Events

Mike D’s Top Five Can’t Miss Shows of November

1. Saturday, November 15: Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt, Priests; $10 advance / $12 day of; 8pm doors / 9pm show; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket. Great month for indie rock. Deerhoof return to Providence supporting their new album La Isla Bonita. The band crossed noise with indie pop for a result that leads to all songs getting stuck in my head for days after listening. The song “Mirror Monster” off their new record shows a more mellow, almost ambient approach for the band. Make sure to catch them when they make it this way, playing smaller venues for low prices with big indie support acts (Trans Am and Cibo Matto elsewhere for example). This show features Providence noise rock icons Lightning Bolt, whose live shows surpass memorable every single time. Brian Chippendale, drummer / vocalist, once told me got his classic mic sound from stealing them from pay phone recievers. No clue where he can find them now. D.C.’s Priests open the bill; not too familiar with them, but upon first listen they remind me a lot of Red Aunts.

2. Wednesday, November 19: 95.5 WBRU Presents Joywave, Jetty; $7.95 advance / $10 day of; 8pm doors / 9pm show; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket. We might finally be out of the radio days of “Eat A Banjo” movement.  Rochester, NY’s Joywave has been killing the airwaves lately. First getting heavy play featured on electronic music project Big Data’s “Dangerous” and is now getting heavy play with their hit single “Tongues.” Tongues is a blast, a mix of ’80s disco and more current electronica for a refreshing, not-a-banjo-on-the-radio sound. Make sure to check out their not suitable for work music video for “Tongues,” which looks like a Whole Foods employees meets National Geographic special. Opening up are Providence’s own Jetty, who have been drawing crowds and cashing checks lately. Check out their site thisisjetty.com to hear their ready-for-radio indie dance songs.

 3. Tuesday, November 18: Atmosphere (“North Of Hell” Tour) with special guests Prof & Dem Atlas; $22.50 advance / $25 day of; 7:30pm doors / 8:30pm show; All ages; Lupo’s, 79 Washington St., Providence. I wrote about how great Atmosphere’s new album Southsiders is earlier this year in this column for their Boston show, and MC Slug and producer Ant’s eighth record still not only stands up high in their catalog but also as one the year’s top 5 albums for me. There is no diminishing return on this record and it lives in my car until I lose it. This marks the first return to Providence for Atmosphere since 2008. Much like the old DIY days of punk and hardcore, every time out, Atmosphere takes with them local to them but not as well known acts from the Minneapolis area (and often releases the act’s albums on their label Rhymesayers to a bigger audience). Rather than getting buzz acts that might generate a few more tickets in different places, they tend to bring a curated local Minneapolis show each time and I find that refreshing. It exposed me to acts I now love like P.O.S. and Eyedea and Abilities. This tour is no different and features two Minneapolis upstarts, Prof and Dem Atlas. Make sure to get there early to check out the whole show.
4. Saturday, November 15: J Robbins, Onelinedrawing, Bill Keough; $10; 6:30pm; 21+ only; The Parlour, 1119 North Main St., Providence. One time early in high school life my best friend growing up, Brian Jannarelli, and I tried our best to fit in the Punk DIY scene and wrote several issues of a punk ‘zine in which we made fun of bands and interviewed and reviewed the ones we revered. I sent out a letter (this is back in the days of postage mail) with the same questions to both bands Jawbreaker and Jawbox. They were esoteric and mostly stupid, and Adam from Jawbreaker gave answers that were pretty short and generally not amused.  But J Robbins from Jawbox took meticulous time and showed great humor in each response. My favorite? How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Adam “17”.  J.  Robbins “The answer must remain a mystery. That’s why after three licks I bury them around the lawn of my house in the shape of a pentagram to ward off evil.” Perfect. Word on the streets is J. is playing songs from his past (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Channels). Also performing is Onelindrawing (Jonah from Far) and local heavyweight Bill Keough from Galvanize. This show is EARLY, so take note.

5. Tuesday, November 25: Bleachers; The Paradise in Boston / Quintron and Miss Pussycat; Great Scott in Boston. The double header road trip that likely only I would be interested in. First up, shooting over for Bleachers at Paradise. Bleachers is the indie pop act from Jack Antonoff of Steel Train and Fun. Since their last play at The Met before the record came out, they released Strange Desire and have worked the summer festival circuit.  Much like Joywave, they are also on the airwaves and not playing banjos, which is refreshing. “Rollercoaster” is currently heavily in play, but “I Wanna Get Better” is the official summer jam of 2014. The best part of going to my favorite Boston venue, The Paradise, is that my second favorite venue in Boston, Great Scott, is a 5-minute walk down the street and goes later than the ‘dise shows. There is a very good chance I can make it out in time to catch New Orleans husband and wife duo Quintron and Miss Pussycat. They are hard to describe — lo-fi cable access dance party? I don’t know. Check it our for yourself and you tell me.

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