Month: November 2012

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The Field Effect as Weezer @ Church 10.27.2012

Here are some pictures of one of my favorite live bands covering a band I used to love but disowned after they put out a record so bad it ruined my perception of the band forever. Or so I thought.

You see, Weezer and I were estranged. After Make Believe came out, I stopped listening to them altogether. I had such a distaste for that album that I couldn’t even bring myself to listen to Pinkerton. Everything seemed off. Then The Field Effect came along and reminded me how much I love some of those old Weezer tunes. I was hearing them through someone else’s ears. Sometimes you need a little distance from a bad breakup to appreciate what you had and move on.

A few days later my six year old grabbed The Blue Album off the shelf and asked me what band it was. I told him. We listened. We both liked it.

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I, Pistol as Nirvana @ Church 10.27.2012

Bands pretending to be other bands: Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes uncanny. Throw I, Pistol covering Nirvana in the third bucket.

I had a feeling this would be pretty good. I had never seen I, Pistol before, but I seem to recall Rick Taylor doing a Nirvana cover with Walk Of Shame when he participated in One Night Band.* I was not let down. These guys stuck mostly** to songs from Nevermind, Bleach and Incesticide. They obviously love the material and they delivered it convincingly. This was a pretty cool way to kick off the night.

* Dave Stoops did One Night Band the following year with Lesbian Frankenstein.

** Entirely? I can’t recall. I didn’t realize there would be a quiz. Back off.

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Spectre Hawk @ Radio 10.19.2012

Looking for a rowdy rockin’ good time? Maybe you should hit up a Spectre Hawk show, like this one at Radio…

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The Grinds @ Radio 10.19.2012

This was Chrissy Vaccaro’s last show with The Grinds. It may have been a bittersweet moment for the band, but that didn’t stop them from kicking out some serious punk ‘n’ roll.

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Cask Mouse @ Radio 10.19.2012

I saw many of my favorite bands over the course of three nights at Radio during Bands For Babs and the club’s first anniversary show. It started me wondering which of my favorites I hadn’t seen in October. Then I noticed Cask Mouse on a bill the following weekend. Back to Radio I went…

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Flatt Rabbit @ Radio 10.19.2012

Flatt Rabbit and a chili cook-off? That works. Flatt Rabbit did some fine bluegrass pickin’ and thumpin’ for the Radio crowd.

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Brownboot @ Radio 10.13.2012

If you’re going to throw a big birthday bash for your club with 14 bands over 12 hours, you better make sure whoever plays last can bring it. Richard Bouchard, who did an amazing job putting together One Year Of Radio*, wisely tapped Brownboot for the task of closing out the night. Their killer rhythm section and a double dose of guitar and vocal pyrotechnics made them a natural choice to close out a night that celebrated all that Aimee McGrath and the whole crew over at Radio have done for this community.

* Richard also happens to run the supermegafantastic Boston Band Crush, which was recently nominated for a Boston Music Award. Go vote for Boston Band Crush and then come back and look at these pictures.

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Sidewalk Driver @ Radio 10.13.2012

By this point in the Radio first anniversary show, any pretense of civility had long since been abandoned. We were now in the spray champagne and jump onstage to provide “backing vocals” part of the evening. If only there had been a band to come along and blast shimmering confetti all over the place while cranking out some glammed-out-pop-rock hooks the night would have been perfect…

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The Field Effect @ Radio 10.13.2012

By the time The Field Effect took the stage at Radio for the club’s big anniversary show, the wheels had already come off the bus. Back-to-back sets by Mellow Bravo and OldJack had seen to that.* The Field Effect took the if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em mentality and delivered a rousing set that kept the crowd wrapped up in the revelry.

* Not to mention the nine acts that played before them…