PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Photo by Tim Bugbee - www.tinnitus-photography.com

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All photos by Tim Bugbee. For more of Tim’s amazing work, check out Tinnitus Photography

Progressive rock bands always receive far too much stick than they really should.  Yeah, they are the easy targets – the geek who whiled away afternoons diligently practicing their craft while the metal bands chased girls and smoked pot out in the woods.  Perhaps because of their musical proficiency, this collective jealousy has slowly calcified into outright disdain and dislike.  I’ve got more than my generous helping of primitive rock records in my collection, and I cannot deny that the 70s punks had good measure to rally around a new musical form, but on the other hand I cannot argue against the merits of King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, and Yes.  When you’ve a band which can meld together a massively complex musical vision without losing the primal urge to rock, well you’ve got a winner by all accounts I can come up with.

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All Photos by Nicole Tammaro - www.nicoletammaro.com

In my opinion, Watts is a Boston band not to be missed.  My most recent favorite description of their sound is Psychedelic Furs’ vocalist Richard Butler singing with the catchiest of Tom Petty-style rock.  The result makes it hard to pinpoint which aspect of Watts is more memorable:  Dan Kopko’s vocal melodies or John Blout’s guitar lines.

It’s been said in one of my previous reviews that I’m a huge fan of Watts drummer John Lynch (also the drummer for the Dirty Truckers).  For my full opinion on his musicianship, check out the Dirty Truckers review, also found on Playground Boston.

I’ll just say that Lynch continues in this project to provide the same solid drumming and tasteful dynamics that I’ve come to expect, but this time in a smaller venue demanding a lot from a band so easily tailored to great loud Rock’n'Roll.  In any case, the band didn’t disappoint in their command of the sound and stage alike.

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