Tag Archives: Portland Maine

April 20, 2015 · 5:26 PM

Gregory Alan Isakov

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Port City Music Hall, Portland, Maine

I stumbled upon Gregory Alan Isakov almost exactly six years ago when he opened for Brandi Carlile at South Portland High School. I caught him in Portland again in 2011, but have missed him since then, so was really excited to finally see him live again. My sweetie was able to meet me in Portland and we had a perfect Portland date night—drinks at The North Point, a delicious dinner at Empire, and a cup of coffee before the show where we met up with my steadfast concert friend Colin.

I have a pretty firm rule that I always get to a venue early and grab a spot up close and catch the opening act. Following that rule has been abundantly fruitful, as many of my current favorites are people I first saw as a show opener (Glen Hansard and Brandi Carlile are both good examples). Thursday night, getting to Port City Music Hall early for the opening act didn’t pan out for me because I thought they were terrible. People ask me all the time if I write bad reviews and I usually don’t have only bad things to say about a performance, but this was an exception. Jolie Holland and a guitarist “opened” the show—they bantered with each other awkwardly but mostly ignored the crowd, and she turned her back on the audience and away from the microphone after each song. I didn’t like their mumbled, slightly out of tune songs and their stage presence was ghastly. I was floored when Gregory invited her back out later in the show to do a song together and he spoke about how blown away he was by her when he first saw her live.

Jolie Holland

Gregory Alan Isakov (GAI) and his band took the stage close to 9PM and the crowd was ready for him (I’m definitely not the only one who struggled through the opener). I was very happy to see Jeb Bows on fiddle. I’ve seen him play with Brandi Carlile and her band a number of times, but didn’t know (and Colin told me) that Jeb’s home is with GAI. He has a ton of stage presence and really wails on his instrument and such fun to watch. My sweetie has a music background and intended to go into performance as a career, so I was delighted to see the huge smile spread across on his face right from the start when GAI opened with “Monsters” (check out this new song backed by the Seattle Symphony). The fullness of sound those five people (four on strings and a drummer) made together was gorgeous. Gregory’s voice is simple and clear and his folk songs are pretty and evoke times gone by. His songs are brought to their fullest with the addition of strings, harmonies, percussion, and an occasional banjo accompaniment.

From left to right are Jeb Bows, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Phil Parker

Steve Varney and Jeb Bows

I suspect Gregory Alan Isakov is a good guy. I was impressed by how little he put himself in the spotlight (literally, too, when you look at where he’s standing in my photos). He spoke about everyone in the band warmly throughout the night. We sang happy birthday to cellist Phil Parker. They played a lot of Gregory’s 2013 album, The Weatherman, but didn’t leave out 2009’s This Empty Northern Hemisphere and I was so happy to hear “This Empty Northern Hemisphere,” “That Moon Song,” and “Dandelion Wine” live.

Most of the band left the stage at one point and Gregory and Steve Varney played “The Stable Song” off of their 2007 release, That Sea, That Gambler. It was beautiful. Soon after, Gregory crossed something off his “list of things to accomplish that people make at the new year” and instead of “growing a scary beard” or “standing up on a surfboard,” he had his “gospel moment” when everyone gathered around one microphone and accompanied him on “Honey, It’s Alright.”

A song in the dark

“The Stable Song”

“Honey, It’s Alright”

This was one of those special shows that I didn’t want to end. Gregory Alan Isakov and his band are an absolute pleasure to see live. Thanks for hosting a wonderful night, Port City Music Hall!

xo, bree

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April 16, 2015 · 9:30 AM

Shakey Graves with David Ramirez

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

State Theatre, Portland, Maine

I saw Shakey Graves at the State Theatre a year and a half ago opening for The Devil Makes Three and was impressed. I knew Alejandro Rose-Garcia from his brief role on Friday Night Lights, and it’s great to see the buzz that’s grown around him that led to a sold out show last year at Port City Music Hall and a very full house of swooning fans last night when he headlined the State Theatre.

As I often do, I got to the State when doors opened and snagged a second row center spot for the show. I was very excited to see Austin’s David Ramirez open the show—98.9 WCLZ plays his song “The Bad Days,” which I love. I thought David was great—just a man, his powerful voice, honest lyrics, and an acoustic guitar. Right up my alley. I am listening to him right now.

David Ramirez

Shakey Graves took the stage and I was glad to see that people were enthusiastically there to support him and were singing along. The last time I saw him at the State, people didn’t seem to know him at all, so he’s come a long way quickly. He has a raspy, clear voice, plays guitar confidently, and brings a lot of energy with the kick drum. Check out “Roll the Bones,” which was the first Shakey Graves song I ever heard to get a sense of him if you don’t already know him. He was joined by a drummer and a guitarist for parts of the night, but Shakey can do it all on his own. He’s very comfortable in front of a crowd, too, and was at ease on stage and chatted with us warmly throughout the night. People were psyched to sing along with his best-known song, “Dearly Departed,” too. It was a fun show and I’ll definitely see him whenever he’s in town. Thanks to the State Theatre for hosting! Check out more pictures from the show below.

xo,

bree

Shakey Graves was all smiles last night at the State Theatre

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February 25, 2015 · 11:19 AM

The Lone Bellow with Odessa

Monday, February 23, 2015

Port City Music Hall, Portland, Maine

*If you are strapped for time, the short version of this post is that The Lone Bellow is my favorite band and their live show is the most passionate, heartfelt experience you’ll be lucky enough to be part of. Read their deeply personal biography in this intimate Josh Jackson feature in Paste Magazine for context. Watch this Lone Bellow concert filmed by Front Row Boston, or, better yet, just trust me and go see them in person!*

What a beautiful day! My friend Colin asked me to join him for a private concert with The Lone Bellow (TLB) at 98.9 WCLZ’s Studio Z in the afternoon and we were back in front of the stage at Port City Music Hall just a couple of hours later to see their full show. We chatted briefly with the band, too, (which I normally avoid) and they were down to earth and grateful we liked their music so much. Phew. That’s gone badly before.

Colin and I grabbed a delicious dinner at Empire and hurried back to PCMH to be there when the doors opened. It was 3 degrees. And there was a line outside. We grabbed a spot behind a couple of women front and center named Bobbie and Abra who happen to write TreeToGrow.com, a Lone Bellow fan site. I started chatting with Dave and Kathy who were standing right behind me when they mentioned the Arcade Fire show I’d missed in Bangor this summer while I was driving cross-country. They mentioned that they live in Farmingdale and then a woman standing near us leaned in to say she and her husband live there, too. It turns out that Kelly and her husband Joe are both teachers and that Kelly’s dad and I worked together for over a decade at Mt. Ararat High School. Another woman standing on my other side overheard me mention Mt. Ararat and told me that she attended and then taught at Brunswick High School and we compared names and know a lot of the same people. I mention all of this because it was such a lovely experience and true to what the best possible concert experience can be when you find yourself surrounded by people because of music and find other things you have in common. I have a handful of friends who I only know because of our shared interest in music (Colin included), and I really appreciate the power of music to connect people.

The lights dimmed and Odessa took the stage. Odessa played electric guitar and was joined by two female musicians—one on bass and the other on guitar and lap steel guitar. Odessa’s voice was light and airy and their harmonies were strong, especially on “Hummed Low.” “I Will Be There” was definitely the standout of their set. Their short opening set was quite mellow and I would have loved some audience interaction. Check out this feature on Odessa—the “Best of What’s Next” in Paste Magazine for some background.

Odessa

Set up for The Lone Bellow’s set went quickly and they took the stage just after 9 PM and opened (appropriately) with “Cold As It Is.” Next up was “Then Came The Morning,” which is hymn-like with beautiful harmonies. Kanene talked about the song during their Studio Z performance earlier and mentioned that the woman on the cover of the album embodies the theme of the song because despite whatever she faces she gets up every morning and does her hair and makeup and goes to breakfast at the same diner. Something I appreciate about TLB is the depth and honesty of their lyrics. Consider the lyrics to “Then Came The Morning”—“Take my words, breathe them out like smoke/Burn every single letter that I wrote/Let the pages turn to ash, I don’t want them back/Everything you always said to me/Starts to sound like broken glass on streets/Spread out all over places where I sleep/Now you finally left me/Done with all your lying/Joy comes in the morning/You won’t see me crying.” The Lone Bellow doesn’t shy away from the hurt. They embrace it, reflect on it, and lift it up so the listener can share in it with them and feel a little better because we can relate. It’s a rawness—a realness, truth—that pervades their music and makes it genuine and compelling.

This is how Zach Willams welcomed us. Clapping on top of the monitor while leaning over the crowd. Such a great stage presence.

Brian Elmquist, Zach Williams, and Kanene Pipkin of The Lone Bellow

Justin Glasco on drums

The playful side of The Lone Bellow

Husband and wife Jason and Kanene Pipkin

Zach joined us in the crowd a number of times

Did anyone else notice that TLB played nearly every song they’ve ever recorded for us? I took a look at the set list Colin posted online and they only left five of their songs off the night’s set list. Talk about giving it everything you’ve got. They got the crowd clapping and singing along during “Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold” from their self-titled debut album and then brought it right down with a trio of slow songs—“Call To War,” “Watch Over Us,” and “Two Sides of Lonely.” “Call To War” features Kanene’s lush, raspy voice and it is definitely my favorite on Then Came The Morning. “Watch Over Us” is transcendent. You can always hear a pin drop in the room when Brian, Zach, and Kanene stand around a single microphone and belt that heart-wrenching, beautiful song.

“Watch Over Us”

Zach was charming as always and kept the audience engaged even between songs. He said they’d gone to Becky’s Diner and he’d eaten the nine-pound omelet called the Titanic. Someone shouted out that they should try Marcy’s Diner and he asked if Becky and Marcy are friends or if they’re in a fight over a fisherman.

98.9 WCLZ has played TLB’s “You Never Need Nobody” for a long while now, and the sold out crowd at PCMH was thrilled to hear it live. Kanene stunned (as always) on “Button.” Zach talked about working with Aaron Dessner from The National on their latest album at Dreamland Studio in Woodstock, New York. If you think you hear gospel influence in their music, you certainly do—and the album was recorded in a converted church for good measure.

Zach introduced the band—including Kanene’s husband Jason Pipkin (“the only man in the band with elbow pads, so he could slip and fall and it would be no problem”) and new drummer Justin Glasco—and got into some 80s references about shoulder pads and they broke out into Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True” for a hot second. TLB wrapped their high-energy, leave-it-all-on-the-stage set with “Take My Love” and the crowd went wild. The energy was palpable. TLB came back to wow us a bit more with “Tree to Grow” and “Teach Me to Know.” Zach took a long pause towards the end of “Tree to Grow” and there was silence in the packed room. It’s incredible to see a band be able to draw a crowd in like that. We enthusiastically sang along on the “carried away” refrain of “Teach Me to Know” as the magical night came to an end.

Zach giving us the thumbs up at the end of the night

The Lone Bellow is my favorite band and this was a dream of a night. Thank to you everyone, especially the band, for such a wonderful evening.

xo,

bree

Here are other posts I’ve written about The Lone Bellow:

June 2013 at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA

November 2013 at Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine

February 2014 at Portsmouth Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

July 2014 at South Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

February 2015 in Studio Z at Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine

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February 3, 2015 · 1:05 PM

London Grammar with Until The Ribbon Breaks

Saturday, January 24, 2015

State Theatre, Portland, Maine

Please pardon the delay. I have been snowed in for far too many days now. Seriously—FOUR of the last FIVE weekdays until today were snow days. My will to do anything productive has been zapped for a week now. I’ve shoveled, had tea and watched The Wire. Rinse and repeat. I was SO ready to leave the house this morning even though the roads were horrendous. I’d missed my students. I also don’t want to shovel again. Ever.

I was so excited when I saw that Britain’s London Grammar was coming to Portland. I’d seen them on KEXP and was BLOWN AWAY. Their show had been pushed from July to maybe October and then moved to the State Theatre in January. A lot of us had great expectations and had waited more than half a year to see them live. They were well worth the wait.

I’m glad Colin and I made it early to the State after an amazing Hey Rosetta! show at One Longfellow Square and got a good spot for show opener Until The Ribbon Breaks. I’d come across them on NPR a couple of weeks before the show with a first listen of their new album, A Lesson Unlearnt. It’s lyrically heavy and more electronic than I tend towards, but it’s an interesting and layered piece. Seeing UTRB was similarly theatrical and intense. Pete Lawrie-Winfield is a strong front man and the videos played in the background throughout their set made it a complete, dramatic experience. Pete experienced a myriad of tech issues on stage that keyboardist/bassist/vocalist James Gordon fixed for him a number of times. It added a bit of levity to their set.

Until The Ribbon Breaks

Pete Lawrie-Winfield

James Gordon

Elliot Wall

Sophie and Kate arrived and found us in time for UK electronic pop trio London Grammar’s set. They were both strangers to London Grammar’s music, so I loved seeing their faces light up as they processed just what a treat they were in for. Sophie’s eyes widened as she mouthed “HOLY CRAP!” to me early on in the first song. That’s the London Grammar effect. Hannah Reid can’t be 25 years old yet, but her voice is ethereal and captivating. Hannah, Dan Rothman (guitar), and Dominic Major (keyboard/percussion) met early on while students at University of Nottingham and released their first EP in February of 2013. Their first full-length album, If You Wait, dropped in September of 2013. I was especially happy to hear “Hey Now” and “Strong” live. Everyone in London Grammar seemed humble and approachable. They interacted comfortably with the crowd and genuinely thanked us for our support. Hannah even pointed out a fan in the front row who’d attended all of their American tour dates and said how much it meant to the band to have such devoted fans. To say I was blown away by London Grammar live is such an understatement. I’ve struggled to find the words to talk about how amazing they are. Please check them out. I’m listening to them on repeat these days. See photos below!

xo,

bree

London Grammar

Dan Rothman

Hannah Reid

Dominic Major

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January 28, 2015 · 8:32 PM

Hey Rosetta!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine

I was very excited for this night of back-to-back shows! I was sad when I first saw that Newfoundland’s elusive Hey Rosetta! was coming back to Portland on the 24^th, because I already had plans to see UK’s London Grammar that night. Imagine my delight when I found out that Hey Rosetta! was playing early because One Longfellow Square was hosting a second show there later that night. I could go to both! Serendipity!

I’d seen Hey Rosetta! just a few months earlier for the first time ever opening for Stars at Port City Music Hall. I’ve been a fan for years, and they sounded as good live as I’d hoped. I drove to Portland in a bit of a snowstorm and snagged what I thought was a miraculous parking spot between the two venues and hurried to get a good seat at One Longfellow. I learned when I got to OLS that my great parking spot was probably available because a parking ban was going into effect in a few hours and I’d have to move before the London Grammar show. My concert friend Colin surprised me by coming to the show based on my recommendation on a rare Saturday night off for him. He told me later that it was the best money he’d spent so far in 2015.

Hey Rosetta! took the stage filled to the brim with people,equipment, instruments, and cords. They are seven mostly multi-instrumentalists, and only six of them fit on the actual stage amongst all three keyboards, six guitars, two bass guitars, a cello, French horn, trumpet, fiddle, a drum kit, glockenspiel, and all variety of other percussive tools. They opened with “Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering)” and completely won over the audience in short time with their powerful, layered sound. It’s also the opening track off their newest album, Second Sight, which just released in the US this week and you can stream here. Hey Rosetta’s last album, Seeds, came out in 2011, so this album is much anticipated.

Hey Rosetta!

Tim Baker’s lead vocals are strong and clear. He can really sing, and he knows just where to project and with how much power to make the point. I could listen to him for hours and not tire of it. If there’s any one thing I wish Hey Rosetta! would do differently, it would be to interact more with the audience. Tim chatted a tiny bit to thank us for coming to the show, but I’d love to hear more about the band and about their songs sometime directly from them (Google searching is only so satisfying).

Since they really did have to get off stage with time to clear off their insane amount of gear so another band could set up for a show, Hey Rosetta! didn’t have time to dally. They invited us to get up and dance together to “Red Heart,” and it was then that I noticed how many great folks were in the crowd. People were really friendly, so I suspect a lot of them were Canadian. They really didn’t have time to leave the stage and wait for us to clap and come back for an encore, so Tim just introduced their last song “Bandages” as being about the long Newfoundland winter and being ready for spring. After Juno and the amount of snow shoveling I’ve done the last two days, I’m ready for spring now, too! Come back anytime, Hey Rosetta! You guys are such a pleasure to see live!

xo,

bree

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January 27, 2015 · 1:10 AM

Mipso with Dan Mills

Friday, January 16, 2015

One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine

This show was one of those rare gems—it was such a treat to see both of these bands live!

I’d seen Dan Mills play at Bowdoin College in the fall of 2009—my dear friend Megan worked in student activities then and organized a “Shameless Plugs” concert (I found a video) of musicians with ties to Bowdoin. Dan is outgoing Bowdoin College President Barry Mills’ nephew. I joined Megan for the show and was impressed. I’d stayed on his mailing list all of these years, and was excited when he let us know he’d finally be back in Maine for this show at One Longfellow Square.

The One Longfellow Square board member who welcomed us introduced Dan Mills as Dan Hill. Dan smiled and came to the stage, played a sweet song and then said “it’s totally no big deal, but I figured I should tell you early on that I’m actually Dan Mills.” He handled it graciously and showed no ego—a big plus. Newly engaged Dan played a song about asking a girl’s father for her hand. It was a funny juxtaposition with the chatty girl sitting behind me who was texting with boys she was meeting on Tinder during the show (we moved during intermission). Dan appreciated the overall very attentive audience and said it was like playing in his living room. He told us they usually tour as a five-piece band, but it was just Dan, Adam Podd on upright bass, and Mark Goodell on guitar. I particularly liked “The Good Son” and singing along to “Lonely When You’re Gone.” I think Dan’s voice has a James Taylor thing going on. He’s great.

Adam Podd, Dan Mills, and Mark Goodell

I’d never heard of North Carolina’s Mipso, and am SO very glad that I happened to be front and center to see them live. I’ve haven’t been seeing many new-to-me bands lately, and so this fresh, charming, talented group was such a pleasant surprise. From left to right across the stage, Mipso is Jacob Sharp on mandolin, Wood Robinson on upright bass, Joseph Terrell on lead vocal and guitar, and Libby Rodenbough on fiddle. Their website aptly says “the renegade traditionalists of Mipso are doing their part to take three-part harmony and Appalachian influences into new territory.” I liked them immediately. Their songs are meaningful and it was so refreshing to be able to hear every single lyric sung by Joseph with his crystal clear, bright voice. The harmonies and vocals added by Jacob, Wood, and Libby throughout the night made rounded out their lovely, airy sound. I’m going to go on a little bit more because I do that when I’m excited about a band, but if you need to stop reading now just know that this band is one of the best I’ve seen in a while.

Mipso is Jacob Sharp, Wood Robinson, Joseph Terrell, and Libby Rodenbough

Mipso told us it was their first time in Maine and they’ve played 160 (!) shows in the last year, including touring Japan (check out this documentary)! The band met at UNC Chapel Hill and Jacob, Wood, and Joseph toured for a year after graduating together while Libby finished her senior year. They joked they’d never had someone open the show for them that was such a show stealer (a nice compliment for Dan Mills and his band). Everyone was genuine and engaging on stage and I found myself completely drawn in. Jacob showed off his flashy “Bluegrass” belt buckle and said (joked?) he’d bought it for a friend for Christmas, but that for some reason they weren’t in touch anymore. When they introduced “Red Eye to Raleigh,” Libby chimed in to tell us “Raleigh is in North Carolina—just for context.”

Joseph told us about growing up playing guitar with his grandmother and sang “When I’m Gone” for her. I found this blog post with an entire article about the inspiration for just this one song. I love context! Joseph won first place in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest in 2014 for “Angelina Jane Is Long Gone.” No wonder he won, right? The band told us how much they’d enjoyed their time in Portland—being hosted by The Ghost of Paul Revere, meeting talented violin and guitar makers, enjoying local beer and ramen, and having dinner with Joe Walsh (one of Jacob’s idols). It sounded like a great visit to Portland, and the show was packed with people who obviously knew Mipso personally (friends from North Carolina going to medical school in Maine) and a handful of fans who even knew all of the words to their songs. I’m not sure why I’m so late to the Mipso phenomenon, but I’m on board now.

Mipso unplugged

I loved Libby’s rich lead vocals on “Down in the Water,” and the guys harmonized particularly beautifully on that tune. They tried out a couple of new songs (and a new verb—“guinea pigging”) on us, including one they’d never played anywhere before that I really liked called “50 Bucks.” Another of my favorites of the night was “This Lonely Town” which included the very pretty lyric “When the seasons change/I hope I never stay the same.” I started to be sad about halfway through Mipso’s set when I realized that they’d eventually have to stop playing, and when Mipso said goodnight, I was bummed. Luckily, they played a last song completely unplugged—a New Grass Revival cover—as a lovely sendoff. Mipso–hurry back to Maine! Friends–check this band out!

xo,

bree

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January 23, 2015 · 2:01 PM

Max Garcia Conover with Ben Cosgrove

Sunday, January 4, 2014

One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine

We’re so happy that Max, Sophie, and Arlo the poodle are home from their cross-country fall tour! Our friends Ken, Tasha, and Sammie organized a surprise welcome home party for Max and Sophie before his show later that evening at One Longfellow Square. Ken asked us if we’d be willing to play a song or read something either written by Max or Sophie or inspired by them. It was wonderful to get to catch up with the gang and welcome Max and Sophie back in such a creative way. I was so impressed with friends who learned and reimagined Max’s complex songs and Ellery producer Ben Cosgrove blew us away with an impromptu performance (read: he forgot to prepare and it was still insanely good) of “Evelyn O.” on piano

A welcome home serenade!

Bartlett and Ben learned a Max song. No easy feat!

Ben Cosgrove. You are too good.

Party organizer Ken Templeton played a Max song, too!

Max played us a song while Sophie lovingly looked on

We ventured over to One Longfellow early to grab spots for the show. Ben Cosgrove is a musical prodigy. His piano pieces are layered and interesting. As someone who really loves lyrics (which he doesn’t write), Ben keeps me engaged by talking about the inspiration for each of his songs. He’s regularly inspired by place, he said, and some of the songs he played were “Montreal Song,” “Palo Alto”, and “Abilene”—which is about a cross-Kansas drive and the disorienting feeling of not understanding your place in the expanse. We saw Ben on the second night of his national tour, and he’s ended up in the Pacific Northwest where he’s doing a musical residency for a couple of months. Someone booed when he said he’d be gone a while, and he smiled and said “it’s okay, Mom.” It was a cute moment made better by the fact that Ben’s mom really was in the audience.

The insanely talented Ben Cosgrove

Max Garcia Conover took the stage after an intermission and told us that playing a show with Ben Cosgrove is the best and also the most harrowing thing possible. Max told us a few stories about his national tour, including a night where he played a “world music night” in Venice Beach (the Garcia in his name must have done it) so he played a song about his Puerto Rican grandfather for good measure. The centerpiece of the tour was the 1986 Toyota Motorhome that Max and Sophie bought for $2,500 to travel America in. It finally gave out in a Wal-Mart parking lot on Thanksgiving and they had to cancel parts of the tour. Max and Sophie decided they really wanted stuffing, so they waiting in the Black Friday line at Wal-Mart to get Stove Top stuffing. Max said it was a low point of the tour. Sophie wrote about this particular adventure on her blog. They eventually made it home to upstate NY where Max learned Bob Dylan’s “I Was Young When I Left Home.”

Max Garcia Conover

Sammie Francis-Taylor performed her own interpretation of Max’s “I Won’t Mess You Up” on piano at the welcome home party and Max said it was awesome and the first time he’d ever heard someone play one of his songs. He invited Ben Cosgrove to the stage and they played the rest of the night together. He played “Home,” which is about where he grew up in Ellery, New York. My favorite song on Ellery is “Wildfires Outside Laramie, Wyoming” and Max was nervous about playing the song there on tour. He told us a story about the day he played Laramie (where they liked the song, by the way) and how he had the strange experience of observing a college kid having an existential crisis starting with perusing women’s purses in a used clothing store and ending in the bar where Max played his gig later that night drunk on gin and tonics with chili cheese fries all over his face.

Ben and Max

Max introduced “The Start of Fables” with an actually quite funny fable he wrote (finally) about bears and the bear baiting referendum question during Maine’s last election. I won’t ruin it for you since maybe he’ll tell it again. We sang along happily during the audience participation part, too. Max wrapped his set with an unplugged tune on the floor and then asked Ben to play a last song. I liked “Nashua River,” but also wanted to hear one more from Max. We stomped for an encore and Max took the stage to play a final song. Ben joined him and Max said he’d play a Strand of Oaks song called “Leave Ruin” and joked that he wouldn’t even tell Ben what key the song was in and even though Ben didn’t even know the song he’d still play it better than him.

Unplugged from the floor

Max told us how grateful he was to be home and to play for us. He told us it can be exhausting to play for new people every night and it felt so good to be back home with the people he loves. He said, “you need your people.” We’re your people, Max. Welcome home!

xo,

bree

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January 23, 2015 · 8:22 AM

Join me for back-to-back shows Saturday night!

I’m PUMPED for tomorrow night! I’m going to two shows I know are going to be amazing in the same night! Friends will be at both shows, too. Are you coming to either? Both?

I’m catching Newfoundland and Labrador’s Hey Rosetta! at One Longfellow Square in Portland at 6:30. Doors are at 6. I just saw them for the first time in November opening for Stars. They are as good live as I’d hoped they’d be. Check out their Audiotree session by clicking below:

Hey Rosetta! on Audiotree

I am kind of beside myself that I get to see Britain’s London Grammar for the first time Saturday night at 9 at The State Theatre. Doors are at 8. I’ve been obsessed with them since their KEXP session (click below) at the end of 2013. I’m so looking forward to seeing them in person. Until The Ribbon Breaks opens the show. If you can’t join me, I’ll let you know how the shows were sometime next week!

London Grammar on KEXP

xo,

bree

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January 15, 2015 · 10:55 AM

Ellis Paul with Radoslav Lorkovic and Chris Trapper

Saturday, December 27, 2014

One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine

I was so happy to end my concert year with a girls’ night out in Portland and my 43^rd Ellis Paul show! Megan, Sarah, and I had a delicious dinner at Mi Sen on Congress Street (the custard with coconut sticky rice is DELIGHTFUL) and hurried back over to One Longfellow Square to grab good seats and see if anyone had canceled since the show was sold out and Megan accidentally didn’t have a ticket. She eventually did make it in, and my concert friend Colin joined us as well. The show was so crowded that OLS removed half of the stage to accommodate a couple extra rows of seating.

I hadn’t seen Chris Trapper since 2011 when he opened for Colin Hay at The Strand in Rockland. I was a big fan of his band The Push Stars when I was in college, and I was excited when I learned he was opening the show. I was happy to hear “Keg on My Coffin,” which included a pretty solid audience participation part to start the show. Chris told us that his song “This Time” was nominated for a Grammy as part of the August Rush soundtrack and he also got to hang out with Jonathan Rhys Meyers who sang it in the film (which impresses all of his female friends). He also admitted to writing the theme song for a much-hated show called Sox Appeal in which a guy was set up on three two-inning blind dates at Fenway Park during a Red Sox game. I’ll admit to watching a few episodes. Chris also told us about his album of original Christmas songs including “Black and Blue Christmas.” He said he’d been a professional songwriter for about 14 years and that Ellis Paul had been a great mentor throughout that time. He talked about having written so many songs about falling in love, but that staying in love is the much harder part, so he wrote a song about working to stay in love called “Love You Still.”

Chris Trapper

Ellis Paul and pianist extraordinaire Radoslav Lorkovic took the stage after intermission. Their show at One Longfellow Square very near the end of the year has become a tradition I’m grateful for since I went to Club Passim for their New Year’s Eve show every year for eight years before my friends in the area moved away and couldn’t join me there anymore for NYE. I’m so happy they bring the warm up show for the New Year’s show to me in Portland every year!

Ellis and Radoslav opened the show with three of Ellis’ best-known songs—“The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down,” “3,000 Miles,” and “Maria’s Beautiful Mess.” Ellis asked us to sing with him on all three. Rad hilariously accompanied Ellis on piano while he read his poem “The Night the Lights Went Out on Christmas.” Ellis told us that people have started to show him their rose tattoos because of his song “Rose Tattoo.” He joked that the song is just a love song and not a call to action. Oops! Kidding.

Radoslav Lorkovic and Ellis Paul

“The Night the Lights Went Out on Christmas”

Ellis has talked at length at the last few of his shows I’ve attended about the loss of music you can hold in your hand. He laments the loss of the chance to admire album artwork and read the liner notes while listening to an album for the first time. In the age of digital music, we’ve lost that part of our musical heritage. This epiphany happened for him after driving a rental car that didn’t even have a CD player. When he arrived home, he immediately went out and bought his daughters a record player to give them the musical experience he grew up with. His newest album, Chasing Beauty, is now available on vinyl.

Ellis designed the album art for Chasing Beauty

Vinyl!

Megan and I were in stiches at one point during the show because Ellis’ family was scattered throughout the crowd and heckled him during the show. He joked that “they have Tourette’s and talk all the time.” He remembered the amazing Pete Seeger who died in January of 2014 and played “If I Had a Hammer” in his honor. Ellis turned 50 yesterday and hosted a house concert on concert window to celebrate. Happy 50^th, Ellis! He told us (with help) that “I Feel Fine” was on the top of the chart the week he was born in 1965.

I was happy to hear “Mary, Mary” live—it’s got to be my favorite Christmas song. Ellis made a beautiful video using sand art for “Mary, Mary” that you should really check out. He’s an artist in many senses of the word. Ellis and Rad unplugged and joined us in the crowd and wrapped their set with “Love is a Curious Thing.” We stomped for an encore and Chris Trapper joined Rad and Ellis on stage to play “Waiting on a Break,” which Ellis said is inspired by the “godfather of Boston music,” Dennis Brennan.

Unplugged in the crowd

Rad, Ellis, and Chris sing one more for us

I’m always so happy to start or end (or both) my concert year with you, Ellis! Cheers to health, happiness, and good music for all in 2015!

xo,

bree

The set list. Thanks, Colin!

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Tagged as August Rush, Chasing Beauty, Chris Trapper, Dennis Brennan, Ellis Paul, New Year's Eve, One Longfellow Square, Portland Maine, Radoslav Lorkovic, Sox Appeal

December 16, 2014 · 1:52 PM

Ryan Montbleau and Jesse Dee

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Port City Music Hall, Portland, Maine

I’d somehow never seen Ryan Montbleau live. I’d come close a few times, too—just missing his set at music festivals more than once. I signed up to win tickets from 98.9 WCLZ for this show and won, and so I emailed Ryan and asked if I could photograh the show, which he and his team kindly allowed. I ran into my friends Jason and Sarah when I got to Port City Music Hall, and my new Gardiner neighbor Ari and her friend Jess joined me up front for a bit of the show, too.

I liked Boston’s Jesse Dee. He didn’t say much to us during his set, but he and his electric guitar were a lovely pair onstage. I kept hearing Rickie Lee Jones’ “Chuck E.’s In Love” in his songs. Jess said he reminded her a bit of Martin Sexton. Check out “Boundary Line” and “Slow Down” to get a taste of his soulful sound.

Jesse Dee

I ended up in a nice pocket of concert goers for this show, which is always a real plus. I snuck over to the middle of the crowd to take some photos, and people gladly moved aside to let me in. A woman standing next to me asked if I’d seen Ryan before and excitedly checked back in with me later to see if I liked him. Such nice folks at this show! I think I’d expected Ryan to be an acoustic singer-songwriter, but he arrived as a nine-piece band (including two female singers and guys on keys, drums, percussion, trombone, saxophone, and bass) with a far funkier sound than I’d expected. Sometimes it’s nice to see a band whose music I don’t know so I can put my notebook down and just dance. Thanks for a fun night! Oh! And Ryan’s team recorded the show and you can see the whole thing here! Check out my photos of Ryan and the band below.

xo,

bree