WED 2/18: Art, Film, MidEast Music, Rock

It didn't seem to rise as a "Cheap Thrills" event, but Redbones is offering 18+ types of Sixpoint Craft Ales starting tonight with some free apps from 5pm to 7pm. (I did list a beer event yesterday, but there was some promise of "free liquids".) Although Sixpoint's brews will be on tap for a while, I might swing by just to see if I can try their "Hop Obama" brew...

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WED 2/18

6:30pm to 8:30pm
"Sting 4: Portraits" w/ Michael Manring & Project M
at The Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
FREE

Even though they don't cater to 'starving artist' types, the restaurant at the BCA succeeds in presenting local art in interesting ways. In their ongoing Sting series, they usually combine art, video, and music with a twist.

Painting and photographs will be display by: Bill Armstrong, Hannah Barrett, Jennifer Davis, Jeff Perrott, Jane D. Marsching, Anne Siems, and Herb Snitzer. I assume that many of the artists will attend. I'd be interested to talk to photographer Herb Snitzer; this guy has captured some famous images of many of jazz giants.

No free drinks, but single people will find personal ads on the glasses thanks to a project by a trio of local artists.

You'd think that a bass quartet could be a cacophony of wonky bassists paying over each other. There is loads of technique here (Michael Manring was once Bass Player Magazine's "Bassist of the Year"), but I heard a lot of interesting things on the video clip on Project M's site.

Various videos have been selected to play around The Beehive as well.

WED 2/18

7pm
"Battleship Potemkin"
at Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREE

The beauty of watching a classic Russian silent film? No clumsy overdubbing of the original dialogue! Sergei Eisenstein is one of the most influential directors on film students for his film editing techniques, and this is one of his classics. Keep in mind this is a Soviet propaganda film to demonstrate how oppressive the Czars were.

WED 2/18

8:15pm
First Annual Berklee Middle Eastern Festival w/ Bassam Saba Ensemble
at Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston (Back Bay)
$10

For those interested in Middle Eastern music, Bassam Saba is known around the world as a virtuoso on several instruments. He'll play with some Berklee students in the first half of the concert and perform with his trio afterwards.

WED 2/18

9:30pm
Eksi Ekso, Tiger Saw, Broken River Prophet, Plumerai
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$9 / 18+

It's not often that one can find four musically adventurous bands that actually sound really good. I wouldn't be surprised if any of these groups become more popular on the larger music scene; each for different reasons.

I think Plumerai might be the 'breakout band' in this bunch. Heck, they played in Greece a few months ago. There's plenty of guitar to please rockers, but there's an ethereal, noisy, poppish layers that could play well to a wider audience. Not many full-on rock bands include string players as part of the band, but Eksi Ekso incorporates them as an integral component of their prog-rock sound. It's not usually my bag, but I can enjoy this. Tiger Saw is a regularly changing collective that revolves around songwriter Dylan Metrano; whatever they do, I always cock my head and listen when hear that forlorn voice. (They make me think of The Decemberists or Bright Eyes.) On top of everything else, there are the seductive vocals matched with good hooks. I like Broken River Prophet and their noir Americana too.