Latest news with #TheLongandWindingRoad
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Does live music at Logan baggage claim actually make us feel better about the wait? Our critic went to find out.
'I wrote this song on my way here,' the man joked and launched into a reggae beat, cheerfully belting out one of the most famous choruses in the English language. 'Don't worry/about a thing/'Cause every little thing/gonna be alright...' Advertisement You may have heard about this -- live music at two Logan baggage claim areas this summer. It's Massport's idea to 'reduce travel stress,' according to an official announcement. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The experimental program, which runs through August, when officials will decide whether to make it an ongoing thing, has already been met with skeptical grumbles, including from The Globe's Full disclosure: This isn't my usual beat. I usually review classical music, where performances are generally staged in quieter venues with refined acoustics – hardly the case here. But I also play in two bands, I've busked with my accordion, and I do travel from time to time. I appreciate both a good bar act and the hell that can be a bad day of travel. And I wondered if those experiences might actually mesh. Advertisement On this muggy July evening at Terminal C, I have to say that it kind of worked. The musician, a guitarist named Mike Weidenfeller, strummed his way through mild uptempo covers; familiar songs seemingly meant to soothe. And he easily worked the frazzled crowd. 'Are you from Boston?' he asked a group of women passing before him with large rolling suitcases. 'Yes,' one of them replied. 'Welcome back,' he said. And then, when they said they had just come from Aruba: 'In that case, I'll say I'm sorry!' Weidenfeller jammed his way through another reggae standard, Beres Hammond's 'I Feel Good,' and a woman skipped across the terminal, her henna-red hair flying. 'It's a party now,' he said with a smile. Then something else caught his eye: 'Oh, that's a nice reunion over there.' cq A goldendoodle had spotted his 'granddad' sitting on a bench, and gone into a tail-wagging frenzy. As Weidenfeller strummed the Beatles' 'The Long and Winding Road,' the dog leaped into the man's lap and licked his face. cq It was a Kodak moment, and for the people I talked to, at least, the music added a friendly feel and helped to uncoil a little tension. 'It kind of adds a nice charm now that we're all stuck here waiting on our luggage,' said Jennifer Stacey, cq who was returning to her southern New Hampshire home after a vacation in Aruba. 'I hope it takes off.' Still, I have to wonder if the same would be true in truly trying travel circumstances – like the time I was stranded overnight in New York's John F. Kennedy Airport terminal after being forced to gate-check my carry-on between Los Angeles and Boston. The amenities included nonfunctional power outlets and arctic-blast air conditioning in rainy October. Over the PA, a soft-pop playlist including Paula Cole's 'I Don't Want to Wait,' Daniel Powter's 'Bad Day,' and Fergie's 'Big Girls Don't Cry' mocked me as I roamed the long concourse, unable to sleep through the sensory barrage. Sometimes big girls do cry. If I'd heard ' Don't worry/about a thing…' the next morning when my suitcase failed to appear on the Logan baggage carousel, I probably would have spontaneously combusted. Advertisement For musicians, playing Logan is a unique experience. The logistics of booking and scheduling performers this summer are being handled through Gigs4U, a Seattle-based agency that already books musicians at SeaTac International And Fall River-based singer-songwriter Brandon Furtado, 29, who played on the pilot program's launch day, said his set went well. 'I'm always trying to find new places to play, so that was a cool experience for me,' he Furtado is accustomed to playing in neighborhood hangouts, and at baggage claim, he found that 'people are kind of trying to get their stuff and go. Maybe you don't get as much engagement, so you have to work a little harder to acknowledge people and get their attention.' From a financial perspective, it mattered less whether people stopped to listen; the Live at Logan musicians cannot collect tips, but they receive $200 for each performance, with parking covered. cq The only tough part was playing to a largely-vacant room much of the time, Furtado said. 'There was one group of people that arrived, and it was kind of empty afterwards.' cq Advertisement One important point: not everyone in this captive audience is necessarily a traveler. As Weidenfeller played on that recent night, Security guard Pax Brown Johnson, cq of Milton, sat on a bench as she waited for her overnight shift to begin, enthusiastically greeting her co-workers as they passed by and clapping after every song Weidenfeller played. The music helped her feel more relaxed, she said, even when 'you feel so discouraged.' cq She hoped they'd bring the music to the departure level, so more people might appreciate it. Maybe she'd even be able to hear it from her station at the secure area's exit door. She'd like that, she said. In the meantime, she knew what she wanted to hear. 'Play 'Don't Worry About a Thing!'' she urged Weidenfeller. cq An hour had passed since he last played 'Three Little Birds.' No one who had heard it earlier was still around. He played it. A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Spurs at Kings: How to watch De'Aaron Fox's first return to Sacramento
Paul McCartney wrote 'The Long and Winding Road' about the Scottish Highlands, fine, but it might as well be about the basketball team in California's Central Valley. This Sacramento Kings season has been a particularly wild journey, and it continues on Friday night — De'Aaron Fox emerges from the visiting locker room for the first time, his San Antonio Spurs trying to keep The Beam unlit. Advertisement First, it was the sudden coaching change, then the star swap that shipped Fox out for Zach LaVine, now the Domantas Sabonis injury. He strained his hamstring in Saturday's win at Houston and will be sidelined indefinitely. It was a dispiriting break for a team that had won six of its last eight games. Now, Fox returns to the franchise that drafted him, the city where he grew into adulthood. It was shrouded in acrimony at the very end, but Fox's eight-year run in Sacramento was worthwhile and meaningful. He averaged more than 21 points and six assists. He was All-NBA and Clutch Player of the Year in 2022-23. He led a fearless postseason charge at the crosstown rival Warriors and routinely unfurled funky, fiery highlights. Behold the carousel of lottery-pick disappointments across this franchise's recent history, from Marvin Bagley III to Marquese Chriss, Nik Stauskas, Ben McLemore and Thomas Robinson. In context, Fox was something of a spiritual affirmation, the divine proof of concept. He should get proper love on Friday night. The fleet initiator never cared about our parlays, but he tagged his name all over a franchise almanac that's eight decades deep with the Royals years. He left Sac-Town fifth in career buckets, fourth in made 3-pointers, fourth in assists and second in steals. Only Oscar Robertson and DeMarcus Cousins scored more per 36 minutes. His 60-point game in November is the Kings' all-time record and should stand for a while: San Antonio's emotional and trying season can't end soon enough, although the dregs will give Fox and his young teammates a ramp up to comfort. The Kings will play a video tribute and honor Fox accordingly, but they'll really need to take this game. Sacramento is in the logjam between the West's sixth and 10th seeds, with the absence of Sabonis looming larger. The All-Star center is set to be re-evaluated in one week. Advertisement From Law Murray's latest power rankings: Sacramento (13) — 'Whatever Doug Christie told these guys worked … It's all about defending better.' San Antonio (21) — 'The Spurs have won only three games since the All-Star break, but the first of those wins came against the Phoenix Suns, and they tagged 130 points on the Grizzlies on the front end of a back-to-back.' Starting five of players to wear both jerseys (min. 50 games with each franchise): De'Aaron Fox navigating unfamiliar road with Spurs — in more ways than one (Photo of De'Aaron Fox: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
