PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Planetoid Singer/Bassist Locrius - Photo Credit: Scott Gacek

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Sidewalk Driver – “Dancing With Her Friends” – For All The Boys And Girls
(PGB Track of the Week #18)

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Planetoid – “Beyond The Black Hole” – Shadow Of The Planetoid
(PGB Track of the Week #26)

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Thanks to Scott Gacek for the incredible camera work! See more of his photography at his website!

Sidewalk Driver Lead Singer Tad McKitterick - Photo Credit: Scott Gacek

Thanks are also in order for local promoter Agent Bishop, who put together yet another incredible lineup of Boston’s best bands! Our apologies to Liptease and Gene Dante, who opened up the night in front of Sidewalk Driver and Planetoid, yet unfortunately are not pictured here (well, except for one picture of Gene at his best.) Check out the Agent Bishop Website for news on more great shows in the future!

Planetoid

Sidewalk Driver

Gene Dante & The Future Starlets

Liptease

Agent Bishop

Church

Friday the 13th is upon us again, and with it, the birthday of fast-on-the-rise local promoter Agent Bishop! To celebrate, Bishop has put together an excellently eclectic bill down at Church this Friday. You’ve probably heard us preach on and on about PGB Favorites Planetoid and Sidewalk Driver, and if not we’ll just let the music do the talking – check out these tunes here:

Planetoid – “Russian Space Solution” – Shadow Of The Planetoid

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Sidewalk Driver – “Tornado” – For All The Boys And Girls

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Sidewalk Driver at last year's Provincetown Rocks Festival - Photo Credit: Seth Drury

So OK, now you know all about the evil retro stoner-metal of Planetoid and the awesome glam-itude of Sidewalk Driver. Good, glad we got that out of the way. Those bands together on any bill would make for a pretty incredible night. But no, that’s not enough for Mr. Bishop – he had to add the consummate showman Gene Dante and his merry rockin’ band of Future Starlets, as well as Liptease, the living embodiment of a disco dance party, to start off the night. Now that’s a lineup!

Sounds good right? Now what if you could get into this show for free? PGB’s got you covered once again! Just send an e-mail to bryan@playgroundboston.com with the subject “LUCKY 13″ and you’ll be automatically entered to win a pair of tickets to the show! (We promise, we have better things to do than spam you. Seriously.) Winner will be selected at random on Friday afternoon – enter now!

Planetoid lead singer Locrius at Harper's Ferry - Photo Credit: JustBill

Friday, August 13th – Church of Boston
21+ / Doors at 8pm
$10 advance / $13 doors

9pm – Liptease

10pm – Gene Dante & The Future Starlets

11pm – Sidewalk Driver

12pm – Planetoid

Agent Bishop Productions

Hail Plankton

“Chest Cold”

Hail Plankton

© 2010 Self-Released

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Hail Plankton

For all you Thrash guys out there, Hail Plankton singer/guitarist Matt Altieri is also currently the touring guitarist for the legendary 25-years-and-still-going strong godfathers of thrash metal DECEASED!

Check out PGB Favorites Hail Plankton TONIGHT (Thurs. 7/22) at Church, headlining a seriously crunchy lineup!

8pm: Taste

8:45pm: Loose Cannon

9:30pm: Neurological Damage

10:30pm: Cashed Fools

11:30pm: Hail Plankton

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper

Last Thursday, Church celebrated the beginning of summer (only a week late) with a Beach Party, presented by Agent Bishop Productions. Hawaiian shirts, leis and fake tattoos dotted the bar and pool tables as the audience was treated to 4 of the best female fronted bands New England has to offer.

St. Helena - Photo by Perez

First up was St. Helena, a five piece with an interesting, eclectic mix of sounds ranging from the bubblegum pop sensibilities of The Beatles or Dr. Dog to more moody, soulful tunes. Frontman Patrick Teahen took the lead on many of their songs, but those sung by keyboardist Magen Tracy had a more introspective feel, reminiscent of Tidal era Fiona apple minus the pretention. (In case you were wondering, that’s a very good thing.)

St. Helena – “Superheroes Make Mistakes” – Slow Jack
[PGB Track Of The Week #6]

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After St. Helena, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper trotted up on stage. An unassuming young woman with giant black glasses resting on her nose, Aly Spaltro was the belle of the ball. She smiled and introduced herself: “Hi, I’m Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, and this is my band,” she said with a wave of her hand to the empty stage behind her. Those who were not immediately wooed by her charm became enthralled as soon as she began to sing. A very big voice comes out of that little woman. She oscillates from beautifully constructed metaphors [I want to touch you like the sea touches the soil – I want to hold you like the milk holds the spoil] to statements so obvious that they become stunning [My hair was long – so I fucking cut it.] She commanded the audience with her every move.

Aloud - Photo by JustBill

Next up was rock and roll quartet Aloud. By now, Aloud should be familiar to anyone who lives in Boston and has ears. They were touting the upcoming release of their new record Exile, coming out this September. Along with offering a presale, Aloud played several songs from the new record. “I’m about to say the four words that no audience wants to hear,” Guitarist Henry Beguiristain smiled at the crowd, “We have new songs.” The audience fake-groaned (or perhaps really groaned), and one fan screamed “Marriage has ruined this band!” (in reference to the recent marriage of singer/guitarists Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa.) Aloud’s performance was unconventional to say the least: Like St Helena, they mix light, airy power pop songs that are reminiscent of Phantom Planet (also a good thing, in case you were wondering) with more subtle, instrumentally driven songs. At one point, De la Osa and Beguiristain leapt off the stage into the crowd and played standing and sitting on the club floor respectively.

Aloud – “When The Ants Attack The Queen” – Fan The Fury
[PGB Track Of The Week #28]

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Aloud finished their set by calling up all of the ladies of the evening (not ladies-of-the-evening, rather all the ladies that were on the bill that night) to join them in a rendition of The Supremes’ “Can’t Hurry Love.” (Video courtesy of Michael Epstein from TheMotionSick Youtube Channel)

Naked On Roller Skates - Photo by Steve Wollkind

The last act of the night was Naked On Roller Skates. Travis Richter, drummer for Aloud pulled double duty as lead guitarist for the final band as they played impossibly catchy rock tunes with attitude to spare. NORS’s powerful vocals and strong hooks make them seem as if they were plucked from the soundtrack of a teen comedy about believing in yourself. Once they get rocking, it’s impossible to not find your head bobbing and toe tapping.

St. Helena

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper

Aloud

Naked On Roller Skates

Agent Bishop Productions

Church

Thursday, July 1st – Church

Agent Bishop has put together one hell of a lineup, especially for a Thursday Night! He’s assembled some of the most talented female musicians in Boston to rock the hell out of Church, and its all happening tonight! We’ve got PGB Favorites all around – ALWAYS a sign of an excellent show! Aloud’s dual vocal attack will blow your eardrums out and leave you screaming for more. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper puts on a stunning solo performance with an angelic voice laid over soulful acoustic guitar. St. Helena are amazing songwriters and talented musicians all around, and Naked On Rollerskates‘ pop hooks is irresistible for dancing and singing along. All-star bill to ring in a new month, what more could you ask for? How about new songs by Aloud and St. Helena, as-yet unreleased tracks off their forthcoming albums, never before played out live!

Thursday, July 1st – Middle East Upstairs

Boston punk veterans The Acrobrats are releasing their latest 5 song 7″ Hair Trigger tonight at the Middle East Upstairs, and put together a solid punk rock lineup to help them celebrate! The new vinyl consists of 4 originals and a David Bowie cover – can’t wait to check that one out! PGB Favorites Burning Streets are right in the middle of a marathon tour, something like 50 shows over the course of 2 months, and are making a brief stop-off at home to rock the Middle East with the ‘Brats before heading out west for the second leg of the tour. Due to a name dispute, The Saints are now The Union Boys, good angry punk rock from up north. 007 Hundred Club rounds out the bill – fast, hard, and really, really pissed off. The whole summer so far has had some unbelievable punk rock bills all over town, and tonight is no exception. Head on down, pick up some vinyl, and rock the fuck out to some great local punk rock.

Neurological Damage - Photo by Rebecca MacPherson

Neurological Damage – “Sloppy G”

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Neurological Damage frontman Vic Foresta - Photo by Rebecca MacPherson

Catch Neurological Damage with Hail Plankton and Cashed Fools at Church on Thursday, July 22nd!

Thanks to Rebecca MacPherson for these great photos! Check out more of her work at rebeccamacphoto.com

Neurological Damage

Photo by Cayte Designs - caytedesigns.com

Last Thursday Boston hardcore legends Gang Green reunited and rained chaos down on a packed crowd at Church. The band got stronger, faster, and better as the night went on, culminating in a several encores that whipped their screaming fans into an absolute frenzy. Local rockers Dead Friends, Apple Betty, The Scrapes, and Antibodies opened up the show. We managed to get footage of Gang Green, Dead Friends, and Apple Betty – check it out!

Gang Green – “Just One Bullet”

Dead Friends – “Snitches Get Stitches” (Nowhere USA cover featuring Anthony Snowdale on guest vocals)

Apple Betty – “Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll”

Thanks to Jacqui for capturing this unforgettable show on video! To see more of her videos, check out the fakenameJD Youtube channel!

Gang Green

Dead Friends

Apple Betty

This is Boston, Not L.A. all over again! Boston hardcore punk legends Gang Green are bringing back the glory days of our fair city’s punk rock scene with a reunion show at Church this Thursday, May 6th. Gang Green, along with The Freeze, The FU’s, and other similar bands from the era were essentially responsible with putting Boston on the map along with New York, LA, and the UK for early punk rock hotspots. Ready to get fast? Ready to get hard? Ready to get really fucking angry? Get in touch with this town’s musical roots as old meets new when Gang Green takes the stage along with PGB favorites Dead Friends, Apple Betty, The Scrapes, and Antibodies.

Tickets are available in advance here – you have until 4pm on the day of the show to purchase in advance. Might be a good idea to buy in advance, considering its cheaper in advance, there’s a good possibility of the show selling out, and you may never have another chance to see this band! Don’t forget there’s a Sox game that night, so parking will be an issue – take the train if at all possible.

Check out this video of what is probably their best known song, “Alcohol”

BONUS! To get you ready for this show, we’ve decided to post up all 7 Gang Green tracks from the seminal compilation This is Boston, Not L.A. – considered by many to be among the best hardcore punk compilations ever released!

“Snob”

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“Lie Lie”

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“I Don’t Know”

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“Rabies”

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“Narrow Mind”

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“Kill A Commie”

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“Have Fun”

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Gang Green

Dead Friends

Apple Betty

The Scrapes

Antibodies

Ammonia Booking

Church of Boston

Screw the lamb! Boston rock started off March strong and will be ending it the same way, with an extended weekend of great shows all over town. There’s so many can’t-miss options happening that they had to go and start the weekend off on Thursday rather than Friday. Didn’t you hear? You don’t have to go into work on Friday. Your boss understands that you need time to rock out, and whether its the hard stuff and Church or the more indie style over at Great Scott, your rocking out will not be denied. Check out these great shows happening Thursday night…

Thursday, March 25th @ Church

Worcester metal badassness meets Boston metal badassness in this second part of a series of shows designed to show off the meanest of the mean from New England’s two largest cities. Earlier this month the two Worcester bands on the bill, Birch Hill Dam and Burn The Witch brought the two Boston bands, Born of Thunder and Bring the Knife, down to the Lucky Dog in lovely (yeah, lovely!) Kelly Square, Worcester… Now its time for the Boston bands to return the favor down at Church in the Fens. Gotta love that Massachusetts Metal Solidarity! Get ready to bang your head, throw a fist or some horns in the air, and sin up  What better place to throw some devil horns in the air and rock out than at the most blasphemously sinful house of worship Boston has to offer?

Thursday, March 25th @ Great Scott

Don’t get me wrong, Action Camp and Hello Ninja are great, but any show featuring Boston heavyweights The Beatings AND Aloud is one worth the price of admission – no matter what it may be. The Beatings have been taking some time off in the wake of some serious touring in support of last year’s critically acclaimed Late Season Kids, now they’re ready to kick their noise rock machine back into overdrive. Aloud is commemorating the 2 year anniversary of their seminal album Fan The Fury by playing a setlist that will include alternate versions of newer favorites, as well as a few oldies thrown in that date all the way back to their 2004 EP! There’s probably going to be a few songs played on Thursday at Great Scott that you will NEVER have another chance to hear – don’t miss out!