OMG FALL

Yesterday when I touched down in Boston after a week in Hawaii, the cold and rainy weather was a warm blanket to my sunburnt skin and island-fatigued soul. (The MBTA remained, as ever, the bane of my existence.) Don't get me wrong, Hawaii was AMAZING, but I had begun to tire of summer before I even left for the trip, and saw it as the season's last gasp before the welcome arrival of fall. So to get back to Boston and find it cool -- even chilly!---was perfect.

The temperature is supposed to rocket back up to sweltering by the weekend, so this seems an apt time to discuss fall and how much I love it and how giddily excited I am for it to arrive. Seriously.

Why is fall so amazing? IT JUST IS. Sweaters (really long sleeved garments of all varieties), jackets, corduroys (like jeans but more fun to touch), pumpkin products, warm liquids of all kinds (tea, coffee, soup), the beauty of the changing leaves, the crisp feeling in the air, plaid, flannel, blankets, the return of episodic television, and a general back-to-school feeling that I love despite having graduated years ago. Shoes that aren't open-toed! Have I mentioned sweaters? Cause I really love sweaters. And I can wear scarves again without looking like an ass! No more sweating all the time! I COULD GO ON.

Really, y'all, I love fall. Full disclosure: wearing a hoodie right now.

But one of the things that makes the prospect of this upcoming fall so delectable is the many, many bands that are coming to Boston. This summer's had a few good shows (Robyn, The New Pornographers) but this fall is over-fucking-run with live musical goodness. And, really, the cooler weather makes the prospect of cramming yourself into a small, dark space with lots of other people far more inviting, doesn't it?

So, without further ado, the list!

Scissor Sisters, House of Blues
August 28

This is less a fall concert and more like the true last gasp of summer, and I can't think of a band I'd rather get sweaty and gross with one last time that the Scissor Sisters. It's a band even my mother loves (though, thank god, she's never bothered to google what their name really means -- she thinks it's just a funny name! Cause they're funny guys!), and much like the Robyn/Kelis concert, I imagine it will be a bunch of extremely happy queers dancing their asses off. (Can't say the second part of the sentence really followed upon the first, but, ah well.)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Telekinesis, TT The Bear's
September 7

I really don't know anything about SSLYBY, but I've heard their name bandied about by people whose tastes I typically trust, and Telekinesis is one of those poppy indie bands I just love (I keep discovering gems on their self-titled debut album, but my favorite is probably "Awkward Kisser"), it costs $12 and TT The Bear's is five minutes from my apartment, so I am there.

School of Seven Bells, The Middle East
September 11

This New York-based dream pop trio's latest album, Disconnect From Desire, is just beautiful. And, once again, the venue is steps from my apartment. I love you, Central Square.

Laura Veirs/The Watson Twins, TT The Bear's
September 15

Not 100 percent sure about this one. Louisville natives The Watson Twins sang back up for Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis on her first solo release, Rabbit Fur Coat, and their harmonies were certainly missed on Lewis's follow up, Acid Tongue. That said, I'm unfamiliar with their solo work, and only know of Veirs via my pseudo-hippie roommate from Ohio, which is not exactly a recommendation. But! We shall see.

Superchunk, The Royale
September 21

Superchunk, one of the many musical projects of Merge Records founder Mac McCaughan (along with co-founder Laura Ballance), was one of the more influential bands of the early indie rock era (oh, the 90s) and very prominent in the Chapel Hill music scene of that time. Punk-influenced and DIY, Superchunk is perhaps most famous for its early single "Slack Motherfucker," though it has released nine albums to date, including the latest, Majesty Shredding. They don't tour much anymore, so I bought a ticket even though I don't know their catalogue that well. Versus, another vintageish band that doesn't tour often, is opening. Now, if McCaughan will only get back on the road with his other band, Portastatic.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM!!!!!!, The Orpheum
September 28

I was so disappointed in the spring when none of LCD Soundsystem's tour dates included Boston. New York got three shows, and we got none!  But! It seems we do get a stop on the second round of dates, and while I think it's a terrible venue for the band, I still bought two tickets as soon as I could (which, sadly, was the day after they went on sale, and thus I and my as-yet-undetermined guest are in the center balcony).  James Murphy keeps threatening to stop recording, and he hates touring anyway, so I need to get my fix while the fix is available. Sleigh Bells is opening, and I could not care less.

Ra Ra Riot, The Royale
October 1

Once again, a terrible fit between band and venue (I've only seen one show at the Royale, the free Passion Pit show, and I HATED it, and don't see why anyone thought a gay dance club could also double as an inviting space for indie bands), but Ra Ra Riot plays haunting and beautiful chamber pop (which, I'm sure will go over super well in the slick and cheesy environs of the Royale) and I will seek it out wherever I can. And, on the plus side, the Royale has couches no one ever uses because they all seem to think that the MUST crowd into the tiny little dancefloor space in front of the stage. Their debut album, The Rhumb Line, was one of my most-played albums of late-2008/most of 2009, and "Can You Tell" is one of the better contemporary examples of the catchy unrequitedish love ballad.

The Hold Steady, The Royale
October 6

Yet another travesty at the Royale, and not one I'm sure I want to witness, but I did realize a bit earlier this year that I do genuinely like The Hold Steady. I had been turned off earlier not by their music, but by the critical treatment of their music, which was, "Oh, great, finally a band that plays REAL rock music" unlike all this other crap with synthesizers and bass lines (how gay!). If I heard one more Springsteen comparison (and long live Springsteen, don't get me wrong) or a mention of them being a "bar band" or any other such real man band posturing, I was gonna hit someone. The Hold Steady became for me the epitome of Dudes With Manly Feelings music, and I wanted no part of it. I finally got over that, but I'm still not sure I want to see them live.

Fountains of Wayne, Paradise Rock Club
October 8

Fountains of Wayne, best known for their novelty hit "Stacy's Mom," have been churning out clever (if a little cheesy) pop music for years now. Adam Schlesinger, their songwriter and primary creative force, has also written half of the good fake pop songs of the past decade plus (the title song to That Thing You Do! and "Pop! Goes My Heart" from the far-more-terrible-than-it-should-have-been Music And Lyrics), and their show should be more fun than most.

Paul F. Tompkins, The Brattle Theatre

Okay, not a concert but an awesome live event nonetheless! Best known as host of Vh1's Best Week Ever (along with a handful of film appearances) Paul F. Tompkins is probably my favorite of the alternative comedians. (Patton Oswalt and Maria Bamford are close behind.) He's also started a campaign where, if he can find 300 people who pledge to come to a show in their city, he...comes to their city. It took a long while (and included an awkward little Twitter spat with the management of the Brattle, who weren't terribly responsive at first), but he's on his way. I'd love to find a YouTube clip of one of my favorite bits off his album, Impersonal, but it seems Paul is on the ball with protecting copyrighted material.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, TT The Bear's
October 13

Their music sounds exactly like their name, and it can get a bit old after a bit, but this is supposedly their LAST TOUR EVER before they become officially defunct, and they don't seem the type to do such a thing for the attention. They mean business.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Paradise Rock Club
October 20

Another tragically named band, TPOBPAH are nonetheless a catchy punk-influenced pop band, and one that would no doubt be fun to watch.

Florence + The Machine, House of Blues
October 31

I've already seen Florence & The (Not Miami Sound) Machine once this year, on a tiny North American tour she did in April. It was, hands down, one of the best shows I've seen this year, or ever. She's got an amazing stage presence and works the crowd remarkably well (people were, like, jumping cause she told them to). She's only got one album thus far, and can play pretty much every song on it without overstaying her welcome. Her first show was at the Paradise, a better venue in my opinion (it offers more surfaces to lean on, which I appreciate), and the HoB is hopelessly cheesy, but, seriously, if she isn't huge by next year, I'll be amazed. The choice of the day after Halloween Saturday is, um, lamentable.

Whew! Okay, that took forever.

Source: http://twobeerqueer.blogspot.com/2010/08/omg-fall.html