Shem Tane CAMBRIDGE, MA -- This past weekend the city of Cambridge celebrated its 11th year of HonkFest, which is a three day festival of brass bands from around the U.S. performing in both Davis and Harvard Squares. The core of the festival is to bring the community together through music. As I witnessed the many different bands performing and interweaving through the crowds I could feel an increasing sense of unity. Everywhere you turned, those two social centers of Cambridge were pulsing with dancing, discussion, and music. One of the bands that I caught was this rag tag collection of musicians from Seattle, Washington. At one point of their set they performed a cover of “Pink Elephants” from Dumbo. This set the crowd into a frenzy as the musicians began expanding into the crowd inches away from my face; the resulting adrenaline rush was palpable. The second group I … [Read more...] about Honk Fest 2017
Shem Tane
A BLAST FROM THE PAST — THE LEMON TWIGS AT THE SINCLAIR
By Shem Tane CAMBRIDGE, MASS. -- The Lemon Twigs is a rock band from Long Island, New York. They have already performed on Conan, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and many more television programs. The band’s sound seems as if it has been marinating in a time capsule basking in the sun outside the Sunset Strip during the 1970s. The crisp and tight melodies of brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario shine through even the darkest venue, even competing with the stage lights. The group performed at the Sinclair in Cambridge on September 28 and I got the chance to witness the musicians’ flair and devotion to music from decades ago. The first part of the set featured Michael on drums who quickly became a twister of tom fills and drumstick twirls. This brought visions of what it must have been like seeing The Who’s Keith Moon live hunched over the drums and cymbals snarling like a wild … [Read more...] about A BLAST FROM THE PAST — THE LEMON TWIGS AT THE SINCLAIR