THUR 4/3: Mucho Music (& Chocolate on FRI 4/4)

THUR 4/3

9pm
Harris, Okay Thursday, Talk Modern, The Woodrow Wilsons
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$7 / 21+

The subtitle for this gig could be "Beginning, Middle, and End".

It's the first night of an April/Thursday residency for Harris, and it's the first-ever show for Talk Modern. They seem to have a languid, slightly glam sound like QoTSA but not as hard. On Talk Modern's MySpace, you can hear a cool cover of "Down The Line" by Jose Gonzalez. Sadly, this is the last Okay Thursday performance. I've always enjoyed their spunky, economical pop-rock -- there's no extraneous bits in the songs or the instrumentation. I wish there were more bands like Okay Thursday, not less.

As for the 'middle', I think Harris is in the middle of something good. The recordings highlight an clean yet eclectic sound, and they straight-up rocked when I saw them live. They claim to be doing a different set each week of the residency. The Woodrow Wilsons don't list the instruments, but I think I heard acoustic guitar, bass, drums, banjo, ukulele, accordion, and trombone in their neo-chamber-folk-rock thing. The disarming vocals goads you to pay closer attention to the songs as if these are ancient folks songs.

Listen to a podcast about tonight.

THUR 4/3

John Powhida Int'l Airport, The Ragamuffins Of Love (10pm); Dave Alpert (7pm)
at Toad, 1912 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Porter Sq)
FREE

John Powhida is also playing every Thursday at Toad (for free, of course). I especially like the name of openers, The Ragamuffins Of Love. Early show Dave Alpert isn't bad either.

THUR 4/3

8:15pm
"Remembering Max Roach"
at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (Back Bay)
$10

If you love drumming, the Percussion Department Award Winners Concert in tribute to the great Max Roach will be an embarrassment of (Buddy?) riches...

THUR 4/3

5:30pm to 8:30pm
Grand Wine Tasting
at Blanchard's, 741 Centre St, Jamaica Plain
FREE

If you're in JP tonight, why not enjoy some free booze 'n snacks...?


More Thursday fun below.


NOTE: The "Awake: A Reader for the Sleepless" reading at The Middle East has been cancelled.

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FRI 4/4

7:30pm to 9pm
A Fair Trade Chocolate Tasting
at Stratton Student Center, 84 Mass Avenue, Cambridge (MIT campus)
$5 / FREE for MIT-people

I'm putting this out there for the chocolate-lovers. The Kallari Association wants to bring organic, fair trade to the lips of America. There will be a presentation about the production, types, etc. and a tasting of dark chocolates.

I think an RSVP is recommended, even if you don't have a MIT email account.