PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Onto day three of the P-town music bonanza.  Our trusty photographer Seth Drury was able to join us for the weekend, so at last we have some proper pictures for you all.  The weather has steadily improved as well, so things are looking up!  Though as soon as we found parking near the fest we heard rumors that Good Times was shutting down its music, we were quickly able to quash the misinformation and we can assure Good Times was most certainly rocking! And will continue to rock through the weekend.  Also scheduling mayhem seemed to be much improved, and bands we wanted to catch actually played (for the most part) in their advertised time slot.

Click for recaps of Day 1, Day 2 and Day 2 continued.

Click here for a complete listing of bands and venues participating in the festival!

Day 3 – Friday, July 24th

Photo by Seth Drury

Starting the night at The Vixen, we caught the tail end of The Shills’ main stage performance.  These guys were tight, playing a lot of fast palm muted riffs underneath singer Bryan Murphy’s zero-to-howl in .02 vox.  While the crowd was certainly lacking, the rock was not, and the Shills ended things with a nasty jam– Dave Sicilian strummed out meaty bass chords while Murphy and guitarist Eric Ryrie wailed intricately harmonized guitar solos.

The Shills – “The Fire” – Ganymede

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Next up on the Vixen stage was one of our favorite bands, The Lights Out.  Bryan already sang the praises of these guys’ Thursday performance, so I don’t need to go into too much detail.  What I will say though is that The Lights Out consistently deliver a killer show.  Despite a sub par sound mix (I was straining to hear Adam Ritchie’s guitar), they nailed their set, which included some new tunes off their forthcoming album Color Machine.  The standout for me was a performance of their brand new song “Redletter Days,” featuring a catchy chorus rife with “whoa oh ohs,” and a killer solo by frontman and usually rhythm guitarist Rish Green.

Photo by Seth Drury

After The Lights Out, it was off to Good Times to catch Lovewhip– I had never heard this band before but I dug their name.  As it turned out Lovewhip was an awesome festival find! Quickly into their set I was converted into their newest fan.  Playing a party-starting mix of disco, krautrock, revival, dance music, they breathed life into the bar crowd, getting EVERYONE (especially the GT bartender, who was awesome in his own right) moving.

Photo by Seth Drury

Despite consistently shitty sound at Good Times all week, the energy and presence of the band was just too infectious to really mind.  Frontwoman Erin Harpe is a rockstar through and through, looking sexy in her oversized Lenny Kravitz shades, and keyboard player Sam Marshall’s expression of pure jubilation to be playing was completely refreshing compared to the self-conscious glower of some other bands I’ve seen this week.  You can catch Erin Harpe performing a solo acoustic set at Old Colony Tap Saturday at 8:30.  The band is also having a Single release party at Church in Boston on July 31st, unveiling the first single off their forthcoming album due out in October.

Lovewhip – “Virtual Booty Machine” – Virtual Booty Machine EP

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After Lovewhip, we went on a brief excursion to Bubala’s By The Bay to check out the scene farther down Commercial Street.  While Bubala’s serves fresh oysters and great seafood chowder, the upscale restaurant vibe didn’t really fit with the rest of the festival venues.  While I recommend this place for dinner, and there was a nasty jazz/blues jam in progress when I walked in, I didn’t stay too long.

Photo by Seth Drury

Heading back up the street to Governor Bradford, we made it downstairs in time to take in some punk rock dished out by The New Alibis.  I seriously enjoyed the dingy feel of the basement at Governor Bradford- it was dark, grimy, full of brick and low ceilings- I felt like I was transported back to a high school party.  Despite horrendous sound quality and a totally shmammered band, GB was a great time.  (And if you were willing to drink Michelob Light it only cost you $2.50 a pint.)  While it was nearly impossible to hear Paul Christian’s nasty lead guitar, and JulieTwoTimes had so many G & T’s she was constantly lost during the songs, The New Alibis were good enough to pull off fun uninhibited punk, ripping through fast originals and mixing in a Violent Femmes cover.  Plus drummer Jesse Von Kenmore was absolutely murdering his drum kit.  I’m looking forward to checking these guys out tomorrow night at the Vixen where the sound is way better.

Finally, hurrying back to the Vixen, I caught the closing set by Provincetown locals The Legendary Elephants Gerald.  Aside from having one of the greatest names ever, these guys also had the biggest crowd of the festival! (something to keep in mind for future festivals, locals rule here). Featuring frontman Tom Magar of Squidda, TLEG reunited after a three-year break to play this show only.

On stage, a mess of drunk-rock mayhem was taking place.  Magar, aka Chippy Bottom and a drummer who goes by Maestro donned panty hose over their heads while Ms. Betty Rocker slammed out some muddy basslines in GWAR-esque spikey shoulder pads.  The music and the crowd were equally sloppy, and yet perhaps this was the best show so far.  In a festival marked by small crowds and variable sound quality, many bands have looked less-than-comfortable on stage.  What Elephants Gerald and similarly Lovewhip brought to the stage was total unabashed fun, the way rock should be.  Well done guys!

Photo by Seth Drury

Friday night was the loosest, sloppiest and most fun night of the Fest thus far.  Looking forward to The Luxury, Build a Machine, Sidewalk Driver, The Andrea Gillis Band and many more on Saturday night.

n