January 19: Freelance Whales – Great Scott, Boston, Ma.

January 20: The New Deal – Port City Music Hall, Portland, Me.

January 23: Suzanne Vega – Olin Arts Center at Bates College, Lewiston, Me.

January 28: Ani DiFranco – The Strand Theater, Rockland, Me.

January 30: Asobi Seksu – Club 939, Boston, Ma.

February 12: Dar Williams – One Longfellow Square, Portland, Me.

February 13: Tegan and Sara – Orpheum Theater, Boston, Ma.

February 19: El Perro del Mar & Anna Ternheim – Cambridge YMCA, Cambridge, Ma.

February 24: Wild Beasts – Great Scott, Boston, Ma.

March 4: Efterklang – T.T. and the Bear’s Place, Cambridge, Ma.

March 20: Air – Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Ma.

March 25: Keller Williams – Port City Music Hall, Portland, Me.

April 7: David Gray – Merrill Auditorium, Portland, Me.

April 10: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Ma.

May 3: Yeasayer – Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Ma.

If you know of any fun or interesting concerts going on close to Bates, please email wrbcmonkey@gmail.com. We will add it to this list.

Fanfarlo and Freelance Whales played in Boston at T.T. the Bear’s on December 17. Despite the fact that London’s indie-pop group Fanfarlo headlined, several Bates kids and I actually made the trek to see the openers, New York’s Freelance Whales.

Freelance Whales is Judah Dadone, Kevin Read, Doris Cellar, Jake Hyman and Chuck Criss.  They were recently signed onto Frenchkiss/Mom + Pop Records, and in my opinion deserve a lot more recognition than they’ve garnered so far. The group is rapidly gaining momentum considering the limited time they’ve been together.

Their show was a great success, and the packed, enthusiastic crowed they played for is a testament to the close following they’ve acquired.

After their set and while we waited for Fanfarlo to take the stage, some fellow Batesies and I accosted Judah at the bar (to be fair he did invite crowd members to chat… however, we may have taken this invitation a tad too literally). He was incredibly humbled by our enthusiasm and interest, and was concerned about encouraging “poor study habits” when he learned we had made the trek from Maine during finals week to see the show. We talked briefly about the groups debut LP and he happily shared with us some insight on his inspiration for writing the album.

Weathervanes is a concept album, whose inspiration is not readily apparent. The theme traces the experiences of a man who falls in love with a woman’s ghost. Despite the album’s elusive theme, the music is entirely accessible, and their soulful, folksy sound is somehow applicable to a universal range of emotions. There is something hopelessly romantic about a love this unattainable, and the longing it inspires is heavily embedded in the group’s work. The group aptly describes it best, that their sound is like “somebody wired their heart to a synthesizer.”

Weathervanes is doubtlessly breathtaking and instantly lovable, and the crowd at T.T. the Bears was clearly captivated by the group’s performance.

Here is a clip of Freelance Whale’s performance in Boston, the song is Generator^2nd Floor:

-Liz Rowley

Liz Rowley is the co-host of Porcupine Slumberparty, Tuesdays at 8 PM-12 AM Eastern Time on WRBC.