PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Check out the brand new official video for “Used to Be” by PGB Favorites Have Nots, filmed by master videographer Mike Gill of Circumvision! The Boston-based ska-punk band has released another excellent video featuring poignant and thought-provoking themes set to a fast-paced, fast-sung aggressive anthem. “Used to Be” is about growing up, getting old, and making changes over the course of your life – I’m sure there’s plenty of people reading this right now at their office job who can relate to things not quite turning out the way they envisioned! The video was shot by Mike Gill, who is responsible for some amazing videos from bands like Televandals, Confront, State Radio, Damone, and Wheat among others. This is the second video shot by Gill off of Have Nots’ debut album Serf City USA, PGB has featured the video for “One In Four” in the past. Watch this video here, and check out the full library over at the Circumvision website.

OH YEAH! You can also download the entire debut album from Have Nots, Serf City USA, for FREE! This is easily one of the best local releases of 2009 of ANY genre, let alone just punk rock – a PGB favorite all the way!

Have Nots will be playing this Saturday, Sepetember 4th, at the Middle East Downstairs as part of the CD Release Party for veteran Boston punks Far From Finished. FFF and Have Nots will be joined by PGB Track of The Week honorees Burning Streets and Lenny Lashley of Darkbuster (2000 WBCN Rumble winners). This is a jam-packed lineup of some of Boston punk rock’s best helping to kick off an unbelievable MONTH of music in the city – get your weekends clear now, because you won’t want to miss this or any of the shows we have coming up in town!

Saturday, September 24th – Middle East Downstairs
18+ / Doors at 8
$10 advance / $12 door

Far From Finished (CD Release)

Have Nots

Burning Streets

Lenny Lashley (Darkbuster)

Circumvision

The narrative behind an album can often be as compelling as the album itself, whether it’s Justin Vernon of Bon Iver locking himself in a remote Wisconsin cabin for three months to write “For Emma, Forever Ago” or that time when Puffy covered a Sting song in tribute to his boy Biggie. The story behind the music can often be bigger than the music itself. Meet Tennis, the husband and wife duo of Alana Moore and Patrick Riley. Their summery lo-fi beach bound hits have been met with rave reviews and an even bigger sense of mystery.

Moore and Riley began writing music together on an 8-month sailing voyage along the East Coast. The couple spent six years saving up for the trip, which was a childhood dream of Riley’s. Tennis’ song titles reference various ports they docked at on their journey – “Marathon” (Florida) “Baltimore” (like “The Wire”) and “South Carolina” (that one). The sense of discovery and adventure that fueled the trip are also present in the sounds and lyrics of their mysteriously poppy and fuzzed out record.

Tennis’ debut 7″ was released on Underwater Peoples late last month. The duo is touring the East Coast (by van) for their first time ever, and hope to unveil some of the mystery behind themselves. Catch their first east coast appearance on Sunday 8/22 at Great Scott on a great bill that also features Boston’s I Have Ears and Jersey’s Family Portrait.

Sunday, August 29th – Great Scott
18+ / $8 / Doors at 9pm

Tennis

i have ears

Family Portrait

Hunter S. Floortom

It’s that time again! 40 local Boston musicians split randomly into 8 5-piece bands, writing 4 songs (1 cover) over the course of a single day to be performed the very same night. Sound hectic? It is? Sound awesome? IT IS! This is the second annual occurrence of One Night Band, put on by the good folks over at Boston Band Crush for the benefit of East Boston youth music organization Zumix.

This year’s edition features another incredible roster taken from some of Boston’s best bands – Township, MEandJOANCOLLINS, Mellow Bravo, Sidewalk Driver, Mean Creek, Drug Rug, Gozu, Autumn Hollow Band… the list goes on and on. Head on over to the ONB website to check out bios and interviews of all the participants, then get down to the Middle East Saturday night for an unforgettable event! As an added bonus, the first 300 people in the door will get a gift bag filled with all sorts of free goodies! Check out the video below, it’s a documentary about how this amazing night went last year!

One Night Band

Boston Band Crush

Zumix

“This is the end of hardcore. We started it, and we’re ending it here today.” When Springa of SS Decontrol uttered those famous words at a Jerry’s Kids show in 1984, he actually had a pretty good point. The once-thriving Boston Hardcore scene was dwindling into nothing – bands were breaking up left and right, or straying away from their roots by developing more of a metal style. The scene that produced the seminal hardcore compilation This is Boston, Not L.A. was finished. Gone was the furious energy, the rawness, the rage, the relentless Boston pride. Sure, some of the bands were still around. Sure, new bands like Slapshot, Sam Black Church, and Blood for Blood would carry on the Boston Hardcore tradition over the next few decades, but it just wasn’t the same, it wasn’t that Boston Hardcore sound that put this city on the map. The era had come to a close… until today.

Now we’ve got a SERIOUS reunion show on our hands. Gallery East, home of some of the most infamous of these hardcore shows back in the day, is producing a documentary about the early 80’s scene, titled xxx ALL AGES xxx. The documentary aims to enlighten the general public about the history of Boston Hardcore, and the impact Boston’s scene had on hardcore culture across the globe. To bring things full-circle, the filmmakers have convinced several of the biggest names of the era to reform for one night only, to play a show that will bring the city to its knees and the hardcore music spotlight back to Boston.  They’ve also invited some of the Northeast’s best up-and-coming hardcore bands to share the stage with the old-school legends. (Check out the full listing of bands, with links, at the end of this article.) The show has been put together by xxx All Ages xxx Executive Producer Duane Lucia, Director Drew Stone, Producer Katie Goldman in conjunction with Shawn Refuse and Young & Strong Promotions. Footage from the show will be included in the finale of the documentary.

“Of all the reunion offers we’ve received over the years, the chance to do it in our home city, in support of old friends, and have it all filmed as a climax to the Boston Hardcore movie was the one we had to say yes to,” said Jonathan Anastas, DYS co-founder and bass player. Added DYS co-founder and singer Dave Smalley, “Duane [Lucia, founder of Gallery East] and Gallery East were very important to our growth as a band. We look forward to bringing it back to Boston.”

Tickets are still available for purchase at Horror Business and Regeneration Tattoo, both on Harvard Ave in Allston. They’ll only be available there until Saturday afternoon though, so if you want to avoid Ticketmaster fees you better get moving on down to Rock City! You can also purchase tix online at Ticketmaster up until the day of the show. BUT WAIT! PGB’s got a pair of tickets to give away as well! To enter to win, just send a picture of the best old-school Boston Hardcore flyer you can find to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “GALLERY EAST.” The best flyer wins a pair of tickets! (Don’t worry, we don’t spam, we’ll only use your e-mail address to notify you if you’ve won.) We’re going to announce our winner on Thursday of next week, so if you don’t end up winning you’ll still have a chance to pick up tickets online or at the Club Lido box office. You DO NOT want to miss this show!

BONUS: In case you missed it, a few months ago we put up all the Gang Green songs from This Is Boston Not LA up for streaming audio. Check them out here.

Sunday, August 29th – Club Lido / Wonderland Ballroom
ALL AGES / Doors at 2pm / $15

DYS

Jerry’s Kids

The FU’s

Gang Green

Antidote

Refuse Resist

Soul Control

Revilers

Memoryhouse - Photo Credit: Adrian Joseph Vieni

Great Scott continued their epic summer line up this past Monday with a killer triple bill featuring local act Avoxblue opening up for Long Island’s Twin Sister and Memoryhouse, a dream-pop trio from Ontario.

Avoxblue, the electronic solo project of Cambridge-based Jimmy Rossi Jr., provided a pleasantly solid opening act for this night of dreamy, ambient, mood music. Set up behind his laptop and other musical equipment, his droning sounds had the crowd bopping their heads along to his experimental beats and grooves.  Avoxblue played a short set but was able to gather the attention of both headliners who were out in the crowd watching his performance. The early arriving crowd at Great Scott gave Avoxblue his love, and Avoxblue returned the favor by closing out with a great rendition of his track “TimeWaves.” An EP dropping in the fall should be something to look forward to from this talented solo act.

Twin Sister - Photo Credit: Nir Landau of Foundwaves.com

Twin Sister performed next. This was their third show in Boston in the last six months – the band’s relentless touring and critical acclaim has earned them quite a following as the venue reached its peak audience during Twin Sister’s set.  The band showed a more confident and raucous vibe than they did in their previous performances at TT the Bear’s and The Middle East. Lead singer Andrea Estella led the band through an inspired performance of “Lady Daydream” to open, as her glass of whiskey and neon pink pocketbook rested at her feet during the performance. Estella brings an “I just walked up from the bar” accessibility to the band but it is the cohesiveness of the whole group together that really makes Twin Sister something to write home about. Their two EP’s this year, Color Your Life and Vampires with Dreaming Kids have received well-deserved massive acclaim, and the band’s live performance is equally as impressive. Lead guitarist Eric Cardona (totally thought he was Jewish, guess not) turned in an inspired performance. His distorted guitar solos took over on improvised versions of “Milk and Honey” and “Other Side of your Face” The addition of Cardona’s shredding is a welcome weapon in the Twin Sister arsenal. This might have been your last chance to catch Twin Sister before they move onto a certain bigger venue about half a mile down Comm Ave.

Twin Sister Live @ Great Scott 8/9
Video courtesy of Michael Marrotta of the Boston Phoenix

Memoryhouse headlined the show, and even though they suffered a little from some of the crowd trickling out after Twin Sister’s performance, you would never have known it. Memoryhouse really stole the show this night. The band’s debut EP The Years clocks in at a dainty 14 minutes long, which is even more surprising considering the solid 45 minutes the band clocked in during their set. (Download the EP for free here!) Another band in the Cocteau Twins / Mazzy Star inspired dream pop mold, Memoryhouse’s fresh take on the genre features a more rhythmic backdrop and a more in-your-face guitar punch than other bands of that style. They even finished their set with a crowd pleasing cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “When You Sleep.” This was the first stop on a brand new US tour for the Ontario trio, and it should be the start of a long and productive career making music for this experimental, yet listenable band.  An added bonus, and further incentive to catch Memoryhouse next time they come around – lead singer Denise Nouvion’s dance moves are unmatched by anyone in indie music today.

Memoryhouse Covering My Bloody Valentine, Live @ Great Scott 8/9
Video Courtesy of Liz Pelly of The Pelly Twins Blog

Check out Foundwaves’ full gallery of Twin Sister and Memoryhouse!

Avoxblue

Twin Sister

Memoryhouse

Great Scott

NYC’s modern-day answer to Joy Division (there, I said it) is invading the House of Blues this Thursday, August 5th, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away! Interpol was originally set to open for U2 on their big North American tour this year, but since the grizzled vets had to cancel their dates due to Bono requiring emergency back surgery, the post-punk indie pioneers decided to just set up a tour of their own! This particular show features supporting acts Twin Tigers and The Postelles. Interpol is set to release a new album on Matador Records on September 7th, and will be showcasing brand new songs from the album on this current tour that you won’t be able to hear anywhere else! (for another month or so, anyway) Check out this video for “Lights,” their first single since 2007!

So I’m guessing you came here to win some tickets. Alright, alright, let’s get to the good part then. To win your pair of tickets to the show, just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “INTERPOL” and you’ll be automatically entered into the contest! The winner will be selected at random at noon on the day of the show (8/5), so don’t hesitate – enter now! (As always, we here at PGB would rather EAT spam than spam you, and considering how repugnant we find the very concept of spam as a food item to be, we promise that you’re definitely safe.)

Interpol's Paul Banks - Photo Credit: Ricardo Vargas

Interpol

Twin Tigers

The Postelles

House of Blues

“Waiter/Guitarist/Music Producer seeks female teacher, preferably teaching in a rough area, to form one of the most buzzed about bands of 2k10. Must like KoRn.” Not only is that the start to a potentially awesome fairy tale, but it is also the basic circumstances under which Sleigh Bells were formed. Working as a waiter, guitarist/producer Derek Miller encountered Alexis Krauss as she ate lunch with her mother early in 2009. Fast forward to now, and this former school teacher/waiter combo combine to form the hottest act in America right now.

Sleigh Bells - Photo Credit: Kyle Dean Reinhard

Sleigh Bells brought their hard rocking, abrasive sound to the Royale last week as part of a killer double bill with South African rap stars Die Antwoord. Sleigh Bells‘ live performance has helped transform them from local bar band to national act, currently signed to MIA’s N.E.E.T. Recordings, and Thursday night at Royale they did not disappoint. The band played for an energy packed 40 minute set, as they played through eight of the ten tracks on their debut album Treats, along with one currently unreleased song. With a back drop of strobe lights and an eager crowd before them, vocalist Alexis Krauss jumped around the stage, doused the fans with water, and crowd surfed her way into the audience’s heart as she sang the energetic anthems that have made Sleigh Bells a popular choice in both raucous bars and spin classes alike. Guitarist Derek Miller mostly stayed in the back and shredded away on his red Gibson as he let Krauss pander to the crowd – but it’s Miller’s riffs and song writing ability that have helped catapult Sleigh Bells to the heights they now reach.

Die Antwoord - Photo Credit: Exile On Moan Street

Foolishly, much of the crowd left after the Sleigh Bells performance and missed an opportunity to see Die Antwoord do their thing on stage. Die Antwoord is a three piece rap collective from South Africa. Charismatic lead singer Ninja looks like Dolph Lundgren minus 20 lbs of muscle, while his female counter part Yo-Landi Vi$$er looks like a shrunken down Lady Gaga. The two played off each other brilliantly as a mostly reluctant crowd was quick to come around to the band and their “Zef” stylings. The band opened with their hit single “Enter The Ninja” and turned in a set that had everyone urban dictonary’ing Zef upon their return home.

Ear drums pounding and caked in sweat, the crowd at Royale this night was treated to an excellent double bill. Both bands then made their way to New York to play the M.I.A curated HARD festival where, by all accounts, they stole the show from the truffle fry eating curator. It won’t be surprising to see both these acts in much bigger venues on their next trip though town

Sleigh Bells – “Treats” Live @ Royale, 7/22 – Video c/o Barelytomson

Die Antwoord - Photo Credit: Gemma Simone

Sleigh Bells

Die Antwoord

Royale

Beantown Boozehounds - Photo by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

The Welch Boys – “Friend Or Foe”

Beantown Boozehounds – “DUI”

Buddha & The Boys – “We’re Goin’ Down The Bar” (Wretched Ones cover)

Thanks to Jacqui for the great videos! See more videos from this show at the fakenameJD Youtube Channel!

The Welch Boys - Photo by Billy Korecki - www.calmovita.com

The Welch Boys

Beantown Boozehounds

Buddha & The Boys

Rock On! Concerts

Middle East

Deadmau5 - Photo Credit: dourfestival.be

Fast-on-the-rise electroguru Deadmau5 has been the subject of critical acclaim and an ever-expanding international fan base since he burst onto the electronic music scene in 2007 (Yeah, he was around before then, but ‘07 was when he really started making an impact worldwide). After packing the Roxy last year, he’s now set to take the big stage for a special 2-night performance at the House of Blues. Tickets for both tonight’s performance and tomorrow’s are already SOLD OUT, but PGB’s got you covered. We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner, but we’ve got less than 24 hours to give them away so you better act quick!

Deadmau5 - Photo Credit: iamdonte on flickr.com

Deadmau5 will be joined by 3 of Boston’s best DJs – Red Foxx, Baltimoroder, and DJ Die Young. This is sure to be an unforgettable set by one of the best electronic acts in the world, supported by the greatest the local scene has to offer. To win tickets to see Deadmau5, just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “DEADMAU5″, and a picture of a mouse. No, it doesn’t have to be dead. It definitely doesn’t have to be gross. Get creative with it. The best/funniest picture will win a pair of tickets to tomorrow’s show. As always, we won’t use your e-mail for anything other than to notify you that you won the tickets. So go find a mouse, send it on over, and win some tix! Winner will be selected by 2pm tomorrow afternoon (Thurs. 7/22!), don’t wait on this!

Check out this video from Deadmau5’s last stop through Boston – some crazy lights and then a segue into…. “There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out” by The Smiths?????

Deadmau5

Red Foxx

Baltimoroder

DJ Die Young

House of Blues