Writing a blog definitely makes me tired of hearing myself think.
But this was a big week. We did it for the boys back home who can’t. And there’s fair amount to report.
Also, keep an eye out for more info about NYE at Baby’s. We’re closing in on a lineup and I’m so hyped about it.
11/30 ~ Lucy x WFYE x Palm x Threshold x Bindy x Quarters x Babysosa
On the 30th I met Joe Coscarelli at a Tom-recommended spot that I am not at liberty to disclose. Joe helped me understand the difference between typical strip clubs and Atlanta strip clubs.
Then we walked to Music Hall of Williamsburg to see Lucy, Water From Your Eyes, and Palm. This was a wild collection of people. A real-life crossover episode many times over.
The Palm drummer shreds. Erratic & maximalist arrangements. A lot of vaguely steel drum –like textures. I’m not a big weird-time-signature guy but it’s still cool to watch people who are this in-sync.
Joe dipped out, and I walked to Baby’s with Tom, Lucy, and Charlie. Tom was upset that I didn’t make Joe climb through the “trap door” to the “backyard” of his *classified* bar rec. I saw no evidence of a trap door. And I decided I was stretching my comfort zone enough just by meeting up with a real journalist. Even without involving trap doors.
There were lots of homies still hanging around after the Threshold x Bindy x Quarters show when we got there. It’s hard to know when to proactively own-up to missing a friend’s set, and when to try and talk around the issue.
Dan English and Christian made fun of me for ordering chips & guac and red wine. I hung with Veronica and Chanel Beads. Have never seen Isaac as happy as when he learned about Shane’s love for Van Morrison. Starry eyed—a kid in a candy shop. Just from talking about The Last Waltz. Very cool & easy to see Isaac’s passion for music at that moment.
From Baby’s to Nublu for show #3 of the night: a Babyxsosa DJ set. MIKE walked by. Jack and I made a song with him when we were kids. But we didn’t try to talk to him.
Got home wicked late. By anyone’s standard. Opened the front door of my apt to find Cooper conked out on the couch. I tossed a blanket on top of him and set my alarm for 10:30 AM.
Recently, Jack and I have talked a lot about how passing out at three and waking up at 10 is really a pretty respectable schedule.
12/1 ~ Boys Night at Alphaville (Baby’s for the Ladies)
When I left my apartment for Tina’s at noon, Cooper was still on the couch. I got back at 1 PM and he was not. At 1:30, we saw each other at Dunkin. I was blogging beside their newly-assembled Christmas tree.
In the afternoon, I played music with Jake. In the evening I caught up with TJ. We talked business. Then we walked from The Narrows to Alphaville to hear a couple bands (Baby’s) Alex G was excited about.
I had a bro-down sesh with Spencer, and Jack hung with Luke from Ground Control. They talked about the shows we were involved in together in Boston. Shoutout the Washboard Abs. They headlined our first show at The ER. Jack and I drove from the Cape when another band dropped off the bill. I remember telling my grandfather I was going to play the best basement venue in Boston. Their drummer had two ride cymbals and played sixteenth notes, with one hand on each cymbal. I never heard of them again.
12/2 ~ La Cosa Nostra
Jack was disappointed to learn that Joe’s Restaurant in Ridgewood does not have clams casino.
But the bread was standout. I asked for at least two extra baskets and stashed a few slices in my pockets. Elliott showed up 2 hours and 15 minutes behind schedule. Long after her birthday toast.
I ate some of the bread in my pockets on our walk to Gottscheer Hall. This was my favorite night of dancing in a good long while. I couldn’t tell if Sarah Beth was laughing at my dancing or at my proposal that Patti Smith DJ the Baby’s NYE party.
I also performed a super rare one-of-a-kind Gottscheer Hall remix of “Super Rich Kids” and SB was the only one who heard.
I kissed Greg three times. Others kissed even more. When we were leaving, Jack told me, “I’m definitely kissing Greg again before I go anywhere.”
Jack and I went back to the BDG pad and made a tray of Pillsbury snowman cookies. Then Richard Facetimed us and we joined him, along with several other pillars of the community, at the Honor Club.
12/3 ~ Celebrating May at the Russian Vodka Room
Jack is always texting me about how cool May is.
I ate cake. Rich got a ‘Polish bull’ or a ‘Russian bull’ or something. I liked it and convinced Ashley to get one too. Jack said it tasted like baby formula but I thought it was really good.
Caroline snuck me across the street to meet her friend working at Russian Samovar. Alex showed up just as I was leaving. I felt bad but I was so tired.
12/4 ~ Lowertown x Beabadoobee (in Boston, Massachuuusetts)
It’s fucked up that I know people that can play rooms like this. A stadium show in my book.
Emma and I road tripped to catch the last show of Lowertown’s month-and-a-half long tour with Beabadoobee.
Important intel I gathered:
Many people can fit in their van
The crab cakes at South Street Diner are not a safe bet—Olive was pretty hype on them until Joseph said they were bad
Roadrunner is on the New Balance campus (if Google calls their office a ‘campus,’ I think it’s fair to say about this corner of Boston). Emma and I walked down a side street—New Balance Way—to the guest list door.
We got stickers that let us into a guest room which was not the same as the green room. The guest room had a bar and a seating section and a coat rack and a neon sign that said “I’m in love with Massachusetts.” My rum & coke was $18.
Olive wore a striped tie loose around her neck. I tried it on later at their Air Bnb and it didn’t feel right on me. I was thinking about Avi saying Eva looked like a punk Beatle in his guest column. (you should read his review if you haven’t—he did a really good job)
I think Beabadoobee is fucking sick. I wanna write pop bangers like her when I grow up. I’m into the unapologetically Disney Channel -esque production. Guitar rock with a high-budget sheen.
Her band is a bunch of shredders and she is too. I love DIY but I also love seeing a band of pros. The drummer was lit.
They’re sponsored by Fender so the guitar player gave Avsha a sick burnt orange tele. The encore was a coupla weepy songs (including the coffee song), then back to stadium-ready rock. Bea is British so she says “Boston” like “Bustin.” Pretty lit.
A sweet friendship moment when Bea finished and Olive of Lowertown ran out onstage and embraced her. They fell down hugging each other. Then threw a bunch of stuffed animals into the audience. People wanted the stuffed animals really bad.
Emma Eva and I went to Lone Star first, and then to The Model. They have leopard-print couches. Bea’s mansion of a tour bus drove by the window while we were there.
Then we linked with the rest of Lowertown at their Air Bnb overlooking an active construction site. We piled into their van and rolled to South Street Diner. It might be the only 24-hour place in Boston that’s not a CVS.
I sat at one end of the table by Olive Emma and Eva. When three relatively unremarkable things happened at the same time, my vibe went through the roof: someone dimmed the lights, “Eye of the Tiger” came on, and I was handed a plate of grilled cheese.
We went back to the Air Bnb, and at 2 AM they started Terminator 2. Which I was confused by because they kept saying they’d only been sleeping two hours a night.
In the morning, Emma Eva and I walked to Starbucks. The snowman cookie was not what I needed it to be. Then we went to Trader Joe’s and I remembered why I fell in love with that blesséd establishment so many years ago.
More soon – sending luv <3