Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
Velah’s siren songs are calling under the dim red lights at Radio. You’re taken in by their enchanting melodies and rhythmic patterns before the churning guitars envelop you. Velah have the sea at their command. You are immersed.
It was early in the night when The Russians rolled into Precinct as part of the International Pop Overthrow. The crowd surrendered unconditionally.
When I got home from seeing Fuzzy at the Midway, I went straight to Facebook* to rave about the band. Long Fuzziless stretches will do that to you. These are some of the finest indie-rock/power-pop/whatever-you-want-to-call-them tunes you’ll ever hear. Fuzzy are one of my favorites. To see the lineup of Chris Toppin, Hilken Mancini, Winston Braman and David Ryan sharing the stage for the first time in some 15 odd years was a little magical. I wish every day was Chris Toppin’s birthday so this would happen again and again and again.
* Hey! Did you know Daykamp Music has a Facebook page? It’s right here, in case you missed it up top there. Why not give it a little love.
John Powhida International Airport
“Santa, Santa, What’s in the Bag?” b/w “Let’s Make Nice”
2012
John Powhida’s ability to write a twisted power pop tune is legendary. The man has now set his sights on the holiday season with “Santa, Santa, What’s in the Bag?” It’s classic J-Po with witty lyrics, a snappy backbeat, hand claps and a big pop hook. The festive number is topped off with a riotous guitar solo, glockenspiel, sleigh bells and some holiday sneer to ensure it gets regular play through the end of the year. “Let’s Make Nice” is a send up of the traditional holiday duet with Amy Correia as the reason for J-Po’s blue Christmas. Merry JPx-mas!*
Where to get it:
* I “borrowed” that from the JPx Bandcamp page. It was too good not to use.
When you think of Boston bands that consistently write great songs, Buffalo Tom should be in your head. It’s no wonder Chris Toppin had a hard time paring down her wishlist for the band’s set at her birthday bash. Buffalo Tom played through a bunch of those request in front of an appreciative full house at the Midway. They even had a little help from their friends.
Tanya Donelly backed by Buffalo Tom at the Midway? I never thought I’d see this. I’m not going to think about this one too much. It’s a special occasion. Special things happen. I’m just going to enjoy hearing some of my favorite Tanya-penned tunes* (along with a cool cover of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”) and count my blessings. It is almost Thanksgiving, after all.
* “Slow Dog” anyone? So good.
Greg Allen grabbed an acoustic guitar to play some heart-on-sleeve confessionals at the Midway for Chris Toppin’s Birthday Bash.
Bye Bye Airplane left the Midway crowd with a handful of well crafted indie rock tunes at Chris Toppin’s Birthday Bash.
Hilken Mancini, Alison Murray and Carolyn Castellano joined forces for Chris Toppin’s Birthday Bash. After a heartfelt dedication, the trio gave a refreshingly self-aware-yet-completely-unironic performance of “Wonderwall.”
Honeysuckle Rose found birthday guest of honor Chris Toppin and friends* doing an Anita O’Day inspired send-up of, you guessed it, “Honeysuckle Rose.”
* These friends also included Phil Aiken, who I didn’t get any shots of. The night was moving pretty quickly at this point. I can tell you he looked something like this.