Concert Review: Patrons of Sweet, Abandoned Buildings Club, Barrel Harbor

I believe in the almighty — the almighty loud, that is. I’ll get
behind it, or rather in front of it, if it’s paired up with good. That’s what I
got Thursday night following an incredible and incredibly funny set from Anglo hippity-hoppers Garden Fresh. These guys are the
perfect blend of brainiac and maniac.

But back to loud. Buffalo power trio Patrons of Sweet‘s
line check was a bit shrill, yet during its roughly hour-long set at Tala Vera the blend was appropriate and served the songs
well. This is a very good band in the line of proto-punk like Fugazi and any number of bands you’d find in every
teenager’s collection (back when I was a teenager, anyway, in the 1900’s).
That’s not to say it’s dated, it’s just that the music moves within beloved
parameters while still managing to forge ahead. I can’t wait to see this band
again.

Headliners Abandoned Buildings Club produced a wall of
sound and thunder thanks to two — count ’em — two
drummers. This didn’t muddy the focus a bit, but as you can imagine it added to
the drive of the bass and guitar, along with vocals with heaps of vintage-cool
slap back. I call for more slap back, please.

Caught Barrel Harbor‘s set as part of a five-band bill
at Montage Music Hall Saturday night. It was loud, mid-tempo hardcore that left
room for spots of acceleration that the band could have taken better advantage
of. Still and all, the band’s low and loud brutality was pretty cool.

I haven’t written about Buddhahood in a while, and in
fact I’ve never written about the version of the local band that I saw later
that night. What an incredible show. Still in the throes of assorted line-ups,
this version rocked steady, rocked hard, and rocked out in not so much a hippy
jam but a polyrhythmic brass-tacular rock ‘n’ roll
tempo tantrum.

This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 2, 2012.