Black Rabbit, Cave Bees, And Shepard’s Pie At The Monkey House September 12, 2014

Words by Tim Lewis.

I had a great time seeing music last Friday at The Monkey House. I took a bus to Shelburne in the early evening and picked up my brother and a car. Ken and I arrived at the club a bit early and just hung out and chatted with Marc Scarano and Darlene Scarano. After a bit Eric and Nathan Curtis, from work, showed up. It was just after 9:30 when Black Rabbit hit the stage. They came out swinging with a heavy fast version of Mark My Words. I thought Jane Boxall would add a lot to the sound, but her drumming just blew me away. It was like she gave every note it’s own weight and used that to add an extra dimension to the songs. It was almost like seeing them for the first time. They ran through most of Lipstick And Dynamite, and played a few songs from the first EP. They played a couple that are not recorded yet, but are usually in the set. They played a couple that I dd not know, and think were new. They tossed in a Buzzcocks cover just for fun. Darlene’s bass was locked in with Jane for the whole night, and Marc played wicked riffs and solos. They were in top form and I was in heaven. They wrapped the night with Tibbar Tibbar, then a rousing version of Carnage. What can you say when one of your favorite bands just keeps getting better and better? After a moderate set break, Cave Bees hit the stage with a growl. They were heavy, fast, and loud, and played some classic punk rock. The sound was not great, with vocals and lead guitar mixed down a bit, but there was enough to go along for the ride. They tossed in a couple of new songs, but stuck mostly to their album. It sounds like they will be sticking around for the winter, so I hope to get to see them again in the near future, hopefully with a better sound mix. After another moderate set break, Shepard’s Pie hit the stage with classic sounding punk rock. The set was all original songs, a couple of which had some fun sing along parts. Lily Sickles attacked her guitar and the band were nimble, fast, and fun. Their set was fairly short, maybe 30 minutes or so, but was nothing but a good time. After they wrapped up, we said our goodbyes and I drove Ken back to Shelburne. I’m so glad he wanted to come out and see some of the great music we have in our clubs. I will have to put in an effort to get him out to more in the near future.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.