Jonee Earthquake Band / Chanticlear / Duck & Cover / Loser’s Circle
Koto, Salem, MA 9/4/15
This is a dual texting live review. But, no- it’s not with my usual compatriot, Andy Bang. It’s with my punk daughter, Elle Dubs.
And the way this worked out was, she was at the actual show. And while I wanted to go, I was incarcerated in jail after being arrested for “indecent exposure” outside the Midway.
I texted her to bail me out which she refused, only because she was going to such a great show. She did promise to text me the details of the show, which she did, and I have added my comments about the bands that played.
And good news about my case. My lawyer got me off as he cited “lack of evidence” much to my chagrin. I got myself off later but there’s no need for you to hear about that.
Elle Dubs- The show is starting late because of a missing snare stand but Troy, former owner of Horror Business, shows up with one. Yay! Everyone claps for the stand.
The show starts right at ten amid restaurant patrons with bar maidens navigating around the punks. There’s a small, wooden floor for a stage next to a carpeted restaurant floor. Bar ladies keep crossing in front of the stage while the band, Loser’s Circle, plays.
This place is like a restaurant that decided to have shows as an afterthought as it was just a sushi place when it started.
I think this is a pretty strange place to have a show as they have fancy food here. The bar ladies cross in front of the stage plugging their ears with their fingers.
I think it’s a pretty good turnout, so far, and Matt, the new drummer for Loser’s Circle, sings on some songs with his sweet, Elvis 50’s style microphone. There’s a toolbox holding the bass drum from slipping away and Aria (Live Nude Girls) jumps in to help by sitting on the toolbox until people find a rug to keep it in place.
Slimedog- Loser’s Circle is a band that arose out of the ashes of one of Boston’s best hardcore bands, Refuse Resist. Now, reborn as a pop/punk band with enough passion and grit to inch them towards a hardcore sound with a new drummer to boot- Matt from the recently deceased Radicals.
Elle- The songs “Ghost Of Yesterday” and “Loosing It” are great songs and were supposed to be on a split with The Radicals that never came out. The song “Loser’s Circle” is great, too- sounding like Jawbreaker and The Radicals combined.
Punks are getting crafty tonight solving snare and bass drum problems. BTW Jonee Earthquake is playing two shows tonight. One here and one across the street at Opus, people are walking back and forth between the two shows.
There’s a disco ball over the stage’s brick wall backdrop and Chinese style painting in back of the drums. No, this is not your typical punk venue. But it’s Sydney’s birthday!
Slimedog- Who’s Sydney?
Elle- My friend!
Slimedog- Is she Sydney Vicious?
Elle- Ha ha!
Slimedog- Duck & Cover is one of two bands that we cover who played the Rock N Roll Rumble last year. But please don’t hold that against them. They’re a mix of pop/punk, old school punk’n’roll, garage and have a singer that once made me think of Alice Cooper ( a wonderful thought, indeed).
Elle- Duck & Cover is the second band to play. They have some surf-y beats and put some middle fingers in the air. They end lots of songs by jumping. The highlight of the set is the song “Knock ‘Em Down.”
They are really well rehearsed. Chris, the singer, jumps around a lot and stands in a commanding way and smiles at friends while he sings. And he dropped to his knees while playing.
Slimedog- Was that to propose marriage to you or to look up your dress?
Elle- Ha Ha! There’s a lot of ladies here for a punk show. Chanticlear, who booked this show, is the third to go on. They have super energy, lots of jumping around. They are rock’n’ roll punk (punk’n’roll).
The bar is getting very packed for them. They are very upbeat and though I want to see them get angry sometimes, it’s just so impossibly fun that you can’t get mad.
Slimedog- I’m mad that no one is mad! Chanticlear is a great pop/punk band whose cd will be in my top five of the year. You can call them pop/punk but calling them great would be more definitive.
Elle- They end with a cover of The Misfits song “I Turned Into A Martian.” Radio hit “Worst Friend” was the highlight of the set.
Slimedog- That’s my favorite!
Elle- They’re on the label Blue Effects and have gotten the best crowd response so far. “Wasted” is a song people really like along with “Haverhill” and “Girl Crazy.”
Slimedog- Jonee Earthquake is a strange band that’s been around a while now. I was recently informed that the singer, Jonee, who dresses as a pirate, used to play for G.G. Allin which explains a lot. This is more a garage/surf band than what we usually cover. But either way they are fun band to experience and they carry the spirit of punk in their music.
Elle- Jonee Earthquake is the last band to play. They play the surf song “Girl On A Skateboard” with upright bass that rules! Jonee has a cool black and red guitar. They do the song “Worst Job” and Joe Riot from Chanticlear comes up to sing along. Lots of rockabilly folks show up all dressed in black, looking tough’n ‘rough.
Jonee introduces the whole band including the new drummer, Howie, whose muscles are so big the drum sticks look like chop sticks in his hands!
Lots of gang vocals. Lots of beer being spilled in the excitement. Lots of drunken support! Fists raised and sing slinging fun! And yelling and crazy ruckus fun!
Slimedog- Sounds like it was a great show. Can you please bail me out now?
(Elle Dubs & Slimedog)
