A wise man once said that when it comes to life and music, survival is success. So it stands to reason that there’s perhaps no more successful product of the Boston music scene than Rick Berlin. The local mainstay takes center stage tonight (April 6) at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, raising a glass to 50 years of musical creativity, artistic measure, and rock and roll perseverance at We’re All In This Together: A Celebration of the Music of Rick Berlin.
“As long as I still have ideas for songs, even some no one ever hears, I’m inspired,” Berlin tells the Boston Globe this week. “I never made it to the big time, but I’m proud of what I’ve done these last 50 years and of my band, 12 years strong. I feel lucky. Even playing in front of tiny audiences, this ol’ coot flouncing about onstage, is a blast. When I run out of gas I hope I’m hip to it and throw in the towel.”
We’ll all need a towel when tonight is said and done, as there’s a lot packed in to one night, but that’s understandable when celebrating a half-century of art and expression. Berlin’s bands, which have lined listings pages over the years as print turned to digital, will be on display, from reunion to reinvention, including Orchestra Luna, Berlin Airlift (1982’s “Over The Hill” still leaps out of the speakers 40 years later), and his current Nickel & Dime Band, with special guests including collaborators Gary Cherone of Extreme, David Minehan of The Neighborhoods, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Jane Mangini.
Others coming together to further fuel the evening are indie headliners The Sheila Divine and Hallelujah The Hills, as well as rebooted punk pioneers The Nervous Eaters. The evening will be emceed by Vice V’Ersatile.
“I can imagine all the white-hairs in the audience, and I’m worried I’ll be keeping them up past their bedtime,” Berlin joked to the Boston Herald. “It’s a lot to ask of an audience to take in four hours of music that one guy wrote, plus three awesome other bands. I just hope there’s somebody there when we get to the finale.”
For Berlin, the notion of a “finale” is just a casual idea.
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF RICK BERLIN :: Thursday, April 6 at Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. in Allston, MA :: 7 p.m., 18-plus, $20 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
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