Rock Shows of Note XLVI
Last night was a train wreck! I almost didn't go out, but around 10 p.m., in a fit of wanting to support the scene, I ventured out into the drizzle to head to Charlie's Kitchen to see several local pop bands: Shumai, Spoilsport, and the Tardy. I've already written copious amounts about Spoilsport and the Tardy, so I'll not so say much other than that the Tardy was a tad sloppy and Spoilsport rocked harder than they usually do. (I think it was in honor of my new short hair -- or Mookie quitting her banking job to become a carpenter.) There were much more interesting things happening at the show, and I don't really want to mention them. So there.

But Shumai was new to me. Shumai! A four-piece, they were quite impressive. Relatively solid power pop featuring a female lead singer and a male bassist who sang a couple of songs. They didn't do the boy-girl dual vocals thing much, and the songs the woman sang were usually more interesting than those that the man sang, and all in all, Shumai is well worth checking out. The MP3's on their Web site do them justice even if they sound a bit more twee on recording. I'll go see them again in a minute.

Actually, in a minute, I'm going to leave work and head for home. Lesson: If you're not sure you want to go out, and you finally decide to do so at 10 p.m., don't. It's probably not a good idea, especially if you haven't eaten dinner yet -- as good as Charlie's iceberg lettuce might be. You should probably stay home, continue to read and review comics. Because, then, you'd have published 20-plus comics and zine reviews instead of a photograph of a model. But that's the way the ball bounces, it seems.

Lesson No. 2: Everyone should go to the shows at Charlie's, even if it's raining. Last night was relatively sparsely attended -- perhaps because of the weather -- and if we want to keep the great rock shows coming upstairs at one of Cambridge's best hangouts, we need to keep the headcount up. Lecture over; I'm outie.