WED 7/20: Museum, Music, Science, Comedy

There quite a bit of outdoor music happening tonight (and tomorrow). It may be hot, but that's why trees provide shade...

Maybe a trip on the Blue Line for fried clams and relatively intact sand sculptures on Revere Beach sounds appealing...

--------------------------------------------------------------

WED 7/20

5pm to 8pm
"Summer Evenings"
at Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord
FREE

If one feels like taking a drive up Route 2, I get the feeling that this is a pleasant visit with American history that is better when it's free.

I've heard the Concord Museum pieces owned by Emerson and Thoreau as well as one of the lanterns that Paul Revere saw in the Old North Church steeple...

You can get in free on the evening of 8/17 also.

WED 7/20

6:30pm
PanNeubean Steel Band
at Titus Sparrow Park, 200 W. Newton St, Boston (South End)
FREE

Part 1 of "Sit in a park and chill to some music":

It could be hot and humid enough to feel like being on a Caribbean island. Close your eyes and be transported by the steel drums and some imagination (and/or the substance of your choice).

Isn't summer ideal for reggae, calypso, soca, etc? It's just off of Columbus Ave between Dartmouth & Mass Ave.

WED 7/20

Women of the World (7pm), Vaughnette (6pm)
at Mother's Rest Playground, about 34 Fenway, Boston (The Fens)
FREE

Part 2 of "Sit in a park and chill to some music":

The Women of the World take their backgrounds and heap on other international influences for a rather vibrantly jazzy melange with lots of deep harmonies.

When listening to Vaughnette, there are moments when she really shines. Other times it's still good, funky vocal jazz that wouldn't bother me while I was sitting in the grass and soaking in the sun.

WED 7/20

7pm
Landmarks Orchestra, "Tchaikovsky Spectacular"
at Hatch Shell, Storrow Dr, Boston (Charles River Esplanade)
FREE

Program:

Tchaikovsky, "Concerto for Violin in D major, op. 35"
Tchaikovsky, "Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36"
Kevin Kim, "Soaring Over the Vast Expanse" (World Premiere)

Part 3 of "Sit in a park and chill to some music":

It's something like Independence Day on the Esplanade, except that the Boston Pops won't be there and they're not playing the 1812 Overture.

I'm guessing at least some of the Landmarks Orchestra play or have played with the Pops, and two other significant Tchaikovsky works will be played along with the premiere of a piece by a New England Conservatory student.

I initially saw this subtitled as a "Tribute to Charles Ansbacher", the orchestra's founding conductor who died last year.

WED 7/20

8pm
Don Kurtz, "The Real Music of the Spheres": Observatory Night
at Phillips Auditorium, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge (between Porter Sq & Fresh Pond)
FREE

It's not such a crazy theory that the Universe is in the midst of a brilliant symphony. Maybe the ancient science wasn't perfect, but there is something to be said about the concepts.

Prof. Don Kurtz seems to be kind of a big deal in astronomy/astrophysics, but these monthly observatory night lectures are meant to be understood by lay people.

Yes, you will hear something that can be described as the 'sound of stars'. Kinda cool. Might even be cool to look at some stars on the roof afterwards.

WED 7/20

9pm
Walter vs. Himself presents: StoryLiar
at Milky Way Lounge/Bella Luna, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain (The Brewery Complex)
FREE / 21+

Feat: Lillian DeVane, Ken Reid, Ted Pettingell, Laura Crawford, Langston Kerman, Shea Spillane, Will Noonan, Guitler Raphael, Rob Crean, more

So a bunch of comedians walk into a bar and start telling stories and one of them is lying. This is not the beginning of a joke but the premise. It's not necessarily stand-up comedy, but there is bound to be some funny stories.

The game you can play with friends and others in the audience is figuring out who is lying.

WED 7/20

9:30pm
Naga Gaga (11:30pm), Thick Shakes (10:30pm), The Magic People (9:30pm)
at PA's Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville (Union Sq)
$8 / 21+

If you go to a show where the Thick Shakes are playing, chances are good that you're going to walk away satisfied. They have the intangible factor that raises their turbulent garage-rock goodness a notch above many other bands that play in a similar vein.

I've listened to Naga Gaga a couple times so far, and I'm not sure if I like any of their songs yet. I really like parts of songs, but they usually seem to veer back and forth between artful noise and what sounds like unintentional sloppiness. I think I like it overall, but am not convinced yet.

A band that has grown on me is Magic People -- or maybe I had them confused with some other band. Upon re-listening, I found this guitar-less group to be brash and quirky in a good way.