[DID NOT ATTEND: April 27, 2024] Me First & the Gimme Gimmes / The Defiant / Ultrabomb
I initially didn’t want to like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes because I didn’t like their name. There are worse reasons to not like a band. Then I learned that they are a cover band doing punk covers of classic rock songs and I thought their name was actually pretty perfect and now I want to see them live too.
I bought a ticket for this show but learned a few weeks later that Teenage Fanclub was playing the same night. Very different vibes, but a tough decision.
And, best of all, my family was going to be out for the night so I didn’t even have to feel guilty about going out without them!
But for whatever reason, I was really tired that night. I wound up doing a lot of things that day and was asleep by 9:30. I probably could have gone to the show and been awake enough to enjoy it, but I didn’t have the motivation to go to either show.
I hadn’t heard of The Defiant, but had I known about them, it probably would have swayed my decision to go to this show
Members from The Offspring, Smash Mouth, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Street Dogs and The Briggs have united to form the new band THE DEFIANT. The members of The Defiant are no strangers to success as individuals but as a group their music stands for so much more on both a personal and professional level. Together the five members create a rock ’n’ roll pedigree that culminates into a riot of melodic punk. The Defiant will release their twelve-song debut album this October with touring to follow. The Defiant is: Pete Parada on drums (The Offspring), Greg Camp on guitar (Smash Mouth), Johnny Rioux on bass (Street Dogs), Joey LaRocca on guitar and keys (The Briggs) Dicky Barrett front and center (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones).
Mostly, I have wanted to see The Mighty Mighty Bosstones for decades (I saw them once back in the 90s) and was very sad when they broke up. Had I known that I could have seen Dicky Barrett (who is really the one I wanted to see), I would have absolutely gone to this show. Ignorance is a bad thing.
And holy crap Ultrabomb features Hüsker Dü’s Greg Norton! Why didn’t I read about these bands before this show?
UltraBomb, the eagerly anticipated international supergroup, have now arrived bringing together three iconic musicians from the cream of punk rock. On bass is the legend that is Greg Norton, once the driving force behind one of the most influential bands to emerge from the American punk scene, Hüsker Dü. Next up is the indefatigable singer-guitarist Finny McConnell, a name you’ll recognise from thirty years as the frontman of the Canadian Irish folk-punk sensation The Mahones. Completing the trio is the drumming powerhouse Jamie Oliver, having served well over fifteen years in the seminal British punk band UK Subs, as well as shorter stints with the likes of SNFU among others.
Oh boy, do I regret missing this show.
SOUNDTRACK: THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES-Don’t Know How to Party (1993).
I’ve always had a thing for ska (although even I got sick of it when No Doubt took over the airwaves, thanks Gwen). When ska gets added to blistering metal, well, it’s hard to resist. And so we get Boston’s own Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
I’ve also decided that, since the story is steamrolling to an end, and since so many of the end days are coming along, I’m going to update my own calendar (but just the November info). I’m putting it at the end of the post to include this week’s information.
This week’s reading is almost entirely focused on Gately in St Elizabeth’s Trauma Wing. He is stuck staring at the ceiling which is breathing at him. It reminds him of a holiday in Beverly, Ma in which the beach house that they rented had a hole in the roof. The hole was covered by a plastic sheet which flapped and pulsed with the wind. His crib was placed under the hole and it freaked him out (although what is a 4 year old doing in a crib? Well, Gately’s mom is clearly not the best parent.) 
I Just Read About That... 