Live Review: Talent shines as Wantu Blues Jams hosts Ladies Of Blues At Fratello’s in Manchester, NH
Live Review: Talent shines as Wantu Blues Jams hosts Ladies Of Blues at Fratello’s in Manchester, NH By Bill Copeland BillCopelandMusicNews This was a masterstroke on the part of the Wantu Blues Jams. The popular rise of women singers and musicians are becoming a new trend in national and local music scenes. Last night’s Ladies […]
Steamy Bohemians present another successful Jerkus Circus variety show
Madness. Simply madness, in a really perverted, entertaining sort of way. Steamy Bohemians put on another of their Jerkus Circus variety shows at Ralph’s Diner in Worcester last night. The singing, comedy team of Niki Luparelli and her partner Lainey SchoolTree, in their tight, shiny yellow dresses and shoulder straps, poured on their own decadent […]
Track 44 played solid blues to an outdoor deck audience at The Tap in Haverhill, Mass last night
Playing the outdoor deck at The Tap in Haverhill is usually a pleasant gig for any blues band. Last night was a bit of a challenge for Track 44. Their regular rhythm section couldn’t make it, so keyboardist Dan Sevush and guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Pircio had to rely on substitutes. The stand in on bass was Kevin Lilas, and drummer Steve Peabody stepped up to the skins for this gig. Peabody fits in with just about any band. It’s not uncommon to run into him two weekends in a row with a totally different band and he always pulls it off.
Hurricane Alley returned to Whippersnappers in Londonderry NH last night; served up the fun
Hurricane Alley is a cover band that plays a broad cross section of classic rock material from the late 1960s to around the early 1980s. Band leader, Dave Shaheen, sings lead vocals on about half the songs and he plays rhythm guitar. Lead guitarist Reid Travaskis sings the other half of the songs. The switching up between two lead singers gives Hurricane Alley more variety and it is part of the band’s strength. Another strength is Reid Travaskis’s lead guitar playing, which was finely accented, precise, and clean during most of the songs, though there were a few that didn’t come off too well.
Booty Vortex made their first performance at Acton Jazz Café; kept the crowd dancing all night
Booty Vortex is simply a high energy dance band. There is nothing on the level of high achieving artistic endeavors. Booty Vortex only want you to have some fun, and they provide the soundtrack. A review can’t really consider this band on the finer points of art. You have to rate this band using your feet, as in how often they got you on them to move them. That is where Booty Vortex showed themselves to be groove kings and queens.
The Blue Gils featuring Satch Romano rocked the Next Page Cafe in Weymouth Mass last Saturday night
The Blue Gils hit the stage at Next Page Cafe last Saturday night and played nothing but solid, driving blues. Slow boil blues and uptempo songs with blistering guitar notes were the order of the evening.
The Blue Gils nailed a perfect rendition of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Texas Flood,” with Gil Correia taking his sweet time unfolding the quiet storm of this number. His heavy chord action and his blistering phrase gave this tune an invincible might, tackling rhythms and leads, back and forth, like a sports car swiftly changing gears.
Bob Margolin rocked the house at Hajjar’s in Weymouth last week; too many guests spoiled the soup
Bob Margolin rocked the house at Hajjar’s in Weymouth last week; too many guests spoiled the soupIt might be a good idea to invite a lot of big name talent to a blues jam. They get to share the stage with many different players. But during a three hour show, it can be a disorganized mess to have too many people on the list. A three hour gig cannot accommodate as many players as a jam or a festival. I hope this lesson was learned by the hosts of last weekend’s Bob Margolin show at The T-Room at Hajjar’s restaurant in Weymouth.
Moral Dilemma slams the hard rock hits home at Turtle Pond Tavern in Palmer, Mass
Moral Dilemma will come at people from out of the blue. Their western Massachusetts music scene often seems isolated from the greater-Boston cover band circuit Yet, this band will likely get out of their local trappings soon. They offer a wide array of edgy, aggressive music that can appeal to hard rock fans from the 1960s to the present day. And, by the way, they’re very good with their genre of music.
Squish Mitten rocks right out, but they’re still a work in progress
Squish Mitten just might be the funniest sounding name ever for a rock band. Or, are they a blues band? Or, maybe a little bit of a jam band? That’s the thing about Squish Mitten. It is hard to pigeon hole them into any one category. These four musicians are top notch at what they do, and they do much of it with seriousness and purpose.
Sunny And Her Joy Boys brought Fall River audience back in time with female vocalists from great American Songbook
Sunny and her Joy Boys took the stage at Narrows Center for the Arts last night, March 20, and they put on an engagingly good show, performing jazz standards originally recorded by female singers in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
