“Ukulele” Is Hard To Spell

Deerhoof miss a priceless collab opportunity at Arts at the Armory on Wednesday, 25 September 2024.

Ekko Astral opened and the Strummerville Ukulele Club didn’t.

The booker behind the local live music series Illegally Blind (puts together the Fuzzstival and more), Jason Trefts, is raising money to start a non-profit organization, staffed by brain tumor survivors, “that will provide free short-term care coordination services for people in the Boston, MA area recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.”

The mission of the project hits close to home for Trefts. In his own words, “I was diagnosed with an incurable Astrocytoma at 24 years old. I have spent the decade-plus since navigating chronic disabling conditions while working in the human services field.”

“Astrocytoma” is a type of brain tumor. And while Trefts has been dealing with that, he has also been working in care coordination himself, observing first hand how important the work is. His proposed non-profit would make more of that important work happen for more people. Find out the details and donate at the Still Around Gofundme.

Ekko Astral

The old army barracks on Highland Ave. is a cool spot with a few stories and a lot going on on any given night. Arts at the Armory 4 lyfe. Wednesday was a Deerhoof show. But it was also a night for the Strummerville Ukulele Club, which meets every last Wednesday of the month in the Rooted Cafe. Check it out!

I’ll excerpt my writeup from my Cambridge Day gig, but before I do, some extra words on Ekko Astral.

I would have died to play in a band like Ekko Astral in my teens and twenties. If I could pull it off, I’d play with them tomorrow, if they let me. (Don’t let me.)

The Washington DC trio combines a hardcore edge with artcore imagination and super tight delivery. Does it seem like there’s always a higher standard of musicianship with underground post punk bands out of Washington DC versus other towns?

I don’t know — maybe it’s just the bands that travel that sound so good.

Deerhoof

OK, on with the show:

The veteran “boxy and harsh” indie rockers out of San Francisco landed at everyone’s favorite former army barracks on Wednesday for an evening’s entertainment. At this point in their 30-year career Deerhoof doesn’t have much else to prove other than how much they rock. And they rock a lot.

The crowd was a mix of ages, with the meaty middle of the bell curve most captured by elder millennials. Deerhoof are legends, but they have not quite broken through generational barriers to the point that Gen Alphas, who might have never held a physical edition of music in their life, non ironically wear Deerhoof t-shirts the way they wear Nirvana, Metallica, and Korn t-shirts. Give it ten years.

A band with a 30-year discography can pull all sorts of rabbit out of the hat when it comes to constructing setlists. Obscure juvenalia? Classic hits? Newly-released singles? Deerhoof’s most recent release The Free Triple Live Album, which includes hits from all throughout the discography, speaks to a Deerhoof that is eager to please – as long as what pleases you is Deerhoof. The set on Wednesday night was a medley of new and old, showcasing songs from their most recent studio album Miracle-Level along with classic throwbacks.

Washington DC’s Ekko Astral opened the bill with a post punk grind that sounds like it cut its teeth at hardcore shows before finding its artcore edge.

One final word about Arts at the Armory: on the fourth Wednesday of every month the Strummerville Ukulele Club (“where all are welcome”) sets up shop in the Rooted Cafe. Enter from the main lobby to discover a magical world of four-stringers, leaning over their sheet music, as the emcee leads the assembled faithful through selections from songbooks by the Beatles and sundry folk legends. The club was strumming away with the rock bands in the other room.

How about a Deerhoof cover? Seems like the opportunity for an unforgettable, one-night-only collaboration slipped through our fingers…

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