Blog.WBRU

Never before have I seen fans at a concert trade the usual devil horns for sign language symbols of “I love you” and peace signs—that is, until I saw Matisyahu, the Grammy-nominated Jewish reggae-hip hop star, play at Lupo’s Tuesday night.

His show on the 28^th began with Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, an indie folk band from Tufts University who recently released their newest album, Inside the Human Body. The band, who seem like a more listener-friendly version of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, presented the crowd with a good warm-up for the second opener, Flobots. Read the rest » »

As the week goes by, I pride myself on being pretty spontaneous. I keep my days open for whatever comes, and I tend not to commit myself to anything unless it’s crazy important. Last week, however, a huge red circle found its way on the 11^th of October entry in my

never-used schedule book, encircling the robotic wording of TV ON THE RADIO.

My history with the band’s music is somewhat short, only hearing about them a few years ago from a friend whose sole purpose was to feed me new music. After listening to TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain, I immediately fell for the crazy, soulful, rockish style. Looking back through their catalogue, it’s pretty hard to tell it’s been the same band throughout the years. They’ve gone from some raw turntablism and hip-hop (their first album, OK Calculator, a not so subtle homage to you-know-who) to the polished newcomer, Dear Science, a waltz into a catchy, slightly electronic sound—still keeping the avant-garde rock approach they’re known for. Read the rest » »

Here are a few photos of TV on the Radio at Lupo’s this past Saturday! Look forward to a review of the show very soon. Read the rest » »

Stars stopped through Providence last Thursday and were joined by Saturday Morning Project at Lupo’s! Read the rest » »

Sunday’s always seem hectic for me. No work, no commitments… you’d expect it to be relaxing, no? Somehow, though, I always manage to end up with a ton of things to get done on Sundays. So it wasn’t much of a surprise that I found myself sprinting down to Lupo’s two Sundays ago to make it in time to see It Was the Best of Times open for The Kooks. It also isn’t terribly surprising that, due to confusion and other problems, I only managed to get photos of Best of Times. But hey, these things happen, and I’m just glad that I got to see such an awesome show.

For those of you with your fingers far from the pulse of the local music community, there’s been a rumor circulating that IWTBOT is breaking up. Let me dispel your concerns - they are not. Although they’ve lost drummer Jared Smith to college, and guitarist Pete Camera is moving on to new things, they’re still pumping out great music. And, surprisingly, their live act didn’t sound incredibly different without the former band members - you can tell something’s missing, but they’re already well on their way to solidifying their sound with their new lineup. The biggest difference had to be the crowd; nearly 1000 people showed up to catch their set, an impressive feat. And they did a phenomenal job filling the biggest stage I’ve seen them on, and pumping up an enormous crowd. Read the rest » »

It was a long night at Lupo’s this past Friday, but for those of us that stuck around until the end, it was well worth every minute. Penrose headlined the show, accompanied by 2008 Rock Hunt semifinalists The Coming Weak, as well as Fordoes Me Quite, Acadia, & Aston. When I arrived at the show it was already more crowded than any local show I’ve seen, and more people streamed in the front door every few minutes. However, the large audience did not ruin the intimacy of the show - everyone seemed to know half of the people there, and were more than excited to meet the rest. Even the bands were incredibly social, hanging out at the back of the venue with fans and friends alike, contributing to the incredibly local feel.

Aston was the first band to take the stage, and they did so with profound energy. The put on a solid, fun set that got us all interested to hear more. Although the experience may not have been there - vocals we sometimes a little messy and the band didn’t quite know how to work the crowd - each member seemed to truly put his heart into the performance, and it certainly will be a good experience for their next big performance.

Acadia was up next. They also had a few mistakes, and at times the screaming turned from exciting and charismatic to redundant and tiresome, but they made up for all of it with the highest energy of the night. Members moved rapidly and fluidly across the stage and through their music, getting us thoroughly pumped up for their performance and for the rest of the night. Read the rest » »

As you are probably well aware, Saturday was the WBRU Local Music Festival. And what a festival it was. I was able to see nearly six hours of local music down at Providence Piers, and every single band was excited to be there. Someday Providence described it best in saying that every band on the bill plays fun music and were simply looking forward to having a good time. No prima-donna bands, no pretentious music, just friendly, down-to-earth bands with great music. (Left: Zox)

I managed to grab a ride with Hello Mahalo down to Providence Piers after their interview at the station, arriving just in time for Someday Providence’s set. They jumped the gun a little bit and took the stage early, but appropriately so. Their performance was the perfect opening to the concert, with boundless energy flowing in and out of every song. My personal favorites were “Sing with the Radio,” “Hear Me Say,” and their usual cover of Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” Typically, I find that crowds ignore opening acts, preferring to chatter amongst themselves, but I could not see a single person that wasn’t completely digging Someday Providence’s short but wholly impressive set.

Hello Mahalo was the second band on the stage, and completely rocked out as the audience grew larger and larger. It seemed as though twice as many people were left waiting for Scotty Don’t by the end of Hello Mahalo’s set, which was an experience in itself. They showed some true musicianship – the kind of stuff that’s gotten them played on over 200 college radio stations around the country – and really had the crowd going, especially as they approached their hit song “Dawning Days” towards the end of their set. Frontman Justin Joyce commented afterwards that is was really just a laid back and fun experience. There was none of the rushing and the anxious stress of some of their previous shows – it was just a really chill concert with a great crowd and some really amazing bands. Read the rest » »

Upon arrival at the Newport Yachting Center, the fog seemed to roll off the ocean potentially threatening the mounting excitement in the atmosphere. About two hours before the show, the Plain White T’s showed up to fulfill the dreams of several young BRU fans during the pre-show ‘Meet and Greet’. The fog melted away as the dynamic group entered the tent and fans screamed with joy. Each member personally spoke to each fan while cheerily signing the many articles presented by each individual. Much to the amusement of the fans the band even took a few entertaining photographs, one of which staggered each member with several of our very own BRU CREW displaying the known red shirts and their exciting faces.

Patrons had been given the opportunity to win VIP tickets in box seats right up until the show started. The Kung Fu Girls opened up the show with a few energetic songs before switching, much to everyone’s apparent surprise, to a high energy and emotional rap set. After a short sound check, Mae proceeded to further enthrall and excite the many audience members and fill almost all of the seats under the large concert tent. Read the rest » »