If It's Too Loud...

The Thing in the Spring has been a southwest New Hampshire staple for quite a while now, sporting some of the most eclectic line ups around. This is especially impressive since Keene, NH (and Peterborough before it) isn't exactly the hippest or most metropolitan of areas. They certainly know what they're doing, especially since the 2024 festival is four days of amazing music. The whole thing kicks off on Thursday night with an eight band bill that includes Modern Fools, Paper Castles, Jake McElvie, and Rick Rude. Friday is a rager that boasts The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, and Prefuse 73. Saturday gets a little weird with Earth, J. Pavone String Ensemble, The Huntress & Holder of Hands, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. Sunday is my personal favorite and features Buck Meek, Jolie Holland, Mal Devisa, and Lily Seabird. Of course, there are many, many more artists playing that all deserve our attention. The Thing in the Spring will take ...

Peterborough, NH is a surprisingly fun little town in south central part of New Hampshire. One of the things that makes it cool is the annual music festival The Thing in the Spring. Every single year it's shocking how diverse and huge the artists they get are. 2019 is no exception. Running June 5-9, they're bringing such artists as indie rock/electronica artist Dirty Projectors (performing solo), shoegaze/post-rockers Bardo Pond, folk artists Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Ryley Walker, Boston legend Thalia Zedek Band, actor/comedian turned singer Noel Wells, blog favorite The Huntress & The Holder of Hands, experimental rockers Sunburned Hand of the Man, Trinary System (featuring Mission of Burma's Roger Miller), and many more. Shows happen over multiple venues, including the UU Church and a free show on the roof of the Toadstool Bookshop to close out the weekend. For more information on The Thing in the Spring, check out their website . You can get a weeke...

Now that we're past Memorial Day, it's time to start looking at what's out there for summer music festivals. We're going to skip the major national ones, because you already know about them, and their line ups keep getting less and less interesting every year. Plus, you'll be roughly 1/4 mile from the main stage, anyway. Instead, here are some of the more interesting, smaller music festivals in the Northeast (since that's where we're located)! The Thing in the Spring June 6-10, Peterborough, NH Peterborough, NH may not seem like the hippest town out there, but somehow they get some of the best indie bands together for a music/film/arts fest every year. This year, they include virtually all genres: noisy indie rock, folk, hip hop, etc. Some of our highlights are Sammus, The Huntress & Holder of Hands, Giraffes? Giraffes!, Wooden Dinosaur, and, closing out the festival, the double bill of Iris Dement and Bonnie Prince Billy. They somehow keep weekend...

Let's face it. Nobody you know got into the Newport Folk Festival. Putting tickets on sale just before Christmas pretty much guarantees anyone with kids or over the age of 30 got shut out. Plus, while there are some fantastic artists playing this year, some of the announced bands seem kinda questionable. Unfortunately, some other festivals are out this year: Tweed River called it quits, Gathering of the Vibes is taking the year off, Solid Sound only runs on odd years. So what else can you do with your festival going time this summer? One Providence Experience Where: Providence, RI Dates: June 4 Tickets: Free! Why you should go: First of all, it's free, and we all love free! It takes place in the "shadows of the ruins of the Providence National Bank," which is about the most Providence way you can describe a venue. For a free show the line up is ridiculous, with Screaming Females, What Cheer? Brigade, Rough Francis, Last Good Tooth, The Low Anthem, Death Vesse...