Tag: Concerts in Gloucester

New York Times puts Gloucester’s big debate on the front page

Posted on by Vickie & Peter
from the New York Times story: “The harbor in Gloucester, Mass., part of the Northeastern fishery declared a disaster by the Commerce Department last fall.”
photo: Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times

The home page of today’s New York Times website features a story on Gloucester’s big debate about what to do with our waterfront (see story here).

Mayor Kirk is quoted a number of times promoting her vision of our port supporting both fishing and marine science, saying some of the $150 million Congress might appropriate should be used for “Programs that might attract those other uses that allow you to maintain a smaller fleet, and maintain an infrastructure for that fleet, and sit side by side.”

Everybody who’s seriously working on attracting marine science to Gloucester knows we need more than a port.  We also need a thriving cultural economy in order to attract the workers that power marine science.  Most of these workers are young, single PhDs who work very long hours and want to go out after work — and on weekends — for food, drink and music.  They want to feel surrounded by culture.  These people think they want to live in Cambridge.  What they may not know is that Gloucester has a burgeoning cultural economy.  Just look at all the live music available this weekend — and it’s supposed to be the dead of winter!

We’ve got momentum.  But in order to grow a sustainable economy for Gloucester’s long-term, we have to grow our cultural economy a lot more.  That’s where you come in.  Think of Gloucester FIRST when planning what to do at night and on weekends.  Not sure where to eat?  Check out this HUGE list of restaurants.  Check the live music schedule.  You’ll likely find music for every taste.  Want to enrich your life and the lives of your kids?  Check out this impressive list of galleries, studios, museums, theatres, etc.  Think you need to drive to the mall?  STOP!  Check this out and think again.

The secret to growing our cultural economy without losing our soul is to honor our past and embrace our future.  That’s precisely what Fred Bodin does.  His store honors our past by helping to keep the core of our history and culture alive.  And now, he’s taken to filming the future.  Here he is filming Jon Butcher with Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks and Wolf Ginandes at Jalapenos on Tuesday singing Sam Cooke’s classic Change is Gonna Come — how perfect it that!  Boston rock star Jon Butcher moved to Gloucester.  Let’s get out and support his decision, prove him right, boost our cultural economy and — most importantly — have a blast doing it!

George Carlin answers Joey’s “midget” question

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Joey’s astute observation about our increasing overuse of euphemisms deserves more than a mere comment in support of his legitimate question.  My favorite answer to this issue (and the funniest, too) was given by George Carlin some years ago.  Check it out:

Now that the issue is settled, we can move on to the tremendous amount of fun we can all have this weekend.  Given two dozen terrific live music choices — with plenty of them early enough to bring the kids (or little people, if you prefer) you’d think we were in the height of Summer!  Check out the complete weekend live music schedule here.  (I’ll be sitting in on drums tonight at the Walker Creek Band 30th Anniversary Celebration).

Fly Amero & Bob Kramer @ Cafe Shalom Saturday, March 2

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Temple Ahavat Achim (86 Middle St. in Gloucester, MA) continues to bring back its popular coffeehouse to sell out audiences, Café Shalom, on Saturday, March 2nd, from 7:00 to 10:00 PM, with an evening of contemporary acoustic music.

Café Shalom will serve hot beverages and snacks. All are welcome; there is no dress or age requirement and families are welcome.  Refreshments will be available. Admission is $10 at the door, doors open at 6:30 PM.

CafeShalomFlyAmeroBobbyKramer

The featured performer will be recording artist Fly Amero. Left-handed, upside-down guitarist/singer/journeyman Dennis “Fly” Amero finds his musical roots deep within the vast genres of the ’60’s pop revolution.  Fly moved to New York City, joining in on musical projects with members of the pop/rock bands, Foreigner and Meatloaf. In the early 1980’s, Fly struck upon the start of what would become a lifelong friendship with the classic pop singer, Larry Hoppen of “Orleans”. He joined, toured and recorded with the famed group for the better part of 3 years before returning Gloucester to focus on his own writing.  His remarkable versatility led to the writing and co-producing of Atlantic’s holiday comedy album classic, Twisted Christmas, which quickly became certified gold in 1995.  Fly is currently touring as a member of “Orleans” and fronts the thrilling rock/blues act known as “The Big Strum”.

The opening performer will be Bob Kramer with Al Foucault on bass.
The duo plays a blend of acoustic rock/blues/jazz creating ‘rootsy, rockin’ & blue’ sound that echoes from the Delta to the urban landscape with its unique arrangement of cover songs and original songs.  Bob and Al have opened for The Pete Best Band (original Beatles drummer), recording blues artists Paul Rishell and Annie Raines and host the open mic at the Grog in Newburyport.  Bob has produced two CDs, a solo CD, Honorable mention in the Billboard Songwriting Contest and has performed at the Terra Blues Club in the Village in New York City.

Before you go out tomorrow (WED) night, catch Charlee Bianchini on TV

Posted on by Vickie & Peter
Charlee Bianchini (R) with Allen on the set – photo: Roger Ward

Charlee Bianchini is Allen Estes‘ guest on Local Music Seen this week.  Charlee’s distinctive voice and thoughtful lyrics capture the studio audience and will capture you too. Plus you will hear another one of Allen’s excellent new songs.

The show airs on Cape Ann TV Channel 12 on Wednesday 2/13 at 6:30pm.  Then again on Friday at 1:30pm and Sunday at 6pm.

After you see the show, check out the great live music available in Gloucester.

How lucky we are to live in a town so full of musical talent!

Valentine’s Day for Procrastinators

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Don’t worry, Valentine’s Day isn’t until Thursday, so you’ve got a full day and a half to keep on procrastinating.  That’s what I do.  If you remember, in this post I admitted that I spent Men’s Night looking at art, talking with friends and shopping for myself at the Cave while Vickie and John finished their Christmas shopping.

SweetsTable450One reason I love the Cave is their idea of a Valentine’s Day Special is to offer it ON VALENTINE’S DAY.  What a concept!  No Preparation necessary, other than knowing about it, which is precisely why you read GMG, right?

So, on Thursday Glosta Joe’s and Roseanne’s Biscotti (another local business) will be at The Cave with free coffee & biscotti from 2-4pm.  Buy a bag of coffee & win a chance at a beautiful gift basket full of coffee, chocolate, biscotti, mugs & more goodies from the table in the picture (plus cheese, of course).

That leaves you plenty of time to get ready for a night of live music at your choice of six venues in Gloucester (see the complete live music schedule here).

It’s not just another Tuesday in the dead of winter ~ It’s MARDI GRAS ~

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Today is MARDI GRAS.  Check out what’s going on in New Orleans here.

Until four years ago, Mardi Gras in Gloucester was, for most of us, little more than another Tuesday in the dead of Winter.  But when local YMCAs began taking teens to New Orleans on a service learning trip during April vacation to help rebuild the City, the YMCA MARDI GRAS BENEFIT was born.  Last year they sold out Minglewood Tavern for a Mardi Gras concert featuring local New Orleans transplant, Henri Smith with Grammy-winning saxophonist Charles Neville (of the Neville Brothers).

This year, Latitude 43 and Minglewood Tavern are donating 10% of all food and beverage revenue from the entire day and night (starting at 11:30am RIGHT NOW!) to the YMCA trip.  And The Runaround Sound has generously donated their performance at Minglewood Tavern tonight so we can have a Mardi Gras party in snowbound Gloucester!  Here’s The Runaround Sound at the Middle East:

If you’re wondering what happened to the Henri Smith/Charles Neville concert — don’t worry, it’s been rescheduled for April 6 at the Larcom Theatre in Beverly (get tickets here).

 

LATEST UPDATE: Who’s open ~ who’s closed

Posted on by Vickie & Peter
Here’s a photo from Inge Berge’s facebook page

Rhumb Line is open.  Fred says they’re packed and serving food.  Stay tuned about entertainment there, tonight.

Poseidon is open

Espresso’s says they’ll try to stay open as long as they can.

Gloucester House closing at 4pm.

Jalapenos closing at 3pm.
Cape Ann Brewing Closing 3pm
Franklin Closed
Giuseppe’s Closed
Alchemy Closed
Latitude 43 Closed
Minglewood Closed

Cafe Shalom Concert tomorrow is cancelled.

No answer at Dog Bar.  Still waiting on an update from them.

We’ll continue to post here on GMG whenever there’s a breaking open vs. closed story.  For music, we’ll continually update gimmesound.  Don’t be one of those people who misses out on a good time because you checked an hour ago and nothing was scheduled.  This weekend’s entertainment info will be in constant flux, so stay connected!

 

Top Guitarist to perform at Old Sloop Coffeehouse next FRIDAY 2/15

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

poster-130215-crop-for-gmg
It’s always a treat to hear a virtuoso live.  Get tickets for this show now.

The Old Sloop Coffeehouse is one of those gems run by people who know and appreciate good music.  You can trust that every performance will be top notch even if you’ve never heard of the musician before.

Tonight will be a perfect party night ahead of the big storm, with plenty of live music to choose from.  See the full live music lineup here.

Beautiful new love song from Chelsea Berry ~ Check out the video

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

The queen of breakup songs nails it with this inspiring, honest, uplifting love song that celebrates a true, working relationship.  My Heart is only one of 10 excellent songs on Chelsea’s stellar new album Devil and the Deep Blue Sea  (get it here), officially released last night at a packed, upbeat party at Shea’s Riverside in Essex.  Aren’t you glad you have tickets to see her at Shalin Liu this weekend?  (More Chelsea Berry Videos here.)

Now get out there tonight and enjoy all the great live music before the storm hits.  See the complete live music schedule here.

It’s a short month ~ Maybe that’s why there’s so much going on already

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

In fact there’s enough music over the next few nights that it’s gonna be hard to choose where to go out this week.  Here’s the complete live music lineup to help you figure it out.

And here are some videos too  . . .

More Orville Giddings videos here.

P&V’s LOL #12: Sometimes you just can’t blame anybody

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

(For those of you who have just tuned in, “LOL” stands for Law of Life.  Click here to see the first 11.)

Everybody’s looking for somebody to blame — especially for last night.  First there’s the power outage.  Even though the official line still makes vague reference to an “abnormality”, you can bet people are scrambling to nail somebody’s ass — or “hold them accountable” to use the latest PC term.

Then there’s Beyoncé.  Joey may have liked her lip-synched dance numbers, but Vickie and I have to agree with venerable music curmudgeon, Bob Lefsetz, who said, “I wasn’t sure what to do after Beyonce’s appearance, join a gym or masturbate.” (We know Joey’s done the former.  What about the latter, Joey?)

Lefsetz tries to blame Madonna, CDs, Hip Hop (read his full tirade here) and he lauds  Prince, Adele, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.  (Joey likes The Lumineers too.  See this post.  Their show tonight at House of Blues — yup, across the bridge — is sold out.)

Singers love to lay blame.  Usually they blame somebody else, like when Beyoncé admonishes “you should have put a ring on it.”  Once in a while somebody writes a great song blaming himself.  Of those, my favorite is Guilty by Randy Newman, sung here perfectly by Bonnie Raitt.

You’ll be blaming yourself big time if you don’t get VIP tickets to see Henri Smith featuring Charles Neville this Friday.  It’s the best dinner / show / Mardi Gras party deal around.  Best of all, you can avoid feeling guilty because you’ll be helping to send local YMCA Teens on their service-learning trip to New Orleans in April.  Oh, and Henri won’t be lip-synching.

The older I get the more I realize that casting blame feels good, but doesn’t accomplish much — sort of like masturbating.

Blame is best left to songs.  Chelsea Berry knows how to write a great song that lays blame.  And you can bet she won’t lip-synch when she sings it at her  Shalin Liu concerts.

Café Shalom presents the Backwoods Ramblers on Saturday, February 9th with Daisy Nell opening

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Check out the press release from Natalia Carollo:

Saturday, February 9th at 7 pm

The Backwoods RamblersCafé Shalom presents the “Backwoods Ramblers” on Saturday, February 9th at the Temple Ahavat Achim (86 Middle St., Gloucester) beginning at 7 pm.

The Backwoods Ramblers are a group of multi-talented musicians featuring lead and harmony vocals with Barry Michaud on guitar, Pat Conlon on mandolin and harmonica, and Jack Schwartz on bass and banjo. The group plays a memorable blend of folk-rock, country, and bluegrass. You may have seen them at the New Year’s Rockport Eve Celebration, and in local clubs. You’ll be sure to sing along and tap your feet listening to this very enjoyable band!

Daisy Nell & Captain Stan BandOpening for the Backwoods Ramblers will be Daisy Nell, “Capt. Stan” Collinson and the Crabgrass Band.  Daisy Nell, a native of Essex, MA, brings New England’s maritime history alive through traditional and contemporary songs of the sea. A familiar voice on the North Shore music scene, Daisy is known for her broad repertoire of traditional folk, chanteys, and contemporary songs. Her husband, “Capt. Stan”, adds his guitar to Daisy’s banjo and guitar.  They will be joined by their band, Crabgrass, which are Pat Conlon on mandolin and Jack Schwartz on bass.

A donation of $10 is suggested.

Jon Butcher on The Noise Cover & TV This week – here’s a preview video

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

I’m guessing nearly every music lover in Gloucester is as thrilled about Jon Butcher’s decision to move here as they are about T-Max’s doing the same a couple of years ago.  This week Gloucester celebrates Jon’s choice in two big ways: Jon’s on the cover of the February Noise Magazine, which should hit the streets tomorrow.  And he’s also Allen Estes’ guest on Local Music Seen, which you can see tomorrow at 6:30 on Cape Ann TV Channel 12.  Here’s one of Jon’s songs from the show.  Love his version of the blues!

BTW: You can see Allen tonight at Jalapenos 7pm with Brown, Mattacks & Ginandes (early enough the bring the kids).  And if Jon is in the audience, it’s a good bet that Allen will ask him to sit in.  Then check out Steve Caraway at Dog Bar and finish up with Henley Douglas Jr. at Rhumb Line.  Not bad for a Tuesday night in the middle of winter!  See full live music schedule here.

Weather’s warming up, nights are heating up

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

I wouldn’t call this a heat wave, but it’s actually above freezing outside for the first time in a while and there’s plenty of live music to be had all over Cape Ann tonight — with most of the shows early enough to bring the kids.  See the full lineup here.

If you haven’t been down to the Landing in Manchester for Will Hunt’s open mike, this might be a good night.  Perhaps you can ask him to reprise his big move at the beginning of this video from the Rat in 1984 (Will’s on guitar & lead vocals)

VIP Tickets for Henri Smith w/ Charles Neville on sale TODAY ~ Henri on radio tomorrow

Posted on by Vickie & Peter
Grand Salon @ Larcom Theatre, Beverly, MA

Last year the annual benefit concert for the Y Teens Rebuild New Orleans trip sold out at Latitude / Minglewood.  This year the concert will be held at the historic Larcom Theatre in Beverly with a very special VIP Package that includes an exclusive Mardi Gras VIP Pre-Party at the Larcom’s Grand Salon complete with meet & greet, free buffet, party favors and more (see details here).  Space is limited so get your tickets TODAY!

HenriSmith-AureliaNelson
Aurelia Nelson – Henri Smith

Good, now you have tickets, so you can relax and listen to Henri Smith tomorrow (SUNDAY) at 9am on Aurelia Nelson’s show Curtain UP on North Shore 104.9.

We’ve noticed a number of live music benefits/fundraisers lately with a couple tonight (see complete live music schedule here).  It’s nice to see people coming out, having a good time and supporting a good cause.  One of the things we like about living here (despite the recent cold weather).

Here’s a taste of what you can expect on Friday, February 8 @ the Larcom Theatre

Fun Friday Night Coming Up Tomorrow – Check out the videos

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Even though this is a blog — and a blog is supposed to be an immediate YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST medium — people have been telling us we should talk more about what’s happening the day after our post because they often read the posts the next day.  We get it.  Not everybody sits at a computer all day — and even some of you who do have bosses that want you to get some work done, not surf the web all day.  So here we go:

IT’S A BIG FRIDAY NIGHT on Cape Ann with music for every taste.  If you play your cards right, you can get to at least 2 live shows.  Start out with Linda Amero Menage a Trio at the Franklin  or Mia Chung, Elisabeth Ann Larson and Soo Bae performing all three of Brahms Piano Trios at Shalin Liu in Rockport.  Then finish up with Ned & The Big Babies @ Rhumb Line.  Plus there’s plenty more for nearly every other musical taste.  See the full lineup here.

Here’s a video for all you piano, violin and cello players of Brahms Piano Trio No. 1 where you can follow along with the score:

And here’s one of my favorite clips (if a bit wobbly) of Ned & the Big Babies.  Don’t you just love that groove!  Ned is always right there with you and he’s one of those great bass players who plays bass like he LOVES it, not like he’d rather be playing lead guitar.

 

A rare opportunity to hear all three Brahms Piano Trios this Friday – Check out the video

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

This simply doesn’t happen very often.  All three Brahms Piano Trios performed by three world-class artists, acclaimed for their “technical brilliance,” “breathtaking virtuosity” and “smooth and stylish” in one evening at an acoustically perfect concert hall built especially for this kind of music — and it’s right in your own backyard.  Oh, and did I mention it helps support the the students of the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras?  Watch (and listen to) the video to see why Shalin Liu is THE place to be on Friday if you love Brahms or chamber music or student music programs or music in general! GET TICKETS NOW!

Lots of Cape Ann favorites perform in Gloucester tonight and tomorrow.  Check out the full live music listing here.

 

If you missed Jon Butcher last night, watch this video

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

As we reported last night (in this post), Allen Estes joined Jon Butcher and Charlie Farren on Jon’s song Coleman Mine that he wrote for the HBO series Deadwood.  Jon and Charlie performed with James Montgomery and David Hull to a sold out house at Shalin Liu.  If you missed it, here’s the song from Allen’s show Local Music Seen.

You can catch the full show tomorrow (Sunday) at 6pm on Cape Ann TV Channel 12.

Great music tonight and tomorrow starting at 11am.  See the full live music schedule here.

Music tips for this weekend that you might not know about

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Chelsea Berry will be Aurelia Nelson’s featured guest on her North Shore 104.9 show Curtain Up this Sunday, Jan 20, at 9am.  You don’t even have to get out of bed.  Just tune your clock radio to 104.9 and set it to go off at 8:59am.  Lie in bed and listen comfortably.

If you saw Jon Butcher on Local Music Seen with Allen Estes, you’ll know he’s playing at Shalin Liu tonight with James Montgomery, Charlie Farren & David Hull.  As of this post there were about 15 tickets left and you can get them here.  Jon may ask Allen to join him on a song they performed together on the Local Music Seen.

Another good bet for tonight is Renee & Joe @ Minglewood Tavern.  Here they are at Latitude 43 for the November Berklee in Gloucester show:

As for the rest of the weekend, we honestly don’t have any idea how you’re going to choose from over 2 dozen excellent shows — and plenty of them early enough to take the kids.  Here’s the complete live music lineup.

GOOD LUCK!

BREAKING NEWS: Guess you’re not screwed after all

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

A couple of weeks ago we warned you (in this post) about waiting until the last minute to get tickets to Chelsea Berry’s triumphant return to Shalin Liu with her new band, performing songs from her new CD.

Well, Chelsea decided to give all you procrastinators a second chance by offering a second show on Friday, February 8 at 8pm (the Saturday, Feb 9 show is sold out) and remember, you heard it here on GMG first!  The Dejas will open this show with their 4 piece band just like the Saturday show.

Now, don’t screw this up and think you can just sit there and procrastinate some more.  This show was just announced so there are still good seats left (clicks on this link to get some).  But they won’t last long.

Just in case you missed Chelsea opening for Chris Isaak at North Shore Music Theatre with her band last June, here’s a taste of what you can expect next month in a much more intimate setting:

Don’t let today’s snow (which is now melting) dampen your entertainment for the evening.  There are excellent live music choices tonight.  See the complete lineup here.