Miracles DO happen: Passion Pit, Phoenix, Spoon @ The Orpheum, Boston

Anyone that says Boston's crowd is the worst to perform in front of was not at the Orpheum last Friday.  I mean, what-a-show! WFNX hosted their annual "Miracle At Tremont Street" concert with Passion Pit, Phoenix** and Spoon as the guests of honor.  What's not to love?  It was heavy-loaded synth dream pop, french-infused alternative rock, and intense hoarse-vocal indie... it was rock and roll.

Passion Pit faced the Bostonian beast first.  Personally, this Boston band is one of my favorite discoveries of the last two years, and from what I could see, also favorites of the ecstatic crowd.  They have built a rather decent fan base.  I'm talking about a crowd that was dancing and singing-a-long at the beat of Sleepyhead and Smile Upon Me, and unleash an deafening scream with Moth's Wings and The Reeling.  I was happily surprised, why? Well, let's say, it was not their usual crowd twisting and shouting.  These were young professionals and the trendy clique of girls wearing heels and heavy make-up.  You have to understand that this is outstanding, having seen Passion Pit play at their niche, the Great Scott, before.  Clearly, they are Boston's very own group of heroes that have redeemed dream pop and heavy synth melodies, taken away the "hipster-only" label and made it mainstream. 

Phoenix followed the Brighton/Allston natives.  All they needed was two songs to unleash a rampage within the Orpheum premises.  Behold the power of the French! It has been a while since the last time I saw any band do what they did.  I'm still unsure how they did it.  When you listen to their albums, yes, you get mildly jolted, but how did they get happy-tunes with slightly romantic lyrics and turn them in to the loudest, craziest examples of contemporary rock I've ever seen? [and not to be presumptuous, but I've seen a lot].  And of course, it's worth mentioning that Thomas Mars was giving to the audience, as much as they gave to him.  He finalized his set by coming off the stage, and sang among the crowd... falling, falling, falling...  One word: EPIC.

The closing act: Spoon. 

The Austinites had quite a challenge; I mean, Phoenix had set a benchmark pretty high.  Still, they gave a fight and brought the crowd on a musical roller coaster, from mellow toe tapping songs to throat tearing hollers.  

These three bands are among the most acclaimed acts of the year.  I gotta give it to the people in WFNX that made this possible.  For lack of a better word, I have to say this was AWESOME.  I was definitely heart-warmed with musical joy... may the holiday season officially begin.


* There's a few extra videos of the show... do check 'em out!

Mew @ The Paradise, Boston

Visiting Northern Europe is still at the top of my to-do list.  I’ve realized there must be something magical about this land, as so many great bands have come from its pastures.  Is it the weather?  I mean, cold weather makes you remit to your living quarters, and mixed with a little bit of leisure and creative impetus, it’s got to produce a much rather artistic output, right?

Well, whatever it is… I’m grateful for it because it exported great bands, like Mew, Radiohead, Bjork, Sigur Ros, Royksopp, The Hives, The Cardigans, U2, The Knife, and the list could go on and on…

Mew was at the Dise this Wednesday.  It was a night of surprises.  Being the music junkie that I am, I looked at some previous set lists, so I had in mind what the show would be like.  I was wrong.

The Danish covered a little bit of Frengers, Kites and No More Stories […]  Of course, the expected tracks:  “Introducing Palace Players”, “Am I Wry? No”, and “Repeaterbeater”.   The unexpected?  An acoustic mash-up of “New Terrain” and “She Came Home For Christmas” with Jonas Bjerre behind the piano; it was a gasps, sighs and forgot-to-breath kind of moment.  This time I’ll let the videos of the show speak for themselves… Definitely a little early holiday gift Danish style.