The 3-night Teenbeat Records 20th anniversary celebration thingy finished up over a week ago, and I'm settled back here in Boston, finally nearing normality. A bunch of later-than-usual nights out, soooo much live music, too much beer, and a royally screwed up eating routine really threw me off for awhile. And then there was the smoke, what with D.C. still squarely in the stone age, letting the in-club-clouds gather. I'd become so accustomed to clean lungs that the exhaust hit me like a black-stained bag o' bricks, and of course, a few of my sweaters still smell like ass. But enough whining, the celebrating was more than worth a small amount of sufferin'...


After the fairly mellow and relatively small kick-off night at the Galaxy Hut, the second (and first of two sold-out Black Cat shows) was quite a contrast. Of the six band lineup, I was most excited for Unrest, who didn't disappoint... they played a bunch more songs, and were way tighter, than their preview set the night before. I was also very much looking forward to The Fontaine Toups and Plus Minus, and I'd seen True Love Always enough to know I liked them lots. As for Eggs, I'm not exactly a huge fan, and while I was unfamiliar with Jonny Cohen, his performance didn't really do it for me either. My apologies to Jonny fans for the lack of recordings, as he was well into his opening set by the time I arrived...


First, a few from The Fontaine Toups, fronted by their namesake (and Versus bass player/singer), who I'd seen awhile back here in Boston. Their set was much improved on my memories of their TT's live show... better songs, better playing, and much more energy...

The Fontaine Toups - Rock and Roll Thru and Thru (live)
The Fontaine Toups - 'Who Told You' (live)
The Fontaine Toups - Huskertine (live)

It was rockin' enough for me to grab their full-length from the Teenbeat merch table in the back of the Black Cat. Their set seemed to be mostly new stuff, so if you know those two missing song titles, lemme know. (update: Big thanks to TFT's bass player, Steve Choo, for letting me know those new song titles.)


Next up was True Love Always, who put just the perfect amount of jazz in their pop. I wasn't quick enough with the recorder to capture their cover of Earth, Wind, & Fire's 'September' (you can get that here), but hey, at least we get some Bob Seger action in 'Buried Treasure'. Here's a few from their set...

True Love Always - 'Modesto' (live - with Evelyn Hurley)
True Love Always - 'Buried Treasure' (live)
True Love Always - 'Sunshine' (live - with Evelyn Hurley)

Lucky for all of us, Mrs. Teenbeat and former Blast-Offer, Evelyn Hurley, seemed to be on stage as much as the between-set emcees, not just in her own Hot Pursuit, but with both TLA and Aden... and probably with someone else I'm forgetting. Her voice and near-constant smile always seem to make songs better, and you'll hear more of her when I post songs from the third night (tomorrow, hopefully).


After TLA was another band who surpassed my already-pretty-high expectations, Plus Minus (+/-). Wow. They're so much more guitar-rockin' live than their first record (and previous Boston appearances) suggested, and even though I have that disc, I neglected to grab the follow-up EP until the end of their Black Cat set. Yup, even more cash spent at the Teenbeat merch table, with no after-purchase pangs of regret. The electronics/programming of the recordings are still there, but the guitars and stellar live drums build around them powerfully. Here's three from their set (such killer drumming on the first song)...

Plus Minus - 'She's Got Your Eyes' (live)
Plus Minus - 'Making the Horse Drink' (live)
Plus Minus - 'Trapped Under Ice Floes' (live)

Y'know, I just love watching James Baluyut play guitar... his enthusiasm is infectious, and his performance in Plus Minus got me even more psyched up for the next day's Versus reunion (he and fellow minus-man Patrick Ramos are 1/2 of Versus, btw).


Next up was a reunited Eggs. As I mentioned, I'm not so crazy about 'em, but here's a few songs for those of you that are...

Eggs - 'Ampallang' (live)
Eggs - 'The Government Administrator' (live)
Eggs - 'A Pit With Spikes' (live)

And then, Unrest. F'in fantastic, playing familiar faves and a couple unexexpected treats (glad to see drummer Phil singin' on WCLA). Brought me back to London, 1993, when I saw them play twice during the 4AD 13 Year Itch anniversary shows. Never thought I'd get that chance again, and there they were in front of me, a dozen years later...

Unrest - 'Isabel' (live)
Unrest - 'West Coast Love Affair' (live)
Unrest - 'Make Out Club' (live)
Unrest - 'Cath Carroll' (live)

So there's the second night for ya, with one more to go. Little did I know that during the third and final show, a little personal dream would come true. One of my favorite bands would perform their best record, start to finish, note for precious note... but I'll leave that until tomorrow.

Until then, check out all of my pictures from the shows, which I've pulled together in a Teenbeat Flickr set. You can see other fan pics from the event by looking at this Teenbeat Tag search. Gotta love Flickr.

Out into the chilly Boston rain I go...

posted by brad at 2:53 PM | direct link | rss (1:2) | |