Live music in New England

If anyone wants a free ticket to see Nick Cave at the Wang tonight, DM me with the email you use with Ticketmaster. Between things happening in the world and in my life right now, I'm not in a place where I want to hear acoustic piano versions of his very dour songs.

Short notice, but if anyone wants a free e-ticket to the sold out The Beaches show at Crystal Ballroom tonight, DM me with your LiveNation/Ticketmaster email address ASAP.

There's an older gentleman (I'm guessing 60s) at Genesis Owusu sitting on a stool and watching hockey on his phone.

Feels like a life goal. Keep going to shows even though you're twice as old as almost everyone else.

A question for anyone who's been to The Sinclair lately...

What was the door security like when you attended?

When I saw Low Cut Connie there last month, I believe that they were using wand metal detectors, but not much else was done. This evening, I went to see Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country and it was TSA-level security. Not only were they using the wands, but all pockets had to be emptied, there was a pat-down of chest and legs (well, that's what was done to me, anyway), and if you were carrying anything which could conceivably conceal something else, that had to be opened and shown to security.

When I pulled a granola bar in a sealed packet out of my pocket, the woman working security first said that I couldn't bring it in. I then said that I wasn't going to eat it there, but that it was for after the show. She looked at me quizzically, so I said that I'm an old man and I need my fiber before it gets too late in the evening, and she let me bring it in.

I'm wondering if this has been standard operating procedure there lately, or if something else may have influenced their decision to ramp up security checks.

Harvard University and its students have been in the news in the last couple of weeks in reference to international events, and I'm wondering if being located so close to campus in Harvard Square has made them wonder whether their location may make them more susceptible to disruptive actions of many different types. I can understand that level of concern if any the nationality, ethnicity, or religion of any of the evening's performers had been aligned with the focus of the international conflict in question and that alignment was relatively well-known public knowledge, or if any performers had been outspoken on related issues lately, but that didn't appear to be the case tonight.

A performance at TD Garden a couple of nights earlier did check off a few of those boxes and caused controversy which garnered international press coverage, but there was nothing unexpected or surprising about that, given that the performer in question is known for addressing hot button issues in their work and their particular opinions on those issues were well-known long before the house lights came down that night. I can't imagine that the AEG/Bowery Boston braintrust thought that a jam band which takes old country standards and similar sounding originals and uses them as fodder for improvised jams would find itself dealing with similar things at its shows.


Also, if you really do feel the need for enhanced security, why not just use the same sort of AI-driven tech that Boston Calling has used in their last two editions? No wands, no pat-downs, no emptying of pockets...it's both the most efficient way to handle venue security, and it's less intrusive than having to have your possessions manually examined and your body touched by security staff.

At Genesis Owusu, got wanded and they just wanted to check what was in your pockets.

Hip hop, EDM, and jam bands tend to have harsher security than other genres, as Booms mentioned.

BTW, how does Roadrunner security compare to what's described above?

Just one, and they don't open the balcony for every show

It's about time for me to download Lyft or Uber, with a couple of local band shows coming up with three or four acts on the bill that could run late.

Which of the two is simpler to use, particularly in terms of the number of options offered? I want the fewest vehicle options. I looked at the Uber menu online once, and was utterly confused by the number of vehicle categories offered. Beyond a separate category for vans and larger vehicles, which some may need if they have a lot of people or luggage, I really don't understand why there are so many options.

Does Lyft have simpler/fewer options?

Which of the two would you recommend for ease of use and simplicity?

Make sure you have enough phone battery, cause it uses GPS and that drains my battery and (at least for lyft, idk if this is the case for Uber) you have to keep it on until you're dropped off at which point you give the star rating and tip

probably like $40

In late summer, an article ran (linked somewhere above) in which someone associated with The Stage at Suffolk Downs said that in 2024 there would be a full schedule of concerts, and that doing only Re:SET and Breakaway in 2023 was a way of easing into use of the venue.

So, here we are a few months later and LiveNation's Leader Bank Pavilion has already announced a few shows and put tickets on sale, same for a few Fenway Park shows, and AEG's sister venue in NYC, Forest Hills, has already announced three shows for next year.

Meanwhile, it's crickets from TSaSD.

I'm beginning to wonder whether if for some reason ranging from area noise complaints to as-yet-unannounced MBTA Blue Line diversions to RE developers' plans, the space is no longer going to be used as a concert venue. Generally, when artists announce tours, they announce all dates in a particular leg of the tour at once. You'd think that we would have heard one or two names by now, if it was happening.