In the five years that I’ve lived in the Boston area I’ve not yet indulged myself in its rich local music scene. Not until the show at T.T. The Bear’s Place on Friday night in Cambridge. With four bands on the bill it was an exciting and gritty night of local music.
When I first moved to Boston I thought little about its local music; there were no big names that I was familiar with and I was too lazy and too intimidated by the new scene to do the digging myself. Over the course of the last few months I’ve opened my ears to the local music scene, discovering radio programs that spotlight local music, meeting people who are experienced in its scene, and, well, by playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Harmonix, the half video game developer half musician melting pot that created Guitar Hero (1&2) and Rock Band is located in my very own Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mere blocks, in fact, from the music venue T.T. The Bear’s. Harmonix is unique in the fact that is employs a large number of musicians from local bands and features songs from the bands in the video games. One of these bands, The Main Drag, I got to experience live on Friday night.
If there was one thing that was predominate in all the performers that night it was the energy; Boston band, The Bynars started it all off with a fury of sound and each subsequent band kept up the pace. Next up was The Main Drag. With five members of the band also working for Harmonix, they brought down the house with their performance of the Rock Band 2 featured song, “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter.” Their set also featured a spirited cover of LCD Sound System‘s “All My Friends.” The Main Drag was one of the highlights for me and also won over my friends visiting from Los Angeles, we were particularly impressed with their adventurist guitarist who at one point attempted to play his guitar with a xylophone mallet. Insane.
The energy did not recede there, power pop magicians, The Appreciation Post, galvanized the stage next. They were the tightest performers of the night, with a high energy guitarist of their own really burning up the left side of the stage. The highlight of the set for me was definitely the excellent cover of Pinkerton-era Weezer, “Tired of Sex.”
Closing out the night was Brooklyn band, Plushgun. I really couldn’t imagine that the headliners would be able to push the energy level even further, but somehow they did. The lead singer’s vocals were compelling, channeling shades of Brian Molko, and we couldn’t help but notice his resemblance to mister Seth Rogan. Plushgun were handing out drum solos, foot stomps and high fives like candy and ended their set with a crowded stage full of dancing fans. It was a great way to end a supremely entertaining night of local and near local music.
The Bynars: myspace
The Appreciation Post: website | myspace
The Main Drag: website | myspace
Plushgun: website | myspace
