The Mighty Mighty Bosstones played House of Blues – 12/26
Ok, one last 2015 blog post, and then the greener pastures of 2016 await (although they’ve been less green and pasture-like than grey and bleak thus far). Anyway, as I mentioned in my year-end post last week, this was the third year I’ve covered one of the Bosstones’ annual Hometown Throwdown shows, and they continue to be a really fascinating subject on a number of levels.
I remember my BDCwire editor at the time suggesting that I cover my first Throwdown in 2013 and me not being super into the idea, but the band’s showmanship and the fervent dedication of their fans eventually had me sold. I don’t know if I’m ever going to ‘get’ ska, but it warms my frozen heart to see thousands of people who absolutely adore this music go crazy for it. I cover a lot of shows, with a range of different audience types, and from the plaid suits to the group chants, the Bosstones definitely have one of the most fierce and genuine fanbases I see in a given year.
The band’s hometown status contributes to this of course, and it was neat to see them acknowledge that in a creative way with this year’s shows. As pictured, they used HoB’s ample stage space to recreate the marquee and storefront of Boston’s notorious Rathskeller, a Kenmore square venue where everyone from Metallica to The Police played back in their club touring days.
These shows always have fun openers too (Andrew W.K. was a marvelous shoot last year), and for the Rat theme this year, the Bosstones recruited a number of obscure, old school Boston rock bands to round out the lineups. On the night I covered (the first of three), The Upper Crust were on first. I couldn’t help but picture them as somehow relating to the local pizza chain, but the reality, which involved hard rock performed by dudes in powdered wigs and buckled shoes, was actually much weirder.
The Neighborhoods, fronted by the gleefully manic visage of replacement Replacement Dave Minehan, then tore through a set of their punk-y power pop before the Bosstones took the stage and unveiled the full scale of their tribute. Photos from all three sets below.
