Rock Shows of Note XXXV
After a long day complete with slow, sleepy morning; Summer Camp party at work; an awesome Anchormen practice; and a walk to Central Square from Inman Square (Jef and Chris stopped off at the Abbey, and I was meeting Coco at home); Coco and I went to the Middle East for the Punk Rock Aerobics anniversary bash.

As soon as we got to the club, bumping into Jef, who ended up beating us there, I got hit by a heavy wave of tiredness. I just wasn't into hanging out in a crowded, loud, and smoky club, regardless of how good the show was. Maura and Hilken seemed pleased with the turnout and birthday celebration despite an inattentive sound woman who kept neglecting to turn on the mics so they could MC. I picked up a Count Me Outs CD after ascertaining that, despite two different CD designs, all of the CD's they had on hand featured the same songs. And we lingered long enough to see two of the bands.

Dead Combo was irritating in an art-damaged kind of way. A two-piece featuring guitars, a drum machine, and a keyboard that produced some interesting sounds, the Combo played lackluster, low-energy art rock -- and seemed to take themselves way too seriously. Backed by some projected graphics, the two created a wall of sound but didn't communicate any sense of fun or humor in their set. Perhaps that's what knocked me out so quickly.

Regardless, we stayed for several songs of the Operators' set before heading home for an early night. After Maura introduced them as her favorite PRA students, the Ops opened with "Bottle" and seemed to be playing quite well for the songs we stuck around to see and hear. We ran into some folks we'd hung out with at Chris and Em's cookout earlier this month, and Coco was a sport to leave as early as I needed to. Mmm, sleep. I needed it.

We were bummed to miss the rest of the Ops' set and the Count Me Outs, but I did get that CD. Next time I'll pace myself better throughout the day so I don't fade so quickly!

You can also read Coco's review of the show.