PLAYGROUND BOSTON

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Thanks to John A Macy for the photos – see more of his work here!

Bim Skala Bim

Have Nots

Morgan Knockers

Brunt Of It

New Years Eve in Boston is always a great night for music, and this year is certainly no exception! Problem is – how the hell do you decide between so many great shows? Well, we can’t tell you where you should end up, but we can try to narrow down the list a little bit and give you our top 6 picks for the best NYE 2009 has to offer. Why top 6? Well, to be honest, I couldn’t narrow this down to a top 5. I had enough trouble getting to 6 from 10, give me a break here! Just check out the list and try to get out to any one of these shows – you will not be disappointed! Best part is, every one of these events will leave enough left in your wallet to ensure you’ll have plenty to spend at the bar and forget about all those nasty things 2009 did to you! Happy New Year everyone, we’re looking forward to plenty more PGB madness in the new decade!

The Upper Crust, The Gentlemen, The Motion Sick – Church, 69 Kilmarnock St. Boston

The Upper Crust blew our collective minds at the P-Town Festival earlier this year. Powdered wig and breeches wearing fops rocking your face off with aggressive rock riffs and clever Victorian-era lyrics? Yes please! These guys simply have to be experienced – no amount of writing will give their shows full justice. They don’t play out so much anymore either, so this is definitely a treat that they’ve put this show together – especially considering what a great lineup they’ll be accompanied by! The Gentlemen, who celebrated their 10th Anniversary in 2009, will also be bringing their nonstop jam-packed set to the crowd at Church. Here’s another example of a band that doesn’t play around here too often, as all of the members seem to be knee-deep in side projects and rarely have the time to come together as the original band. Rounding out the bill is The Motion Sick – Boston indie-pop at its finest. These guys have had an incredibly successful 2009 – music videos, Dance Dance Revolution notoriety, The Phoenix’s Best Local Rock Band award, mentions by every conceivable Boston press outlet – you name it! They’re currently hard at work in the studio but are taking time off from recording to rock out for the New Year!

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show. Get tickets here!

Forgetful Jones & Three Day Threshold – Olivers @ The Cask n Flagon, 62 Brookline Ave. Boston

Team Shred’s doing it up right for the New Year. The local super-promotions team is taking over Olivers in Kenmore Square for an incredible night of rock. Forgetful Jones has a clear funky reggae imprint on their hard rock style, whereas Three Day Threshold has more of a roots influence. These genres may seem like a bit of a clash at first, but rest assured the two bands work great together and will combine to give your ears everything they could have asked for this holiday season. (Well yeah, they asked for Q-Tips too, but your mom got you those for Christmas.) FJ has been a PGB favorite long before this website even existed, and 3DT’s New Years shows have been the stuff of legend in this town for years!

Feeling a little greedy this New Years Eve? A killer band lineup just won’t cut it for you? Well then, the party at Olivers will also feature a free champagne toast at midnight, a free buffet from 8-9:30, and drink specials all night. STILL not enough? How about some free hockey ticket giveaways going on all night? They’ve got tix for the Winter Classic at Fenway Park, the Legends Game, and the big BC-BU game coming up as well!

Tickets are $25 at the door. Tickets are no longer available online in advance, however there will be plenty of tix at the door if you want to just show up.

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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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Click here to download the album for free!

For a VERY limited time only, Boston punk rockers the Have Nots are making their latest album Serf City USA available for free download from purevolume.com. Check it out – I picked up the album earlier this month and it remains one of my favorites of the year. And hell, it’s free! So grab the album, and get ready to rip up Harpers Ferry with them on September 20th, when they celebrate the end of a long tour by opening for the Ducky Boys!

Click here to check out the Have Nots’ recent selection for PGB Track of the Week

Click here for the PGB review of the Have Nots’ latest show, July 10th at the Middle East (scroll down)

www.myspace.com/havenotsboston

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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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Have Nots

“Poisoned Antidote”

Serf City USA

© 2008 Scars and Strife Music

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http://www.myspace.com/havenotsboston