Artists: Nobunny, The Tampoffs, TRiPLE THiCK and The Party Pigs.
Date: Thursday, June 30, 2011
Location: Church aka Church of Boston
Comments:

Act I: The Party Pigs– Alright, alright I like what I see here. Party Pigs are a two piece- drummer/singer, guitarist/singer, you know the deal. It’s like the gah ridge (Mark Ronson for “garage”) version of No Age you could say. Volume was key to this band, for they were quite loud, but not in an obnoxious way, the “noise” complemented their playing; I wouldn’t call them a noise band though. The vocals were screamed in a sort of a drill sargent esque manner, which was pretty cool. The songs didn’t totally come through to me, but their set was tight and highly entertaining, I felt Needy Visions vibes. Like NV, their joy for performing music was extremely apparent. Solid opener, the best for the evening as far as I’m concerned (in terms of opening acts).

Act II: TRiPLE THiCK– These guys shared the same energy as The Party Pigs, but didn’t nearly thrill me as the first act. I think this was more of a case of my personal tastes because I could tell several others around me were really into TT and thought they were awesome. I definitely enjoyed their performance, but I was just left with a feeling of wanting more.

Act III: The Tampoffs– Perhaps the opening band that garnered the most attention… thee audience interaction was taken up a few notches when The Tampoffs hit the stage. A nice mosh pit erupted when they started playing, which is always fun. Naturally, their music was a bit heavier and faster than the other bands and the moshing was a reaction to this… OR… there were a lot of Tampoffs fans in the audience, or maybe it was just time to mosh. In any case, as much I love slamdancing to use a term I don’t seem to hear as often anymore, one drawback is that I can’t really pay attention to the band on stage and what their set is like, instead their music is just a soundtrack to the moshing. That’s fine though beacuse I didn’t know The Tampoffs, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Alas, I really don’t know how I feel about their music/set, but from what I can gather it was decent.

Act IV: NOBUNNY!!!– Aww man, Nobunny has some really excellent Boston fans, I should know! But seriously, I see a lot of bands in this circuit, if you will, of underground music and a healthy chunk of concert attendees at these shows tend to be of the hipster variety or just seeing a show for fuck’s sake ane not necessarily coming out to support their favorite band. Which is fine, I’m not going to comment on that here, that’s just an observation, or at the very least a perception. But with Nobunny it’s a totally different story… at least in Boston. The crowd at the Church knew their Nobunny and seemed to know it well. I mean even if you don’t know the words, you can easily tag along, that’s one of the great things about Nobunny. Though I never really recongnized how awesome these tunes are to sing a long to, very anthemic in a way. The show kicked off with the bunnyman himself in the crowd banging on the stage as his bandmates (guitar- Jason “Elvis Christ” Testasecca, bass- Touchy Tony, drums- Danaheim ) hopped aboard. Ready to Rock and Roll, the crew launched into the always euphoric “Nobunny Loves You.” Just like at home with my speakers or earphones, whenever I hear those first few chords I’m sent into an anticipating frenzy. Without any hesitation the crowd started movin’ and shakin’ and singing along to the immortal “Nobody But Me” esque chants: “NO NO NO, NO NO NO, NO NO NO!”-except Nobunny’s version is way cooler. For the first few songs Nobunny rocked on the guitar, then he placed his axe down to get a little bit more intimate with his audience, especially the ladies. For cuts like “It’s True,” our hero got down on his knees and lowered the mic with him to sing the special song for a cute honeybunny in the first row. I’d have to say this was some of his best showmanship, at least from what I’ve seen and he really interacted well with the fans. Of course, the fans’ participation was key. It really energized all involved. People were really into the songs and the whole time there was a great deal of stage diving including some from Mr. Nobunny himself, which is always a treat. In terms of the songs, well what can you say, it’s Nobunny, they speak for themselves! In particular, I enjoyed ” I Am a Girlfriend,”(“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” interlude and all), “Chuck Berry Holiday, “Live It Up,” and “Not That Good.” Best of all, however, was a rendition of Hunx and Punx’s “U Don’t like Rock and Roll.” A neat little surprise indeed, especially since I adore the music of Hunx. And of course anytime I get a chance to ask U2 fans “what the fuck is wrong with you?!” is a good time. My one gripe is that I wish the show was longer, but timing aside, it was one of the best shows I have experienced. Can’t wait to see Nobunny and the guys again! BOSTON LOVES YOU!

Grade: 9/10

Set List (in no particular order):

Non Album Cuts:
I Cant Wait (Sneaky Pinks)
U Dont Like Rock n Roll (Hunx and His Punx)

Love Visions:
Nobunny Loves You
I Am a Girlfriend
Not That Good
It’s True
Mess Me Up
Chuck Berry Holiday

First Blood:
Live It Up
Gone for Good
Blow Dumb
Motorhead With Me

Raw Romance:
Hippy Witch