The Monkey House 7th Birthday Party December 28, 2013
Words by Tim Lewis.
I had a great night of seeing, hearing and experiencing music at The Monkey House tonight. I got to hang out with my cousins Jessica and Caleb Pearson for a bunch of the show, got two dedications from the stage (was one of those really a job offer Black Rabbit?), got to meet Ariel Bolles, got to chat with Aya Inoue, said the stupidest thing ever to Daniel Bolles (Just kidding, he may have heard stupider things in his life, but maybe not), got a ride home from one of my favorite musicians (thanks again Phil Yates) and just, generally, rocked the night away (yes that is a Michael Schenker flying V reference).
I got to chat with a few other great musicians like Eric Segalstad, Michael Clifford, and Linda Bassick (or at least say hi).
I got out of work at 6, ate a bit of dinner, waited, donned the black, and took the nice slushy walk to the Monkey House. The air was just warm enough to melt the ice on the trees, so I got a mini shower on the walk in.
I walked in, chatted with the cousins, and after a bit, the show began. Nick from Osange Orange opened solo with an electric guitar. He sang passionately and the songs had a bit of movement to them. The third and forth really rocked, and you could almost hear the full band. He played one more then wrapped it up.
Eastern Mountain Time followed with some countryish, bluesish, alt rockish music that ran in a few directions, slowly and steadily. It was a bit of a challenge to follow the songs, but the effort was well paid off for those who dared. The set was kind of subtle and kind of fantastic.
Next up, Phil Yates and the Affiliates kicked things into an indie rock high gear. The songs were danceable and the tepid audience slowly moved towards the new stage in the back. They played a bunch of fun songs like Ninja’s VS Zombies and the one that goes Burn, Burn, Burn. They started the set with Phil breaking a sting in the first song. During the break he asked if anyone had an extra guitar. Chris Farnsworth lent him his, and Phil played most of the set with a low slung guitar. It was pretty cool.
Chris and the rest of Dino Bravo VT followed with a blisteringly loud set of rock and roll. They exposed the perversity of Chuck Berry, played a song about the radio, and ended the set with a, personal favorite, song about the ocean. Chris’ guitar work was subtly transfixing and the whole set was a joy.
Wolvings followed with a heavy set of loud indie rock. They had tons of energy and seemed to have a great time playing their fast melodic music. They dedicated Teeth to the Vermont dental plans, and just played as hard as you want a great rock band to play.
Paper Castles followed with a searingly mellow set. Padraic Reagan sang and played with a gentle furious passion. The keyboard player and drummer were right in tune with the off kilter songs. Rest In Pieces spoke to me a bit more tonight than it did when I played the album, Vague Era, all the way through the other day. I may have to listen to that again.
The volume got cranked back up to 12 when Black Rabbit took the stage. They opened with a double shot of Tibbar Tibbar into Mark My Words. They played a couple of great songs that I did not know, one introduced as the Cold. They invited me to work at their corporation at the introduction to Black Cat (wow, that would be a great song for a Halloween show). They played more loud fast garage rock songs, maybe called Carnage and El Gande. Marc Scarano‘s flying V guitar sounded great on Neutrin (and the rest of the songs). They tossed in a cover of Teenagers From Mars, and refused to leave the stage (there’s the door if you want it) to rip through Chinese Rock.
I was in a blissful form of heaven, and contemplating the walk home, when Phil offered a ride. All in all, it was a pretty lovely night.
OK, sleep soon, work tomorrow, then Dark Side Of The Mountain, again!
This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.