Boston rocks
Local music stars shine in January shows
January is when a lot of touring acts stay home. Bad if you want to see Beyonce or Taylor in Boston. Great if you want to see all the locals sticking around and playing shows. The first month of the year is filled with returns, reunions, and all around amazing shows. Sarah Blacker, Jan. 5, Club Passim
Blacker is back with a set of new songs including the tender, defiant, genius ballad “Walk On.” The singer-songwriter-guitarist-all-around-wonder celebrates the release of EP “Horizon Line,” three (mostly) recorded-live, very-strippeddown, and honest tunes
Bim Skala Bim, Jan. 6, the Crystal Ballroom, Somerville
Put on your Docs and get ready to skank! The other ska band formed in Boston in 1983 celebrates with a well-deserved 40 year reunion show. The third wave ska kings bring the NB Rude Boys and Riki Rocksteady along for the party.
O Positive: With A Little Help From My Friends Benefit Concert, Jan. 19, Paradise
Another reunion from a 1983 Boston—born band, this one arrives with hopes of helping out a friend in need. Part of a wildly wonderful and diverse scene that launched Pixies and ‘Til Tuesday, O Positive became a definitive Boston alt rock band as the ’80s transitioned into the ’90s. Also on the bill, a reuniting Three Colors!
All Female Front, Jan. 20, The Sinclair, Cambridge
Five women front five sets at this party: Julie Rhodes & the Electric Co., the Devil’s Twins, the Wolff Sisters, Mary McAvoy, and MaryElaine Jenkins. While bluesleaning rock and rollicking Americana provide much of the backbone for the night, the line up has real sonic depth and is packed with ace songwriters. A good place to start is the Wolff sisters, whose jams run from slow and folky to epic swamp rock.
G. Love & Special Sauce, Jan. 24 & 25, City Winery
G. Love is a Boston artist. Yes, the singer-songwriterblues/hip hop maven’s lyrics reference Rocky Balboa and Mo Cheeks. Yes, he named his 1999 LP and his record label “Philadelphonic.” But G. Love was a teenager when he moved from Philly to Boston in the early ’90s to become a street performer. After playing a few small rooms solo, Garrett Dutton met upright bassist Jim Prescott and drummer Jeff Clements and Special Sauce was born. Now the trio is on a glorious 30th anniversary tour.
Brandie Blaze at a ’90s Board Game & Karaoke party, Jan. 27, Cambridge Community Center
Relive the decade with throwback jams, crafts, games and karaoke at this fundraiser for Bigger Bodies Boston — a fat liberation organization looking to become a nonprofit. Old school snacks, classic CD spins, retro fashion plus a live set from Boston hip hop champ Brandie Blaze will make you want to party like it’s 1999, or 1998, or 1991, or… JUMBLE