Friday night we were scheduled to play The Charleston in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We were really excited to play this place again because we like it so much. If you haven't been there, there is a really cool bar upstairs, and a rock room downstairs. The rock room looks and feels like somebody's basement, and so the vibe every time we've been has been that of a bunch of friends just getting together to rock out with other friends. We played there in July with The Naked Heroes, The Horrible Truth About Me and The Whores, and had a total blast. Then a week later we went back there to see Scott Holcomb, Villa Vina, The Heart Ons, Redbeard and Runny, and that show was off the hook.
This time, our friends in the NYC band Glass Doll, who used to rehearse in The Music Building in Manhattan with us, opened the show a little before 10 o'clock. This band has been through some line-up shifts in recent months, this time they were a three-piece with frontman L.D. Catastrophe on bass and vocals, jLo on drums and Sedge on electric violin. They played a great and spooky set and gave the whole night a great start.
Next up were our good friends in the Boston-based band Plumerai. I may sound like a broken record to some of you on this, but I love these people! Back in the days when we were first rehearsing in Boston, at The Music Gym in Allston, one day I heard this incredible band coming from the studio across from ours. I asked the guy at the front desk who they were and he told me they were Plumerai. I got their first CD and completely fell in love with their sound. They've gone through some major line-up shifting since those days, with Martin staying on guitar but his brother James moving from drums to bass, the awesome Todd taking over on the drum kit, Elizabeth taking over on vocals, and their most recent addition, Clara joining in on electric viola.
I saw them perform at Piano's and Zebulon here in New York, and they came down one previous time to play Trash Bar with us before they added Clara, and then in June they invited us up to play with them at The Middle East Upstairs in Boston, at Clara's first show with them. And I was impressed and dazzled more every time. But this time, THIS TIME, Plumerai just blew me away. Every member sounded like the absolute perfect compliment to every other member, and every song was just breathtaking. When they played their traditional set closer, 'Avernal,' which has an extended, high-energy ending, I was just losing my mind. When it finally ended I was on a total natural high…I was having trouble setting up my gear for our set. They were just amazing.
I finally did get all my gear set up and we set out to close out the night. We started in with 'Make the Escape' and never looked back, blasting out one song after another. By the third song, the Happy Moshers were going at it full-tilt, every time I looked out bodies were playfully flying about and bumping into one another. We finished of course with 'Motherfucker' and I took my guitar to the cymbals hard. There was much crashing of wood and metal, and screaming of feedback. And that's the way we like it.
The set list:
- Make the Escape
- Final Friend
- Better Lives
- Sarbanes-Oxley
- Kick You Out
- Toxic Tornado
- Alien Homeland
- Binge
- Territorial Pissings (Cover)
- Motherfucker
Thanks so much to The Charleston for having us back, to Jeremy their superb sound operator who did an excellent job once again, all the cool cats in Glass Doll and Plumerai for doing such an awesome show with us, our tried-and-true fans Theresa, Mike and Sarah, our new fan Melaina, special thanks to Isabelle for giving out CDs and getting people on the mailing list, and heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out to see us and rock it out. We luv ya.
New Hampshirites and bold Mainers and Bostonians need to check us out at Dover Brickhouse in Dover, New Hampshire this Friday night. New Yawkers need to come celebrate at Trash Bar in Williamsburg on Thursday, Sept. 18, which is two days after Dan's birthday and the actual day of mine. Birthday rock. What could be better?
See you at the next one.
++Collin