SAT 3/28: Beer & Tunes

Pancakes are over, but there's beer and rock still to be had. I think I'm going to try to see how drunk I can get for $30 at the Real Ale Exhibition, then hear some music later. Cross your fingers for more cheap postings...

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SAT 3/28

Noon to 7pm
New England Real Ale Exhibition
at VFW George Dilboy Post, 371 Summer St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$5

At $5 admission, I think it's a good expedition for the beer-lover. With scores of cask beers at hand, the best deal seems the half-pint size (10oz) at $3 for trying different brews and getting a good buzz on... Cask-pumped beers seem a little funky to this guy who was raised with American macro-brews, etc; I'll watch if others are pounding their samples before I try it. I don't mind a good buzz if I know that it's supposed to slightly carbonated...

SAT 3/28

7pm
3rd Annual Alt. Country Extravaganza! Day Two
at Church, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston (Fenway)
$10 / 21+

Feat: Autumn Hollow (11:30pm), Mike Macdonald & The Widow Makers (10:45pm), Golden West Motor Lodge (10pm), The Bees Knees (9:15pm), Lucky 57 (8:30pm), Beau Roland Band (7:45pm), Dave Sammarco Band (7pm)

Maybe you missed night #1, but the rock is still getting rootsy 'n shit. With 7 bands for $10, it's hard to find a better deal than that. Church usually sells tall-boys for cheap too...

SAT 3/28

Varsity Drag (Midnight), St Helena (11pm), The Motion Sick Broken River Prophet (10pm), Mr. Sister (9pm)
at Cantab Underground / Club Bohemia, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8

It feel funny to say Varsity Drag sounds like Band X or Y, because the Varsity captain is Ben Deily of the original Lemonheads. He apparently wrote the songs that rocked and had balls on the early albums, and he continues to write great songs with melodies and noise. Superb! (And reminds me of Husker Du...)

Dang, St Helena is pretty damn awesome too. When dour tunes sound upbeat, it's a brilliant mix. The Motion Sick were scheduled to play, but maybe they're too wasted after their SXSW trip. Broken River Prophet is going to play back-to-back. I'm looking forward to hearing them live, because they blend in some elements that might term other bands as "Americana", but it sounds like a churning rock blend. Mr. Sister isn't loud, but they're intense; so it seems like a good opening for the night.

SAT 3/28

8pm
Brown Shoe, Calling Aviv, Talking About Commas, Johnny Duke & The Aces, Rock Hard, Quarter Life Crisis, The Gypsy West
at All Asia Cafe, 334 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$6 / $9 for 18+ (21+ after 10pm)

It's a long, wild lineup. The two bands to hear are indie-rockers Brown Shoe and the guitar blues of Johnny Duke & The Aces. Brown Shoe are touring from California, and I assume they're on in the middle of the night between the acoustic acts (Talking About Commas, Quarter Life Crisis) and the WBCN High School Battle of the Bands contender (Calling Aviv)...

Listen to Brown Shoe; their shit is totally together -- fully formed rock with well-written songs that should be on the radio. They're supposed to put on a helluva show, so think about it...