Black Beach, Earthquake Party and Lady Pills played Great Scott – 1/19
The fine folks at Allston Pudding put on a tour-return show for locals Black Beach and Midriffs at good old Great Scott on Tuesday night.
Upstart trio Lady Pills were up first on the bill, and quick to express their excitement at playing to an already-packed house (it really did fill up fast for a freezing Tuesday night in January). Despite their nascency as a live band, they delivered a great set replete with strong, hook-y melodies, sharp lyrics and blasts of caustic guitar fuzz.
Earthquake Party, a fixture of the scene that I’d somehow never covered before this show, kept the momentum going with their compact nuggets of colorfully noisy psych-pop. Black Beach’s grunge-y, surf-tinged (which I swear I don’t just hear because of the name) noise punk followed, turning the floor into a weirdly vicious and also kind of uncomfortable mosh pit situation. There are plenty of places to aggressively make out with your partner; against the stage at Great Scott during a show, one foot away from me, is perhaps not the best one.
I left before Midriffs (sorry Midriffs) after one too many dudes crashed into me and I’d accumulated enough bruises for one (again, Tuesday) night. Sometimes the will to withstand battering dissipates when you’re just shooting for fun.
Anyway, on a final note, I’d be remiss in not mentioning the extremely cool light-painting visuals courtesy of Peter Colpack’s Lysergic Factory Light Show at this gig. Great Scott usually never looks this good.
