PLAYGROUND BOSTON

We’ve got an incredible weekend of some of the most aggressive music Boston has to offer coming up on Saturday and Sunday at Great Scott. Some of the biggest names in the local punk rock scene are coming together to benefit the family of Ron Holbrook, ex-drummer for the Welch Boys who passed away in August of 2007.  This has been an annual event of solidarity and compassion in local rock, with bands coming together to donate the entirety of their proceeds to Holbrook’s wife and two daughters for 3 years now.

This year’s lineup is flat-out incomparable. The Welch Boys are a rare treat in Boston – they don’t play very often but when they do you can expect a packed house full of drunken revelry, singalong choruses, and general madness. They’ll be headlining BOTH nights of this event. PGB Favorites Burning Streets, Beantown Boozehounds, and Dead Friends (all past PGB TOTW honorees) are also on Saturday’s bill, and The Snipes and Drago, two nasty bands in their own right, round out the lineup.

Sunday features local legends The Blue Bloods taking the stage for the first time in 2 years, gearing up to rock the faces off all those kids who forgot what Boston punk rock is all about. Sunday’s show will also be the record release for Refuse Resist’s latest effort “Socialized” – they’ll be donating 50% of the proceeds from album sales to Holbrook’s family in addition to their door money. Ashers will also be on this bill – a high-energy outfit featuring members of The Unseen and Bad Ash. The Murder and Full Powered Halo will also be rocking for the cause on Sunday night. These will be two great shows for a great cause – trying to make the best of a tragic situation however we can. Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like in-your-face punk rock and down-your-throat cheap beer, see you down there!

All Photos by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

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Thanks to Nicole Tammaro for the photos – www.nicoletammaro.com

This Friday Dead Friends has put together an incredible lineup of local Boston punk rock to help celebrate the release of their debut CD, The Afterlife. Dead Friends is a Boston punk and hardcore all-star team, consisting of ex-members of bands such as Nowhere USA, Strawhorse, and Splint, coming together to sing furious anthems about the city they grew up in and the people they grew up with. They put on an extremely high-energy show, highlighted by frontman Mark Doherty’s chaotic jumping all over the stage. The recording process for this CD began back in June, and both the release and the release party are among the most anticipated in the local scene. The first 100 CDs sold will be Limited Edition releases, only available at the show, so make sure to get there early and pick up a copy! The album features artwork and photography from local heroes Dave Tree (Tree, Superpower), Nicole Tammaro (Nicole Tammaro Photography), and Scruffy Wallace (Dropkick Murphys), so you know it’s going to look as badass as it sounds!

The bill put together for this show is unbelievable. The Welch Boys are on board, they haven’t played a show in quite some time but are coming out Friday to support Dead Friends’ new album. They feature a fast, aggressive style with powerfully angry vocals. Chris Skel & The Original Sins are coming up from New Jersey for this show as well. After the Skels went on hiatus, Chris recruited friends from bands such as Darkbuster and Hudson Falcons to help him put out his own CD. Check out his music – it ranges from mellow ballads to surf rock to Irish-style punk fucking rock! Gozu’s been terrorizing the Boston scene with their brand of hard stoner rock, look for them to tear the roof down Friday night. Gozu’s sound is best described on their website by Hackman’s Daryl Shepard, who says Gozu’s frontman Marc Gaffney “has the pipes Chris Cornell used to possess before he started modeling men’s cologne.” Rounding out the bill is recent PGB Track of the Week pick Burning Streets, ready to bring their triumphant punk rock style back to the Middle East. Their debut CD, released this fall, hit as high as #70 on the Interpunk charts – very impressive considering the stiff competition on that list from national headliners, large indie-label signees, and big major-label corporate darlings.

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Burning Streets

“Kiss the World Goodbye”

Is it in Black and White

© 2009 Sailor’s Grave Records

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Burning Streets’ Website

Too many record releases, too little time. OK well three record releases and one video release. And its actually only two different shows. But hey, I haven’t figured out how to be two places at once yet, if you have any groundbreaking research about this feel free to let me know. Anyway, these two shows are way too good to choose between, so we figured we’d tell you about both and you can decide for yourself based on your musical taste. No matter which you pick, you’re gonna have a hell of a good time this Friday.

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Photo by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

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All Photos by Nicole Tammaro – www.nicoletammaro.com

The ProblemAddicts - Photo by Katherine Taylor

So many shows, so little time. This weekend is absolutely chock-full of great local music. We’ve already featured a few in separate posts – BBC’s “What’s your Major” Series, Hempfest, etc. – but there are so many more we think you should know about! Here’s a little rundown of what’s going on this weekend in Boston Rock.

Friday, September 18th

Boston Band Crush “What’s your Major” Day 1 – Church –  check out the preview here

MassCann Boston Freedom Rally Preparty & Awards Show – Middle East Upstairs – featuring performances by Casey Desmond, Keep Me Conscious, Final Hour, and the ProblemAddicts. Band4MassCann will also be giving out awards for the best Boston music acts of the year.

Boston Music Spotlight Battle of the Bands – Oliver’s / Cask & Flagon – featuring PGB favorites Silent Century, as well as In Like Lions, Polyethylene, Shadwell, and Taste. Grand prize is worth over $5k, come out and support your favorite band!

Lauren Flaherty Acoustic set – Middle East Corner – Lauren will be performing two separate sets with her band at the Corner on Friday night. The first set will start at 10:30 and will feature a more traditional singer/songwriter style, while set #2 at 11:30 will get a little crazier and more upbeat. Lauren’s one of the nicest people I’ve come across in the entire local music scene, and a talented musician to boot!

The Wrecking Coast Debut show and EP Release – Copperfields – The Wrecking Coast will be joined by a great lineup featuring This Blue Heaven, Birds Make Birds, and Cola War Vets. They’ll be giving away free music all night too! Presented by Hear Now Live!

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Back in July we covered a Have Nots show during which they shot footage for their first music video. Now, a month and a half later, the video for “One in Four” has been officially released! Produced by Mike Gill (Circumvision), this video features professional quality live shots while still capturing the energy and insanity of the band’s set that night. They also incorporate the song’s socio-political message into the video – One in Four is the number of homeless people in America who are veterans. The back-and-forth between fierce live action and somber themes of injustice suffered by war heroes makes for a powerful and memorable video.

Photo by Nicole Tammaro

Have Nots are currently in the middle of a US Tour in support of their latest album Serf City USA. Their homecoming show is a can’t-miss event though, featuring one of the better local punk rock lineups this city will see all year. Catch Have Nots on Sunday, September 20th at Harpers Ferry with the Ducky Boys, Confront, Burning Streets, and Everybody Out!

Have Nots

Circumvision

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Last Friday the New Alibis put together one of the best local punk-rock bills Boston has seen in recent memory to celebrate the release of their latest CD Hard Promises. Joined on stage by The Have Nots, Razors in the Night, and Burning Streets, the Alibis sold out the Middle East Upstairs and lived up to the high expectations of the tattooed and unruly crowd.

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