Portland, Maine’s Dead Gowns dazzled in Davis Square at The Rockwell on Sunday, 29 January 2023.

Locals Sweet Petunia and Clifford rounded out a Chinese New Year’s bill.

Downtown Boston was packed to the gills as residents and tourists celebrated Chinese New Year in and around the Chinatown neighborhood.

The air smelled like gunpowder as firecrackers exploded in the streets and long-tailed lions cut zig-zag dances through the crowd.

The official date for the holiday was January 22, but the Lion Dance Parade was permitted for a week later so as to not conflict with Green River (The Ultimate Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival & John Fogerty) at City Winery.

It’s cool though. It’s not a real holiday if the celebration isn’t dragged out beyond its borders. The 4th of July lasts a long weekend; Halloween lasts a week; and Christmas lasts three months. Only fake corporate holidays, like National Raspberry Cream Pie Day (August 1st), come and go in a single day. It was a great Sunday to visit Chinatown, if you were looking for some joyful chaos.

Somerville, on the other hand, was quiet as a mouse. The town hosts a fair-sized Chinese-American community. Less than Boston, Malden, and Quincy. More than Acton and Waltham. Though the Lion Dance was not parading down Elm Street this weekend, the city of Somerville’s thoughts were with the community as Chinese-Americans across the country responded to the mass shooting at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California.

Here’s the part where we link the graph showing how the excessive rate of gun violence in America correlates to the excessive rate of gun ownership in America, relative to the rest of the world.

Sweet Petunia

Boston’s Sweet Petunia is a two-piece folk duo with a backwoods Appalachian sound. The pair started off with two banjos before segueing to guitars by the end of the set.

If you watched their fingerwork closely, you’d see the four- or five-fret spanning chords that give your average bar chord bar band heart palpitations. You need a hand that’s half-human, half-crab to land some of those chords cleanly. Bravo.

None of the instruments were plugged in – all the sound was captured by mics. Hence, the occasional tune-up midset was accomplished the old-fashioned way: turning the key, plucking the string, and just listening until it’s right.

The white Boss TU-3S Chromatic Tuner pedal has become such an ubiquitous fixture for musicians at shows that you rarely hear the tune-up twangs outside of acoustic coffee shop gigs. You could practically smell the coffee brewing as Sweet Petunia wrangled with the strings.

The duo played a mix of originals and covers, including Gilllian Welch’s “I Want To Sing That Rock n Roll.” It was a purely aspirational selection. They were the least rock n roll act of the night. Extra points for a strong whistling game. You can catch Sweet Petunia all over Boston and beyond, including at Cantab Lounge for the Miss Bones record release and Quincy’s Veterans Memorial Stadium for In Between Days fest in August.

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Dead Gowns

Dead Gowns performed as a four-piece, stitching together a moving set of new Americana. The project from Portland, Maine is the brainchild of Geneviève Beaudoin. She led the band through a tight set with her six-string and voice.

While Beaudoin was centerstage, it was difficult to take your eyes off the large pedal steel guitar rig. Not to be confused with the lap-based version, the console variety lets players tuck themselves into the instrument like they’re pulling up to Thanksgiving Dinner.

The band played several tunes off 2022’s How EP, including “Renter Not A Buyer.” There’s a definite mood to this band. Like a Roadhouse band, playing the end credits on Season Three of Twin Peaks at the Bang Bang Bar. Dead Gowns and Living Hour would make a great split bill based on vibes alone, though their music cuts in different directions.

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Clifford

The frontman for closer Clifford set up his rig a step or two into the pit. It’s a more aggressive posture, though he took pains to distinguish his band Clifford from the aggro death metal band Clifford, which also calls Boston home. Is this town big enough for two Cliffords? You can always rebrand as the New Cliffords.

Clifford connected the dots from the folk of Sweet Petunia, to the americana of Dead Gowns, to their own version of “country leaning” rock n roll. Shades of a jammier Rainhouse. A solid start to the Chinese New Year.