BritPopping into Boston

Unfortunately I was not at Glasto or Rothbury this year, though appreciated the text message updates from my various reps.

I did however, travel to Boston recently to see Amanda play two nights with The Boston Pops. SICK!

What made this particular event extra special is the location of Symphony Hall. I had a ton of different apartments while living in Boston/Allston, but one of my faves was my sophomore dorm on St. Stephen's street. I met the Baron, had a Fab roommate, and enjoyed the company of he hockey players down the hall + Tim Culley.

Said dorm room with mini-Oasis collage + Blur poster adjacent to my bed rocking swim team gear.Amanda, not surprisingly, KILLED IT at the Pops! I was so proud. It was much more than throwing a band in front of a symphony. Amanda clearly worked with Lockhart and The Pops to craft a proper show. I loved how Amanda flirted with Keith throughout (and he is kinda cute) only to end up with Brian at the end of the show. Luckily, no one in the audience broke out in a fight like Ben Folds' Boston Pops appearance last year. Ben produced Amanda's soon-to-be released solo album. Amanda covered "Brick" on night one and on night two she dedicated the song to me! It was a beautiful moment as well as surreal as I loved Ben Folds Five growing up. Onstage Amanda commented that we had bonded about it. When BF and AP first started exchanging emails (he was a fan and had been talking about The Dolls in the press), Amanda didn't really know his music. This is a girl who didn't listen to Nirvana until 1999 (or maybe it was 1996) because it was considered "jock music" in high school. It was only then she realized it was really good. Amanda Palmer is brilliant in many ways. She speaks 3 languages and knows volumes about subjects people spend years studying. However, her perspective on pop culture is different than that of Brian and myself which are straight up 90's music obsessed teenage years. I told her to start with "Brick." In related world's collide news, a little over a week later, Amanda would play her old new song "Oasis" with Ben, Sam, and Jared sitting in post-jam style at Glastonbury. The song is about a girl who gets raped but it's ok because she gets a signed photo from the brothers Gallagher in the mail. Very classic Amanda dark tongue-in-cheek songwriting. And catchy too! :)

Unfortunately I don't believe Amanda caught Jay-Z's now infamous set at Glastonbury. For those of you that have lives and don't subscribe to a gossip blog devoted entirely to Oasis, a few months ago Noel flat out said Jay-Z at Glastonbury won't work. I don't believe he was putting Jay, his music, or his show down necessarily. He was just pointing out that Glasto headliners in particular tend to be in the English guitar rock tradition. Jay-Z is certainly a rock star of this decade, and I'm all for it. Perception is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. Jay mashed up the interview into an intro montage and came out covering "Wonderwall" with a mocking tribute to Oasis. I chose this tribute due to the classic over-excited English music presenter.



Glasto is such a special place, every English-based rock fan should experience it in their lifetime. Though, not everyone is as cool as MK who introduced his bands, The Cribs and MGMT. SICK!Back to Boston. Pre-show on the second day, I was waiting for Sars outside. I ran into Brendon Downey, a staple of The Dresden Dolls' extended family, only to have Psycho Dave roll up fresh off a plane from Asia on tour with The Click Five and with new international wardrobe to show off. In classic Psycho Dave style, he rounded our mini posse up for scorpian bowls and a beer (15 minutes before showtime) at local Northeastern underage drinking establishment, Tiger Lily.It was so fun to be reunited with Dolls' family legends such as JeffMaker.com and Oedipus, but also see Boston staples like Kates. We should do this every year! :) And I'll never forget Fugakyu. Best sushi restaurant in Boston - go there!

The upside to missing Rothbury was dogsitting for Irving Luba! Irv loves my yogamat as much as I do. We had a fabulous weekend together and I had my first 4th of July in Miami outnumbered by Canadians. And sometimes Britpop legends come to Miami Beach anyway. Oh Johnny Marr, how I love thee.

I'm going to NYC on Wednesday for various reasons and cannot wait to be reunited with one of my hometowns. I've only been back once since moving, though it was for work, only 24 hours, and I was cockblocked. Although still a fun time, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for a slightly longer visit.

xo