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Past Appearances
12th
Annual Bike Party and Benefit
We play this event every year,
not just because it's a worthy cause, not just because they valet
park our bikes, not just because Redbones is best friend in Davis
Square, and not just because the food is so, so good. But those
are reason enough, don't you think?
30th
Annual Wake Up The Earth Parade
Despite the drizzle, everyone
came out to our favorite JP parade. Emperor Norton was there too,
and just about anyone else into making fun in the streets.
Sunday April 27, 2008
5th
Annual Save Our Homes Walk
Once again, we'll be leading
the way on the Somerville
Homeless Coalition's annual walk
in the 'hood to raise money for the cause. We begin the 5K walk
from Somerville High School (81 Highland Ave.) at 2 pm (register
anytime after 1:30). Fingers crossed it doesn't rain this year!
April 11, 2008
Silent Spring
Fundraiser
At Spontaneous
Celebrations in Jamaica Plain, we helped
Alison Criscitiello reach her goal of raising $5K for her climb
of Alaska's Denali Peak, the highest mountain in North America,
to raise funds for Silent
Spring Institute.
March 30, 2008
HONK!
Festival Fundraiser
Members of the the HONK! Committee
put on a great show for everyone Sunday night. Of course, we began
the festivities outside, in front of the Dante Club, then watched
the new film, "Honk You Very Much," by Olivier Asselin,
heard the news from Jimmy Tingle's run for president, and finished
the evening with a long-awaited set from our friends, Debo Band.
Best of all, we helped raise more than $4000 for this year's festival.
Take
a look. If you couldn't be there, don't worry, it's never too
late to donate,
February 4-10, 2008
Bread
& Puppet Theater return to the Cyclorama
Another very successful run at
the BCA for Bread & Puppet Theater, with the first Boston performances
of The Divine Reality Comedy. featuring the venerable Schumann in
fine form as a malevolent Santa Clause, and an impressive cast of
company performers and local volunteers. And of course, the energetic
and inspiring sounds of the Social Aid & Pleasure Society to
get the show going. Read the review here.
Friday, Feb 1, 2008
15th
Annual Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball at Ryles
Our
usual Mardi Gras extravaganza, with the other usual suspects,
but for the first time, we all made hay and mayhem at a Ryle's
Jazz Club in Inman Square, where they know how to throw a good
party and make a mean Hurricane.
Friday, Jan 25, 2008
People's
Music Network Winter Concert
PMN
presented"Generations of Change," a concert featuring political music
and spoken word from folk to hip hop, Friday January 25 at the Tower
Auditorium, Mass. College of Art, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston. The
concert begins at 8 PM and admission is $20-$5, sliding scale. Tickets
will be available at the door, no reservations necessary. The concert
kicks off the People's Music Network's winter gathering, featuring workshops
and song swaps of political music, Saturday-Sunday January 26-27 at
the Edward Devotion School, 345 Harvard Street, Brookline. The People's
Music Network is an organization of musicians and activists who want
to further the use of music as a tool for liberation and social change.
Monday Dec 31, 2007
Boston
First Night
But
of course, where else would we be? Not too gold this year, and the world
premier of the Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Kazoo Band.
Sweet.
Saturday Dec 1, 2007, 3-5 pm
BCA
Holiday Tree Lighting
Once
again, we played the annual Holiday Tree lighting at the BCA
in the South End. Lots of kids choirs and festive cheer (even more fun,
a kick-ass impromptu jam of carols and klezmer in the basement of the
BCA).
Saturday Oct 13,
2007
Cambridge
City Sprouts at King School
One
of our favorite gigs, the semi-annual City
Sprouts Harvest Festival. This time, it was a the King
School, 100 Putnam Ave. The best part was the parade we
did around the block, with a big trail of kids of all ages
following us around.
Saturday Oct
13, 2007
R.E.S.I.S.T.
40th Anniversary Party at Arlington Town Hall
The
good folks at R.E.S.I.S.T.
asked us to come help them celebrate 40 years of fighting
the power and supporting the community.
Friday Oct 5 - Sunday
Oct 7, 2007
Return
of HONK!
Last
year's HONK! Festival was such an unqualified blast, we
didn't know how we'd ever live up to our expectations. But
Return of HONK! was better than ever, with more bands, more
venues, more discussions and lots more collective jammin
on the street and in the house. Read all about it at honkfest.org.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Redbones
"Pig Pickin' Party" in
Davis Square
Redbones'
6th annual fundraiser for the Somerville
Homeless Coalition was a huge success, again, we were there
to play our hearts out, and then pig out, bigtime.
"Start
The Music, Stop the War" in
Arlington
The
local AFSC
and UJP
hosted "an evening of culture and protest" at the Regent
Theatre in Arlington. We kicked off the festivities about 6:30 pm
with a parade from Arlington town square a few blocks away, right into
the theater and up on stage.
29th
Annual "Wake Up The Earth" Parade, Jamaica Plain, MA
Hard
to believe this was our first time participating in the venerable Jamaica
Plain springtime celebration. Fortunately the weather cooperated and
it turned out be a nearly perfect day for a parade. Some of us stuck
around to hear the return of Stick & Rag and the debut of Somerville's
newest honk band, Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, with members
of The Madcap Rumpus Society. Fun, fun, fun.
Thursday,
May 3, 2007
Big
Moves' "The Big Easy" at the Cambridge YMCA
We
were delighted to play in Central Square again, this time for the opening
of "The Big Easy" show by the Big
Moves Dance Company, the world's only "plus-sized dance troupe."
This first of three evening shows was a benefit for displaced NOLA residents.
It was a predictably small turnout for a pretty Cambridge evening between
semesters, but those Big Movers were a terrific second line, and we
hope to do business with them again real soon. Meantime, about $250
was raised for the Southern Artists charity.
Central
Square Theater Groundbreaking Ceremony
This
event was a blast. After the mayor and others said some pretty words
about the new permanent home for The Nora Theatre Company and the Underground
Railway Theater, we led a parade of local arts enthusiasts from the
Central
Square Theater groundbreaking, up to our old stomping grounds in
front of Durrell Hall at the YMCA. Of course, we took our sweet time
(two songs) getting there, just as it should be for any self-respecting
second-liners, and it brought back a lot of memories of honks past (Bread
& Puppet at the Y, Molly Ivins at the YW, the first gay marriage
across the street at City Hall). We ended up at the CanTab (where else?)
where we played a couple of tunes in exchange for wetting our whistle
(Jim's treat). It was spring honking at its best. Check us out in Tech
Talk.
4th
Annual "Save Our Homes" Walk, Somerville, MA
To chase away the rain, we played
at the beginning of the 4th annual "Save Our Homes” walk-a-thon,
hosted by the Somerville
Community Corporation. It was a real hometown treat, and we were
happy to oblige the long and enthusiastic parade of hearty Somerville
second liners, walking to help some of our most vulnerable residents.
Saturday,
April 28, 2007
Musketaquid
Earth Day Parade, Concord, MA
The
sun came out just in time for this fun parade through downtown
Concord at their annual
Musketaquid Earth Day celebration. Joining us in the parade
were lots of parents and kids, Ron Kelly's boys in some wild
pinstripes, and a couple of mammoth marching rocks ("Best
rocks I've ever seen in a parade" - says Jim, who also
admits they are the only rocks he's ever seen in
a parade).
March
31, 2007
BCA
Artists' Ball, Cyclorama
It
started out chilly, but we warmed things up outside the Boston
Center for the Arts -- on the sidewalk with the South End
common folk -- while the local entertainment elite headed in to
the $200/plate banquet to raise money for The Arts. We left them
wanting more, for sure, but I'm sure they got their money's worth.
We sure did.
March
18, 2007
Cambridge
Symphony Concert, Vineyard Church
We
were delighted to play this benefit to help Katrina victims, opening
for the Cambridge
Symphony at Cambridge Vineyard Church. The acoustics in the
church were quite impressive, as was the inspired symphony repertoire
of Berlioz and others.
March
11, 2007
Live
at the Abbey Lounge in Inman Square
Our
third outing at the Abbey, with a surprisingly big and generous
crowd (considering the sunny day outside).
February
15-18, 2007
Bread
& Puppet Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts
Bread
& Puppet Theater returned to Boston for a week of shows, their
first time performing at the BCA's unique Cyclorama.
And what's a February visit from Vermont's Northeast Kingdom without
the sounds of the Crescent City to warm up the crowd before the show?
The large, circular, open space was very conducive to the puppetry
of Peter Schuman, and the acoustics for our pre-show honk were surprisingly
good. By Sunday night, the band was on fire, and the musical embers
continued to glow well past the final applause. Can't wait for next
year!
February 15-18, 2007
Mardi
Gras Party at the Kirkland Cafe
Our annual party with a Crescent
City line-up at the Kirklan, together with with Geezer, The
Chicken Slackers and The Confederacy of Dumpsters.
November 16, 2006
Great
Small Works' The Rapture Project
SLSAPS opened for the world premier
of Great Small Works' The Rapture Project, a serio-comic
epic spectacle about fundamentalism and American culture and politics.
The production was Inspired by rough-and-tumble Sicilian marionettes,
current events, popular End Times literature, and day-to-day anxiety,
with visual motifs from the Cockettes and 1920s Christian iconography.
After a short engagement in Boston, GSW took the project to its native
New York City at the HERE Arts Center.
November 10, 2006
Twisted
Roots Volume 2 at the Abbey Lounge
SLSAPS
performed at the Abbey Lounge (3 Beacon St. near Hampshire St. in Somerville),
part of a line-up which also included The Can Kickers,
Josh Lederman y Los Diablos, and hosts The Two Man Gentlemen
Band.
November 4 & 8,
2006
Paul
Zaloom's Beakman In Person & The Mother
Of All Enemies
The SLSAPS opened for OBIE-winning puppeteer Paul
Zaloom's night-time show at the Boston Center for the Arts, a hotly
politicized burlesque queering of traditional Middle Eastern shadow
puppetry, as well as his children-of-all-ages show at the same venue,
part of The Theater Offensive’s 15th annual OUT
On The EDGE Festival of Queer Theater.
October 14, 2006
Cambridge
City Sprouts Annual Harvest Festival
CitySprouts
Harvest Festival 2006 means fresh fall produce, apple cider straight
from a press, kids arts & crafts, tours of the schoolyard garden,
and of course, a harvest parade featuring you-know-who. This fall, it
was hosted by the Morse School, 40 Granite Street on Saturday, October
14 from 11 am to 4 pm (just a few short blocks from Kemon Lemon's house!).
October 7-8, 2006
1st
Annual HONK! Festival in Davis Square
We brought together more than a dozen activist street bands from all
over the country to come honk in our
hometown on Columbus Day weekend. Our first annual HONK! Festival was a huge
success. Audiences, the City of Somerville, and all the participating
musicians had the time of their lives, and everyone can't wait to do
it again next year. To see what you missed, visit http://honkfest.org
September 21, 2006
3rd
Annual Revels River Sing on the Charles River
Revels
and the Charles
River Conservancy presented the 3rd
Annual River Sing, an outdoor sing-along celebrating the Autumnal
Equinox and the beauty of the Charles River parklands. From atop the
Weeks Footbridge spanning Allston and Cambridge in the glow of the late
afternoon sun, Revels music director George Emlen, along with giant
puppets Osun and Poseidon (created by Underground Railway Theater and
the Puppet Collaborative) led everyone gathered on the banks of the
river in song. Featured on the bridge were 5 well-known area choruses,
accompanied by yours truly.
August 7, 2006
Redbones'
5th Annual Pig Pickin' Party
Once again, we'll be providing the Crescent City
soundtrack to Redbones' annual fundraiser for the Somerville
Homeless Coalition. They'll be firing up the portable smokers outside
in front of the restaurant and slow roasting a whole hog, loins, butts
and bellies. The $20 price also includes corn on the cob, chips, corn
bread, watermelon, a cold drink, and more. For reservations, call 617-628-2200.
The rain date for this event is Monday, August 14.
July 28, 2006
Plough
& Stars
Our first night at the re-opened Plough was such
a blast, we can’t wait to play here again.
Since 1969, this tiny, eclectic Irish pub has been one of the
very coolest places to hang. Located
midway between Harvard and Central Squares, 912 Mass. Ave., corner of Hancock. We're on at 10pm, but come early and have
some tasty food and a pint to drink.
July 14, 2006
Think
PINK, Drink PINK, Shop PINK, in Harvard Square
Wearing a splash of pink along with our summer's
best red and white, we will be parading around the Square between 5
and 7pm, part of Harvard Square's Breast
Cancer Awareness Campaign.
June 20, 2006
Sampling The Square, Harvard Square
The Harvard Square Business Association shuttled
local concierges around to the finest restaurants in the Square in a
London double-decker bus. Meantime, the band followed in our own 1940s
London taxi, playing as the group arrived and departed each establishment.
Best of all, we got to sample all the best food and drink. Bon Apetit!
June 17, 2006
27th
Annual Cambridge River
Festival
Sponsored by the Cambridge Arts Council, this
festival takes place along a mile-long stretch of Memorial Drive between JFK Street (three
blocks from the Harvard
Square subway station) and Western
Avenue. We
paraded from the pit in Harvard Square down to the river, and
then led a bicycle parade along the Charles.
http://www.cambridgema.gov/deptann.cfm?story_id=1020
June 19, 2006
Redbone's
10th Annual Bike Party & Benefit
Chester
Street in Davis
Square, Somerville. Same great party, better weather. Party, raffle, music, food & drink all
for $15. Proceeds went to NEMBA
& MassBike.
March 31, 2006
Plough & Stars, Cambridge
Our first date at this newly re-opened Cambridge
institution, it was our most successful club gig to date. We can't wait
to do it all over again on July 28 (come early to get a seat and some
great food).
February 24, 2006
Mardi Gras at the Kirkland Cafe, Somerville
What more is there to say?
December 31, 2005
First Night 2006
Marching in the parade along with some large,
glittery, red-and-white bird puppets.
Wednesday-Sunday, November 16-20, 2005
Playing before and during several Bread and Puppet
performances throughout the week. At the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre,
Cambridge.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Playing with the Puppet Showcase Theater, along
with Bread and Puppet, at Larz Anderson Park, Brookline.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Dorchester Open Studios
The doors to Dorchester's art community open to
the public as the neighborhood celebrates the fourth annual Dorchester
Open Studios. At the First Parish Church, Dorchester.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
"Live at the Goodwill"
A public performance and informal recording session,
at the Goodwill thrift store in Davis Square, Somerville.
Thursday, October 6, 2005
Johnny D's - Benefit for victims of Hurricane
Katrina
Kicked off an evening of wild dance music in the New Orleans tradition.
At Johnny D's Uptown,
Davis Square, Somerville. Proceeds went to the New
Orleans Musicians' Clinic.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Anti-Iraq
War & Rally on Boston Common.
...plus lots and lots of other events, which will
be posted as time permits.
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