Dot Rats / See This World / Neighborhood Shit / Mongorellis
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 1/22/16
This show was set up a long time ago but since it came a few weeks after Keith Brooks death, it was suggested by friends on facebook that it would be a show that Keith would have been at and it could be a sort of informal tribute to him.
I think most people reading this should be aware of who Keith was, but if not he was well known in the Boston/Providence hardcore scene and promoted quite a few great shows over the last three years or so.
He also suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and though he didn’t die in Afghanistan I figure he actually did, another casualty of war.
But on the bright side, it’s a great turnout tonight for him and the bands, with two of the bands paying tribute to him during their sets.
And there are so many faces here that I haven’t seen in a while. There’s Matty Bebop, last time I remember seeing him was at a For The Worse show at the Middle East Up- him ripping up the pit. Lauramom and Nurse Skinhead Heather are in attendance as well. And Little Red Ryann Hood (a five foot flaming red firecracker) and her girlfriend Sam- back for good after three years in Hawaii. Hooray!
Mongorellis are up first and though they’re new to me it seems they’ve been a band for a few years. They have ex-members of Insult and Psycho and the style the play is definitely not hardcore, more like early punk/garage rock. What I like to call punk’n’roll. They call themselves “Ramones style punk” and though they mix it up more than that description, I feel that’s pretty apt.
And I feel it’s pretty apt to say that this is a very fun, very good band that starts this evening off nicely.
The next band I haven’t seen in a while and that’s a shame ’cause Neighborhood Shit is one of my favorite bands around. Like our website, they’re a mix of punk, metal and hardcore and are a great representation of the the music we cover and some of the best music being made today.
I know if you ask them they’d probably say they simply play hardcore. But they have a lot of tribal and doom-y rhythms, black and death metal vocals (often in the same song) and like the best of the new, young bands they take their influences from a wide spectrum of great stuff to create their own unique and potent sound.
And they run the best underground space in Boston- the Boston Wreck Center (home for a lot of great, underground bands.)
They get the moshing going, play a great set and bassist/singer Alex gives a toast to Keith, who they knew well, plus a shout out for the Midway as the “best regular nightclub in Boston.” And where it’s coming from that means a lot.
See This World is Dave Tree’s new project and I’m thinking most of you are aware of his band Tree, one of the most popular local hardcore bands in this area. With this project he drugged and kidnapped the musicians from Dot Rats and made them record an EP with him (reviewed elsewhere on this site.)
But all that’s in the past now with no hard feelings as they are ably backing him up tonight.
And what I’m hearing is some great hardcore with dabs of reggae, garage rock and experimental in the mix.
Dave has a great voice and besides singing he’s using that to exhort us to drink his new “Tree Beer” that is available at the Midway. I would try it but I’m not drinking for a month (this is actually true.) I send my liver to Miami for a month every winter.
But if his beer is as strong as his music then you should be intoxicated with just one sip.
Dot Rats is up to take us out and this is another favorite band of mine I haven’t seen in a while.
Their style is a blend of hardcore and rap with two singer/rappers and a lot of metal touches in the music provided by the excellent musicians.
To tell you the truth, this style is not one of my favorites but these guys do it with such a tremendous punk spirit, with such flare, that they win me over each time I see them.
And they also give a nice tribute to Keith asking for a moment of silence for him during their set.
Mark Doherty, the leader of this band, gave up drinking recently (this is actually true.)
And though you wouldn’t guess it by his performance he has some kind of bug/flu. “I was throwing up outside against some car and some guy honked at me and I’m yelling at him, “I’m not even drinking.”
As I tried to tell Keith before, drinking isn’t important. It shouldn’t be an important part of your life.
Your health, your friends, your family and your music are what have meaning and that was never more evident than tonight.
(Slimedog)
