Thursday March 28th 2024

Slimedog’s Top Ten Live Shows Of 2016

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Slimedog’s Top Ten Live Shows Of 2016

 

I reviewed 37 shows this year and all of them I enjoyed but these are the ten I enjoyed the best.

And I’m picking the two best (or is that four?)-first.

One of my favorites happened 6/5/16 at the Midway Cafe with Nervous Eaters/ Fast Times/ Interfectum (now known as Crimespree) and Jumper! Besides the great lineup this show was meaningful to me because it was the first time Nick, the singer/guitarist from Fast Times, shared a bill with his dad who plays in the Nervous Eaters. (The later being one of most popular Boston punk bands in the late seventies and eighties, one Andy & I saw numerous times. In fact, the first band I saw at my first punk show, at The Rat in 1977, was the Nervous Eaters!)

The crowd was a mix of young and old and though the early bands were geared more towards hardcore, everyone seemed to adapt to the slower, but still potent garage/punk that the Eaters played. And it was great seeing Nick onstage at the end, singing along to their biggest local hit, “Loretta.”

Now, this show’s lineup was almost duplicated later in the year with The F.U.’s and Kermit’s Finger added, and those bands and that show was great, also. But the first one stuck in my mind, stuck in my heart, too.

The other top pick is really three shows that I saw together and they were part of the five tribute shows for Keith Brooks that all took place on one weekend in May. Keith is a fallen hero and a fallen friend greatly missed by many on the scene and these shows were ones he’d have love to seen (though some may be right, that he was there.)

I believe it’s fair of me to count this as one show as the first two shows took place Saturday, 5/21 at The Midway (from 3pm to 2am) and then after waking up Sunday at noon, by 2pm I was seeing bands at The Firehouse. Both Midway shows had 6 bands and the last one had 9, so I basically saw 21 bands straight- and everyone was excellent, especially a reunion set by Refuse Resist which turned out to be my pick for second best set of the year. And kudos to all who organized these shows like- The Wreck Center Boys (Boston Collective), Lyz Red, Sean Connery, Viviam Lorenz and Brass N Ammo.

This was a great tribute to a great guy, all raising money for a great cause- his daughter. These shows were the ones that made me the most proud to be involved in this local music scene. I only wish the next day when I awoke that I was going to another show!

Mikke’s Dirty Thirty Show at La Estacion, Plymouth, MA 2/6/16. Fast Times, The Pity Whores, Worm, Dirty Lincoln, Mooseknuckle, Whoopi Sticks and unlisted. This took place at a Spanish restaurant in Plymouth and though I worried about future shows, what with the many broken beer bottles that littered the floor and the broken disco ball- I also figured, “Who else would go to a Spanish restaurant in this town but some crazy punks?” This was a wild, fun night and they did agree to have more shows only to go out of business before that happened.

3/13/16 Out Of The Blue, Two- Cambridge. This was more a women’s orientated show (more women musicians than men) with only two bands that we cover, but I got to see Gas Station Girls, my favorite punk band, for the first time and the great, riot grrl band Gravel, also, for the first time. “Never believe what the powers that be tell you because it’s often wrong. You see, they got their brains in sideways and they can’t really see, though they appear to be looking. And what comes out of their mouths are not words or sound but hatred, ignorance and lies. But what came out of the hearts and minds, emotions and thoughts, ideas and expressions of tonight’s show was perfect and sublime.”

7/9/16 Jamaica Plain Porchfest- The Manglers, The Grommets, Kermit’s Finger, Eric Taylor. Lo-fi, low volume playing in a garage, hot dog eating family event, was unique and more punk  than most shows that I see in clubs.

8/13/16 Koto, Salem MA. The F.U.’s, The Stuntmen, Rockin’ Bob’s Punk Band, D-Sagawa, The Ungraded. This show caused the TNB offices to relocate to Japan after being greeted by local geisha girls Gail Kokorhan and Nina Rosashan. Great lineup and a fun show with the best set of the year going to a new, young d-beat band, D-Sagawa, whose recording also made it into my top five!

I enjoyed the JP Porchfest so much that, of course, I had to do the Roslindale one as well- and I had a great time there, too. 9/17/16 The Guilloteenagers, The Dick Pics, The Knock Ups.
The Knock Ups had some great, riot grrl inspired songs and The Guilloteenagers, as Tony The Tiger says, are great and their recording made it into my top 15 of the year. And I did see the first two bands at a show at the Midway, a couple of months later and that was awesome, as well, but this low key event in a neighborhood driveway was more weird, hence: special to me.

10/29/16 Midway Cafe. BarRoom Heroes, The Martians, pink parts, Noisebreaker, Whoopi Sticks, Jay Gauvin. From seeing the BarRoom Heroes so greatly improved from a couple of years ago to great sets by pink parts and Whoopi Sticks, and odd, strange ones by Noisebreaker and The Martians (sorry, I missed Jay’s set- he’s from the great punk band The Prozacs) this was a pretty wild affair.

12/10/16 Thrash N Bang’s Annual Xmas/Pizza Party. Forget that boring, traditional Christmas stuff- our traditions include, “gouging our faces with pizza, gouging our brains with beer and “holiday spirits,” gouging our eardrums with decibels only a jackhammer operator is more familiar with.” Starting with a solo set by the great songwriter Jenn Lombari (of Lucky United), Fast Times playing one of their best sets ever, (aided by wardrobe designer Rachael May), Crimespree breakin’ the laws of how much fun is allowed and The Martians changing the title of one of their songs to “Slimedog Sucks,” this is exactly what I wanted for Xmas!

And all I hope for the New Year is to attend as many great shows as these.

(Slimedog)

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