Wednesday, July 16, 2008

"WAAAAH! WHAT ARE THESE NOISES?" THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES AT STARLAND 07/13/08

It was so great to see The Mighty Mighty Bosstones again. They played on a three band bill with The Dropkick Murphys and Civet in the parking lot outside of the Starland Ballroom on Sunday. 

If I'd known what the deal was with the show, I might not have gone. But I'm glad I went. Basically, we had to go to a huge lot about a mile from the venue, then walk a half mile to get a school bus to take us to the Starland Ballroom's parking lot where the show was. It was all fenced in blacktop: kind of like going to a concert in a prison yard. It was hot. We sat through Civet, who were cool for a few songs, but their singer had the Courtney Love raging yell going on, and after a while I wasn't feeling it, although I can see that they have some potential. 

But, like I said, I was glad we went. It felt like we "earned" the show. And that's the thing about the Bosstones: you kind of had to go out of your way to get into them. Even when they had a hit single, they were never the band that was being forced down your throat on the radio or in print. The mainstream just didn't know what to make of them. Yet, they had and have tons of fans who are really loyal. Judging by the all ages crowd at the show, they have a new generation of fans, too: there were lots of young kids who were probably in grade school when the Bosstones released their last album in 2002. They were great: I was glad to see sax player Kevin Lenear back in the band. And I have to say that trombone player/singer Chris Rhodes was awesome, and is a good replacement for "The D-Man," Dennis Brockenborough.  And Dicky Barrett is indeed a cold blooded entertainer, and one of the best frontmen, even if he isn't the best singer. Here's hoping the Bosstones do more shows in the future. If they do a Hometown Throwdown in Boston this December, I'm there. 

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