Providence Payback, February 19-20, 1999, The Met Cafe

The Amazing Crowns, Demonspeed, Pulltabs, L.U.V.'s, Allstonians, Ducky Boys, Clowns for Progress, Frantic Flattops, and Skinnerbox.

The Amazing Crowns decided to continue their 'payback' ala the Bosstones 'throwdown' and again it is those willing to venture out at night who reap the reward. This year we got three nights of ripping rock and roll with tons of music each night in a truly awesome payback.I'm sorry to say I didn't attend the first night- yuppie job and all- but I did manage to go to the second two- almost.

Pulltab

I missed Demonspeed completely, but arrived in time to see the Pull Tabs. The Pulltabs feature long time Crown friend Dennis Kelly on some kinda sit down steel guitar thing. They did some old country, some South Sea numbers and even some yodeling. The singer, Ricky, was kind of hard to hear, but he managed to overcome the PA and make a great impression. These guys were pretty cool- its not often you hear retro country tunes that don't suck- these rocked.

L.U.V.'s

The L.U.V's were up next- I like this band. They do a punk glam thing that makes me feel good about the future of the world. They have Sid on bass, Nancy on keyboard and slutty dance, and glam guy in the shades and faux fur on vocals. I'm kidding about the names, but that's what it looks like from half way through the pit. Check out the photos if you don't believe me.

It was cool though- a great way to segue out from the Pull Tabs and into the ska stylings of the Allstonians. If you live around Providence go see the L.U.V's - they're cool.

Allstonians

The Allstonians crammed their way onto the stage next for their funky cool ska. Five guys on horn, the keyboards, the stand-up bass, the singer and of course some drums all wedged into the Met's small stage- they looked like we must have- slightly cramped, sweaty, but still dancing.

It was fun skanking around in what space I had. There were a bunch of dudes with the shaved heads and black jackets down from Boston, but it was peaceful through out the night. The Allstonians served up some good old school ska, and I probably had 5 beers trying to stop sweating. The Amazing Crowns topped off the night with two hours of their greasy rockabilly. Since this is their gig people ripped it up the whole time. It was really great. The Crowns put so much energy into their set that its almost impossible not to like them. Their rockabilly is peppered with enough punk, rock, and country to please a pretty wide listening audience so everybody can have a favorite. The Crowns covered almost everything they've released- from "King of the Joint" to "Greasy." They should have a new release out soon- so keep an eye out. I'm sure they'll be on the road throughout the summer so make sure you have enough hair grease to last.

Amazing Crowns

I got to Saturday's show early and was glad- the Ducky Boys were on wicked early. Don't worry- they ripped the shit out of the place and it was hard to recover after it was over. The Ducky Boys play punk the way it should be- loud and fast. They just put out a new EP called "Live: From the Banks of the River Charles" that rips. It's a recording of a show they did at WMBR. You can get it from www.outsiderrecords.com- cheap too. The Ducky's were great- everybody had a blast. Later in the evening I was hanging out in the bathroom (cause it was like an oasis from the packed situation inside the Met) and Mike Marsden- guitar/ vocals was cool enough to let me take a Whatever Magazine "Shameless Promotion" shot of him holding up one of our flyers. The Ducky Boys are fabulous - go see them.

After the Ducky's awesome set I hung out and took some photos of Clowns for Progress before I had to try to find some space. It was wall to wall crowded, being the last night of the 'Payback' and all, and as I said I ended up in the bathroom. I ran into the Rev. McStretchy- who was engaged in an "old vs. new" Social Distortion conversation and we took turns going to the bar for refreshments. The bathroom was where I spent the rest of the night- all through the Frantic Flattops, Skinnerbox, and some of the Crowns.

Amazing Crowns

Eventually McStretchy and I started feeling kind of pervy hanging out in the can like some kind of George Michael wannabes or something. We went to Mundy's in Warren and played some video games. I don't know why I bother telling you this, except that I don't want to make up stories about how cool the Skinnerbox was or anything.

The Amazing Crowns rule. The Providence Payback ruled.

The show "Providence" does not rule- somebody should sue them for using the name "Providence" without having the Amazing Crowns do the theme song.