Review: Brain Surgeons in Boston - 6/22/96

[John A Swartz]

The "technical details":

          Brain Surgeons
          Mama Kin
          Boston, Massachusetts
          June 22, 1996

     The songs (in order performed):

          Name Your Monster
          Career Of Evil
          Medusa
          St. Vitus
          Date With My Guitar
          Language Of Love
          I Play The Drums
          Gimme Nothin'
          Time Will Take Care Of You
          Dominance And Submission
                    encores:
          Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll
          The Red And The Black

Brain Surgeons:  Albert Bouchard, Deborah Frost, Dave Hirschberg, Pete
Bohovesky, Billy Hilfiger


The "review" . . .


     If the Brain Surgeons are ever lucky enough (they certainly are
talented enough) to carve a place for themselves in music history, 1996
is likely to be seen as the year that the band really came into its own
-- and one of the highlights of 1996 in Brain Surgeons history will no
doubt be the night of June 22nd, when the band played to a packed house
(approximately 300 people) at Mama Kin in Boston.

     Perhaps the club itself had something to do with it.  Mama Kin is a
well-run club with a good sound system and a great atmosphere.  It was a
Saturday night, and it was obvious that people were looking for a good
time.  And while I personally was not into the opening act, Jeff and
Jane Hudson (my description of them, and probably a poor one at that, is
"The Beatles on steroids meets the B-52's on NyQuil"), they did serve to
pump up the mixed crowd ("the greasers meet the moshers" observed Brain
Surgeon's drummer Albert Bouchard) for the main event.  Most of the
crowd no doubt had not ever seen the Brain Surgeons before, and may have
been lured more by the lack of a cover charge -- but I suspect many of
them will make it a point to show up the next time the band is in town.

     But, of course the main reason that this night would prove to be
special was the band itself.  I've spoken at length in the past about
how much I enjoy this band's music, which is a heavy blend of rock
sounds from the 60's to the 90's and everything in-between that is
gritty, emotional, dynamic, and FUN.  The musical talent of the band has
also been highly regarded by myself and others before.  However, for a
band to come across well live, good music, talent (and a good club) will
only get you so far.  A key element is the band being "tight" or "in
synch" -- all the individuals functioning as one unit.  Of the four
times I've seen the Brain Surgeons in the last two years (and I've raved
about the other three shows), the band has never sounded so tight.
Throughout the band's 10-song set (plus two encores), from the covers of
some classic Blue Oyster Cult (Albert Bouchard's former band) to songs
from the band's 2 CDs (*Eponymous* and *Trepanation*) to two songs from
their up-coming CD (more on that later), the band delivered a polished
performance.  One could easily assume that the five members of the Brain
Surgeons have been playing together for many years.

     The band opened their set with their standard opener, "Name Your
Monster" -- I noticed that Albert Bouchard seemed to really be pounding
his drums throughout the set (getting a few blisters in the process).
At the end of the song, the band segued immediately into a noticeably
slowed "Career Of Evil", a change which seemed to place more emphasis on
the song's lyrics.  This song too segued into the next number, "Medusa".
The lack of space between the songs seemed to help maintain a sustained
level of energy in the set, which was rewarded by loud cheers and
applause as the third number was completed.  Singer Deborah Frost then
took a moment to give guitarist Peter Bohovesky a present on this the
occasion of his 31st birthday.  The band then played "St. Vitus" and
"Date With My Guitar", two songs from the band's upcoming CD.  According
to Albert Bouchard (who's obviously excited about the upcoming CD as he
discussed various details of it with me as soon as a met him at the
club), the recording of the tracks has been completed, but the mixing
will not be completed for a bit.  Without giving away any secrets,
Albert did indicated that the new album would be quite different from
the previous two, and that there would be a few guest appearances by
some of his friends in the music world.  The two new songs played at the
show both fit well into the set, and it was at about this point in the
set that several people decided to start shaking it up on the dance
floor (most of whom would remain there for the remainder of the set -
even during Albert's drum solo).  "Language Of Love" and "I Play The
Drums" followed, with the band shifting a mellow folksy tune to a pedal-
to-the-metal rocker (with a blistering, and apparently danceable, drum
solo).  Next up was "Gimme Nothin'", a hard-edged driving song which
lets you know that the Brain Surgeons are a guitar band - flanked by
Peter Bohovesky and Billy Hilfiger, with David Hirschberg holding down
the bottom on bass.  Deborah Frost also adds additional guitar work on
songs where she doesn't sing lead.  Her strength however, is in her
vocal chords, which are used to perhaps their fullest potential on the
next song, "Time Will Take Care Of You".  Rounding out the set was a
smoking cover of "Dominance And Submission", complete with audience
participation.  The crowd demanded more, and the band returned two more
times to cover two more BOC chestnuts, "Cities On Flame With Rock And
Roll", and "The Red And The Black" (while one might expect the Brain
Surgeons to cover BOC songs like "Don't Fear The Reaper", all of the BOC
covers performed by the Brain Surgeons were penned by Bouchard).  The
second encore was preceded by guitarist Billy Hilfiger stepping up to
the microphone and politely asking the soundman (which the entire crowd
heard) if the band could play another song.  This was rather humorous
for two reasons.  First, the last time the band played here, the
soundman was not aware of how long the band was supposed to play, and
cut the band's set short by 3 songs.  Second, the crowd probably would
have demanded the soundman's head had he denied the request.

     All in all, this was the finest performance I've seen the Brain
Surgeons deliver -- and I have certainly had good things to say about
their past performances.  So, if I couldn't convince you before to check
out this band, perhaps you should check them out now.  I'm sure that
they will be returning to the Boston area fairly soon, based on this
performance.

     The Brain Surgeons' two CDs, *Eponymous* and *Trepanation* are both
on the Ripe and Ready label (catalog numbers Ripe2204 and Ripe2211
respectively).  If you can't find them in your local record store (check
the larger chains first), write to the band for information, which will
also get you on their mailing list:

Cellsum,
P.O. Box 1070
Fort George Station
New York, N.Y.  10040

For those of you in cyberspace, you can check out the band's web page at
the following URL:  http://www.NovPapyrus.com/bs/

     On a few personal notes, it's somewhat unfortunate that the band
couldn't play a longer set as they have several other songs worthy of
inclusion into their sets.  Some of my personal favorites from their 2
CDs include "The Most Romantic Place In The World", "Soul Jive",
"Sally", "Ramblin' Rose", and especially "My Civilization" -- all of
which have been done live by the band in the past.  Also, it was good to
see some local Brain Surgeons fans (like BOC-L member Bob Rudich, and
the designer of the Brain Surgeons web-page Tania Ruiz) at the show.
Finally, a special thanks must go out to my wife, Carol, who allowed me
to have a night out on the town (not a minor request, considering we
have a 2-year-old at home).


          -- John Swartz