Mission of Burma at the Paradise, January 15th and 16th

I ventured to Boston over the weekend of January 15th and 16th, and, having returned from two excellent Mission of Burma concerts, I shall proceed to inform you all of the epic win I witnessed.
Without going into too much about the flight and accommodations, let's just say things went smoothly and were basically not fucked up in the slightest.

My strategy was to position myself quite close to the left side of the stage the first night (Clint's side), then the right side the next night (Roger's side). The bass the first night tore my head off- I don't think I had any idea what loud really was until I saw these guys. They were full of intensity and energy, and you could feel the mutual emotional bond between band and crowd- we both loved every second of the show. The second night I got a clue and took some earplugs (thank you Roger!) and found if I took them out just a tiny bit I could hear everything but the cymbal hiss and guitar screech at the top of the mix, so I was all good.

First night's setlist:

1. The Setup
2. 1,2,3 Partyy!
3. Possession
4. Blunder
5. Peking Spring (holyshityesfuckgoody)
6. 13
7. 2wice
8. Absent Mind
9. Here It Comes
10. SSL 83
11. Einstein's Day
12. Hi-Fi (a new track, hot off the press)
13. Good Cheer
14. 1001 Pleasant Dreams
15. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
16. Red
17. Encore- a cover of the Yardbirds' Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
18. That's When I Reach For My Revolver
19. Learn How

Opening band the Konks brought good energy, and their unorthodox setup went over well. Their lead singer plays drums standing up with just a tom and a snare drum. However, their songs ran a little long without enough variation. All in all, they were okay.

The Setup was a superb opener, featuring hyperfast bass runs and a great dueling guitar-tape section. Einstein's Day contained one of Roger's best solos I've yet heard, the only thing I can think of offhand that tops it is the next night's Donna Sumeria. Everyone was thrilled at the inclusion of Peking Spring and Revolver, but even newer tracks were heartily appreciated by the rather eclectic mix of folks in the crowd. Ages ranged from young whelps like myself all the way up to middle age and beyond.

Second night's setlist:

1. Devotion
2. Possession
3. Good Cheer
4. 2wice
5. Hi-Fi (went much better this night, seemed like it was still being written)
6. Trem Two
7. Spider's Web
8. Hunt Again
9. One Day We Will Live There (band flubbed the ending, but they managed to shrug it off)
10. SSL 83
11. After The Rain
12. Innermost
13. Dumbells (a rare treat, dating back to the never-recorded Vs. follow-up)
14. 1,2,3 Partyy!
15. This Is Not A Photograph
16. Nancy Reagan's Head
17. Encore1- 1001 Pleasant Dreams
18. Academy Fight Song (stood in for Revolver as the 'Big Hit' for the night)
19. The Ballad of Johnny Burma
20. Encore 2- Donna Sumeria (fan-fuckin'-tastic solo, great bass riffs)
21. That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate

The opener for this night, Bunnies, were hardcore weird and noisy. Great drummer, and their guitarist and bassist both had keyboards and sang. Their lead singer's voice was totally different, owing to his disease- he sang from a wheelchair and rocked out behind me when Mission of Burma came on. Bunnies brought some supertropic dinosaur-killing-squirrels music. I can't say that I loved them, but I could see where they were coming from, and I'd definitely give a CD of theirs a try. Maybe I'll be able to dig some songs out of it.

As you can probably see from the setlist, there were a few too many repeats this night, but there were more tracks overall, and a few rare treats. Hunt Again rocked hard, and Dumbells sated my urge to hear So Fuck It in concert, thanks to similar guitar histrionics in both songs. The new track Hi-Fi seemed to go over better thanks to some stronger lyrics and more impassioned playing in the middle section, which was admittedly quite good. Donna Sumeria was a real standout here, really showcased everything the band could do- a great disco dance beat intercut with gut-wrenching fills, funky guitar with freakouts and weird noise riffs, and pummelling, supple bass throughout. Though the music the second night was not as mind-blowing, I did meet the band, and they were super nice. I was surprised to find that they were rather flattered I made the trip to Boston. Evidently, they don't think of themselves as big famous rock stars. (Probably because they aren't famous, but they do rock.) Both Roger and Clint gave me a firm handshake and an appreciative comment for getting out to their neck of the woods, and I even got a photo with Roger:

I'm the ecstatic one on the right. Shut up.

Special thanks to fellow fans Terri and Tina. Terri rocked out with me the first night, as seen here:

God, my head looks huge. Terri's on the right, yeah...

She was totally in the zone for most of the show, dancing and singing along and just as into it as you can be. She was a great example of fan dedication, and I dug her rapturous grooving to the music.

The second night I stood behind Tina, a friendly and talkative fan from the band's early days. We had a lot of musical touchstones in common. Here's her with the handwritten setlist from Roger's amp:

Lucky lady got a souvenir.

She had some great stories about the Rat and the Space from '79. A great gal.

All photo credit goes to Brian Hampton, who made a great travel partner and roomie. Thanks dude.

It was a great trip. All in all, a wonderful weekend filled with adventure and delight. Maybe I'll see them again in April when they hit Chicago.