This article originally appeared on Boston Band Crush ). Friday, 7/24, Middle East UP
Brendan Boogie and the Best Intentions, were all dressed up like they were ready to board a yacht and through a series of mishaps ended up on stage at The Middle East. They blasted through a set of power-pop, and Brendan even tried to bust out some 2LiveCrew (as they were in town that night, playing Downstairs).
More photos of Brendan Boogie and the Best Intentions here.
Northampton’s Winterpills were up next, and they played very soft indie-rock. I really enjoyed back-up singer, Flora Reed’s voice–it was husky and had a great deep tone. Some of their quiet arrangements were lost on the audience, but towards the end of their set they played some songs that ‘rocked’ a little more and worked better in the loud rock club setting.
More photos of Winterpills here.
This was The Grownup Noise tour-send off show, and the room swelled right as they were hitting the stage. These kids were on fire, delivering the best set I’ve yet seen from them. They also play kind-of-quiet indie-pop, but they know how to rock out. The bass and drums hold down a foot-stomping groove, while the keys and cello add melody and texture. The keyboard player surprised me when he stepped out to the front of the stage to play accordion while wearing gray mouse ears. It somehow came across as oddly heartfelt. Things really got rocking when they pulled out a cover (claiming this was a one-off performance of it—though I think it would go well towards winning over out-of-town audiences) of Jump Around by House of Pain. They had guest trumpet on the song and got the entire audience bouncing (including a VERY enthusiastic Brendan Boogie).
It’s going to be a couple of months before you can see them back in Boston (possibly at a BBC sponsored event –we’re hammering out details now) as they are on a very ambitious month long tour in their veggie van (see tour dates here).
Here is the footage of Jump Around:
And the rest of their set:
More photos of The Grownup Noise here
We couldn’t stay for Varsity Drag (when will the MBTA realize that rockers need to get home too?) but it was their EP Release, so go listen and go buy!