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The BGN News Archive
Happy New Year to our BGN Readers! First let's stop and think about those that aren't with us anymore. RIP: Mickey Clean, Grant Hart, Daryl Frasier, Malcolm Young, Tom Petty, Chuck Berry, Chris Cornell, J.Geils, Pat DiNizio, David Cassidy, Glen Campbell, Suzy Phelps, and Fats Domino. BGN 2017 Year End Review (You can view all these items in our Archive
pages. There is always a link on the left side of the main page for
that.) In January... In 2017 we started off by going bonkers on Electric Octopus. They had a unique brand of Japanese Pop that was infectious. We saw them a few times but the gigs seem to stop. We'd love to see them this coming year. Get a gig, you guys!
Corin Ashly fought back from a debilitating stroke and had a fundraising to finish up his album. Joanie Lindstrom had her 30th anniversary of being on WMBR. Her big bash to celebrate fell through but she's still thinking about a future celebration.
The first great Lyres gig this year was at the Middle East Up. At the beginning, Jeff wore a black wig. Lyres had several amazing shows this year. The BGN visited Crash Course for the Ravers with guest Andy California. The Andy/Blowfish bromance continued.
Matt Burns, drummer to every band in Boston it seems, was rushed to the hospital. He recouped and was drumming again before the year was over. January 24 Adam Ant was at The Wilbur.
Even though we had seen Loser's Circle before, the gig at Midway seems like a new band. They had great songs and high energy. The CD that came out later this year confirmed their musical advancement. There was a show with Paul Collins and the Lyres at The Middle East Up that was heaven. Here
In February... Fast Times show at the Midway. The show was full of energy and the band is full of potential. Watts released a video of "She's So Electric".
The Real Kids were at the Midway - it snowed through the night before and later the night after but lucky for us we got out in between the two storms to see the show. Simon Ritt released a 12 minute video tribute to the Boston music scene called "Dirty Water". When the Red Hot Chili Peppers played the TD Garden the guitarist Josh Klinghoffer did a short solo section playing Mission of Burma’s "That’s When I Reach for My Revolver". Here's the Video from the Boston Globe John Keegan covered Lemmyfest at Once - Lemmyfest. It looks like this will be a new tradition.
Harold Lepidus who has been on the scene a way long time and involved with Boston Rock Mag and Newbury Comics, released a book about Dylan called Friends and Other Strangers: Bob Dylan Examined. It's at Amazon.
One of the best shows of the year came from out of the blue. It was
Death By Unga Bunga at Great Scotts. Read
about that here. We saw Tom Baker and the Snakes for the first time
at Sally O'Brien's. Their CD had just come out. In March... OC45 had their van break on tour. Rev. Joseph Fagan started a new group with Laurel Blanchard and Austin Powell and called it Highway Chapel. Took in one of the many afternoon shows at Midway. That's one of the greatest ideas ever - afternoon shows on weekends. We saw a NYC group called 45 Adaptors that made a big impression.
Willie Alexander's latest project was called Willie and the Fishtones and the new CD was called I'll Be Good. Chuck Berry dies.
In April... Sonia opened in the space that used to be TT the Bears. Boy we miss TT's. Jan Crocker at Kinodv.net put together a full blown review of poster art mainly in the 80s. Check it out here. It was a super show from Actor/Observer at O'Brien's. They were a group who we sought out all year.
We went to the huge hardcore show at the Brockton VFW Post. It was a wild, sprawling affair. We got to one more show in Brockton later but then they seem to peter out. Also from Brockton The Forz changed their name to Melody Motel. We didn't hear much from them after that which is sad because they played great pop. We saw Silver Mirrors for the first time at PA's Lounge and they were one of our favorite new bands of the year. Daryl Frasier aka Billy Knightshade died.
In May... We had a party night with Indonesian Junk and the whole Rum Bar group at O'Brien's. Lost Riots from New Haven put on a show to remember at O'Brien's. We think they do it all the time but it was special for us. The fundraiser for Jay called Jam for Jay at the Midway.
It was a retooled Billy Connors Project that played Sally O'Brien's. They had new members and new songs. The final JoeFest was at the Midway. A highlight was Blue Oyster Coughlin. We will continue to remember and celebrate the bigger than life Joe Coughlin in the appropriate manner or even in an inappropriate manner that Joe would love. Captain Sensible falls down and hurts himself. The Damned continue the tour with Sensible playing from a kingly toilet set. They play the Paradise a few weeks later with the Captain on his feet.
The Scrapes have their last show at O'Brien's. Sob. I took us too long to finally hear Chanticleer a long time group. We catch them a few more times and then they split up before the year was over. Reddy Teddy, one of the longest running groups on the scene, played Club Bohemia at the Cantab. We put our comprehensive John Felice interview online.
Another long term group, Lyres, played an amazing show at Once. They did a stunning set and then proceeded to play an additional 45 minutes. It was a night to remember for those that were there. A rumor goes around that the Cantab was going to close because of sewer problems. It turned out to be false. In June... It took six months but we finally saw a good show at Sonia: The Connection, The Biters and Frankie and the Studs.
Jerry's Kids and Stranglehold played Once. We headed up north to see a show at the Spotlight club in Beverly; by August the club was closed. Playing was Greg Allen and the Fringe Religion, The Real Kids and Muck and the Mires. Last show we'll see there.
New comers make us sit up and take notice at O'Brien's: Sundrifter and Carissa Johnson. Fred Pineau gets back in action with Big City Rockers which plays Atlantics songs and later in the year began a new group called Little Billy Lost and the Cocks of the Walk. Nick Cave played the Wang.
June 19th was the all day Out of the Blue Benefit. In December they announced they were closing for good. Lydia Lunch played the Elks Lodge in Central Square. In July...
We went to the Midway Saturday afternoon shows a lot this year. In July we saw Blame It on Whitman a new young band that was worth getting excited about. We also saw Whoopi Sticks for the first time. And speaking of the Midway, they celebrated their Dirty 30 Anniversary in July with a bunch of great shows all month. Keeping up with our favorites, we saw Today Junior
and Black Beach. Debbie Harry turned 70!! We had another Midway afternoon with a DJ Easy Ed Night. It was Cranktones, Roy Sludge, The Fearless Leaders and The Barley Hoppers.
John Keegan went down the Cape to White Crest Beach for the Rockin Dune Tunes show. It was Dogmatics, Stigmatics, The Atlantic Thrills, and Mr. Airplane Man. It was a gig not to miss with Watts, Muck and the Mires and The Real Kids at the Midway. Rick Page bought a sign from Cantones from The Count.
In August ... The Nervous Eaters and Barroom Heroes played the second to last day in the Dirty 30 Celebration at The Midway. Loser's Circle came back from their first tour and they played with Hawaiian shirts on. What the hell happened on that tour?
We had so much fun at the Hospital Beds shows looking
at Tan's hopped up drumming style.
Digs had their last show at the Middle East. We will miss them. John Keegan went to Coffin Lids reunion at Sally O'Brien's. Rum Bar released a single by Justine and the Unclean. It's so good!! From now till December there was mounting interest which crescendos with their record release party at Once where they gave a tremendous show. They would get the new group of the year award from us - if we did such a thing. The Spotlight Tavern in Beverly closed. That was a big loss for the North Shore crowd. In September... Moist Boy from New Bedford was at O'Brien's. They were old school punk. Completely wild show at The Middle East with Teenage Bottlerocket and OC45s.
Nervous Eaters with Glider at the Out of the Blue. Starlabfest 6 had attractions like Lyres and Paul Collins. One of the few (only) out door concerts we went to. We recommend you check it out next year. Unnatural Axe played Gonnerfest in Memphis. Patti Smith released her new book Devotion. Review here. Fifth Annual Fuzzstival at Once.
Roky Erickson at Brighton Music Hall with Salem Wolves. It was the chance to see the legend. Muck and the Mires brought the Melvins (from Japan) over to play O'Brien's for a fun night. We were captivated by the new band, Boston Cream, who rose from the ashes of the Barbazons.
Love and Flame played with ex-members of Third Rail at the C-Note Rat Beach Party and played some of Rail's classic songs. It truly brought the old days back. There are so few chances to get the music the way it really was in 1977. A version of the Dead Boys played Once. Clea Simon released her book World Enough which has the Boston music scene as a backdrop. Amazon. In October... Stiff Little Fingers proved they still have it at the Brighton Music Hall. Openers were Death by Unga Bunga. The Blasters played Once. Tom Petty died.
We went to see Black Helicopter at O'Brien's and found Death Pesos whose song "Sean Spicer" is still bouncing in our heads. The Feelies were at the Sinclair.
The Pint Killers showed they can get a room worked up at a Midway gig with the Warning Shots. John Keegan took in Paul Weller at the House of Blues. Stranded in the Jungle a book about Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls came out.
Maladroit from France played O'Brien's and gave us a dose of their celebrity-fixated pop punk. Tubefest was at the Midway with: The Fathoms, SP4, Tsunami of Sound and the Ninth Wave.
The Woggles/Stupidity/Muck and the Mires show at the Middle East was a great one.
The same day was Human Sexual Response at the House of Blues. People were flying in from all over the country for that. We got to one night of International Pop Overthrow at PA’s. It was Crunchtime, 1.4.5. and Big City Rock. A huge night for Boston Punk with the show at the Commonwealth Hotel for the release of Live at the Rat Suite CD/DVD. Playing was Willie Loco, Nervous Eaters, Dogmatics, Richie Parsons and Emily Grogan. Rat Commonwealth show. Our last show at Out of the Blue was a good one with a primo Lyres set along with Glider and Tiger Bomb.
John Keegan covered Hasslefest 9 with Pere Ubu headlining. The report. Rick Harte was putting the finishing touches on a rerelease of the Nervous Eaters Hot Steel and Acid album which will have added tracks. John Keegan saw John Cale and Ian Hunter. The report. The Svetlanas dropped out of their US tour with the Barbed Wire Dolls because of Nazi symbolism used by audience members which Svetalans could not abide. This led to death threats and a lot of FB postings. Suzy Phelps of Hubba Hubba died. In December... Shocker!! The Noise stopped publication.
Maybe the best show of the year was Richard Lloyd and The Dream Syndicate at Once. John Keegan sees Gary Numan at the Paradise. In a service to his country Marsman digitized Terry Brenner's cassette tapes of some of Oedipus' 1977 Demi Monde shows. Bent Shapes had their final show ever at Great Scott's.
Justine and the Unclean delivered the goods at their Record Release Show at Once. Out of the Blue closed for good. Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens died. We didn't have to go another year - Boys From Nowhere debuted at the Capitol Theater in Arlington. We were promised more showings in 2018. Some of the most watched videos this year: Dream Syndicate doing "Days of Wine and Roses" -
Video Link
And in other news.....
Trinary System has a show in Washington, D.C. on Jan 6 at the 9:30 Club. It’s a benefit for Bread for the City which feeds and helps low income folks there. There are a TON of musical performers check it out on FB. Today Junior is releasing a new single on Jan 12 called “Skate Punx”. Lowell band Casanovas In Heat are disbanding. We saw them a few times and were big fans. They were young but knew their punk history. In fact they often covered Boston punk bands, like this time at O’Brien’s when they covered the Outlets' Best Friend Our write up of that show is here. About the break up they say: "Like Kenny Rogers said, ya gotta know when to fold em ?? The boys and I are calling it a day. We lost a lot of momentum waiting for our LP to come out amongst other shit, so we're hangin' up the noose. Thanks a million to anyone who thought we were cool at some point since 2010. From what we can remember, it’s been a fuckin blast. Our last show will be 1/26 on our home turf in Lowell, MA w/ bombers & conmen. In true ass-backwards Nova fashion, it will also be our LP release show."
The Punk and Poet is a new restaurant in South Boston. You can get a ‘Punk Plate” at Brunch. They describe themselves: "The Punk & Poet is an energetic celebration of wordsmiths. Located in South Boston, this cozy lil' hole-in-the-wall looks to pay tribute to words well said by the outspoken artists of our time. Stop by for a pint and chat." Check out their website and menus here. Here's some good shows coming up .....
January 6 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters, Watts and David Age & The Regrets at ThunderRoad FB page January 6 (Saturday) Highway Chapel are at Cantab Club Bo Ho January 6 (Saturday) Fur Purse Album Release Party with Whore Paint, Shepherdess, sister at The Midway And further out we have... January 9 (Tuesday) The Hi-End, Ski Bunny and Monty's Lobster at O'Brien's January 13 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, State of The Union, The Johns, Angel Martins at The Midway for a early show at 4:00 PM January 13 (Saturday) Lyres, Paul Collins Beat, Boston Cream at Thunder Road FB PAge January 13 (Saturday) Pop Nite w/ Greg Allen's Fringe Religion, Tiger Bomb, Pop Gun - at Bayside Bowl Portland, ME. FREE SHOW!
January 20 (Saturday) -Five Bands Five Bucks! Matinnee at The Midway! with The Grommets, Cotton Candy, the invisible hours, Kermit's Finger, The Instamatics at 4PM January 20 (Saturday) Muck & The Mires, Tiger Bomb, Duck & Cover at The Dover Brick House, New Hampshire. 8:30 PM January 20 (Saturday) Punk Rock at the Chit Chat with Jonee Earthquake, The Radiator Rattlers, The Grubs, The Imposers and The Lipstick Boys at the Chit Chat in Haverhill. January 21 (Sunday) Punk Benefit Show for American Cancer Society with Electric Street Queens, DNZL, Jerry’s Got Jokes, Color Killer, Whoopi Sticks at The Midway 4PM matinee show....check out the FB page for info on the Benefit!! January 22 (Monday) U.S. Bombs, Wimpy Rutherford & The Cryptics, The FUs - at the Dover Brickhouse Dover, NH - Here's the FB page
January 27 (Saturday) Il Mostro, Mercury On Mars, Uncomfortables, Silver Screams at O'Brien's Pub February 2 (Friday) It's a double shot of The Dirty Truckers with Michael Kane & the Morning Afters, The Dirty Truckers (first shot), Tad Overbaugh, The Dirty Truckers (2nd shot) at O'Brien's February 3 (Saturday) Isolations, Rictus Grin, WIMP, Ratz, Whoopi Sticks at Club Bohemia at The Cantab February 9 (Friday) The Bentmen are at Once Ballroom February 10 (Saturday) The Classic Ruins, TJ Wheeler, Black Cat Road at Bayside Bowl, Portland ME. Free Show! Starts 8:30 Sharp!
February 12 (Monday) Rocker Zine's Rock n Roll Trivia at Once. With Brett Milano and Erin Amar. Starts at 7Pm February 15 (Thursday) Major Stars, Black Helicopter & Henry Owings at Once Ballroom February 17 (Saturday) Crunchtime, State of the Union, Little Billy Lost & the Cocks of the Walk at Tavern at the End of the World February 23 (Friday) The Dirty Truckers "Best of" double shot release party with very special guests: Tad Overbaugh & The Late Arrivals and Michael Kane & the Morning Afters February 24 (Saturday) A Bunch of Jerks, Muck & the Mires, Jay Allen & The Archcriminals, Hambone Skinny at The Midway 9PM show March 2 (Friday) Damon & Naomi, Thalia Zedek and Kevin Robert Thomson at The Lily Pad Inman Square 7-10PM March 2 (Friday) Fat Togue Music presents! .Black Helicopter, Blackletter and more TBA- check the FB page for updates. March 10 (Saturday) Carissa Johnson Talk Talk Talk Album Release at Great Scott also on the bill: The Organ Beats, Lady Pills, and Watts! March 14 (Wednesday) Clan Of Xymox and Stoneburner at Once March 23 (Friday) Barrence Whitfield & the Savages at the Middle East!! FB page and tix link here. 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.
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WUMB (91.9) is celebrating their
35th Anniversary on February 2. They are also featuring Albert
O (Photo at right), who will also have been on the air for 35 years in Boston.
Albert O replaced Blowfish on WMBR's Late Risers Club way back when.
The celebration will include a performance by Peter Wolf and
the Midnight Travelers. It’s at the Cary Hall in Lexington,
MA. (Tickets are priced at $125.00!!! But you can snag 'em for $35.00
if you use the code WUMB35).
Johnny Angel has his new book coming out later this
month. It’s called In This Darkness, I Disappear.
We loved Looking For Lady Dee and
are looking forward to this new one but it's not all about Boston this
time. Says Johnny, "Much less Boston-centric, I admit. But also a lot
more twisted and bizarre from your "thrilling, erudite Blackjack"."
January 6 (Saturday) Skytigers,
Whoopi Sticks, Crowfeeder, Rarig's Kid at UnChARTed in Lowell
January 14 (Sunday) The
Black Souls, Crunch Time, I Wish I Could Skateboard, Vanishing Point
at The Midway for a early show at 4Pm
January 27 (Saturday) Red
Mantis, Silver Screams, Wrought Iron Hex & Greylock
at O'Brien's
February 11 (Sunday) The
Thigh Scrapers, State of The Union, Pop Gun, Lily Black for
an early show at 4PM at The Midway
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