Notes on the Boston Pops, Darkbuster, and Beatlejuice
By JIM SULLIVAN | June 19, 2007
Keith Lockhart |
“What we’ve been looking for,” says KEITH LOCKHART, “are musicians who have something interesting to say and are interested in stretching creatively. People who say, ‘What a cool thing to work with an orchestra!’ The Boston Pops conductor is talking about the Pops’ fourth EDGEFEST. This year, the COWBOY JUNKIES join the Pops June 23 and 24 and HEM turn up (substituting for M. Ward) on June 26 and 27. These concerts, says Lockhart, “bring in exactly what we tried for — a totally different group of people who didn’t think the normal Pops goings-on was for them. The result is, you’re saying, ‘The Pops is for everybody, not just your parents or grandparents.’ You need to continue renewing.”Lockhart doesn’t think the Edgefest mix is much different from when the Pops played with Duke Ellington. But he says there was initial resistance to the rock/Pops mix when he proposed it nine years ago. “Four years ago, we revisited it and said, ‘This could work.’ We were very careful. Some groups are too loud and wouldn’t want to change their sound to fit in. We want a creative collaboration.”
DARKBUSTER are also gearing up for a creative collaboration, with producer David Minehan at his Woolly Mammoth studio in Waltham. The punk quartet are going in this week with four songs ready. “We’ll take it in bits and pieces,” reports singer/guitarist Larry Lashley. “I’ve been slowly spanking new material.” Ready to go: “I Want a Prevost,” a 39-second spurt about Lashley coveting a cool tour bus made by the Canadian manufacturer. They’re aiming for a CD’s worth of material by the end of September. . . . BEATLEJUICE live: the ace Beatles tribute band has survived the loss of singer Brad Delp (to suicide) in March. For a June 9 Boston Harbor Cruise, they used four singers — Mike Girard, Joey Fielding, Buddy Bernard, and Jimmy Rogers — and it sounded fab. Bob Jennings will join the quartet in the lead role for the time being.
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