PLAYGROUND BOSTON

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Let it never be said that JustBill doesn’t throw a hell of a party. The local master photographer is celebrating his 12th year in the Boston rock scene – 12 years of tirelessly supporting local music, spreading the word about great new acts, taking incredible pictures, throwing huge afterparties and basement shows, and generally being an all-around great guy. This year he’s assembled an incredible lineup to rock TTs Friday night, jam-packed with PGB Favorites.

Chris Mascara gets the night started with with his cast of Boston rock all-stars (Bo Barringer of MEandJOANCOLLINS and Matt Graber of Sarah Rabdau & The Self-Employed Assassins). The otherworldly rock stylings of Planetoid follow them up at 10, with a sound caught somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age… IN SPAAAAACE! Fresh of a St. Paddy’s day appearance on WMFO’s popular On The Town show, I Pistol will be rocking out third on the bill, this time bringing in Daanen Krouth of The Luxury to rip it up on lead guitar. Forgetful Jones will be closing out this show, the reggae-infused funk rockers will get you jumping and amped up to party all night long. This is a solid bill front to back, each band hand-picked by JustBill himself for your maximum rocking pleasure. Don’t miss this show!

9pm: Mascara

10pm: Planetoid

11pm: I, Pistol

12am: Forgetful Jones

More giveaways? No problem! This time we’ve got a pair of tickets to go see local indie darlings Drug Rug open up for Apollo Sunshine next Thursday the 18th! Fresh off a national tour, Drug Rug returns triumphantly to their hometown to rock out the big stage at the Paradise. Fronted by BMA Female Vocalist of the Year Sarah Cronin, Drug Rug has been taking the lo-fi indie scene by storm on both the local and national level since the release of last year’s Paint The Fence Invisible. They’re currently plotting and scheming on a new album to be recorded in May, so you can bet you’ll get a nice mix of brand new songs to go with your favorites from the last album.

Apollo Sunshine, who also boasts ties to Boston (as well as NY and SF), will be headlining the night. After blowing up in the Berklee scene, they’ve spent the past few years touring the country and all over the world opening up for the likes of Dirty Pretty Things, Sonic Youth, Built to Spill, The Walkmen, The Roots, The Decemberists, and My Morning Jacket. They’ve got quite the unique style, which Pitchfork describes as “runs the gamut from pastoral folk to distorted-everything blues-punk to Latin-tinged indie pop to orchestral interludes.” Yeah, good luck figuring that one out. Anyway, they’ve got an original indie sound that’s become very popular in the wake of their third full-length, Shall Noise Upon. Scroll down and check out the video of one of their more mellow numbers, “Singing to the Earth.”

Want to enter to win tickets? All you have to do is send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with “DRUGSHINE” in the subject, and you’ll be automatically entered for a pair of tickets to the show! Winner will be announced the morning of the show, enter now!

Apollo Sunshine

Drug Rug

Edan the Dee Jay

The Paradise

PGB is happy to offer up a pair of tickets to Monday’s show at the Paradise featuring Philly’s DJ/Producer extraordinaire RJD2! RJD2 usually comes through town once a year, and without exception his shows are regarded as among the best anyone has seen – regardless of your genre preferences. The influence RJD2 has had on the underground and indie hip hop scene cannot be denied, and we’ve got your chance to see his groundbreaking style for yourself! This tour is in support of his brand new album, Colossus, released January 20th. He promises to have some tricks up his sleeve for this time around – check out this excerpt from his website:

This is the most planned out/intricate/thought out/awesomest show I’ve ever been a part of. Easily. By far. I can say this with a clear conscience.  Costume changes. Custom built electronics. New songs and old.  3 turntables, 2 mixers, 1 sampler, 1 serato rig(PLUS a crate of vinyl), guitar, bass, drums, vintage and new analog synthesizers, visuals, and 2 hand puppets to boot.

RJ, you had us at hand puppets. Want your chance to win? Just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “RJD2″ and you will be automatically entered to win a pair of tickets, courtesy of PGB and The Paradise! Still not convinced you want to check out this show? Then check out this video for “Let There Be Horns” off the new album, featuring a drug-addled, lovelorn minotaur in a wife beater. Nope, couldn’t make that up if I tried. RJD2 can though, and if he can come up with something as crazy as that just imagine what he can do live with a couple of turntables and some samples. Enter now, winner will be selected on Friday!

This is it. After 8 years, post-hardcore act Scary Kids Scaring Kids are doing one more tour, then calling it quits as a band. Keyboardist Pouyan Afkary explained it best in his blog:

We are doing this to say goodbye in person to all the friends that have ever supported us and we’ll be making it even more special by touring with some of the bands that have become brothers to us on the road. …Life throws us all something different and we’ve decided that the best thing for us personally is to end the band on a positive note and start new chapters in our individual lives.

So yup, that’s it. Barring any cheesy reunion tours down the road, this will be the last time SKSK comes through Boston, the last time you’ll have a chance to see them. What better way to catch a farewell show… then to do so for free! We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to this show, which also features The Sleeping and local heroes The Murder Mile on the bill. Just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “SKSK” to be entered for your chance to win. That’s all there is to it! Our winner will be selected on Monday afternoon. Enter now!

Scary Kids Scaring Kids – Snake Devil

The Murder Mile – “No Solutions”

Street Dogs – “Not Without a Purpose”

Street Dogs – “Tobe’s Got a Drinking Problem”

Vinny Stigma (Agnostic Front, Madball) – “New York Blood”

Bryan McPherson – “Don’t Terrorize Me”

Thanks to fakenameJD for the videos! Check out more on her YouTube Channel!

Street Dogs

Stigma

Bryan McPherson

Check out this video of Mark Lind & The Unloved performing Janis’ “Me and Bobby McGee!” The amazing vocals of Brittany Gray were backed up by an all-star cast of characters from the Boston punk rock scene:

Mark Lind & Jason Messina of the Ducky Boys

Mike Savitkas of Death & Taxes

Drummer Marc Cannata of Far From Finished on backup vocals

Solo acoustic artist Bryan MacPherson

Steve Young from Confront on guitar

Later in the set Jeff Morris from Death & Taxes took Lind’s guitar and traded lead guitar duties back and forth with Young for a few songs. (Morris was also the guitarist for the Bruisers!) Here’s a video of The Unloved’s “An Open Letter to Boston.”

Check out fakenameJD’s channel on Youtube for more videos from local Boston shows!

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Dave Crespo and the Afterparty know how to have a good time. They’ve been playing their catchy Boston-oriented pop rock all over the city in support of their newly released album, culminating in an opening slot for Marcy Playground’s recent tour back in August and a spot on the Main Stage at the P-Town Fest in July. Crespo’s been a staple in the Boston scene for years, booking shows, organizing open mic nights, and playing and promoting tirelessly. In 2007 he teamed up with vocalist Cary Wells to form The Afterparty, featuring a soulful male-female duet laid over honest alternative pop rock about love, life, and the city of Boston. Now they’ll be headlining the Middle East this Saturday – and they’re giving away tons of tickets to fans both current and new! They’ll be sharing a bill with Sour D, Someday Rome, and The Flo – should be a good show! Here’s how to win:

Go to the show’s Facebook event and RSVP that you are attending – two people will be selected at random to win a pair of tickets each

Follow DCAP on Twitter to figure out the answer to the question “WHO IS JC?” Once you have your answer, send the band a direct message for your chance to win a pair of tickets

Send an e-mail to DCAPRules@myspace.com – 4 pairs of tickets will be given out to lucky winners just for e-mailing!

That’s a lot of ways to win! Here’s some footage of DCAP playing at the Regent Theater in Somerville earlier this year. Good Luck!

Dave Crespo & The Afterparty

Sour D

Someday Rome

The Flo

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We’ve got even more free tickets! This is an interesting lineup for sure – might seem a little mismatched, but its sure to be a hell of a show! Less Than Jake – bastions of the ska-punk movement of the 90’s are joined by old school gutterpunks The Casualties, who formed solely for the purpose of carrying on the tradition and legacy of the street punk bands of the early 80’s. They’ll be paired up on stage with the anthemic pop-punk stylings of The Swellers. Essentially, this is a nice cross-section of the past 25 years of American punk rock – certainly not comprehensive, but enough of a taste of different sub-genres to provide something for everyone. Want to check out this show for free? Just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with “LTJ” in the subject, telling me which one of these is your favorite on the lineup and why. The best response wins a pair of tickets courtesy of Playgroundboston.com!

Here’s a Less Than Jake video of “All My Best Friends are Metalheads” off Hello Rockview – certainly not their best song, certainly not their best album, but the video (though kinda poor quality) is friggin’ hilarious…

Check out this video of The Casualties playing “Unknown Soldier” off On The Front Line in Sao Paulo. Looks like the security guards are a little outmanned here…

Less Than Jake

The Casualties

The Swellers

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