PLAYGROUND BOSTON

One of the best parts about living in Boston is the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Camraderie, funny hats, and alcohol-infused good times – what better to go with all of the above than some great local music? Sure, its not exacly what St. Patrick had in mind while transversing the Irish countryside as a Catholic missionary, but I don’t think Jesus was thinking of pastel pink rabbits handing out eggs to commemorate Easter either. We work with what we’ve got, and we make the best out of what we can. Since the parade always falls on a Sunday, and St. Patrick’s Day is always on March 17th, they usually don’t line up on the same day and as a result you get TWO days to celebrate. Sure, this year’s parade was a little… soggy, to say the least. But hey, the weather’s going to be 60 degrees and sunny tomorrow, perfect conditions to throw a few back and check out some Irish-themed local shows!

Over in Cambridge, The Swaggerin’ Growlers are taking over The Middle East Upstairs for their 5th annual St. Patrick’s Day Riot. The local legends of Irish riot folk are bringing some great local bands together for this one, including Faulty Conscience and The Old Edison. Amherst’s Time and Place will be this year’s pit band. They’ll also be bringing in New Jersey’s F Bombers, a female-fronted punk rock machine from the worst-smelling state in the country. The Growlers will be selling their new CD for only $5, will have new T-shirts for sale, and will without a doubt be willing to have at least one drink with every last man, woman, and child who walks into that club. There are also plans to have the entire show recorded for a live DVD, even more reason to join in the revelry! This annual show has become an institution for St. Paddy’s day madness in Boston, come see what you’ve been missing!

If you’re planning on spending your time on the other side of the river make sure you get down to Great Scott for their St. Pat’s celebration show, featuring an absolutely STACKED lineup. Local Britpop superheros The Luxury will be headlining the night, playing a rare weekday show to commemorate the Irishness of the day. They’ll be joined by Midatlantic (ex-Bleedin Bleedins), who put on one of the best sets of the entire P-Town Festival but we have unfortunately not seen since. Midatlantic’s actually got some ties to Ireland among the band members, so I suppose that gives this show a little bit extra authenticity. The Organ Beats (ex-Damone) completely killed it at the Conservative Man EP Release show back in January (click to see Matt’s review), and have been blowing up the Boston spotlight ever since with a jam-packed show schedule. We’re excited to see what they come up with for this one. Local rising stars Mellow Bravo are also featured on this bill – their gritty blues-rock style has made a serious impact on the local scene in the relatively short time they’ve been together. The Herald recently named them one of their top 10 bands to watch for in 2010 (Herald article is archived, click link for a transcribed version on the writer’s blog), so if you haven’t had a chance to watch them yet, now’s your chance! Creepy Jones rounds out the bill, ensuring you’ll have enough yee-haw rock to make it through the night. In addition to their normal sets each band will be doing at least one cover of a traditional Irish song, and DJ Belfrank out of Belfest will be spinning and lending even more authenticity between sets. This is sure to be an unforgettable (depending on how much you drink) night of some of the best local rock Boston has to offer!

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All photos by Seth Drury – thanks again Seth!

Well, for better or for worse, we’re back in Boston now. What a crazy night to end things on. We had PGB Henchmen running all over Commercial Street, trying to get the best and most widespread coverage we could. I caught a bunch of new bands in addition to a couple I’d already seen… and I can honestly say this night was by far the most fun I had all week. We’ll have a complete festival recap for you posted up in the next couple of days, but for now here’s what went down on Saturday night.

Click for recaps of Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 continued, and Day 3.

Venue: Governor Bradford

Scene: Things got a little heated down at the Gov on Saturday. There were issues all night with the restaurant upstairs complaining that the music downstairs was too loud and bothering the customers, eventually culminating in the venue cutting off all shows until food service upstairs was over. A few bands got screwed as a result, but I feel especially bad for the Wynotts. I heard they were pushed back twice due to sound and scheduling issues, then as they were setting up for the third time they got the bad news that all music at the venue was postponed. Rather than stick around and play a shorter set later, they decided to just say fuck it. Ah well, I’ll be looking to catch them back in Boston as soon as I can (August 8th @ All Asia!). I did get there in time to catch local P-Town favorites The Antibodies prior to everything getting shut down though…

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We’re just a week away from the inaugural Provincetown Rocks Festival, descending on Commercial Street in P-Town from July 22nd – 26th! This promises to be the premier Boston music event of the Summer, with some of the best bands our city has to offer ready to rip up the town for four straight nights of musical madness! Underground Control is bringing you bands, DJs, Burlesque shows, and so much more… its going to be a 4 day party, and you’re insane if you miss it. No question. This is going to be a musical riot across multiple venues, all within walking/stumbling distance of each other. We’ve got schedules for each venue in the form of incredible flyers created by the extremely talented Joey Mars – check em out! These are the main stages for music, but there are even more events going on at venues all over town! Start planning now, and pick up tickets in advance, as they’re going incredibly quick and you don’t want to be left hanging for this incredible event!

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Silent Century, St. Helena and Midatlantic

photos by Seth C. Drury

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Featuring Silent Century, St. Helena and Midatlantic

Come for the free beer, stay for a worthy cause

This Wednesday night at the Middle East Upstairs the lovely Miss Brindle will be hosting a benefit party for Pinups For Pitbulls. When I first heard about this event I thought to myself ‘gee, I like me some pinups, and I do like pitbulls, but what could the two possibly have to do with each other?’ Upon further investigation I learned that PFPB is an animal rescue project founded in 2006 that puts out an annual calendar featuring models posing with pitbulls, in order to raise money for their cause.
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