Winkler celebrates National Senior Citizen Day on Monday, 21 August 2023.

Sweet Petunia and Dino Gala bow down to Brazilian blowouts in the opening slots.

If you weren’t celebrating Hump Nights, and winning yourself some free tickets, then you might not have gotten into this SOLD OUT show at the Silhouette Lounge.

What’s a sellout at the Sil? A little under fifty heads in the backroom. You can add about forty more heads in the front room to hit the approximate capacity of the hotdog-flavored dive.

How the door people at either end of the joint managed to track numbers is anyone’s guess.

In any event, the wet August night enjoyed a steady turnover of customers. Some for the music, others for Big Buck Hunter, the rest for domestic beer and a shot.

And if you weren’t there to celebrate a Hump Night, how about National Senior Citizen Day. Or Brazilian Blowout Day? Or National Spumoni Day? August 21st is a day rich with celebratory significance.

In recognition of which, Guns N Roses were playing Fenway Park the same night. The regulars along the bar traded stories about the hard rock band. It was a matter of general agreement that Steven Adler got the shaft.

Sweet Petunia

Fresh off an opening slot at In Between Days Festival at Veteran Memorial Stadium, Sweet Petunia opens at the Sil. Out of the frying pan and into the mire.

And when we say ‘fresh’ we mean ‘fresh’. Like, yesterday!

What does a banjo-toting, guitar-strumming duo do for a followup to the biggest stage in Quincy? How about a guest vocal from Alex of Winkler and Dino Gala? That’s the same artist, right? Dropped in on all three sets for the hat trick.

Extra points to Madison Simpson for gigging at the first dive you ever had a 21+ drink at.

Dino Gala

The Boston-based four-piece Dino Gala performed a high intensity, knock down, drag out rock n roll set. Emotional, but not emo. The songs thrived on solid construction that built up a propulsive tension, like waves lapping onto the shore at increasingly powerful intervals.

Even when the band stuck to midtempo, you could hear that churn beneath the surface waiting for an opportunity to break through.

What was all the mystery with this bill by the way?

Why couldn’t the lineup be announced straightoff?

Because at least two of the bands were playing the Nice Fest in the middle of July and some bookers, promoters, venues, or whatever don’t like it when artists spread their pudding all over town too close before or after the day that they’re trying to squeeze the cash money out of their performance.

The Silhouette Lounge bill couldn’t be announced until after the fest. It’s inconvenient but not unusual. The one thing to watch for is whether or not the ask is within reason.

How close is too close to the date to announce another gig? Do you ask every artist on a tall bill to observe the rules, or just the headliners? Is every kind of venue off limits, or do you look the other way on smaller club gigs? Kind of depends on different things.

Some bookers ask for a lot. Some don’t, apparently, with Sweet Petunia long since listed on the Sil bill to play a day after their In Between Days slot. You never know.

Winkler

The lineup at the Sil was less like a three-band bill, more like a voracious multi-cellular organism gobbling up and spitting out amoebic snacks. At least one artist from Sweet Petunia and two from Dino Gala were still being digested in the stomach of the stage creature by the time Winkler played its first song.

The four-or-more-piece laid down a hummable groove. The acoustic guitar up front established a kind of folk rock texture while the rest of the band piled atop the rhythm to create a big pop sound.

Probably the most danceable set of the night – a solid sway at least. Their longer jams had the feel of Beatles breakdowns. You know the ones, the Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds that sparkle for nine minutes or so.

Extra points for suave vocal harmonies.

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