MON 7/4: July 4th Stuff & More

Happy Independence Day!

For those aren't going to a cookout (some liquor stores could be open), there is other cheapness today.

Maybe something Harborfesty? My faces are below.

My buddy, Prof. Michael J. Epstein, wrote a hoppin' little single (free download) about the Declaration of Independence in a disco-dominated alternate universe.

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MON 7/4

10am
Reading of the Declaration of Independence
outside Old State House, 206 Washington St, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

Maybe one year I'll get up early enough to hear the Declaration on the same balcony as it was first heard in Boston on July 18, 1776.

That's rather historic and probably very patriotic, darn me...

MON 7/4

10:30am to 1pm
USS Constitution: Turnaround Cruise
from Charlestown Navy Yard to Castle Island, Boston Harbor
FREE

No, you're not going to get on "Old Ironsides".

Once per year, the oldest ship in the Navy takes a sail in the Harbor -- and that's pretty good for a 200+ year-old warboat.

MON 7/4

11am to 9pm
Peace Loving
at Weirdo Records, 844 Mass Ave, Cambridge (near Central Sq)
FREE / $5 donation appreciated

If you can find any reason to walk down Mass Ave between Central and Harvard, be prepared to stop for a while and absorb the bold effort of a 10-hour musical performance of weird, wild experimentalism.

This feels like classic Cambridge for an avant-garde band to celebrate Independence Day by playing all day outside of a record store.

You might even feel the patriotic spirit and buy something inside or donate $5 and maybe enjoy a beer. Wave your freak flag high, everybody.

MON 7/4

Noon to 3:30pm
Tours of Fort Independence
at Castle Island, South Boston
FREE

There is more to Castle Island besides burgers and fried clams.

If you get there before noon, you'll probably see the USS Constitution. Or you could get a little history inside the fort where Edgar Allan Poe was posted as a soldier.

MON 7/4

2pm to 4:30pm
McAlister Drive, 2Face Dejavu
at City Hall Plaza, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

Take some hearty, local upbeat American rockers and a solid local rapper. Put them on the same stage, and that's a little slice of America in the middle of Boston.

MON 7/4

2pm to 7pm
Cape Verde Independence Celebration
at North Stage, City Hall Plaza, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

The funny part is that the Cape Verdeans are going to celebrate their Independence Day around the corner from the above concert. To the crowd, it's two events for the low price of free.

There's going to be live music as well as Kriolu food and craft vendors.

MON 7/4

8:30pm to 11pm
Boston Pops Independence Day Concert & Fireworks
at Hatch Shell, Charles River Esplanade, Storrow Dr, Boston
FREE

9am -- Oval opens
Noon -- Recorded music begins in Boston
6pm -- Recorded music begins in Cambridge
8pm -- Broadcast begins on WBZ-TV
8:30pm -- Boston Pops concert begins
9:30pm -- "1812 Overture" is played
10:30pm -- Fireworks begin

Yeah, it's going to be crowded. I'd rather watch the fireworks from the Longfellow Bridge. I was close to the Mass Ave Bridge last year, and it was a good view from there.

And there are other towns with fireworks tonight.

I got an email from Jacob Wirth saying they're doing "25 cent wings & $15 pitchers of select beers" after 10:30pm.