Like most big cities around the country but certainly in the Northeast Corridor, Boston’s slow creep of gentrification turned to more of a rapid descent in the years that preceded the Covid pandemic, and so the live music shutdown that resulted proved too much for most of the small and medium-sized rooms where local bands could hone their crafts and workmanlike touring bands could build respectable followings miles from their respective homes. Sure, we have a fancy new 3500 cap venue built in a fancy new neighborhood, and an even fancier new 5000 cap venue shoehorned into an oddly-shaped lot behind Fenway Park and those are fine I guess for what they are. But gone are the overwhelming majority of 900 to 400 cap venues that were the life’s blood of a once vibrant music scene. (At least Great Scott turned into a Taco Bell Cantina, which is less bad than the original plan to turn it into a bank.)
But all is not lost, music fans! The ever-shaping live music landscape has not dried up, but instead shifted from a central Hub to the up-and-coming suburban areas, particularly north of the city. We covered a bunch of shows at the wonderful historic-bank-turned-shiny-new-brewery that is Faces in Malden last year and wound down our 2023 show-going calendar with Samiam at the also wonderful Italian-restaurant-turned-sandwich-place-record-shop-250-cap-venue that is Deep Cuts in Malden. Last Saturday took us further away from the city to the once-thriving mill town that is Lowell. It’s often been said that there’s a lot to like about Lowell and as someone who has lived within 20 miles of it for the entirety of my forty-plus years on this planet, I can say that that has only sometimes been true. The addition of Taffeta and the adjoining Western Avenue Studios artist community certainly move the needle in the right direction.
First out of the gate on this night of mostly locals in the 400-ish cap black box of a venue (it’s tough to gauge true capacity given the floor plan, which contains a seating area that is out of sight of the stage) last Saturday night was Coffin Salesman, the brainchild project of local songwriter Aria Rad. We’ve seen Coffin Salesman in a variety of shapes and sizes over the years, but the “full band” five-piece (guitars, drums, bass and clarinet) might be the sweet spot. The band tore through a blistering, cathartic half-hour set that seemed as much gothic revival as it was folk-punk show at times.
Next up was local rock-and-roll favorites Michael Kane and the Morning Afters. When I say “rock-and-roll,” I mean that in the Tom Petty/Bruce Springsteen/Replacements senses of the word. Their no-frills (well, maybe the Western shirts and bolo ties were a tad frilly) mentality and collective years of being in and around the local punk rock scene mean that Kane and his four horsemen (Franklin Siplas on guitar, Timmy Weagle on bass, Jeff Hoey on drums and Joe Ferraro on keys) can fit in nicely in a variety of lineups. The fun setlist on this night leaned heavy on songs from the band’s most recent album, Broke But Not Broken, with a few fun covers (“Bring It On Home To Me” and “American Girl”) thrown in for good measure.
Batting third in the lineup were Haverhill, Massachusetts’ The Radiator Rattlers. It’s been a while since we’d really heard from the eight-piece cow-punkabilly band from further down the banks of the Merrimack River, but the slightly retooled lineup (keen observers will note the new washboard player) sounded better than ever. Granted I think the last time I saw the Rattlers was on a sidewalk in December for my old hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire’s Holiday Stroll, so while that was a fun occasion, it didn’t exactly lend itself to the modern, amplified acoustics of a warm indoor concert venue. The Rattlers have always been super fun, and it’s good to have them back in the fold. I’m pretty sure Jonee Earthquake (the pirate on pedal steel) is immortal.
Bringing us home on this evening was Lowell’s own Old Rochelle. The quartet features frontman/guitar player Dave Coscia backed by Jared Holaday on bass, Jon McCumber on drums and Tony Cavalieri on accordion and if you’re keeping score at home, yes, that’s our fourth unique band lineup (and like our tenth different instrument) represented on the evening. There’s a quote on their website about being referred to as “Zydeco-washed Americana” and I’d say that’s pretty accurate, which made for a pretty entertaining set particularly when you through a cajun-seasoned cover of the Rancid classic “Olympia, WA” in the mix.
Check out more shots from each band below, and if you’re ever in the Merrimack Valley area, make sure to check out Taffeta in Lowell’s Western Ave district!
