The Dead Friends Club said goodbye to one of their own at Midway Cafe on Friday, 17 February 2023.

New Jersey’s All Systems Go and a mystery band brought the emo punkery.

What was the name of the last band of the night? It’s a mystery. If they announced their name at the start of the set, it came and went too quickly.

Bands are hyperconnected in the social media sphere, with four to eight channels of communication before they ever play a single gig. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, Deezer, TikTok, Weebly, Discord, Bandcamp, and, of course, email. That’s a handful of ways to shout out your name and music!

Linktree is the latest solution to the proliferation of platforms. Drop one Linktree link and people can find you in all your virtual hiding spots. It’s a half-solution, which only partially masks the problem of TOO MANY PLATFORMS. (And don’t be the band that overstuffs it’s Linktree landing page with too many junk links – remember, it’s supposed to simplify, not complexify, connecting).

But for all that connectivity, a lot of bands simply forget to tell the audience who they are at live shows. Partly it’s a kind of punk posture (British accent: “Just get up and play, you bloody wanker!). Partly it’s just an honest mistake from inexperienced live musicians.

Midway Cafe is not exactly helping out these bands either. Where’s your classic chalkboard or whiteboard with bands and set times? Not to add another item on the “to do” list for one of the hardest working music joints in Boston, but it’d be nice to have a public document testifying to which bands are playing that evening. The virtual flyers aren’t always up to date.

Petty complaints. But life is long, and how would we pass the time without petty complaints?

Dead Friends Club

Dead Friends Club knows how to communicate. The band has a strong brand, strong name, strong vibe.

The band does the real old-fashioned “introduce each band member with a short solo” maneuver. On harp strength alone, they can score gigs. By the end of the introductions, you will at least remember the band’s name, if not the names of each player.

But the 6-piece lounge funk squad will be one member weaker with the announcement of the departure of Izzy Mello AKA alienboy. That leaves the band down one vocalist, who focused on the more rock & pop delivery.

Does that mean Dead Friends Club will trend in the jazzier, loungier direction favored by the remaining vocalist? Time will tell. You get the sense that DFC is, in fact, a club of friends, who are less focused on a particular sound than creating a collage of the pre-existing musical talents found within the club.

@humpdaynews #deadfriendsclub #humplive #humptunes #midwaycafe ♬ original sound - Hump Day News

All Systems Go

‘All systems go!’ for All Systems Go from Delran, New Jersey. What part of New Jersey is that? A real western part, situated in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. The band must feel as much identity with Philly as it does any other major, minor, or middling metropolis in the Garden State.

In fact, the drummer was wearing a Millersville University t-shirt, which represents a deep commitment to the state of Pennsylvania, a good 90-minutes west of Philly in the heart of Amish Country. Not playing a ton of gigs in Lancaster, amirite?

All Systems Go brought their own banner, so you know they’re serious. The four-piece dashed through an ebullient set of pop punk with emo overtones. Shades of Brand New, tinges of Mallcops, hues of Baby Bowler.

@humpdaynews #allsystemsgo #humplive #humptunes #midwaycafe ♬ original sound - Hump Day News

Mystery Band

Who was the Mystery Band? Don’t look at the virtual flyer for help. Only Dead Friends Club and All Systems Go were listed. Was the band called “Sounds & Scenarios”? “Sound & Scenarios At Night”?

Looking at the virtual flyer, it was hard to tell whether that was the general name for the slate of performers, or the name of a single band. Hey, playing music is hard enough, never mind graphic design. Your intrepid reporter could have simply asked the door guy what the band was called, but sometimes you like an air of mystery floating about the evening.

Whatever their name, the emo poppers performed as a two-guitar, two-piece. The drummer and bassist were lost, or dead, or non-existent, or god knows what on a Friday night in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Shades of half of Square Loop.