Activating Art: Art and Activism Are Not Mutually Exclusive

Posted on 09/08/2023 by Harry Gustafson

What started as Activating Artivism, a virtual Zoom back in 2020, has expanded to an in-person festival and a four-part series of panels supported by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. JD Neinast and Amanda Shea are the co-founders of Activating Art, formerly known as Activating Artivism, and both of them are no strangers to the art and music community here in Boston.

JD has been a curator of music shows and events that uplift marginalized communities for many years. Most recently, he started Sound Kicks Out, an extension of himself. “I want to know your stories and I want to make sure you are loved, are embraced, are appreciated, are listened to, are heard, are visualized, and all of the things.” JD is one of the best humans I have ever known in my whole life and he genuinely cares and supports people. (Don’t let his height intimidate you!) Amanda Shea is a powerful and captivating spoken-word multidisciplinary artist around the Boston area. She’s an educator and activist, and the way she shows up for everyone (I do mean everyone) is so moving and makes me tear up inside.

Back in 2020, after we witnessed the murder of George Floyd, JD went to Amanda with the idea of starting Activating Artivism to provide the community and artists with an outlet for their feelings about social injustice while raising awareness and money for nonprofits.

“Activating Art is about amplifying and highlighting BIPOC artists while sharing and raising awareness about their art and activism, and also raising funding for non-profits that are doing the work everyday” – Amanda Shea

The first year of Activating Artivism was the most special because we were at home, scared, worried, isolated, and we wanted to connect with the community and feel like we could support the Black and Brown communities in non-transactional ways. Both Amanda and JD asked the important question of whether there was enough money to make up for the discrimination and issues that marginalized communities face everyday. They quickly realized there isn’t. The fact that an idea started by 2 people who care has turned into almost 3 years of events is so powerful. In 2021, Activating Art held an in-person version of the original virtual Zoom at Starlight Square, and 150 people showed up.

Amanda said it best, “This is historic. This is a social justice movement that’s been so consistent and has grown so exponentially.” Activating art is a social justice movement. To clarify, Activating Art isn’t a non-profit and isn’t a for-profit org. Both JD and Amanda have used their personal funds to support this movement for the past couple years. Additionally, they have raised a total of $40k (and counting) through donations for many nonprofits around the Boston area, including the New England Innocence Project, Trans Resistance, MissionSAFE, and 617Peak to name a few. This year, Activating Art received a grant of $15k from the City of Boston, which has helped them amplify the visibility of Activating Art.

Over the past month, there have been weekly series at Civic Pavilion about topics that aren’t spoken about. These panels included “Advocacy and Equity in the Arts,” “The Intersectionality of Trans and Reproductive Rights,” “Wealth and Mental Health,” and “The Legalization of Marijuana and the Prison Industrial System.” The goal of these panels was to break barriers and have those hard conversations to get to the root of these deep-seated issues and determine how we can do our part to support and uplift marginalized communities.

Activating Art isn’t a one-and-done type of situation. “This is something that JD and I give back to every year and want to continue to do so,” Amanda said. JD and Amanda hope to continue to have these important conversations and apply them in the education sphere, integrating them into curriculums and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

This year, thanks to Billy Dean Thomas, the City Hall Plaza Engagement Manager has helped activate the panel series and festival at City Hall Plaza. “Billy Dean has been key to making Activating Art work. As an artist themselves, they know how artists work, and they have helped us push things through with the city and have shown up,” JD said of his contribution. “Throughout this process, Billy Dean has really been there for me and encouraged me to keep going,” Amanda added. A lot of other people have been doing the work for this festival and have been vital to the planning and organizing process: Morgan, Cassandra, Brandie, and Jill.

A range of artists have been represented as part of Activating Art over the years. During the virtual zoom back in 2020, I found some of my now-favorite artists, including Notebook P who sang some originals from his car (he still sings from his car in case you were wondering), and I also re-fell in love with Amir Rivera and Amber Ais, who bring so much of themselves to their music. This year, the choice of artists was no different — the artists are people who incorporate social justice into their own music and who we don’t see too often (but should) like Terry Borderline and Khanscience Wisdom. An artist that Activating Art would love to collaborate with is DJ WhySham for her “Finally Fest” happening in 2024, and an organization that they would like to work with in the near future is A Beautiful Resistance and Jeneé Osterheldt for their work at the Museum of Science. “We are friends and family here. We’re a community.”

The big Activating Art festival is this Sunday, September 10th from 12-5pm at City Hall Plaza, and it’s about bringing people together. “It’s a family-friendly festival and there’s no age demographic. It’s a space full of love and light, and you’re going to learn something.” Activating Art is very intentional in what it stands for. An important thing to note is that it’s intergenerational and involves people of all ages, races, and identities. Social justice issues aren’t limited to a specific age, and there are more issues that need to be addressed like sustainability and housing, gender-affirming care, and mental health equity for artists.

Sunday is a pay-what-you-can setup, and all the donations go to 617Peak and the New England Innocence Project. There will be QR codes around the plaza that you can scan to donate to these orgs. So come out on Sunday, support this social justice movement, and be a part of history for artists and activism.

Breaking Free from the Network with Werq the World

Posted on 09/05/2023 by Harry Gustafson

By Emily Gardner

The Internet. Artificial intelligence. Drag queens. All of those things came together at the MGM Music Hall for Werq the World’s latest drag extravaganza. This time, queens from the RuPaul’s Drag Race roster were transported into the deep web and had to fight (and lip-sync) to break free from powerful, sentient beings trying to steal their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. The production and stage set up looked like it was taken right from a sci-fi movie set and featured a balcony connected to a rotating door that reassembled a test tube. The outfits were futuristic, the dance moves were on point, and the hair flips defied gravity. There was even crowd participation, with Lady Camden plucking two local drag queens from the audience to battle it out in a lip-sync with two of the tour’s queens. Werq the World and the queens pulled out all the stops to deliver a stellar performance.

Check out our photos from Drag Race below.

Old Things Made New on Perennial’s Latest EP

Posted on 09/01/2023 by Ben Bonadies

by Ben Bonadies

I don’t think anyone loves being in a band as much as Chad Jewett. The Perennial singer and guitarist has Big Ideas about what bands should be and uses his own art-punk project as a testing ground. But what happens when a progressive punk looks back on his own work? Today sees the release of The Leaves of Autumn Symmetry, a five-track EP of reimagined tracks from their first album The Symmetry of Autumn Leaves. Much more than a (Perennial’s Version), this EP takes early songs from the Perennial catalog and spruces them up with a studio-as-instrument approach.

We sat down with Chad to get the inside track on the new EP.

This interview has been edited for clarity

Allston Pudding: So why rerecord songs from this record, and why only five?

Perennial: So we had recorded the initial record largely ourselves, and we really liked that for what it was. But there was a handful of songs that we were playing live. And as we were sort of working towards the follow up, which was In The Midnight Hour which we recorded with Chris Teti, and had a lot more studio time, more have an ability to sort of fully realize we were where we were going sonically, those older songs started to sort of take on some elements of where we were at in 2019, 2020. And so part of it was just sort of wanting to have recorded versions of the way we were approaching them live. For instance, Chelsea’s singing a lot more in the live versions we were doing than on the versions on the record. We got to know the songs better and wanted versions that people could have to listen to that reflected that.

And then the other thing was, we had sold out of the pressing of the first record, Symmetry of Autumn Leaves. And we sort of thought, well, we could press another run of it and put it out again, or we could put those resources towards recording these versions that felt more true to who Perennial’s been for the last few years, what we sound like, how we approach working in the studio. So to us, you know, if people want to, people can still buy the digital versions of the first one on Bandcamp, it’s still on all the streaming services, but it was more interesting to us to sort of try to tackle them from sort of where we’re at now then just sort of put out another pressing of the original record. And then the reason we chose this handful of songs is basically these were the ones that we’ve been playing live.

AP: Is a song ever done?

Perennial: Probably not. I think a song can get to the point where you’re happy with it in its recorded form, and it won’t keep you up at night. From our perspective, some of the songs we’ve now played live maybe 200 times. That’s not even an exaggeration, it’s probably a literal number. And you just start to do new stuff, you know? We’ll come up with different fills, or I find spots where just making feedback is more interesting than the guitar part I had written or realized that it’s cooler if Chelsea and I are trading off vocals, and if it’s just one or the other of us. But that’s okay. Because that’s the reason why people should go see a band live. I like when the live version of the song has something different, or it’s approaching the song from a slightly different angle, because otherwise I can just listen to the record.

AP: You’re talking a lot about this EP being “studio as an instrument.” Talk a little bit about what you mean by that.

Perennial: One of the things that that we sort of developed on Midnight Hour, was trying to make sure that every choice we were making sonically wasn’t just there because it was the easiest idea or because it was the first idea that came to mind, really always asking ourselves: Is there something more interesting we could do here or something more surprising? When you’re playing guitar, bass, post hardcore, punk, indie, rock, garage, rock, whatever, it’s very easy to think “Alright, guitar and drums, that’s where most of the stuff is going to come from.” But we really try to avoid sort of automatically assuming that that’s what the main instrumentation should be, or that the verse should always be a guitar, whatever. So, really looking at all the different stuff we could use, whether it be organ or tambourine or synthesizer, or Mellotron, or whatever, you know, trumpet. Sort of letting the studio and all of its possibilities actually have a real place and a real influence on what the record ends up being the same way that a live show does the same, right? We have to be creative about how to perform a song that might be much more layered on record. We don’t have the option of layers. So what can we do instead, so that the live version has its own reason for being and has its own sort of interesting thing going on? And so when it came time for the new EP, even more so we wanted to avoid just reproducing what we already had. So it was taking a hard look at trying to capture how we were playing the songs live, but using the stuff that we could use in the studio to add some new angles, to add some new layers, some new shades to what we were doing.

AP: Is it more fun to record new songs or old songs?

Perennial: Recording new songs is probably more exciting, but it’s also more nerve racking. When we were going in with these five songs from our first record, we knew there were songs that worked on a number of levels. They’re songs we were still excited about, they were songs that worked well live. So we knew that we had at least cleared that hurdle. Whereas when it’s something brand new, you’re trying to make sure that the bare bones of the song work, and that the hook is catchy enough, and that the verses are doing something dynamic and interesting, and all that. But there is something incredibly exciting about the blank canvas of “this is the first time we’re recording this, the first time we’re playing it for anyone but the three of us when we’re rehearsing it.” So, yeah, that is fun. But it does come with this setup of responsibility that we’re thinking about.

So much of what we would have to pay attention to has already been figured out. So Will [Mulhern, drummer] might change up his fills a bit, I might add something or subtract something from what I do on guitars, same with Chelsea and organ. But, you know, by and large, that stuff is figured out, it’s just a matter of executing it. And so it does free up a lot of time for the the second, third layer. What can we do to make sure that someone who owns the first record, buys this EP and feels like they’re hearing the songs differently, or hearing them in a new way or finding stuff that that it feels like both of these records should sort of stay in their collection?

The Symmetry of Autumn Leaves is out now. Buy on Bandcamp if you’re cool.

<a href="https://perennialtheband.bandcamp.com/album/the-leaves-of-autumn-symmetry">The Leaves Of Autumn Symmetry by Perennial</a>

In Between Days & Ahead of the Curve

Posted on 08/29/2023 by Harry Gustafson

Review by Andrew Bourque

Photos by Greg Wong

Lord Huron’s Headlining Set at In Between Days

Amidst the plethora of baby festivals cropping up across the land, it can be easy to get lost in the conversation. The festival landscape (alongside pretty much everything else) looks pretty different post-quarantine. With many festivals bowing out in recent years, they’ve left ample room for many more to set up shop, one of these being In Between Days Festival, now in its second year, held in Quincy, MA.

It’s an eclectic production boasting an arcade, artist & vintage markets, and a lineup showcasing some of New England’s best bands alongside some of indie’s most memorable. Expanding to two days for its’ second edition, In Between Days has established itself as a worthy contender in the ever expanding festival circuit.

Director James McDonald sees “this event bringing something new to Greater Boston… delivering an experience unlike any other [in the area],” and he’s not wrong. As the weekend rolled on, attendees were treated to local barbecue, lobster rolls, a pop-up arcade courtesy of Bit Bar Salem, an expansive market and – yes – decently comfortable seating with a great view of both stages.

It’s surprising that the artist/vintage market was a new addition this year given its sheer amount of vendors and options. Attendees could pick up spooky soaps from Black Moon Botanics, beautiful metalwork from Figs & Ginger, sleek and nautical fashions from Tuck, feel good designs from Be a Nice Hüman or a one-of-a-kind find from one of the several vintage booths.

With something for everyone, it’s admirable that organizers focused a lot on alternatives to the music at a music festival. Not saying the bands aren’t worth paying attention to, far from it. However, it’s really nice to be able to bop around, play a video game, grab a bite, pick up a new record or necklace before getting back into the music.

Speaking of, the weekend sounded amazing with sets from Modest Mouse, Lord Huron, Phantogram, Sunny Day Real Estate and some local favorite’s including Weakened Friends, shallow pools and Dutch Tulips. Boston remains an incredibly exciting musical environment and it’s great when area festival’s really take notice of that fact.

Memorable moments from the weekend included watching Weakened Friends’ Sonia Sturino shading an unruly mosher before kicking into yet another ripper. Blitzen Trapper shutting things down with a beautiful three part harmony. The casual coolness that exudes from every moment of a Phantogram set. Or when Lord Huron welcomed the spectacular Allison Ponthier to the stage for two songs, after she had played the opposite stage just a few hours prior. The weather held up, the crowds were in good spirits and the canned margaritas kept on cracking open.

A festival that allows you to kick your feet up, enjoy some refreshments AND have a great view of the action is something special. Having crafted a worthy experience in just it’s sophomore year, it’s exciting to see where organizers take In Between Days in the years ahead.

Check out our photos of In Between Days below.

Actor|Observer Show a World of Contrasts in “Fool’s Gold” Video

Posted on 08/29/2023 by Andrew McNally

By Andrew McNally

Photo credit: Adam Parshall

Nearly a year ago, we covered post-hardcore powerhouse group Actor|Observer’s single “Fool’s Gold,” and what the song meant for the broader arts community of Boston. In the subsequent year, little has changed: luxury apartments are still being constructed with no tenants, tech companies are imposing their expansions, and Great Scott remains without a home. So it is unfortunately fitting that we’re finally getting a music video for the song.

“Fool’s Gold” is a bemoaned love letter to the music scene of Boston and, specifically, Allston. Amid rapid corporate expansion, rising rent costs and general gentrification, the arts scene is getting suffocated. The song works as a simultaneous eulogy for what we’ve lost and a call to arms to preserve and strengthen what remains. Given as such, it seems slightly paradoxical that Actor|Observer would accept a gig at this year’s Boston Calling – which, as fun as it was, was absolutely drowning in corporate sponsorships. Well, the video for “Fool’s Gold” successfully melds the two ideas into one. The video uses footage of the band’s Calling set (which we noted was one of Saturday’s highlights), with singer Greg Marquis’s perfectly choreographed monologue, keeping the fans in check about when and where they see live music in Boston. The call to action is shown in full, and woven into the beginning of the track.

The video was, naturally, a full DIY project. Ben Eames produced the video, which is completely centered around the paradox of the song being performed at Boston Calling. The festival saw out-of-towners like Foo Fighters and Paramore command a space owned by Harvard, while everyone from Subaru to Jimmy John’s hawked their products at swaths of festivalgoers. In the video, footage of the band playing at this corporate spectacle was projected onto buildings, including the barren former homes of Great Scott and The Sound Museum. Other house venues and graffiti-riddled buildings get projected onto as well. And the irony is not lost on the band, who project part of the set onto the stadium where Boston Calling took place. The video highlights the stark contrast of how entertainment and music is viewed in the city these days; the big bands are welcomed, but spaces for the smaller bands to play are getting bulldozed. It’s a paradox itself, one driven by the corporate heads who have cartoonish dollar signs in their eyes. And it’s also terminal, as the arts scene in Boston is getting crushed, worse than ever before.

But, like the song itself, there is a harmonious aspect amidst the mire. Great Scott may be gone, but multiple active venues – the Paradise, the Sinclair, even Roadrunner, among others – lent their marquee space to show various lyrics from the song. These venues are thriving, and still work to showcase local talent among the national tours. It’s an important reminder that there is no competition in this scene, that everyone must support everyone, and that there is a common enemy. We’re all about live music here, and showing up and showing out is the way to keep the Boston music scene alive. The scene cannot consist solely of corporate festivals. These venues need local bands, just as local bands need these venues.

On that note, Actor|Observer is soon departing on a brief tour with He Is Legend and Inspirit, including a show at Taffeta in Lowell on 9/2. Tickets for that and the full tour schedule can be found on the band’s website. The video for “Fool’s Gold” can be watched below, and the album “Songs For The Newly Reclusive” can be streamed wherever you prefer. Please support your local live venues.

Alvvays and Alex G at the Leader Bank P

Posted on 08/28/2023 by Dan Moffat

Written and Photographed by Dan Moffat

On Friday, August 25th we caught Alvvays and Alex G at the Leader Bank Pavilion.

After a captivating performance from newcomers Tanukichan, Alex G took to the stage. He kicked the set off softly while seated at a dimly lit keyboard for “S.D.O.S.,” then moved onto an acoustic guitar for most of the night. The set would run the gamut from quiet to loud, peaking volume wise into fierce, cold digital soundscapes on “Brick” and “Horse.”

The G man told the audience that people in New York say “bad things” about Boston. This elicited a muted response at first. However, upon returning to the subject repeatedly, the crowd began to jeer. Alex G wouldn’t specify what the New Yorkers said, but he made sure to let us know that he knows multiple people in New York that do not like Boston, and that he disagrees with them. Alex neglected to mention where he comes from, for helpful background context but that’s okay, I looked it up and it is Havertown, Pennsylvania. Which I find interesting because I have never heard, read, or seen anything about Havertown, Pennsylvania.

But I’m sure Havertown, Pennsylvania is great. That’s because Alex G is Great. Maybe Great is what the ‘G’ stands for. I am not going to look that up. I do know that Alex G is Great because he, with his four piece band, made a pavilion full of people shriek-gasm to his song “Sarah” which shook the Seaport. Friends, “Sarah” was a collective hand-over-mouth, ‘can you believe we’re here?’ kind of moment where couples started instantly making out with each other. Suffice it to say, this kind of concert magic where thousands of people are connecting together by experiencing simultaneous musical dopamine hits, is powerful.

Alvvays hail from Prince Edward Island and feature lead singer Molly Rankin, who was sporting her trademark hotrod red. Alvvays were born out of late 00’s blog rock and align their core influences with obscure throwback crooners like Julee Cruise. They practice reverb drenched, crooner, indie synth pop. Rankin’s vocal prowess shined on her agile melodies, including my favorite, “Tile By Tile.” Alvvays also bring a sort of early 80’s Smiths/REM jangle post-punk vibe to the party which I do in fact really like, such as on “Pressed.” Both tracks are off of 2022’s stellar Blue Rev album.

Alvvays’ echo effects enveloped the crowd along with the warm sea breeze. Revelers swayed ecstatically to “Archie, Marry Me” under a canopy that resembled an oversized wedding tent. They drew the night to a satisfying close on “Lottery Noises.” I felt like I was in a float tank for 90 minutes because after the show I felt regulated, relaxed, and ready. I was All Set. There was no pain in this Pavilion.

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Amir Rivera is the Music Kid of Cambridge

Posted on 08/25/2023 by Harry Gustafson

By Tanvi Shah

“I’ve been traveling a lot, but Boston is my favorite city. Somerville, Cambridge, Dorchester, Medford — It’s all for me.” — Amir Rivera

Amir Rivera is no stranger to the Boston music scene. Born and raised in Cambridge, Amir’s identity became “the music kid” in high school. Throughout the years, Amir has embraced his cultural identity in a unique way, expressing both his Jewish and Hispanic sides through his music. “Cambridge was a melting pot of cultures to grow up in. Cambridge is home,” Amir said while recounting how the range of sounds from his friends’ houses exposed him to music around the world and ultimately influenced his original music.

Amir has been in a lot of different bands and genres during his artist journey — Los Elk, which is indie rock, Coyote Island, which is psychedelic indie music, in addition to Amir playing around with hip-hop beats and enjoying a good jam band session. So it’s no wonder that Amir describes his solo, original music as genre-fluid.

His debut album (title pending) features 11 tracks that he’s written throughout the years. The album is a reminder to himself that he hasn’t abandoned his earlier songs. Now, it’s their moment to shine. “I want people to think about love when they hear the album.” Amir’s songs capture different aspects of love and loss as concepts. The album follows the arc of falling in love, being in love, and falling out of love while appreciating the different types of love throughout. The album has a “modern sentiment” to it, but not that “LA shiny pop,” as Amir vehemently asserted during our conversation. The album has many different vibes to it — singer-songwriter, RnB, alt-rock, indie, some folk, and even some psychedelic elements.

Amir’s show at the Rockwood in Fenway was titled “The Cambridge Takeover” not only because Cambridge is home to Amir, but also because both supporting acts had ties to the Cambridge and Boston areas. Connis and Amir went to highschool together, and nellie and Amir first met at a local music show in the area. Amir wanted his friends to play alongside him and wanted to share the stage with people he admires, respects, and is a fan of.

This show was a “musical chairs of a set” according to Amir, highlighting 6 different musical ideas that flowed into one another. The show started with Connis’ DJ set that geared us up with some grooving beats for what was to come.

nellie is a friend of mine who started her music journey here in Boston, and I love seeing her perform and seeing how much she’s grown as a person and an artist. She started off with a sad tune called “Acquaintances” about a friendship breakup, the lyrics of which break your soul: “Everyone used to feel like family, but now they’re just strangers like you and me.” nellie also played her next single, “Garden,” about her annoying neighbor who lived across from her in her upper-west-side apartment. There’s also going to be an accompanying music video for the song and I am SO ready to see it! nellie ended her set with a cover of Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” with some lovely harmonies from Amir. “I love nellie’s voice. Her lyrics are so poignant, and we love singing together!” Amir said about having nellie open for him.

Connis came back to the stage after nellie’s set and proceeded to wow us with his earnest lyrics and vulnerability over his tracks. “Connis is someone I admire for his community-building, beats, and he’s so raw and so himself. We’ve been bouncing songs off each other since we were in highschool,” reminisced Amir when talking about having Connis on the lineup.

Next to the stage (again) was Amir. This part was the solo set, where Amir sang his original songs, including an unreleased song “Volcano.” The lyric that stuck with me from another of his original songs was “Someday you’ll be home again,” and Amir had this incredible falsetto when he sang his original lyric, “Right now you’re not here” that will live in my head rent-free for a while.

Then came the jam-band session, where Amir and his band — Aidan on bass and Jesse on drums — jammed out and had a blast on stage. I haven’t heard bass played like that. I was stunned. Aidan got funky on us, which he indicated by turning his hat backwards. With the amazing sound quality at Rockwood, I could hear every shred on Amir’s electric guitar and every beat on the drums…it was fucking great! They ended their jam session with a jammy song and then revealed to us that they had one rehearsal. Once Amir heard the first 3 notes of the other two players, he knew they were good for their set at Rockwood. “That’s what it’s like playing with talented musicians,” Amir said about his band.

The final part of the show included Connis coming back up on stage in a snazzy vest. and Amir, the band, and Connis performing live versions of Connis’ rap songs, including “SPF 30” and “Lost Touch.” Connis mentioned that Aidan has the BEST facial expressions while playing, which I am inclined to agree with. Amir and Connis had been talking about having a live band behind Connis’ music for 4 years, and they were happy it could finally come to fruition. Anyone could visibly tell that Amir and Connis have been performing together for years from the way they interacted with each other on stage. I have so many videos from the last section of this set.

The words that come to my mind to describe it are “energizing, powerful, stunned at the talent, and complete.” Some of Connis’ lyrics that resonated with me were “I wanna know how it feels to lose it all” and “I waste so much Goddamn time, but it stays on my mind.” I have never seen someone be so into their music — there were some electric guitar solos where Amir just shredded and shredded, and it was almost like he got lost in the moment in a way I didn’t know was possible. Amir’s guitar solos especially highlighted his cultural influences. At the end of their set, Amir and Connis did the typical “Okay, we’re going to act like we’re going to walk off the stage, but we have one more for you.” Despite them letting us know it was happening, we did yell “encore encore encore” as if we didn’t know they were coming back on stage.

The 6 musical ideas of the show put me through a full range of emotions, and I’m glad they did. Amir showcased his versatility of what it means to be an artist. He showed us that he is a guitarist, a singer-songwriter, a producer, a rock-and-roller at heart, a collaborator, an artist, everything. When asked who he’d like to collaborate with in the Boston music scene, Amir automatically answered Ry, whose songwriting he really admires, and Amanda Shea, a wordsmith and legend in the Boston scene.

Amir is excited about releasing his solo music. The album is mostly self-produced with Matt Peiffer as the Mixing Engineer and Chedda of Shifted Recording as the co-producer for two songs. “This album is for me and for the public. It’s for my friends, family, future family, and anyone who connects with it.” Amir will be launching a GoFundMe to support his album, so be on the lookout. While you’re waiting (impatiently, like me) for the album to come out, you can listen to his Spotify playlist, “The COMPLETE Amir Rivera.” It’s representative of Amir’s versatility and music collection while supporting all the other artists Amir has worked with.

Consider These Hoes Scared: Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA Take Roadrunner

Posted on 08/21/2023 by Harry Gustafson

Photos by Emily Gardner

Review by Harry Gustafson

A solo performance from either Danny Brown or JPEGMAFIA would be a raucous, riotous affair. What were we supposed to do with the news earlier this year that the two would be embarking on a tandem tour on the back of their collaborative album SCARING THE HOES? Scared or not, we knew we would be there no matter what.

DJ_Dave got the night started with a bang. Her fast breakbeat electronic style was an interesting preface to the eccentric hip-hop of the headlining duo, but she definitely knows how to hype up a crowd. For an artist with just a handful of singles available on streaming services, it’s probably safe to assume that not a lot of attendees were aware of her prior to this show. But what she lacked in notoriety ahead of time was made up for by the unreal hype that the audience exuded while she played her material. What is really cool and remarkable about her music is that it is created via a combination of live coding and DJ mixing.

RIght before the headlining duo took stage, the audience was treated to the full version of the Pokémon theme song. Perfect intro music. By the time JPEG and Danny Brown took the stage, the audience was ready to roar. Cups, hats, shoes: if you stood in the back of the room at Roadrunner, you saw all manner of inanimate objects flying through the air. The duo kicked things off by rifling through the opening tracks of SCARING THE HOES before JPEGMAFIA took control of the stage to perform a handful of his solo tracks. Danny Brown came back out for a few more STH songs, then got a block for his own solo material. It was exciting to hear songs like “Dip” almost a decade on from their release, still banging harder than most of today’s new releases. When JPEG came back so the duo could close the night, those audience members who hadn’t already been escorted out by security were elated to hear the show’s finale before heading home into the cool air of the summer evening.

Check out Emily Gardner’s full photo gallery from the show below.

The Church of Tessa Violet

Posted on 08/18/2023 by Harry Gustafson

Photos & Review by Greg Wong

On Saturday 8/12, alt-pop fans congregated at Paradise Rock Club to welcome Tessa Violet to Boston. She in turn welcomed everyone to “The Church of Tessa Violet” as she performed her latest album MY GOD!

Francis Forever was first up, and they played to the hometown crowd for a very warm reception. They brought the audience up to speed as they performed unreleased songs, led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to their roommate, and capped things off with their viral hit “space girl.”

Tessa Violet made a cinematic entrance to the stage that was emphasized by her sequined hot-pink Barbie armor and fluttering cape. She confidently launched into the opening lines of “YES MOM” to begin her set, which ran through the full track list of MY GOD! At times the audience was swaying to softer songs like “When The Curtain Falls,” other times bouncing to the effervescent “Play With Fire” featuring Francis Forever, and screaming along with the pulsing “BAD BITCH.” Tessa bantered that the through line of the eclectic album was that the songs “are all Tessa,” and went on to state the importance of being your authentic self. To drive the point home, Francis Forever rejoined her on the stage to end the show with a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Tessa Violet undoubtedly brought the bad bitch energy to Paradise, and attendees were more than happy to witness MY GOD!

Newport Folk Fest Highlights: Lana, Maggie, James Taylor & More

Posted on 08/16/2023 by Harry Gustafson

Photos & Review by Emily Gardner

John Batiste

The beloved Newport Folk Festival took place this past weekend at Fort Adams in Rhode Island. Although Mother Nature decided to throw almost everything she had at the weekend with extreme heat, humidity, thunderstorms, and downpours rocking the grounds, a dedicated line of fans happily endured it all to attend. When asking past attendees about the festival, many had the same thing to say: expect the unexpected. It’s a talent-packed weekend spanning across five stages with a mixture of folk, indie, and bluegrass performers. This year features notable acts such as My Morning Jacket, Lana Del Rey, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Maggie Rogers, and Goose. What you see isn’t always all you get, however. The weekend is notorious for bringing out star-studded musical guests throughout all of the sets, no matter what time or artist is performing. Some of the surprise guests this year included James Taylor (who arrived within an hour to cover an artist dropout), Jack Antonoff, and Animal as well as the rest of the Muppet crew. As far as the performances, there were quite a few notable sets throughout the weekend. Indigo de Souza brought a raw, poetic energy with empowering lyrics to her set. Although he broke his finger and couldn’t play guitar, Bartees Strange brought his incredible vocals to the Fort and gave a powerful performance. A fan favorite, The Backseat Lovers played with such a presence and mesmerized the crowd. Despite all of the obstacles of the weekend, Newport Folk Fest was a great opportunity to experience folk music in a raw, intimate way.

Check out our photos from Newport ’23 below.