Only caught a few concerts to start the year and none were at a typical venue, two at a brewery and the third at a museum. The theme for the month was quality and not quantity.
The year kicked off at Widowmaker Brewing in Braintree, Massachusetts for two nights off riffs for the Hopsmokerfest Invitational, the first day being the fast kind and the second day being the slower type. Both nights were part of a battle of the bands to see who would open the infamous April festival.
Day 1 of the Hopsmoker Invitational was the hardcore day with some of Boston’s most promising up-and-comers including Cooked Alive, Held Captive, In Contempt, and Powerwolves. Held Captive won. Day 2 of the Hopsmoker Invitational was the rock’n’roll day filled with more fuzzy riffs than most can handle provided by Blue Manic, Coma Hole, Earthlore, and Mollusk. It was awesome seeing so many familiar faces in the room. Earthlore won.
Next, I would head to the other side of the state to catch a headline performance by Slowdive at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Massachusetts. The shoegaze band was touring behind their latest album, ‘Everything Is Alive,’ they released in September 2023, following 2017’s ‘Slowdive,’ which was their first album in 22 years and since reuniting in 2014. The group broke up soon after the release of their third studio album, ‘Pygmalion,’ in 1995.
Month:
Number of shows attended: 3
Bands: 10 Venues: 2
Year:
Number of shows attended: 3
Bands: 10 Venues: 2
Blue Manic
Coma Hole
Cooked Alive
Earthlore
Held Captive
In Contempt
Mollusk
Powerwolves
Slowdive
