After plans to spend the long weekend in the White Mountains fell through, I was able to make it out to this show after all. I took the T to Kenmore and as I walked by Fenway Park, the sound of Tom Petty playing “Freefallin” could be heard. Church was only about a block away and is a venue that I have never been to before. There wasn’t much going on when I arrived, a few people sitting at the bar and some at tables, so I assumed that I had missed the first band but thankfully, I was wrong. The problem with getting to a club early, especially when going to shows by yourself, is all of the standing around and waiting, made even more awkward when it’s a place you’ve never been to before.
In order to relax a bit, I started out with an Allagash White while waiting for the first band to go on. There was a pool table in the middle of the room, which was calling my name, but I wasn’t going to ask random people if they wanted to play (I’ve made that mistake before and people looked at me like I had 2 heads). I could see 28 Degrees Taurus setting up.
This is by no means the first time I’ve seen 28 Degrees Taurus and they were just as awesome as always. At one point singer/bassist Karina Dacosta traded places with their drummer for a bit. It seemed like a really short set of their dreampop tinged with a bit of psychedelia though. Also, this may have been the first time I have seen the band not do shots on stage (although I was standing next to them after their set and did get to witness some shots happen).
During the break I decided to try a Harpoon Boston Irish Stout. It was a creamy, smooth beer and not bad at all. More awkward standing around as I waited for Sleep Studies to go on.
Sleep Studies are a 3 piece band, who are also from Boston and have an ethereal, dreamy, bordering on cinematic sound. Although I have seen them a few times before, they sounded really good tonight. Their Last Leaves album, which came out earlier this year is highly recommended and can be found on their Bandcamp page. (Note to Sleep Studies: I tried to introduce myself at one point, but you were in a conversation that I didn’t want to interrupt. Next time!)
I ordered another Allagash White and at this point, was starving. Oh Tasty Burger…you shall be mine after this show, oh yes! Thoughts of delicious burgers aside, Soccer Mom began to set up.
Soccer Mom were the third band from Boston to play on this night. They have a sort of indie/post rock sound and seemed to have the longest set of the night, which wasn’t a bad thing at all. They also released an excellent self titled album that came out a few months ago.
Brooklyn’s Dead Leaf Echo were the final band of the night. Even though I have been enjoying their true.deep.sleeper EP for a little while now, this was my first time seeing them live. Bathed in awesome visuals that seemed to make the band blend into the screen behind them, the mood was set for their swirly, shoegazey, dream pop. It seemed to be an extremely short set, although it may just felt that way because I wanted to hear more.
This was a really awesome lineup put on by Illegally Blind, who have been putting on some great shows around the Boston area. It was a pretty good night of music by four bands that I really like. I had never been to Church before, but it was a cool venue and I will be back again to see more shows there for sure (maybe someone will take me up on playing a game of pool). Oh, and that Tasty Burger was the greatest thing I’ve ever eaten as I made my way back home.
Teenage Riot TV 