Stray Bullets / The Warning Shots / Oh! The Humanity / Whoopi Sticks
Middle East (Up), Cambridge, Ma 11/21/15
So I know I have to be at the Middle East in Cambridge by one-thirty to catch the first band. I’m a second shift kind of guy and I worked till midnight, last night. Noon or twelve-thirty is when I usually rise. But today not only do I have to leave my house by one, breakfast and lunch must be eaten beforehand.
And the fist band is Whoopi Sticks. Lindsay, my punk daughter, who has set up the show is there; Sydney, who took such great photos of the band is here as well. But I am also greeted by Natalie, a student I knew from when I worked at Mass Art a couple years ago. And an original member of this band, who I introduced to Lindsey. And it’s great to see her and though she’s moved back to Pencil-vein-yeah, her and Lindsey are still great friends.
Whoopi Sticks is tom-tom beating, bass punching, guitars exploding, vocals yelping no-wave, new punk- grab you by your vital organs and pulverize you with some sound that will reinvigorate you and blast you to the moon.
And they have a new song about anal torture (by the government) that they’re against (though strange considering that Lindsey used to teach water boarding or snow boarding or some equally gruesome torture method). They do clarify that if you’re into that sort of thing yourself, they’re fine with it- which let me breathe out a sigh of relief.
They’re excited because it’s their first time playing the Middle East and I must say this is, by far, the best I have heard them. I’d be surprised if this is not my favorite set of the day (turns out to be true),
During their last song a medley of “Jaws” and the oldie “Show Me The Way To Go Home”, they call up Natalie and after a slight push by me she obliges. And they complete an awesome set of punk influenced music.
Oh!The Humanity is up next and though they play all high-energy rock tunes and play them very well, I wouldn’t call them punk or hardcore. Starting a song with a dual harmonic guitar line gives a hint that your heart is in other types of music.
Their is nothing wrong with this band. They have an engaging front man, too. They are just not the type of music I like.
The Warning Shots is the current band of Mark Lind of Ducky Boys fame. And, in no surprise, they play well-written pop/punk songs with underlying hardcore attitude.
Mark talks at one point about “the old days.” And how he came out of a scene that produced the Dropkicks Murphys. He makes the point of how there’s a good turnout today, but it takes continuously setting up shows and telling friends to ask friends to make a scene happen, but if you do soon the ball is rolling. And he’s right!
The Warning Shots play a few songs before they play my favorite by them “Holiday.” (No, it’s not the Madonna song). And do a set of good, anthematic, heart on your sleeve, pop/punk songs and sound great in doing so.
The last band to play today is the Stray Cats and their rockabilly style is top notch.
What? Oh, sorry. Andy Bang just informed me that I was having an LSD flashback from the eighties; made more unusual as I have never ingested LSD.
In fact, it’s Stray Bullets who play ska/punk/pop and they are the best at what they do. What more can I add?
How about they have one of they best rhythm sections in town and around with slammin’ swinging drums and solid, hard hitting bass.
They turn in a set that gets the crowd skanking and moshing and puts a smile on everybody’s face.
The excellent front man announces, “This is a song against drugs,” and I quickly dash to the luxuriant mens room to flush my stash of LSD down the toilet. It’s one of their best songs, “Knife To The Pusherman” and seriously, drugs are no laughing matter. I like to say “drugs are like magic, they make your friends disappear.”
It was a fun matinee, I’m so proud of my daughter for organizing such a great show and performing so well. It makes me beam with pride. Just like it makes me proud to be associated with such a great group of people, the punk community.
(Slimedog)
