INDIE-ROCK LEGENDS THE FEELIES TO PLAY AT CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Seminal guitar-rock band The Feelies, with roots in the New York punk/New Wave scene of the late 1970s, continues its climb back up the rock ‘n’ roll ladder at Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, April 28, at 9 p.m. The Velvet Underground-styled group, founded in New Jersey in 1976 and credited with influencing a host of post-New Wave indie-rock groups, including most notably R.E.M. and Yo La Tengo, reunited in 2008 after a 16-year layoff and released an album of all-new material last year.
The influence of the Feelies can’t be overstated. The twin-guitar attack of songwriters and founders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million is the infectious sound of the group. Paired with driving drums and percussion, it has left an indelible mark on the landscape of rock and roll. The Feelies came out of the same scene that produced bands including Television, Sonic Youth, and Yo La Tengo, and here in the Berkshires, the group’s influence is strongly heard in the music of groups including the Typicals and the Burdens.
Cambridge Concentus artistic director Marika Holmqvist
(SHEFFIELD, Mass.) – A lecture and concert presented by Berkshire Bach will explore the mystery of “How Does Bach Do It?” in the Allen Theatre at Berkshire School (245 North Undermountain Rd.) on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 8pm. The concert by the Cambridge Concentus early music ensemble, featuring soprano Clara Rottsolk, will include Bach’s “Wedding” Cantata and Orchestral Suite #3, and the multimedia lecture is by musicologist Jeremy Yudkin.
Boston University professor Jeremy Yudkin will attempt to unravel the intricacies and complexities of Bach’s compositional process and elucidate those strategies and attributes that make the music of Bach unique. Yudkin will examine the two extraordinary masterpieces being performed in detail, with visuals and with musical examples for his explanations, each one demonstrated by the early music ensemble. With this as prelude, the concert performance of the works will follow, bringing a new or enhanced appreciation for the genius of Bach.
EXPERIMENTAL THEATER PIECE EXPLORES EARLY NEW ENGLAND LIFE
Photo by Forrest Holzapfel
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – After a weeklong residency, writer, director, and actor Ain Gordon will present his new contemporary theater piece, Not What Happened, on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at 8 pm in MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center, as part of MASS MoCA’s series of work-in-progress showings. Photographer and historian Forrest Holzapfel contributes images of rural landscapes that becomes intrinsically connected to Gordon’s theatrical exploration of early New England life.
Gordon is well-known for his works that attempt to reveal histories of lost people and places. For this project, he enlisted Holzapfel’s help to research Vermont’s pre-industrial farming history by visiting historic sites and studying the landscapes of hamlets such as Guilford and Marlboro. Together, Gordon and Holzapfel expose traces of colonial history and imagine previous incarnations of both the land and the people who occupied it.