There's no tour, but there is a show.
"Celebrating the release of Juliana Hatfield sings Olivia Newton-John performing songs from that album...and other stuff too", Juliana plays ONCE Ballroom in Somerville, MA on Friday April 6, 2018.
Here's a set of photos by David Young taken at last weekend's Hot Stove Cool Music event at Boston's Paradise Rock Club.
With Freda Love Smith on drums, Juliana peformed a set featuring Some Girls songs together with a preview of her upcoming Olivia Newton-John tribute album. UPDATE - with thanks to Charlie P, here's the full set list:
- Necessito
- Feel It
- Robot City
- Poor Man's You
- Wonder Why
- Short-Fingered Man
- Physical
- Magic
- A Little More Love
- Xanadu
Thanks as always to David (Dry Eye Photography) for sharing his work here.
There's further photos of the event by Joshua Pickering at Innocent Words and a short review with a photo at the Boston Globe.
Prior to the concert, Juliana spoke to Jay N Miller for The Patriot Ledger, where she touched upon the new album:
“I’m not able to conceptualize going in a particular direction, I just have ideas and follow them,” Hatfield explained. “When I have ideas, I make them come to life. I keep moving and keep working. You have to keep working - you’re only here a short time and you have to be open to new possibilities. The idea of doing an Olivia Newton-John record popped in my head, so I went and did it. Unconsciously, I guess it might have been a reaction against the feelings surrounding ‘Pussycat,’ which were disturbed and full of anger. You could see it as the pendulum swinging back. I just wanted to do something that felt good.”
Juliana also talked to Brett Milano for the Boston Herald:
“It’s hard to say why I like her, but I’ve always had a visceral reaction. Something about the sound of her voice and the melodies really hits a pleasure center in my brain,” Hatfield said. “I think there’s also an innocence about her that I’ve always related to. In most of the relationships I’ve had in my life, I tend to be drawn to complicated, troubled people. I saw something in her that was different from that, so I felt an affinity — she was more like the light in the darkness. Her songs are really gorgeous and sweet, and they match my affinity for melodic pop songs, but she acknowledges that there is a dark side.”
Hatfield conceived of the album after a Newton-John concert she’d planned to attend last year was canceled due to the singer’s illness. She’s made the album a partial benefit for Newton-John’s cancer foundation, and received a nice tweet from her in response.
“I really appreciated the welcome from her camp, but I really did this for myself. I love the songs and wanted to record them. That’s really the only reason I ever do anything I do. But I didn’t know how many chords she has in her songs. In terms of their being impressive and challenging to play, there’s some pretty sick songwriting going on there.”
Juliana Hatfield performing at Hot Stove Cool Music in January 2015. Photo © David Young
Mark Shanahan, for the Boston Globe reporting on an upcoming live appearance on February 3, 2018 at Boston's Paradise Rock Club, and a return to an event Juliana played in 2015:
...the benefit for Paul and Theo Epstein’s Foundation to Be Named Later will no doubt be a rocking good time. The show, which takes place Feb. 3 at the Paradise, will feature performances by Juliana Hatfield, Band of Their Own (including Kay Hanley and members of Belly and the Blake Babies), former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo, and Peter Gammons and the Hot Stove All Stars featuring former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams and Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper.
Jan 1, 2018 - New York City, NY - City Winery (opening for Joseph Arthur)
Thursday last week saw the first of 3 consecutive nights at Paradise Rock Club, Boston where Blake Babies opened for Letters to Cleo.
Photos courtesy of David Young of Dry Eye Photography.
There are also photos at Vanyaland and YouTube clips across all nights including Out There, Girl In A Box, Baby Gets High, and Star.
Juliana has announced that she will be appearing with Wesley Stace over three nights on October, performing "mostly solo and acoustic." One is as support and the other two are multi artist "Cabinet of Wonders" variety shows which have previously seen Juliana perform maybe a couple of songs.
Also, there's three Blake Babies shows coming up in November, opening for Letters to Cleo at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Yay!
"Mostly Solo Acoustic" Performances
October 2017
11 Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki (Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders - appearing with Charles Bock, Tracy Bonham, Dave Hill, Stephen Merritt, Suzzy Roche)
12 Ardmore, PA - The Ardmore Music Hall (opening for Wesley Stace)
13 New York City, NY - City Winery (Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders - appearing with Eric Andersen, Dave Hill, Stephen Merritt, Eugene Mirman, David Myles, Aparna Nancherla, Annalee Newitz)
Blake Babies Performances
November 2017
16 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club (opening for Letters to Cleo)
17 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club (opening for Letters to Cleo)
18 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club (opening for Letters to Cleo)
Here's a set of David Young's photos from last weekend's Bowery Ballroom show in New York, where Juliana, Todd and Dean co-headlined with Jesse Malin.
Thanks as ever to David who now has a site to showcase his concert photography at dryeyephotography.com.
Juliana is to appear at a second show on Jesse Malin's tour, billed as a "co-headliner" at Crossroads, Garwood, NJ on July 21, 2017.
The two shows are now:
July 21, 2017 - Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
July 22, 2017 - Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY
A new show has been announced today - Juliana will be sharing the bill with Jesse Malin and Mathew Ryan at Bowery Ballroom, New York City on July 22, 2017.
Update A second "co-headline" show with Jesse Malin has been announced for July 21, 2017 at Crossroads, Garwood, NJ. Ticketfly link
The last date of the Spring Pussycat tour took Juliana, Dean and Todd to Chicago's Lincoln Hall earlier this week.
With thanks once again to David Young, here's a great set of photos from the show:
Juliana Hatfield at The Mercury Lounge, New York - April 26, 2017. Photo: David Young
The Pussycat tour came to an end on Monday. (At least for now - Juliana has mentioned further dates are possible this summer in other parts of the US and Canada.)
Thanks to all who have written and contributed across the JH fan community during these hectic few weeks. Pussycat would seem to be one of Juliana's best received albums in recent years.
Very special thanks once again to this site's contributor-in-chief Carlos Lopez for many of the links that have been posted.
If you've missed David Young's photos, they're now all collected in the USA 2017 section.
Here's a selection of live reviews, some with photos and the odd clip:
New Haven, Apr 22
Paul Bass, New Haven Independent:
She kept her patter brief (and warm and heartfelt) between numbers Saturday night, launching relentlessly into non-stop fury and bared pain tempered occasionally with introspective numbers like the new “Wonder Why,” in which she revisited childhood dreams. “I wonder why the aliens who landed on the roof left me there / and didn’t take me to the sky,” she sang. Even if you couldn’t make out the lyrics, you could tell how honest, these songs were just by the passion and openness with which Hatfield sang, attacked her guitar, interacted with her fans.
Alexis Coleman, Side Stage Magazine:
During the set Philips and Fisher provided a steady percussion session. Fischer sang back up on some of the songs. Hatfield and the band were very connected and they played off each other well. Since it was the first night of the tour fans got to witness some moments where the band had to change some things up and work some things out and it showed the authenticity and realness of who these musicians are. The band did not have a set list per say they were playing songs they loved and a variety of over the year tunes.
Philadelphia, Apr 24
Jeff Gemmill, The Old Grey Cat:
The Juliana Hatfield Three delivered a loud, sweaty and raucous show at the Boot & Saddle in South Philly last night. In fact, you could say it was a night of true grrrl rock (it is the Pussycat tour, after all). The 20-song set opened with a ferocious “Got No Idols” from Become What You Are. As evidenced by the video, Todd Phillips was a monster on drums, Dean Fisher equally brutal on bass and Juliana – well, Juliana was Juliana, full of grace, grit and growls on guitar and vocals.
Josh Pelta-Heller, WXPN:
The band covered a lot of ground for one evening, noting early in her set that they’d try to touch on several eras from her storied thirty-year career. Though she mixed in so many fan-favorites like “My Sister” and “Nirvana” from the early ‘90s, she was sure to put some distance between then and now too. Tribute paid, and pigeonhole avoided.
Chris Sikich's Flickr photo album:
Columbus, Apr 30
Curtis Schieber, The Columbus Dispatch:
On the evening’s best, it all came together, expertly driven by the terrific rhythm section of bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Philips. “Touch You Again” from the new album was the pay-off tune, an enticing melody, a psycho-sexual political statement, and a swinging delivery.
Juliana played The Mercury Lounge in New York City on Wednesday and Thursday earlier this week.
Photos from the first of these shows here are again kindly provided by David Young.
The Pussycat tour stopped off in Juliana's home state last Sunday when Juliana, Todd and Dean (the band formerly known as The Juliana Hatfield Three) played The Sinclair.
The excellent photos here are by David Young.
Photo: David Young
Updates as of April 3:
New dates have been added at New Haven, CT on April 22, Lakewood, OH on April 29, Columbus, OH on April 30, and Chicago, IL on May 1.
Any more will be updated here.
The full list of announced dates is now:
April 21 Newport, RI - The Cafe at Parlor
April 22 New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine
April 23 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
April 24 Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
April 25 Vienna, VA – Jammin Java
April 26 NYC, NY – Mercury Lounge
April 27 NYC, NY - Mercury Lounge
April 29 Lakewood, OH - Mahall's
April 30 Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
May 1 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
(*thanks to Andrew on the This is The Sound forum for spotting that the Newport show is no longer listed on Juliana's agent's site)
Juliana was part of the bill at Paradise Rock Club last night, appearing with Nada Surf, Belly, Bill Janovitz, and more, in a benefit show for the ACLU.
Her set featured tracks from next month's Pussycat album. The night also saw the first ever electric performance of Minor Alps.
Maura Johnston has reviewed the show for The Boston Globe, there are photos at Daykamp Music, and inevitably there are bits on YouTube including new song Short-Fingered Man, plus the Minor Alps electric version (yay!) of I Don't Know What To Do With My Hands.
See also Stacee Sledge's compilation of short clips from the entire show including bits of the other artists. Here's Stacee's alternative view of the Minor Alps track:
Thanks to regular contributor David Young for these great photos:
The new album details are here!
It's called Pussycat and is due for release on April 21, 2017 now April 28, 2017.
The press release:
“I wasn’t planning on making a record,” says Juliana Hatfield, of her new “Pussycat” album. In fact, she thought her songwriting career was on hiatus, and that she had nothing left to say in song form; that she had finally said it all after two decades as a recording artist.
But then the presidential election happened. “All of these songs just started pouring out of me. And I felt an urgency to record them, to get them down, and get them out there.” She booked some time at Q Division studios in Somerville, Massachusetts near her home in Cambridge and went in with a drummer (Pete Caldes), an engineer (Pat DiCenso) and fourteen brand-new songs. Hatfield produced and played every instrument other than drums—bass, keyboards, guitars, vocals. From start to finish—recording through mixing—the whole thing took a total of just twelve and a half days to complete.
“It was a blur. It was cathartic,” says Hatfield. “I almost don’t even understand what happened in there, or how it came together so smoothly, so quickly. I was there, directing it all, managing it, getting it all done, but I was being swept along by some force that was driving me. The songs had a will, they forced themselves on me, or out of me, and I did what they told me to do. Even my hands—it felt like they were not my hands. I played bass differently-- looser, more confident, better.”
“Pussycat” comes on the heels of last year’s Hatfield collaboration with Paul Westerberg, the I Don’t Cares’ “Wild Stab” album, and before that, 2015’s Juliana Hatfield Three (“My Sister”, “Spin The Bottle”) reunion/reformation album, “Whatever, My Love”.
“I’ve always been prolific and productive and I have a good solid work ethic but this one happened so fast, I didn’t have time to think or plan,” says Hatfield. “I just went with it, rode the wave. And now it is out of my hands. It feels a little scary.”
”Pussycat” is being released into a very tense, divided and inflamed America. The songs are reflective of that atmosphere—angry (“When You’re A Star”), defiant (“Touch You Again”), disgusted (“Rhinoceros”), but also funny (“Short-Fingered Man”), reflective (“Wonder Why”), righteous (“Heartless”) and even hopeful (“Impossible Song”, with its chorus of ‘What if we tried to get along/and sing an impossible song’).
The artwork:
The tracklist:
- I Wanna Be Your Disease
- Impossible Song
- You're Breaking My Heart
- When You're A Star
- Good Enough For Me
- Short-Fingered Man
- Touch You Again
- Sex Machine
- Wonder Why
- Sunny Somewhere
- Kellyanne
- Heartless
- Rhinoceros
- Everything Is Forgiven
The pre-order info:
Orders are being taken now for Vinyl, CD and Cassette(!) at American Laundromat Records: alr-music.com/collections/catalog/products/juliana-hatfield-pussycat.
The US Tour in April / May 2017:
April 21 Newport, RI - The Café at Parlor
April 22 New Haven, CT - Cafe Nine
April 23 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
April 24 Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
April 25 Vienna, VA – Jammin Java
April 26 NYC, NY – Mercury Lounge
April 27 NYC, NY - Mercury Lounge
April 29 Lakewood, OH - Mahall's
April 30 Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
May 1 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
This page will update if any further shows are announced.
Juliana is scheduled for perform at Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA on Saturday, March 18, 2017 as part of Boston Stands: A Benefit For The ACLU.
Also on the bill are Nada Surf, Belly, Evan Dando, Bill Janovitz and The Gravel Pit.
Juliana’s appearance as musical guest on the Judge John Hodgman live show in Boston from September is now available on the show’s podcast.
You can listen or download at Maximum Fun.
Juliana’s solo acoustic performances are:
I Don’t Know What To Do With My Hands (36:39)
June 6th / Away Again (01:35:26)