PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Friday, July 2nd – On the Boston Harbor!

Back on New Years Day, Destroy Babylon tore the roof off the Middle East by performing The Clash’s London Calling in its entirety to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the best front-to-back album ever recorded (I apologize for nothing). Due to popular demand, DB will be doing another Clash show, but this one with a few changes thrown in. Yes they’ll be performing London Calling, yes they’ll be throwing a few other Clash favorites into the set… but this time they’ll be backed by the 11-piece afro-funk outfit The Macrotones… and they’ll be doing up the whole thing on a boat in the middle of the Boston Harbor! Both bands will be doing a set of originals as well before joining up and getting all Strummer on us. INCREDIBLE! These rock cruises are an absolute blast, if you have yet to check one out this is a perfect opportunity! If you can’t make this one, definitely check out Rock On’s website for more info on other cruises they’re putting on over the course of the summer. Don’t be late though – boat boards at 7 and departs at 8 sharp – whether you’ve made it on board or not! These things usually end at 11, so if you’re feeling especially ambitious you could hit this up and then head over to Cambridge or Allston to check out one of our other picks for the night…

Friday, July 2nd – Middle East Downstairs

A night of irresistible pop catchiness. Lots of piano, lots of love songs, lots of head bobbing… and some of the most beautiful songwriting in Boston. All four bands on this bill are immensely talented, and fast on the rise in this city. Oranjuly is celebrating the release of their brand new debut album, a labor of love they’ve been working on for 3 years now! Their brand of dreamy pop is reminiscent of Ben Folds Five with a little Weezer thrown in, and a little twist of their own. Wear orange tonight and you’ll get a free download of their new album! Oranjuly will be joined by an incredible lineup sure to pack the Middle East. If you read PGB regularly you know all about The Luxury, click this link here to check out all our past coverage. The star of Spirit Kid is growing brighter every day, their new age take on Beatles-style pop is well worth checking out. This may be the final Boston show for local indie pop icons The Everyday Visuals, as a couple of the guys will soon be leaving our fair city behind for the greener pastures (read: concrete-r wastelands) of LA. Catch them now before it’s too late!

Friday, July 2nd – O’Briens

Sweet garage punk show going on at O’Briens tonight. The band to watch, in our humble opinion, is With A Bullet, a new band just a month or so off their first show. WAB consists of members of Razors in the Night and the Beantown Boozehounds, among others. Definite Jawbreaker sound here, from the raspy vox to the driving guitar riffs – looking forward to watching these guys explode on the local scene! They’ll be joined by trash rockers Triple Thick, fresh off yet another CD release party just a few weeks back. This show also marks the debut of new Allston punk outfit The Nose Jobs, and rounding out the bill will be The Nailheads all the way down from Montreal.

Punk Island is this Sunday! Grab your Fung Wah tickets, hop in the band van, do whatever you can, just head on down to New York City on Sunday! It’s that time of year again – dozens of punk bands descend upon Governor’s Island in NYC to whip up a maelstrom of angry distortion and furious screams. The entire island will be littered with 18 different stages, featuring bands from all over the country, and even a few from Europe! And holy shit, is that DOA and NEGATIVE APPROACH on the bill?? STAR FUCKING HIPSTERS and BLANKS 77 too?? There are so many incredible bands playing across all of the different stages! Want to hear the best part? IT’S ALL FREE! That’s right, free ferries over to the island, free admission to the festival – you’ll have plenty of money leftover to pick up some merch and help support your favorite bands! The event runs from 10am – 5pm on Sunday, meaning you’ll still have plenty of time to make it back up here after the show before work calls on Monday. All the important travel information can be found over at Punkisland.com.

Boston is well-represented at Punk Island this year. There’s an entire stage devoted to Boston bands, plus a few acts spilled over onto other stages as well. We’ve taken the entire festival schedule from Punkisland.com, doctored it up a bit to make it easier to read, and highlighted all the Boston bands in RED. Every single one of the Boston bands playing this festival is a must-see act, so kill about 10 birds with one stone and go check them all out on the Island!

Stage 1 – Rotten Apple Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
No Redeeming Social Value	New York, NY
Hub City Stompers	New Brunswick, NJ
Last Call Brawl	Long Island, NY
Hooliganism	Hudson County, NJ
Oxblood	New York, NY
Feet First	Port Chester, NY

Stage 2 – Foo Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Destroy Everything	Chicago, IL
She Likes Todd	Chicago, IL
Dude Man Bro	Chicago, IL
The Corporation	CANADA
Dirty South Revolutionaries	Charlotte, NC
Freak Tent	Charleston, WV
Shred Scare	Kansas City, MO
Wifebeater	Pittsburgh, PA
Live Not On Evil	Philadelphia, PA
DEMO	Trenton, NJ

Stage 3 – Seizure Crypt Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Seizure Crypt	Queens, NY
Straphangers	New York, NY
Caught in a Trap	New York, NY
Olde York	New York, NY
Bloodbeat	New York, NY
Endagered Feces	Queens, NY
Trauma Team 666	New York, NY
Yo! Scunt	Queens, NY
Dealin’ With It	New York, NY
Iconicide	New York, NY

Stage 4 – Cadaver Concepts Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
The Blame	New York, NY
Blackout Shoppers	New York, NY
Sexual Suicide	New York, NY
Skum City	New York, NY

Stage 5 – Calamity Productions

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Fools on Sunday	New York, NY
S.M.U.T.	New York, NY
Sewage	New York, NY
On Point	New York, NY
Murdock’s Thrashbag	New York, NY
First Strike	Philadelphia, PA
Wheezing Stumblers	New York, NY
Mental Abuse	Souless, NJ

Stage 6 – Team ShredHer Stage
presented by Weird Skull Records

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Bad Luck 13	Philadelphia, PA
Call the Paramedics	Atlantic City, NJ
Nassau Chainsaw	Brooklyn, NY
Proles Blood	Clementon, NJ
Dead Fucks	Pennslyvania
Captain We’re Sinking	Philadelphia, PA
Jerk Reaction	Poconos, PA
Blood Oranges	Queens, NY
Greek Favourites	Kresgeville, PA
Transmission, Transmission
The Holy Mess	Philadelphia, PA
Ark Royal	Poconos, PA
Plus: MCs Shitty Ben & Punk Rock Steve, and crazy bike Punk demos

Stage 7 – Connecticut Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
JRS	CT
Beantown Boozehounds	Boston, MA
Furiosity	Allston, MA
Drawback	Stamford, CT
Long Drop	Middletown, CT
Theatre Zombies	Darien, CT
Bust It!	Central, CT
The Havenotz	New Haven, CT

Stage 8 – Shakes Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
The Arkhams	Queens, NY
The Afterbirth	New York City, NY
Captain Ronzo & The Thirsty Pirates	Brooklyn, NY
Nancy and 2 Meteors	Roanoke, VA
The Rayguns	Bloomfield, NJ
Poison Control	San Francisco, CA
Burning Heads	Orleans, France
Murder Majesty	Las Vegas, NV
Jonee Earthquake Band	New England
The Snails	Philadelphia, PA

Stage 9 – Molten Metal Maniacs Mayhem Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Lethal Aggression	Asbury Park, NJ
Midnight	Cleveland, OH
Fatal	St. Petersburg, FL
Abserdo	Philadelphia, PA
Hessian	Philadelphia, PA
Jenkem	Philadelphia, PA
Simplistic Genocide	Waterford, CT
Crisifist	NY

Stage 10 – Alternative Tenticles Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Star Fucking Hipsters	New York, NY
Disaster Strikes	Boston, MA
Rentokill	AUSTRIA
Ashers	Boston, MA
Common Enemy	Reading, PA
The Rebel Spell	Vancouver, BC
Morning Glory	New York, NY
Zero Content	New York, NY

Stage 11
– Wigga Joe’s Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Capitalist Crisis	Chesapeake, VA
To Be Hated	Miami, FL
Angry Youth	Roanoke, VA
Bloody Muffs	Brooklyn, NY
Pissant	Roanoke, VA
Y69	Burlington, VT
UFO VCR	Boonton, NJ
Mung Choke	Roanoke, VA
Short Fuse	Wading River, NY

Stage 12 – Boston Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Psycho	Boston, MA
Razors in the Night	Boston, MA
Have Nots	Boston, MA
Tijuana Sweetheart	Boston, MA
Burning Streets	Boston, MA
Revilers	Boston, MA
Cutthroat Society	Boston, MA
Mercy Case (x-26BEERS)	Allston, MA

Stage 13 – DBeat Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Broken	New Haven, CT
Death Mold	New York City, NY
Population Zero	PA
State of Decline	Brooklyn, NY
Buerger Wuerger	GERMANY
Angry & Broke	Baltimore, MD
Betty Sue Aside	Baltimore, MD
Point Blank	Fairfax, VA

Stage 14 – Antisocial Promotions

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
All Rise	Charlotte, NC
The Percs	Philadelphia, PA
Combat Crisis	Philadelphia, PA
The Unpatriotics	Philadelphia, PA
The Underclassed / Common Alliance	Philadelphia, PA
Factor X	Suicidal, NJ
The Quareteens
Refuse Resist	Boston, MA
Rats in the City Premieres– Made by punks for punks. John Wolfe.

Stage 15 – Andrea’s Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Stewart	Brooklyn, NY
D60	New York, NY
The Alienz	New York, NY
Dog That Bites Everyone	New York, NY
Team Spider	New York, NY
Wombat in Combat	New York, NY
Jesus Knevil	Washington, DC

Stage 16 – Main Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
D.O.A.	Vancouver, BC
Negative Approach	Detroit, MI
Blanks 77	Hillside, NJ
Bucket Flush	Philadelphia, PA
Assrash	Minneapolis, MN
Copyright Chaos	Newhaven, CT
Yankee Doodle Blitzkrieg	New York, NY
With special performances by Hellcat Girls Burlesque, PFDS, and Art by Maria

Stage 17 – Slackjaw Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
Slackjaw	Oregon
(A)TRUTH	New York, NY
Shelter Shock	Baltimore, MD
Crash Fist Fight	Bradenton, FL
SpEd	New York, NY
Hudson Falcons
Tough Luck	New Haven, CT

Stage 18 – Slackjaw Stage

Band	Location	Myspace	Facebook
No Abuse	North Jersey, NJ
All Torn Up
The Choices	New Brunswick, NJ
The Misanthropes
The Pogo	Lynchburg, VA
Dead Aces	Troy, NY

The outpouring of support to aid relief efforts in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti has been impressive thus far, but there is always a need for more. Now, thanks to CD Baby, there’s a way to support both the American Red Cross and your local music scene. CD Baby is the world’s largest online independent music retailer, earning independent artists over $100 million based on 5 million album sales over their years of operation. From now through February 7th, the retailer will be donating $1 from every single album sale they make to the American Red Cross to aid in Haiti. In addition, they will be taking that donation out of their commision, so the amount of money artists will make will not be affected by this initiative.

Been meaning to pick up the album from that local band you saw a few months back and have had stuck in your head ever since? Picked up the new CD from one of your favorite bands and now want to check out their back catalog? One of your favorite old local bands broke up and you don’t know where to get their CD since you can’t get it at a show? Heard of a new band from the PGB Tracks of the Week and want to pick up more of their music? What better time than now to go buy your music, when you can help out the artists you love and the people who need you at the same time?! Here’s some local artists from all types of genres that you can find on CD Baby:

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Live music is back at the Basement of the Baseball Tavern! Its been about two years since management shut down their rock club downstairs, but now it looks like they’re ready to get things started again! The Basement ran shows regularly back in 2007, but only a few in 2008 and thus far in 2009. However, with this show, and then a great oi lineup the following weekend, it would appear that they’re starting things up again! This has always been a fun place to see live music – its a decent size, not huge, the beer is cheap, and the sound system is actually pretty decent for the room. Cool layout too – the stage area is a few steps down from the rest of the club, leaving room for a pit to form and allowing for everyone to have a decent view of the band. Unfortunately, after looking around the internet I can’t seem to find anywhere that has a complete set of listings for the club – the website isn’t exactly all too helpful. If anyone reading this post knows where they list their shows, let me know and I’ll be sure to include it in here and on our links page!

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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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The Marvels

“Tragic”

Cheat to Win

© 2004 Abbey Lounge Records

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Catch The Marvels this Saturday (9/19) with Razors in the Night at the Baseball Tavern!

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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All Photos by Jason Ginman

www.myspace.com/jasonginman

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