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.

Let’s see if I can actually communicate how cool last week’s show was. I gave it a shot earlier, but gave up when I broke 1,000 words without even getting to the punchline.

So let me tell you every cool thing about last Thursday’s show at TT the Bear’s…

It was a CD release party for a Cars tribute CD put together by a bunch of indie bands, many of them local.

The Cautions not only played the Cars’ “Nightspots”, but one of their songs included a two-bar transition into the guitar introduction to Devo’s “Q: Are We Not Men?”, which almost caused spewage. I made sure to corner their lead singer to communicate my appreciation.

West Virginia’s The Argument, not only played “You Might Think”, but also their own “Speak My Mind (The Cheddar Song)”, about the lead singer’s cat. You’d think that might be kinda kitschy, but I found it a very moving song. Lyrics here.

More importantly, I finally got to meet marm0t, whose LJ I’ve been reading for a year or two. She founded and runs the Boston Pop Underground, and helped organize the show. She also introduced me to Peter Kuehl, who produced the tribute album, and LiveJournalers schmeef, and a couple others she’ll remind me of when she reads this.

She also introduced me to Greg Hawkes, the Cars’ keyboardist, who was in the house. Well, actually, I more swooped down on him while they were talking and quickly co-opted a couple minutes of his time. I sat with him at his table and we talked about his current situation, Mark Mothersbaugh, and this and that. I fear I waxed indulgent in heaping praise on him and the Cars, but he smiled and nodded as if it were all news to him. And I was right up front to get the pictures when he went onstage for a cameo performance of “Just What I Needed”.

The Phoenix’s Brett Milano did a writeup this week which can be found here. But my pictures are better (click for bigness).

It really was mind-blowing, sitting there, chatting with one of the motive forces behind arguably the best pop band of the past 30 years, while the genteel Hawkes listened intently and graciously. And I want to thank marm0t for taking time to chat with me, as well. I first friended her a couple years ago because she sounded very cool, and she proved even cooler in person. Despite being one of the show’s organizers, she took time to chat with me, introduced me around, and even bought me a round. I think that means I owe you one, marm0t. Thanks for making my evening!

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