Kepi Ghoulie

I grew up in Melrose next to Malden in the 60' and 70'. I remember sneaking into movies at the the Granada Theater and the Penthouse upstairs to see Mark of the Devil (with barf bags), Last House on the Left and The Graduate. I remember hitching to Mt. Beverage every weekend night and hanging in the back of the lot and asking strangers if they'd buy for us. I remember the brief summer of 72 when you could buy everything on the wall at the high school before the boys caught on to it and shut it all down. I remember my father drinking at the Horseshoe bar. I remember when the Bruins hang out at a place called Cai's. I remember a riot at the the American Legion where the cops shoot up some kids car - luckily no one was hurt.

Malden had a few rockers - Mike Stewart and the Brigands, Gary Charone and Extreme, Norman Greenbalm, but it was no rock n roll Mecca. So I was pretty surprised to find myself at Faces Brewery on Pleasant Street kitty corner from the old Granada to see Kepi Ghoulie and friends.

First the bands and then a few words on the space.

Bad Idea

Bad Ideas USA were a catchy punk trio with some good riffs, snappy harmonies and a singer/guitarist who was gonna have a baby in about a month. They had that pop punk sizzle bark and bite and did a fine job warming up the crowd. They have a recent Ep on Bandcamp.

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a well packed room of 20, 30, and 40 somethings punks and rockers ready to shake their bacon. From E. Law Fb posts I gather that Kepi and bass player B Face have been touring the northeast as a duo with occasional guests. Kepi has been playing mostly acoustic guitar. Tonight's show is with a full band with a couple of Methadones on drums and second guitar.

Kepi Ghoulie

I suspect that Ghoulie's years on acoustic is part of what makes him such a charming character of a front man. He keeps the crowd up, active and participating with a mix of originals that you swear seem familiar and a handful of well chosen covers - MOTO!, Dylan, Police and Thieves by way of the Clash. I'm sure the troubador gigs are great but he is absolutely on point in the band context. Nothing fancy, just push you along rhythm with occasional spider solos from his Metadones buddy to add a little spice. B Face was the anchor. According to Kepi they hadn't practiced at all. The fact that they were sloppy tight was impressive especially when they threw a couple of tunes together as they played. I kept thinking, someone pinch me, I'm in Malden and this is one blast of a show.

Kepi Ghoulie

Faces Brewery is a new space in an old building. They've been around for a few years. The music, in a room at the back of the restaurant, is a relatively recent addition. The sound and sight lines are good. The fermentation tanks behind the band are great eye candy. Obviously this is a beer drinkers kinda joint but the food out front is solid. Ryan the Terrible of O'Brien's fame is doing the booking and, judging from the calendar, it sounds like he's is on a mission to bring the rock to Malden. After he told me about the arrangements for booking with bands all I could think was that it's not only fair but it's respectful of the symbiotic relationship between band and club!

Judging from the crowd he's on to something. Book your band. Check Faces out.

Courtney Dennison - Bad Idea_

CourtneyDennison - Bad Idea_

Sean Farrell - Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Bad Idea

Dylan Eberle - Bad Idea

Kepi Ghoulie Fans

Kepi Ghoulie

Kepi Ghoulie

Kepi Ghoulie

Kepi Ghoulie

B Face - Kepi Ghoulie

B Face - Kepi Ghoulie

Kepi Ghoulie

Kepi Ghoulie