popwreckoning

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

If you have missed the Nightmare of You tour in your city, start kicking yourself now. You may have just missed the best show of the summer.

Brian Bonz (minus the Dot Hongs) kicked off with his angelic, but devilishly powerful voice accompanied by acoustic guitar. He accented his chord progressions by alternating taps and slaps on the body of the guitar to create a rich percussive effect. As he teetered between Fleet Foxes sweet to Kevin Devine power, Bonz made an excellent impression as he showcased some of his new album’s songs. When it came time for him to end his set, he broke out a cover of Broken Social Scene‘s “Super Connected.” It’s something that I’ve heard him do before, but it just gets better and better, especially when you consider that there are like a bajillion of them on stage for the song and Bonz delivers the whole tune perfectly all on his own. In fact, all of his songs were written for full band, but on this tour Bonz has done an excellent job working them into solo arrangements.

I stepped outside to grab some air before the next act, Plushgun. I rushed back once I heard their danceable synth riffs filter outside. When I came in, I was surprised to see that everyone had a glow stick and everyone was dancing to the band’s toy xylophone melody. At a glance, it would be easy to write them off as another cutesy, but silly band like Hellogoodbye, with their tight pants and sunglasses at night. However, upon a closer look, these Brooklynites proved they had some serious skills. They guys switched around instruments, got the crowd moving, had some really clever lyrics and the drummer just absolutely killed it with one of the most impressive drum solos that I’ve seen in a long time. After already impressing me enough, the singer took the show a step further asking, “You guys ready to have a dance party for real?” Before jumping into the audience and busting out some moves. Plushgun was a lot of fun and I can’t wait for them to come back through on a headlining run.

It would take a really strong headliner to follow up the two amazing opening acts, and though I had seen Nightmare of You before, I must admit that I was nervous if they could meet that challenge. I had overheard that singer, Brandon Reilly, was sick. In fact, he was so sick he didn’t join the rest of the band for the interview he was supposed to do with us, and when I saw him walk through the venue, I knew he had seen better days. I doubt the sweltering Kansas heat was helping much either. So knowing these conditions, I really didn’t expect much from his performance. And I would have excused him.

Fortunately for Kansas, Reilly still delivered. They got off to a bit of a rocky start, but once they found their groove for “Days Go By,” the band was jamming. Quite literally. I was quite surprised by the many instrumental breaks and intros that they added to many of their songs. They were done quite tastefully and instead of dragging like some jam bands tend to do, these nicely reiterated themes and allowed individual musicians in the band to shine. Not that solo breaks were necessary when songs like “I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard” already nicely highlight instruments like the bass.

To add even more flavor to their music, NOY was joined on stage by Bonz for several numbers, usually for the new songs off Infomaniac. While songs from their folksier first album will always hold a firm place in my heart, I am excited to hear the new album when it drops August 4, 2009–especially after songs like “Gavi” blew me away.

So if you sat at home this particular Tuesday, seriously, kick yourself. Then do your self a favor and go buy music from all these bands or go look them up.

Set List:
Experimental Bed
The Days Go By Oh So Slow
In the Bathroom Is Where I Want You
You’re Very Dear to Me
Gavi
I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard
Ragga
Thumbelina
I Think I’m Getting Older
My Name Is Trouble
Amsterdam
Heaven Runs on Oil

Nightmare of You: website | myspace

Photos by: Joshua Hammond