Shows

I missed the Throwing Muses show in Boston last Saturday. I'm disappointed, but I was thinking: I'm lucky; I've been able to see a lot of good shows:

I didn't really start going till I was in high school. In 1994 I saw an acoustic show by Kristin Hersh at Smith College when she was supporting Hips & Makers. The next month at Smith I saw Frank Black acoustic opening for They Might Be Giants. I was able to see him again, two nights in a row (Pearl St. & Toad's Place), with a full band.

In 1995 I got to see Belly and Throwing Muses. Belly had put out King and in April I went with some friends to Providence to see them at Lupo's. Superchunk opened. TM played nearby at UMass on Mother's Day but I had to work so I caught them at Toad's Place on my day off. Back then they used to sell concert tickets at Filene's (formerly G. Fox, now Macy's) at the mall. I blushed buying them when the middle-aged cashier confirmed the ticket order- "'Throwing Muses w/ Ass Ponies', that should be an interesting time...".

I saw Frank Black a few more times. The summer that the first Catholics album came out I went to a show at the old Century Lounge in Providence. Then another time at Pearl St. when he started doing Pixies songs again. In 2001, around the time of Dog In The Sand I saw him at the Iron Horse in Northampton and the next night at the Indigo Lounge in Vermont. That night in Vermont I got drunk on gin and popped 9 Tylenol w/ codeine 3s. The drive home was awesome. The DitS tracks they played were so much better live, especially "I've Seen Your Picture" and "Stupid Me". At the start of the show, FB said "Let's break the ice with some Tom Waits" and played "The Black Rider".

In the spring of 2003 Throwing Muses did a show at the Middle East and Tanya Donelly joined in. I should've had a better time but I messed things up. I've only been to Boston about 5 times so I don't know the city well. I ended up getting to the club early and decided I'd try to get some drugs before the show- I found my way to Chinatown and tried to score but ended up getting ripped off. I guess I'm lucky I didn't get stabbed, but still, I wish I'd planned ahead.

In August 2004 Elvis Costello & the Imposters did a show at Lupo's; it was great, but at the request of the band there was no smoking allowed. Lame.

In December 2004 I saw a show I never thought I would: the Pixies. Got to hear a lot of my favorite songs.

The only show I've been to since then is Kristin Hersh at the Iron Horse, April 2007. It was full band, but the string section had visa problems and couldn't make it to the states in time, which was fine by me. They do a great job on the Learn to Sing Like a Star album but I'm just against strings in rock songs. I had a good time at the show and was a little better than usual- I struck with drinking mostly and just did a little morphine.