Tag: Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance

Posted on

Random Rumble Ramblings (Part III)

This crew is making the whole thing run smoothly.

We’ve nearly reached the end of the road with the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. After 31 sets from 23 bands, we’ve got it narrowed down to the final three contenders. Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance, Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck and Motherboar (wildcard) will play for all the marbles tonight at TT’s. Before you head out, here are a couple of things that have tickled my brain about the Semifinal round.

Bo & Co. know how it goes.

Are You Experienced?

The Semifinal victors know a thing or two about winning over crowds in Boston. Garvy J. And The Secret Pocket Of Hope And Resistance and Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck are both fronted by scene veterans and have top notch players on every instrument. That’s not to say they go about things the same way. Bow and Co. take a more traditional approach, twanging it up with the best of them. Any one of these guys is capable of stealing the show. Together, they’ve formed an outstanding Americana ensemble. The Resistance, on the other hand, has you wondering where the synth players are. Before long, you realize all three guitar players are masters at manipulating their instruments. Having the amazing rhythm section of Scott Fitts and Tommy Lada gives you that kind of freedom.

Lada wins!

Lada Vs. Lada Revisted

Speaking of Tommy Lada, the battle of Lada Vs. Lada was won by Tommy Lada. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that wanted to see Ghosts Of Jupiter take the wildcard just to see this happen again. It certainly wouldn’t have surprised anyone, as Ghosts Of Jupiter threw down another definitive slab of ’70s classic rock on their Semifinal night.

And then he does this to the crowd.

The State Of Heavy Revisted

In my last Rumble ramble I talked about wanting to see how the two heaviest bands in the festival competition fared in the Semifinals. Well, Motherboar fought their way into the wildcard spot through a shower of beer and metal mayhem. Sherman Burns continued to win over a slew of fans after another rifftacular performance. I love it.

Not just keys, but kazoo and vocals, too!

Fun With Numbers

  • Five keys to success: 5 of the Rumble semifinalists included keyboard based instruments (Thick Shakes, The Rationales, Cask Mouse, Ghost Of Jupiter and Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck).
  • A dozen golden throats: 12 different people sang lead on a song during the Semifinals.
  • Tie One On: There was 1 solitary tie worn in the Semifinal round. It was donned by Tim Scholl of Thick Shakes.

Play Me Out

Once again, I’ll leave you with the songs that haven’t left me. Have a listen and then hit up the Finals tonight at TT’s!

Posted on

2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Roundup (Semifinal Round)

Classy.

The Semifinals of the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble are in the books. Congratulations to Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance and Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck for taking their nights. With Motherboar earning the wildcard spot, the Finals are set! After having to withdraw from competition before their prelim night, The Grownup Noise will get to play the Finals as the special guest band. Classy touch, Anngelle.

Finals / Friday, April 20

9:30 – Motherboar (Wildcard)
10:15 – Garvy J.
11:00 – Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck
11:45 – The Grownup Noise (Guest)

Tickets are available at the TT’s website: www.ttthebears.com

The Semifinals had great performances all around. In case you missed any of the action, here are links to the photos and recaps of each Semifinal set:

Thursday, April 12th

Thick Shakes
Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck took the night.
Cask Mouse
Motherboar got the wildcard.

Friday, April 13th

Sherman Burns
Ghosts Of Jupiter
The Rationales
Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance took the night.

Posted on

Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.13.2012

Anngelle Wood is introducing the band, but I’m not really paying attention.* Behind her, Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance are already stealing the show. Once they have the stage to themselves there will be no stopping them. Garvy J. is in full command of the situation, manipulating the crowd with guitar swells, a cool confidence and sonic bombast.

Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance take Rumble Semifinal #2.

* During their preliminary round set, Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance launched into their set before Anngelle could introduce them.

Posted on

Random Rumble Ramblings (Part I)

Angelle Wood loves her job. She's also really good at it.

After a much needed day of rest, the Rumble returns with Preliminary Night #4 (Cask Mouse, Never Got Caught, Parlour Bells and The Fagettes) tonight at TT’s. Before I head out, here are a few thought on the first half of the week…

Old Favorites

Thick Shakes shook TT's.

It was great to see strong showings from some old favorites in the 2012 edition of the Rumble. The Rationales and Garvy J. took their nights, so I’ll be catching them again next week. Thick Shakes put on a raucous show to kick off their night. Cooling Towers did the same to close out theirs.

New Faces

Tin Thistles
The Tin Thistles quenched my thirst for new music. Please say I didn't just write that caption.

One of the best things about The Rumble is being able to check out bands you haven’t see before. I’ve managed to catch 5 new bands so far. Ghosts Of Jupiter took Preliminary Night #3 and left me eager to check them out again next week. The Susan Constant was fantastic. I know they made some new fans on their night. The Tin Thistles brought with them the same devil-may-care attitude Mellow Bravo had last year. In the end, it’s just a big party, right? I also got my first exposure to Letterday and Grey Valley Ghosts. The biggest disappointment of this year’s event was not being able to catch The Grownup Noise. I’ve heard great things about them, but Paul Hansen slipped a disc in his back and they had to withdraw from the competition. Get well soon, Paul!

Lada Vs. Lada

Tommy Lada will compete against himself on Friday the 13th.

This is my favorite story of this year’s Rumble. With Garvy J. and Ghosts Of Jupiter advancing to the semi-final round, Tommy Lada will be competing against himself on Friday the 13th. How much fun is that going to be to watch?

Fun With Numbers

Endless Wave
Endless Wave was the only trio in the first three nights of The Rumble.
  • The third time’s the charm: All of the winners so far have come slot #3.*
  • Strength in numbers: All of the winners have had 5 members. In fact, 7 of the 11 bands that have performed so far have been 5 piece bands. There was one trio, Endless Wave, and a trio of 4 piece acts.
  • Two for one: 2 bands had covers in their sets.** 2 bands have had 3 guitars.*** Only Letterday had both.

Play Me Out

Animal Talk’s “Into The Sun” is just too damn catchy. That song, and a few of the other songs that have been stuck in my head after these first few Rumble nights, are below. Check them out, and then come out for the rest of the action. Here’s the schedule. Get thee to TT’s!

* The Rationales were scheduled for the third slot, but moved to the second when The Grownup Noise had to cancel. I’m still going to allow this little “fact” to stand.

** Letterday covered “Holiday” by The Get Up Kids. The Tin Thistles busted out The Misfits’ “Skulls”. Garvy J. had musical references to other songs, but no true covers.

*** Letterday and Garvy J.

Posted on

Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.2.2012 @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.2.2012

Wow. Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance just blew my mind. I’ve seen these guys before, so I knew they were going to be good. I wasn’t prepared for this. At times it seemed like TT’s would burst. Their Rumble set was so powerful, so joyous, that anything would have been possible. I can’t wait to see them again. I won’t have to wait long. Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance take Preliminary Night #2. They’ll be back for the Semi-Finals next week.

Posted on

Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance @ Brighton Music Hall 3.30.2011

Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance cannot be suppressed. You can try, but you will fail.

Drummer Mike Piehl and bassist Tommy Lada are just too much of a force to overcome. You will expend so much energy grappling with their might that you will be unable to defend yourself from the onslaught of aural excitement being heaved upon you by guitarists Tony Savarino and Scott Dakota. Wave after wave of sonic bliss will crash upon your ears.

And what of the leader of this peaceful revolution? What of Garvy J.? Through it all he strums his 12 string acoustic guitar. Crooning. Reminding you where you came from. Taking you where you are going. Showing you the way to happiness. Guiding you into the lights.



Posted on

Catching Up…

Next week we’ll finish up the pictures from March and roll right into April. Look for pictures of Parlour Bells and Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance at Brighton Music Hall to start the week. We’ll also get into some pictures from The Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble.

Won’t that be exciting…