When Cody Rico last appeared in this column, we highlighted a DIY musical showcase at Tasty Burger in Harvard Square, organized by his booking outfit Ibookthings.
Alas alack, the burger joint didn’t stick as a regular spot in the stable of music venues, which has included Faces, Deep Cuts, The 4th Wall, Silhouette Lounge, Notch Brighton, O’Brien’s Pub and more. Things come, things go. In the reported words of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “Everything changes and nothing remains still.”
Change is afoot within the booking outfit as well. It recently rebranded from Ibookthings to Webookthings.
I reached out to Rico about the transition, and what it means for operations. The first and most immediate impetus for the change is a health issue that will prevent him from dedicating the long hours necessary to pilot the booking outfit.
Reflect, for a moment, on the harrowing logistics required to book a show calendar, which, in any given month, will place around 300 musicians in 70 bands on 20 bills performing on a half-dozen stages around town. The email jockeying alone is mind-boggling. Rico will be pulling back incrementally from his current workload, eyeing September as his “cut bait” date.
The silver lining is that a team is in place to take the reins. Rico said he “couldn’t be happier about the ever-growing team of brilliant individuals who will be keeping things going.” Although his booking enterprise began as a solo operation, it has grown into a group effort, and the name change reflects that. “The word ‘we’ really drives home the fact that this has always been a community booking agency that thrives off the awesome music scene the Boston area has to offer,” Rico said.
When it comes to the good things in life, such as music, “community” means picking up where others leave off, because the good things are too good to let go. Shout out to Webookthings team members Hunter, Brian, Xavier and Gabby for keeping the train rolling. Send positive vibes to Cody Rico, who has done a lot to make that community feel, you know, “communal.” A new chapter of a local booking outfit is waiting to be written.
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July 25: Kickoff show at Nice, A Fest (Crystal Ballroom, Somerville)
The local or local-ish acts you love hearing all year long, finally gathered under one roof! Or rather three or four roofs, depending on what you consider a roof. The Nice Fest returns July 25-28 with a new color scheme, an outdoor stage and more music than you can shake a stick at. A wise sage once said, “Once you hit the five-band threshold, a ‘show’ becomes a ‘festival.’” Maybe so. Compared with the other days, though, the Thursday night kickoff party at Crystal Ballroom is a modest affair. Five acts, including a few Nice veterans hopping back on the merry-go-round. A relative calm before the storm of the 70-plus band blitzkrieg that’s taking the weekend by force.
July 26: Scam Likely, Condition Baker, Amulette (The Jungle, Somerville)
“That’s how the cookie crumbles.” What else could you say when Condition Baker arrived at the 2024 Rock N Roll Rumble missing a band member? A sudden emergency, family, medical or otherwise, reduced the alt-punk quartet out of Holbrook to a trio. They soldiered on bravely, delivering a gutsy performance. But if that was the first time you heard them live, you were probably left wondering what the fully conditioned Condition Baker sounds like. Now’s your chance. Neo-proggers Amulette and alt-rockers Scam Likely join the party, along with a mystery guest.
July 26: Animal Piss, It’s Everywhere; Bong Wish; Stella Kola; Willie Lane (The Lilypad, Cambridge)
Do you really need to be sold on a show with a headliner named Animal Piss, It’s Everywhere? Like alcohol, Girl Scout cookies and Internet service, it’s a product that sells itself. But to add some gloss, this quadruple-stack lineup at the Lilypad is an indie rock polycule of music. A member of Animal Piss, It’s Everywhere is married to a member of Stella Kola. A member of Stella Kola is playing with Willie Lane. And it seems like everyone is a former or current contributor to Sunburned Hand of Man. Bong Wish is the cherry on top.
Live: Grails, Soma at Crystal Ballroom
I covered The 4th Wall, a pop-up music venue staging shows at the Capitol Theatre in Arlington, way back in 2023. It was the very first column I wrote for Cambridge Day. At the time, the operation was getting ready to launch its first show, an indie rock triple-stack featuring Awnthay, G.O.L.E.M., and The Snorts.
After nine months of shows, with the first anniversary on the horizon, it’s a good time to check back in to see how it’s going and what makes this place work. Take nothing for granted. In a musical landscape where most DIY spots are fly-by-night affairs and even formerly steadfast locations such as The Democracy Center wither on the vine, The 4th Wall is a reliable gem.
Last Friday the venue hosted an eclectic bill featuring Jim E. Brown, Pew Pew and Scaffolding. Pew Pew (who didn’t have any merch, but were collecting donations for the rear window of their hatchback that got smashed on the way to the gig) and Providence’s Scaffolding served up some lively, art-damaged indie rock. But the true star of the evening was Jim E. Brown, poet and artist-activist out of Manchester, U.K.
He’s a musician too. But he’s a musician in the way that William Burroughs, Adam Sandler and Tiny Tim were musicians, using rhythm and melody as props to showcase their other gifts or general preposterousness. Brown’s musical genre of choice is a kind of rote, prerecorded, synth-driven New Wave blather. A convenient hook on which to hang any sort of absurdist lyrical theme, from “Someone Left 4 Chicken Fillets in Marie Louise Gardens,” to “I Texted You a Photo of the Sunset and You Never Responded,” to “I’m An Obese Alcoholic.”
The latter tune prompted a handful of fans, after a little extra nudge from the artist, to donate a few gratis pints at the foot of the stage. Points added for bringing the beers; points deducted for proffering light American-style drafts instead of a good British-style brown ale.
Brown’s electric guitar and electric flute featured lightly in a set devoted largely to spoken word, stage banter and pitches for the artist’s merch table, which included all three volumes of his autobiography, a steamy potboiler about a romantic weekend with the elderly Mrs. Higgins and a heartbreaking tale of not being able to reclaim his son Tanner from the orphanage (after he gave him up for adoption to take a vacation).
Is The 4th Wall venturing into comedy offerings? If Jim E. Brown is a comedian, the answer is a resounding yes.
Michael Gutierrez is an author, educator, activist and editor-in-chief at Hump Day News.
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