Attribute it to the 105 person capacity basement spot or the pretensionless, carpet-as-stage setting, but a show at Lizard Lounge always feels a tad more intimate than the norm. It’s like music served up in your living room with a bartender included, and what’s already cool just gets cooler when the bands are good.
Boston-based Air Traffic Controller led off with a set from their upcoming album and pumped out an energetic, happy, and flat-out fun sound. These guys have that head bobbing, make-you-smile sort of style, punctuated by an enthusiastic stage presence (the comedic highlight of which is the non-stop airguitaring and airdrumming of the keyboardist). Air Traffic Controller reminds you of the slightly nerdy crowd in school who stopped caring, let loose, and just dug rocking out.
Mike Viola and the Major Labels headlined, but the crowd got more than advertised as this ended up being Viola and a reunion of musicians he’s played with past and present. Viola, initially paired with Kelly Jones and her enchanting voice for a four song acoustic appetizer for an otherwise not-so-acoustic-friendly crowd. But the set got moving as Viola switched to his band and played a short selection from the Candy Butchers catalog, the highlight of which was the polished pop of “Hang On Mike.”
The band switched up a few members and came back as the night’s headline band, Mike Viola and the Major Labels. Playing songs off the album Aquavia, the material wasn’t quite as refined as that of the Candy Butchers, but like Wilco on Adderall, they brought a little more speed and edge to the evening more fitting for the waning hours.
The musical poo poo platter (acoustic, rock, pop, funk, soul) might not have worked in a bigger setting, but in the comfy confines, the talent was obvious, and you felt like you’d wandered into an amped up garage practice session where the creative juices were flowing. And appropriately, the night ended with the crowd gleefully rocking to “That Thing You Do,” for which Viola sung lead vocals in the movie of the same name. Playing this weekend in the finale of the three week set, Viola and friends are worth checking out October 4th at the Lizard Lounge before they jet set out of here for their Japan tour.
