What I did with my summer vacation

Three shows that helped make my year:



Dear Leader at TT the Bear's.

After some sort of sabbatical in Belgium, Aaron Perrino returned to Boston to save us from republicans. I hadn't been to TT's for a while, it was nice to be back. Some band from Belgium called the Rones opened both nights and did a great job despite having an audience of 8 people max, at least 4 of whom were checking their cell phones at any given moment. Boston veterans Taxpayer tore up the first show, and new guys the Fatal Flaw filled out the second. It's been a few years since I caught Taxpayer (actually I think it was with Dear Leader last time), they did not disappoint. The Fatal Flaw are an east coast/west coast mash up of indie bands, I'd seen them at the Pill in Allston a couple weeks before, and they promise to be big. Finally we got to Dear Leader. Right from the start, they knocked it out of the park. "Nightmare Alleys", "Nation", "Billionserved", "My Life As a Wrestler"... the highlight was "Labor On" on night two. I have decided that America needs Dear Leader.




Bang Camaro at the Hard Rock

The Camaro triumphantly returned home to Boston to signal the end of their "rock rebellion" tour. How can you not love a band who takes the stage to the soundtrack from Conan the Destroyer? They are all that is rock. I'd seen them a bunch of times before they took off, and caught up with them in Austin, Tx (I was on vacation and they allowed me to join their man choir for the night). The Austin show was great, and being on stage certainly made my summer, but I think the Hard Rock show edges it out for the following reasons:





1. Free Booze. I don't mean just free beer, I mean free booze. Free Whiskey? Sure. Free Scotch? You got it.


2. The company of friends. I went to Austin alone, which was great and I would do it again in a second. I needed to get away and clear my head in a city with zero possibility of running into people I know, and it worked perfectly. The only downside was that no one I knew was there to bear witness to my rock 'n roll adventure singing the encore to Bangs set. For the Boston show, Brian and Jon came along, and the shared experience was much better.


3. They let me up to sing again, and it was rock glory.



Bang Camaro are a band that seem like a gimmick (there is anywhere from 10-15 singers, depending on the show), but they all have serious chops. Serious. Chops.



Trap Them at Anchors Up



Born from the ashes of December Wolves and Backstabbers, Inc., Trap Them grabs you by the throat and never lets go. I don't generally go in for the harcore, but I know these guys from my days at Newbury Comics and I know that they are the real thing. A truly great band transcends genre and the change of pace was just what I needed. I like my hipster bars and indie rock friends, but it's important to mix it up once in a while (and there were certainly no white belts or non-prescription glasses in the crowd). The opening bands were ok. Run of the mill hardcore in my opinion (please keep in mind that I am not well versed in this area), but the moment Trap Them took the stage the basement crowd stood transfixed. It was amazing. 25 minutes later the drummer was collapsed at the back of the room in a heap of sweat drenched flesh, the singer was sitting on the front of the stage bleeding from self-inflicted wounds caused by repeatedly smashing the microphone into his forehead, and the other two band members were fleeing the sauna of a room for cooler temperatures outside.