More and more music venues are starting to pop up in the suburbs of Boston, and the latest discovery is Fireseed Arts Center in Framingham. It's mostly a studio of "... makers of fine hand-crafted products made from recycled and repurposed materials." Many of their products include 420 paraphernalia and musical instruments, so it makes sense that they would also dabble in live music. Once I saw that Jennifer Tefft & The Strange were holding their album release show there, I jumped at the chance to see the new venue.
Lovina Falls opened the show, and it was the first time I had seen them since the Rock & Roll Rumble. Valerie Forgione's new musical project took the stage with nine members (I believe, could be off by a person or two) including a violin player who came and went and two backup singers. Lovina Falls plays a dark version of pop music that the average fan of pop certainly would not consider pop. With so many members on stage it was quite easy to get lost watching members, but your attention kept getting drawn back to Forgione. She's a captivating frontperson, and her style of music just gets better and better the more you experience it. I feel like I got more out of the performance this second time seeing them, and I can't wait to experience Lovina Falls for a third time.
Little Billy Lost played next, and were a band I wasn't too familiar with until Friday night. They're a band made up of Boston rock veterans including members of The Atlantics, Figures On A Beach, and L-Seven, along with others. They play a mix of Nuggets style garage rock and just pure rock and roll, with a little bit of punk thrown in. That sound is kind of my thing, and they grew on me more with each song. It was just rock music lacking any pretention, and Little Billy Lost are playing it purely for the love of the music. What more do you want on a Friday night?
You know how sometimes you see a performer and have no idea how they're not one of the most popular artists around? How some artists have this innate charisma, a sound that's the perfect mix of mainstream and original, and have a collection of killer sounds that you have no idea how they're not playing in front of thousands of adoring fans every night? That's what it was like seeing Jennifer Tefft & The Strange. Tefft is one of the most captivating performers in Boston, and I simply couldn't not focus on her for her band's entire set. They play a version of pop rock heavier on the rock with some punk edge thrown in. It was truly an all ages crowd for their set, with teenagers and middle aged fans fully rocking out and dancing for the entire set. Personally I just stood there with my mouth agape just being blown away by a straight up rock band. Jennifer Tefft & The Strange aren't reinventing the genre. Instead, they've just perfected it. A song like the recent single "Going Out" is an absolute anthem live, and seeing that it's a rock song about going out and cutting loose, it was a perfect song to hear on a Friday night. Seriously, make sure to find the time to get out and check them out next chance you get.
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