By Maggie Cassidy
Break open the piggy banks and stock up on lighters: Boston is bracing itself for a lineup of fall concerts featuring acts ranging from Puddle of Mudd to Mandy Moore.
In addition to ’80s rockers Van Halen, who will be touring with original frontman David Lee Roth, the T.D. Banknorth Garden will host Maroon 5 and The Police.
The Agganis Arena at Boston University and the Berklee Performance Center (BPC) will also bring in big names. Interpol is set to rock the BU stage Sept. 12, while the Cure’s Sept. 25 show is being rescheduled to a later date. Pop singer and movie star Mandy Moore, whose latest album, Wild Hope, is her first since 2001, will be stopping by the BPC with fellow singer-songwriter Paula Cole this month.
Lesser-known names, like guitarist Steve Vai and alternative rock group Stars, will also take over the BPC this fall – shows that BPC box office manager Tedi Mara expects to sell out.
“Some of our most popular shows among college kids are rock shows. It’s so hard to categorize genres,” Mara said. “Usually they’re people who not only put out records but also put on a great live show. Those are always the artists that sell out the place. They have a real music background, they have the technique.”
She said the BPC has student performances or other musical presentations scheduled for almost every night of the week. Mara said college students are changing the city music scene by bringing music back to its roots.
“I have a feeling that college kids have gone past the point of being the targets of huge marketing campaigns for major pop stars,” she said. “Nowadays, college students are more into the message of the artists.”
The lineups of smaller venues, like the Orpheum Theatre, Paradise Rock Club, Avalon and the Middle East, reflect that sentiment, featuring smaller acts with big talent.
The Orpheum Theatre, located minutes away from the Park Street T stop, will host several artists from the Bonnaroo 2007 lineup, a four-day grassroots music festival in Manchester, Tenn. Ben Harper, Kings of Leon, Paolo Nutini, Regina Spektor and Rodrigo y Gabriela will all grace the stage. Also look for Ani Difranco and State Radio, as well as Smashing Pumpkins – who recently released their first album in six years, “Zeitgeist.”
Boston favorites Dropkick Murphys will play Avalon at the end of the month, following performances by Rilo Kiley, Chevelle, Sum 41 and Yellowcard. The Paradise will feature some other pop-punk all-stars, including The Donnas and Hot Hot Heat. Alt-rock groups !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) and The Go! Team will also play at the Commonwealth Avenue venue and so will Shooter Jennings and Puddle of Mudd.
Sophomore music industry major Scott Shelton, an A’R at Warner Music Group and a DJ for Bad Boy Entertainment, is glad to see a mix of mainstream and underground acts hitting the city.
“It mixes the solid old groups – the guys that can still put on a good show – with the guys that are going to survive,” he said of this season’s lineup. “When I think of who the solid musicians are from our generation, these are the people I think of. I think it’s really exciting to think that it’s the best of the old mixing with the new. I can’t ask for much more than that.”
Shelton is especially excited for Nutini’s show – the artist’s second in Boston this year. Nutini performed at the Paradise in February.
“He and John Mayer and Corinne Bailey Rae are saving music, as far as singing/song-writing goes,” Shelton said.
The Beantown Jazz Festival will offer an alternative to rock and pop artists, featuring more than 30 acts in three days. Starting Sept. 27, many events – most of which are free – will take place around the Northeastern campus.
Hip hop has yet to make any stabs at the city lineup, but Shelton is hopeful that it will make a breakthrough soon, as he tries to plan regular 19+ club nights around city.
