Show Preview: Mash It Up Fest with Bim Skala Bim and Pressure Cooker at Middle East Club

20130720 mash it up flyerI’ll spare you too much editorial on this one. Bim Skala Bim is hosting another Mash It Up Fest Saturday night at the Middle East in Central Square. If it’s anything like the last affair, it’s going to be a good time. The line up is killer and Sam Adams is sponsoring the show (promo pints? I certainly hope so). It’s also the unofficial (?) after-party for the Bosstones show on the Common.

Entertainers this evening include JP’s Pressure Cooker, John DeCarlo and Company (fresh off the Version City Tour), Riki Rocksteady & The Arraignments, and Mr. Kowalsky. No, you don’t have to choose between this and the Bosstones. Get to the Middle East at 8 or find the other folks going late from the Boston Common and share a cab. Either way, get your ass there.

Here are the details and here’s the Facebook event. Get to know the bands below.

Read more

December Almost Killed Me

It seems excessively late for a December 2012 recap from where we currently stand, forward facing the bitter cold of January’s last frame. In my defense, I went a bit overboard late last year, insisting on drinking and smoking through a cold that became a full-fledged plague by the last night of the Hometown Throw down. With a weekend of fun ska/punk shows coming up, it’s a good time to recap the madness.

12.14.12

Home For The Skalidays at The Audio Jungle

It started innocently enough in the middle of the month. A Guy Named Guy was headlining the Audio Jungle with a toys for tots benefit. I took a long lunch that day and secured my tot toy at Newberry comics. Come 6 ‘o clock, toy and camera gear in hand, I was headed to Allston. This was a fantastic show. Mr. Furious started the night off, and impressed the hell out of me. I finally got to see Short Handed Goal, a ska punk band based out of RI. Nice guys and a solid set. Fort! The band was up next and always destroys a basement with their ever-evolving gypsy ska-punk-slouch madness. I can’t get enough of Fort!, it’s never the same show twice, and the energy they bring to the table as a collective is impressive. Connecticut’s Llama Tsunami continue to be my nutmeg state ska crush, powering through a strong set of original material sprinkled with energetic covers. I took a setlist, from a basement show, that’s how much I respect this band. A Guy Named Guy, fresh off the release of their Terminals split with Puerto Rico’s D-Cent Jerks, brought the night to a close. If you only know this band from the incredibly popular, and polished, youtube video for “Ska’s Not Dead,” a song they quite possibly retired that night, you have no idea how hard these guys will thrash through a set.

Read more