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The BGN News Archive
Friday’s show at the Middle East started with just Jerry’s Kids and Straw Dogs. There was a NYC show with that bill and they thought they would bring it to Boston. Then other bands jumped in: Mung, Moving Targets and then the Bullet LaVolta reunion, which has been on everyone’s Want List for a long while. Then the project got the moniker “Boston Massacre 2018” Members of the bands showed up at radio stations to promote the show. They went to Bay State Rock on WAAF on Sunday night and Joanie’s Late Risers Club on WMBR on Thursday (and yes, that is a reminder that those are shows to catch every week). In the end it was a sold out Middle East Down before we knew there was interest but you never know what really brings people out.
Every band was something to catch on this bill. We knew that but still missed Mung. We knew we missed a good set because that was the first thing everyone was talking about when we got there. And who was there? There were lots of older punks but a good amount of young fans too. Then the people we knew: John Hess, Nicole Tammaro, Tom Baker, Justine Covault, Eddie Barese, Terry Powers, Mr. B and Chris (Mr. B was the first to record Jerry’s Kids on This is Boston Not LA), some Duck & Cover guys (Chris, Daniel and Damien), Swid, Katie the Cleaning Lady, Joanie Lindstrom, Kenne Gizmo and Gee Julie, Todd Purple, Jae Johnson, Jay Snow, John Santos and Korin Luikart, Curt Florczak, Dogmatic Jimmy O’Halloran, Mark Davis, Al Quint, Eric Law, Matt Lambert, Arlene Boyer, Mark Kennedy, Mitch and Henry from Shiny Beasts, Andrew, and Steve Prygoda, even Mike Gorham (Left Nut) made it out!
Straw Dogs are the metal version of The FU’s. Remember when all the hardcore bands went metal? That was confusing. The FU’s have been playing steady lately so they were all practiced up and had it together. You just had to get used to the different attack from the FU’s which didn’t take long. They sounded powerful by any metric. John Sox continues to shine as lead man in all band configurations. About mid-set they brought out Steve Martin from the original group and that made a three guitar onslaught. They did “Tie Your Mother Down” which was on one of their Eps. It was a long and generous set. All the sets this night were long. We thought the hardcore bands gig short sets?
The club was uncomfortably crowded but the AC was on. It was obvious from the talk and the attendance that the Jerry’s Kids reported ‘final show’ was the big draw. The Straw Dogs with three guitars was loud but Jerry’s Kids upped that threshold two fold. They meant business. The moshing started immediately. Bob Cenci was lurching and kneeling in a full on driven way. He also had his moment in the vocal spotlight. The set covered a lot of territory. In the latter part of the set they were playing some uncharacteristic atmospheric sounds that we slowly realized was The Doors’ song “The End” to mark their end, but the set went on still. They marked their career closing with a set to remember.
Now that was three sets and that was plenty. It was an unenviable chore for Moving Targets to follow that. Moving Targets is often left out of the classic hardcore listings and we all know that’s wrong. In a lot of ways Moving Targets had the most interesting songs of them all. Kenny Chambers and crew have done sets here and there through the years and they are always the same high quality. They had that sharp guitar rattle that is their trademark. They do their singing but seemed to relish the, longer than you would expect, instrumental interludes between the singing. There they bear down and did their work on the chord changes. As musicians they were reaching deep and in that focused energy they spoke volumes.
Then members of Bullet LaVolta joined them and that reunion commenced. Boy, do people miss Kurt aka Yukki Gipe and they are not wrong. Kurt immediately owned the stage. The personality comes pouring out with the singing. We are missing something not having him active in a band. A big highlight was “Dead Wrong” with everyone yelling that phrase. It was a crazy set and in the end John Sox joined the whole troop on stage and they did the Stooges’ “I Feel Alright”. There were promises of a surprise. There was a "TBA" as the final act. Since a member of the Foo Fighters crew was involved with organizing the show the hint was that one of the Foo’s would show up. Nope. After the band stopped it was soon, “Pay the bartender and the club is closing”. Fine with us, having it all local heroes was what it was about anyway. And you know…Jerry’s Kids ‘final show’? Let’s see.
We took the early show at Sonia on Saturday to catch up with Today Junior. There weren’t many others who did the same. Just about a dozen people there for the set. Despite the empty room and antiseptic stage the band warmed the room up with their set. Their music was full of feeling and yearning. They got noisy but there was always heart in the middle of the songs. Guitarist Harry had his own set of chords that were constantly moving. That coupled with the falsetto singing, gave the overall sound it’s Today Junior branding. They debuted several new songs that continued in the same style, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s no secret that we love this band. They don’t sound like anyone else and that’s maybe the problem with getting people to listen. We're glad they continue to increase their body of work and can only urge people to give them a listen. Give them a listen!!
Following them was Sun Parade. They played pop that was based on the 60’s the 70’s and some synth sounds from the 80’s. It’s written and performed so well it almost doesn’t sound real. One song called “Shuggy Mtn Breakdown” sounded like it belonged on a 70’s movie soundtrack. Moreover, listening to it made us feel like we were watching them in the movie performing it. It went further; it felt like we were in the movie too. It was uncanny. They had two singers fronting the group. They had close harmonies and that reminded us of Hall and Oats. This is a long way from anything punk but we had to appreciate the musicianship. They received a nice review in the Globe. It will be interesting to watch the future of this Northampton Ma group. More band photos below the show listingsAnd in other news .... This year's Rat Beach Party will be held FRI Aug 31- SAT Sept 1 & SUN Sept 2 --Labor Day Weekend. MOnday is a holiday so be sure to check it out.
We also have Skybar’s WMFO mate Brian Young on that list with the Thigh Scraper’s “On the Radio”. That's a ripping tune that was recorded at Woolly Mammoth. This week's Facebook action from the BGN included: A video showing the work of Punks With Lunch - that’s a group of punks feeding the homeless..... the phony baloney façade put up by Target that shows CBGB’s awning rebranded TGRT – oh, don’t get us going!..... and this week’s Punk Past where we see Willie Local played the Channel in 1988 with The Divinyls. All at our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/BostonGroupieNews/ Also...there is a documentary being made about Color Killer called Color Killer Save Punk. Ironbound Films, which is Daniel A. Miller, Seth Kramer, and Jeremy Newberger, based in NY, have started a Kickstarter page to fund the doc. You can check that out here. And.... Color Killer has JUST released their new album Generation Z this friday July 20. You can get it (and other merch ) here!! Hey did you check out our Color Killer interview yet??? if you missed that last week go here: COLOR KILLER
September 14th is the 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 We are not familiar with the recording studio world but wanted to mark the passing of Mike Denneen that has been mourned by the whole Boston rock community. Look at his list of credits and be amazed and feel the debt we owe someone we never knew. Mike Denneen's credits.New this week is Joanie Lindstrom's latest vacation in Colombia. A revealing look into what to expect if you are thinking of going there. Joanie's Colombia vacation. Last but not least RED
INVASION ...remember them?? one of Miss Lyn's favorite bands is
reforming to do two shows!! And they are killer shows too!
Here's some good shows coming up this week.....
July 26 (Thursday) The Runouts, Sonic Libido, Mercury on Mars, KCUF at Club Boho at The Cantab July 26 (Thursday) Radium Girls, Thrust Club, Lonely Leesa and the Lost Cowboys, Yes Commander at Once Ballroom July 26 (Thursday) D.O.A 40th Anniversary Tour at The Middle East Up- doors are at 7PM July 27 (Friday) The F.U.'s, Grey Matter, Scare City at Ralph's Rock Diner, Worcester July 27 (Friday) Hixx & RoadSoldier at Beatnicks in Worcester July 28 (Saturday) Punk Night at The Chit Chat with The Radiator Rattlers, Jonee Earthquake Band, Kermit's Finger, Wkeah, The Lipstick Boys at the Chit Chat Lounge Haverhill, MA July 28 (Saturday) Rockin' The Dune Tunes with Sport Shakes, Love Strangers, Carissa Johnson, Cordobas at Whitecrest Beach Wellfleet Cape Cod 5-9PM FB page July 29 (Sunday) Color Killer, State of the Union, The New Frustrations, The Stigmatics at The Midway for a Matinee Show 4-8PM And further out we have...
August 3 (Friday) Carissa Johnson & The Cure-Alls, The Life Electric, Psychic Dog, The Appleyards at The Middle East Up August 3 (Friday) Bim Skala Bim, The Dogmatics & the World premiere of the film Chet's Last Call at Grumpy's Pub in Falmouth, MA FB page for more info August 3 (Friday) Blondie are playing out at Mass MOCA also on the bill And The Kids Mass MOCA page WOW!! August 3 (Friday) PanzerBastard, Taxi Driver, Brix’n Mortar and The Downhauls at Opus in Salem August 4 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters, Jeremy and The Harlequins, Justine and The Unclean at The Middle East Up- early evening show- doors at 6:30 August 4 (Saturday) Muck and the Mires, Tiger Bomb, The Gala at Sally O'Brien's
August 4 (Saturday) Descendents w/ A Wilhelm Scream & Pavers at State Theatre, Portland, Maine FB page August 5 (Sunday) at the Midway, Richie Parsons
presents a Sunday afternoon acoustic duo show! Featuring Martin-Morell
(Eric Martin of The Neats and Steve Morell of The Del Fuegos) August 8 (Wednesday) The Blasters come back to ONCE - according to Once this show IS happening. August 11 (Saturday) Tigerman WOAH!, Threat Level Burgundy, The Screw-ups do a matinee show at the Midway 4-8PM
August 11 (Saturday) MATB, The Lost Riots, The Prozacs, Wretched Hive at The Hotel Vernon in Worcester. 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 Screams will be opening up for them. TIX here. 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) 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 24 (Friday) Actor|Observer (Record Release) w/ Long Time at Great Scott
August 24 (Friday) Lyres, Glider, Pop Gun, Knock Ups at Koto in Salem August 25 (Saturday) Silver Screams, The Black Cheers, (Rockin Bob) Punk Band, Grand at the Midway for a matinee show 4-8PM August 25 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Hi-End, The Stigmatics, The Legendary Cazbats 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
September 2 (Sunday) Banshee, Funeral Cone, Feedbag, Time Out Timmy, Sewer Buddies day show 4PM- at The Midway 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 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) 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) 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 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 ameet and greet and early entry. Please!! 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 October 12 (Friday) Salem Horror Fest After Party with Diablogato, Gray Bouchard and the Dedications and Petty Morals at Opus in Salem October 15 (Monday) 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 20 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters, Indonesian Junk, Duck & Cover at the Middle East Up 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. 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.
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We talked about some radio shows in the show reviews above this week, here’s
another one. This Tuesday at 8pm on Rising, Skybar’s
show on WMFO 91.5 FM he is going to interview Chris Brat about
Duck and Cover’s new CD Rob Them Blind. We have
one song from that (“Live It Up”) on our 
Paul Collins has a new album in the works- release date- September
28 from 
July 26 (Thursday) Distressor,
Offside, Psychic Weight, DNZL at O'Brien's 
August 3 (Friday) Sternman, Deep
Space Diving Suit, Get Set Go, Fuzzy Bumble at PA's Lounge Union Sq
Somerville.
August 4 (Saturday) DJ Easy Ed
presents The Fathoms, Trabants, The Fearless Leaders at The
Midway
August 11 (Saturday) Billy Squire
presents: A Night On The Delta featuring Andy California, Billy
Squire, Detroit Rebellion, Hambone Skinny, and Red House
at The Midway
August 31 (Friday) MATB, After
The Blackout, Time Out Timmy, Color Killer, Cook Bag at Beatnik's in
Worcester
September 11 (Tuesday) Killing
Joke on their 40th Anniversary Tour at the Paradise FB page
September 18 (Tuesday) ALL AGES MATINEE-
1-6PM : Hudson Falcons, Genuine Rust, Sonic Libido, Losers Circle
at the Thirsty First Tavern in Lowell.
October 18 (Thursday)
The Proletariat, Savageheads, Silver Screams at
Sonia
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