By Anne Baker and Chelsea Reil
At the end of January, the Brits will once again invade Boston. This time, platform shoes and spandex will replace cannon balls and red coats. No, the Queen’s Army isn’t coming, but rather an English entity equally unrelenting: the Spice Girls.
The outrageous fivesome is just one of many musical acts to make its way through Boston this semester. Students with tastes running from Top 40 to local underground to jazz will be sure to find something to pique their interest.
The Orpheum, one of the oldest venues in Boston, will be host to a series of mainstream artists in the upcoming months. Four-time Grammy-winner Lenny Kravitz will rock out in the concert hall Jan. 31. Kravitz is best known for his cover of the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and the soft-rock single “Again.” Prominent female vocalist Cat Power will perform at the Orpheum Feb. 2, touring to promote her new covers album, The Jukebox.
The VH1 You Oughta Know tour will also make a pitstop at the Orpheum Feb. 27. The tour features pop singer James Blunt, whose single “You’re Beautiful” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 2006, propelling him into the spotlight of the soft pop music scene. Blunt will be joined by Sara Bareilles, the songstress behind this year’s hit “Love Song.”
The spring is also full of shows for those music enthusiasts who, when naming their favorite bands, get nothing in return but a blank stare. The Editors play with Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV at the Orpheum Jan. 19.
Shortly thereafter, Dan Deacon, who toured with Girl Talk this past semester, will play just down Huntington Avenue at the Pozen Center at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Jan. 31.
Murder by Death is touring to promote its latest album In Bocca a Lupo. The group plays the Middle East downstairs Feb. 21 and 22 with Clutch.
The Mountain Goats will play the Museum of Fine Arts March 14 and the Middle East Downstairs the following night. The band has released 15 albums in the 20-plus years since its formation, and will present audiences with more new material on this tour.
Midwesterners Tilly and The Wall of Omaha, Neb., will also play at the Middle East Downstairs March 21. This group continues to makes waves with its innovation and creativity. They have even replaced the traditional drummer with a more unusual percussionist: a tap dancer.
The local music scene will also rock the upcoming season. Girls, Guns and Glory will play the Middle East Upstairs Feb. 8. This country/folk group’s album Pretty Little Wrecking Ball was listed in the Boston Globe as one of 2007’s top 15 local album releases.
Berklee College of Music graduate Laurie Geltman, a Boston legend who has made a name for herself across the county as a singer/songwriter, will take the stage at Club Passim in Cambridge Jan. 24.
For music lovers who prefer the sounds of trumpets and pianos instead of electric guitars, the Berklee Performance Center (BPC) has plenty of jazz acts to tune into, including George Duke Jan. 31 and Richard Thompson Feb. 1. Soul Caribbean also plays the venue with the Bob Marley Ensemble, the Afro-Cuban Ensemble and the Steel Pan Ensemble Feb. 21.
The New Music Festival, an annual festival that showcases music groups performing original arrangements of various styles, will be held at the BPC Feb. 13.
