Ornoth

It’s official: in six weeks TT the Bears will shutter and disappear, leaving Central Square that much more normal.

Right next door to the Middle East, TT’s booked bands that would have struggled in that larger venue. But that gave TT’s the freedom to feature all kinds of unknown but enjoyable acts.

And the tiny size of the club made the concertgoing experience that much more intimate, whether you wanted it or not! You couldn’t physically get more than about 30 feet from the stage.

I can’t say I was a regular at TT’s, but I did see my share of shows. My buddy Bob Corsaro will be glad to know that I was there to see his ska band, the Brass Monkeys, play no less than four times. Multiple shows by Boston ska royalty the Allstonians and Beat Soup. Inspecter 7. Dow Jones & the Industrials.

One of the more memorable shows I enjoyed was Mono Puff, a bizarre alt-rock collage orchestrated by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants fame. As they might tell you themselves, “It was totally rockin’!”

But the most unforgettable moment was the night I met Greg Hawkes, the original keyboardist for the Cars. He was the only band member who showed up at a 2005 show celebrating the release of a Cars tribute album by a collection of Boston-based bands.

I was introduced to Mr. Hawkes by show organizer Andrea Kremer, and actually got to sit with him and chat before he took the stage as guest performer for “Just What I Needed”. It remains one of the most cherished memories of my time in the scene. You can read more about that show and see my other photos in my blogpost, “Life’s the same, except for my shoes…”

Now TT’s becomes another in a long list of legendary Boston music clubs that can only be spoken of in the past tense. But these memories remain.

I just thought I’d take a sec to recall the last couple days before I left for Korea, since they were a bit notable.

Monday I went and saw the Toasters at the Middle East. The level to which they—and ska—have sunk was underscored by the fact that they were playing the upstairs, rather than the big room downstairs. And the show overall reflected it. The only person left from the Toasters at their best is Bucket, and… well, they’re not as tight by half, and the songwriting’s gone downhill. It’s great to see them carrying on, but it was also pretty melancholy to such a great band brought low.

The other thing I wanted to note was that Tuesday was a Gordon & MacPhail scotch whisky tasting at Federal Wine. Here’s the lineup:

• Benromach 6
• Bladnoch 13
• MacPhail’s 15
• Benromach Portwood 22
• Millburn 27
• Glenrothes 30
• Athol Brose liqueur

The young Benromach was surprisingly good, with a nice smokey flavor when I would have expected something really raw. The Bladnoch was another pretty characterless lowland. The MacPhail’s is an independent bottling of… I think it was Glenfarclas, and wasn’t bad. If I recall correctly (must take tasting notes at these events, even if it *is* in cramped quarters), the Glenrothes was quite a different experience. But the liqueur was just a bad case of spewage waiting to happen. That’s not one I’ll ever forget. Yaggis!