Hotspot: Boston MFA

Student admission ~$20 / 617-369-3300 / www.mfa.org

Devoted Hotspot reader – did you read the headline and go, “buh?” I don’t blame you—we cover performance venues, and the Museum of Fine Arts is known for its, like, paintings. But perhaps instead of greedily devouring the Hotspot and then throwing the rest of Arts away, you should read the other worthy offerings. Then you’d know there’s an ongoing series of concerts at the museum. With music.

In fact, the program’s got so much indie/hipster cred that the bookers must write for Pitchfork–past bands have included Belle Orchestre and the Mountain Goats. The calendar also boasts stellar jazz and classical offerings.

Hotspot headed to a show featuring the eminently huggable Isobel Campbell, whose cello and wispy soprano voice left Belle and Sebastian a couple albums back.

After she bopped through a few dreamy songs, Campbell looked around the hall in amazement–as if she hadn’t yet seen the place through her blond bangs.

“It’s like playing in my front room!” she said. “Where we played last night, people were drunk and yelling. This is so different!”

Indeed–though it took some getting used to. The MFA’s theatre is basically a clean, white lecture hall with a stage at the bottom. The sound system is very good, but won’t exactly vibrate your sternum. In a way, the concert was like a high-end high school assembly.

But I mean that in a good way. True, it’s not an intimate venue, and doesn’t offer the communal experience of dancing (or swaying) with fellow concertgoers. Like the paintings and sculptures in the rest of the building, the MFA’s concert series fosters private appreciation of art. The artists–here, musicians–have the freedom to create their music without the distraction of rowdy, drunken crowds pressing up to the stage. It’s almost a live performance in a vacuum.

While I tend to prefer the traditional, sweaty, push-your-way-to-the-front experience when it comes to live rock, the people who pick the MFA shows understand that they’re not running a mosh pit. The mellower music on the calendar tends to be a perfect fit for the more sedate setting.

I’d give the MFA an unreserved thumbs-up, if not for ticket prices hovering at around $20 for a reduced-price student admission. That’s a bit high, especially since the MFA isn’t shackled to the Ticketmaster ball-and-chain.

Still, it’s a high-quality venue, and if you’re a fan of anyone on the concert calendar you’ll appreciate the refined, distraction-free setting that the MFA offers.