House of Blues

VIDEO: Santa Announces Bosstones’ Hometown Throwdown

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On Saturday, July 20th, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones played to a packed audience on the Boston Common. As part of their set, they announced the 16th Hometown Throwdown at the House of Blues in Boston. Making the announcement by way of video was Tyler and JR from Spring Heeled Jack USA (you might also recognize JR RePete from Less Than Jake). In case you couldn’t make it to the common that day, the video’s been posted to YouTube.

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CONTEST: Win Tickets to The Specials Pre-Party with King Django and Version City Party

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King Django’s Version City Tour provides the pre-show festivities for The Specials on Thursday night at House of Blues Boston. Win a pair of tickets from Boston Ska (dot) net!

Review: Reel Big Fish, Pilfers, and Dan Potthast at House of Blues

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Reel Big Fish poses for the cover of Beer Magazine.

Do you remember how cold it was Sunday night? It was freezing. But I was going to a show. Which meant I had to strategically layer up. Coat check at the House of Blues doesn’t come cheap and they don’t let you stack items on one hanger. It was also a Sunday night show with 6pm doors. I was pretty nervous it would be one of those shows that starts before everyone arrives and ends nice and early to get the club crowd in. So there I was standing in the freezing cold, not wearing quite enough winter gear, waiting in line to get into the venue at 5:45. By the time I got into the show, I was less than thrilled to be there.

Dan Potthast (Mu330, Dan P and the Bricks, The Stitch Up) was the perfect opener. It was just him on his guitar playing 1 to 2-minute ska/punk tunes. They were catchy, they were clever, and he had the audience. Which is to say he heckled the audience way better than they heckled him. I wish I caught video of that. Particularly he had a great tune  I’m not super fluent in his material, but I clearly recognized KKK Highway.

He told the audience that he wrote a tune for each night of the tour. I was able to catch his Boston tune on my phone:

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January 2012 News Round Up

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big d kickstarter ad

And like that, January is halfway over and I’ve been slacking! I’ve got a stack of stuff I’ve been meaning to blog about. Here’s the lite version:

Brunt of It plays at the Middle East Upstairs on February 22 with The Blue Bloods, Dead Friends, A Common Goal, and Penalty Kill. Tickets are 18 and the show is 18+. Brunt of It most recently released All Aboard the Cannabus this past December, available on Bandcamp. See more shows at the calendar.

Brunt of It was also recently added as support to the upcoming Fishbone show at the Sinclair on March 3.

big d kickstarter adBig D and the Kids Table will be joining Warped Tour 2013. They’ve also been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that they’re ready to record a new record and might have a Kickstarter for you to fund.

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Reel Big Fish and Pilfers at House of Blues Jan 27

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Reel Big Fish @ Best Buy Theater, NYC – 6.27.12
Reel Big Fish in NYC, June 2012 / photo by Bryan Kremkau, Skapunkphotos.com, used with permission

I’m happy to think about January because I’m entirely too stressed about December. Reel Big Fish and Pilfers return to Boston on January 27 with support from Dan Potthast of Mu330. Anyone who was at Skalapalooza this past October knows that Pilfers is generally a show-stealer. Hopefully they’ll have a longer set this round and possibly play a new tune or two like they a did a few reunions ago… But I should mention Reel Big Fish continues to put on a totally fun show. I’ve seen them a few times (even in a post-Scott world). The new sax player is great and if anything gives them a more “Turn the Radio Off” era horn section and I’m a huge fan of the new record, “Candy-Coated Fury.” Naturally, we all expect some Reel Big Fish/Pilfers on-stage mash-up. (Actually, on the Skalapalooza tour, Nick from Pilfers played keys for Spring Heeled Jack. Maybe he could sit in on a few RBF tunes. HINT HINT.)

I’ve never seen Mu330, but I’ve seen The Stitch Up, Dan P’s pop/punk act and the song-writing is totally the same. The most recent thing he’s done is Dan P and the Bricks which has a new wave/early toasters thing going on. I’m curious to see what he brings to this show.

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Boston Ska News Roundup October 2012

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Originally posted at jacobwakeup.com

So the Obi Fernandez CD release show was awesome. Soul Rebel Project was tight but didn’t quite move me, Riki Rocksteady was a blast, and of course Obi Fernandez KILLED it. They played mostly new stuff, as far as I could tell, some Westbound Train tunes, and some great covers. Specifically, they opened with a sick rocksteady version of “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Obi was giving out download cards for his new record. Stream it on Spotify or buy it directly from Paper + Plastick (it’s worth it to buy it, and purchases are without a doubt, better for the artist). And of course now I’m all the more stoked for The Aggrolites on Tuesday.

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