Five-O

Battlemode draws the cops at the 4th Wall on Saturday, 10 August 2024.

Vices Inc., Lions and Lavender, and Plague Dad open the four-stack bill.

Visuals by BADWARE and arcade games everywhere.

The booker behind the local live music series Illegally Blind (puts together the Fuzzstival and more), Jason Trefts, is raising money to start a non-profit organization, staffed by brain tumor survivors, “that will provide free short-term care coordination services for people in the Boston, MA area recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.”

The mission of the project hits close to home for Trefts. In his own words, “I was diagnosed with an incurable Astrocytoma at 24 years old. I have spent the decade-plus since navigating chronic disabling conditions while working in the human services field.”

“Astrocytoma” is a type of brain tumor. And while Trefts has been dealing with that, he has also been working in care coordination himself, observing first hand how important the work is. His proposed non-profit would make more of that important work happen for more people. Find out the details and donate at the Still Around Gofundme.

Just an aside, I saw a poster for a Still Around benefit show at Arts at the Armory back in May, didn’t mind what the benefit was benefiting, and just figured it was a jokey reference to the fact that all the college kids had gone home for the summer making all the locals part of the “Still Around” club. Because I’m an idiot. Obviously the phrase means a whole lot more.

Plague Dad

Portland, Maine in the house at the 4th Wall in Capitol Theatre. The one man band Plague Dad was the first of two acts out of the home of the Maine Red Claws. Which was the much cooler name and cooler looking mascot for the G-League NBA team, before they rebranded to the Maine Celtics and painted their lobster mascot green. Whoever heard of a green lobster? You probably want to throw that one back.

Plague Dad is an acoustic guitar-driven punk folk enterprise, complemented by a bass drum kick that the musician operated with his heel. A few covers, including a Black Flag cover(?), a few originals. He’s got a new 7” out called “It’s Plague Dad,” featuring cartoon album art that wouldn’t have been out of place in the pages of Mad Magazine. RIP!

Lions and Lavender

Local band Lions and Lavender played a fancy-free style of alt pop that leans on pop trills and dedicated superstar vocals to create a bouncy vibe. The band runs about six deep. A little bit disco sometimes, a little bit danceable. The Capitol Theatre, with its move-style seating, is not quite built for a dance floor. But no points off for trying.

A mix of originals and covers, including “Message In A Bottle” by the Police. A harbinger of things to come.

Extra points for a band name that sounds like a limited-edition scent from the Yankee Candle Company.

Vices Inc.

Another six-member band? This night rolled deep! Vices Inc. rocked fun pop swagger. The second Portland, Maine act of the bill. Mostly covers, including songs from Tiffany, Avril Lavigne, and other sugar poppers. Tiffany slayed – she did an entire tour of American malls because she wasn’t old enough to work in clubs.

The chiptuners Battlemode are riding high after a recent round of positive press for their latest single “Playlist.” Including at least one piece by the Boston Globe. But did the Globe report the band as a two- or three-piece band? They added a third member not so long ago, but the original duo book themselves so many gigs, it doesn’t seem like the third can keep pace.

Battlemode

“Playlist” is a straightahead dancehall banger, and if you were expecting the bloops and the 8-bit bleeps, they were traded in for a more mainstream array of sampler sounds. Looks like Battlemode might have gotten some new electronic equipment? Old songs sounded new again as the sound signals got fed through exotic processors and tech-skrewed in real time.

Toward the end of the gig the beam of a flashlight was shining from backstage. As it happens, the cops were responding to a local noise complaint. A pair of patrol officers circled around to the front of the building and talked it over with one of the 4th Wall organizers. No blood was spilled, and not much more resulted than an advisement to keep the back door shut during performances, lest the sound leak into the alley and through the windows of surrounding residences.

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