The Rock And Roll Rumble returned with a raised fist last night, the first of six preliminary nights this weekend and next at The Middle East in Cambridge. And from a balanced field of four, it was high-energy genre-benders and Night 1 closers Kooked Out who took the evening and won the judges’ vote, earning a trip as the first band to vault into the semi-finals later this month at next-door sister venue Sonia.
The party cranks back up tonight (April 7), with a Friday night lineup that doubles as perhaps the preliminary stretch’s Group of Death: Anthemic alt-indie quartet Paper Tigers (9 p.m.); dark post-punk misfits Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight (9:45 p.m.); progressive post-hardcore newcomers Not Bad Not Well (10:30 p.m.); and ’90s-fueled alt-rock powderkeg Bleach The Sky (11:15 p.m.). Listen to each band below.
[Disclaimer: The author of this post has worked with some of the aforementioned bands and artists, as well as a wide spectrum of this year’s Rumble performers, and offers no additional editorial commentary other than our usual Vanyaland endorsement that everyone in this city should support Boston music in all its forms and features.]
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ROCK AND ROLL RUMBLE, PRELIMINARY NIGHT 2 :: Friday, April 7 at The Middle East, 472 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, MA :: 8 p.m., 18-plus, $17 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
