Preface: This show was held in the basement of an Elks Lodge in Cambridge and I went by myself, and it turned out to be a magical experience. Please allow me to wax poetic in a far less dry manner compared to the Cate Le Bon review.

Basically I spent the T ride thinking about how potentially weird it could be being there by myself at a place where a lot of people are going to know each other (local music scene yo', it's the way that works (generally)). By the time I got there I was pretty psyched out, and it was really awkward until the music started since I was just, you know, sitting there waiting. But I had a beer so that was company! Uhm. But yeah. The Elks Lodge. I walked for a couple blocks and the only reason I found the place was because of the red neon "open" sign right above the stairs leading to the basement. This place was definitely off the beaten path and all that was asked was if I was planning on drinking, followed by the ID check. Weird shit. Even weirder when you go inside and this place hasn't been touched since the 80s, dust and crap everywhere and it was beat to hell. But that usually has the markings of a good show so I rolled with it.

Reason for the show: A kickass band from Boston called Grass is Green releasing an album that's now out on Exploding in Sound Records which is one of my favorite labels.

Okay so yeah, probably 50 people there for the first set which was post-hardcore band [Trespasser](trespasser.bandcamp.com)). They were okay, if I was into that kind of music I would have liked it more. But I had a beer so it was okay watching them by myself. By the time another Boston band, Krill took stage there were a lot more people. And holy crap, these guys slayed live. A fusion of Garage, Punk, and Post-Punk into a fury of really good, really interesting tunes. The frontman seemed fucked up on something though.

In between this and the next set, I realized that Sadie Depuis, of Speedy Ortiz fame was right next to me. Needless to say I fanboyed out for a while before I introduced myself to her, and spent a couple of minutes talking to her. Then Palehound took stage, and if you like female-fronted garage/punk music then check this band out! They've been featured on Pitchfork and all that jazz-hype, and for good reason. After their set I met up with their lead person, Ellen and turns out she's from NY too so that was cool. Geeked out with her and made friends because that's what you do when yr alone at show.

Sooooooooooooo Ovlov was on next, and if you don't like them you should probably just stop reading here. Because I love them. And because they played one of our Dadstache Records shows earlier this month. That I conveniently missed because I was moving out here. By this point around 200 people were in this basement. So after they destroyed everything about reality, I finally got to meet them. They're awesome guys, I spent a lot of the rest of the night with their singer and drummer. Turns out they're from the same town as a friend of mine and are friends with her too, so that's a small world. But really, holy crap. Go see these guys if you have a chance.

Back to Grass is Green (already linked to them dammit), who were releasing their album "Vacation Vinny" that night. They played for an hour, and while they were good I liked the previous sets better. This band was a kind of indie punk-experimental-lo-fi fusion and they were super loud. It was a cool set, a cool show, and I met some cool people. Hopefully I'll be able to see them again at some shows around here.


posted 3735 days ago