PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Friday, February 19th @ TT The Bears

Seems like just about every weekend so far in 2010 has been an embarrassment of riches for local music. Every Friday Saturday Sunday you have tons of amazing bands coming together to form jaw-dropping can’t-miss lineups. Only problem is, you need about 4 clones to be able to make it to everything you want to catch! This Friday at TT’s is no exception. PGB Favorites The Luxury and Conservative Man are teaming up with local britpop-meets-american-monotonish-indie act The Honors to rock the hell out of Cambridge. After listening to these guys side by side I’m REALLY surprised they haven’t shared a bill before – they seem like a great match for each other’s sound. They’ll be joined by Philly’s Jealousy Curve, who are set to break into Boston with a little help from their friends on the bill. And yes, I know this is an outdated flyer (CM were a late add to the bill), but it was also the best looking one I could find. So deal with it.

Friday & Saturday Feb 19-20th @ Rosebud Diner

Fresh off a raucous live set at Mad Oak Studios (click here to download the full live audio from that session!), Township will be taking over the Rosebud Diner in Davis Square all weekend to celebrate the release of their latest opus, Vol. 1, a collection of the cream of the crop from the past 4 years worth of EP’s and LP’s. Friday night they’ll be sharing the stage with Brownboot, whereas Saturday they’ll be joined by Ryan Fitzsimmons. Both nights will feature DJ Jordan Valentine spinning between sets. Do NOT let this weekend go by without catching at least one of these shows!

Saturday, February 20th @ O’Briens

Everyone needs a good metal show now and again to roil the blood, blow off some steam, and generally rock the fuck out. This Saturday is a great opportunity to do just that. Local icons Born of Thunder and Cromulent are joined by newcomers onto the scene Bring The Knife, born out of the ashes of the now-defunct Destruct-a-thon. They’ll be joined from She Rides, up from Providence to bring their intense, high-energy onslaught to bear on the unsuspecting masses of Allston. This promises to be an excellent show that brings you back to the days when O’Briens was metal and metal only, and you didn’t go in their unless you had long hair, excessive regrettable tattoos (band names or pentagrams on your neck really aren’t nearly as cool at age 72 as they are at age 27, dude), or were wearing a t-shirt from an obscure Swedish metal band from 1978.

Sunday, February 21st @ Middle East Upstairs

We’re looking at melted faces, cramped hands from clenched fists, and sore necks from banging heads – just a few of the casualties of Sunday Night! This is an excellent lineup, a perfect note to end the weekend on. PGB Favorites Planetoid NEVER disappoint – spacy riffs, sibilant vocals, and thunderous talent abounds with this extraterrestrial power trio. Cocked N’ Loaded bring some good hard rock to the table, complete with all the guitar insanity you could possibly ask for. Mellow Bravo’s got gritty vocals over a bluesy southern sound to help you drown away your sorrows from the weekend, while Hotblack’s aggressiveness and sick riffage will feed your fury and get you thoroughly depressed that you have to go back to work the next day when you could be rocking this hard all the time. Come have a beer with some PGB Staffers and check out some of Boston’s best straight-up rock!

Friday, February 5th @ Church

Former PGB Track of the Week honorees Sprained Ankles highlight a bill chock full of irreverant punk rock down at Church. Check out the Ankles’ original brand of doo-wop garage rock, complete with female backup singers doing interpretive dances to songs like “Randy the Rock and Roll Pizza Wolf” and the legendary “Axe Gnome.” Nope, couldn’t make that up if I tried. Also worth checking out is Wasted Talent, featuring solo artist Nabo Rawk and DJ Paul Foley. Should certainly be interesting, click here to check out their video “Khed.”

Friday, February 5th @ O’Briens

I’m happy to report that rumors of the demise of Buried in Leather have been greatly overexaggerated. While they may only play a show every 6 months or so, they are still definitely alive and breathing. Sneering, guttural vocals laced over shredding guitar riffs, this band gets you pissed off and fired up like no other. You never know if or when you’ll have another chance to catch them, so make sure you don’t miss this one. Also appearing on this bill are Anarchunts, an all-girl gutter punk quartet having recently burst onto the Boston scene; Doggfight US, fist-in-the-air anthemic punk rock from up north; and local legends The Acro-brats. This is an unbelievable lineup, sure to pack the house at O’Briens and threaten to tear the roof down.

Saturday, February 6th @ Great Scott

A killer lineup is hitting Great Scott on Saturday night. Local rock giants Reverse might be the most influential band playing out in Boston today – almost every last musician in town counts these guys as one of their favorite acts to see. Full Body Anchor is a brand new outfit consisting of former members of some of the best punk and garage bands in the city – Blue Bloods, Darkbuster, The Dents, and more. Lead singer Eric Edmonston jumps back and forth seamlessly between a heartfelt croon and an eardrum shattering scream, accenting the crunchiness of the heavy noise-rock instrumentation. Sun Lee Sunbeam and Dirt Mall also take the stage for this show, assuring a nice mix of styles across the bill for your listening pleasure.

Saturday, February 6th @ Church

Church is doing themselves proud this weekend with the great rock shows. Look at the bands on this bill! Dirty Truckers, fresh off a win at the Xconomy Battle of the Tech Bands. Watts, featuring the incomparable John Blount on guitar and John Lynch on drums. (Lynch is easily one of the best drummers in the entire damn city, and is pulling double duty on this show as he also plays for the ‘Truckers). Garage powerhouses Muck and the Mires will also be making an appearance, the only band in town and probably one of the few in the entire country who have shared a stage with both MC5 AND the New York Dolls – if that’s not some serious credibility right there I don’t know what is. Rounding out the bill are The Cretins, back after an almost 10 year long vacation. Local hero Malibu Lou will be opening the night in celebration of his 40th birthday – go check out him and The Italians rock out up on stage, then buy him a PBR or two – happy birthday Lou!

with ArtOfficial, Boston Molasses Disaster and Stevus and the Deceivers

Taking a break from its usual punk/metal ass kickery, O’Brien’s in Allston welcomes some ultra chilled-out jazz and hip hop grooves courtesy of Miami’s ArtOfficial. On a brief stint in the Northeast, ArtOfficial is rocking Allston tonight before heading to NYC for shows in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Also performing are local jam bands Stevus and the Deceivers and Boston Molasses Disaster. The latter takes its name from a true event that occurred in Boston’s North End in 1919. In January of that year, a giant tanker containing over two hundred thousand gallons of molasses collapsed, sending an 8+ ft wall of brown gooey sweetener rushing out into the streets. In all 21 people died and 150 were injured in the aftermath of the molasses tidal wave. BRUTAL.

The 4-piece band puts out a nice blend of hypnotic jazz/rock/funk jams with satisfyingly crunchy breakdowns.

Look for pics from the show later this week!

ArtOfficial
Boston Molasses Disaster
Stevus and the Deceivers

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