Midway Café Jamaica Plain Ma M-13/ HUDSON FALCONS/THE F.U.’S The Beachcomber Quincy Ma THE GRINDS/ Moroccan disco/ hot dog place/FULL BODY ANCHOR/ lesbian Irish music- 6/11
So I’m hung over, not a state I’m unfamiliar with and not a condition I’m unaware how to cure. A couple full glasses of water, small coffee and some calories in the system- some lovely Beefaroni, whole grain, how healthy, today. Gotta go to the bank which is now conveniently connected to a liquor store. They should combine them both so people can get their lottery tickets and booze from the same place; just subtract it from the paycheck.
Have plans to snag an interview from the majestic McGunks today, they emailed me they were going on second and I know there’s a five o’clock show. So about an hour before I go I figure I’ll write out the questions and make sure I remember how to use the recording device. Well, lo and behold the Goddamn thing is doing crazy things, it’s broken, I’m in a panic as I have three interviews scheduled tonight. I don’t have much time, I go to the Radio Shack website and the store locater is very complicated (it’s asking me questions like favorite pizza topping). I put Radio Shack and my town in Google and find something between me and the Midway.
Show up at the store, ask for their simplest device (I don’t hate technology, technology hates me). It’s a sale and I get to the Midway by 5:30.
I see no McGunks but do see Brian from Bad Lieutenant, introduce myself, find out the show is related to Teenage Heart records which he runs and also, there is a later show and the McGunks are playing in that one. It’s all right, have some Narragansett Summer draft (is there really a Narragansett micro-brew, you gotta be kidding) but still, part of the cure.
I get to see M-13 for the first time and they are one kick ass hardcore band with more metal leanings than punk to my ears. No guitar solos but lots of neat tempo changes, hard driving rhythms and in your face vocals. Very, very impressed with these guys. Find out later they are from Connecticut and understand now their need to aurally destroy.
Hudson Falcons are next and they mix some poppy/punk tunes with a little more mainstream rock. Undecided about these guys until they pull out a Dictators cover, “Stay With Me,” towards the end of their set, very cool.
After that the Midway catches on fire and no, no rhinoceros were involved. Actually owner Dave has sparked the barbie causing the smoke detectors to go off. “This show was so hot the place caught on fire,” I say to Brian. As the fire trucks arrive people just look blasé.
After that the McGunks show up and we descend into the bowels of the Midway where normally, unspeakable thing happen but we just do an interview while the F.U.’s start their set. Actually, catch most of their set whose highlight for me is “Young Fast Iranians,” with fans yelling into the mike provided by John Soxx. Great, legendary Boston hardcore band that never fails to deliver.
By this time Andy Bang has arrived after checking in with his probation officer and we’d like to stay and see the McGunks and Bad Lieutenant but we have things to go, places to do.
We take the bangmobile to the Beachcomber at the lovely Wollaston Beach. Walk in on the Grinds set, it’s the second time I’ve seen them and don’t they have the place rockin’ with their sixties influenced garage rock. The place is on fire! Thank God we’re next to a beach! Just a fun band to see. After their set, it’s about 9 pm and I’ve had five beers so I have to get something to eat next door (hot dog and hamburger) so I won’t perish or pass out as I have work to do. Corner Amy, from the Grinds, and deputize her to gather her band mates for the interview out on the patio. It’s like corralling inmates from an insane asylum. But after downing tubes of alcohol from a lovely, blonde lass, who swears vodka is in them, for two bucks I have a couple of them.
I interview the Grinds while some band is playing Moroccan disco music but then Full Body Anchor is ready to play and play they do. Starting off with my favorite song by them, “Sound Searching,” they continue doing their able take on modern rock. One highlight is when singer Eric Edmonston topples backwards on the stage causing some friends to rush forwards but he continues to sing perfectly prone on his back. They do a great set and afterwards I interview them while a band plays lesbian Irish music or something equally compelling.
Then a detail cop is yelling at us to leave the premises and all the people scatter like cockroaches in a slum kitchen when the lights are switched on at 3 am. Hop in the bangmobile, speed off into the night. And it’s just another night; another night of mystery and intrigue; excitement and danger, Beefaroni and Narragansett Summer brew in the life of your intrepid reporter- Slimedog- the voice of the people, the scrotum of the masses, the nightmare of your dreams.
