Tag: Parlour Bells

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Ruby Rose Fox with Glenn di Benedetto and Nate Leavitt – “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” (2012)


Ruby Rose Fox with Glenn di Benedetto and Nate Leavitt
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
2012

This is why I love this city. Ruby Rose Fox and Parlour Bells shared a bill at the debut of Lounge Act. The next thing you know they’re collaborating on an old holiday standard. Ruby Rose Fox, Glenn di Benedetto and Nate Leavitt’s rendition of “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” drives home some of the reasons I find them so enchanting. Ruby Rose Fox has one of those timeless voices that would sound good singing the instructions to program your VCR. It should come as no surprise that it sounds even better here. She and Glenn play well off each other while Nate provides the perfect guitar accompaniment. The ease with which the Parlour Bells gentlemen pull this off proves that their remarkable cover of “Get Thee Behind Me Satan” was no fluke. These guys have standards in their souls.

There’s even a nicely done video here.

Where to get it:

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Parlour Bells @ The Sinclair 12.15.2012

Parlour Bells had a big year in 2012. Their Rumble set was one of the highlights at this year’s event. They opened the first ever show presented by Daykamp Music.* The most dapper band in Boston did the same for the last show presented by WFNX while they were still on terrestrial radio. When fall rolled around, they showed off their versatility with a show-stopping performance at the debut of Lounge Act. Well, add one more biggie to the list. With their opening set at OldJack’s Holiday Homage, Parlour Bells became the first Boston act to grace the stage of the newly-opened Sinclair.

I can’t wait to see what they have in store for 2013.

* I’m sure they will consider this a watershed moment in their rock n’ roll careers.

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Goddamn Glenn & The Parlour Bells Players @ Radio 11.27.2012

Parlour Bells are a natural fit for a lounge themed show. They’ve always had a swanky vibe. Reborn as Goddamn Glenn & The Parlour Bells Players, the band passionately embraced Anngelle Wood’s Lounge Act show at Radio. They stripped back the songs and rebuilt them with a red velvet touch. Magen Tracy and Nate Leavitt stepped out and nailed the noir-tinged sound while Brendan Boogie and Paul Myers kept things buttoned down behind them. Frequent Parlour Bells collaborator Joel Edinberg added some drama on the sax. The mood was set for Goddamn Glenn to do his thing. This may have been the finest performance of Glenn DiBenedetto’s career. He crooned. He swooned. He sat down with the ladies. It was a great reminder that even high expectations can be exceeded when you take the time to mix a mid-song martini.

The Globe Bar is open.

Video from this show:

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Parlour Bells @ Radio 10.13.2012

If I was throwing some kind of anniversary party I’d want to have a classy band in the mix. It’s nice to feel like you’re at some kind of dignified event before the Boucharding begins. Parlour Bells filled that role at Radio’s first anniversary show with a set of their engaging noir-pop.

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Parlour Bells @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 7.27.2012

We here at Daykamp Music recently got to present our first show. We did so with the fine folks at Boston Band Crush. How spoiled are we? Quite. The very first band to play at one of our shows was Parlour Bells. That’s just crazy. The ‘Bells got things steamy right from the start. These debonair popsters have a dark spark that lights up whatever stage they grace. Their passionate set was a sign of good things to come.

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Parlour Bells @ Paradise Rock Club 6.30.2012

On Friday I told you why Parlour Bells was a great choice to kick off the We Want The Airwaves: A WFNX Tribute event at The Paradise. On Saturday they proved me right. This crowd wasn’t going to settle for melancholy and self-pity. They wanted a reason to be hopeful. They wanted to be delighted. They wanted to be entertained. They wanted all of this. Parlour Bells delivered.

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Parlour Bells – “Airwaves” (2012)


Parlour Bells
“Airwaves”
2012

There’s a big show at The Paradise on Saturday night. Some former WFNX DJs are putting together an event to celebrate the WFNX that was.* Parlour Bells are on the bill for good reason. They are a band that has always championed radio as being essential to the local music scene, even in a time of readily available digital downloads and internet streaming. They are tireless supporters of Boston Emissions, Boston Accents and any other radio program devoting time to playing Boston artists. They even performed on the resurrected WBCN rock bus. I believe Glenn DiBenedetto when he sings “now my radio dial is missing two front teeth.” He means it.

“Airwaves” is a sentimental reflection on the state of Boston radio in June of 2012. It strikes a chord by revealing the emotion of a specific time and place. “Airwaves” is a song about how fans of Boston radio feel right now. It’s immediate. You can’t listen to Nate Leavitt’s delay drenched guitars and not be reminded of the countless U2 radio anthems broadcast by both of our recently departed rock radio stations. It’s a consoling echo. I’d be lying if I said the song wasn’t playing in my head last night as I lay in bed. The sound of the Metropolitan Chorale** was ringing in my ears as prepared for a new day.

Where to get it:

You can also watch a mini-documentary on the making of “Airwaves” right here.

* See what I did with the link there? Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are part of the show, too.

** Kerri-Ann Richard, Richard Bouchard, Anngelle Wood, Michael Marotta, Chris Mulvey, Lisa Libera, Leesa Coyne, Adam Ritchie, Rishava Green, Matt King, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Jessica Sun Lee, Adam Anderson, Michael Gonzales, Ken Marcou, Tom Roppelt, Joel Edinberg, Rachel Blumenthal, Sarah Rabdau, Peter Moore and Dan Nicklin all lend their voices to the song.

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Don’t die before July 27th, 2012.

Look, what you do in your free time is none of my business. That said, I’m going to offer you a bit of unsolicited advice: Don’t die before July 27th, 2012.

Sure, right now you’re thinking “mind your own beeswax, dude.” I can’t blame you. I’m not usually in the business of telling people what to do. I leave that to Richard Bouchard over at Boston Band Crush. He’s always yammering on with his “you’re gonna want to get tickets ahead of time” show crushes.* No, I’m usually the one telling you what you should have done, shoving pictures in your face to prove my point. It’s only fitting that we should team up and present a show together. So here goes…

First of all, take another look at that poster. There’s a flying ice cream cone heart on there, yes indeed. How else would you visually depict such a joyous event?** That’s the handiwork of Nicole Anguish at Daykamp Creative.

OK, now the important stuff. Let’s start at the top. Aloud has been hammering out hard-hitting, harmony-drenched indie rock for ten years now. If their show this past Saturday was any indication, things are going to get sweaty.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, human picture frames… you never know what you’re going to get at a Sidewalk Driver show. Oh, wait, you do know what you’ll get; a high-kicking, confetti-blasting, glam-popping good time.

Parlour Bells will be opening the show. Wait, what? The most debonair band of this year’s Rumble is opening this show? The band that can do this? Yup. That’s how awesome this show is going to be.

The Springsteen-meets-punk of New York’s Dirty Wings round out this stellar bill.*** It all goes down at TT’s on July 27th. There’s even a Facebook event where you can go tell us how excited you are for this show.

So, I implore you not to die before July 27th, 2012. I’d hate for you to miss out on this wonderful event. If you fail to heed my advice, I’ll be shoving pictures from the show in your cold, dead face. I don’t think that’s something either of us would enjoy.

* This is an actual quote from one of Mr. Bouchard’s finest pieces in advance of Tijuana Sweetheart’s final shows. My favorite bit: …it’s gonna be a total mess. Putting that band in a small space and feeding everyone beer is like tossing four honey badgers in a closet with a pile of meth; it’s gonna be crazy, but you’re damn sure gonna want to see what happens. Classic Bouchard.

** Aquarium legs? Bearded mouse going over a water fall in a barrel? “Axe”-wielding Jason Voorhees? Those ideas were already taken. Flying ice cream cone heart it is.

*** Check out the tune “(Lonely Night In a) Lonesome Town” on their Bandcamp page. Good stuff.