Mike D’s Top 5 – Shows of April

1. Monday April 10; Westminster Yacht Club; Ogie’s Trailer Park, 1155 Westminster St, PVD; No Cover! 21+ only. 9pm to 1am.

Shameless self promotion time! DJ Haulin’ Boats (yours truly) and DJ Dan Steely (fellow Motif’er Marc Clarkin) will be slipping out the jams on the first Monday of every month at Ogie’s Trailer Park, “an urban oasis” in the middle of the west end of PVD. All of your favorite Yacht Rock jams blasting through Ogie’s new killer sound system. What better day than a Monday night to forget that it’s not the weekend or 90 degrees and you’re not on a boat in the harbor drunk and singing along to your favorite cheesy songs from the 70s and early 80s? (Or are you?) Break out your favorite pastel outfits, tie a sweater around your neck then come be merry and act like assholes with us! Want to hear a request? Bring your wallet, these DJs only accept payola if we have to listen to your crap.

2. Thursday April 13; Sheer Mag, “Mystery Band TBA”, Hairspray Queen; AS220, 115 Empire St, PVD. $10 advance / $12 day of. All ages. 9pm

Hot damn!!! It’s been over a year since I’ve seen Sheer Mag, and it’s been over a year too long. I think the last time they were in the area was opening for the also excellent Royal Headache at Great Scott in Boston, and I don’t think they have ever played in Providence. Their recordings achieve the perfect ratio of punk garage to lo-fi and roll. Reminds me of mid-90s garage, like The Catheters, early The Donnas and The Gossip, bands I would find out about by stalking ‘zines like Punk Planet as a teenager. Which in some ways seems fitting, as Sheer Mag (unlike some bands from the 90s I mentioned) is staying true to the underground and existing on their own terms, which I see and fully respect. To get a good idea of what the band is about, check out their song “Nobody’s Baby” and then keep going. Providence punks Hairspray Queens open the show, and if I had to make an educated guess, I would guess that the mystery band is bilingual.

3. Saturday April 15; Hot Club turns 34; The Hot Club, 575 S Water St, PVD; No Cover, 21+ only, all day / DJ 10pm+.

Hot Club is one of my favorite bars, and in the off season they have DJs so I think their 34th birthday party counts as a show. And when there is no DJ, you can drop $5 in the jukebox and subject the entire bar to your choice of good or terrible music. Unless you are the guy who plays the 30+ minute Phish song, in which case I hope you jump head first into the adjacent river. Anyway, to celebrate their anniversary they have party empresario DJ Tank Jones. Get there early and take the first of the 97,000 smoke stack instagram photos I will see this year.

4. Friday April 28; Darklands, Twin Foxes, Burglary Years, Gertude Atherton; Aurora, 276 Westminster St., Providence RI; $7 all ages 9pm.

Here we have what I think is the best local show of the month. Darklands are a three-piece that sounds like four different bands at once, a convergence of lo-fi, post grunge, fuzz psych that almost ends up indie shoe-gazer. Twin Foxes are one of my favorite Providence bands, and usually my go-to band for indie opener for national acts. The two bands are releasing a split EP this month, but unfortunately for 98.4% of the music enjoying public, it’s on cassette. But keep an eye on the two band’s bandcamps where, hopefully, they will post it for the rest of us soon. Boston’s post punk (maybe post emo punk) act Burglary Years and PVD’s favorite recluse punks Gertude Atherton round out the bill.

5. Saturday April 29; RI Music Hall of Fame Inductions & Concert featuring Neutral Nation, Plan 9, Kristin Hersh & David Narcizo; The Met, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket; $20 advance / $25 doors. All ages. 6:30pm doors / 8pm show. AND Sunday April 30th; RI Music Hall of Fame Inductions & Concert featuring Phil Greene, Rizzz, The Wild Turkey Band / Hometown Rockers; 3pm doors / 4pm show

I might be finally getting old: Bands I know and found growing up are getting inaugurated. I first was introduced to Neutral Nation at around 13, as a skateboard punk who would take the RIPTA into Providence, walk to Thayer St. and spend three hours looking at records and loitering. I remember buying Neutral Nation’s Invasion of the Sumo Wrestler 45 record at Goldy’s records, half knowing the band name, half liking the drawing on the cover. I went home, threw it on the player, and have been sold ever since. Saturday is younger acts day, with south county psych rockers Plan 9 and Throwing Muses joining the Hall. Sunday includes some older area rock legends like Rizz and Pawtucket mainstays Wild Turkey Band / Home Town Rockers. What bands do you expect to see in the RI Hall in the future? Off the top of my head I would like to see Six Finger Satellite, The Royal Crowns, and Lightning Bolt. And Small Factory. Curious as to what some of my peers think as we seem to be slowly moving into the 90s.

Also worth checking out:
Apr 6 Lame Genie,  Ask The Dead @ Alchemy
Apr 9 Minibeast, Insect Factory, Pyramid @ The Parlour
Apr 13 Nappy Roots, Freddie Black @ The Parlor Newport
Apr 13 Xiu Xiu @ Columbus Theatre
Apr 14 The Silks, Juile Rhodes @ The Met
Apr 14 Culture, Soul Shot @ The Ocean Mist
Apr 19 The Jayhawks @ The Narrows
Apr 20 Ceschi @ The News Café
Apr 21 Balance and Composure, From Indian Lakes @ The Met
Apr 21 Wolf Eyes @ AS220
Apr 21 Explosions In The Sky @ Lupo’s