When someone lends a band a major platform — a stage a Boston Calling, for instance — most folks would opine that the performers have an obligation to say something meaningful while their voice is elevated. But long after storming the Tivoli Orange Stage at this year’s edition of the festival, Actor Observer are still blasting their message.
In a pointed new music video for “Fool’s Gold,” the Boston hardcore band repurposes footage from their Boston Calling set, using a career highlight to underscore repeated blows to the local music community. The projection scales barren city walls, Jersey barriers, and train cars, offering a grim reminder of what Boston has lost and owes itself to reestablish. In between snippets of the set, clips of gutting lyrics span marquees: “All my friends are overworked and underpaid” goes hand-in-hand with “Your captive audience awaits / But no one stays.”
It’s an activating addendum to singer Greg Marquis’ original call to action at the festival.
“Every year, it gets harder and harder to stay,” he shared in the recorded set. “While it’s amazing that all of you are here right now, please remember that there are countless local venues and local business where you can see some of the most underrated, amazing talent around for the same price as that beer you’re drinking right now. Don’t let this weekend be the only time you show up for your local music scene.”
“Fool’s Gold” offering a check-in three months later, forcing Marquis’ words back into the forefront of fans’ consciousness.
“We decided to use footage from our Boston Calling performance earlier this year to highlight and juxtapose the dire state of the local music and arts scene here in Boston,” the band says. “In the video you’ll see the footage projected on homes, closed businesses, venues, practice spaces and graffiti’d walls of vacant buildings — primarily around Allston where we live — and lyrics strewn across the marquees of music venues big and small. It’s a completely DIY project that we feel poignantly captures a very relevant and crucial moment in time for our local music scene, especially in the wake of COVID.”
To be specific: Myriad music venues, including Great Scott and ONCE Somerville’s physical location, and more recently, Atwood’s Tavern and Opus, along with rehearsal spaces like the Sound Museum, are among the losses in recent years.
While Actor Observer calls the video a “lamenting love letter and cry for help,” it’s also a thorough action plan. When Vanyaland asked how does the city move forward, Marquis came to the table equipped with a list of local resources, citing organizations like the Coalition for a Just Allston-Brighton, #ARTSTAYSHERE, Dorchester Art Project, Artisans Asylum, Allston Village Main Streets, and Brighton Main Streets, as well as several others, as ways that discontent members of the community can help restore the scene.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg as there are so many orgs all around the city that are worth getting involved with, even if it’s just giving them a follow, donating, or attending their events,” he tells Vanyaland.
Viewers can also opt to get involved with Boston Artist Impact, a civic association created by Marquis and guitarist Nick Grieco “specifically to help bring more artists and arts enthusiasts into the process of civic and community engagement.”
“It was intimidating at first because we are no experts in urban planning, zoning, local politics, et cetera, but we’ve been able to learn a lot and participate in big decisions like whether or not to allow new luxury condos to be built in Allston, or voting on how many affordable housing units developers should include in their building plans, or allowing local businesses to host live music events,” Marquis notes. “Most neighborhoods have some type of civics association where it’s your right as a resident (not just homeowners, but renters too) to weigh in about what goes on in your neighborhood, so start searching for one wherever you are… If you can’t make meetings, you can still vote in local elections and write to your city counselors because they are literally there to represent you and what you want to see in your community.”
If all that sounds a bit overwhelming, there’s always the obvious way to chip in: With some spare bills at the tip jar or merch stand.
“Of course, go to local shows and consider buying a piece of merch from a local artist instead of another $12 craft beer,” Marquis concludes. “Or just do both!”
Pan for “Fool’s Gold” below.