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Out
Season’s greetings
BY WILL SPITZ
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’Tis the season to throw holiday parties, and the local music scene has been getting into the spirit of things for the past couple of weeks. Not that anyone around here ever needs an excuse to get together over booze and bands, but the holiday season always gives labels, promoters, venues, and musicians the opportunity to show who can throw the best rager. First into the breaches, on the first Saturday of December, were office mates Lonesome Recordings and Pirate! Promotion, who took over the Middle East upstairs for an afternoon shindig dubbed "A Pirate Christmas and a Lonesome New Year." Controlling the tunes were Pirate’s Bethany Pickard, WERS DJ Mollie Casey, and Lonesome’s Mark Vieira, who used his "Blackout Bar" skills to spin a set made up entirely of cover songs that included Oasis’s odd take on "Cum On Feel the Noize" and the obligatory Van Halen version of "You Really Got Me." It soon became clear that the combination of complimentary afternoon cocktails and an overabundance of Pirate Booty — it appears the makers of the crunchy corn snacks send Pirate! boxes of the stuff — is a volatile combination, and drive-by bag throwings threatened the serenity of the scene. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the party concluded with a little punk-rock Yankee swap of "Pirate Treasure," for which the spoils included a vinyl copy of Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces and a disturbingly lifelike Mr. Spock model. On the 13th, the folks at the Middle East threw their own celebration in the club’s downstairs room. Partygoers from all corners of the local music landscape were greeted with a light buffet and hammered by High Rocktane, a pick-up band who performed as the live backing for metal, punk, and classic-rock tunes. Local mock-rocker Robby Road Steamer served as the insolent MC, taking jabs at hosts and local sacred cows. "This place is usually for face paint and pianos," he sneered, looking down his nose at (I presume) the Dresden Dolls. "No more of that artsy-fartsy, European-ass shit! Tonight is for metal!" Among those lighting up the mike were Cracktorch’s Bob Maloney, WFNX’s Chris Rucker (see above), and O’Brien’s bartender/T.T. the Bear’s doorwoman Joanne Miller as they crooned tunes ranging from Ozzy’s "Crazy Train" to the Misfits’ "We Are 138" to Lita Ford’s "Kiss Me Deadly." Five years ago, if you’d suggested that we’d be celebrating Christmas at (a) a sold-out hip-hop show at the Paradise during which one of the MCs would be wearing a jersey bearing the logo of the (b) World Champion Boston Red Sox and rapping about the (c) World Champion New England Patriots, you’d have been laughed out of town. But there were the Perceptionists last Thursday night at the Paradise for the third annual "Lifmas" extravaganza boasting about "two rings in three years" to the packed, cannabis-scented crowd. Throughout the night, the stage hosted a revolving-door cast of MCs — Mr. Lif, his Perceptionists partner Akrobatik, Aesop Rock, and SA Smash, all buoyed by DJ Fakts One — who provided the crowd with lyrical "stocking stuffers" from upcoming albums and old favorites. If you missed it, take heart: the show was recorded for possible future release. Last Saturday night marked the return of the Scrooges, Boston’s finest Christmas-themed Stooges cover band. Comprising members of Lamont, Rock City Crimewave, and Fast Actin’ Fuses, the group paraded through the front door of a sold-out O’Brien’s wearing Santa costumes, with the lead Scrooge — Santa Pop? Iggy Kringle? — greeting the crowd with a "Merry Christmas, motherfuckers!" before launching into "No Fun." In Allston, at least, the holiday season doesn’t really begin until six drunken Santas squeeze onto a tiny stage and belt out "Loose" and "TV Eye." In a highlight worthy of a Rankin-Bass special, Iggy Claus (a/k/a FAF’s Dave Unger) made a tinsel tourniquet and shot himself up with a candy cane, then pointed it at the audience and asked, "Who wants to lick Santa’s stick?" No one seemed to be interested, but we were all reminded that Christmas isn’t just about capitalism and cookies. Will Spitz can be reached at wspitz[a]phx.com.
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