Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
Nuanced, polished, and cutting loose at just the right times, Eternals slow-burned during their Rumble Semifinal Night #2 set.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #2
Murcielago
Nemes (Winner)
Eternals
The Static Dynamic
Nemes played to their strengths on Rumble Semifinal Night #2, delivering a high energy set full of harmonies and dynamics to an enthusiastic fan base. We’ll be seeing them in The Finals.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #2
Murcielago
Nemes (Winner)
Eternals
The Static Dynamic
Murcielago opened Rumble Semifinal Night #2 with a sound equivalent to the concentrated mass of a black hole. TT’s didn’t stand a chance of escaping their mammoth stoner riffs. What a set.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #2
Murcielago
Nemes (Winner)
Eternals
The Static Dynamic
Capping off a night where the music ruled all else, Dirty Bangs played a set no one at TT’s will soon forget. Their music comes from the heart. Their Rumble Semifinal performance bared their soul. Keep a close eye on these guys.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #1
Duck & Cover
Soft Pyramids
Zip-Tie Handcuffs (Winner)
Dirty Bangs
Hmmm. How to describe Zip-Tie Handcuffs’ set at Rumble Semifinal Night #1? Well, the “teach aliens about punk rock” angle is already taken. Let’s just say that these guys have been the wildest, most inventive, least restrained band of this year’s event. Their reward? Zip-Tie Handcuffs are headed to the Rumble Finals.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #1
Duck & Cover
Soft Pyramids
Zip-Tie Handcuffs (Winner)
Dirty Bangs
Set #2 of Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Semifinal #1 featured the chill sounds of Soft Pyramids. Any set that includes “Around This Town” is OK in my book. These guys can ride a groove.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #1
Duck & Cover
Soft Pyramids
Zip-Tie Handcuffs (Winner)
Dirty Bangs
Duck & Cover got Rumble Semifinal Night #1 off on the right foot with a set of rippin’ punk with hooks. These wild cards came ready to put up some smiles at TT’s.
Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble 2015 Semifinal Night #1
Duck & Cover
Soft Pyramids
Zip-Tie Handcuffs (Winner)
Dirty Bangs
Old songs! New songs! Solo songs! The Juliana Hatfield Three played it all at Cuisine en Locale. The trio culled tunes from their two albums* and Juliana’s solo work for the memorable set. The end result was wonderful. The band sounded great. The crowd was appreciative. I can’t think of a better way to have spent a Sunday night.
* There’s a 22 year span between those two records. I love ’em both.
Fuzzy, biting, smart indie rock is the name of the game with Potty Mouth. During their set opening for The Juliana Hatfield Three, the band built walls of distorted power chords and then knocked them down with concise, melodic guitar lines. The music is ’90s inspired but far from nostalgic. It’s vital and vibrant and dark and honest. Oh, and incredibly catchy.
The 2015 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Prelims are in the books. Even the wildcards have been revealed! Oh yeah, congrats to Murcielago and Duck & Cover. Now the stage is set for a pair of great Semifinal shows at TT’s this Thursday and Friday. Woo! Let’s take a look back at the second half of Prelims week.
Old Favorites
Talk about The Rumble bringing out the best in bands. Wow. Soft Pyramids and Zip-Tie Handcuffs both won their nights in vastly different ways. The former were masters of restraint and nuance. The latter were ferocious and wildly creative. Both were great fun to watch. Murcielago earned themselves a wildcard spot by being the heaviest and riffiest band of the whole event. The Nate Leavitt Band broke my heart into a million pieces. I don’t think I ever want it put back together the way it was. Simply gorgeous.
New Faces
Out of nowhere, Dirty Bangs just became one of my new favorite bands. What a set. I cannot wait to see what they do for a follow up on Thursday night. Yale, Massachusetts were fittingly rambunctious. I dig ’em. Mercury On Mars made me think of The Hellacopters. Mercury On Mars made me happy. Dan Webb And The Spiders made me think of The Replacements. Dan Webb And The Spiders made me happy. New City Ghost were dramatic. The Dirty Looks were exuberant. Protean Collective shredded. Thanks to The Rumble I got to see them all.
Hats Everywhere Redux
I acknowledge this is ridiculous. I’m doubling down on the nonsense. I apologize. I can’t stop seeing the hats. It first caught my attention earlier in the week. It continued all the way through the Prelims. There were 5 more bands sporting hats of all varieties after the Day Of Rest. With their wildcard selection, Duck & Cover brought the odds of advancing to the Semifinals up to even with the non-hat wearers for the first half of the week. Unfortunately, bands with hats didn’t fare as well in the subsequent nights. None of them advanced. Oh, well. It’s all meaningless, anyway. With any luck, that’s the last thing I’m going to say about hats in The Rumble.
Fun With Numbers
Play Me Out
Their Lindsey Buckingham cover was a thing of beauty, but “Around This Town” is the Soft Pyramids song that’s been stuck in my head since Saturday night. Here it is with the other tunes ringing in my ears from the later Prelims. Come on out the Semifinals!
