This fall is jam-packed with hot concerts—from massive pop stars to on-the-rise indie acts to hip-hop heavy hitters—but Halloween month is so busy it’s almost scary. Don’t fear: We took the time to map out your pumped-up October show calendar (and the rest of your autumnal agenda) so you won’t miss a beat.
INDIE FOLK Jake Bugg 9/28 at Royale, $30
HIP-HOP Chance the Rapper 9/29 at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, $39.50-$59.50
ALT R&B How to Dress Well 9/30 at the Sinclair, $18
POP/R&B Alessia Cara 10/1 at the Orpheum Theatre, $28-$38
ALT ROCK The Temper Trap 10/4 at Royale, $30
TECHNO Pantha du Prince 10/6 at the Sinclair, $20
R&B/RAP Post Malone 10/13 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
POP Sia 10/18 at TD Garden, $30.50-$120.50
INDIE FOLK The Head and the Heart 10/18 at the Orpheum Theatre, $38-$48
POST-PUNK Joyce Manor 10/19-20 at the Sinclair, $20
RAP RAVE Die Antwoord 10/20 at the House of Blues, $39.50-$55
ELECTRO POP Phantogram 10/21 at the House of Blues, $25-$45
INDIE ROCK Local Natives 10/22 at the House of Blues, $29.50-$45
INDIE FOLK Foy Vance 10/22 at the Sinclair, $20
BOUNCE Big Freedia 10/23 at Brighton Music Hall, $20
INDIE POP St. Lucia 10/25 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
POP Colbie Caillat 10/25 at the Wilbur, $30-$45
GARAGE ROCK The Pack A.D. 10/25 at ONCE Lounge & Ballroom, $12-$15
ELECTRO POP Tegan and Sara 10/31 at the House of Blues, $36-$46
ART ROCK Foals 11/1 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
INDIE ROCK Mitski 11/1 at the Paradise Rock Club, $16
A CAPPELLA POP Pentatonix 11/9 at TD Garden, $34-$89.50
SYNTH POP The Naked and Famous 11/10 at Royale, $32
DREAM POP Troye Sivan 11/12 at Agganis Arena, $37
INDIE ROCK Wild Beasts 11/13 at the Middle East Downstairs, $20
INDIE ROCK The Hunna 11/13 at ONCE Lounge & Ballroom, $15
FOLK ROCK Ani DiFranco 11/14 at the Berklee Performance Center, $32-$47
POP Betty Who 12/8 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, $12-$27
THE IMPROPER’S 2016 FALL ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | VISUAL ARTS | THEATER | COMEDY
Sounds of the Season
By Alexandra Cavallo | Photo Credit: Stu Rosner | Sept. 16, 2016
Electric Conductor
For the 2016-17 season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has plans to shake things up, starting with the appointment of the orchestra’s very first artistic partner, Thomas Adès. The venerable British conductor and composer will join the BSO and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players for three years as a resident conductor and performer, beginning with an Oct. 28 performance of Schubert’s Winterreise, which has Adès taking a seat at the piano. Adès’ first fall with the orchestra will also include Nov. 3-5 performances of the composer’s own 2013 composition for baritone, mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Totentanz (Dance of Death). We tapped the—rather cheeky—Adès for some intel on what we can expect from his time with the BSO.
On whether they created the position just for him… “They did! Which I think is very sensible because we musicians come in all different shapes and sizes.”
On what he hopes to accomplish… “Make wonderful noises.”
On his dream piece to perform or conduct with the BSO… “A rock opera by Johann Strauss Jr. based on Game of Thrones featuring Björk, Beyoncé and Steeleye Span.”
On whether he’s excited to perform his own work… “Uncontrollably.”
On how he’d describe that work to the uninitiated… “A riot at a medieval Super Bowl with the teams Death vs. the Human Race. There can only be one winner, but the crowd is with the human race and we’re playing at home.”
THE IMPROPER’S 2016 FALL ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | VISUAL ARTS | THEATER | COMEDY
By Alexandra Cavallo | Photo Credit: Braverijah Gregg
Juke’s on You
Before Kim, Scott Bradlee made a play to break the Internet in 2010 with a self-recorded video of the jazz pianist and some friends performing a bluesy cover of Lady GaGa’s “Paparazzi” under the moniker Postmodern Jukebox, which has racked up hundred of thousands of views. Now touring internationally with a crew of rotating musicians, he releases a new video of a popular song—ranging from Miley to the White Stripes—covered in an old-timey style to legions of YouTube fans each week. We checked in with Bradlee before Postmodern Jukebox stops at the Wang Theatre on Oct. 6.
How did Postmodern Jukebox come about? It was something I did as a kid. I loved old styles of music, ragtime, jazz, Motown, all those things. I was a pianist, so I played them all. And of course my friends didn’t know any of that stuff; they listened to pop music, Eminem or whatever. But I wanted to still be a part of that conversation, so I’d take the songs that they knew and turned them into styles that I love. At the time, it was just kind of a fun party trick. Later, I moved to New York and was trying to find work as a jazz pianist, and I found that it was pretty hard to get people excited about jazz. So I set up a video camera in whatever basement apartment I was living in and recorded myself playing these things that I used to do, playing pop songs as ragtime. And as luck had it, the very first one that I did went viral.
So do you credit YouTube for your success? Yeah, I think it was a project that could only really break on the Internet in some ways. I think if I’d told some record label about this, they’d be like, “Well, there’s no way that can be a thing. That sounds so niche.” What was great about going directly to fans is that I could connect to them in a way that I’d get ideas from them, and it became something that fans took ownership of.
Have you received any criticism from the “serious” jazz community? I think they’ve been pretty welcoming overall. Most people can see that getting people interested in jazz in any way is a good thing for the community as a whole. I hear from a lot of people, like, “Yeah, my jazz band was doing this tour and we had, like, three Postmodern Jukebox cover bands open for us.” So it’s certainly resulted in a lot of work for a lot of people, and it’s just cool to see kids come to the show and then write to me saying, “I’m so inspired now and I’m checking out Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and all these greats that influenced you.”
What have been some of your favorite covers of late? We did a doo-wop version of “MMMBop” recently. It seemed like such an obvious thing, like doo-wop/“MMMBop”— how has this not been done? And we did a 1920s kind of New Orleans thing with Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.” I had released a version of it in black-and-white, kind of like the 1920s, and a lot of people thought it was an actual song from the era and were sharing it around Facebook—no joke—thinking that Justin Bieber had ripped off this song from 1929. [Laughs.]
THE IMPROPER’S 2016 FALL ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | VISUAL ARTS | THEATER | COMEDY
By Alexandra Cavallo
Rocktober
This fall is jam-packed with hot concerts—from massive pop stars to on-the-rise indie acts to hip-hop heavy hitters—but Halloween month is so busy it’s almost scary. Don’t fear: We took the time to map out your pumped-up October show calendar (and the rest of your autumnal agenda) so you won’t miss a beat.
INDIE FOLK Jake Bugg 9/28 at Royale, $30
HIP-HOP Chance the Rapper 9/29 at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, $39.50-$59.50
ALT R&B How to Dress Well 9/30 at the Sinclair, $18
POP/R&B Alessia Cara 10/1 at the Orpheum Theatre, $28-$38
ALT ROCK The Temper Trap 10/4 at Royale, $30
TECHNO Pantha du Prince 10/6 at the Sinclair, $20
R&B/RAP Post Malone 10/13 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
POP Sia 10/18 at TD Garden, $30.50-$120.50
INDIE FOLK The Head and the Heart 10/18 at the Orpheum Theatre, $38-$48
POST-PUNK Joyce Manor 10/19-20 at the Sinclair, $20
RAP RAVE Die Antwoord 10/20 at the House of Blues, $39.50-$55
ELECTRO POP Phantogram 10/21 at the House of Blues, $25-$45
INDIE ROCK Local Natives 10/22 at the House of Blues, $29.50-$45
INDIE FOLK Foy Vance 10/22 at the Sinclair, $20
BOUNCE Big Freedia 10/23 at Brighton Music Hall, $20
INDIE POP St. Lucia 10/25 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
POP Colbie Caillat 10/25 at the Wilbur, $30-$45
GARAGE ROCK The Pack A.D. 10/25 at ONCE Lounge & Ballroom, $12-$15
ELECTRO POP Tegan and Sara 10/31 at the House of Blues, $36-$46
ART ROCK Foals 11/1 at the House of Blues, $25-$35
INDIE ROCK Mitski 11/1 at the Paradise Rock Club, $16
A CAPPELLA POP Pentatonix 11/9 at TD Garden, $34-$89.50
SYNTH POP The Naked and Famous 11/10 at Royale, $32
DREAM POP Troye Sivan 11/12 at Agganis Arena, $37
INDIE ROCK Wild Beasts 11/13 at the Middle East Downstairs, $20
INDIE ROCK The Hunna 11/13 at ONCE Lounge & Ballroom, $15
FOLK ROCK Ani DiFranco 11/14 at the Berklee Performance Center, $32-$47
POP Betty Who 12/8 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, $12-$27
THE IMPROPER’S 2016 FALL ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | VISUAL ARTS | THEATER | COMEDY
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