State Park Sundays (and Mondays?)
Speakerhug at State Park BarTwee thrashlords Main Era opened a glitterati flash fest at State Park Bar on Sunday, 2 April 2023.
Makeout Palace, Speakerhug, and Supermarket Parking Lot close out room with equal human-to-camera ratio.
Is State Park Bar getting new music Mondays?
The amount of audio and video uploaded into the cloud from Sunday night’s four-stack bill must have measured in terabytes, never mind giga- or megabytes. A photog frenzy!
You’d think the biotech braintrust in the highrises surrounding One Kendall Square had reanimated the dead corpses of John and George to play a one-night-only Beatles reunion gig with Paul and Ringo at the subterranean faux-midwestern dive.
We’re cooking up wooly mammoth meatballs these days – it’s not such a crazy idea!
All the attention was for the four bands, one or more of whom seemed to be recording the show for posterity. Not something you see every show, but often enough. Everyone knows someone who knows someone with access to a pro level recording equipment. Bands can use the footage to feed the insatiable algorithm.
It’s a lot of excitement for a Sunday night. Wait! There’s more! The regular Monday night shows at Charlie’s Kitchen have gotten the ax, and will be “rehomed” at State Park Bar, starting 4/17. “Rehoming” is what you do with dogs that bite.
There are a few outstanding questions to be answered. Like, will this be an ongoing thing every Monday night? Or is it just to complete the run of shows already scheduled at Charlie’s Kitchen? And will this impact the regular Sunday shows at State Park Bar? Stay tuned.
For now, know that if you were planning to get to the gig at Charlie’s on 4/17 or after, you should be headed to State Park.
Main Era
Main EraBoston’s twee thrashlords Main Era seemed right at home in front of the cameras.
The four-piece got the night off to a rollicking start with a guitar-heavy alt pop sound. Spry drumming and deep strummy depths filled the space.
Extra points for the feedback burns and the throwback 90s-style screech & scrawl textures on the closing number.
Shades of Sunglaciers.
Speakerhug
SpeakerhugOr were the cameras here for Speakerhug?
The gazey four-piece traded between medium- to fast-tempo indie pop. Shades of Squitch in less angular moments. (SQUITCH! SQUITCH! SQUITCH!) A darker, gothwave kind of element emerged in the back half of the set.
One curious sight: both guitarists and bassists huddled in the corner of the stage after the second, or so, song. Maybe they were tuning? But you usually don’t go out of tuning that early. Maybe they were re-tuning, as in prepping for some alt-tuned, artcore numbers? It’s a mystery!
There was a lot of communication back-and-forth between the frontwoman and the drummer, as if to signal: “Hey, buddy, the song’s about to start/end!” In bands as in life, good communication is paramount.
Makeout Palace
Makeout PalaceThe cameras should have been there for Makeout Palace.
The three-piece punkers offered the most spirited set of the night, reeling the crowd in with thrash hooks and some dumb fun crowd work.
Musically, the band pulls in a few directions. A little bit dance, rock, a little thrash, a little surf rock, and shades of straight indie pop à la Spoon. That’s a lot on your plate at once, but the local giggers pull it off with panache.
It sounds like a new album is in the works, called “Midnight….”? Midnight-something. Cracker jack reporting. You heard it here first!
Supermarket Parking Lot
Supermarket Parking LotThe five-piece Supermarket Parking Lot rolled up with a lot of cool-looking vintage gear, in particular some synths from yesteryear.
It took a little technical know-how and downtime to get the rigs up and running. But a band member promised that “we’re about to melt your faces off,” so everyone just grabbed another drink and waited.
The set included a mix of originals and covers, including a number from King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
Neither here nor there, but the percentage of leather-clad folks in the audience hanging out for the final act was higher than the norm. We’re not drawing conclusions, we’re just collecting observations on a Sunday night at State Park Bar.
Photo Gallery
“We’re just honored to be nominated” is bullshit said at Big Night Live.