Rock 'n Rumble Semi-Finals Night #2
Live Impressions
by Nick Parker
by Nick Parker
Photos
by Chris March
April 13th, 2012
RSL STREAMING PHOTO ALBUM
I came to this second Rumble semi-final already a little weary. I had been there to see Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck's win the night before (and what would turn out to be the wildcard performance of Motherboar too), and I was suffering from 'Rumble fatigue.' This might have been my own 'decrepit, aging writer' condition of course, but after four so different bands during Semi-Final #1, I craved some musical tranquility... I was not destined to get it.
Sherman Burns
The show appeared to begin with more of the withering metal blast that Motherboar had executed so well at the end of the show before. Sherman Burns had gone through from the same preliminary round as Motherboar too (in a night that must, I guess, have been a absolute torrent of sound), suggesting perhaps that Metal was the genre of this year's competition.
As the set progressed though, I began to feel that Sherman Burns showed that reductive talk about 'Metal,' like talk about any other category of music of course, was bound to elide the nuances of each good band that plays it. Sherman Burns played heavy music certainly, but not the same kind of material as Motherboar. Their dynamic range was reminiscent of bands like Scotland's Biffy Clyro. Their song structure too, shifted in pace and energy (but not in commitment) throughout.
Ghosts of Jupiter
Ghosts of Jupiter were the second on, and things turned rather more moody as they played. The crowd certainly seemed engrossed with sweeping scale of the band's song construction. Their warm bass-end heavy tone, led not in small part by bass player Tommy Lada (who was later to return to play for Garvy J's band too), made for a set suffused with 'Southern' charm.
The Rationales
The Rationales were clearly a band that many were pulling for from the start, and with good reason. A staple of the Boston music scene for some years now, this band are clearly a polished operation, their music a little reminiscent for me of 90s guitar pop 5-piece Screaming Trees. The night seemed to build up as their set did.
SEMI #2 NIGHT WINNERS:
Garvy J and the Secret Pockets of Hope and Resistance
Garvy J and the Secret Pockets of Hope and Resistance, who came on to huge fanfare from a packed TTs, and seemed to head up the evening with a confidence so solid that their victory quickly seemed assured. There is no question that the band produce song after song of immersive rock, but in some ways it was their determination and poise that led them to a place in the finals. We will see if they can repeat this feat when confronted by Bow Thayer's incredibly professionally crafting sound, and Motherboar's furiously energetic set.
Garvy J
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