COB closes out a punk matinee at Midway Cafe on Sunday, 19 March 2023.

Already Dead, Taken By Vultures, Barroom Heroes, and Degenerates of Punk fill out the five-stack bill.

Special appearance by BOS the Rapper.

A good crowd graced Midway Cafe for the final afternoon of St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The matinee shows are a choice opportunity for those who want to get a little action earlier in the day. 

Maybe they’re coming in from out of town (and need to get back out of town). Maybe they’ve got work early the next morning. Maybe they’ve got another gig later in the night. Whatever the situation, the matinee show might be your solution.

One question: how do matinee shows impact booze sales? Not that people are shy to drink on Sunday afternoons, but they’re generally not going after it with the same relish as a Saturday night. That means less dollars spent for the bar, less dollars tipped for the bartender.

If the establishment is open, though, it’s making money. It’s a business, not a charity or church. But how you clear your expenses on a Sunday afternoon to hit profits might take a little doing. Maybe you squeeze five bands on a bill to juice the numbers through the door just a bit more.

If the showtime runs long, it runs long. No hurry on a leisurely Sunday schedule at Midway Cafe. Nothing on the agenda in the evening except a fashionably late lineup of open mic-ers, who, with any luck, will order one drink for every minute they’re on stage.

Crunch the numbers, count the money, it’s a science…

Degenerates of Punk

When we last caught up with the Degenerates of Punk, the three-piece was playing the back room of Silhouette Lounge.

With two or three shows of coverage under our belt, Hump Day News can report no degenerate behavior whatsoever from the band. They seem like a very nice and respectful punk trio that put on a good show and support their fellow musicians.

In the opening slot, they warmed up the crowd with some bar chord bashing and medium tempo riffery.

Barroom Heroes

The three-piece strummers Barroom Heroes used acoustic guitars to give their sound a different flavor than the rest of the bands on the bill.

It was just last Friday that Hump Day News covered a St. Patty’s Day bill that incorporated a lot of folk or otherwise pre-electric instrumentation (acoustic guitars, banjos, standup bass, fiddles) – and the music didn’t lose a whit of edge for any lack of electricity.

Before punk was a music of protest, it was folk music of all stripes that spoke truth to power. Folk music can go hard. Barroom Heroes captured that kind of barrel-chested acoustic punk shanty vibe, playing a mix of originals and covers, including Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.”

Taken By Vultures

Taken By Vultures misidentified themselves and the songs they were playing throughout the early evening. So who knows who or what they were up to?

The four-piece kicked out at least one cover of Bad Religion.

Let’s put this band on the side of a milk carton and see if anyone claims them.

Already Dead

Already Dead performed as a three-piece, running on the fumes of St. Patty’s Day celebrations. The guitarist announced he was “still pissing Guinness.”

That’s a thick grog. Not the kind of beer that most Americans want long sessions with, but maybe Irish-Americans are cut from a different cloth?

The band played songs across their catalog, including the title track from their recent album My Collar Is Blue.

BOS the Rapper made a cameo on that album, so it was only fitting that he made a cameo during a two-song stint in the set. Rumor has it that the BOS the Rapper collab song was written before the Already Dead material, so the band is coming full circle. What’s old is new again. 

COB

Is COB an acronym, like C.O.B.? If so, what does it stand for? If not, are we talking ‘COB’ like corn on the cob?

The “well seasoned garage punks” performed medium- to fast-tempo bangers as a five-piece: three guitars, one bass, and drums. The bassist kept trying to tell a joke, and the rest of the band kept trying to shut him up.

Not to harp on the name, but corn on the cob is also “seasoned.” Salt, pepper – some people like a little cayenne. So the name works on a lot of different levels.

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