Billy Ho-Ho-Hough!

Live Review

Dec 27

Written By Michael Gutierrez

Billy and Susan enter their Blue period at EventThem Studios on Saturday, 14 December 2024.

The “Scream Along” cabaret franchise enters its something, something, something anniversary year. In short, road-tested.

Presented by ONCE.

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Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️

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Michael Messina / Troy Caruana / Conor Ryan Hennessy

Mar 5

A triplestack of rock in Rat City, USA.

Mar 7

Always a wild light show with Sons Lunaris.

Mar 8

Punk rock fourstack at Jamaica Plain’s favorite dive.

Mar 14

The 4th Wall celebrates its 16-month anniversary at the Capitol Theater.

Derv Gordon (ex The Equals) / So What / Children of the Flaming Wheel

Mar 20

Just Add Water for a good time.

Mar 25

Moontype over Medford, outta Chicago.

Mar 28

The 4th Wall celebrates its 16-month anniversary at the Capitol Theater.

Apr 6

14th Annual Arlington Jazz Festival, featuring Mike Stern Quintet.

Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️

Billy Hough and Susan Goldberg

Scream Along Blue Xmas

Half-song, half-storytelling, a bit of cabaret with yukz aplenty. The combo of Billy Hough, wearing a Warhol-style wig moptop, and Susan Goldberg entertained the cozy confines of a sold-out EventThem Studios in Medford.

Spotted Jim Sullivan, music writer at the Boston Globe, in the crowd. In conversation, he said there were at least four other “Jim Sullivan” writers in the area. He seemed at peace with the fact.

Spotted Thalia Zedek, who showed up a little late and looked a little peeved that she couldn’t immediately find a chair.

Spotted an old NBA Jams arcade game.

The night was billed as the “Scream Along Blue Xmas.” Billy and Susan dug into Joni Mitchell’s Blue album. A breakup album, one of many entries in the long & proud tradition of breakup albums. But this is Joni Mitchell, and Blue might be her best album, so we might be talking about one of the greatest breakup albums of all time.

A few change-of-pace covers included Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes” and the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” Hozier just covered the latter on the Xmas edition of SNL, trading a little smirk with the backup singers as they elided the “faggot” lyric.

By the way, the Hozier cover of “Fairytale” didn’t work because he was singing opposite a trio of backup singers. The soul of the song is a duet. You need two strong vocalists going at each other, or else the thing falls flat.

Very little screaming at the Scream Along, but the crowd was stirred enough to contribute some melodic mumblings to the closer classic “Feliz Navidad.” The season moves you according to powers of your own spiritual reserve. If the gas tank reads empty, fill it up.

God bless us, everyone.