Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
OldJack at Radio is comfort food for my ears.
The wildest band of this year’s Rumble didn’t sacrifice any pillows to the gods of rock ‘n’ roll in the semifinal round, but that didn’t stop them from raising some hell on the TT’s stage. These guys are just plain awesome.
Rumble Semifinal Night #1:
Glenn Yoder And The Western States (Winner)
White Dynomite
The Daily Pravda
Lifestyle
Dan Nicklin doesn’t play many solo acoustic shows. That’s the kind of special event the For Boston fundraiser was. Emotional stuff.
OldJack was a fine-tuned rock ‘n’ soul machine at The Sinclair. Saint Nicklin & Co. deftly rolled one song into the next, culminating with the pair of holiday numbers they recently made available. Let’s hope the Holiday Homage becomes an annual tradition.
Mellow Bravo had the crowd in the palm of their hand during Radio’s first anniversary. Most of the time The Hand was tossing you wildly around the room with their soulfully electric hard rock. Every once in a while The Hand took pity on you and gave you a sobering number to take in. The rest of the time The Hand Of Mellow Bravo was passing you a beer.
If you’re looking for the tipping point of the One Year Of Radio show where the event went from dignified celebration to rock ‘n’ roll debauchery, look no further than OldJack’s set. There would be plenty of time for things to get really out of hand, but this band of merrymakers certainly played a role in the decline of local civilization. They brought the songs. They brought the show. OldJack helped us find our way to the place we knew we had to go.
On Friday I told you why Parlour Bells was a great choice to kick off the We Want The Airwaves: A WFNX Tribute event at The Paradise. On Saturday they proved me right. This crowd wasn’t going to settle for melancholy and self-pity. They wanted a reason to be hopeful. They wanted to be delighted. They wanted to be entertained. They wanted all of this. Parlour Bells delivered.
Parlour Bells
“Airwaves”
2012
There’s a big show at The Paradise on Saturday night. Some former WFNX DJs are putting together an event to celebrate the WFNX that was.* Parlour Bells are on the bill for good reason. They are a band that has always championed radio as being essential to the local music scene, even in a time of readily available digital downloads and internet streaming. They are tireless supporters of Boston Emissions, Boston Accents and any other radio program devoting time to playing Boston artists. They even performed on the resurrected WBCN rock bus. I believe Glenn DiBenedetto when he sings “now my radio dial is missing two front teeth.” He means it.
“Airwaves” is a sentimental reflection on the state of Boston radio in June of 2012. It strikes a chord by revealing the emotion of a specific time and place. “Airwaves” is a song about how fans of Boston radio feel right now. It’s immediate. You can’t listen to Nate Leavitt’s delay drenched guitars and not be reminded of the countless U2 radio anthems broadcast by both of our recently departed rock radio stations. It’s a consoling echo. I’d be lying if I said the song wasn’t playing in my head last night as I lay in bed. The sound of the Metropolitan Chorale** was ringing in my ears as prepared for a new day.
Where to get it:
You can also watch a mini-documentary on the making of “Airwaves” right here.
* See what I did with the link there? Garvy J And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are part of the show, too.
** Kerri-Ann Richard, Richard Bouchard, Anngelle Wood, Michael Marotta, Chris Mulvey, Lisa Libera, Leesa Coyne, Adam Ritchie, Rishava Green, Matt King, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Jessica Sun Lee, Adam Anderson, Michael Gonzales, Ken Marcou, Tom Roppelt, Joel Edinberg, Rachel Blumenthal, Sarah Rabdau, Peter Moore and Dan Nicklin all lend their voices to the song.
I’m going to keep this one short. Motherboar took Prelim Night #6 with the most ferocious Rumble set I’ve ever seen. Awesome.
OldJack
Maxi-Single
2011
OldJack are a live favorite of mine. Pack this crew onto a small stage with some hot lights and their presence is downright combustible. It would be impossible to capture all that energy in a recording studio.* I, for one, am glad they were crazy enough to try. The result is a smoldering virtual slab of rock, rhythm and blues.**
This set opens with the swagger of “Hey Miss”. The band finds a groove and Dan Nicklin gets all Mick Jagger on your ass. Set closer “Make Up Your Mind” contrasts this with a sense of yearning and hints of a Dire Straits influence.
In the middle of it all stands “Parade”. This song is a staple of OldJack’s live set and a personal favorite of mine. It’s the one that prompted me to write “there is something special about the moments when Dan Nicklin, Kelly Davis, Christie Beaulieu and Emily Belastock all sing together” after a set at the Lizard. To me, it’s the song that defines OldJack.*** You don’t write a song this good without being onto something special. OldJack is onto something special. Thankfully, they’ve chosen to share that something with us.
Where to get it:
* Which is why I will once again implore you to go see OldJack at a club near you. Hell, travel a great distance if you have to.
**Or is it rock, country and soul?
***My five year old son would make a case for “Love Me Or?” being OldJack’s defining song.