Welcome to the latest in a series of posts previewing the 2016 Rock And Roll Rumble, our city's annual throw down that doubles as a monthlong local music festival unlike any other. This year's Rumble goes down April 3 to April 22 at ONCE Ballroom and Lounge in Somerville, is organized and presented by Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, with the Verb Hotel and Vanyaland on board as official sponsors. For our full Rumble coverage, click here; for tickets and venue information, click here.
What You Need To Know:
Rock And Roll Rumble Preliminary Night 5
Friday, April 8 at ONCE Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave. in Somerville MA
With Junior Classics, Choke Up, Worshipper, The Longwalls
Doors at 8:30 p.m., 21 to drink, $10 in advance and $15 at the door
Advance tickets, Facebook event page
How The Night Stacks Up:
Friday night's alright for fighting, and it's perfect for Rumbling, too. After four nights of work-in-the-morning reluctance hanging over our collective heads at ONCE, Night 5 provides an opportunity to rock the fuck out. And it delivers one of the best aspects of the Rumble, pairing four bands with four distinct sounds in a mad night-long jump across genres lines. It's truly a hodgepodge: From Junior Classics' sometimes atmospheric, sometimes anthemic indie rock to Choke Up's not-crust punk (see below) to Worshipper's lightning-colored rock to the Longwalls Americana-pop. Buy hey, screw these half-assed descriptions, listen to the bands below and start playing favorites.
Get To Know The Bands:
10:15 p.m.: Choke Up
HOMETOWN: Boston, Massachusetts
SONG YOU NEED TO HEAR: “Crosses”, from last year’s Black Coffee, Bad Habits LP
BIO: Choke Up have been cracking open their blasts of chaotic, emotional hardcore and spilling out gigantic stadium-sized songs since forming back in the day. Sounding like a DIY basement band that have had a moment of realization and are suddenly ready for the spotlight. Their most recent release Black Coffee, Bad Habits makes it difficult to not empathize with the joy, melancholy and frustration that were let loose on the recording. Choke Up are a band of four old friends fueled by the smell of stale sweat, the taste of cheap beer, and a desperate urge to push forward.
VIDEO YOU NEED TO WATCH: Choke Up live at Charlie’s Kitchen in 2012
WHY THEY CAN WIN: For some reason, we’ve spent the past few years thinking Choke Up was a crust punk band. No idea where that came from or why we thought that for so long. Based on the fact that they are not crust punk, they are our new favorite band and objectivity be damned we hope they win the whole thing.
TWITTER: Follow Choke Up on Twitter @Choke_Up
