SOUND BITES
Bosstones bring it home
By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff, 11/29/2001
There are many annual holiday musical events in Boston, two of those being "The Nutcracker" at the Wang Theatre through the end of the year, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, at Axis Dec. 12-16.
"How many years of `The Nutcracker' have there been, 100?" asks Bosstones singer Dicky Barrett. "This is our eighth Throwdown and that isn't bad." A veritable lifetime in rock years.
So, if one has limited funds, how does one make a choice?
"If you're a fan of the ballet you should probably catch `The Nutcracker,' " says Barrett. "I don't think we're really offering anything for you. But if you're a fence-sitter, well, you can catch `The Nutcracker' in any city - taking nothing away from the Boston Ballet's performance - but you can only catch the Bosstones's Hometown Throwdown here in Boston. What is truly Boston is us and our annual shows."
The ska-punk Bosstones did these gigs at various levels of their career - from underground heroes to mainstream success story (the platinum album "Let's Face It" in 1997-98) and beyond.
"Trends and times, they come and go," says Barrett, "including what it is we do. It's not as trendy or popular as it was, but this is time-tested, a proven good time." The big hit didn't come because the Bosstones did anything radically different. Barrett chalks it up to the "planets aligning" and punk rock having broken (again) into the mainstream for a brief spurt.
The Throwdown, Barrett says, came about because, like many people, he was prone to Christmas blues: As an adult you just don't feel the glee you did as a kid.
"About year two or three [of the Throwdown] I realized Christmas doesn't bum me out anymore," says Barrett. "I love Christmas because of the Throwdown. And we're pumped for it this year. It's nice not to be coming off a mad tour. Doing the Throwdown, we'll be relaxed but on our game."
Up next: The Bosstones are writing and working on their eighth album - tentatively titled "Fabled Barney and the Population" - and plan to record in January. (Barney, Barrett explains, is a "big-headed" fellow much like himself who "shoots his mouth off and gets in trouble.") The Bosstones plan to do two new, different songs each of the five nights of the Throwdown.
The eight-piece group was in the midst of working on songs when the terrorist attacks hit.
"We were writing songs which mean something to us and the people that enjoy them," Barrett says. "Are they endlessly important? Absolutely not, and I don't think music is. You can derive some enjoyment out of it - but solving problems, curing diseases, no. It was never so apparent than after the tragedy. We'd be picking up the instruments, about to play songs that were so much fun, and we'd go, `OK, they mean nothing. The girl left you? Wow. Let's party? I don't feel like partying.'
"I exhaled on the 11th and didn't inhale for a month and a half. Not that things are fine and dandy, but you live through it."
|
Search Globe Calendar
