Rock Shows of Note XLIII
Last night, the Handstand Command collective threw a little party at the Dilboy on Davis Square in Somerville. The basic idea was to improve on the Anchormen All-Star Karaoke event we organized last year, only with collective members performing cover songs, not songs by the Anchormen, spelling me as singer.



There were two sets of karaoke, punctuated with performances by Spoilsport and Swizzle. First up, Swizzle. Sporting a couple of new (compared to the band photo online, at least) band members and featuring a nice guitar and keyboard pairing, the band alternated between interesting indie-rock numbers and country songs, including a Hank Williams cover to cap the set. Good stuff.

Before the first karaoke set, the Anchormen took the stage, with me singing a couple of songs, "Houston" and "Celebrate Democracy," the latter in dishonor of the recent elections. Then, the karaoke began! Here's who did what:

Leslie (Asian Babe Alert): Kyliue Minogue, "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

Emily (The Operators): Guns 'n' Roses, "It's So Easy"

Steph (The Operators and the Tardy): Galaxie 500, "Strange"

Simone: Duran Duran, "Hungry Like the Wolf"

Dave (Swizzle): Motorhead, "Ace of Spades"

TD joined Simone for "Hungry Like the Wolf," and "Ace of Spades" was utterly priceless.



Then, Spoilsport. Every time I see them play, they increase in confidence and energy, which is good to see. They played their standard set of sunny-day cutepop, blending aspects of the poppier side of the Queers and the charming and disarming goofiness of Pansy Division. I shall not compare them to Tullycraft, which they've never even heard. Word is that I might join them singing a song at an upcoming show. Word up.

The Anchormen took the stage for another song, "Audobon Park," from our as-yet-unnamed forthcoming CD EP, before the karaoke calamity resumed. Here's who did what:

Dave Geisslah (Scrapple): The Anchormen, "Moonface"

Leah: The B-52's, "Strobe Light"

Chris (The Anchormen): Archers of Loaf, "Wrong"

Jen (The Operators): Rolling Stones, "Rocks Off"

Paul (The Operators and Sinkcharmer): Status Quo, "Pictures of Matchstick Men"

Birthday kids ensemble: The Figgs, "Favorite Shirt"



Then the Anchormen took the stage again. We played requests until they stopped coming. Then we all went home.