 — Taylor Swift
Tour/Festival: The Eras Tour
Opener: Gayle, Phoebe Bridgers
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA

2023-05-31 — Christian Lee Hutson, Fenne Lily
Opener: Why Bonnie
The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2023-06-18 — boygenius
Tour/Festival: Re:SET Concert Series
Opener: Clairo, Dijon, Bartees Strange
Suffolk Downs, Boston, MA

2023-07-03 — James Taylor
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

2023-07-21 — Phil Lesh & Friends
Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
Cut short due to lightning storm

2023-07-31 — Big Thief
Opener: Lucinda Williams
Red Rocks, Morrison, CO
Slightly late start due to lightning

2023-08-18 — Gov’t Mule
Tour/Festival: Dark Side of the Mule
Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
2nd set Pink Floyd covers

2023-09-01 — Mahavishnu
Tour/Festival: Birds of Fire
Stone Church, Brattleboro, VT

2023-09-22 — Tegan and Sara
Tour/Festival: Crybaby Tour
Opener: Carlie Hanson
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2023-09-25 — boygenius
Tour/Festival: the tour
Opener: Palehound
MGM Music Hall, Boston, MA

2023-11-18 — Playing Dead
Sanctuary, Maynard, MA

2024-02-16 — Mitski
Opener: Tamino
MGM Music Hall, Boston, MA

2024-03-30 — Dopapod
Paradise, Boston, MA

2024-04-07 — Caroline Rose
Tour/Festival: The Art of Forgetting
Opener: La Force
Royale, Boston, MA

2024-05-14 — Mannequin Pussy
Opener: Soul Glo
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2024-05-26 — The Killers, Alvvays, Megan Thee Stallion, Blondshell, Francis of Delirium, The Heavy Heavy
Tour/Festival: Boston Calling
Harvard Athletic Complex, Cambridge, MA

2024-06-22 — Twen
Opener: Small Pond, Raavi
Warehouse XI, Cambridge, MA

2024-06-26 — Horsegirl
Tour/Festival: N/A
Opener: Darksoft, TV Buddha
The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH

2024-07-04 — James Taylor
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

2024-08-26 — Dark Star Orchestra
Summer Stage at Tree House Brewing Company, Deerfield, MA

2024-10-10 — La Luz
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA

2024-10-28 — Clairo
Tour/Festival: Charm Tour
Opener: Alice Phoebe Lou
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2024-10-30 — Go Team
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

2024-11-09 — Playing Dead
Sanctuary, Maynard, MA

2024-11-11 — Adrianne Lenker
Tour/Festival: Bright Future Tour
Opener: Suzanne Vallie
Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton, MA

2024-11-12 — Adrianne Lenker
Tour/Festival: Bright Future Tour
Opener: Suzanne Vallie
Shubert Theatre, Boston, MA

2024-12-03 — Dead Ahead
Tour/Festival: A Soulful Tribute to The Grateful Dead
Sanctuary, Maynard, MA

2025-02-07 — Rubblebucket
Tour/Festival: Year of the Banana Tour
Opener: Hannah Mohan
Big Night Live, Boston, MA

2025-03-27 — Horsegirl
Tour/Festival: N/A (Phonetics On and On)
Opener: Free Range
Arts at the Armory, Somerville, MA

2025-04-21 — Lucy Dacus
Tour/Festival: Forever Is a Feeling Tour
Opener: Jasmine.4.t, Katie Gavin
MGM Music Hall, Boston, MA

2025-05-07 — Japanese Breakfast
Tour/Festival: The Melancholy Tour
Opener: Ginger Root
MGM Music Hall, Boston, MA

2025-05-08 — Kevin Atwater
Tour/Festival: The Achilles Tour
Opener: Renny Conti
Sonia, Cambridge, MA

2025-05-21 — Samia
Tour/Festival: The Bloodless Tour
Opener: Raffaella
House of Blues, Boston, MA

2025-07-03 — James Taylor
Opener: Tiny Habits
Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

2025-07-18 — Snail Mail, Dinosaur Jr.
Tour/Festival: N/A
Opener: Easy Action
Roadrunner, Boston, MA

2025-08-03 — Lucy Dacus, Eliza McLamb, Madi Diaz, Margo Price
Tour/Festival: Back Cove Fest
Payson Park, Portland, ME

2025-09-19 — Soccer Mommy
Tour/Festival: Evergreen
Opener: Dummy
Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA

2025-09-26 — Stereolab
Opener: MEMORIALS
Royale, Boston, MA

2025-10-21 — Big Thief
Tour/Festival: Somersault Slide 360 Tour
Opener: Lomelda
MGM Music Hall, Boston, MA

2025-11-14 — Dark Star Orchestra
Orpheum, Boston, MA

2025-11-20 — Weakened Friends
Tour/Festival: Feels Like Hell
Opener: Nova One, Pinklids
Sinclair, Cambridge, MA

“Tumbleweed” is a fun ride and the third single from TWEN’s third studio album, Fate Euphoric, released November 4th. I’m looking forward to seeing these guys live again in February. I am praying they can get Raavi to open for them again.

I stumbled on French artist Oklou via their recent Tiny Desk performance, which opens with a mind-blowing performance of this song, “ict”. Surprisingly, it was not a single from their first full-length studio album, Choke Enough, released back in February. Also check out “take me by the hand” and “harvest sky” on that album.

Tōth is the solo project of Alex Toth, co-founder of one of my favorite bands, Rubblebucket. I have seen Rubblebucket live 10 times and they always deliver. At their Boston show in February, they announced the band was taking a break to pursue solo projects. Last time they did the solo project thing, the band organized a summer festival in Holyoke to showcase both solo projects, introduce their audience to some great upcoming bands (that’s how I was introduced to Caroline Rose) and close out with an epic Rubblebucket performance. “Spiraling” is the first single from either solo project and definitely has a Rubblebucket feel to it.

“Dopus No. 1” by True Loves may be the funkiest song ever. I’d never heard of these guys, but this was one of those YouTube recommendations I absolutely fell in love with.

“Map of Manhattan” by Sorcha Richardson came out 2 years ago, so not technically new, but it’s new to me. I think this was a Spotify recommendation. I really dig the “Eye In The Sky” vibe going on here.

“Ontsnapt” by Dutch artist Eefje de Visser isn’t in English, but I don’t generally pay much attention to lyrics. I love the production and general sound of this, its strong melody and rich vocal harmonies.

“Madonna” is a remake of the song originally released on Toro y Moi’s 2024 studio album, Whole Erth. In September, Unerthed: Hole Erth Unplugged provided us with lush re-imaginings of what was originally recorded as electronic music, often drowning in auto-tune. This arrangement really highlights the song’s melody and happy vibe, and the whole album showcases Toro y Moi’s versatility in the studio.

Just 15 months after her very successful This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway, Lola Young dropped I’m Only F**king Myself in September. I wasn’t crazy about the singles released for this album, but tucked away on track 6 is this gem of an oddball song with a very cool piano bass line and infectious hook, “Penny Out Of Nothing”.

I’m a big Madison Cunningham fan and enjoyed all the singles for Ace, released October 10th. Taken as a whole, it’s her strongest album yet. “Skeletree” is one of the non-singles that hits the mark for what I love about this artist. Really interesting chord changes and melody, beautiful instrumentation. I caught her live at Sinclair in Cambridge during her last tour and was blown away by the level of talent on that small stage. Since then, Cunningham has become one of the artists I have in common with my daughter, and we’re looking forward to catching her Boston show in April.

Speaking of my daughter, she happens to be Lucy Dacus’s #1 fan, and I mean that seriously. This cover of Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” was released on the deluxe version of her recent album, Forever Is A Feeling: The Archives. It’s rare that a cover improves on the original, and especially a classic like this one.

“Money Hits” is a fun and quirky tune from Daughter of Swords sophomore album, Alex, released in April. The production on this album is really interesting, and this song showcases it well.

The third single released ahead of her November 7th album, Love and Fortune, “Feel it Change” is a head-bobbing ear worm. Although this isn’t it, I completely fell in love with the B‑side of the album’s first single, “Standing Ovation”. Like many of Donnelly’s songs, it’s a slow burn but the indie rock jam that starts out of nowhere halfway through is absolute gold.

My daughter turned me onto this tune, and it’s really grown on me. “Coinstar” by Big Dumb Baby.

Francis of Delirium is an indie rock artist from Luxembourg. I loved her 2024 album Lighthouse, and caught her powerhouse show at Boston Calling that year. I’m very excited to see new material coming out. “Little Black Dress” is the first single from what I assume is a forthcoming album.

“New Distraction” by fanclubwallet

Super catchy pop-rock tune. Beautiful production, great hook, really strong vocals. 📺

“Waterfight” by Bruiser and Bicycle

I love the way this song moves in and out of the beat. Really interesting melody and instrumentation. Good vocal harmonies. And the little synth line that appears here and there sits beautifully on top of the otherwise acoustic feel. 📺

“Lasting Impression” by Ava Luna

This song has such a cool rhythm. Boy / girl vocals always win with me. And the bass on this achieves an enviable tone. 📺

“Honest Man” by Freak Slug

Some songs have a chewy feel that makes me just want to eat it. The hook on this track is infectious. 📺

“Animal Kingdom Chaotic” by Jesca Hoop

Not technically new to me — this is from a forthcoming re-imagining of Hoop’s 2017 album Memories Are Now. But after 7 years, this song has incredible staying power and remains one of my all time favorites. The vocal melody here is off the hook, interesting lyrics and some really nice guitar work. Also check out Simon Says from this album. 📺

“Adalynn” by Ava June

I may be slightly biased on this one, but my daughter released her third single in September. She’s not on Bandcamp (yet!) but she’s on the major streaming platforms. I’m incredibly proud of the work she’s done on these and cannot wait to hear what she does next. Be sure to check out the other two, Eliza and Part of Your Life.

I use Spotify and YouTube for discovering and listening to new music, whether new releases or just new to me. That probably amounts to 30–50% of my listening time. The rest of the time, I listen to my collection of digital music. I have been collecting MP3 files for decades. Much of it was transferred from my large CD collection in the late 90s and early 00s. I bought a lot of music from MP3.com and eMusic back in the day. And from Amazon and iTunes. What I couldn’t find in digital format, I’d buy from CD Baby or elsewhere, rip the CD to MP3 and never touch it again.

When our child was old enough to start discovering music, I realized I was in a music rut and hadn’t really paid attention to new music in years. I discovered new music again along with my daughter as she started getting into music. My collection needed some new blood, and I wanted to at least be familiar with what is popular.

I used Google Play Music at first and just started listening to new releases across various genres and saving what I liked. Turns out I liked a decent slice of the new music coming out. Later on, because what had become YouTube Music kept dropping the ball on important midnight releases (my daughter, Taylor Swift), we switched to Spotify.

Here is my process for finding and collecting digital music:

• Listen to new release and recommended playlists each week. Listen to genre specific new release playlists. I often don’t have a lot of time for this, as it requires me to pay attention to the music rather than just have it playing in the background. I just do it when I can and feel like it.
• Add songs I like to my Liked playlist. New songs tend to fall in one of three categories: 1. I’m not interested. 2. It’s interesting. 3. I like it. Songs that fall into buckets 2 and 3 go into the Liked playlist.
• Listen to the Liked playlist. Remove anything I’ve added that I’m not interested in after a few listens. Maybe half of the “interesting” songs end up dropping off over time. Sometimes even a song I really liked at first listen sours on me after a few more listens.
• Every three months, purchase the songs that have been added to the Liked playlist since the last quarter and add to my collection. I do this seasonally, breaking up the year into Spring (Mar-May), Summer (Jun-Aug), Fall (Sep-Nov) and Winter (Dec-Feb).
• After purchasing and downloading, I tag the files for consistency, apply a standard set of genres, cover art, and add it to a new quarterly playlist, so I can always go back to that time.
• The music is then transferred to my Navidome instance, which runs on the same server that hosts this site. Navidrome is an open source self-hosted streaming service, and I love it.

I’ve been doing this methodically for 5 years now, adding around 100–150 songs each season.

You’re probably wondering why I go through this trouble and added expense instead of just making playlists on Spotify. There are several reasons:

• A preference to own my music and have full control over it, rather than renting it from a service. Streaming services are generally considered bad for artists. They can also raise their prices, change features or shut down at any time.
• The ability to organize things as I like and decide what does and does not make it in.
• Not feeling locked into a streaming service. This process works on any streaming service without having to migrate or rebuild my collection.
• The joy of tinkering, customizing Navidrome, grooming and otherwise maintaining the collection. Navidrome keeps a database that I can access to do lots of interesting things, and direct access to the files enables me to write scripts to do just about anything I want.
• The inclusion of music that isn’t available on streaming, including that of my own creation, friends’ creation, and local artists.

Sadly, purchasing digital music has become more difficult as streaming services have taken over. I buy mostly from Bandcamp, Amazon and Mp3Million. Aside from the subset of music available through Bandcamp, Amazon is the only legitimate source for digital downloads. If Amazon were to follow their peers and stop offering digital sales in favor of forcing listeners into their streaming service, there would be nowhere to buy most music digitally that legitimately compensates artists (or more specifically, their labels), and that’s a scary thought. I also hate putting money in Bezos’s pocket, so I’ll buy older music from Mp3Million. If a song is not available anywhere digitally, I record it from YouTube or Spotify. Those instances are limited to a few songs per quarter, though. If I like most of an album that isn’t available on Bandcamp, I may also purchase it on vinyl or CD and convert to MP3 from there.

Here are some stats from my collection, as of this writing:

• 1,527 artists
• 2,808 albums
• 12,747 tracks
• 6,465 “liked” tracks kept in regular rotation
• 4,700 archived tracks that are not in Navidrome at all

Tracks (total / liked) by decade:

Navidrome supports the ability to “like” tracks, and I use that in a Smart Playlist that I call “Like FM” to dynamically serve up 150 random liked songs that I haven’t listened to in 180 days or more. This is what I usually listen to — it’s like my own personal radio station available from anywhere and always serving up stuff I haven’t heard in a while. And since my music tastes are fairly broad, it always makes for an eclectic ride. Here’s the definition for Like FM:

{
  "all": [
    {
      "is": {
        "loved": true
      }
    },
    {
      "notInTheLast": {
        "lastPlayed": 180
      }
    }
  ],
  "sort": "random",
  "limit": 150
}

{
  "all": [
    {
      "is": {
        "loved": true
      }
    },
    {
      "notInTheLast": {
        "lastPlayed": 180
      }
    }
  ],
  "sort": "random",
  "limit": 150
}

Navidrome provides a nice web interface for listening, similar to streaming services. It also implements the Subsonic API, which is supported by a wide variety of clients and players. On the desktop, I like Supersonic. For Android, I like Simfonium.

Tagging for genres is a never-ending process. MP3 tags support multiple values, so I can tag tracks with multiple genres and use Navidrome or Simfonium to filter on them. My current strategy is to pick one or more primary genres that best describe the track, then add additional descriptive genres. Here are the primary genres, with track counts indicated in parentheses:

• Rock (6,038)
• Pop (2,128)
• Soft Rock (764)
• Electronic — not Pop or Dance (638)
• Jazz (577)
• Funk (318)
• Reggae — includes Dub, Dancehall, Ska, etc. (298)
• Folk (272)
• Hard Rock (205)
• Hip-Hop (187)
• New Age (175)
• World (154)
• Punk (153)
• Classical (137)
• Bluegrass (86)
• Dance (81)
• Fusion (67)
• Metal (32)
• Blues (33)
• Country (29)
• Ambient (14)

Then I add any of these modifier genres that apply, though most tracks haven’t been augmented with these yet:

• Mainstream (1,492)
• Instrumental (1,254)
• Jam — improvisational (799)
• Vinyl — ripped from a record (491)
• Soundtrack (193)
• Alternative — artsy/avant-garde/quirky (107)
• Minimalist (80)
• Childrens (41)
• Oldies (62)
• Vocal — solo vocal or highly vocal focused (29)
• Holiday (12)
• Chill (7)
• Cover (6)
• Psychedelic (5)

These have changed over time and are still changing. I’d love to get even more descriptive with genre tags like Drums, Guitar and Bass to denote interesting solos or parts, or tags to better describe the mood of a song like Happy or Melancholy. I use Puddletag for managing tags in my files, and I’ve also written a custom Python web app that I call Multigenre for doing large scale genre tag management. I’ll post about that in more detail sometime.

I’ll leave this here for now. There will definitely be more posts on this topic in the future, and I may promote this post to a page that I can better maintain going forward.

If you’re a fellow digital music collector, hit me up in the comments or email me. I’d love to talk shop and exchange notes.

Stereolab’s 2025 album Instant Holograms on Metal Film, their first in 15 years, is one of their strongest. It’s extremely rare for a band of this longevity to put out a great album, perfectly fitting into the repertoire and even improving it. After enjoying the new album and having missed them at Roadrunner in 2022, I was elated to find them playing at Royale. It’s my favorite club venue in Boston — big enough to not feel cramped but small enough to make every performance feel intimate.

Opener MEMORIALS was entertaining and, at moments, great. They have a strong Stereolab vibe and received a warm reception from the crowd, though they definitely take the spacy jams to another level, resulting in multiple extended periods of interesting, if not terribly musical, noise. The highlight for me was “Cut It Like a Diamond”. The giant woofers at Royale really took the pounding sub-bass in that song to the next level, while still keeping it real.

Stereolab burned through a fantastic set list, included below for your listening pleasure. It was an early Friday night set, and Lætitia Sadier complained about having a hard stop at 9:30. But it didn’t keep her from rocking the trombone across three songs and taking their time with some extended jams.

Bonus: My favorite Stereolab song is a deep cut from 1992’s Switched On, “Changer”.