Catch two different versions of the "Elf" musical, visit Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for the opening of Gardens Aglow, see singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins at either Stone Mountain Arts Center or Johnson Hall, read this week's Bar Guide review and then have a drink at AC Lounge and hear about the Maine-made vampire musical movie in Indie Film. We've got all this and more!
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Aimsel Ponti
Aimsel Ponti is a Content Producer at MaineToday.com and a music writer for MaineToday.com and the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with - and inspired by - music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town library when she was six years old. She bought her first Rolling Stones record at a flea market when she was in 7th grade and discovered David Bowie a year later. She's a HUGE fan of the local music scene and covers it along with national musical happenings in her "Face the Music" column and with artist interviews that appear in print in the Portland Press Herald and online at Mainetoday.com. You'll also find her out and about absorbing live music like a sponge and roaming around local record shops and flea markets. Aimsel is also the host of Music from 207 on 98.9 WCLZ and appears monthly on the News Center Maine TV show “207” to talk about...music of course.
English Beat, Breeders, Dar Williams: 5 shows to see this fall
Now that we’re officially into fall, it’s time to pull the sweaters from the box in the back of your closet and get ready for the next concert season. Calendars at just about every music venue are bursting at the seams with eclectic offerings. After careful consideration – and tunes blasting in my ears – I’ve picked my top six shows happening between early October and mid-November. They’re all over the genre map and include gypsy jazz, ska, alternative rock, folk-informed pop, Americana and roots. Some of these acts have been around for decades and some are just getting started. Feast your eyes on this list and then put on some headphones and carve out some listening sessions as you pick and choose which ones you want to hit. The good news is that none of the dates overlap, so you could catch them all. I’ll see you out there.
The Breeders
8 p.m. Oct. 25. The State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland, $30 in advance, $35 day of show. statetheatreportland.com
Some music fans are quick to throw the '90s under the bus, but the '90s gave us The Breeders and if "Cannonball" isn't one of the finest alternative rock songs of the decade, I honestly don't know what is. If I had a nickel for every time I sang the refrain "Want you cuckoo cannonball!" at the top of my lungs I'd likely own a small island by now, and you'd all be invited for a private Breeders concert. The Breeders early days actually date back to the late '80s when Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses and Kim Deal from The Pixies formed the band. The debut album "Pod" was released in 1990 and its home to my favorite take on The Beatles' "Happiness Is A Warm Gun." By the time "Last Splash" was released in '93, Donelly had moved on to form Belly and Deal's twin sister, Kelley, was part of the band. "Last Splash" made a huge splash and was certified platinum (1 million copies sold) a year after its release. "Divine Hammer" and "Saints" were subsequent singles, and they're both righteous tunes, but it was "Cannonball" that catapulted the band to stardom. That said, it wouldn't release another album for nine years. "Title TK" is an album I haven't spent much time with, but a quick spin paid off with the opening track "Little Fury," along with the slow, brooding "Off You." Six years later came "Mountain Battles," and then all was relatively quiet in The Breeders camp for a decade, save for a 2013 tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of "Last Splash". In March, The Breeders came storming back with "All Nerve." "Wait in the Car" was the first single, and the album was a return to the original "Last Splash" lineup of the Deal sisters, drummer Jim MacPherson and bassist Josephine Wiggs. The title track of "All Nerve" is my current favorite. It's just over two minutes long and aches with longing, first quietly and then fuzzed up with electric guitar, and it's quintessential Breeders. Somehow I've managed to never see The Breeders live, and I'm thinking I'll plunk myself down in the balcony and let it all wash over me. Who's with me?
Photo courtesy of the artist
Dar Williams
7:30 p.m. Oct. 26. Chocolate Church Arts Center, 804 Washington St., Bath, $35 in advance, $40 day of show. chocolatechurcharts.org
Singer-songwriter Dar Williams has been penning poignant, thoughtful songs since the early '90s. Over the course of more than a dozen albums, she's sung about relationship intricacies, therapy, Yoko Ono, Pete Seeger, Mark Rothko, feminism, Greek mythology, a lab experiment about human suffering and childhood. The latter topic being captured so eloquently in what will always be my favorite Williams song, "When I Was a Boy" from her 1993 album "The Honesty Room." It starts off so sweetly with the lines, "I won't forget when Peter Pan came to my house, took my hand/I said I was a boy, I'm glad he didn't check," and then gets to the heart of the matter about the loss of innocence experienced in adulthood with the lines, "And now I'm in a clothing store, and the sign says less is more/More that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me/That can't help me climb a tree in 10 seconds flat." Having seen Williams at least a dozen times since the '90s, I can attest to the quality of her live performances. With an acoustic guitar and lovely soprano vocals, Williams' shows are cathartic but also fun, as her stage presence is engaging and often humorous.
Photo courtesy of the artist
I'm With Her
8 p.m. Nov. 11. State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland, $30 to $45 reserved seating. statetheatreportland.com
What happens when three well-established musicians of the folk, roots, Americana and singer-songwriter persuasion decide to join forces and form what is nothing less than a super group? Here's what happens: They name themselves I'm With Her and release one of the best albums of 2018. Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan are the three players I'm referring to, and they all have solid histories in bands and as solo acts. Watkins is a singer and fiddle player and was one of the founders of bluegrass sensations Nickel Creek. Nickel Creek released seven studio albums, and while it was on an extended break, Watkins released three solo albums. Fun fact, her debut self-titled album was produced by none other than John Paul Jones from a tiny band called Led Zeppelin. If you're unfamiliar with Watkins, hop online and listen to her song "Like New Year's Day." Jarosz also sings and plays mandolin and banjo. Her fourth album "Undercurrent" won big at the 2017 Grammys with awards for best folk album and best American roots performance for the song "House of Mercy." O'Donovan is the third voice of I'm With Her, and you'll also hear her on guitar. Her progressive bluegrass band Crooked Still released five albums between 2004 and 2011. As a solo act, O'Donovan has released a pair of EPs, two full-length albums and a live one. "In The Magic Hour" is one of my favorite albums of 2016, due in part to the song "Stanley Park." As for I'm With Her, its members first started playing together back in 2014 at an impromptu performance in Colorado. Singles started showing up in 2015, and last year they dropped a live recording of Adele's "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)," and it's in my personal cover songs hall of fame with giant harmonies and a thumping stand-up bass line. In February of this year, I'm With Her released "See You Around," and it's a dozen tunes strong with ukulele, fiddle, banjo and acoustic guitar and lead vocals traded among the three women. But it's the three voices together that shines the brightest on "See You Around," making I'm With Her more than the sum of its glorious parts.
Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan of I'm With Her. Photo by Shervin Lainez
The English Beat
9 p.m. Oct. 20. Aura, 121 Center St., Portland, $20, 18-plus. auramaine.com
It's been more than 35 years since legendary ska band The English Beat released a new album, and the wait is finally over with the arrival of "Here We Go Love." Singer-guitarist Dave Wakeling and company have released a gem of an album with songs like the bouncy and political "How Can You Stand There?" and the angry yet highly danceable title track. Put on your best British mod threads and head to Aura where you'll hear some of the new tunes along with plenty of classic Beat tunes including "Mirror in the Bathroom," "Twist & Crawl," "I Confess" and "Save It For Later." The show even has a local twist with local opening act Zeme Libre, which will be making plenty of its own ska noise infused with reggae, funk and Afrobeat. Don't expect to sit still for a single second of this show.
Dave Wakeling photo by Eugene Iglesias
Django By the Sea Gypsy Jazz Festival
Oct. 4-7. The Dance Hall, 7 Walker St., Kittery. thedancehallkittery.org
Now in its fourth year, the Django By the Sea Gypsy Jazz Festival is the place to be for a wide range of regionally, nationally and internationally known jazz acts performing in the intimate space of the Dance Hall in Kittery. As for the name of the festival, it's an homage to legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt, who died in 1953 at the age of 43, was a prolific player considered to be the father of gypsy jazz – a hot, swinging style that he and others brought to prominence in France starting in the '30s. A typical gypsy jazz lineup features guitar, upright bass and violin, and often includes clarinet or accordion. This year's lineup features Jack Soref Trio, Matt DeChamplain Trio, Ultrafaux, Youssra El Hawary Group, Frank Vignola Hot Jazz Trio and Jason Anick Trio. I'll shine a quick light on two acts to whet your musical appetite. Youssra El Hawary is an accordionist, singer and songwriter from Cairo, Egypt, who has been releasing music since 2010. Boston-based Jason Anick Trio blends swing, classical and roots music into its own scintillating contribution to the jazz oeuvre.
Youssra El Hawary photo by David Degner
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