The Whitehaus Family Record crew is doing it big again this year with Blastfest 7, and tonight is one of the biggest. They’re throwing a blow-out jammer at JP’s beloved Midway Cafe featuring a mind-expanding and wide-ranging collection of artists to celebrate the past, present, and future of the Whitehaus family. With 7 bands on this bill (to celebrate 7 years of Blastfest?) there’s so much great music to be seen and heard it’s hard to do it justice, but you know that means there’s bound to be something for everybody here.
Jonathan Donaldson starts it off with his sweet smooth folky rock tunes that are so smart you don’t even realize you’re humming along while you ponder.
Then it’s on to the outer crimensions with Retribution Body, whose electronic mastery will fry your brain circuits if you let them…and you should.
After that, Providence heavies Suicide Magnets peddle a brand of dark, deeply affecting noise rock will leave you in a trance – either from soaking in the music’s vibes or from thrashing around so hard while it was going down you become catatonic once the rush has worn off.
If anything can snap you out of acute awesomeness-induced catatonia, it’s Michael Collins when he gets in the zone. The former member of Prince Rama will dazzle you with his sick, slick synth dance jams and the deep resonance of his vocal chants can take you into formerly unexplored worlds of your mind.
You may want to run and hide in those unexplored territories of your mind once Los Condenados take the reins. These deep Massachusetts noise freaks have used their years of experience to systematically dismantle any and all preconceptions of sound and performance, with Walter Wright making some of the most far-out sounds you’re ever gonna hear, Andrea Pensado channeling all energies of the known and unknown universes into an intensely full-throttle exploration of your eyes and ears, and Jules Vasylenko skronkin’ away all the while like Albert Ayler on bath salts.
Rounding out the night, it’s the smooth folk-rock vibes of The Points North and the deep rockin’ singalong bliss of The Cups, two legendary acts in the ever-expanding historical document that is the The Whitehaus Family Record.
If you can’t go home happy after this, you might need a hug. But don’t worry, if you make it out to this you’ll be so pumped you’ll forget you ever doubted yourself. This kinda show-behemoth is not the kind of thing you want to miss.
