Photos and story by Star BeatDespite issues with New Brunswick basement shows over the summer, the hub city has been able to sustain itself fairly well. Where there is a drive, challenges can be overcome, and those devoted to the scene do something- they open their houses up to keep shows going. It might mean keeping shows strictly word of mouth or making a show undetectable, like what happened to me on Monday night. I was wandering up and down the street trying to figure out where the house was. But finally I found the space, Bosnia. Sofas. Fridge. Christmas lights. Yep, I knew I was at the right place. It may have been a scavenger hunt trying to find it but it was well worth it. When I got in I immediately saw Lauren of The Measure (SA) hanging out and soon after Kate Wadkins from Cheeky. It was nice seeing these two again.
Of course I thought I was late, but wasn’t, which was good because Kicking Spit would delight with their kiss ass tunes. The 3-piece from New Brunswick had a sort of '90s grunge-rock n roll sound reminiscent of Unwound. The singer simply ripped it up on guitar. Shortly after I noticed Marissa from Screaming Females was behind me. She immediately said “hello” when we saw each other and wandered about to talk to the singer of Kicking Spit.
Gordie-How Hat Trick was up next. This was their first show ever. and apparently their last (not) as the guitarist joked. See bottom of post for more show. The band features Tim (from The Measure) on bass, Josh (from Little Lungs) on drums, Marco (from Traffic & Weather), and Mike. Their bio is simple: 4 dudes, 3 states, part time punk. Members come from Brooklyn, New Brunswick, and Detroit. Marco runs Salinas Records I hear. It was cool because you could hear the influence of from all these members bands. Their song title are days of the week and I think they made it to Thursday. "Tell me something to prove me wrong cause I don’t wanna feel this way."
