A gig pause for my birthday yesterday, which we spent on Boston Common and boating on the swan lake, then a splendid meal in the Italian Quarter with gracious host EdV and Melissa, which Ed pays for despite having been stopped and fined on the drive over for a very minor traffic misdemeanour! Today, however, after a day spent pressy shopping in Quincy, we're up for a gig again! We tried and failed totally to organise a trip to Newport, RI. to see Kay Hanley play an Acoustic Festival, so it's off to TT's instead. It's seemingly a poor second to Kay and Michael at Newport, but its' a damn sight closer and cheaper! Besides which, both of EdV's roommates, Josh Lattanzi and big Dave Wanamaker, are very enthusiastic about this show. So off we go!
We get to the virtually deserted venue at 9 - the entire evening is very sparsely attended and subdued of mood, very much the calm after the storm of the 2 Gravel Pit shows here! - and hit the pool tables, as ever. We're here mainly to check out Scott Janovitz' acoustic set, however, and Scotty is on pretty promptly at 9.30. Being the youngest brother of Buffalo Tom's Bill and the underrated Cold Water Flat's Paul, Scott Janovitz certainly has the right surname - indeed, there are fewer names "righter" in Boston Rock! - but does he have the pedigree? Well, any concerns in that area are dispensed with pretty quickly, as his solo acoustic set is poppy, upbeat and mighty fine. Young Scott has a fine voice, and his material, both solo and from his band Dragstrip Courage, is occasionally touching and melancholy, and well up to the family standard. Scott announces that Dragstrip Courage are doing a support slot Downstairs at the Middle East tomorrow, and immediately a vacant evening is filled.
Adam Franklin, ex of shoegazing staples Swervedriver, is more understated, darker and doomier. It's also odd to hear an English voice in Boston! Josh later describes his set as "awesome"; I wouldn't say that, but the Swervedriver material is good (perhaps prompting a revisit?) and Adam, obviously very competent as a performer, plays for over 1 1/2 hours and chooses a pretty eclectic mix of cover versions (Mott The Hoople's "Roll Away the Stone", Marty Robbins, Shangri-Las and even Libido's "Overthrown"!). So overall, not too poor a second!
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