OC45 Photo:Blowfish

OC45 love to tour. They usually throw in a local show at the beginning or end of the tour, but Friday’s show at the Middle East Up looked like it was just an ordinary gig. They usually draw well but the ME was less than half full which was not a problem for having a fun night.

Michael Kane and the Morning Afters Photo:Blowfish

We caught some of Michael Kane and the Morning Afters. We’ve seen then a few times and seems to us they’ve changed a bit. There’s was less straight up punk and more Americana in the sound. That’s only a general idea because they straddled a lot of different genres. We should probably just forget that and enjoy that gritty mix they've come to. Michael wears a suit but it got sweaty and disheveled in the business of rocking out. Some of the songs begged to be sung along with and many were happy to join in. They ended with their usual rendition of "Born to Run". They had guitar problems and hit a few wrong notes in the mid-section but they had so much fun doing it you couldn’t not like it.

The Morning Afters have been working the clubs unrelentingly for a while now and are getting some attention and more high profile shows like The Cranking & Skanking Fest with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at the Worcester Palladium on AUG 25.

El Escapado Photo:Blowfish

El Escapado are from Nashville. OC45 claims them as touring friends. They played fast and were dynamic on stage. The music seemed to fly by undistinguished if you didn’t listen close. There were times when you would catch some words or a short melodic section and things got interesting.

They could tighten things up but they were having too much fun on stage to think about doing that, and you know, this isn’t the Handel Hayden Society here. The singer was all over the stage and then on the lip of the stage connecting with the audience. He's a party guy. Later after the set people held him upside down as he was…drinking?...or ‘butt chugging’ (as OC45 said on stage)? Photo They made Adam from OC45 come on stage as they wished him a happy birthday…and smashed a cake in his face! Photo

OC45 Photo:Blowfish

OC45 said they hadn’t played in a month but didn’t sound rusty. They sounded as tight as ever. Their songs had twists that require the whole band to hit and they did. The songs sound like regular fast punk but actually have words that carry a message and sometimes an emotion. That’s why they rate high in our book.

It was heartening to see the song “This Bottle’s Got Your Name On It” getting a huge response from the audience. That song has some depth and OC45’s audience knows it as they joined in to sing. The line “I got exactly what I wanted” was repeated over and over and hit the heart every time.

They're also very political. They have strong feelings that they funnel into some songs. Again the audience was one with the band as they sang their song about gun violence called “Keep Your Guns”. Read the lyrics to that song on their bandcamp page to see how much content they can get in their lyrics. Another highlight was “Trainwreck” which related a total breakdown dealing with things going wrong. The tagline is “Fuck the world” and everybody was jumping on stage to add their voice to that too.

Surfing to OC45 Photo:Blowfish

There was lots of moshing and some crowd surfing. OC45 are one of the best punk bands around!

Our one complaint is that they don’t do enough local shows!!

Saturday afternoon we went to the Nave Gallery in Somerville for Soaring Through the Matrix: Magnus Johnstone Paintings show.

For those that lived through the early years of punk in Boston, Magnus’ artwork was ubiquitous. He used to illustrate Radio Free Punk which was Oedipus’ listings of the top songs he played. You had to get that to know what was going on. His work was very identifiable wherever you saw it, like in Skunk Piss magazine. (That was an amazing idea for a fanzine in retrospect, but that’s another story.) There were lots of people making punk music but Magnus was the one guy with the visuals. His radio work with hip hop and world music was of extreme importance and was very influential.

One thing we realized from seeing the paintings is that we basically knew Magnus’ work from Xerox copies and black and white renditions only. Examples of that work is on Jan Crocker’s Kinodv.net site. The paintings were a revelation! You could see that he had a definable style. He built up figures by using colored oblong blocks. The paint in those blocks was thick but smooth.

It seems like he was funneling the world with simple forms comprised of those blocks. At first glance things seem abstract but almost all the canvases had human figures or animals in there.

Julia Mongo WMBR, Joanie Lindstrom, Brian Coleman and Kenne Gizmo Photo:Blowfish

In his early drawn work the images seemed nightmarish but these painting had a playful feeling. Colors were not natural but muted greens, yellows and browns.

These were painting that rewarded close viewing and the totality of them added up to a statement. Magnus had found a strong artistic voice with this series. We mourn his early passing anew. The Nave show is there till the 19th. Nave website

We met Brian Coleman at the Magnus show. Brian has published the wonderful Buy Me, Boston Local Ads & Flyers 1960s – 1980s Vol 1 book. It's a time capsule for all Bostonians who lived through those years and used to read the local mags like Boston After Dark. If you don’t go to our Facebook page you missed this flyer we posted to the right.

It’s the opening day of The Rat under Jimmy Harold’s management. The band that was playing was Phluph. They were a Bosstown Sound (1968- 1969) band that had somehow remained alive till that date in 1974. It didn’t take too long for Mickey Clean and his cohorts to find the club and then the punk scene in Boston began. We owe Brian for that find. He’s dedicated to continuing with a few more volumes. You can get the book here

And in other news ....

Magazine corner….

Curtis Casella got some attention with the spotlight on his Taang! Record store in San Diego in the well respected Goldmine Magazine.

Shindig Magazine from England has an interview with Jonathan Richman. It’s notoriously hard to get an interview with Jonathan and harder to get a good one. They did it! He says he still listens to and gets a lot from the Velvet Underground albums. It seems he’s going to have some playing by Jerry Harrison on his next album. He talks of “Roadrunner” and his current audience. And BTW- Jonathan is doing four nights at The Middle East Up - Monday October 15 through Thursday October 18!!

The next page has a story on Doug Tuttle, the current provider of psych. We’ve covered Doug a few times. That’s a good high profile article for Doug. We haven’t seen a gig from him lately but he’s working on an album now and if he gets out there you should make it a point to check him out. Shindig knows you should.

Our faves The Dammed are all over the current issue of Vive Le Rock. They received a trophy for “Band of the Year” at an award ceremony from the mag. We slowly have seen the Dammed become rock royalty. Who would have guessed that from those very early days!!

A show we want to give some attention to is at the Right Turn in 440 Arsenal St, Watertown. on Saturday, 8/18. It's Johnny Plankton & The Sea Monkeys (punk & hard rock covers) of Sole w/The Flying A Holes(orig.), 8 sharp!

Joanie and Sara’s Swede Stampede on WMBR has been canceled. No future date has been fixed yet.

Vapors of Mophine's 25th anniversary performance of Cure for Pain at The Middle East Up on October 6th is already sold out!!

State of the Union, who we talked about last week, have announced a CD release party at the Midway Sept 28 with The Gala and The Hi-End. We heard some of that material and it is awesome!!! FB event page You should be there!! They will also be on A Crash Course for the Ravers on Saturday Sept 15 - that's WMFO 91.5 1-4PM YEAH!!

and...the Agnostic Front, Death Before Dishonor on Sunday 9/23 at the MIddle East Up is also sold out!!

Color Killer continues to get attention. This time it’s a whole page in Sunday's Boston Globe. We’re sure that won’t the end of it either, not nearly.

Tongue Party who we saw at O’Brien’s on 2016 is back on Sept 10. FB page

Mark your calendars and clear your day for this one: LOCAL Focus: a celebration and sale of boston rock photography And Bob Colby's Goodbye Party and Rock Extravaganza, 20+ of Boston's music photographers, spanning four decades of Boston music photography, will each display two prints in the Ballroom at ONCE. 2pm - 10pm FB event page

A Bunch of Jerks, one of Rum Bar’s stable of bands that will conquer the world, has a new video out of a song called “70s Euro Minge”. Now we had to look up ‘minge’ but we’re still laughing. The vocalist Stabitha was part of the Boston Babes Wrestling Association so she has a ready-made video presence. This video is coming just before a new release of a single with “Camping Weekend” and a version of Queen Bitch which they nail with Stabitha’s vocals and perfect guitar.

November 17 at Sally O’Brien’s there's a Post Punk 1977-87 Cover Night that looks like tons of fun. 3 super groups will be covering songs from 1977-87. (punk, new wave, synth pop etc) your super groups will be: Chuck Ferreira, Josh Pickering & friends, Duncan Wilder Johnson & friends and Anthony Kaczynski & friends. FB page

Here's some good shows coming up this week.....

August 13 (Monday) Agent Orange, Fea, and more at Ralph's Diner in Worcester FB page

August 15 (Wednesday) Agent Orange are at the Brighton Music Hall TIX! Silver Screamsand Fea will be opening up for them. TIX here.

August 16 (Thursday) Viva Gina, Thrust Club , Radium Girls, Yes Commander at Sally O'Brien's

August 16 (Thursday) Feed the Punks with Sweet Brian at Jeannie Johnston Pub in JP. No free food but PUNK music spun by the DJ and a set by Video Filth

August 16 (Thursday) Agent Orange w/ FEA, MOTO and Zero Holds at Alchemy in Provi, RI

August 16 (Thursday) Michael Kane & The MAs, Reverand Dan, Volstead Act, Jonee Earthquake at the 13th Floor Music Lounge -JJs Tavern Florence, MA

August 17 (Friday) Yooth Decay, Braindeth, Cook Bag, The Knock Ups, Whoopi Sticks at Club Boho Cantab

August 17 (Friday) OC45 & Vaulted at the Verb Hotel - MUSIC STARTS at 5:45 PM and its FREE

August 17 (Friday) Wreckless Chords presents: Gang Green & The Dogmatics...with...Diablogato, Antibodies, Worm- at the C Note in Hull - start time is 7 PM

August 17 (Friday) Richie Parsons Band, Tiger Bomb, Random Ideas at The Bayside Bowl in Portland, ME

August 17 (Friday) The Mess-Around will have their regular cast back at full strength with Jay Allen, Tom Baker and Justine Couvault. Joining them will be 3 firstimers, Chris Wagner from Modern Day Idols and Chris Kennealy and Rebecca Frank from The Gala. 4-6PM at The Plough.

August 18 (Saturday) It's Johnny Plankton & The Sea Monkeys(punk & hard rock covers) of Sole w/The Flying A Holes (orig.) at Right Turn Live 440 Arsenal St, Watertown, 8 sharp!

And further out we have...

August 21 (Tuesday) Mike Oregano, Coffin Salesman, Chandler Cross, KCUF, Gregg Perry at Tavern at the End of the World

August 24 (Friday) Actor|Observer (Record Release) w/ Long Time at Great Scott

August 24 (Friday) Tarantula Brothers, Black Leather Lagoon (members of The Gala US), The Egos at Opus Salem FB page

August 24 (Friday) Lyres, Glider, Pop Gun, Knock Ups at Koto in Salem

August 25 (Saturday) Silver Screams, The Black Cheers, EVERT, Grand at the Midway for a matinee show 4-8PM FB page

August 25 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Hi-End, The Stigmatics at Club Boho at The Cantab

August 26 (Sunday) Sunday Matinee with Reason To Fight, Abductors, BFC, Pint Killers at the Midway 4-8PM

August 28 (Tuesday) In The Whale, Tied To A Bear, Blood Built Empire at O'Brien's Pub

August 28 (Tuesday) FAVL (from Italy), Brix N' Mortar, The Martians, Union Boys at Opus in Salem

August 30th to September 2nd 6th Annual Rat Beach Party The C-Note on Nantasket Beach! More info to come later!!

August 31 (Friday) Battery Bridge, Elle Zee, Corrola DeVille, Screw Cart and Fat Randy at Club Bohemia

August 31 (Friday) Petty Morals & When Particles Collide at The Plough

August 31 (Friday) MATB, After The Blackout, Time Out Timmy, Color Killer, Cook Bag at Beatnik's in Worcester

September 1 (Saturday) He's BACK!!! Keytar Bear (all healed up from his motorcycle accident) with Tsunami of Sound,A Bunch of Jerks and Last Ones at Sally O'Brien's

September 2 (Sunday) Banshee, Funeral Cone, Feedbag, Time Out Timmy, Sewer Buddies day show 4PM- at The Midway

September 2 (Sunday) Beware the Dangers of Ghost Scorpion!, Le Yikes Surf Club, Little Troublemakers, Black Beach at O'Brien's

September 4 (Tuesday) Evil Engines, Gasko, State Of The Union at O'Brien's

September 4 (Tuesday) The False Pretenses - A Tribute to The Pretenders (on Chrissie Hynde's Birthday) at Plough & Stars, Cambridge. Featuring: Andrea Gillis, Chris Cote, Melissa Gibbs, Charles Hansen, John Sheeran, Jim Janota. 9PM start

September 8 (Saturday) Color Killer will be on A Crash Course for the Ravers WMFO 91.5 1-4PM FB page

September 8 (Saturday) Mobina Galore, New Warden, Stray Bullets, Lucky United, MOTO at The Midway - 4-8PM early show

September 8 (Saturday) Richard Mirsky's CD Release Party at the Midway (night show)

September 8 (Saturday) The Queers on a boat!! doing the Rock On! Concert Cruise FB page for tix etc

September 9 (Sunday) The Queers, The Prozacs, CityState, Color Killer, Wretched Hive at the Waterfront Tavern Holyoke MA FB page doors at 7Pm

September 9 (Sunday) Punks For Pets 2018 w Special Guest Mobina Galore at The News Cafe Pawtuckeet RI FB page

September 10 (Monday) Aneurysm, Tongue Party, Knock Over City, Forktie at O'Brien's

September 11 (Tuesday) Killing Joke on their 40th Anniversary Tour at the Paradise FB page

September 11 (Tuesday) Cheetah Chrome's new "Dead Boys", The Ghost Wolves, Midnight Creeps, The Worried at Alchemy in Provi RI. The Midnight Creeps!!! so glad they are back!!!

September 12 (Wednesday) Cheetah Chrome's new "Dead Boys", The Ghost Wolves - added to the bill- The Nervous Eaters and the reformed Red Invasion!! at Sonia. This is one of only two shows Red Invasion will be doing. FB page

September 13 (Thursday) MC50 presents Kick Out The Jams - The 50th Anniversary Tour - whoa!! This is Wayne Kramer celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the MC5...with special guests!! At the Paradise. FB page

September 13 (Thursday) Carinae, Stuyedeyed, Zip-Tie Handcuffs at O'Brien's

September 13 (Thursday) Fall-Fest 5 Day 1: featuring The Avengers! also on the bill - Silver Screams, Boot Rot, City Problems and a bunch more bands. It’s at Alchemy. Music starts at 8PM Here's the FB page

September 13 (Thursday) Hudson Falcons, Genuine Rust, Sonic Libido and more TBA at This is an ALL AGES Matinee! at Thirsty First: Tavern & Grill, Lowell.

September 14 (Friday) Illegally Blind presents: Way Out, Russian Baths, Black Beach, House of Harm at O'Brien's

September 14 (Friday) Ten Dollar Mistake, Cold Expectations, The Melatonins at the Tavern at the End of the World

September 14 (Friday) Records Collecting Dust II Film Premiere at Regent Theatre in Arlington: it "focuses on the East Coast cities of Boston, New York and Washington DC, and includes in depth interviews with twenty eight highly influential people from the 1980’s hardcore punk rock music scene." Including- Bob Cenci (jerry's kids) and John Sox (The FU's) as well as Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi, John Joseph of Cro-Mags, Dave Smalley of DYS/Dag Nasty, Amy Pickering of Dischord Records, John Sox of FU's, Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits/Quicksand, Roger Miret of Agnostic Front and Clif Croce of The Freeze." FB page

September 15 (Saturday) State of the Union will be on Brian Young's A Crash Course for the Ravers on WMFO 91.5 1-4PM

September 15 (Saturday) The Hideout, In The Meantime, DNZL at O'Brien's

September 16 (Sunday) Black Market Flea by Boston Hassle & Ignore Rock n Roll Heroes - we went in June and it is awesome!!Lots of great vendors. Check it out folks!! 12-6PM FB page for info

September 16 (Sunday) LOCAL Focus: a celebration and sale of boston rock photography And Bob Colby's Goodbye Party and Rock Extravaganza, 20+ of Boston's music photographers, spanning four decades of Boston music photography, will each display two prints in the Ballroom at ONCE. 2pm - 10pm FB event page

September 18 (Tuesday) ALL AGES MATINEE- 1-6PM : Hudson Falcons, Genuine Rust, Sonic Libido, Losers Circle at the Thirsty First Tavern in Lowell.

September 21 (Friday) Von Traps, Some Kind of Nightmare, Ray's Occult, Live Nude Girls at Club Boho

September 21 (Friday) Thalia Zedek Band album release party with special guests Sleepyhead at The Midway

September 22 (Saturday) The Knock Ups, Titans of Industry, Sweetcreem, MIDI Myers at The Midway

September 22 (Saturday) The Dogmatics, The Dents, HEAP at Cafe Nine in New Haven CT

September 23 (Sunday) The McGunks, Quiggs, Port City Saints, The Martians do a Sunday day show at the Midway 4PM

September 23 (Sunday) FEAR Plus Special Guests at the Middle East Down- Tix are $25...but maybe you'll want to shell out $125 for a meet and greet and early entry. Please!!

September 28 (Friday) State of the Union's CD release party at the Midway with The Gala and The Hi-End. We heard some of that material and it is awesome!!! FB event page

September 28 (Friday) Have Nots, Lenny Lashley's Gang of One, Cuidado, Blood Stained Brindle at The Middle East Up

September 28 (Friday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Soraia, Hambone Skinny & The Connection at Sally O'Brien's

September 28 (Friday) When Particles Collilde, Dirty Dottys, Bloom at O'Brien's

October 12 (Friday) Salem Horror Fest After Party with Diablogato, Gray Bouchard and the Dedications and Petty Morals at Opus in Salem

October 14 (Sunday) Jagger Holly, MATB, The Prozacs, Mongorellis, Color Killer at Beatnik's in Worcester.

October 15 (Monday) Jagger Holly, Mongorellis, The Prozacs, Jimmy Jacked, Color Killer at Opus Salem

October 15 (Monday)- October 18- Thursday Jonathan Richman at the Middle east Up.

October 17 (Wednesday) The Damned are back and at The Paradise.

October 18 (Thursday) The Proletariat, Savageheads, Silver Screams at Sonia

October 20 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters, Indonesian Junk, Duck & Cover at the Middle East Up

October 20 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Crunchtime, The Jiblantos and The Black Souls at The Midway for a 4PM matinee.

October 27 (Saturday) Lyres, GLiDER, the modifierS at The Middle East Up- Early show doors at 6:30PM

October 27 (Saturday) The Descendents w/ Teenage Bottlerocket at The Palladium in Worcester FB page for tix etc

November 2 (Friday) Roky Erikson at Once. Tix here.

November 10 (Saturday) The FUs, GLiDER, Classic Ruins and Screw Cart at Club Boho @ The Cantab. This is show 1 in a series called The Rosebud Rocks...remembering and celebrating our beloved Rosebud in Davis Square that was sold 4 years ago.

November 17 (Saturday) Post Punk 1977-87 Cover Night at Sally O'Brien's - 3 super groups will be covering songs from 1977-87. (punk, new wave, synth pop etc)
The groups are: Chuck Ferreira, Josh Pickering & friends, Duncan Wilder Johnson & friends, and Anthony Kaczynski & friends. FB event page

December 1 (Saturday) the second and final Red Invasion show - with Funeral Cone and Brix N' Mortar and one more TBA. @ The Middle East Upstairs

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com Send us your gig listings, your news and anything else ya got!! You want your CD reviewed?? Contact us for that too.

El Escapado Photo:Blowfish

El Escapado Photo:Blowfish

OC45 Photo:Blowfish

OC45 Photo: Blowfish

Michael Kane and the Morning Afters Photo:Blowfish

OC45 Photo:Blowfish