Concerts. Concerts. Concerts.

September 16, 2017

I first saw In the Valley Below a few years ago when they opened for The Airborne Toxic Event at the House of Blues. I had not heard much from them after that, so when I saw that they were headlining a show at a much smaller venue (re: Brighton Music Hall), I definitely wanted to check them out. Their "new" stuff is far more electronic-based than I remembered their first show being, but they certainly mixed it up, including an interesting female-vocalized version of Danzig's "Mother" (which was a song I used to listen to on repeat when I was a kid). The duo, who are seemingly in a relationship based on the chemistry and physical-ness of the female singer on the guitarist, definitely know how to play to a crowd that's there for them (finally), although they sure looked tired/exhausted since this was the last show of their tour. They even played a couple of songs, acoustic, down in the crowd.

A small band named Flagship opened for them and sort of reminded me of The Killers, but less sonic.

......................................................................................
I saw a band I absolutely love, Warpaint, last week. I've seen this group of 4 ladies who take notes from the best shoegazing and woozy dreamy pop bands that have come before them and put their own rock flavor to it. Their live performances are always amazing as all 4 women play very well together and know how to please the crowd. This was my 3rd time seeing them, every time it's at a small venue in Boston, which is perfect for the sound to carry throughout the whole room.

..............................................................................
The beginning of this past week, I traveled to Portsmouth to see one of my recent, favorite "new" discoveries- The Hotelier- play at 3SArtspace with my sister. Admittedly, just a few years ago, I had no idea who they were, but my sister raved about them and so I went with her to see them and was blown away by their live show. I think I've seen them (every time, with my sister) at least 5 times now. Most recently, prior to this show, they had performed in front of one of the largest crowds at Boston Calling on Harvard's campus. I was so happy to see them getting "discovered" by more people. This is a band that should definitely get bigger and bigger.

Another great emo band opened for them, a new band to my ears, Oso Oso. They reminded me of The Promise Ring and Minus the Bear, slightly, among other emo bands from the '90s.

...............................................................................
In the middle of this past week, I went to see a great emo band from the late-'90s and early '00s- The Movielife, recently reunited and opening for The Menzingers on this reunion tour as they promote their new album, about 14 years in the making, in a way. I loved The Movielife's set, and admittedly, I had not listened to any of The Menzingers stuff to prepare for the show, but they were decent enough. For a $20 ticket both bands put on a good show, and it was nice to relive some The Movielife memories.

The Movielife's set included a couple new songs: