Tag: 90’s

Hootie

My wife and I watched an episode of Friends tonight. It was the episode where some of the gang went to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert.

Wow… Hootie… for those of us who lived through that period in history… those were dark days, bro. Dark days.

They weren’t like nazis in the US government dark, or ex president incites a riot in an attempt to overthrow a legitimate Federal election and then four years later the schmucks in the voting population actually elect the treasonous cunt to a second term dark… but they were certainly dark days.

Insert my shiver in fear here.

Flashback

I watched a video on youtube tonight of a band playing in a bar in DC back in the late 90’s. I saw the band play in a bar in Cambridge at around the same time… maybe about a year earlier. Whatever. That’s not the point of the post.

The point of the post was that I had what seemed like almost a full sensory flashback. I could smell the cigarette smoke, I could feel my ears ringing from the volume, I could feel the heat of the room and the crush of the people packed into the tiny space… it was weird and also kinda wonderful. The video was 26 years old and I almost felt like I was there.

How weird was that?

Seriously, underground bands playing live in the 90’s was the absolute best musical thing ever. EVER.

In an unrelated note, I have three guitar pedals in my amazon cart right now. If I pull the trigger on it, I hope I’ll have a band to use them with. We’re looking at trying to start up again next month, and next month is the day after tomorrow. Cross those fingers, kids.

Musically Nostalgic

Feeling a little musically nostalgic for Boston in the 90’s. Pardon the youtube flood.

Gigolo Aunts. I never actually saw this line up. Once at Christmas I saw the Phil Hurley sit in with them while this drummer was in the crowd. That was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen by any band ever.

Jack Frosting. They weren’t around for terribly long, but we thought they were seriously cool.

Betwixt. Same guitarist as Jack Frosting (same drummer too, I think), but add in a lead cello. Possibly the weirdest awesome band ever.

Kustomized. The Drummer from Mission of Burma and the Volcano Suns comes up front. Also… extremely goofy video. I had never seen this one before. It was the 1990’s after all.

Smackmelon. This band should have ruled the universe. No kidding. Only a couple of records. Unbelievable awesomeness. I never got to see them live. When they announced their final show I really wanted to go, but I had a gig of my own at a Halloween party my boss was throwing. Mike on bass, my brother on drums, and me on guitar and vocals. We played a bunch of our own songs that Mike and I had been playing off and on for years. No one was impressed. I bet Smackmelon was wicked that night. I’ve never seen this video before, but I seriously think this is one of the best songs in the entire universe, known or otherwise. Spaceshot.

Buffalo Tom. There’s really no reason why these guys weren’t disgustingly huge. They had the songs. One perfect song after another. I consider it a cultural injustice that their Let Me Come Over record wasn’t a 10 million seller.

Letters to Cleo. Again, how were these guys not a household name? Cleo shows became events for us. Not to be missed. Perfect. Over and over again. Perfect.

The Dambuilders. Kinda sad that I can’t seem to find any live videos. I’ve never seen this one, and also never heard this radio edit. Eff-bomb free rock and roll for the kiddies. This band was incredible live. We saw them in the middle of Mass ave once. The one show that I remember most was actually kind of a bomb. They were playing a bunch of songs from what would be the last record. It was the first time I, and probably many others in the room, heard them and the reaction was not all that positive. It was at TT’s. I can remember the band members giving what I thought were “oh shit” looks back and forth, although I might have imagined that. When they got to the end they did a few older songs and it was the usual awesome. Fast forward a couple of months and they played the Middle East Downstairs. 3/4 of the band were living in New York by then (I think, it’s been a while and I might have heard the wrong stories) so they weren’t playing out much. That night though, all of those new songs were played with a ferocity I couldn’t believe. It was like a redemption. Of course, this could all have been in my head, but they were so good that night it was scary. They were also louder than I’ve ever heard any band indoors. Even with really good ear plugs I had to move to the back of the room. It was unbelievably loud. Also, unbelievably awesome. I think that may too have been the last time I saw them. Shame, they were fantastic.

Throwing Muses. No explanation needed. For my fanboydom they are second only to the holy triumvirate known as Rush.

Throwing Muses get two videos because song perfection. Also because both of these are from the 80’s which I wasn’t going to do, but perfect songs. So, yeah…

Pixies. I believe there is a state law that declares if you share Throwing Muses videos on a blog you are obligated to follow up with at least one from The Pixies. I want Lizardfish to play this song.

Big Dipper. Well… this is also from the 80’s, but the Gigolo Aunts covered this song in the 90’s… so if you squint a little it works.

Mission of Burma. I didn’t see them until 2001 and this video is from 1979 so I guess the whole 90’s theme is down the tubes, huh?

I guess I’ll stop now before I go off topic again.