If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Ken Sears Nikki Lane has been one of the artists I've always appreciated and liked, but was never completely into her. When I saw that she was playing the Prescott Parks Arts Festival this year, I decided that would be one of the shows I made it to. It ended up being one of the better musical decisions I've made in years. Playing with her backing band the Tennessee Dirtbags, Nikki Lane played two fantastic sets of her fairly poppy style of outlaw country. Only a small handful of the crowd seemed familiar with Lane's work, with most of the audience more there out of curiosity and something to do on a beautiful August night. (I'm sure the $8 suggested donation brings in a lot more people than an ordinary show, too.) That and the public park setting caused a fairly subdued crowd, spending the entire show sitting on blankets. That didn't faze Lane at all, as she played amazing versions of new songs like "700,000 Rednecks" and "Highway Queen...

Photo by Ken Sears Deer Tick have always had a bar band feel to them. Maybe it's the fact that a ton of their songs are about booze. Maybe it's the fact that the first time I saw them they bought everyone in the club a beer. Maybe it's the copious amount of beer I've seen them drink onstage. Because of all that, a family friendly arts festival in a public park with a 7:00 start time was an odd venue for them, but last Friday it seemed to work. Playing on a stage still set up for a family production of Mary Poppins , Deer Tick opened the show with one of their already released songs from their upcoming two albums. Unfortunately, the sound was a bit off so I couldn't tell which one. (The show started about 30 minutes late while they ironed out some issues due to the heavy rains that had just ended two hours before the show started.) Luckily, the issues were fixed by the second song, and the rest of the show sounded great. Photo by Ken Sears One great thing...

Photo by Ken Sears David Wax Museum are one of my current favorite live bands, and seeing as I hadn't seen them play live for over a year, I had to head up to Portsmouth to check them out. The combination of a Saturday night show, perfect weather for an outdoor show, and the absurdly low $8 suggested donation ticket price were too much of a draw to miss it. Prescott Park Arts Festival is one of the more unique venues to see a show. They get absolute top level acts (Steve Earle, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, and Josh Ritter have all played this year), but they also put on family friendly plays on the same stage. This year was Peter Pan, and the stage was still decorated for the play. The park is right on the Piscataqua River, which creates a beautiful backdrop, especially as the sun slowly sets during the show. Suz and David came out and started off the show as a duo with a completely retooled version of "Lavender Street" that was heavy on the low end and almo...

Photo by Ken Sears Usually, I wouldn't go see the same band two days in a row. That might have worked ten years ago, but not at this point in my life. However, I knew that Lydia Loveless playing in the afternoon in the bright sunlight of the Green River Festival was not an ideal environment, so I had to make it to their headlining set the next night. I was a bit concerned when I walked in as the show was starting. 3S Artspace tends to have an employee come out before the show and talk about the venue, their mission statement, and upcoming events. The crowd for the show skewed shockingly older, and most of the crowd was sitting in the few chairs lining the back walls of the room. Seeing as the show was sparsely attended (maybe 50 people in a 400 person venue), he encouraged everyone to move the seats to wherever they wanted. This made for a weird mix of people standing next to people in chairs throughout the show. Plus, I've been to poorly attended shows in the past, and i...

Photo by Ken Sears After realizing I haven't seen Mission of Burma since 2004, and since I don't want to shell out the prices to see them open for Foo Fighters at Fenway Park next month, I had no other option but to road trip up to Portsmouth, NH on a Wednesday night. Luckily, there was also a brand new music venue to check out when I got there.  3S Artspace has been open for about three months. It's a combination restaurant/gallery/performance space. Seeing a show at a "performance space" is always a bit iffy, but these guys seem to have it together. The diamond shape of the space and the chairs lining the walls gave off a bit of a rec center vibe, but once the show started that was all forgotten. Great sound, great lighting, and an air conditioned room made this one of my new favorite venues. Their calendar tells me I'll be heading up to Portsmouth more often than not from now on. Photo by Ken Sears Guerilla Toss opened the show, and I wasn...

Photo by Ken Sears My days of going to see the same tour multiple dates are pretty much over. I just saw Lady Lamb at one of her album release parties back in March , so normally I wouldn't feel the need to see her two months later. But this is Lady Lamb we're talking about, and the Press Room holds 85 people. The last venue I saw her in, The Sinclair, holds 525 and she sold that out easily. There won't be many more chances to see her in such an intimate venue, so I had to make the trip up to Portsmouth to see her again. The Press Room has a very odd set up. Shows here take place upstairs from the restaurant, but the upstairs still has tables with people eating. If you get there before the show starts, you either sit at the bar or mill about awkwardly between tables where people are eating while you are constantly in the way of the waitstaff. But the venue is extremely intimate. There really isn't a typical stage. There is a small ledge at the very back of the roo...