Walk Of Shame @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

Let’s start with the band name. Walk Of Shame. Has there ever been a more fitting name for a One Night Band?

I got to take the band’s official promo photo. I had high hopes for this group. Al Polk, A.J. Locke, Ben Morse, Mike Connolly and Rick Taylor were so relaxed and excited to be taking part in the event.  I was not disappointed. Walk of Shame had a solid performance with just the right amount of crazy.

I don’t know if I should stay or go.

You’re gone now, Walk Of Shame, but feel free to come back and visit any time.

Wagon Battle @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

Wagon Battle. One Night Band. Pioneercore.

We saw John Brookhouse, Chrissy Vaccaro, Danny McNair, T.J.Horn and Mary Flatley circling the wagons. They were tight. They were aggressive. They covered The Misfits (sort of). They took no prisoners. To top it all off, John Brookhouse let loose with an absolutely jaw dropping solo on their final song. No one was left standing. Wagon Battle killed.

Mötörböat @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

Mötörböat. I took one look at this lineup (Dave Jarvis, Leesa Coyne, Rodrigo Van Stoli, Meff and Wayne Whittaker) and I knew what was going to happen. A lot of One Night Bands go for a theme. I imagine this would make the day’s daunting task ever so slightly more manageable. Near as I can tell, Mötörböat’s theme was rocking the hell out

Golden Owl @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

Golden Owl (Aaron Rosenthal, Even Shore, John Sheeran, Lou Paniccia and Ryan Schmidt) was another band I got to photograph for their official One Night Band posters. The band had a loose Star Trek theme for their set. Shatner tie-in or not, “Name Your Own Price” is now one of my favorite songs.  I don’t even mean “favorite songs by guys that had only formed a band a few hours earlier”.  I mean “favorite songs to sing around the house because I just can’t help myself”.

I won’t pay full price for your love…

BatmanHalen @ The Middle East Downstairs 9.24.2011

BatmanHalen. The first act of One Night Band 3, the annual musician melting pot event put on by Boston Band Crush. The first band to make me truly wonder what may have been going on between Batman and Robin.

I had the honor of taking the band’s official press photo earlier in the day. Seeing John Colvert, Davina Yannetty, LoWreck, Jesse Sherman and Sarah Rabdau return that evening with three brand new songs (and a cover, of course) was pretty cool…

Fit To Be Tied @ The Rosebud Bar 9.23.2011

Fit To Be Tied closed out the fantastic Joan Jett tribute night at The Rosebud with a set that included two Barbusters songs from Light Of Day.* I went into the night expecting Tom Baker and gang to play the title track (Mr. Baker’s regular outfit, The Dirty Truckers, covered this song at a Springsteen tribute show last year), but “This Means War” was a real treat. Close out the night with an drunken all-hands-on-deck version of “I Love Rock N’ Roll” and I’d say Nicole Tammaro did a bang up job putting this show together.

* Unfortunately, no one covered The Hunzz classic “Rabbit’s Got The Gun”. New mission for me: Orchestrate a Fit To Be Tied reunion just so I can convince them to play that song.

Leather Snatch (AKA The Acro-brats) @ The Rosebud Bar 9.23.2011

One of the cool things about Joan Jett is that she’s equal parts punk and rock. The Joan Jett tribute show that Nicole Tammaro put together at The Rosebud had gobs of each. A good chunk of the punk flavor came from The Acro-brats… er… I mean… Leather Snatch! These guys tore through Jett’s catalog with attitude to spare. Oh, and when they invited Chrissy Vaccaro and Erin Wikens up on stage… crazy fun!

The Other Girls @ The Rosebud Bar 9.23.2011

These are The Other Girls.

Andrea Gillis, Michelle Paulhus, Amy Griffin, Linda Shore and Melissa Gibbs have all made their mark on the Boston music scene. They’ve played in some of the best original bands in town. Every once in a while they get together to play some cool covers. For this show, they got together to play some really cool Joan Jett covers. It was, after all, a tribute to Joan Jett on her birthday… er, the day after her birthday… uh…

You know what? You shouldn’t need a special occasion to play Joan Jett covers. Hell, half the songs she did were covers. Joan Jett rules. Kudos to Nicole Tammaro for recognizing this and putting a show together in her honor.

Corin Ashley & Dave Aaronoff @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 9.20.2011

Corin Ashley and Dave Aaronoff play together quite a bit, so it was no surprise to find them closing out this bill. Watching them, I got the feeling that if they weren’t on stage at TT’s that night they very well could have been playing these songs on somebody’s couch. It’s just what they do.