With great power comes great responsibility..

Saturday night I was lucky enough to catch The Mclovins performing at a 40th birthday party for high school pals Doug and Zach. The party was held in the work room at the historic Essex ShipbuildingMuseum in Essex, MA. The job of filling this cavernous space with music fell on the shoulders of Lauren Caso, Production manager of Café 939 @ Berklee College in Boston. Caso along with Theo Tasker performed a meticulous soundcheck during which the band ran through Milktoast Man, Sea Of Widsom and an effects-stripped Killing Time. Hearing the sound check it was obvious that in this space the band was going to be generating some serious sound and how this would be embraced by the party-goers was yet to be seen.

Now I had written a review chock full of the typical hyperbole you’ve come to expect here at OAOAOMT and written in my patented verbose style, but I decided to chuck it in favor of this. The real important thing about Saturday’s show wasn’t what they played, but how the chose to play it. The first set was a bit loud and quite a few party-goers made their way outside where they could still hear the show but also get a chance to chat and mingle. This wasn’t a problem, after a blistering first set, the guys got together and turned in a second set that was both musically challenging and crowd pleasing.

A few months ago this may have set the guys off their game a bit, but in an extremely professional and totally classy decision, they forged ahead, playing the set that the evening called for. The band was fired up, as this was a warm-up for the next big one this Friday at Infinity Hall, and by turning in a mature performance, the band stayed loose, had fun and everyone left happy. Sometimes bigger is better, but it’s an epiphany when you realize that less really is more.

The McLovins Essex Shipbuilding Museum Party

1st - Tokyo Tea,
Shakedown Street,
This Town,
Deep Monster Trance,
20 In A 35,
Milktoast Man,
Cissy's Delight,
Purple Trees

2nd -Blues Jam,
Break On Through,
Sea Of Wisdom,
Sexy Jam,
Virtual Circle,
Beadhead CrystalBugger,
Rocky Raccoon,
Backwards Down The Number Line
E: Conundrum