Lenny Lashley / Jared Hart / The Skeleton Beats / Live Nude Girls
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, 9/19/15
So this is another “Boston’s Burning” show put on by Mark Lind of The Ducky Boys/The Warning Shots and this is always a good time, meaning- lots of shows, lots of bands, lots of fans and lots of hardcore/punk rama-lama, ram a llama’s ding dong on fire extravaganza!
Well, I may have overstated the case in my last paragraph but truly, my pee-pee feels like it’s on fire when ever I hear ol’ Mark is organizing this event.
And no, it’s not “Boston Calling” it’s “Boston’s burning with boredom now. Boston’s burning dial 99999.” Which is 6 upside down and since six is Satan’s number I believe that implies Satan is doing a 69 with Bill Cosby.
Which is what, I suppose, Mark intended us to think about all along when he created this great ball.
And now, without further adieu- on with the show.
The first band is Live Nude Girls and though the show is live and two of them are girls and they are not wearing veils…well, that’s about as close as you’re gonna get.
But hey, at least you don’t have to throw dollar bills onto the stage after each tune they play.
They consist of C.E., she writes and sings and plays acoustic guitar, Aria, x-Radical playing bass and backup vocals and C.J. , x-Old Edison on fiddle.
No drums, so this is acoustic fair but most of their songs ring bold and true.
My favorites are “Shakin’ It” a duet with C.E. and Aria and “Sycophant,” which ends with C.E, screaming “Friday” over and over.
And they are a sight to behold with Aria to the left, pluckin’ his bass while stomping his foot to keep time, C.J. To the right, waiting to descend into the song with her whirling fiddle while dancing and prancing in step and C.E., stage center, stalwart, strumming her guitar with her great voice wailing into the air.
A fun band to see, a fun band to hear and yes!- they are punk. Folk/Punk, if you must know, a great band you should know or will know when you see them.
Next band is The Skeleton Beats who play 80’s style punk meaning, punk more influenced by say, the New York Dolls than Black Flag.
This is not hardcore. This is rock’n’roll with a punk/garage edge and this is, more precisely- gritty, rockin’ tunes fronted by a very able female lead singer.
And Johnny C., who is a soundman/doorman at the Midway whenever he’s not playing in his numerous bands dedicates a cover of The Dead Boys “All This And More” to “everyone over 35.”
Which leaves me out but they do a great version of that song and turn in an excellent set.
Jared Hart is the next batter in the box. I know he’s from a New Jersey band called The Scandals and I know I’ve written that he’s one of the best acoustic solo acts I’ve seen perform.
He has a gruff, growly voice and somewhat moody, somber songs but he brings a lot of feeling, craft and emotion to his performance and to no surprise he does so convincingly today.
Lenny Lashley from the obscure Boston hardcore band, Darkbuster, is last to perform. But it’s not on the stage but from behind the bar as he is still on duty there.
It’s okay but it is a bit disconcerting when he stops in the middle of a song so he can pour someone an Ipswich Ale. (Only kidding)
This is the part of the review where I reminisce and go back in time.
So I was aware of Darkbuster, of course, and TNB was brand new then and I’d seen Lenny perform solo a couple of times and I wasn’t impressed.
In fact, one Saturday afternoon I was at a punk show at the Beachcomber in Quincy and Lenny performed and I still didn’t get. That night he was also performing at what was last known as the South Shore Music Hall.
It’s a big room with pool tables off to the side and another room with pool tables as well.
I noticed when a band played it drew its followers toward the stage but others drifted to the outskirts.
The long gone Frontrunner played first (believe me, in the hundreds of gigs I see if I can remember the lineup it must mean something). They were a straight ahead hardcore band. OC45 followed, maybe my first or second time seeing them with their pop/punk/ hardcore and then Taxi Driver with their heavier hardcore- my first time seeing them.
And then it was time for Lenny.
I said to myself- this doesn’t look good.
They just had three hardcore bands and now he’s coming up with his acoustic? I had a bad feeling about this.
Once he took the stage though, all the pool playing stopped. People hanging in other rooms came to the center. I saw people queue up in front of the stage to listen reverently to Lenny.
And I was amazed how well it went over and the attention of the crowd. And it really moved me how much these young people appreciated and understood Lenny. And then, so did I.
I’m gonna mention that Jason and Audrey’s young child sang background into an extra mike during one song and had perfect timing. I’m gonna mention that Rocky the pug was put on a stool on stage during the song “Bruiser” about the recently deceased dog of Lenny and Shelly.
But I’m not gonna mention any other particulars of this show because, though I do have more notes sometimes info can actually obscure what goes on.
I’m gonna mention that what Lenny epitomizes, what the fans that came out to see him play, what the songs he sang-what the notes that rang out from his acoustic guitar, what the beer that was spilled in front of the stage-what the joy and rage, frustration and jubilation, fear and guts, love and hate that was experienced and felt today- is not only Lenny’s performance today, is the punk communities performance today. And is what I feel blessed to relate- always.
(Slimedog)
