Tag: MixTape

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Magnum Force @ Radio 12.10.2011

Every MixTape show needs one band to suck it up and play the hits. Don’t re-interpret the songs. Don’t play the songs only the cool kids were into. Take one for the team. It’s MixTape 1988. Someone has to play “Kokomo”. In this case, it’s six somebodies. Six somebodies dressed in Hawaiian shirts, Detroit Tigers hats, short shorts and mustaches. Magnum Force.*

When I saw Brendan Boogie sporting an honest to goodness mustache early in the evening, he informed me it was part of his costume for the show. I immediately hoped it was a Weekend At Bernie’s reference and that Brendan Boogie would just play dead on stage. I guess my internal movie database** was off by a year, as that landmark film was released in 1989. I was only mildly disappointed at the Magnum P.I. theme.

* This band was originally billed as Pour Somerville Sugar On Me. Halfway through their set they changed their name to Hungry Guys.

** Hmmm… IMDB. That’s catchy.

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Bright Lights, Big Rod @ Radio 12.10.2011

Bright Lights, Big Rod. Let that sink in for a minute.

MixTape 1988 brought us a super duper supergroup. A superdupergroup. Bright Lights, Big Rod featured some of the fine folks that brought you Brownboot, Sidewalk Driver, Boston Band Crush, Parlour Bells, Noble Rot*, Low Static Romance, Bang Camaro, Bikini Whale, Waste Management, Boston.com and who knows what else. They joined forces to dust off some of the hippest songs of 1988. Like “In Your Room” by The Bangles. Seriously, how great a song is that?!?!

As much fun as the whole night was, MixTape 1988 will be defined by one thing for me: Bright Lights, Big Rod’s “Robert P Medley”. It was a seamless blend of Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible” and Robert Plant’s “Tall Cool One”. How could that not be awesome? It couldn’t not be awesome.

* Which I just mistyped as Noble Rod. I rule.

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Jaggery @ Radio 12.10.2011

Jaggery surprised me at MixTape 1988 with amazing range. I knew they could pull off dark and moody takes on Enya, Def Leppard and Cocteau Twins. I expected that. It was busting out some dance pop numbers from Neneh Cherry and Rob Base that really brought the house down. Cool.

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Brian King @ Radio 12.10.2011

Who’s that all decked out like a scruffy Bret Michaels? Why, that’s Brian King of What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

Backed at times by various members of The Brendan Burns Instrumental Heptad, Mr. King tore down the hits of 1988. His rendition of “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” prompted the first sing-along of the night, with Nate Rogers and Rod Van Stoli jumping in on the action.

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The Brendan Burns Instrumental Heptad @ Radio 12.10.2011

Nate Rogers, king of the MixTape series, originally billed this ensemble as The Brendan Burns Instrumental Quartet. As it turned out, there were seven players involved. Quick thinker that he is, Nate re-dubbed them The Brendan Burns Instrumental Heptad. I probably would have gone with the more obvious Brendan Burns Instrumental Septet.* Whatever the name, this group of talented players gave their own unique twist to the songs of 1988.

* Upon further review, The Brendan Burns Instrumental Heptad is way cooler.

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Corvette Somerville @ The Rosebud Bar 9.10.2011

The hot one is coming!

The MixTape series has a history of turning out one-off groups. Corvette Somerville is one such band. This band was as tricked out as the vehicle in the movie they punned their name from.

Oh yeah, any event that ends with Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” is OK by me.*

* Like my wedding.

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Thick As Thieves @ The Rosebud Bar 9.10.2011

Cheap Trick, Player, The Who, Gerry Rafferty… Thick As Thieves present the hits of 1978!

Oh, the fun that is the MixTape series. These guys covered a wide range of ’70s styles with a little help from Oranjuly’s Brian King. The hits just kept on coming. For a rousing rendition of the Toto classic, “Hold The Line”, the band was joined by, you guessed it, Davina Yannetty…

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Davina Yannetty @ The Rosebud Bar 9.10.2011

Davina Yannetty was all over MixTape 1978. You may have just seen her jump up on stage with Nate Rogers to sing some harmony vocals. You may yet see her spontaneously join Thick As Thieves for a killer rendition of Toto’s “Hold The Line”.  For now, here she is performing solo with her ukulele (and wah-wah pedal), you know, except for when she was joined by Josh Pickering on “Stayin’ Alive”. It’s all so complicated.

Hey! Here’s a little thing I learned from Davina Yannetty at MixTape 1978: You can do an amazing cover of “Renegade” by Styx with just vocals and ukulele.*

* Well, I don’t know if you can, but Davina can.

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Nate Rogers @ The Rosebud Bar 9.10.2011

Nate Rogers is the mastermind behind the Boston Band Crush MixTape series. For MixTape 1978, he decided to have a few MixTape veterans open the night with short acoustic sets.* Nate himself even got up on the newly carpeted Rosebud stage to perform Billy Joel’s “My Life” and Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally”. Davina Yanetty, another MixTape alumnus, jumped up to sing harmonies… for the entire set. She does that.

Kudos to the bearded one for putting together a fun night in the rock n’ roll time machine.

Full Disclosure: Nicole Anguish of Daykamp Creative did the bitchin’ poster for this show. Check it out here.

* Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the fine sets by MacKenzie and Stu of This Blue Heaven or Dave Mirabella of The Rationales. Rest assured, they were most enjoyable.