Dave’s Photo Blog

Where Christian McNeill is raw acoustic rock, Jesse Dee has got soul flowing through his blood. The guy just oozes it all over the stage when he plays. The contrast between the two is somewhat remarkable given that they are playing together in this ensemble. Christian’s writes somewhat aggressive, jam-filled songs while Jesse sings in the spirit of the classic soul performer.

Those who know me and follow the blog probably know that I’m a big fan of Nicole Berke. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her perform five times over the last two years. But most of those performances were either short sets with only a few songs or in coffeehouses. When Nicole lets loose in a place like Toad, it’s a very different show indeed.

The Hoods hit their stride and put in another high-energy performance. Yes, they played The Prettiest Girl, and I’ve got an embed of the video below. But they played another surprise song – you’ll have to read on to hear that story.

He performs a lot, whether it’s at the Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge or at the string of gigs he’s had this summer. He projects a lot of confidence on stage and is a very consistent performer. This is not a guy who trips up performing a song. But he does take some risks – occasionally he’ll sing a new song, often a cover, and invite you along for the ride.

The Hoods draw a crowd whenever they play and Saturday night was no exception. They came out rocking and looking totally pumped up for the show as they delivered another great high-energy performance on the main stage at The Vixen.

I was attending the concert to photograph and write about The Neighborhoods but quickly realized that I would cover The New Frustrations if the opportunity arose. I wanted to be careful – everyone handles loss differently. But in the case of Tim, his desire was to, “raise a glass Saturday and rock your fucking sox’s off. Save the crying and sorrys for another day.”

Thursday night in Cambridge was crazy. I was hopping between the Lizard Lounge and Toad. I’ve wanted to see the Baker Thomas band for some time now, and on Thursday I made it happen. I’ve been looking forward to seeing them because of the line-up, which includes Tom Bianchi (seen here on the left playing [...]

I had not heard of Mia Dyson before I saw this show and it was a real treat. She is certainly far better known in her native country than in the United States even though she has won awards that span geographies. But in Australia, she’s opened for Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, among others.

Jeremy was full of energy. He is a fearless performer – throwing himself into the music and lyrics, even playing harmonica for one number.

Massachusetts Avenue itself was quite a spectacle. There were police lines on sawhorses on both sides of the street running for quite a distance to allow feast-goers to have more room to move about.