Live Shows: Lydia Loveless, Reese McHenry, and Megan Tracy & The Missed Connections, The Middle East, Cambridge, MA 11/28/23

Photo by Jillian Clark

I'm a bit of a Lydia Loveless superfan, so I'm always thrilled when she plays up in Boston. I was lucky enough to see her two nights in a row way back in 2015, but then her dates just didn't work for me, and... you know... the pandemic. I saw her opening for Drive-By Truckers last year solo, and back in May I saw her play down in Providence with her band on a day off from a DBT tour. Once I saw she was playing The Middle East, I knew I had to go. Seeing that Reese McHenry was opening, who we haven't heard from since 2019 and I've never seen live just sweetened the deal.

Lydia Loveless has been avoiding the "alt-country" label for almost ten years. The last time she could have been considered alt-country was 2014's Somewhere Else. Since then she's been dabbling more in the worlds of pop and indie rock, and if anyone was looking forward to an evening of alt-country songs, Loveless and her band dispelled that with the opening song. "Out on Love" opened the show with a Sonic Youth level of noise. And I don't mean a standard Sonic Youth show, I mean those weird one off ones in Northampton back when Kim and Thurston lived there that were more jam session than concert performance. At one point guitarist Todd May was grinding the head of his guitar into the wall of the stage. This just helped set the tone of the show.

The mixture of indie rock and pop dominated the set, with Loveless playing a majority of her excellent new album, Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again. (Although "Sex and Money," arguably the most popular song on the album, wasn't played.) In fact, they were looking forward so much a song newer than her two month old album was played. This was only the third show with her new band, but it was barely noticeable. They played that perfect level of loose that kept the show fresh and fun. A song like "Feel" really allowed Loveless to display their vocal chops, which I hadn't truly noticed in previous performances. This new album is an example of an artist truly leveling up, and Tuesday night at The Middle East showed a leveling up as a live artist, as well. Loveless did throw the audience a couple of bones at the end of the main set and encore with "Wine Lips" and "Head" respectively, but with new songs as great as she has, those won't be needed much longer.

Reese McHenry played a short, solo acoustic set made up of mostly new songs. She did play "Fever," which is rare for her especially solo, per audience request. Her set was mostly informal with her charm making even her banter as great as her songs. I got the impression the majority of the crowd wasn't familiar with her before she took the stage based on in crowd talking, but by the end of her first song that quickly ended. Let's hope making it up to Boston becomes a regular event for her.

Apologies to Magen Tracy & The Missed Connections. I left the house later than I meant to, and the show started earlier than I thought. I only caught three songs of theirs, which was a massive bummer for me. But their blend of blues rock was superb live, and I'll do my best to make it to another show earlier next time.

Live Shows: The Sheila Divine and Orbit, Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 11/22/23

The Sheila Divine and Orbit are bands I've been a fan of for roughly a quarter of a century. They're not fully active bands, so seeing them can be spotty. The Sheila Divine seem to be playing annual shows around Thanksgiving at this point, and while Orbit has played live somewhat recently, I believe the last time I saw them might have been at The Sheila Divine's very first farewell shows at the Paradise many, many years ago. When I saw the pair were playing together the night before Thanksgiving this year, it became a can't miss show.

Orbit came out to a clip of them on 120 Minutes where Matt Pinfield introduced their video for "Come Inside." It's kind of easy to remember that Orbit were a pretty big deal and quite buzzworthy in 1995, and this was a great reminder. Opening with "Come Inside" and following that with "Bicycle Song" made me feel like Orbit was frontloading their set a bit too much, but it's easy to forget just how many truly great songs they have. They had a little bit of rust throughout their set, but it's been about a decade since they've played, so it's to be expected. Plus, the crowd was thrilled to just be seeing Orbit play again, so we were all more than forgiving. That's one of the truly great thing about a local band like Orbit playing a show again. The crowd is just thrilled to be seeing them, and any mistakes are appreciated more than a perfect show would be. A song like "Medicine" is just a perfect snapshot of the Boston music scene in the mid and late 90's that it's impossible to not associate it with fantastic memories. The band promised to play more shows soon, so keep an eye out for those! (They were one of the first wave bands announced for The Town & the City Festival in Lowell in April, so we definitely won't need to wait ten years to see them again!)

The Sheila Divine came out to "Beautiful Midnight," a song from 2015's The Morbs, which set the tone for their set. The band played the big singles you'd expect ("Hum," "Like a Criminal," and "Automatic Buffalo"), but they leaned into a lot more B-sides and rarities than I would have expected. This was definitely a show for diehards, but I don't think The Sheila Divine have casual fans. They even broke out the B-side for the "Like a Criminal" single back when it was on Cherry Disc, which is a song I'm fairly certain I haven't heard in my decades of fandom. One highlight of every set is the cover song medley that comes during "Hum." This year, they only included one cover: Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield." As always, it was a bit trainwrecky, but that's part of the charm of the Sheila Divine cover break. They also played an impromptu version of Sisqo's "Thong Song," which worked out better than anyone could have expected. Skipping the traditional encore, The Sheila Divine decided to forgo leaving the stage and went straight into what would have been their three song encore: "Wanting is Wasted," "Like a Criminal," and "Back to the Cradle." As always, it was a perfect ending for a unique night of music.

Live Shows: The Pharcyde and STL GLD, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 11/19/23

Photo by Ken Sears

I have been a huge fan of The Pharcyde for thirty years now. I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Bizarre Ride II, and it was one of those albums I bought less than an hour after hearing it. Back in the 90's, Boston wasn't exactly a live hip hop destination with many venues reluctant to book rap artists. The only way I got to see The Pharcyde live was back in 1996 when they opened for Korn, which was not exactly the ideal way to see them. The closest I came after that was twelve (?) years ago when Slimkid3 and Fatlip toured as Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde with J-Swift and LA Jay. (The Pharcyde at that point was Bootie Brown and Imani.) Last year, Slimkid3, Fatlip, and Imani reunited as The Far Side (formerly of The Pharcyde), but didn't make it to anywhere in New England. As soon as they announced a run of New England shows, I knew I had to go.

As excited as I was to see a reunited The Pharcyde, I was more than a little hesitant. Were the three of them getting along? Was this just going to be an obvious cash grab? Within a minute of them starting, all concerns were gone. Slimkid3, Fatlip, and Imani all sound great and had more energy than I could have predicted from three guys in their fifties. They opened with "Ya Mama" and played songs mostly from Bizarre Ride II, with a handful from Labcabincalifornia like "Drop" and "Runnin.'" Mostly, though, they seemed like they were having a fantastic time. The crowd (which was far younger than I expected) met and exceeded their energy, thrilled to finally be seeing these classic songs live. 

I was curious how they were going to deal with the absence of Bootie Brown, the one member not taking part in the reunion. Instead of ignoring it, they let his verses play pre-recorded off the record. For his verse of "Passin' Me By," the crowd mostly took over vocals and loudly shouted/sang along. One of the coolest parts of the performance of "Passin' Me By" was the DJ showing how they used the Quincy Jones sample before the song started. That was followed immediately by "Otha Fish" which let Slimkid3 shine. A large section of the song was done a capella, with Slimkid3 crooning most of it. "4 Better or 4 Worse" was another highlight with Fatlip subbing the last time of his imitated phone call verse with "I don't want to get cancelled." If you know the song... you know.

If you love The Pharcyde, get out there are see them. The show far exceeded anything I hoped for, and might be the show of the year for me. The only regret I had was that I didn't also see them in Hampton Beach on Friday and Greenfield on Saturday.

Even though there were two other options to see The Pharcyde in New England this weekend, I knew I chose correctly once STL GLD was announced as the opener for The Sinclair. The Boston hip hop group are one of the best live shows in the city, and they brought it Sunday night. Despite the success of GLD FST over the summer, most of the crowd was not familiar with them and seemed confused when the show started with a drummer and guitarist on stage, joined shortly by Christopher Talken screaming into a microphone metal style. Once Moe Pope joined, the crowd got it and got into the show. Songs like "Wild Style" and "Resisting" won the crowd over. It seemed like STL GLD purposefully put their louder and more energetic songs up front to grab everyone, and then chilled things out towards the end of their set. They even played "Again," which I don't think I've ever seen them do live. I've only ever seen them as an opening band or as part of a festival, so I really need to make it to a STL GLD headlining show one of these days.

Live Shows: Letters to Cleo and Gigolo Aunts, Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA 11/18/23

Poster by Daykamp Creative

Just about every year I go see Letters to Cleo's annual homecoming run of shows at the Paradise in Boston, and every year I have a great time. Despite that, I always assume that I've seen them enough times, and I can take a year or two off. But... I keep getting sucked back in the next year, and I end up yet again having a great time. This year's run of shows featured the thirtieth anniversary of their debut album Aurora Gory Alice and the return of Gigolo Aunts, so I simply could not resist.

Gigolo Aunts have not played a show in ten years, and I don't think I've seen them since their original run in the 90's (probably playing with Letters to Cleo). For a band that hasn't played together in a decade, and played as a full time band in probably two decades, they sounded great. Songs like "Where I Find My Heaven" and "Gun" (which they said they haven't played in about thirty years) have not aged at all and sound perfect live. It could be that the mainstream has caught up with their sound, but their entire set sounded like they could be hits from the past five years. Singer Dave Gibbs joked that the green room was very different when they used to play with Letters to Cleo in the 90's but drinking warm tea was still rock and roll, and how weird it was to play songs you wrote in your early 20's when you're now in your late fifties. Gigolo Aunts definitely brought in some fans just to see them, so let's hope they don't want another decade before playing more shows.

Letters to Cleo took the stage and played the ten songs off Aurora Gory Alice. We knew it was coming, but it was still great to hear all of the songs off the album live. By the time they got to "Rim Shak," I was fully on board and making plans to get back next year. The most surprising aspect of the show was that this might be the best Letters to Cleo have sounded since reuniting. Part of that is the return of Stacy Jones behind the drums. He's always been a severely underrated drummer, and his presence adds an extra oomph to the band's live show. Plus, Kay Hanley's vocals were divine, and she has never sounded better than she did this past weekend. ("Get on With It" was particularly fantastic live this time around.) When Letters to Cleo first started doing these shows together, they almost sounded too polished at times, but on Saturday night they played with a looseness they haven't had in decades. You could tell they were playing for fun and just the love of these songs. I was personally hoping they'd bust out the Cherry Disc version of "Here and Now" to truly mark the thirtieth anniversary, but it wasn't to be.

After the Aurora Gory Alice portion of the evening was over, they played a mixture of songs off Wholesale Meats and Fish and Go!, along with a spattering of newer songs. Along with long term favorites like "Demon Rock" and "Fast Way," I was surprised that "4 Leaf Clover" off 2016's Back to Nebraska now feels like an old favorite, and was the song stuck in my head all day Sunday.

Closing out the encore, Letters to Cleo were joined by Gigolo Aunts for the obvious cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" and The J. Geil's Band's "Angel in a Centerfold." I think I saw them play "I Want You to Want Me" once during their initial run, but nowadays if they didn't play it live half the crowd would be shocked and disappointed. Fun covers are sometimes the best part of Letters to Cleo's live shows, and these were the perfect choices to end the night. For once, I'm already planning on going again next year.

Live Shows: Razor Braids, Mint Green, and Matilde Heckler, The Rockwell, Somerville, MA 11/14/23

Razor Braids have been one of those bands I've enjoyed and have wanted to see them live since discovering their music last year. When I saw the Brooklyn quartet were playing The Rockwell, I wanted to go but was kind of on the fence. Once they announced Mint Green was opening, I immediately bought a ticket. Despite them being local and playing around a lot, seeing them just hadn't worked out yet. Turns out I made the right decision since I also got to discover the fantastic Matilde Heckler, too!

Recent Berklee graduate Matilde Heckler opened the show with a short set. They played an electric violin shaped like a flying "v," and with their band played a great set of violin based indie rock/alt pop songs. I believe they only have two songs out to date (with a third due on Friday), so they're in the very early stages of a music career. But sometimes even this early on, you can just tell someone is going to be great someday. They also busted out a cover of Olivia Rodrigo's "Get it Back" which won over anyone in the crowd not yet fully onboard.

Mint Green played next, and after listening to them for a number of years, and hearing about how great they were live, my expectations were high. They destroyed any expectations I had and made me a diehard fan. Singer/guitarist Ronnica is one of the most compelling frontpeople in Boston, and a song like "Body Language" off 2022's All Girls Go to Heaven is even more impactful live. It was one of those shows that you're going between bopping around and having fun and standing there awestruck. The band was breaking in two new members Tuesday night, and I can't imagine how great they will be after they have more time to play together. Plus, they broke out a cover of Radiohead's semi-forgotten classic "Creep," which is always a great decision.

You ever see a band and wonder how they're only playing a show in front of a few dozen people and not a few thousand? That's how Razor Braids were at The Rockwell. They were one of the most compelling live bands I've seen this year, and the mixture of harder edge punk songs with jawdroppingly beautiful ballads was astounding. They had gorgeous vocal harmonies over songs that were at times punk, at others groovy. "Megachurch" was a highlight of the set, with vocal harmonies between Hollye Bynum and Jillian Karande equally joyful and painful. Razor Braids also played the ultrarare real encore. They had finished up their set with "42," when the audience asked for another song. They agreed to play "Not Dead, Not Yet," calling it their heaviest song, but said the crowd needed to match the energy, which they happily did.

One last note about the vibe of the entire evening. Razor Braids curated a certain feeling for the entire night. They were in the audience for most of the other band's sets (they were hard to miss dressed in outfits that were the exact shade of red, right down to their shoes) cheering and dancing around. It's unusual to find the exact right mixture of audience interaction to enhance a live show and not derail it, but they found it perfectly. Every single time an audience member said something to the band, they found a way to turn it into a plus. The band just exudes this natural sense of charisma, and if there is any justice in the world, they'll be rocking the largest stages in town quite soon.

Live Shows: Class President, Tysk Tysk Task, Jiddo, and I Love Cheeseburgers, The Overlook, Lowell, MA 10/28/23

Halloween weekend is always one filled with more events than anyone could possibly attend, and this year was no exception. Seeing as Tysk Tysk Task was playing their hometown of Lowell, and they were playing The Overlook, a venue I really like but haven't made it out to in far too long, that made the decision easy. It worked out perfectly, as I discovered three more bands I ended up really enjoying.

First up was I Love Cheeseburgers. A side project of Burp., they played a short set of heavier rock than you get with Burp. Burp. are already noisy pop punk, but I Love Cheeseburgers were an even noisier version of that. It was if you combined Warped Tour pop punk with grunge, and then just went wild with that. Their set was a little too short to truly judge, but I'm looking forward to getting to check them out again.

Jiddo opened, and just... wow. They're a band from Worcester playing post-hardcore. Their set was filled with these ridiculously loud songs that are just shy of being accessible to music normies. I had checked out their song "New Mombasa Orbital Elevator" before Saturday night, and was still just absolutely floored by Jiddo. They were like a brilliant combination of The Jesus Lizard and Mission of Burma, but a little more straightforward than either of those. Expect to see more about them here as often as possible.

Next came Tysk Tysk Task. I've seen them live more times than I care to admit to, but each performance ends up being different than the one before it. Now playing as a four piece, Samantha Hartsel's band has added Rick Martel as a second guitarist which has created a completely new dynamic. It's interesting to hear the two guitar interplay of favorites like "Flies" and "Contagion," but it really shines on the newer, unreleased songs. "Shrine" in particular is a song I can't wait to watch evolve with it's dark shoegaze meets grunge vibe. There's not many bands that I feel inclined to see every time I can, but Tysk Tysk Task are that rare band.

Class President closed out the show and were the most pop band to play that night. (They called themselves a pop band, and I only think they were by comparison.) They have a really cool sound that is more poppy than pure pop. It was modern indie rock with vocals that almost sound like they came from the 1960's. You don't typically get melodies like this from an indie rock band, so Class President were a pleasant surprise. They also dusted off a song about getting murdered in the woods since it was a Halloween show and all. 

Live Shows: Mudhoney and Hooveriii, Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 10/26/23

Recently I've been making more of an effort to finally see bands I've never seen before. Mudhoney are one of those bands I've been meaning to see for decades, but just never got around to. It seems every time they've come around in the past ten or so years, it just hasn't worked out for me. Luckily, this past Thursday fit into my schedule and I finally got to see the grunge legends.

Mudhoney started off the show by going all the way back to "When Tomorrow Hits" off their 1989 self-titled album. It was an interesting choice, as it's a more laid back and moody song than I expected to open the show. It ended up being the perfect way to ease the crowd into their set. For their second song they went back even further to 1988's excellent Superfuzz Bigmuff and "In & Out of Grace" to really get things going. Seeing as they're touring to promote a new album (Plastic Eternity, which was released back in April and is more than worth your time), they did play more than half the new album during their set, but the songs more than held up to the classics. 

A surprising move by Mudhoney was playing "Sweet Young Thing (Ain't Sweet No More)" and "Touch Me I'm Sick" right in the middle of their set. At this point, the vast majority of the crowd at a Mudhoney show are die-hards who just want to see them play anything, so there's no need to save these classics for the encore.

A couple of stray observations on the show. Mudhoney might have been the least grunge looking people in Brighton Music Hall that night. I have no idea how the under thirty crowd handled the unseasonably warm night in their winter hats and flannel shirts as they larped the 90's, but they pulled it off. Also, as Mark Arm's voice ages, it fits the music better and better. A lot of artists definitely lose their vocal chops as they age, but the extra gruffness to Arm's vocals just fit the music more and more as the years go on.

It would have been easy for Mudhoney to choose one of the dozens of neo-grunge bands popping up in recent years to open the show, but instead they went with Hooveriii. Pronounced "Hoover Three," the Los Angeles based band seem to have taken just about every subgenre of rock and use them all to comprise their sound. There's some grunge, some pop punk, some glam rock, some power pop, some prog rock... literally everything is just mushed into a new but familiar sound. They included the heavy use of keys and saxophone in every song, which is rare for a rock band. In fact, saxophone player Gabe Flores joined Mudhoney on keys and sax sporadically throughout the set. They're the type of band that is going to drive music journalists insane since they don't fit into a neat category, but you'll want to check them out next time they come through your city.

Live Shows: The Jacklights, Double Star, and Harry & The Hot Flashes, The Square Root, Roslindale, MA 10/20/23

Despite The Jacklights and Double Star being local bands that each play out a lot, I had yet to see either of them. Sometimes schedules don't work out, and that kept being the case over and over and over again. Finally, things worked out and both bands played a double EP release show at The Square Root, a new-ish venue I've been meaning to check out!

Harry & The Hot Flashes opened the evening up. I had never heard of them before, but according to their Facebook profile they are "Harry and three menopausal chicks." They might need to update their profile, since their membership has ballooned to six total members. They seemed like a group of friends that share a love of music and get out and play every so often. It was a garage rock meets blues kind of style that fits a local bar band quite well, especially when they play such a covers heavy set. Of course, what set them apart from other such bands is the mix of songs they played. Their set included Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," Portishead's "Glory Box," Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso," and Shocking Blue's "Venus." 

Double Star played second and played their just released Late at night inside my head EP in full right up front before going back to some old favorites. My expectations were probably unreasonably high for Double Star, but they met and even exceeded them. Their blend of pop-rock that dips into punk and maybe ska sometimes was perfect for a live show, and the members have an awkward charm and confidence that comes out through their live show. A song like "I know U say" is an absolute delight live, and really had a chance to expand in a live setting that you just can't get from a recording.

The Jacklights closed out the show. They leaned into the Halloween aspect and dressed like Batman villains with singer/guitarist Nilagia McCoy dressed like Poison Ivy, bassist Mike Allen like The Riddler, and drummer Mike Gaylord like Scarecrow. (The scarecrow costume was from The Wizard of Oz and not Batman. Unsure if that was a schtick or an actual miscommunication, but it added to the oddball aspect of the evening.) They also played their new EP, but spread the songs from Final Girl out over their entire set. My expectations for them were also quite high, and like Double Star they exceeded them. Their blend of melodic pop punk always sounds better live, and The Jacklights were surprisingly tight for a new-ish local punk band. Songs like "Haunted," "Final Girl," and "Carolyn" not only sounded great live, but they're also perfect for a Halloween show.

To close out the evening, Leah Bakst and David Kurimsky of Double Star joined The Jacklights for a pair of covers. They played The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" and a song from X-Ray Spex (who I know, but not nearly enough). The X-Ray Spex song saw a truly firey performance from McCoy as she embodied Poly Styrene's delivery for the song. It was one of those moments that will never be repeated the same, and it was a perfect way to close out the night of music.

Live Shows: Will Butler + Sister Squares and Rachel Bobbitt, Deep Cuts, Medford, MA 10/17/23

Photo by Ken Sears

Once I checked out Will Butler + Sister Squares' self-titled album last month, I knew I wanted to see them live. Luckily for me, their tour hit up the Boston area at Deep Cuts in Medford, a newer venue I've been meaning to check out. Sometimes things just align perfectly.

Will Butler + Sister Squares occupy an interesting little niche of music. It's hipster indie rock that demands that you dance. It has this impossibly cool vibe that is going to appeal to an audience that wants to stand and stroke their chin while contemplating the music, as well as someone that wants to dance at a show. As soon as the band opened with "Arrow of Time," you knew both types of fans would be happy. Not many artists can pull off that style of music, and somehow no reaction in the audience seemed out of place. You had people barely bopping their heads next to people having a full on dance party, and neither looked out of place.

Will Butler is a captivating indie frontman. He commanded the stage in a way that demanded attention, through dance moves and just a natural charisma. But... there's just something equally endearing about Sister Squares. The three Sister Squares just have this quiet star power, meaning you had no idea who to watch at any given time. Plus, members of the band moved throughout the stage using just about every instrument and giving each other the spotlight throughout the set. 

What I would recommend most about about seeing Will Butler + Sister Squares live is just how much fun it was. Most indie music tends to be pretentious and not exactly a fun time. (And this comes as a giant indie rock fan of thirty years.) Sure, there was some pretention in the performance, but in a fun way, like Jarvis Cocker. Plus, you don't usually get an artist putting themselves out there this much in smaller venues. It was a stadium sized performance for a few dozen people, and you just can't beat that.

Rachel Bobbitt opened the evening with a short set, but made more than enough of an impression in her time. Playing as a duo with a second guitarist, Bobbitt might have been the opposite of the high energy headliner. Her music was simply beautiful, and it was fairly standard singer-songwriter fare but awash with a gorgeous level of dream pop fuzz. I don't think much of the crowd knew who she was before she started playing, but she made a fan of the entire audience by the end.

Photo by Ken Sears

Live Shows: CHAI and Font, Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA 10/8/23

Photo by Ken Sears

I'm fairly new to the world of CHAI fandom, but I had been hearing great things about their live shows. Mainly that they're a blast, and this has been a year of going to see bands just for the fun factor, so I knew I had to check out CHAI when they swung through Boston on their current tour. Their music is much more pop oriented than I normally go to see, so I was unsure what to expect. What I got was an evening of unexpected pure joy.

CHAI are a nearly impossible band to describe. They're a band of four Japanese women who wear matching outfits and do low key costume changes throughout the show (mostly something like removing a jacket or mask at the same time.) For some pop songs all four members were singing and dancing a choreographed routine, for others they were thrashing out on instruments in a punk frenzy. I've seen CHAI labelled indie rock, I've seen them labelled pop, but live they are this joyous amalgam of genres that should never be played together, but they somehow pull this off. 

Photo by Ken Sears

Part of the fun of a CHAI show are the fans. CHAI does not have casual fans. Crystal Ballroom wasn't sold out Sunday night, but when the crowd erupted into cheers in between songs, you'd think you were at a completely packed Roadrunner or MGM Fenway. Not being sold out might have worked in the crowd's favor, as it gave fans tons of room to dance as much as they wanted towards the back. I expected a little more of a hipster crowd that would slightly bob their heads to the music, but CHAI's fans showed up and were there to have fun. The closer to their main set, 2021's "Donuts Mind if I Do," was one of the more mellow songs of the night, but received an ovation like when Paul McCartney busts out "Hey Jude."

Closing with a more mellow song might have been the perfect way to close out the night. CHAI's set just built and built from more chilled out R&B and pop to a more frenzied rock based sound as the show went on. It's always better to unleash a crowd back to reality in a more relaxed way.

I didn't know much about Font besides their name, and maybe one song I was able to find online. The Austin, TX band might be the perfect opener for a band like CHAI as they also don't quite fit any one genre of music. I guess they'd be indie rock, but an indie rock subgenre that is dance music. Some songs had the noise and aggression of Sonic Youth but partied down like LCD Soundsystem. Their set was pure indie and punk chaos, but one that inspired a dance party. Hopefully we'll be hearing more from them very soon.

Live Shows: Ratboys and Free Range, Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 9/28/23

Photo by Ken Sears

I've been a fan of Ratboys for a while now, but they're just one of those bands I haven't gotten around to seeing yet. Partially because they hadn't played in Boston for four years, but sometimes timing just doesn't work. After I heard their fantastic new album The Window, I knew the time had to be now. Luckily, the swung through Boston at Brighton Music Hall, and the stars finally aligned for me.

Ratboys have proven to be a hard to define band. For some albums they have more of an alt-country sound, some are straight up indie rock, some are indie rock with a slight twang to them. Live all of those variations come right up against each other, but since artists that combine indie rock and alt-country are kind of my jam, it was a perfect night for me. Seeing Ratboys in 2023 might just be the sweet spot to see them. They've been around to be perfectly polished but are still playing smaller clubs, and, seeing how great The Window is, they won't be playing clubs this size much longer. Plus, they've gained a cult like following of hardcore fans that knew every song, especially older ones. We've been writing about Ratboys for six years now, and this crowd made me feel like a newbie.

Photo by Ken Sears

I have to bring up the song "The Window" for this review. I adore this song, but I was dreading it being played live. It's a song that hits incredibly close for personal reasons, as it's about Julia Steiner's grandfather having to say goodbye to her grandmother through a window during the start of COVID. And then my mind starts wandering and I realize that I'll be saying goodbye like this to a lot of people down the road. I'm usually a mess by the end of the song due to the newfound overly emotional state I find myself in postpandemic/in middle age. Was I a mess at the end of the song's placement halfway through their set? Not as bad as I feared, luckily.

Photo by Ken Sears

For an opener, Ratboys brought fellow Chicago artist Free Range with them. I didn't realize Free Range was opening until a day or two before the show., and they might have been the perfect opener for Ratboys. Sofia Jensen's musical project has that perfect blend of indie rock meets alt-country for this tour, just a more mellow version. They may have been opening, but as the show went on and the applause got louder and more sustained between each song, if they do this pairing again it could very well be a co-headline tour. The only other show I've seen this happen at this level was when an unknown Mogwai opened for Pavement and completely won over the crowd by the end of their set.

Live Shows: Slowdive and Drab Majesty, House of Blues, Boston, MA 9/27/23

Photo by Ingrid Pop

2023 seems to be the year of finally seeing bands I've been a fan of for decades but have just never seen. The latest on that list was Slowdive. The shoegaze legends played a show earlier this week at the House of Blues that sold out almost instantaneously. It was a strange night on Lansdowne St, with lines for Slowdive and Boygenius all the way down the street to Brookline Ave. The wait to get into the venue felt as long as my wait to see Slowdive, so would it be worth the wait?

Simply put... yes. And then some. Slowdive have been doing this for a long time, and they have mastered their genre and performing live. It's kind of a joke that shoegaze bands are boring live since they don't put on any show besides just standing there. Anyone who has ever told that joke has never seen Slowdive. Sure, they didn't jump around on stage, but they had the all ages crowd in the palm of their hand as soon as they played their first note. Singer Rachel Goswell stated that the crowd was quiet after their second song. It was because we were all enraptured and waiting for more.

Despite just releasing the stellar everything is alive earlier this month, Slowdive mostly stuck with the classics. They did play four songs from the new album, but a song like "prayers remembered" fit in seemlessly with the long beloved songs. Despite being a fan for decades, I felt like a casual fan or a poseur at this show, as the House of Blues was packed with two thousand plus absolute die hards. What was shocking to me was how young so many of the most vocal fans were. By the time "When teh Sun Hits" came around, the crowd went absolutely nuts and had more cell phones out than I've seen at a Paul McCartney show. Teenagers in Slowdive shirts screamed along to every word, and I don't think I've been able to memorize a single word for Slowdive in the twenty plus years I've been listening. One fan screamed out "This is the best night of my life!" between songs, and judging on the reaction of the crowd, a lot of them shared his feelings.

Drab Majesty opened the show. They're a band I know more by name, but they might have been the perfect style of band to open the show. Playing as a duo with guitar and keyboards, they combine shoegaze with a more New Wave style heavy on synths. They were teeth shaking loud, and I have no idea how anyone not wearing earplugs dealt with the sheer volume. They had a My Bloody Valentine meets The Human League thing going on, which is a sound that worked shockingly well. They definitely brought their own fanbase to the House of Blues Monday night, and no one was left disappointed by their opening set.

Bombino, Crystal Ballroom at Somervile Theater, Somerville, MA 9/19/23

I first stumbled on Bombino at the 2013 Newport Folk Festival. If I remember correctly, I had carved out that time to eat as I wasn't familiar with any of the artists playing that timeslot. Instead of eating, I was sucked into Bombino's performance and vowed to see him again as soon as I could. Unfortunately, it took ten years, but it was worth the wait.

Playing with no opener, Bombino took the stage with a five piece band and played the first few songs with an acoustic guitar. It was a perfect way to ease the audience into his style of Tuareg music that is much closer to folk. After those three songs, the electric guitar came out, and the show truly took off. His guitar playing is completely mesmerizing. Every moment of every song was perfect and spellbinding, but the instrumental parts where Bombino got to just play guitar were absolutely transcendent. It makes zero sense that he doesn't get listed as one of the truly great guitarists of today, because I've seen very few come close to his playing. Maybe it's the ignorant American in me, but it's a style unlike anyone I've ever seen.

Even while singing, Bombino is very soft-spoken. He did very little (if any, really) between song banter. At the most, he thanked the sections of the crowd that kept yelling his name between songs. Any banter was handled by his bass player. As enjoyable as his vocals and melodies were, the highlight was truly his playing ability.

When Bombino came back for an encore, he did so alone. This seemed to signal the typical one or two solo songs to start off an encore, but after maybe a minute the rest of the band joined him for a fiery few songs. Bombino is one of the acts you need to make some time to see live. I can guarantee you will be changed after.

Live Shows: Crow Follow, Tysk Tysk Task, and Sapling, Electric Haze, Worcester, MA 9/17/23

As easy as it is to mock Worcester, MA, it is a city that is rebounding. It's the home of the Worcester Red Sox, a bunch of new restaurants, cool shops, etc. The one thing I'm hoping for more of is live music. Central Massachusetts has always been cover band country, but that is slowly changing. Sunday night Electric Haze, which is a venue I've been hoping would start booking more shows, hosted the fantastic triple bill of Crow Follow, Tysk Tysk Task, and Sapling.

Electric Haze seems to host a lot of jam bands, and that was evident as the three bands Sunday night were given up to seventy-five minutes to play. These three are more used to a tight thirty minutes, so some experimentation was very welcome. Sapling opened the evening and had time to go back into their catalog a bit more than usual. While their set did include plenty of favorites from the recently released (and excellent!) amor fati, the trio broke out "Nice Guys" for the first time in a while, and even played a song off 2021's The Apocalypse Musical. Sapling seemed to have a little more fun playing than usual, and songs like "A Fox Upon the Tomb," "Mata Hari," "11:37," and "Snake Charmer" had a little extra room to breathe. The usual end of set instrument swap/noise clusterfuck was a little extra clusterfucky and turned into sheer chaos, in the most fun way.

Samantha Hartsel is the type of artist that wears her emotions on her sleeve whenever she plays, and halfway through the first song of Tysk Tysk Task's set, you just knew she was going through something and needed to get it out of her system. Between that and a shockingly tight performance by a reconfigured Tysk Tysk Task and this was one of the better sets I've seen them perform. The band just had this desire to play Sunday night, and the sound seems to be shifting from the pure fury of indie-grunge to a slightly more psychedelic version of the genre. In the year and a half that I've been going to Tysk Tysk Task shows, I can safely say that no two shows have been the same, even if the setlist has been. Sunday night's show gave them time to play a new song they've been working on along with going back to 2020's Everybody's Worried About You for one. As always, I'm looking forward to whatever they have coming next.

Crow Follow closed the show, and they continue to be a band you need to see live to truly get. Oddly, as much as I enjoy them, I wasn't sure if they'd fit in on a bill with heavier bands like Sapling and Tysk Tysk Task. Somehow I forgot that Crow Follow are a wonderfully strange band that are just a blast to see live. When you see them live, they lean into the stranger, bluesier version of X than they are on their albums. Sunday night they seemed to slow the songs down half a step and thrust themselves into their own version of psychedelia. Of course, this is an edgier version of psychedelia that isn't punk but also isn't not punk. If you've ever wished you could combine X, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Velvet Underground, and Morphine into one band, that band would come pretty close to Crow Follow.

Live Shows: Buffalo Tom and Dutch Tulips, Bellforge Arts Center, Medfield, MA 9/10/23

Image by Daykamp Creative

Buffalo Tom are one of those bands I try to go see every time they play locally. They're a legendary local band and their Boston area shows always have an intimate feel no matter how large of a venue they play. I also love exploring former mental hospitals, so since they played an early evening show at Bellforge Arts Center at the site of the former Medfield State Hospital, I couldn't resist.

The band opened up their set with "Summer," which despite being one of my favorites of theirs, was the perfect song to get the crowd that was mostly sitting back in lawn chairs up on their feet and towards the stage. Plus, it's the perfect song for the summer that refuses to end here in New England. Despite not playing out a ton these days, Buffalo Tom always nail that perfect mixture of loose and tight that you can only get from playing together for over three decades. It's also easy to forger just how many great songs Buffalo Tom have. "Taillights Fade" is big enough to be covered by Pearl Jam, and we all remember "Birdbrain" and "Tangerine," but songs like "Treehouse" and "Kitchen Door" are equally classics. Even a relatively newer song like "All Be Gone" from 2018's Quiet and Peace fits itself in perfectly with the ones from our high school and college years. The band also broke out a new song, "Autumn Letter," from an unreleased album, and if it is any indication we're all in for a treat in the next year ago.

Both Bill Janovitz and Chris Colburn grew up in Medfield, so it was a true hometown show for the band. We got lots of anecdotes about Medfield, including that "Sodajerk" is about Janovitz working at the Friendly's down the street as a teenager. That helped give the show a truly intimate feeling despite it being attended by one thousand people in a field. Bellforge Arts Center did a truly great job of putting together a show in an ideal setting for a laid back but still excited crowd. Even the rain mostly held off with barely a drizzle for the entire span of the performance. It's always great to see one of your favorite bands playing in what will surely become one of your favorite venues.

Dutch Tulips opened the show with their blend of alt-rock meets pop. They have a more pop leaning vibe than Buffalo Tom, but they fit in well with them. A new band playing in a field in front of aging Gen-Xers is always an uphill battle, but they held their own and won over many in the audience by the end of their set. Hey, fuzzed out pop-leaning alt-rock will always go over well with a crowd that grew up in Boston in the 90's, and many in the crowd were sporting brand new Dutch Tulips shirts by the time Buffalo Tom took the stage.

Live Shows: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Tami Hart, and Everyone Asked About You, Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA 9/7/23

I came to Ted Leo fandom embarrassingly late. I somehow missed him early on, and even when I knew him by name, it took a while for me to give his music a shot. Despite being a fan, I had never seen him perform with the Pharmacists, so when a show at one of my favorite Boston venues, Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, was announced, I knew I wanted to go. When Everyone Asked About You was added as an opener just days before the show, that was just an added bonus.

Despite missing Everyone Asked About You's initial brief 90's run and only discovering them a few months back, their music connected with me as if I had first heard it back then and instantly gave me a sense of nostalgia for a band I had never heard of. I was annoyed that they scheduled two New York dates but nothing in New England, because of course a band from Little Rock, Arkansas should prioritize a Boston show. When they first started their set, they were playing a little sloppy and loose. In an endearing way, but still fairly sloppy. They also had to contend with a very chatty crowd. Slowly, as the show went on they started playing tighter and tighter, until eventually they sounded like they hadn't taken over two decades off from playing together. Vocalist Hannah Vogen joked that they were still relearning to play their songs, but if so, they figured it out fairly quickly as the chatting was all but silenced three songs into their set. Neither Vogen or guitarist/vocalist Chris Sheppard have what you'd call traditional singing voices (both are firmly rooted in the world of punk vocals), but when the two sing together it's just a magical combination. As emotionally attached as I was to hearing their music recorded, seeing them live has increased that exponentially.

Tami Hart was the artist I was least familiar with, mainly because the Facebook event page listed the band as "Tami Heart." The trio, led by Tami Hart, played a unique mixture of indie rock that at times had a country sound to it and at others more of a rockabilly sound. And at others just straight up indie rock. Hart definitely had a fanbase that showed up, and even managed to work an extended break to replace a broken guitar string into a charming break with the audience sharing bad jokes. The rock came back eventually, and it hardly affected the fans in the crowd. Halfway through the set, Ted Leo joined them for a Lucinda Williams cover. Hart returned the favor during Leo's set on a cover of X's "Drunk in My Past." This is an artist I can't wait to explore the catalog of in the next few weeks.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists took the stage to play their first show as a band in five years and showed no signs of rust at all. Leo played the first song and a half solo until he was joined by the rest of the Pharmacists. This was one of those shows that made me feel like a total poseur as the majority of the crowd sang along to every single lyric to songs I didn't know that well. Their blend of punk and indie rock hits such a sweet spot for me with songs that are just as catchy as they are biting. Even the angriest Ted Leo song is an absolute joy to hear, blurring the lines of melodic punk into near pop rock. Live they even had an almost jam band like air, playing extended instrumental parts that somehow still fit into the world of punk. Let's just hope it doesn't take me another twenty years to get out to one of their shows next time.

Live Shows: Perennial, Miracle Blood, and Muzzins, Deep Thoughts JP, Boston, MA 8/24/23

Deep Thoughts is a record store in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston that has hosted a Grateful Dead night on Fridays in their used book basement, and recently started to have more indie rock shows every so often. It's a great space, albeit one with Dead logos all over the place and the distraction of wanting to look at books everywhere. This past Thursday, they hosted three bands with little in common besides all three being trios: Perennial, Miracle Blood, and Muzzins. It ended up being a perfect mixture of styles for the night.

Muzzins opened the evening with their completely unique blend of electronic music, hip hop, jazz, indie rock, punk, and whatever else they feel like throwing in that day. This is the fifth or so time I've seen Muzzins in the past year, and it's always a completely different show. The songs may be the same, but since they are mostly improvised, it's always a different interpretation. "Smoke This" (I think that's the song title) is quickly becoming a favorite, leaning heavily into jazzy hip hop territory, particularly with the call and response between R-Muzz and C-Muzz. One of the highlights of any Muzzins show is watching them turn a confused and skeptical crowd into die hard fans, and that happened this past Thursday night to many in attendance. 

Miracle Blood played second, and one of the best things about seeing them perform live is that there isn't another band in existence that is this heavy and this fun. They play one of the most unique blends of punk meets metal that sounds like Jello Biafra fronting a thrash band. The majority of heavy bands out there play angry and aggressive music. Miracle Blood play loud and aggressive music (when a band announces they're giving out free earplugs while they're setting up is a sure sign you're going to want them), but there is this sense of joy and fun in their music. You can't sing a song about wanting to be a Pomeranian and have it not be a fun song. (If you've never heard "Pomeranian," you need to change that ASAP.) 

Perennial closed out the show as one of their EP release shows. They're another band that plays loud and fast music but in a joyful way. As I listen to them more and more, I hear the massive influence of Refused meets 60's music. It's punk, but happy punk that celebrates things instead of tearing them down. Not many other punk bands could pull off a quiet "Heard it Through the Grapevine" cover with nothing but fingersnaps, but it fits a Perennial show perfectly. Perennial play a fast and loose style live that plows through the audience and welcomes them to join in. It's punk that inspires dancing, not moshing. You all owe it to yourselves to experience the joy that is a Perennial live performance.

Live Shows: In Between Days Festival, Veteran's Memorial Stadium, Quincy, MA 8/19/23

Towards the end of Modest Mouse's headlining set on Saturday night, Isaac Brock commented that he can normally ignore about half of the bands during a festival, but In Between Days just kept making him want to watch every band from the very start of the day. I ended up having the same experience. When I looked at the schedule, there were some bands I wasn't that familiar with or hadn't been able to get into previously, so I figured I'd have some downtime to casually eat some food from the food trucks, or play some free classic arcade games at the pop-up arcade, but instead for ten hours (ok, at one point I did stop to shove a quesadilla in my face for five minutes) I was just blown away watching band after band after band!

I got there a couple of minutes late, and Quincy's own Gypsy Moths were already rocking the Arbella Insurance stage. Their classic Boston garage rock set the stage for the festival perfectly without sounding anything like any of the other bands on the bill. We also got fantastic sets from other Boston area bands Paper Tigers (who opened up the main stage with a mind blowing set of mainstream alt-rock), Carissa Johnson, Dutch Tulips, and Shallow Pools. Carissa Johnson was great as always, and a crowd seemed to materialize out of nowhere once she started.

I planned to eat and play some arcade games during Fantastic Cat and Shallow Pools. I had never heard of Fantastic Cat, and from what I had heard, Shallow Pools have always been a bit too pop for me. But Fantastic Cat ended up sucking me in with their Americana tinged alt-rock. I kept thinking I'd walk away during the next song, and I just kept staying. I decided to watch a bit of Shallow Pools out of obligation to at least see everyone. As soon as they started playing, I was hooked. The band played a completely infectious set of dance songs that was completely irresistible live. This may very well end up becoming a Shallow Pools fan page if we're not careful.

Slothrust have always been a band I've liked but not loved. After Saturday, that has completely changed. The band was joined by Annie Hoffman from Weakened Friends on bass, and live they were just a force of nature. They seemed to be the first band of the day people came for, and I understand why. They played a set of noisy indie rock that bordered on pop, with Leah Wellbaum secretly being one of the most magnetic frontpeople in indie rock today. Plus, busting out an indie rock "Baby One More Time" is always welcome.

I've seen Weakened Friends more times than I can count, starting off when they were pretty much Boston's house band for 90's reunions coming through town. They have grown exponentially since then, and even though I typically prefer small club shows to festivals, it was great seeing them shine in a larger venue. They played a brand new song for the first time that could very well end up being their finest song to date. It was an intense and joyous set that felt like it accidentally ended a few minutes too early.

Somehow I had never seen Sunny Day Real Estate despite being a fan for decades. Turns out I waited too long. The emo legends were unbelievably tight, and just rocked out in front of a field of die hards. Every song in their playlist was a classic, but I forgot just how great "In Circles" was in particular. I had walked away before they finished to secure a space for The Beths (who were enjoying their space on stage to watch Sunny Day finish out) and had instant regret once that song came on.

The Beths were the first band on the Arbella Insurance stage that had a crowd well before they started. This was somehow my third time seeing the New Zealand indie rockers play in the last fifty-three weeks, and I'm certainly not sick of them yet. It was a shortened version of their set at The Sinclair earlier this year, but it was no less entertaining. The Beths have this great rapport in their stage banter which is just as much fun as their live set, and they are a great live band. Isaac Brock in particular became a fan of theirs, even if he couldn't remember their name.

Modest Mouse were another band I got to check off my bucket list despite decades of fandom. I expected them to be great, but it turned out to be one of the greatest shows I've seen in my nearly three decades of regularly seeing live music. Their nearly two hour set kept the entire crowd in a state of bliss. Typically festivals are mostly filled with casual fans and a sprinkling of die hards, but Modest Mouse played to a field of die hards. "Cowboy Dan" got a much bigger reaction from the crowd than the giant hits "Fire It Up" and "Float On" received. Usually two hours would be enough, but a sizable portion of the crowd kept waiting and hoping for more even after the house lights came on and recorded music started playing.

In Between Days might just be the perfect festival. It boasted a perfect line up of great acts. There were no overlapping sets, and you could see both stages from the other one. Between four thousand and five thousand fans attended both days, which is just big enough to feel like a big show but not too big to get overwhelmed. It was easy to get up close if you wanted, or you could lounge under the shade tent or hang out in the stadium's seats. You would assume that after ten hours of music, I would have been exhausted, but I was completely wired. I took a longer way home, and had trouble falling asleep because I was still on a musical high. Usually I listen to artists before I see them, but I've spent the past few days almost exclusively binging Modest Mouse, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc. to bask in my memories. In a festival world where bigger is supposedly better, In Between Days offered a perfect alternative with a well curated line up and the perfect day of the summer.

Live Shows: Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton and Fishbone, MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston, MA 8/17/23

Like most people my generation, I discovered the music of George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic through Dr. Dre samples and the movie PCU. The 90's provided a rebirth for the funk legend, and I was lucky to see a performance of George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars many years ago at what was then Roxy. I have been meaning to see him again, but it just had never worked out. I thought I had missed my chance for good when he did a farewell tour a few years back, but luckily I was able to catch the farewell tour the third time it rolled through Boston. Ska-punk legends Fishbone were a perfect bonus for me.

Currently touring as Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, the band was referred to as Third Generation P-Funk. It makes sense considering the multi-generational band ranges from eighty-two year old Clinton to members in their twenties. The musicians and singers were a revolving group of fifteen to twenty (maybe more!) that seemed to meander on and off stage when needed. There were at least five back up singers, a horn section, a few guitarists, etc. Some songs were updated by the Third Generation and were straight up hip hop, while others kept their 70's funk roots intact. No matter what, the entire evening stayed a party for well over an hour.

At this point, George Clinton is more a Master of Ceremony than the main component of the band. He came out to start the show and sang most of the first song, but after that there was a chair for him to sit on by the drum set. (The man is eighty-two, after all, and Yelp is filled with thirty somethings complaining that venues don't have enough chairs.) He would sing from the chair, and sometimes get up to walk to the front of the stage, but for the most part he seemed more than content to bask in what he created and let the new generation shine. He had the air of a proud great-grandfather at a family reunion, just sitting back and enjoying the family he created. 

And the band was simply amazing. Every single player was a world class musician that nailed every part of classics like "One Nation Under a Groove," "Flash Light," "Maggot Brain," "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)," and, oddly, a cover of House of Pain's "Jump Around." There was even an extended period for solos that included guitar, trombone, keyboard (which I think involved the theme song for the 90's X-Men cartoon), and saxophone all getting extended time to shine.

Fishbone being included on the show was perfect for me, but it seemed like a lot of the audience didn't know what to make of them at first. Opening with "Estranged Fruit," the band focused on their new EP while playing long time fan favorites. They seemed to lean more on their funk and even gospel side than their punk roots, but they stayed Fishbone throughout. "All We Have is Now" was the song that seemed to start to pull the crowd in, and the gospel infused "Everyday Sunshine" fully pulled them in. They followed that with "Alcoholic," which included a snippet of ACDC's "Back in Black," and closed with the classic one-two punch of ska classics "Skankin' to the Beat" and "Party at Ground Zero." This was the perfect double bill, and let's hope these two bands never stop touring together.

Live Shows: Sparta, Geoff Rickly, and Zeta, Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 8/3/23

Sparta
Photo by Ken Sears

Due to bad timing on my part, I showed up at Brighton Music Hall while Zeta was onstage. I'm pretty sure I only missed a minute or two, but after seeing what I did, I have massive regrets. Zeta are a band out of Venezuela that play one of the most intriguing mixes of music I have ever seen. At the surface level, it's a psychedelic blend of hardcore, as trippy as it is heavy. But throughout the set they sprinkle in elements of hip hop, electronic music, and Latin. I've never experienced music that made me confused if I should dance, mosh, or just stand there while my face was melted off. The musicians shuffled around between various instruments, so that sometimes there were two guitars being played, sometimes there were three percussionists, and others they added some ? and the Mysterians style keys. Of all the live shows I've seen, Zeta might have been the most beautiful while being the most pummeling. I haven't been this blown away and as enamored with an opening band since Mogwai opened for Pavement in 1997. If it's at all possible, make sure you see them while they're still in the States.

Zeta
Photo by Ken Sears

Geoff Rickly of Thursday played next. It was just him and his guitar, telling stories in between songs. In fact, he might have spent as much time explaining songs or what was going on when each song came out as he did actually playing the songs. No complaints, as the man knows how to weave a tale. Thursday were one of those bands I never quite gave a chance to during my early 00's anti-emo period, but I'm slowly coming around to them lately. Rickly was definitely a draw this evening and had fans thrilled to see him in such an intimate setting.

Geoff Rickly
Photo by Ken Sears

Sparta closed out the evening with a performance of Wiretap Scars. They're celebrating the album's twentieth anniversary, even though it's the twenty-first. In an opposite of Rickly's set, Sparta chose to play the entire album without saying anything in between songs to give the true experience of the album. By playing their debut album, they opened with "Cut Your Ribbon," which is arguably their most well known song. Over the week or so before the show, I broke the album out a few times and was shocked that it was even better than I remembered. Live, the songs didn't pack the same punch as the album did two decades ago, but to be fair, neither did the crowd. (I was surprised by how restrained the crowd was during the set.) Instead, Sparta allowed more beauty to shine through the noise and discordance. Plus, bassist Matt Miller might be one of the coolest people in rock when he's playing. Once album closer "Assemble the Empire" was finished, the band got a bit more chatty and played a collection of favorites before calling it a night. Not a bad way for emo adults to spend a Thursday evening.