Boston Groupie News - Reviews by John Keegan

Carissa Johnson and The Cure-Alls, The Nervous Eaters

Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band

Barrence Whitfield and the Four Piece Suit

The Paradise

Sept 30, 2021

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter." - Mark Twain

There is an apocryphal tale that there were three musicians on board the boat with Ponce de Leon when he went searching for the Fountain of Youth. Rumor has it that they were not popular with the crew and they split as soon as the ship landed in Florida. Ponce was quickly offed by the locals. No one knew what became of the three musicians. One theory is that they found the Fountain of Youth and proceeded north through the years until they ended up at the Paradise last night. The names listed on the crew manifest were Willie Alexander, Steve Cataldo, and Barrence Whitfield. I'll have what they're drinking!

Carissa Johnson

Given the lineup, Carissa Johnson and The Cure-Alls are an interesting choice to open the night. Do they represent a little torch sharing, a warm welcome for the gals, and or a nod toward well-spent youth? In any case, the Cure-Alls laid down spirited, up-tempo indie punk with a singer-songwriter’s ear for a tight story. Johnson lays down the law with the big bass and shows the crowd that the band’s stream of public accolades is well deserved.

Steve Cataldo

The Nervous Eaters show a new face with Adam Sherman on guitar, Brad Hellan on bass, and David McLean on drums. They are in turn tight, rangy, and mangy. Cataldo chooses to forego some of the raging riffs of youth for a batch of new, slightly less caustic, but engaged, steely-eyed takes on his world. No sitting on the hits tonight. Cataldo follows Dylan Thomas' advice and does not go gentle into that good night.

Nervous Eaters

The early Nervous Eaters always had a dose of lyric bile behind their proto-punk anthems. It would be great to have a bouncing ball to follow along with with the new tunes like openers "Wild Eyes" and "Why You Telling Me Now". Time for a new disk? They rip through "Just Head" and "Hot Steel" and hand the party off to Willie and the Boom Boom Band.

Willie Loco and the Boom Boom Band

Sherman sets the Wayback Machine to 1977 and Willie pegs it with "At the Rat". He blossoms like a shock-topped, wild, gangly weed the second he hits the stage. Years melt away. The band is cranking and Loosigian is on fire. His solo on "Bimbos" cuts through like a laser beam. Don't let it hit you in the eyes.

Billy Loosigian - The Boom Boom Band

Willie's arms flap in the breeze, his hair is standing on end perfect, and his fingers dance on his well-traveled keys. He's in love with rock and roll and the crowd is loudly in love with him. He lets us take a breather with his homage to Kerouac - originally recorded with the Nervous Eaters as the backing band, talk about full circle. "Radio Heart", "Hit Her Widda Axe", "RnR 78", "Dirty Eddie", and "Mass Ave" never let up. It was spectacular.

The Paradise is a little over half full for most of the show. The crowd thinned out before Barrence took the stage with Four Piece Suit. Pity. They picked up where the Boom Boom band left off.

Barrence Whitfield

They grabbed the R & B and soul and delivered the gift to "The Girl From Outer Space". They scorch us with "Stop Twistin’ My Arm" then soothe us with "Apology Line". Four Piece Suit are different from the Savages, a bit more subtlety and a touch more range. Tonight however, they pick up the Savage’s rock and roll torch and absolutely blast off.

Barrence Whitfield and the Four Piece Suit

Barrence warms his voice up with some Tuvan throat-singing. His famous yowls and howls are in fine form. No need to wait for the vibration - it's flying off the stage. The hard cores left in the room know a hot blast when they hear it and jump the shimmy and shake. Fast or slow everything feels go go go. They wrap up the night with a screaming take on Nick Lowe’s "Peace, Love, and Understanding". In case you hadn’t had enough they slide into the Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" as a tribute to Charlie Watts.

What a night it was!!