Getting around Boston?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Thanks. That sounds very yummy but it’s way too far away from the venue for a get-together the night of the show. Maybe my husband and I can get by there the next day, or the next time we’re in Boston I’ll call up this thread and try then.

Thank you for that! We’re very easy-going about sleeping arrangements. As I said before, we’re there for the music.

:frowning: It would be fantastic, but unfortunately, the concert is sold out. There might be a couple of spaces for people who just show up, if people who reserved places early cancel, but this is a really important show for fans, huge, and I can’t imagine anyone cancelling. People are coming from all over the country and from overseas. You could hang with us at S & S, if you could stand lots of excited chatter about a musician you’ve never heard of (or heard), and try for a ticket in, but how much fun would that be for you? It’s a dilemma.

22

Eating good food with interesting musicians? Sounds fun to me! The slim chance of seeing a concert would just be an added bonus. So, what kind of music is it anyway?

23

I don’t think any of the musicians will be hanging out with us, we’re just fans, but you never know. It’s female vocals, three artists. Casey Desmond is local to Boston and I don’t know much about her. Noe Venable just moved to Boston via San Francisco and New York. She’s fantastic! The headliner is the biggie, Happy Rhodes. She hasn’t performed live in over 2 1/2 years (and hadn’t 2 years before that) and will soon be releasing her 11th album, her first album in 9 years (it took so long because she’s unsigned and worked day jobs to pay for it, preferring not to take out loans), so she will probably perform new songs. We hope this might be a precursor for more shows, but Happy doesn’t do the touring thing (she’s played many one-off shows over the years, and has done a couple of mini-tours), so while it could be the first of many, it could also be the last time she plays for years. No one knows. Happy just does her own thing and doesn’t play the promotional game if she doesn’t feel like it. She just wants to make music and if other people listen and like, great. Otherwise, she stays out of the promotional meat market. Maybe she’ll play more dates after the album release, maybe she won’t.

That uncertainty, and the album release (and Noe, who is a Happy fan and who most Happy fans love) are the things drawing people from afar. She’s very obscure to most people but she has a dedicated worldwide fan base (her Internet mailing list has been going strong since 1991). She’s one of the most highly talented and top quality artists no one has ever heard of. She’s the very definition of an underground cult artist and her fans are fiercely loyal. (the show’s sold out, or else I guess I’d sound like I’m hyping to get people to go… but that’s just me rambling, I’ve been a die-hard fan for 19 years.)

Oh, I wish the organizer had booked a bigger venue, but who knew? She’s never gotten any airplay or publicity in Boston and only has a handful of fans there. I don’t think the organizer counted on so many people coming from distant places. I sure didn’t. I was worried that the audience would be full of Casey fans, friends and family, all of whom would leave as soon as she finished (she’s opening), leaving that handful of Noe and Happy fans. The quick sell-out from Happy fans (and they are mostly Happy fans, since Noe and Casey barely had time to announce the show to their own people) surprised everyone.

Here are some links:

Happy samples
Happy MySpace
Happy live peformances (YouTube videos)

Noe Venable MySpace

Casey Desmond MySpace

I don’t know what to tell you. If you became a fan between now and the 8th, lots of people would be eager to sing Happy’s praises and tell you all about her. If not, you could sit next to my husband and talk computers or something else. He’s not into Happy (he’s very indulgent and a total sweetie about my fandom), but he is a Noe fan which is why he wanted to go. Getting into the show is going to be a bigger problem than finding something to talk about with someone. I now think there might be people standing outside, just to listen, if they can’t get in. However, it’s also possible that those Casey fans who do come might leave, freeing up some room. I’ve been told that the absolute capacity of the venue is 92, and that’s including musicians and staff, and I don’t know how strict the venue is about counting heads. Maybe you can get in, maybe you can’t. You should know in advance though, that if you do, the cost is $20.00. The organizer, a long-time Happy Rhodes fan, is paying for everything out of his pocket, and all the money after expenses (venue rental, sound, whatever) is going to be split among the artists.

If you’re up for an adventure and are willing to give it a shot, great! I’ll post here when I get things settled about the get-together. I’m going to be in full music-geek Happy-fan mode, so be warned.

24

I’ve been to the S&S with large, chatty groups, and they were always quite accommodating. I hope you have a great time!

25

That’s wonderful to hear, and exactly what I needed to hear, thanks! I’ve put out the word on the fan group so I can get an idea of how many people to reserve for.

26

If you don’t mind eating with a boring musician, I could join you.

27

Sure! (and I’d bet you’re not boring) You and Auto can sit with my husband so he won’t feel so left out.

Any Dopers who come though, don’t get to come back to the Dope and say “man, that Equipoise, all she could talk about was Happy Rhodes, just like in the SDMB!” :stuck_out_tongue:

While I’m thrilled, for Happy’s sake, that the show is sold out, it’s a shame that there’s not room for people who just show up, because I think that many will. But maybe not that many. The show didn’t even have to be advertised anywhere other than Happy fan groups before it sold out, and since Happy’s obscure, none of the Boston papers (the Phoenix, for instance) are going to mention it because they’ve never heard of her.

28

Hey, that music is pretty darn good. Now I truly have a band that I can say “I liked them before they were cool!”

Tdn, that would be most excellent. Equipoise (I know how you got your name now!) et al, I look forward to seeing you then.

29

I’m glad you like it.

HA! I’ve been saying that for 19 years, in the case of Happy. She’s talented enough to be a superstar, but too indie (by choice), and individualistic enough to not want to ride the promotional merry-go-round. She’s always pretty much only been a word-of-mouth artist. I can’t imagine Happy ever being cool. That would blow my mind, somewhat fierce.

Noe has generally the same attitude, but she’s had a measure of success in the past. She’s opened for Ani DiFranco and other names on a few tours. I’m not sure where or how high she wants to go.

Casey is an unknown quantity. I had never heard of her until this concert was announced. She’s good, and I think, based on her MySpace page, she’s pretty driven to achieve a wider success. She could definitely become cool.

Mmm, you mentioned “band.” I don’t know if that was a figure of speech or if I was unclear about the concert. These are three separate artists, and are not related at all, so it’s not a band with three people. Casey is opening, then Noe will play a set, then Happy headlines.

Hey, could you and tdn send a private message with your real names so I can put you on my S&S list please? Thanks.

30

No, thank you for expanding my musical horizon. She’s like a combination of Irish Folk and Evanescence, with a huge shot of talent and style thrown in.

Done with a vengeance.

31

What a fascinating description! I’d love to hear her (I assume you’re talking about Happy) do some Irish music someday, but she never has. Musically, she’s probably closest to Kate Bush, with a mix of unusual, experimental songs, higly melodic songs, and simple, beautiful ballads. Vocally, she’s been compared to an early Kate Bush with her high voice, and Annie Lennox or David Bowie with her low voice.

Got it, thanks!

32

Nothing really to add other than to say I’ve been to Boston and thought the place was just great.

Bit disappointed that Paul Revere’s house was a bit shabby, I expected it to be guarded by minutemen in full uniform

33

Same here, I’ve been to Boston twice. We almost moved there once, several years ago, when my husband was working as a consultant for Forrester Research and got another job offer. It’s an expensive place to live, so for a while we even thought about living in Providence, RI and him communting. In the end, we decided to stay in Chicago.

That’s surprising.

34

I’m talking about the outside of the house as we were not allowed inside. But really I honestly expected that the place would be some sort of “shrine” to a great American and was surprised to find it to be just a shabby little place with no distinguishing features.

As an aside I’ve also been to Chicago (twice) and Rhode Island.

Chicago beats the shit out of any US city I’ve been to, the Field, Shedd and Museum of S & I are absolutely fantastic and the hot dogs I’d die for.

I’d also kill for a bowl of New England clam chowder avec clam cakes

35

Careful there, they have a pretty strict confidentiality agreement. The first rule of consulting at Forrester Research is that you don’t admit to consulting at Forrester Research. The second rule of consulting at Forrester Research is that you don’t admit to consulting at Forrester Research.

I learned that when I was consulting at Forrest… Er, Gump’s Shimp Palace.

Yeah.

36

Ha!

So tdn, I can’t put you on my S&S list unless I know who you are. Send me a Private Message, k? I will keep your secret identiy totally confidential.

37

A possible problem with the S&S…I was looking at reviews at yelp.com and came across this:

Which seems to put a damper on my idea of reserving (for 25 or 30) from 5pm-7pm, and assuming people would just show up around that time or whenever they can (also assuming that most people would be leaving to go to the venue between 6:30-7:00). Having EVERYBODY there at the SAME time before we can even be let in is going to be a problem.

If the above is true, they might give people who show up at, say 5:20 or 5:45, a hard time. I don’t want that. There are people driving up, from New York, and Connecticut, and Ohio, who could be running a bit late.

I have no idea what else around that area, big enough to hold large parties, yet very close to the venue. If they’re strict about that, they are also probably not going to stand for separate checks.

I’m going to look around a little bit more. Any other ideas for places in that same general area, within a block (or two, at most)? Again, this would be on a early evening Saturday.

38

It is most definitely true.

39

Damn, that’s too bad.

For anyone familair with that area, is there a park nearby with picnic tables?

40

Sigh, I just answered my own question by looking at Google Maps Hybrid. No. There’s very little green at all around there.