PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Destroy Babylon - Photo by Sheryl Lanzel

Yes, I’m pretty sure they ran the recording of “I’m on a BOAT!” during the set change….

But that truly wasn’t the highlight of the night’s voyage around the bay, which was filled with frivolity and fluids (of the alcoholic variety), set to the disarming sway of the vessel and inspirational performances by two of Boston’s finest groups of groovesmiths.

The Macrotones (Check out that friggin' sunset!)

The night’s opener, The Macrotones, are admittedly a little hard to pin down sonically. Obviously the creative solos and refreshing changes in leads between their horn players require some improvisation, but to call them a “jam band” really undersells the elaborateness of their ensemble sections… not to mention the vast array of influences as they dip into the wells of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Reggae, and even Celtic styles – all the while providing a steady thump that kept
listeners’ feet shaking the upper deck!

And shake it did! With a full house up top filled with semi-random cheers at the particularly rousing moments of the performances, the bands incessantly continued their cavorting with admirable fearlessness as the boat –quite literally– rocked in the waters on a backdrop of a vivid sunset over the Boston skyline.

Destroy Babylon

As the second and final band on the bill, Destroy Babylon began their set with four well-placed and well-played originals to warm the crowd back up against the ocean breeze. Even though I love the Clash at least as much as the next guy, I was quite impressed by their original material – filled with extra-intricate harmonies, adrenalized backbeats, and very satisfying guitar tones to round off a very tasteful and appropriate prelude for their cover set.

Inevitably, that favorably-anticipated moment arrived for us all to hear London Calling, in its entirety, but what I wasn’t expecting was to hear some medleys and segues tacked on and scattered about the various London Calling favorites, such as DB-covering-The Clash-covering-Toots and other Clash favorites from Super Black Market Clash, Sandinista!, Combat Rock, and their self-titled debut. These boys know and love their Clash!

It’s easy to go on about a great pair of bands, but a very big hats-off is deserved towards Rock On! Concerts for putting together an entire summer’s worth of similar boat-shows, dubbed appropriately, “Concert Cruises.” Looking at the future for these cruises is just shy of mouth-watering, especially considering the upcoming performances by Township (7/16… Oh, and Electric Six will be there, too), and The Slackers (9/10). (Click dates for ticket links)

(Ed. note: Couldn’t find any video of the Cruise, but did find this one of Destroy Babylon and The Macrotones performing “Rudie Can’t Fail” and a little bit of “White Riot” the following night down at the Brooklyn Bowl)

Destroy Babylon

The Macrotones

Rock On!

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.

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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Haven’t been on a boat yet this summer? Do yourself a favor – get on over to Rock On’s website as soon as humanly possible and get yourself some tickets. There’s only a few cruises left this year, you don’t want to miss out. Check out these pictures – yes, all of this madness occurred on a boat in the middle of Boston harbor! These pictures are from last week’s cruise, featuring Captain Cutthroat, The Force, L.A. Mob, The Dunnas, and Graveyard BBQ… and a sold-out crowd of crazy assholes drinking, smoking, crowdsurfing, moshing, and generally raising hell!

If you like what you see, head on over to RockOnConcerts.com to see what cruises remain for this summer and get yourself on a boat!

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Graveyard BBQ
Captain Cutthroat
The Force
LA Mob
The Dunnas
Rock On! Concerts

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Next Friday, August 14th, Graveyard BBQ will host their third annual White Trash Bash – and this time it’s going to be on a boat! We got what might be the party of the summer on our hands, and its only about a week and a half away. The weather’s finally getting nice, so its the perfect time to rock out booze cruise style to some of PGB’s favorite local bands! In addition to the BBQ, this boat will have Captain Cutthroat, The Force, LA Mob, and The Dunnas on board! This is an unbelievable lineup with something for everyone – rock, metal, prog, funk, hip-hop – this boat’s got it all! (If you have a chance, go to the Dunnas’ Myspace and check out the track ‘Douchebag’ – I couldn’t stop cracking up!)

Rock On! always knows how to throw a hell of a high-seas party, but I’m not sure they know what they’re getting themselves into this time! Check out this video from last year’s White Trash Bash on dry land out in Waltham, MA -

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Thats right. Embrace your inner guilty pleasure. Let the 80’s flow within you. Just accept it – don’t give me any of this “those bands are washed-up” BS, don’t tell me these guys peaked about 20 years ago, I don’t want to hear it. All I know is that this is the concert I never knew I always wanted to see. This Tuesday, June 30th, Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, and Poison are teaming up to rock the bloody hell out of the Comcast Center! Tickets are still available through Livenation here. I fully expect to see all the dudes in the crowd proudly sportin’ mullets and all the girls with huge frizzy hair straight out of New Jersey… and I’m hoping to see a few I-ROCs and Firebirds in the parking lot. I want to see ripped-up stonewashed jeans and mesh shirts, and maybe even those weird sunglasses with the slits in them, like the ones that henchman guy from Big Trouble in Little China wore in the airport scene.

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Photo by Samantha Yanofsky

The Rock on! Groove Cruises’ ship embarked on the Boston Harbor Friday night carrying a bunch of instrument toting dudes with amps, some tucked away smokable contraband, and a crowd ready to punish the dance floor. What tops that on the Summer Solstice’s eve eve in New England? Beer and maybe rum and cokes you say? Ah yes, those elements definitely came into play as well. So, your buzz would be greatly rewarded this humid evening on the water with special guests Rhode Island’s own rock impromptu artists, the Attic, and the reggae funk-inspired 6-piece collaborative, Spiritual Rez, blessing the stage respectively for 3 hours.

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Its summertime – finally! What better way to celebrate than heading out on the harbor, having a few beers, and rocking out to some great local Boston bands? All summer long Rock On! will be hosting concert cruises… which basically amounts to a 3 hour party on the waters of the Boston Harbor! You’ll get great views of the city skyline, fresh ocean air in your face, and live music all night long!

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