Greatest Rock Scream of All Time?  Easy – Roger Daltrey, right at the apex of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.  In fact, I’ll posit that in a single moment, Daltrey not only outdoes each one of his virtuostic counterparts in this masterpiece, but simultaneously defines the essence of The Who as a whole but also (pun aside) an entire generation for whom this act’s music resonated with so succinctly.

And I’ve given some thought to this too – there’s honorable mention to Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Ozzy, Soundgarden and Axl Rose on Welcome To The Jungle (among other notable entries) – though as much as I rack my brain to come up with a worthy contender, I keep coming back to that three chord Townshend lead-in and then that earth shattering bellow that still gives me goosebumps everytime.  Damned if I’ve ever heard a Boston Event Band come anywhere near the originator on this one.

The Who as a whole would (and very well may) be deserving of some additional posts down the line – something to the effect of Most Overlooked Contender for Best Band of All Time or Most Underrated Influence on Rock Music as a whole…something like that.

Take some time this week and pull out Who’s Next and give track #9 another go. It never disappoints.

In reviewing our upcoming shows for the month, I was pleased to see that not one but TWO are performances benefitting some excellent causes and I’m hoping that people will make an effort to attend one or the other to firstly, experience some of the new material that we’ve steadily been adding to our repertoire over the last several weeks but also to do some good for some deserving charities.

First up, we have the honor of being the entertainment for ACES FOR FACES on Friday, April 8th at the Lakeview Pavilion in Foxboro. FACES is a Non-Profit Organization Organization dedicated to funding innovative educational grants for the Foxboro Public Schools. Event admission is $50 per person, which includes H’ors d oeuvres, Dinner, Casino with FACES Fun Money, raffles throughout the evening and your favorite Boston Event Band performing throughout the night.

Up next, we’ll be hosting our second annual “Save The Ta Tas” event at our favorite hang – Waxy O’Connors, also in Foxboro on Saturday, April 16th. While the event is open to the public, proceeds will be collected throughout the night to sponsor one of our good friends in her annual Avon Walk For Breast Cancer. Since 2003, the Avon Walks have raised more than $380 million – funds that are directly saving lives. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer also raises extraordinary awareness as participants spend an entire weekend walking 39 miles through cities and towns around the country. In 2010 alone, thousands of donors supported more than 21,000 Walkers and Crew raising more than $55 million in the national 9-event series!

So hopefully the message is clear. We like education and we like breasts. And we’d like to do our part to benefit both of them. We’d appreciate your time and donations to either as you’re available this month.

Questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

I’ll tell you right off the bat that I’m not a huge Stones fan.  That said, the older I get, either they’re appealing to me more, I’m slowly starting to “get it” or something like that.  In recent years, I’ve actually been making more of a concerted effort to “get” certain bands that for whatever reason, I’ve been dismissive of to date.  Put simply, I think there’s something to be said for a widespread, collective embrace of an “artist” and maybe just because something doesn’t connect with me personally – am I mature enough to see past my own bias to recognize what might actually be “good” about artists like say, Grateful Dead, Springsteen, Stones and so on.

So, I’m watching Scorcese’s Shine A Light recently.  This 2008 documentary was shot over a two day period for a rare stint of shows that the legendary rock troupe held at an esteemed, albeit smaller venue than this stadium-packing bunch is accustomed to.  While the film is long – and brilliant on many different levels – the thing that struck me the most is how absolutely in control of every moment of the performance Jagger is.  Every lyric is echoed by a specific bodily inflection – a shift of the hips, a widening of the eyes, an index finger shot angrily to the rafters – commanding all bystanders to recognize and realize the gravity of every single moment of each tune.  He covers the entire stage and works the entire room – everyone gets involved, you can’t hide.

Let THAT sink in for a moment.

THEN, consider that this guy is knocking on death’s doorstep and for all intents and purposes should be spending the remainder of his days challenging fellow retirement homes buddies to a rousing game of cribbage rather than pouncing around the stage with a zeal that would make any contemporary blush by comparison.

Of equal impression on me, is the enthusiasm that the band still romps through classics like Shattered, Sympathy For The Devil, Jumpin Jack Flash and Start Me Up – standards that the best Boston Wedding Bands have been covering for years though rarely managing to capture the essence of the originators.

In closing, catch this flick if you have 3 hours to kill at some point.  It’s a great piece regardless of your opinion on these guys.  Hell…it’s made some strides in converting my sour ass.

As many of you are now aware, we’ve been actively ramping up Played Out 2.0.  Last December, our good friend DK made the personal decision to leave the band, creating a challenge for us to sustain our very excellent thing though also an opportunity to try some new things and continue to make our thing the very best offering in live entertainment this side of the Mississippah.

After numerous try-outs with respectable candidates, we made the decision to aggressively pursue a PLAN B of sorts, and move our talented guitarist to the keyboard spot – opening an opportunity for a good friend of ours to take the helm on the six string.

That friend is Evan Ouellette and you’ll love his ass.

Evan’s no stranger to the stage having made his mark over the years in several reputable, Boston-based original bands including The Brass Monkeys (a popular ska band of the mid 90s that helped pave the way for current established acts like Big D & The Kids Table, Westbound Train and others) and as the lead singer/guitarist/songwriter/brainchild of  The Tint (one of the top acts under the short-lived Primary Voltage Records).  In recent years, Evan has focused more so on honing his personal sound and craft with occasional one-offs and contributions to growing acts like Eksi Ekso, who will be releasing their eagerly anticipated album this March.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Evan to the band for a few filler gigs last year, helping out on Bass Guitar while Jake was welcoming his second daughter.  While we clicked as a group, the opportunity to integrate Evan didn’t present itself until recently and we couldn’t be more excited.

But…wait, you say.  Mike Geher doesn’t play KEYS?  He’s an f’n awesome guitarist !!!  Why would you move him?!?!?

For any of you that know anything about Mike, you know that to simply pigeonhole him as an excellent guitarist is short-sighted.  Mike is phenomenal MUSICIAN and you’re going to be blown away by how the group has upped it’s game substantially – truly sustaining our place as the very best Boston Wedding Band.

The unveiling commences on Saturday February 12 at our favorite spot, Waxy O’Connors in Foxboro.

See you there.