Living Hour On Fire
Living Hour
On a night when Allston was literally in flames, Living Hour played on at O’Brien’s Pub. The Winnipeg-based band wandered into Boston at a moment of true chaos. Along with the Allston fire, a suspicious package exploded at Northeastern University, and the Red Sox lost to the Yankees at Fenway in extra innings. Living Hour, with support from Sour Widows and Pet Fox, applied the soothing art of indie rock to pull locals back from the brink.
The fire was a six minute walk southwest of O’Brien’s Pub. Patrons would have been able to smell the smoke when they stepped out onto the sidewalk for a smoke, if they knew what to smell for.
Northeastern University is a bit further of a walk to the east of O’Brien’s Pub, but it’s a quick ten minutes by car.
Fenway Park is another easy ten minute drive in the same direction as Northeastern University.
Pet FoxPet Fox opened the night in blissful ignorance of the unfolding crisis. The Boston-based trio was a late add, lending some local representation to the bill. The trio performed songs from their latest LP A Face In Your Life, along with some oldies. The guitarist busted a string in the first song of the set and a musician from another band, donning his roadie cap, offered up a replacement guitar on the fly.
Sour WidowsCalifornia’s Sour Widows started their set with a droning, feedbacked introduction before swinging into chill ‘10s-era indie throwback stylings. Shades of Real Estate. The female vocals up front had the kind of low-end intensity of Lower Dens’ Jana Hunter.
At one point a bandmember made an oblique reference to the hot temperatures in the pub, comparing it to playing along the River Styx. In other words, playing in hell.
It did feel a little muggy in the joint. While it was cool outdoors, it doesn’t do much for inside the venue if you don’t open any windows or doors. Fire up that AC!
Winnipeg’s Living Hour sports a slo-rock gazy attack that builds up its sound in layers, rather than jolting you with anything like a loud-quiet-loud. Shades of Slowdive. The 5-piece usually consisted of two guitars, bass, keys, and drums, with the players switching up instrument assignments throughout. The set list likely included plenty of numbers from their recent LP Someday Is Today.
Someday might, indeed, be today. But with half the city exploding or on fire, and the Red Sox tanking, tomorrow can’t come quick enough.
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