The Scene – July 10th at Lupo’s, Part 3: Agents, Scotty, Badfish to Tazza

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2

I made my way back to the bar as the herd made its way outside for The Agents’ set. Once I’d secured a brew I hit the merch tables as the interior of Lupo’s was practically a ghost town. Having never heard of the Agents before today, I was excited to catch their set, and came to find out they used to play out quite frequently, and with a few weddings, and child births in the band, they had taken the past few years off to let life run its course. Getting late in the night, my cameara was running out of batteries, as was I.

The Agents on the Outdoor Stage at Lupo's

The Agents on the Outdoor Stage at Lupo's

According to their myspace, The Agents are normally an eight piece band, six members were in attendance for the evening. John Latourneau was stationed at stage right providing lead guitar, Jason DaLomba was to his left singing lead vocals and playing rhythm guitar, Frankie Moniz came next, playing tenor saxophone, Dawn Maguire was furthest stage left, playing trumpet, to the rear of stage left Jay Medeiros was providing electric bass, finally Matt Niebels round out the group for the evening playing percussion and seated at the rear of center stage. It seems Tuffy McDermott and Adam Go were unable to make the performance, both of whom fill out the brass section (yes I know technically saxophones are woodwinds, but they look brassy), playing baritone and alto saxophones, respectively. Beginning the first song I caught, the dueling horns and lyrical style, defined, in my mind, a roots reggae sound carried throughout the performance of “Superhero:”

07.10.09 The Agents performing “Superhero”

Frankie and Dawn belted out matching horn sections while John and Jason played matching rhythm guitar parts, instantly generating a wall of sound. Jay was providing a bouncy bass line accompanied by Matt finessing a jazzy drum beat. The outside crowd was spotted with long time Agents’ fans and others, such as myself, who were delighted in their first Agents experience, there wasn’t a still pair of feet on the ground. Breaking out another great dancey number, The Agents performed “Two Men Gone:”

07.10.09 The Agents performing “Two Men Gone”

John started in with an intricate and trippy guitar intro before Jason started in with the lyrics, Frankie and Dawn punctuated each line with a short four note burst from their lungs. Matt was coming up with some unique drum sounds during John’s later solo. Jay came in immediately following with a short but sweet bass solo. As the “Sully you need to get a third battery” light appeared on my camera, I decided I should save some juice and only captured on more tune from The Agents. A fantastic high energy introduction piece, “Dance You Up:”

07.10.09 The Agents performing “Dance You Up”

Dance us up they did, the song was written to rile up the crowd. I think of an introduction song as any song that uses the band name and refers to the band, or its members, and this was one of the better I’d heard, delivering on its promise. They followed with “Good Foot,” and again I couldn’t keep my ass still. The Agents were in a word, tight. A well polished act that brought their A-game I was exuberated with their performance. Definitely a live act for which I will have to keep out an eye. I made conversation for some time with The Agents and a few members of Baylock that crossed my path during the made dash to the inside stage. I decided to stick around for a few more songs, but hearing Paper Eagles had their debut show this evening at Tazza, one block away, I wanted to try to make it a successful two venue night.

I returned inside towards the end of the Scotty Don’t set, Lupo’s was packed. On stage for the evening was Pat Downes on vocals and guitar, Scott Begin on Drums, Joel Hangs on electric bass and Ben Schomp switching between guitar and keyboards, accompanied by a three man horn section, Ray Genarri on slide trombone, Kurt Ramm on trumpet and Gerard Ramm playing saxophone. I had chance to capture one song of which I’m still unsure the title:

07.10.09 Scotty Don’t performing an unknown song

Pat and Joel of Scotty Don't and Badfish

Pat and Joel of Scotty Don't and Badfish

Scott began a furious drum line before the horns burst into the song. The guitars and bass were loud and furious before the timing of the song changed into something with a bit more reggae feel. Lyrically it was very catchy and reminiscent of Sublime. Once it slowed down a bit I was jiving with the rhythm and had wished I had drug Nicole along. Brass just fills out a song so well. Pat sang softly at parts and belted out lines when needed. It was easily apparent they are a road seasoned group of musicians. I made my way around again to the merch tables for the remainder of their set while enjoying their eclectic mix of songs. Borrowing from reggae, ska, punk and straight rock and roll they were another band on the evening that showcased a varying knowledge of genres and made use of every one they could. At the conclusion of their original works Scotty Don’t left the stage and returned as Badfish. I stayed at Lupo’s for one more song, Sublime’s “Summertime:”

07.10.09 Badfish performing “Summer Time”

Being the premier Sublime tribute band of the East Coast it came as no surprise that they nailed it. Badfish did surprise me when they jammed out the musical interlude, staying true to the original but giving it a life of its own in live performance. I never had the chance to see Sublime play live, but I would say this version would make Bradley proud. As the crowd elated at the conclusion of the first song I made my exit, fully satisfied with my night on the town, and a bit weary.

I strolled over to Tazza and much to my chagrin Paper Eagles had completed their set and Chris Rosenquest was setting sound for Mahi Mahi.  I confirmed with Chris the time of his solo set the following day at The Black Rep’s Sound Session Finale and moseyed over to the bar for a brew. Spotting my cousin Jimmy we exchanged the international cross bar guy code of “Hey Man! I got a bartender over here, you need one? Then we’ll meet in the middle?” If you are unfamiliar with the signal its a slight raise of the head to acknowledge your cohort while holding an empty pint glass in your left hand. extending your pointer finger towards the bar keep while shrugging and pointing at the empty glass with your right hand. Once confirmed or denied (judging by the level in the pint glass raised in return) you point with your head while elevating your eyebrows towards your eventual destination. I’m sure you’ve seen it before, or, maybe its an Irish thing. Mahi Mahi began their set and I realized quickly it was something I would have enjoyed more in my more psychedelically adventurous youth. They laid out the electro pop and had the crowd dancing immediately. I could tell they were doing it well but not having any MDMA or LSD (for like the last dozen years) conversation with my cousin and his buddy, Brian, seemed more enticing. I joined them at their table outside on the patio and made reprise of my college role of mighty wingman.

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One Response to The Scene – July 10th at Lupo’s, Part 3: Agents, Scotty, Badfish to Tazza

  1. Pingback: The Scene – July 10th at Lupo’s, Part 2: Senior Discount and Someday Providence « Sully’s Cafe

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