Who’s in town!? Not to miss shows in… Boston!

By Thom Rockford

            With August finally here and summer winding down, there is still time to get out whatever concert jitters you may have.  With the release of their third and final album, Lydia is set to perform dates on its final tour ever; you would be crazy to miss it.  Lots of great shows at the House of Blues including Interpol, B.O.B., and Something Corporate that I’m sure won’t disappoint.  While the Local Natives, MGMT, This Will Destroy You, and My Morning Jacket are also among the shows you should add to your concert list.  So Boston get out there and dance, mosh, and rock out and enjoy the rest of your summer! 

 Aug 05 – Interpol @ House of Blues Boston

 Aug 05 – Local Natives @ The Middle East (Cambridge)

 Aug 05 - Maylene & The Sons of Disaster @ Gunstock (Gilford, NH)

 Aug 06 – Silverstein, The Sleeping & More @ The Palladium (Worcester)

 Aug 06 – OK Go @ WRBU Summer Concert Series (Providence, RI)

 Aug 06 – The Spill Canvas @ Meadowbrook Amphitheatre (Gilford, NH)

 Aug 07 – Vanna @ The Palladium (Worcester)

 Aug 08 – Lydia @ The Middle East (Cambridge)

 Aug 10 – MGMT, Violens, Maroon 5 @ Bank of America Pavillion

Aug 12 – Something Corporate @ House of Blues Boston

 Aug 13 – Sublime @ Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion (Gilford, NH)

 Aug 14 – Aerosmith @ Fenway Park

 Aug 15 – B.o.B @ House of Blues Boston

 Aug 16 – Green Day @ Comcast Center (Mansfield)

 Aug 19 – My Morning Jacket, Tom Petty @ Comcast Center (Mansfield)

 Aug 25 – The Devil Wears Prada @ Harpers Ferry (Allston)

 Aug 27 – This Will Destroy You @ Middle East (Cambridge)

 Aug 28 – Our Last Night @ Rocko’s Bar (Manchester)

 Be sure to follow @BandsinBoston on twitter for more Boston concert updates.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Weiss (This Will Destroy You)

Catching Up on Warped Tour 2010, Part IV: Jerry Roush of Of Mice and Men!

photo courtesy of www.outloud.com

So, how’s Warped Tour going?

It’s awesome. It’s so fun everyday. I get to hang out with a hundred of my best friends everyday. A lot of the bands on this tour are good friends of mine, so it’s just cool to be able to hang out with your really good friends every single day.  And then to be able to play shows for thousands of people a day too, it’s a lot of fun. Drink some beers.

Who are some of your friends on tour with you? Is there ever any drama?

Confide, Suicide Silence, Emmure, Attack Attack, Emarosa, pretty much everybody. But there’s no drama, and the vibe is good—that’s what we call ourselves the Vibe Tribe.

Have you experienced any hardships on tour?

Well, obviously when you’re on long tours like this it kind of sucks to be away from your friends and family, although I do get to see my friends everyday that are in bands, but other friends at home and family.  So that’s the only kind of hardship, but if you can tough that out then tour’s awesome.  But it gets old, just like anything if you do it everyday.

Two words to describe your live sound?

Get Live, because we make that shit live. We try to make people wake up.

How has the fan interaction been?

Oh, it’s been really awesome.  There’s a lot of bands, like I said—Suicide Silence, Bring Me the Horizon, and Attack Attack are all good friends of mine, but when we play the same time as them, because they are different stages, its kind of like who’s gonna take the kids? What show are they gonna watch? Are they gonna watch Bring Me the Horizon, or are they gonna watch Of Mice And Men, are they gonna Suicide Silence? The same kids like the same style, so that’s the only thing that we might play against people.

How are you enjoying the food on tour?

Ohh man, food is like the best thing on tour, it’s like gourmet food.  Shout out to TaDa! Catering, they’ve been doing it every year and they f*ckin’ do their thing. They’re really good.

Anything you’d like to say to your fans?

Just keep on coming and watch our show.  I know there’s some drama with our old singer that left and you know people are kind of hating on the fact that I’m the singer now.  And you know some people can accept change, and that’s what it is.  It wasn’t my idea, I don’t even know Austin Carlile, and I’ve met the guy maybe once or twice. When I first started with them I was filling in and then they kicked him out, and then conveniently asked me.  And then people were like “you tried to sabotage him.” Well, it wasn’t that way at all man.  I just like to make music and try to have fun.  I’m not on the record that people buy so if you listen to that, don’t just shun it out there from the music, come and at least watch it live with me.  And also Austin doesn’t really scream, he does this like fake whisper scream type thing where he’s like “I’m not screaming, but I’m…” but you know that’s what he does.  So I’m a lot different because I’m actually screaming and doing what a screamer should do, a front man. 

Does Of Mice and Men have any future plans?

We have a tour after this with August Burns Red in Europe.  After that we are probably gonna start writing heavily. 

Be sure to follow @BandsinBoston for all your local live music news and updates!

Catching Up on Warped Tour 2010, Part III: Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds!

An interview with members:

Sean: Guitar/Vocals

Mat: Guitar/Keyboards/DJ/Vocals

Pat: Drums

Andre: Bass

Okay, so give me two words to describe your band?

Reggae Up-Your-Ass!

So where are you guys from?

Southern California.  So-Cal basically.

How are you guys enjoying Warped Tour?

F*ckin love it!

Great!

Awesome!

How long have you guys been together as a band?

5 years.

So what’s a normal routine that you guys do to prepare prior to going on stage?

Before we go on stage, we like to go back and chill out, stretch out, warm up, get a couple beers in us, loosen up a little bit. 

So what City has been your favorite place to play on warped so far?

Burgettstown was pretty fun, Pennsylvania was f*ckin’ awesome.  They’ve all been pretty good, you never know what to expect.  And not having played a lot of the cities it’s kind of cool that we can draw at least a little crowd as the passersby stop by and stick around to see us play.

In Burgettstown, there was a lawn in front of us where these kids were just chillin’, and as we started playing they just started coming down. That was probably the better show by far.

We’ve been getting a lot of new fans on this tour because I would say that we’re the only reggae-influenced band on this tour.

Do you have any other tours planned after Warped Tour? Any other plans?

We’re actually going right into the next one from this one. 

Yea we’re doing a tour; we’re meeting up with Pepper, for a date, then continuing a West-coast tour with this other band from New Zealand called Katchafire.  We got a new album that just came out called Sacred For Sale, it’s our sophomore album, but we’re thinking about recording an acoustic album at the end of August.

Any hardship’s that you have experienced on the road?

Just family, being away from family—that’s the hardest thing.

We love to surf, and being on tour…after awhile, it kind of gets to you. Not being able get to the water.  I mean it’s nothing crazy, but when we really want to surf, it’s like damn, there’s nothing we can do when we’re in the middle of the country.

Do you guys write a lot of music on tour?

We try to, yeah.  And we come up with ideas and we try to work them out with each other. 

Do you have a message you’d like to say to your fans?

Spread the seed.  Check us out! Google “Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds.” We just really want to play conscious music, and have a good time, and just keep it real.  

And to keep spreading a positive message to the kids that do come see us play, instead of just that vulgarity and the desensitizing music that goes on.  You’ve got to enjoy life while you’re here and if you have that attitude of “f*ck life,” you’re going get that in return.

Catching Up on Warped Tour 2010, Part II: Vic Fuentes and Tony Perry of Pierce the Veil!

photo courtesy of shrednews.com

Give me two words to describe your band?

Vic: Selfish Machines.

Tony: Really Exciting.

Are you guys enjoying Warped Tour?

Vic: Yeah dude, it’s been amazing.

Have there been any struggles on the road?

Vic: The weather was really intense the first couple of weeks.  There were gnarly storms through Texas and stuff, but other than that, it’s been awesome.

Anything you like to do before you perform?

Vic:  yeah, I warm up for, like, an hour before every show.  I do stretching and stuff like that, because our show is really physically intense, so I gotta make sure I stretch it out a little bit.

Tony:  We’re always jumping around; we have huge risers that we’re jumping off, so it’s kind of physically demanding, I guess.  We are always trying not to get hurt.

How do you get your fans more engaged in the show?

Vic: We kind of feel out each crowd and see what they need, if I need to fuckin’ yell at them more, then I’ll do that.  But otherwise today was just crazy, they were just going nuts.

Tony:  Yea usually in the morning, their kind of slow.  The kids today went nuts right away.  Usually if we play a show at 11:30 in the morning, the kids are like half asleep.

What was your favorite stop to play on so far on Warped Tour?

Vic:  I think today was one of the best. Boston killed it today.

How’s the food situation on tour?

Vic: It’s awesome. Catering is awesome.

Tony: When you can get it, it’s great.

Vic: Yeah, like today we might have to miss it.  They have vegan and vegetarian versions of everything.

Any crazy stories from tour so far? 

Tony: The other day Vic came back with like a cut on his face and we were like “what happened?”  And I guess he said a girl saw him and got excited and just like smacked him in the face…

Vic:  Yea she hit me in the face with her magazine and cut me, and gave me a paper-cut on my lip.  I was bleeding trying to take pictures with her.  It was funny.

Anything you’d like to say to your fans?

Tony: New album’s out – Selfish Machines.

Vic: Yeah, go pick up the new album, its on iTunes, at Hot Topic, on MySpace and follow us on Twitter @piercetheveil.

Catching Up with Your Favorite Bands on Warped Tour 2010: Sierra Kusterbeck and Blake Harnage of VersaEmerge!

photo courtesy of VersaEmerge

So how’s Warped Tour going? Are you enjoying it?

Blake: Of course, it’s going amazing. We’re about two weeks in; it still feels like the beginning, and its just craziness.  It’s like a traveling carnival.

Sierra: Pretty much, yes.  It’s rock-and-roll summer camp, it’s a traveling circus, it’s absolutely insane—probably the most fun that a person could have for a summer in a band.

Give me two or three words to describe your live show.

Sierra: Twisty.

Blake: Sticky.

Sierra: A little funky.

Blake: Kind of sharp.

Sierra: Sharp, yeah.

So, what’s a normal routine like for VersaEmerge before a performance?

Sierra: Warming up, getting our gear together, jumping around. I do pull-ups and push-ups in the semi-stage stage of it.

Blake: We all put our hands in and kind of on-the-spot pick random words that…

Sierra: …have to do with the city or…

Blake: …that we embrace, and sometimes it doesn’t have to do with anything.  Sometimes it’s like “potato salad.”

Sierra: Sometimes its “ham sandwich.”  Haha, yea we do a lot of food, actually.

Speaking of food, are you enjoying the food on tour?

Sierra: Oh my god, yes. It’s awesome. Today we had portobello burgers.

Are you guys vegetarians?

Sierra: Yeah, I am.

Any struggles on the road so far that has made it hard to be on tour?

Blake: It’s pretty hard that it starts at 11, or 7 for crew, doors open at 11, and its just all day.   Throughout the day we have our schedule so it’s like; lunch, press, set—depending on what time our set is; we find out the morning of—signing, setting up stuff before we play, and then trying to get to the showers, and trying to hang out at our table and meet fans.  There are a lot of things you got to cram into the day.

Sierra: It’s all very spontaneous.

Any crazy crowd/fan interaction while on tour?

Sierra: The last few days have been really receptive to live show; tons of kids have been watching and they love it.  Really good energy, I always end up in the crowd at the end of the set.

Blake: This kid jumped up on stage the other day and got, like, tackled off.

Sierra: Oh yeah, this kid, I don’t know why, but they were giving me a high five and I pointed at them and I guess they thought that meant I invited them on-stage.  And the stage is very strict and this person started to crawl up it, and they just took him out.  I was like, “sorry!”

Blake: Security doesn’t tolerate. (laughs)

Anything you’d like to say to your fans?

Blake: Look at our tour dates, come chill with us, learn our songs so you can sing them in the front row.

Who’s In Town?! Not to Miss Gigs in…Boston!

Photo courtesy of Jenn Barnett via GoodOldWar.com

By Thomas Rockford & Ellen Leonard

            Live music junkies of Boston, the month of June will not disappoint you!  The start of summer brings shows to enjoy, outdoors as well as indoors.  In our list of recommendations for this month we have shows ranging from large festival cookouts like the WFNX Clambake to smaller performances such as The Mercury Program @ PA’s Lounge.  We Came As Romans is sure to cure the head-banger’s itch while Jordin Sparks will be just what pop music fan have been craving.  Indie fans will get their fix from acts such as Good Old War, Metric, 2AM Club, and the interesting Gogol Bordello.  And it’s without a doubt that Taking Back Sunday and Paramore will be sure rock the house down, so make sure not to miss it!

6/7 – We Came As Romans @ The Palladium (Worcester)

6/7 – The Futureheads @ Paradise Rock Club 

6/7 – This Will Destroy You, Light Pollution, Slow Six @ Great Scott (Allston)

6/9 – The Mercury Program @ PA’s Lounge (Somerville)

6/13 – Jordin Sparks @ House of Blues Boston

6/14 – Cartel, You, Me, Everyone @ Harpers Ferry (Allston)

6/23 – Hole, Foxy Shazam @ House of Blues Boston

6/25 – Taking Back Sunday @ House of Blues Boston

6/27 – Good Old War @ Middle East (Cambridge)

6/27 – Bamboozle Roadshow w/ All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, Third Eye Blind, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Forever the Sickest Kids, and more @ Comcast Center

6/27 – Metric, Siversun Pickups WFNX Clambake @ House of Blues Boston

6/28 – Gogol Bordello @ The Hi Hat (Providence)

6/28 – Islands, Steel Phantoms, Active Child @ Harpers Ferry (Allston)

6/30 – Paramore @ Comcast Center (Mansfield)

6/30 – 2AM Club, TVTV @ The Middle East Upstairs (Cambridge)

Be sure to check back soon for upcoming band interviews and reviews.  And remember to follow @BandsinBoston for continuous live concert updates in Beantown!

5 (or so) questions for… Deas Vail!

By Ashley Maceli

Deas Vail is currently traveling along side Copeland on their farewell tour, but Deas Vail isn’t going to stop there. Since the band formed in 2005, Deas Vail has put out a couple of albums and is now ready to take their talent to the Warped Tour festival as well as get a summer tour set up. Deas Vail is greatly appreciative for their fans and what they do for them and will continue to do their thing so long as their wonderful and supportive fans are beside them.

How did you guys start out and how did you get to be where you are today?

Deas Vail began at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, AR. We were college kids with different dreams and plans. We didn’t think we were going to be in this band for this long. We did not know it would become a career opportunity that would drive us like it has. Deas Vail has been as much a gift to us as it has been to our fans. In 2005 we signed our first recording contract with Brave New World Records and immediately went into the studio with producer Mark Lee Townsend. After recording “All The Houses Look The Same” we started touring. While touring we continued to work on new material. A year later, we released an ep entitled “White Lights” and then immediately began recording our newest release, “Birds and Cages.” Birds and Cages was released on Mono Vs. Stereo records in Jan. 2010. Our strategy over the years has been simple. It has been to keep writing songs and keep pushing ourselves to be better at that. It has also been to tour as much as possible. We feel like being present and personal with our fans is important and meaningful. It is a business for us and that means we try to make a profit, but more than that it is a community and that means we want to reach out and interact. It is about connecting with people, and that side of it is bigger than dollars. It has been a blessing in the form of many great friends. Because this is important to us, we have survived some huge hurdles that would probably have cause others to call it a day.

What is the meaning behind your band name?

The band name is inspired by a latin word, “deus” which means God and a french word, “Vail,” which means to humbly serve. It loosely means to humbly serve God. We hope that the name always reminds us of where we come from and why we are here. We hope to live our lives with a servant like heart and mind.

What are you currently listening to on your iPods? Do you have certain music that you listen to before a show to get yourself pumped?

Right now I am listening to Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, David Bazan, Nada Surf, and Acorn. I like a lot of folk/rock music. I grew up listening to a lot of song writers with my family. The other guys, and gal, listen to a lot of music ranging from The Flaming Lips to Circa Survive to Radiohead. We don’t have a song or band that we listen to before the set. We could follow the teachings of Dwight Schrute with “Kick Start My Heart.” Imagine all of us in our van throwing air punches and head banging. It could get intense on stage after that.

This summer will be your first playing Van’s Warped Tour. Are you excited for playing a large festival like that?

Absolutely! We plan on having a great time.

Where do you get most of your inspiration for your music?

When we are song writing or thinking about songs, we try to be ready for inspiration to come to us from anywhere. It is kind of like we are waiting for the songs to appear. If we force songs to come out of us, they end up sounding premature. This means we give ourselves the space and time to catch songs when they show up. We just have to be there and be ready. There is no telling where or when we will be inspired. Sometimes it is during a sound check in a venue and sometimes it is in one of our living rooms at home. The only thing we try to do is write in a place that we know we won’t be interrupted and somewhere that does not have a lot of distractions. Somewhere calm and scenic will usually be great. Other than that, it is all up in the air. 6. You are currently touring with Copeland for their Farewell Tour. Has Copeland ever had an effect on you before and while being in a band? How does it feel to be a part of their Farewell tour? I have been listening to Copeland since “Beneath the Medicine Tree” and they changed the way I listened to music for sure. They are great song writers and great performers. Now I know that they are wonderful people as well. It has been really cool getting to know them. Of course the tour is bitter sweet because it is their last. I am just so thankful to be a part of the journey with them. That last show will be really hard to witness. Life is so short, and to see a chapter of life open and then close is hard for me. Luckily, I think these guys will individually be doing some cool things in music in the future. 7. What is in the future of Deas Vail? Are there any upcoming tours or albums fans should be sure to keep in mind? Well, we are doing a couple festivals and then, as we stated earlier, we are playing two weeks of Warped Tour. We should be putting together a tour for the summer so check in periodically for that. Please visit us on facebook or myspace and keep in touch. As far as albums, we are working on our next release. There is not a scheduled time for us to be in the studio yet. We have only just released Birds and Cages. We would all like to give a resounding “thank you” to our fans. You are the best group of friends and supporters anyone could ask for. We could not keep doing this without you.

Who’s in Town!? Not To Miss Shows In… Boston!

by Matt and Ashley

All kinds of great shows hitting Boston this month.  Here are a few of our top pics for the rest of April:

Tuesday April 13th @ Harper’s Ferry 8PM (18+) - Vanzetti

Tuesday April 13th @ The Middle East 7PM - This Providence

Saturday April 17th @ Harper’s Ferry 8PM (18+) - Smile Empty Soul

Sunday April 18th @ Harper’s Ferry 7PM - Life On Hold with the Berklee Battle of the Bands

Sunday April 18th @ The Middle East 8PM (18+) - The Thermals

Friday April 23rd @ The Middle East 8PM (18+) - Apples in Stereo

Friday April 23rd @ The House of Blues 6PM - Owl City

Thursday April 29th @ The House of Blues 6:30PM - The AP Tour feat. The Cab, NeverShoutNever, Hey Monday, Every Avenue, The Summer Set

Don’t forget to follow @bandsinboston on twitter for show announcements, ticket giveaways and more.  Or just say hi and let us know what your top picks are!

Live in Boston, Copeland Says Farewell

By Ashely Maceli

On the chilly Saturday night of March 6th Copeland played a sold out show at The Middle East for their Farewell Tour. The members of Copeland have decided that the band has run its course and they have agreed to end their journey on a good note with one outstanding final tour. Copeland did speak of possibly recording one last album in the future but this tour is unfortunately most definitely their last.

Deas Vail, a soft-rock alternative band with a sound similar to a mixture of Mae and Sheerwood, opened up the show in the downstairs area of the Middle East Club. There could not have been a better choice for this tour. Deas Vail had a very relaxed and chill feeling, a lot like the other bands to follow, but yet they still were able to rock out and give a great performance to get the audience ready for the rest of the lineup.

Person L , consisting of Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line, then took the stage. Vasoli’s high pitched voice was the absolute best part of the band. His voice is crisp and just gives you chills as he hits those impressive high notes.

Ace Ender’s solo project, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business , really got the audience warmed up for Copeland. Ace Ender’s of The Early November has been making his own way through solo projects like this one as well as Ace Ender’s and a Million Different People. Ace was in full mode at the show and his performances were spot on such as when he wrapped up his set with “Whispering Actually”.

Finally Copeland took the stage playing their final show in Boston. Copeland played favorite’s such as “Good Morning Fire Eater”, “Pin Your Wings”, “No One Really Wins” and “The Day I Lost My Voice”. It was clear that Copeland was giving their all on their final tour and it is tough to say goodbye to such a great band that truly puts on a great live show.

The line-up of bands was ideal and the overall relaxed feel of the show was the best way for Boston to say goodbye to the wonderful band, Copeland. Hopefully we will be able to hear a new record from them in the future though.

5 Questions for… TAB the Band!

By Matt DiGirolamo  

With a name that isn’t to be confused with the popular old timey soda, TAB the Band brings the rock and roll to the masses of Boston and the greater New England Area. The band has performed with the likes of State Radio, Modest Mouse and Lez Zepplin. Music from their albums have been heard in Entourage, CSI: NY and The Riches. Their newest album, Zoo Noises, is now available everywhere.

What is the brief history of TAB the Band, and where does that name come from? I hope it has nothing to do with soda…

In December ‘06 Tony and I got together to make some joke rap songs, as we had done in the past. We touched on subjects such as the founding fathers, different types of pants, and Al Gore. This particular time Tony thought we should invite a real drummer over, so he called Ben with whom he played in a Rage Against the Machine cover band. We started jamming on an idea and we realized it was actually good, and maybe we should make it a ‘real’ song, rather than do some jokey thing. We ended up with 7 songs in a week and things went from there. Fast forward to July of ‘08. Our songs had been getting a bit more complex and we wanted to take our show up a notch before touring with Stone Temple Pilots and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club that summer. Then Lou, another friend of Tony’s from childhood, joined up to add some gee-tar and vocal harmonies, and general goodness. So there’s that. The initial name of the band came from the first letter of each of the first three guys’ names. Pretty brilliant. We added ‘the band’ for disambiguation with the soda, so your hopes can remain intact that the soda was not the impetus for the name. When Lou joined we couldn’t really add his letter in, so we just tell people he is ‘the band’.

What is the best story you have from a show you did?

There are many stories, and there really can be no single ‘best’ story. But here’s one of the best. We were opening for Dinosaur Jr. in London a couple years back. We get to the theater and the promoter is showing us around the venue. Finally, he takes us to our dressing room. We get to the door and it has no handle (it’s just a swinging door) and there’s a piece of paper that says “TAB” that is taped over something else (what appears to be a sign). We push the door open to find that they have given us the ladies room. Or the “Loo” as they call it there. Just a long row of stalls with an accompanying long row of sinks. On the counter between the sinks was a case of warm Grolsch and one of those giant family packs of ‘crisps’ that soccer moms buy to put in their kids’ lunch. It was the most awesome dressing room we will ever have. Dinosaur Jr., by the way, is the loudest band we’ve ever seen.

Tell me more about Zoo Noises. Where does the inspiration come from, and what was the song writing process like?

On Zoo Noises we really expanded our horizons. In many ways it’s a new start for the band, and it shows the full spectrum of what we’re capable of doing. In the past, we had limited the types of songs we’d put on albums, or play live, but on this record we freed ourselves. If we came up with something that sounded good acoustic, we let it happen, and fully carried the idea to its conclusion, rather that try and limit it to fit into some pre-conceived format. If a tune was more pop, or bluesy, the same idea applied. Serve the song first. So on this record you’ll hear a good variety of tunes. It’s a fun listen I think. Lyrically, you have to go song by song to figure out what inspired what. And that will take too much time. Besides, it’s whatever people make of it. Once it leaves our hands, it’s your responsibility. The writing process ranges from coming up with ideas together in the room, to one of us bringing in a fully fleshed out idea in advance. Whatever works. We don’t have a set process.

What is one thing you cannot go without on a tour?

Adrian: Pants

Tony: My Band

Ben: All three seasons of Arrested Development

Lou: Every season of Tim and Eric

What do you think makes the Boston music scene so special?

So many college kids. College is the greatest time as far as expanding your musical horizons. You meet people from different cities that bring their local tastes to the table, you discover new bands you’d never heard of, and you actually have the time to sit and listen to stuff and figure out what you like. And all the bands (big and small) come through Boston, plus there’s a lot of cool home grown stuff. So with the crush of all those potential music fans, you have the potential for some great local music, and also all of the good bands from around the country want to come here because they know there’s a great audience for music.

—

Want to find out when TAB the Band is in your town? Head over to their Bandsintown profile, and listen to a few of their tracks at their Myspace profile.

(Photo by Fearnotman, via Wikipedia)

Who’s in Town!? Not to Miss Shows in… Boston!

By Ashley Macelli

Break out of the winter freeze and warm up for spring with these great acts that are heading to Boston! Shows with Sherwood, Beach House and Copeland may be for you if you want a more relaxed soft rock show. If you want something new and exciting why not check out the fresh band Cage the Elephant? There are even some great blast from the past bands including Jet, Bowling for Soup and Five for Fighting. March is filled with great acts to help you slip out of the hibernation state of winter and get you moving with the music!

Tuesday March 9, 2010 - The Paradise @ 7PM - Jet, Crash Kings

Friday March 12, 2010 - The Middle East @ 7PM - Bowling for Soup, The Dollyrots

Saturday March 13, 2010 - The Paradise @ 8PM - Butch Walker, The Black Widows, Will Dailey

Sunday March 14, 2010 - Arts at the Armory @ 7PM - Sherwood, Black Gold, HotChelleRae

Thursday March 25, 2010 - The Paradise @ 8PM - The Donnas, Gorevette

Sunday March 28, 2010 - The Paradise @ 7PM - Beach House, Bachelorette

What are your not to miss shows this month? Let us know via @bandsinboston on twitter.

(Photo of The Donnas via SoapNix.com)

5 Questions For… Stay!

By Ashley Maceli

Stay stands out as a gem of the unsigned artists out there. With one listen to their EP “Games With Girls” it is clear to see that Stay will become much bigger. For now the boys from Bean Town are enjoying the journey and are looking forward to what this new year means for their band. Steve Akles, guitarist of Stay was kind enough to talk to us at Bandsintown and let us know what Stay will be up to in the future.

How did all of you guys meet?
“I think the main thing was that we were all in other bands and we all sort of just met through playing with other bands. Those bands broke up along the way and we stayed in contact with each other and then the singer and I kept in contact with each other, and the drummer and I were friends prior to the band. Then we met the bass player that my singer knew so it was a combination of mutual friends and being a part of past bands as well as being from the area”

So you guys are from Boston. What venues did you start playing at when you first got started?
“We started out with a lot of just playing any show we were offered. So we were doing halls and churches or just a bar or something like that. Our first show as a band was in Revere, Massachusetts at a hall. As things went on we got invited to play at bigger more legitimate venues like that. It just sort of happened as time went on.”

You recently made the number #8 spot on the top 20 unsigned artists of 2009 on Pure Volume. That must of been a big accomplishment for you guys, how did that make you feel?
“Yeah! We were really pumped about that. It’s cool having a lot of momentum moving us into 2010. We really are strong supporters of Pure Volume. They help us out a lot and we really like them so it was really cool to be recognized for our hard work. We were really excited about the whole thing.”

Do you have plans for signing on with a record label anytime soon?
“I think at sometime in 2010 we are hoping to get signed to a record label. Right now we are playing it by ear. We have been presented with a few offers but they were contracts we weren’t all excited about. If we are going to sign something we want the whole team to be excited about the label and the contract. We aren’t in any rush but one of the goals is to get to that level. Last year was mainly a building year for us where we played a lot of shows and recorded new songs. I think this year would be the most appropriate year to do that and to reach that level.”

What are your plans for the future? Any more CDs or perhaps a tour coming up?
“Right now we are working on some new songs and then we are planning on heading into the studio in March to record some songs. Then we will probably do some touring in April. We also right now we have the 3 EPs up on our website and they will probably be up for a while. We will be releasing a new song in March hopefully too. Right now though we are just enjoying being at home before recording in March and touring again.”

Who’s in Town!? Not to miss shows in… Boston!

By Matt DiGirolamo and Ashley Maceli

Boston has always been a hotbed of concert and music activity, and February is no different. Even though the month is shorter, there is something to see almost every day of the week all over the city!

February 4 7:30pm - Killswitch Engage, The Devil Wears Prada and Dark Tranquility at House of Blues

February 5 8:00pm- DWIGHT & NICOLE at The Somerville Theatre

February 8 6:00pm - Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Sleeping, The Murder Mile at The Paradise

February 9 1:00pm - Trevor Jude Smith at Cafe 939

February 12 8:00pm - Kings of Convenience, Franklin for Short at The Paradise

February 18 7:00pm - Editors, The Antlers, The Dig at The House of Blues

February 21 - 7:00pm - New Found Glory, Saves The Day, Hellogoodbye, Fireworks at House of Blues

February 26 8:00pm - Solas at The Somerville Theatre

February 27 8:00pm- Alloy Orchestra at The Somerville Theatre

February 28 - 7:00pm - Howie Day, Serena Ryder at The Paradise

Want to stay updated on shows in and around Boston? Follow @BandsinBoston on twitter for show announcements, ticket giveaways and more!

(photo of Saves the Day via If the Music’s Loud Enough)