I am embarrassed to admit it, folks, but as a music and art afficionado, it was my first time at the Middle East Downstairs in Central Square this past Saturday, for an excellent and eclectic show from Mean Creek, Drug Rug, and others. 

As my friend put it,” What a great city we live in! We just saw an amazing show that was as good as a concert anywhere else, for 12 bucks!”

I concur. 

I thought the Middle East Downstairs was surprisingly atmospheric and, well, hip! It had columns, stained glass windows, good lighting, and a floor reminiscent of a roller-derby or jitterbug days. It has a lived in, well-worn sort of feel that makes you want to relax, have a PBR, and get into the music, maybe while dressed in plaid or something from American Apparel. It helped that it was packed with hipsters, art-school types, and young, creative people with outfits and haircuts I will probably be trying to emulate in days to come.  The acoustics were good, though not great. Once it was packed with people it  was better, but some of the less experienced bands, who don’t realize how important sound adjustments are to their sound (duh) just crank up the volume so that even if you screamed someone a foot away still couldn’t hear you ( I tried it). 

The music itself was great though–a really good show. I would definitely go again. Though next I will be hitting up the Middle East Upstairs, which is not in fact, the Middle East itself, where there is always music inside the picture window, and it is not above the Middle East,  but is down two doors at the other Middle East and at the back by the bathrooms and up the stairs above Zuzu…why they don’t just give the places completely different names is beyond me, but then, that might kill the eclectic treasure-hunt quality of establishments that Boston has refined so well….

photo credit: Mean Creek at the Middle East. www.jessicahutfless.com

I have been an avid fan of “Mad Men” for a while. I really fell in love over the summer when I was house sitting in Brookline at a place that had On Demand. I watched the entire first season in two days. It’s smart, methodical, and unapologetic. I didn’t think I could love it more until I experienced it the way I did last Sunday night. My friend came in from NYC for the weekend, so she and I headed to Noir, the lounge at the Charles Hotel to attend “Mad Men Sundays. The cherries on top were the fabulous vintage dresses we picked up at Poor Little Rich Girl in Davis Square.

The lounge itself is very retro: very dark and with deep red accents. They serve lots of drinks in martini glasses. However, they do have a very modern HD projector and cable. At 10pm, the projector screen came down and everyone there turned their attention to the show. I have never enjoyed an episode more: in a vintage 60s dress sipping a gimlet sitting the bar.

So if you love “Mad Men” or have never seen it, experience it at this bar. I have to work tomorrow, so I’ll have to miss it, but you should definitely check it out and let me know what you think.

Hello Boston… this weekend at the Seaport World Trade Center, The Alstrom brothers (and merry band of volunteers) from Beer Advocate present the American Craft Beer Festival. With over 300 beers from 75 breweries, its one of, if not the, largest craft beer festivals on the East Coast. There are two remaining four hour sessions today, 1pm and 6pm, each for $40, and given the amazing amount and quality of beer being served there, well worth the dough. Just make sure you have something on your stomach before you start, because it’s easy to get carried away.

Some of the outstanding offerings available come from nearby and far away, with an amazing sour ale from Cambridge Brewing (Cerise Cassee) and The Eugene (OR) City Brewing Company 100 Meter Ale, a red ale that is one of the best from a small brewery anywhere. You also can find your old standby’s such as Harpoon Brewery, Brooklyn Brewery, and Dogfish Head and their wild beers. Local favorite, Harpoon is debuting their new line of extreme beers with a cask (Wild Turkey) aged Triticus Ale, chiming in at a whopping 14.3% ABV. But if strong beers don’t flip your fancy, there are plenty of other lighter and tastier options, including your standard lagers and wit beers. However, if you just want to support your local brewing establishments, have a good time, and enjoy some of the best beer found anywhere in one spot (think of it as the largest tap tine in Boston for this weekend), come by.

Live Nation announced today it is now the Comcast Center for the Performing Arts. Not that anyone around here actually called it the Tweeter Center. According to this article, it is due to Tweeter being in bankruptcy protection. So, anyone going to start calling it the Comcast Center or just going to keep calling it Great Woods?

Forecasts call for a Silent Rave.

From here:

Four Stories is a monthly literary series bridging Greater Boston’s nightlife and arts community (and now Osaka’s and Tokyo’s, too!). Each event is held in a club, bar, or lounge, and features appearances from some of the most acclaimed authors in the nation, all reading their work under a unified theme.

Next event is at The Enormous Room, May 19th.

Maddy offers a good wrap-up of Anime activities. And a video, too!

From here:

Pandemonium Books & Games in Central Square Cambridge (4 Pleasant Street, behind the 7-11 on Mass Ave and across the street from the Post Office) is having financial problems, from a combination of Taxes/Fees owed to the State Department of Revenue, outstanding to creditors and the inability to get a cosolidation loan in the current economic downturn from the banking crisis.

In order to start the ball rolling to help, we the local fans and customers of the bookstore are holding a Pot Luck Fund Raiser at the store this Saturday Night, 7-11 pm in the store’s basement activity space.

Folks who want to come and help out this independent bookstore survive should bring a shareable food item and be willing to donate $10 into the Pandemonium Preservation Fund.

Previously: Help Pandemonium Books

– Statehouse Day: Students Ask Legislature for Help with Tuition Fees (More here.)
– John L. Bell on Accents in John Adams
– Amesbury’s Interviewing for Their Fire Chief
– In Salem, a dog owner is appealing his pet’s death sentence.
– The Newburyport Literary Festival is coming.
– On Plum Island, there’s now a very real threat of an ‘ocean breakthrough’
– Were you at Anime Boston? These people were.
– The Tufts Daily is tracking recent, nearby crimes on Google Maps.

Love,
Boston