Tag: Tad McKitterick

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The Shakes & Pony Show @ Moe’s Lounge 1.6.2012

Rodrigo Van Stoli and Jason Baldock were tasked with opening Moe’s Lounge* with a bang. The duo cooked up a residency where they would pick a different theme for each night** and assemble a ragtag group of local rockers to help them pull it off. Night one was Mixtape-Mixtape night, where the gang*** performed selections from the various nights of the MixTape series they’ve been involved with. What you ended up with was a mishmash of covers spanning decades. A couple of highlights were some great interplay between Rodrigo Van Stoli and Rona Mattocks on “Beast Of Burden” and a snappy cover of Robert Plant’s “Tall Cool One”. The night ended with a “Daydream Believer” singalong.

Welcome to The Shakes & Pony Show…

* Moe’s Lounge is downstairs at Radio. Seeing a show there is like hanging out in your friend’s basement. Good times.

** To find out what’s in store for the rest of the residency, check out this amazing poster by the wonderful and talented Nicole Anguish of Daykamp Creative.

*** Which at various times included 2/3 of Brownboot, 2/5 of Sidewalk Driver, 1/5 of The Future Everybody, 1/6 of Fit To Be Tied, all of Tad & Kate and 4/5 of Bright Lights, Big Rod.

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Tad & Kate @ Moe’s Lounge 1.6.2012

Tad and Kate. Kate and Tad. Hearing those two names together makes me happy. I think about plane crashes and the world coming to an end. I think about hobos, bad presents, karaoke and being kidnapped. I think about all of these things and I smile. It’s some kind of Pavlovian response. I’ve become so accustomed to being entertained by this duo that I just can’t help myself. At least I don’t drool.

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Tad & Kate – “Bad Presents” (2011)


Tad & Kate
“Bad Presents”
2011

Like some demented version of “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”, Tad & Kate bring you “Bad Presents”. Rogue Roombas, allergic reactions, over-sized turtleneck sweaters and the unfortunate outcome of a dog eating chocolate covered fruit-shaped flowers are not your typical holiday song fodder. Even so, any song with lines like “I don’t mean to sound naughty / But if I could stuff your stocking / With the heat that I feel when we touch” is bound to be a holiday classic.

Where to get it:

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Sidewalk Driver @ House Of Blues 12.1.2011

A couple of months back, Sidewalk Driver opened for The B-52s up at Hampton Beach.* When I heard about that show, two things crossed my mind:

  • That’s a really good break for a really good band.
  • I want to take pictures of Sidewalk Driver opening for The B-52s.

Alas, it wasn’t in the cards. Fast forward to the announcement that Sidewalk Driver would be opening for The B-52s as part of Epilepsy Therapy Project’s fundraiser at the House Of Blues. Two things crossed my mind:

  • That’s a really good break for a really good band.
  • I want to take pictures of Sidewalk Driver opening for The B-52s.

Oh, House Of Blues. You’re usually not too keen on people bringing cameras to take pictures of your innards. I was pretty sure this wasn’t going to happen. Then fate Kate smiled upon me and got me a photo pass. So happy. So very happy.**

Come showtime, Sidewalk Driver did what they do best: worked their glorious confetti and power chord magic to make the audience swoon.*** Isn’t that what they always do? Hell yes, it is. This band lives to entertain.

…

A couple of days later I was looking through the photos on my computer.

“Who’s that?”

My five year old had just wandered into the office with his little brother close behind.

“That’s Tad from Sidewalk Driver.” I replied.

“Side-walk-dri-ver?” questioned my curios 2 and a half year old.

“That’s the band that sings ‘Tornado’!” exclaimed his older brother.

I couldn’t have been more proud. For the next ten minutes we scrolled through the photos, the boys quickly learning to identify each band member. So happy. So very happy.

* I’d like to point out that when I started this blog, the thought never crossed my mind that it would have any references to The B-52s. Live and learn, I guess.

** Have I mentioned how happy I was? Seriously, it’s a little embarrassing. When I got word that Kate had secured the photo pass the combination of sheer joy and the sudden realization that “Golly, I better take some good pictures at this thing or I’m a complete jerk” nearly incapacitated me. I was a wreck. Still… so very very happy.

*** Did I mention showtime was 30 minutes before the stated start time on the House Of Blues website? Surprise! No matter. Sidewalk Driver still kicked ass. No surprise there.

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Tad & Kate @ Radio 11.3.2011

I want Tad & Kate to sing me to sleep so I will have beautiful dreams of hobos and fire raining down from the sky.

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Sidewalk Driver @ Radio 10.7.2011

[INTERIOR – SIDEWALK DRIVER PRACTICE SPACE]

KATE: I’ve got this awesome new song I want to teach you guys.

JARED: Remember that time I used Richard Bouchard’s face as a slide? How great was that?!?! And I jumped off of A.J.’s kick drum.

KATE: Speaking of A.J., where is he?

JOHN: He’s going to be a little late. The Rolex folks needed him to swing by the factory so they could set their watches to him.

TAD: Has anyone seen the Sparkle Fairies? I can’t seem to find them.

KATE, JARED, JOHN: Not again!

[LAUGH TRACK]

KATE: Really guys, I’ve got this new song to show-

JOHN [INTERRUPTING]: In the last seven days we’ve opened for the B-52s, rocked the big Township gig at Brighton Music Hall and blown the roof off of Radio on opening night. Not bad.

JARED: And I used Bouchard’s face as a slide!

[TAD RETURNS COVERED IN GLITTER AND CONFETTI]

TAD: I found the Sparkle Fairies, but now the Confetti Monster has gotten loose!

KATE, JARED, JOHN: Oh, Tad!

[LAUGH TRACK]

KATE: You guys aren’t going to learn this song tonight, are you…

JOHN: No. I’m busy learning “Big Bottom”.

JARED: I’m practicing slides on Bouchard’s face.

TAD [OFF SCREEN]: I could use a little help in here!

KATE: Argh! Let’s just watch Maru videos and look at these photos from the Radio gig up on Daykamp Music…

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Sidewalk Driver @ Brighton Music Hall 10.1.2011

I love Sidewalk Driver. I imagine, though, that there are some people out there that hate Sidewalk Diver. Really hate them. That’s the way these things work, right? For every person out there that loves yogurt, there is someone who thinks it tastes like the disgusting thing it is: A dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Think about that the next time you go to eat yogurt.

I thought it might be fun to play devil’s advocate to my usual Sidewalk Driver-loving self. The problem is, everything I thought of as my alter ego just made Sidewalk Driver sound more awesome. It was an exercise in futility. I mean, telling someone to avoid a band because they have a song about the singer potentially dispensing of his man-parts* to get in good with a girl who may or may not be into said man-parts is like telling a 5 year old boy to put the bug down so he doesn’t squish it. It ain’t gonna happen.

So, I guess it’s OK to listen to and enjoy the music of Sidewalk Driver.** Why not check out their fantastic record, For All The Boys And Girls? But whatever you do, don’t go to their live shows. You might get covered in confetti.

* Be it by scissors or knife.

** I suppose there are still people out there that don’t like Sidewalk Driver. I’m content not to be one of them. I still don’t like yogurt, though.

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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…