Stray Bullets / The Black Cheers / Neighborhood Shit / No Tox / Orphan Kilbot / Slitstich
Middle East (Up), Cambridge, MA 5/23/15
Well, I’m outside the Middle East. You might not know the Middle East, as a nightclub, is here because of Billy Ruane.
He wanted to book a bunch of shows for his birthday one year (he booked TT The Bears, at the time) and he asked the restaurant next door if he could book some shows downstairs there, in the old, unused bowling alley.
The owner said “Yes” and the rest is history.
Pretty soon, TT The Bears will be history. Billy Ruane is history, also. He was a drunk and he had problems. Seems to describe a lot of us, especially me.
So I’m outside the Middle East, or ZuZu, upstairs, downstairs, it’s still very confusing to me. But I’m glad to hear that the Middle East is taking over TT The Bears space.
I have friends here with broken limbs- Jay from Honest John with his arm in a sling from skateboarding, Dennis in a sling, also, from getting hit by a car while on a bike!
But let’s go inside and see if the first band is ready to play.
Slitstich is up first, a trio from Worcester area who play what I like to call punk’n’roll. And I like how they play it. This is an un-slick, gritty, aggressive, passionate band that reminds me a lot of The McGunks, meaning- very punk in attitude but more rock’n’roll than hardcore.
If I was a drag queen I would say they are a “fabulous” way to start the day with, but since I’m just a drag racer I’ll say instead, “When the checkered flags fly this band is a winner.”
Orphan Kilbot is up next. This is pop/punk as the vocals are melodic and beat upbeat. Nothing wrong with that but when you make me think of Green Day instead of The Buzzcocks that means not good things to me.
But I will admit later I listened to their bandcamp and “Sober Girl” I think, is a great song. Maybe it’s because I’m too sober to get into them today so don’t listen to me.
Now it’s time for two of my favorite bands from Boston to play.
This is like a double whammy. This is like coming back from the dead and becoming a reborn Christian the same day! This is like winning the lottery on tax free day! This is like meeting the girl of your dreams…and she has a girlfriend…she wants you to meet.
Well, maybe not that good.
No Tox takes the stage. Big hulk of a brute, bass-man Joe, has gone from long hair to a perm to no hair at all in what seems like a blink of an eye.
These boys are the remnants of Toxic Narcotic, these are guys who excel in hardcore supreme.
Today they rip the top of our heads off with political crust/ hardcore and smash our exposed brains to smithereens.
Perhaps that’s where Big Joe’s hair is gone?
All I know is these cats are gone, nobody in the world can play hardcore finer. And you can put some Aunt Jemima on your pancakes in Carolina and it won’t change a damn thing- these guys are great!
Set of the day- set of the day in the world!
It’s Neighborhood Shit’s time to lay down their shit and they’re willing and able to hit you upside your head with some doom/ zoom/ hardcore/ raw meat/ roar metal/ ground up grindcore that scorches my soul, makes hair grow on unseemly parts of my body and sets my nose-hairs aflame!
I haven’t seen them for awhile but they impress as always. And they do give a shit about their neighborhood, South Boston, singing songs that address yuppies moving in and police harassment. This is city music by city people that isn’t very pretty but like real art, reflects the grime and dirt, the frustrations and disappointments, the wildness and despair of city life.
They play so hard and fast that guitarist Brandon almost passes out.
Nurse Maia attends to him and he barely escapes the clutches of Satan to live and play once again.
Around this time the illustrious, industrious, indispensable guitarist Chris Brat strolls onto the bar. “So you guys aren’t playing, I ask?” “No, we are,” he retorts definitively.
Seems it was Minor Revolution who canceled, not them.
Which is good for me, because I dig The Black Cheers, dig? They play a kind of punk’n’roll, too, mixing it with garage and a dose of glam as well. Like mixing beer and Jagermeister and paint thinner.
They Have Dan, Darkbuster’s old drummer on vocals, a young bassist Ricky who plays with guts, the aforementioned Chris on lead guitar and a terrific drummer Scotty, who will also play with the next band, as well.
And they proceed to kick ass as they are wont to do. Though not so much a band to mosh to; their music is a partyin’ type of brand.
Stray Bullets is the band that follows. They play ska/punk and are at the top of the style they do. They start off the set with “Knife For The Pusherman” the lead off song from their last excellent album and also, from the last video they made.
Though I never go to ska shows, it seems every other month I’m seeing this band on some show I attend. And believe me, I’m not complaining.
I’ve got to leave, the show’s over, it’s only ten p.m.
But I haven’t eaten since lunch. You see, when I go to shows I lose track of time. It’s kind of like a drug. I don’t feel hungry, or tired, or if I’m hungover it just goes away. It’s like a natural stimulant/tranquilizer for me, and it’s my favorite part of the week.
That is, next to when I write my reviews.
(Slimedog)
