A matinee show on Saturday, 12 November 2022 at Midway Cafe played host to Tongue Love, Pretty Late, and Cliff Drive. Ava Panza was a late cancel.

Is three in the afternoon too early for rock n roll? On the contrary the sunny slot lends accessibility to audiences that would have otherwise been unable to attend shows at the Jamaica Plain haunt. The younger “all-ages” crowd, whose parents don’t want them running around after dark. The out-of-town crowd, which includes both performers and fans, who need extra time to commute. And maybe even a few live show diehards, who’d like to hit a show early because they’re planning to catch another late.

You wake up to different details in a venue during the daylight hours. For example, have you ever noticed the light fixtures along the bar have pull strings? Yes, that’s right. The same switch design you’d find on Auntie Mabel’s bedside lamp is being used in a commercial-grade lighting scheme at a high-traffic music venue that’s open 365 days per year.

It’s unusual because venues like Midway Cafe take a beating from their clientele. The music, the lights, the booze: mix it together and things get broken. How has some drunken yahoo not ripped the pull strings out of their couplings a thousand times over until management gets fed up and replaces the whole rig with something more bulletproof? A lot of venues are built like tanks with armor that can withstand the impact of 10,000 maniacal froshies. The Midway Cafe is full of these charming quirks that would require a trained historian to document and a cultural anthropologist to unpack.

Did Tongue Love spot the pull strings? The Boston band crafted jangly numbers with a throwback sensibility. Shades of Girls. The songs invoke the spirit of 50s- and 60s-era pop, souped up with FX overdrive whenever the ensemble wanted a little extra punch. The lead guitarist had a habit of strumming chords with an open palm to ride the whammy bar, which lent a wavy gravy vibe to the musical progressions. There was also a little psych in the stew when the band edged into more exploratory, improvisational territory on the longer compositions.

South Shore’s Pretty Late fell into the “out-of-towner” category mentioned above, though you could find plenty of M-F grinders that do longer commutes on a weekly basis.

The five-piece band formed in 2013 and arrived at Midway Cafe in 2022 with a slate of covers and originals. The creative crosshairs of the ensemble pinpointed roots rock with a suburban country flair.

The dedicated vocalist quipped: “We’re Pretty Late and our songs are pretty long.” Not so. The band showed restraint, discipline, never pushing musical conceits past their expiration date. Extra points for the layered, multi-vocal harmonies.

Closer Cliff Drive can jam a bit of jazz, bang out some blues, and rock a little roll. The band looked most comfortable playing classic rock covers, including hits from The Police. 

In the immortal words of Bela Lugosi: “Pull the string! Pull the string!” By the time the last band had played its last note, night had fallen. There was just enough time for Midway Cafe to dust itself off, tuck in its shirt, and get in order for the evening show.