Friday night's The Dollyrots show at Sonia in Cambridge had one of the oddest vibes of any show I've ever been to. First, there were signs up everywhere in the venue saying that there would be moshing at the show, so dance at your own risk. I've never seen these signs at any show at Sonia or The Middle East, so that was a bit odd. It might have been because when the show was advertised as all ages, they truly meant all ages. The crowd went from grizzled, graying punks to preschoolers wearing Bluey shirts. There was a high contingent of elementary school aged kids at the show, and maybe because of that, there was no moshing.
With or without moshing, The Dollyrots put on a killer show. Their blend of punk and garage rock leans quite heavily into the pop side of the genres, and their live show sounds even better than their recordings. Maybe it was because a good chunk of the crowd skewed much younger than a typical rock show, but there was a charged energy missing with most shows I go to. This was a rare time that I happily gave up my front row spot for a group of young kids, since to me this was just another show, but for them it could be a life changing evening.
If you're still in single digits, there are a lot worse bands out there to change your life than The Dollyrots. The band certainly isn't changing the world of punk or garage rock, but they play such solid versions of both that even the older people in the crowd were rocking out just as hard as the kids. Despite The Dollyrots being based in Florida, it felt like they were playing for old friends. They just had such a casual and easy rapport with their audience that it felt like a local show. There were even members of the crowd disappointed that the band's kids stayed at home for this tour.
The Boreouts opened the evening. I didn't know much about the band before, but turns out they're a Detroit punk supergroup featuring J Navarro from Suicide Machines, John Bunkley from Gangster Fun, and Ko Molina from The Dirtbombs. It took a little bit for me to get into their set since they have such a unique sound that mixes ska with garage rock. Even the songs with a more downbeat subject were fun live, but how can a ska/garage rock band not be fun? Their set was as raw as possible, in the best way. All members (except for drummer Rob Paul) took turns on lead vocals, and they attacked their songs with the energy of kids just starting out and not industry vets. They even busted out covers of A Flock of Seagulls' "Space Age Love Song" and DEVO's "Uncontrollable Urge." Solid night of music all around.
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