New Pornographers/Belle & Sebastian @ Avalon, Boston.

At one point during the concert tonight, I turned to the group of friends and siblings I was with and made the uproariously hilarious remark: "Hi, I'm the Boston Fire Inspector. Thanks a lot for not inviting me?" The February 28th Belle and Sebastian show at Avalon in Boston (just a pause for the search engines here, folks) was grossly oversold, and I'd like to sarcastically thank the powers that be for jamming us in there like branded cattle. I've seen about 800 shows there since 1988 - including packed houses like Coldplay and the Pixies, and I've never been welfarically uncomfortable before. I could actually see the panic attacks taking place on the faces of the people around me. Especially when New Pornographers covered "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". All horribly tasteless jokes aside, that was a real pain in the ass you money grubbing Landsdowne fucks.



The NP's were great, and I'm adding their new song Bones of an Idol to the Wadio right now so have a listen on your left. I've spun it 8 times already today - it's awesome. They're from Vancouver, and have developed a huge ex-pat following a la the Hip here in Boston. I saw tons of Maple Leafs being rocked on hats, scarves and jackets last night. They use two keyboards, a mouth organ and male/female vocal mix that's about 50/50. A pulsing, unique sound that I'm going to be delving into deeply over the next few weeks. Super band.



Belle and Sebastian sounded amazing, despite the fact we eventually retreated to one of Avalon's back corners when the crowds began to surge forward. One thing about hipster crowds - they don't brush their teeth and fart uncontrollably. I have to chalk it up to all the cheap food available in Davis square, or the fact that sometimes they're forced to eat Decemberist records when their student loans run out. Either way, it was like a focus group for Crest and Gas-X and I gladly hid in the back, hence my completely awful pictures. Not to mention I was asked to stop taking photos by a 4-foot tall bouncer who also smelt like he'd been eating aquarium scum.



I thoroughly enjoyed Stuart's silly dancing, and the horns sounded perfect. Judy and the Dream of Horses and Seeing Other People were the highlights for me, although Stu forgot the first verse of the latter. These guys are a tight, tight outfit. The tour has just started, and here's a list of the dates lest you wish to venture out. Just remember to wear fire retardent clothing and to spread Vaporub under your nostrils like Clarice Starling.