Records and tapes are cool, and streams sure are convenient, but for a lot of folks the show is the thing. Playing and hearing live music and experiencing that shared sense of community as it’s created right there in the moment, there’s a lot to be said for that, whatever the genre.
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Beyond that, one of my absolute favorite things, one of the coolest things, is discovering a new band because they’re on the same bill with some other act I came to see; a band I’ve never heard of, out there in the wild, just fuckin’ killing it on stage in some club, completely unexpected.
That rules, and it doesn’t happen often, so when it does it’s s a thrill, and I always make sure to buy their 7”, because 7’’s rule, too.
And in a couple of days, on Thursday, March 26, to be precise, some of the people who are going to see Brooklyn’s Boys Go To Jupiter at the Sinclair in Cambridge, MA, are gonna get to enjoy that experience of discovery if they care to turn out early enough, because one of Portland’s coolest live cats, Aedan MacDougall, is gonna be making his debut on the stage there with his four-piece rock outfit as the opening act
You can grab tickets here.
The Sinclair’s a helluva room. Good sounds, good sight lines, and the joint holds around 500 people. I fully expect MacDougall’ll put on a righteous show, accompanied by Elliott Krauss on guitar, Maisie Lafortune on bass and Jake Ryan on drums. For a kid who’s not able to drink legally yet, he’s got a sense of songcraft that belies his tender age, and it’ll be on full display on Thursday, for anyone who cares to show up early.
I remember the first time I heard Aedan do his thing, at an open mic over in the Bayside. He got up there with his acoustic and didn’t really say too much, but ran through a couple of tunes that were well written and got everybody listening instead of just passing the time until it was their turn to play.
In the months since that open mic, I was fortunate enough to see him do his thing on plenty of local Portland stages before he took off for the bright lights and big city at the Berklee College of Music. And more often than not, he was debuting a new tune or two.
He’s the spent the last couple of years playing the Boston club scene and touring around New England, sharpening that live sound, which leans into the jangle, but never at the expense of the songs – which are themselves tightly crafted and road tested.
And if we’re lucky, the Sinclair set will feature at least a couple of new ones. So get there early
You can grab tickets here. There are a few left, and they’re going fast.