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Boston Band Crush Archived Article: Show Recap Crush: Electric Six and Bang Camaro at The Middle East

May 4, 2009 by

This article originally appears on Boston Band Crush ).

I had already planned to attend the show, but I was called in at the last minute to jot down some notes on the Friday night rock show at The Middle East. Detroit’s Electric Six and local rock stars Bang Camaro have a lot in common. They both shamelessly fire off absurd chorus-focused songs with a definite favoring of fun over substance. The Middle East’s capacity crowd (I got a lot of messages from people apologizing that they couldn’t get in because it sold out early) surged back and forth, pumped their fists and shouted along to both bands.

Headliners Electric Six had the place literally bouncing along to the beat as soon as the first note rang out. I took a few photos (including the mannequin bust with the strobe light above), but the crowd was so enthusiastic and thick that I had a really tough time getting close enough to get much of anything good. The band tore through their hits and other quickly familiar numbers blending dancetacular disco beats with heavier rock, always boiling over with silly humor. Their charisma and the musical intricacies saved them from being too jokey.

Bang Camaro stuck pretty closely to their famed anthemic hard rock. There’s not a lot of diversity in a Bang Camaro set, but the gaggle of singers manage to keep the attention steady with their headbanging, hair-whipping antics while the dual guitar attackers rip leads, sometimes in harmony. The excellecent rhythm section keeps a tight and pounding framework in place. All-in-all, a grand time. We’ve got some photos and video for you:

The Living Things also played, but I was running between shows, so I didn’t have a chance to catch them.