270 Volts of Electricity

Wire Lines grab the third rail at the Middle East on Saturday, 6 April 2024.

Lovina Falls, Other Brother Darryl, and Condition Baker sandwich the fourstack bill at the Rock N Roll Rumble.

Anngelle Wood of Boston Emissions puts on her emcee hat, emcee jacket, and emcee boots.

If you’ve ever attended a show at the Democracy Center, you might be interested to know that the community spot in Harvard Square is facing imminent closure as of July 1.

The Whys and Whatfors are not immediately clear.

The “fiscal sponsor” of the Democracy Center, the Foundation for Civic Leadership, says the closure is for the purpose of making “necessary renovations” to the building. But the language of the center’s press release does not commit to ever reopening to community groups in the future. The center “hopes” to do so again.

That’s pretty weak verbiage to share with a community that has come to depend on the space for all kinds of arts, culture, and activist programming.

There are two upcoming meetings that you can attend, in-person or online, to learn more and sound off about the closure – and potentially, the end of the Democracy Center?

Thursday, 4/11, 9:30am-11am

Monday, 4/15, 7-9pm

RSVP here and read through the whole press release to see if you can read between the lines better than Hump Day News.

Condition Baker

Pop punkers straight outta Holbrook: Condition Baker. A threat level somewhat more innocuous than Condition Red, or Condition Plaid. The four-piece performed as a three-piece, with the lead singer out with an emergency. The show must go on! And this band has overcome obstacles before – one member apparently survived exposure to 270 volts of electricity to the chest. Wikipedia tells me that a shock as low as 42 volts can kill you, if conditions are right. Since the Condition is Baker, though, you never know what might occur.

The seven-piece Other Brother Darryl was, amazingly, not the largest band of the night to stress test the stage at the Middle East.

Other Brother Darryl

Seven musicians, consisting of guitars, bass, keys, drums, one apple, one television, and the kitchen sink. But one of the “soft skills” acquired by performers through experience is learning how to squeeze your rig into small spaces.

The mellow alt country outfit is an outlier in a rock n roll tournament that skews more towards heavier and harder variants of the genre. It’s not clear that OBD is ready to toss up the sign of the horns. Which shouldn’t result in any points deduction, but you never know what expectations are bouncing around in the judges’ heads.

The setlist included songs from their recent string of singles like “Drive” and “Gypsy Girl.” And, as is their habit, the general proceedings were baptized with a tip of the cap to Saint Dave.

Wire Lines

Speaking of tossing up the sign of the horns, Wire Lines isn’t a satanic panic kind of outfit, but they are punkers from New Bedford who get down & dirty with the Rumble aesthetic.

Maybe a little too down & too dirty? It’s hard to read the opaque visage of tournament organizer Anngelle Wood… Was there a little hint of anxiety in her face as she watched the frontman trying to balance the base of an upturned mic stand on an overhead pipe? All in good fun.

The frontman worked the room, singing from the pit, for a set that felt a little dangerous in all the right ways.

Lovina Falls

Seven-piece band? Forget about it. Lovina Falls is bringing eight to the stage. In fact, there were more than eight musicians, but the modestly-sized dais could only support so many, so musicians traded on and off the stage according to the instrumental needs of the moment. Only a crane camera shooting from 50 feet above could have captured all the musicians at once, but the sound of it came through loud and clear. Moody, alt rock crooners, with a touch of drone.

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