PLAYGROUND BOSTON

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!

Firing off pop songs like synchronized riflemen are Brendan Boogie & the Best Intentions, the imagery not entirely unrelated to the sea captain-themed duds of both drummer Justin Tibbets & lead guitarist Tim Delaney. Frontman/bassist Brendan Boogie and guitarist KenDo both kept up the sophistication with their ties and sweaters, and I’m always a sucker for a band that dresses for the show, as long as it’s not uniform.

Dress code aside, Boogie and his recruits delivered a loud & lively, tight & grinding set of catchy, power pop complete with fun lyrics and a full assault of vocals from all three axe-wielders on the front line. I guess I’ve got a soft spot for bands that have a full set of singers stepping up to three mics in sync, and the harmonies are very reminiscent of Dave Grohl’s textures on his various projects, which I especially like in this genre.

The song that had me smiling most was “Pharmaceuticals.” Simply stated, once the chorus dropped to the title line, I almost jumped for joy at “Ooooo, life is beautiful!…” It’s nice to see a band not relishing the pseudo-glamor of drug abuse, but rather seeming to satirize emotional dependency on medication.

Add in catchy songs like, “I Remember Teenage Girls,” and “Baby Makes My World Go ‘Round,” which feature the same background-driven hooks and Delaney’s punchy leads, Brendan Boogie & the Best Intentions will keep your head bouncing and your ears full. Brendan’s got a number of solo shows coming up in town, including the Cover-Up series at the Lizard Lounge and Boston Band Crush’s One Night Band, but the next time you can catch the full band in town is September 18th down at Church.

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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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