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!

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!

Some of the best local rock bands Boston has to offer were joined at the Middle East by the Philadelphia synth-pop trio Conservative Man. The bill was a celebration of the release of CM’s brand new self-titled EP, subject of some serious buzz over the last few weeks from various media outlets.

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This Blue Heaven

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Organ Beats

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Conservative Man

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The Luxury

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All Photos by Seth C. Drury

Thursday, January 14th @ TT The Bears

PGB Staff across town will be converging on this show for sure! This show features a great lineup of bluesy Americana-style rock – heartfelt vocals, ripping guitar, and a sweet groove sure to get everyone in the bar moving. PGB Favorites The Few have been hard at work in the studio for quite some time now, so this is their first Boston appearance in months. We’re looking forward to seeing what they have up their sleeve in terms of new material – and possibly new guitars crafted by the band’s bassist and Becker Guitars luthier Ryan Martin!

Friday, January 15th @ Church

This should be an excellent show. Varsity Drag is Ben Deily from the Lemonheads‘ side project, they’ve been rocking around Boston for quite some time now and are ready to lay down their new CD Night Owls on the Boston masses. ‘Drag features Deily’s sugary sweet vocals laid down over catchy-as-all-hell uptempo pop hooks. They’ll be joined on the bill by rockers I, Pistol, featuring Rick Taylor’s commanding lead vocals and Daanen Krouth from The Luxury on lead guitar.

Friday, January 15th @ Olivers

OK so we’ve all seen better flyers. Let me just say that and get it out of the way right now. But hey, we also all know that a good flyer doesn’t necessarily dictate a good show, and thus a bad one doesn’t mean the show’s going to be bad as well. Case in point on this show here. Back Seat Lover is a Pearl Jam tribute – that’s cool, but hey, you know all the songs. The real hidden gem in this lineup is Moonstone Lady. They put on an AMAZING live show, full of energy. Each member of the band is extremely talented, like ridiculously so. Think Stevie Ray Vaughn meets Dream Theater – one part blues, one part prog, all rock. I just received the EP they’ll be releasing at this show and I’m blown away. Take a minute to check out the songs they’ve posted on their myspace, then do yourself a favor and head on down to Olivers to catch their live show!

Saturday, January 16th @ PA’s Lounge

More PGB Favorites playing this weekend! St. Helena had a solid 2009 featuring a critically acclaimed album Slow Jack, an appearance at CMJ, a sordid affair with BBC’s One Night Band, a benefit show for Pinups for Pitbulls, and countless other performances. They’re currently in the studio recording a follow-up album to their last EP, but have taken time off from recording to put together an excellent lineup over at PA’s this Saturday. Broken River Prophet and The Northeast Sky feature veterans of the Boston music scene coming together for new projects, while the Ugly Fucklings, aside from having one of the best names in the entire city, play an impossibly fun style of punk rock infused with 50’s rock and roll.

Sunday, January 17th @ Church

This is a nice little Sunday show here. RIBS has a very cool sound, well worth checking out. They’ve got the noise-rock thing going, while at the same time featuring layered compositions that add so much more substance. The dark combination of vocals and frantic guitars enable their sound to jump from a Death From Above 1979 to a fast-paced, much less depressing Joy Division. They’ll be joined on the bill by Art Decade, with an experimental style that PGB Staffer Nick Grieco describes as “The Mars Volta and Rx Bandits had a baby named Frank Zappa, who grew up listening to The Fall of Troy and Damiera.” If that sounds like your style, you definitely want to check these guys out. One more thing about this show – its cheap! Tickets are $8 at the door, but RIBS was nice enough to provide us with an advance purchase link that lets you pick them up for only $6. Click here to take advantage!

Conservative Man

“Imaginary Forces”

Conservative Man EP

© 2010 Self-Released

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Like what you hear? Conservative Man will be having their Boston CD Release Party this Saturday 1/9 at the Middle East Upstairs. They’ll be joined by a phenomenal pop rock lineup consisting of The Luxury, This Blue Heaven, and The Organ Beats. This show is not to be missed – if you’re in Boston this weekend and have a pulse then there is no excuse – get on down to Cambridge and get ready to party! Tickets available here

Conservative Man’s Conservative Website

Jason Halogen, Brendan Boogie, and The All-Star Celebrity Charity Relief Aid Singalong Chorus Choir (Featuring Bavid Dowie, Lyndi Cauper, Bimon LeSon, & Spruce Bringsteen)

“This Holidád (Feed them Holidád)”

Special Release for Will Dailey’s Festivál Holidád

© 2009 Mad Science Studios

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We’ve got something a little different for you this week for the PGB TOTW. This song was written by Jason Halogen (of The Luxury) and Brendan Boogie (of The Best Intentions) to celebrate the show they’ll be playing this Friday, December 11th at the Paradise with Will Dailey and Violet Nine. As is the case with any holiday benefit song, celebrities flocked to their side to be included on the recording.

For the show, there’s going to be holiday surprises everywhere, and Brendan Boogie and the Best Intentions will also be releasing a new CD at this show, The Sweet & The Brutal. No word yet on whether the ‘All-Stars will be in attendance at the ‘Dise. So check out the song, and don’t forget to check out the series of Holidád videos that Jason, Brendan, Will, and the Violet Nine guys have also been making to promote the show – here’s the link to their YouTube channel. Be sure to check out my favorite, “Inviting Brendan!”

Like the song? Like the videos? Hate everything but recognize a great local lineup when you see one? Then get down to the Paradise this Friday 12/11 for Will Dailey’s Festivál Holidád! Tickets can be purchased in advance here!

Presented by WERS

Will Dailey & The Rivals

The Luxury

Brendan Boogie & The Best Intentions

Violet Nine

Halloween weekend in the city of Boston is always full of great shows by some of the best in the local music scene – and this year is certainly no exception to the rule! Every day this weekend features incredible lineups at venues all over town, along with festive bonuses such as costumes, beer, prizes, more beer, candy, some booze, covers, and more! If you weren’t planning on going out to catch any music this holiday weekend, you might reconsider after checking out this listing. Have plans to go to a party? Work around it and stop by these shows before or after the party to catch a band or two – PGB fully guarantees that each and every one of these venues has booze for you to drink while you’re there. Seriously, I promise. So get on your creepiest costume and get ready to rock out! Be sure to frighten some children on your way out to the show – you know, even more so than you do on a regular day in regular clothing… scary looking bastard.

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The New Collisions - Photo by Seth Drury

Oranjuly

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Muy Cansado

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Hot Protestants

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The New Collisions

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The Luxury

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All Photos by Seth Drury