Posts Tagged ‘Allston’
How I Spent My Christmas Break (Part I: The Blizzard, The Band)
Nor’easter?
After missing the last plane to leave the ground before 15 inches of snow covered it, I was trapped in Boston for an extra two days. A beautiful and blisteringly cold white blanket some might call a “blizzard,” kept me hostage from my family, but I felt lucky to have the unplanned free time to spend with my friends.
Without heat or plans, the four inhabitants (some real residents, some visitors, including myself) of a loft in Lower Allston decided to make music. Although there was a steep gradient of experience levels that typically divides the four into– the two who are talented musicians who go to music school at Berklee and the two who are always impressed when they attend their shows– the snow was a great equalizer.
This time, everyone grabbed an instrument. (I chose bass guitar.) Together, we made up a response to the weather’s attempt to make us stop living our lives, just because 15 inches of snow had interrupted our travel plans. The sound that sparked from the spontaneous show echoes the harsh riffs of Monotonix with the heavy bass lines of Deerhoof and eery atmosphere of Grizzly Bear. So, upon realizing we could actually be good together we were stunned.
No Problem.
We decided to call our response to the weather and our reaction to the holiday season’s expectations to be “merry,” a band. This is Beardeer.
The Music Tapes Make Spirits Bright in Allston, MA
Hark! The herald angels please let Julian Koster sing! Who in Allston could’ve predicted that their holiday season would be launched by a visit from the orbiting human cirus, also known as Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel, accompanied by 2 other members of the lovely caroling exhibit called “The Music Tapes”?! Traveling to living rooms throughout the States with several singing saws and bowed banjos, who each have names, The Music Tapes home-delivered holiday cheer this season. With them, they brought such an atmosphere of warmth that I nearly forgot about the bone-chilling weather outside. Performing classics like “Jingle Bells” and “Noel,” along with branding originals like “Belief,” which I haven’t been able to get out of my head since, their show fulfilled the empty promise I’d had since I was a kid, when I’d wake up at night and hope to be greeted by a jolly figure who had come to bring me the gifts I’d waited all year for, only to find my un-sneaky parents planting my gifts by the tree. Theirs was much better than any visit from any Santa Claus.
The best part is: Although the night was filled with magic, and all of the events surrounding the midnight concert they played in my friend Liz Pelly’s living room hinted at miraculous intervention (what with the vegan potluck the night before, and the unexpected rebirth of a longtime dead friendship on the night of), there is lasting evidence of their appearance on Greylock Street! Thanks to my friend Peisin, here is the documented footage! May this glimpse of that magical night render what a humble Allston home filled with love and music is like. Let it be a rhythmical reminder of the real reason for the season. Peace!
(Perhaps soon I’ll upgrade to “Videopress” and gain the capability to actually embed videos on my blog, but until being a journalist starts paying, click the video below to see The Music Tapes’ live performance via Vimeo, which works too.)
The Music Tapes Caroling – ‘Zat You Santa Claus? from Peisin Yang Lazo on Vimeo.
Allston Residents Left With a Pile of Dirt, Rats from Harvard University
It is true: North Allston, MA is no Cambridge, MA and certainly no New Haven, CT, but this area offers an eclectic and ethnic culture that has been cultivated over the years by student residents and immigrant tenants who proudly call the “gritty” neighborhood home. Go for a walk, better yet, go for a bike ride, through the neighborhood and you will quickly notice the diversity of the population by the different marks they have left on the land: College students have decorated their backyards with couches, immigrants have opened Vietnamese, Indian, and Italian restaurants that stand next to popular bars, and children and college students, alike, populate the playgrounds that pop up throughout the neighborhood. Rootsy, welcoming, and bursting with culture, North Allston offers a unique spirit to the Boston area, and it should not be treated as invaluable.
As of late, a five-acre empty constuction pit in front of a string of vacant buildings has made it hard to observe the culture, and contributes to it feeling dirty and neglected.
Allston residents thank Harvard for this.
After years of opposition, Allston residents finally gave in to Harvard’s $1 billion plans to expand their campus by building a science complex in North Allston. Instead of new customers, and opportunities for new businesses, Harvard’s renovation plans have only brought a large empty lot, and lots of empty promises so far.
Residents shouldn’t be too quick to hate on Harvard, though, when the situation brings up yet another excuse to cheer to the bad economy!
Allston- Love In Stockholm MP3
