The Florida foursome use all caps and exclamation point at O’Brien’s Pub on Wednesday, 27 September 2023.

Gut Health and The Dreamtoday sandwich the three-stack hump day bill.

She, he, it, they. What are the proper pronouns for the doll who makes regular cameos at Gut Health shows?

Is anyone worrying about proper forms of address, though, when the fur starts flying? The doll will spend more than half the night cozied in the corner, nestled among the instruments and sundry equipment. Give the band credit: the doll always occupies a comfortable seated position pre-show.

When Gut Heath takes the stage the doll comes with them, reseated somewhere on the margins of the performance area. On the margins, but always within reach, while the band runs through its final soundchecks.

The doll remains a silent observer through a good chunk of the set. It’s not clear whether there is a premeditated moment at which the doll becomes part of the show. A band like Sapling will itemize their setlist down to specific stage banter minutia. If Gut Health mapped out the doll’s entrance for a specific moment, we didn’t see any obvious evidence of it.

Hard to miss the doll’s entrance though. He, she, it, they got his, her, its, their motor running with a stage dive into the crowd (with a light assist by the lead singer). The crowd took care of the rest, carrying the doll aloft and parading him, her, it, them around the awkward pillar at O’Brien’s Pub like an Olympic runner carrying the torch a few extra laps around the stadium.

For the sake of a little extra shine. For the love of the game. For glory.

At some inevitable point the doll will find his, her, its, their way to the ground, tossed aside like a forgotten toy by a fickle crowd.

Gut Health will be there, though, to pick him, her, it, them up. The bandmembers are consummate entertainers and practitioners of the dark arts of stagecraft. Like all showmen, they respect the tools of their trade. No doubt the doll had his, her, its, their own seat in the van on the ride back home after the performance. Seat belt buckled.

For safety.

The Dreamtoday

The New Hampshire gaze rawkers The Dreamtoday rolled out four players on the night. The band bounces between a four- or five-person lineup, with the extra personnel adding another layer of guitar chaos to the mix.

There’s no shortage of guitar, though, with two guitars and a bass in the four-person lineup. Not with The Dreamtoday. A lot of bands have hundreds of dollars of effects pedals at their feet. Knowing how to deploy the microchip mess effectively makes for a rarer bird. Instead of a tossed salad of FX, you could hear the pedals do their work throughout the set.

Extra points awarded for being a shoegaze band that actually looks at their shoes. Points deducted for retiring the Golden Banana. Maybe it was just the lighting, but has the bassist replaced his signature yellow ax with a bass that is, by all accounts, not yellow enough?

MOLD!

There’s nothing wrong with a little mold on your food. Just brush it off. Industrialized agriculture has got us so bent out of shape about what food is supposed to look like that people freak out if what’s on the end of their fork doesn’t match the pictures in the ad.

It’s gotten so crazy that a whole “body positivity” food movement has emerged on the strength of people patting themselves on the back for eating misshapen carrots and pears. The “ugly” food movement. People spend extra to have ugly fruits and vegetables delivered to their doorstep. What fucking heroes.

“Many people say” that the “ugly” food movement is based on the bogus misconception that misshapen food gets tossed in the dumpster at the farm because nobody thinks it will sell at market. What’s bogus about that notion? Apparently there is a thriving economy dedicated to converting wonky fruits and vegetables into juice, either a standalone bevvy or an additive to something else.

You know how “apple juice” is always 98% something else? Ugly food.

Save yourself the expense of purchasing “ugly” food subscriptions and spend it on MOLD!’s new self-titled album MOLD!.

Gut Health

Pray for the doll’s safety.

Gut Health is always a reliable barnburner, with a suitcase full of gazey textures, hardcore rhythms, and a stage show that occasionally requires a mop to clean up.

The band’s fresh off a high-energy appearance at a tchotchke shop in Salem – hey, Hope Fest!

You know, there’s another Gut Health in Melbourne, Australia. Who’d think you’d ever have to compete for the band name Gut Health?

Gollylagging was a late cancel on this bill.

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