Live Shows: Juliana Hatfield, The Burren, Somerville, MA 12/14/25
Photo by David Doobinin
Boston isn't considered one of the cooler cities. Everything shuts down insanely early, we're not exactly known for our dining, and many of our musicians leave for New York, Los Angeles, or even Philadelphia to make it big. However, we occasionally get magical events like Juliana Hatfield hosting her album release show at the one hundred capacity The Burren on a Sunday night.
I wasn't sure what to expect with Sunday night's show. Was it a solo show? Would Hatfield have a band? Was it a regular show, or would she focus on the new album? Turns out she played as a trio, and it was a mixture of new songs, favorites, and underappreciated classics. The focus of the show was the just released (and excellent) Lightning Might Strike, and although I was a fan of the album after the first listen, after hearing her classics played alongside the brand new songs, the new album is as great as anything else she's ever released in the past forty or so years.
Alon with the new songs, Hatfield also did a trio from her tribute albums for The Police, Olivia Newton-John, and Electric Light Orchestra. She also broke out "Taxicab" from 2011's There's Always Another Girl, which she commented is one of her favorite albums that never gets talked about, and she's one hundred percent correct. Two of the last three songs were the big hits of "Spin the Bottle" and "My Sister," the latter of which she joked that maybe they'd skip playing.
What was great about the show at The Burren was how laid back it was. It was an intimate performance, and it felt like it was a room of friends there to support another friend. I've been to a few shows at The Burren with a ridiculously disrespectful crowd, and Sunday night was the exact opposite with bassist Ed Valauskas joking that they should play in a library next. Being a one off show and playing some of these songs for the first time, there were a few mistakes, but that added to the whole charm of the night. When Juliana Hatfield does a full tour for Lightning Might Strike, do yourself a favor and buy your tickets early.
