Boston-area hard rock venues

[waylay00]

Hey guys, currently a student in the Boston-area. One of the things that I was looking forward to the most was the number of shows that came to the area that my hometown (Memphis) never got. Bands like UFO, Schenker, Mountain, Extreme, etc...Now it seems as if no one in that vein of music visits the area. They used to all play a venue called Showcase Live in Foxboro, but I think it refocused its efforts into being primarily a private events venue, so maybe that's why...

Anybody from the Boston-area know what the deal is or where one can go listen to some live hard rock? I'd appreciate any recommendations.

 

[Boston617]

The two best for that kind of music are within an hour drive of Boston.

Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire and 1150 Oak Bar & Grill in Cranston, Rhode Island.

 

[tribalfusion]

Actually, UFO played the Narrows in Fall River not too long ago and I would check their calendar as well. You're right that Showcase was featuring some of those bands for a while too (Michael Schenker, Eric Johnson, Uli Jon Roth and Leslie West all played there) but that dried up pretty quickly.

I am going to assume you know about the Palladium in Worcester for metal and Hampton Beach Casino sometimes has similar shows (there are several casinos in Rhode Island and Conn. which also have shows of possible interest to you).

Here are 2 links with calendars which may be of use to you as well:

http://www.newears.org/events.htm

http://www.metal-shows.com/

 

[Boston617]

In Boston itself, you've got the Paradise, Royale, O'Brien's Pub, Great Scott & Brighton Music Hall. Just outside of Boston, you've got Middle East/TT The Bears/Sinclair (Cambridge) and PA's Lounge/Radio/Johnny D's (Somerville).

I wish they'd bulldoze the Palladium. Biggest shithole in the entire New England area, worst acoustics of any venue I've ever been to & a royal pain in the ass to get to during a weekday from anywhere near Boston.

 

[tribalfusion]

In Boston itself, you've got the Paradise, Royale, O'Brien's Pub, Great Scott & Brighton Music Hall. Just outside of Boston, you've got Middle East/TT The Bears/Sinclair (Cambridge) and PA's Lounge/Radio/Johnny D's (Somerville).

I wish they'd bulldoze the Palladium. Biggest shithole in the entire New England area, worst acoustics of any venue I've ever been to & a royal pain in the ass to get to during a weekday from anywhere near Boston.

That's a good list but I don't think any of them has the kind of focus the OP wanted unfortunately though they do all feature some sort of rock and you can occasionally catch metal there (I think O'Brien's is the only other one with a hard rock/metal focus albeit not that level of touring band).

I feel your pain about the Palladium which is a pain in the ass from Boston on ANY day but at least they actually have fairly coherent programming (even if usually not to my personal taste) which is more than one can say for many places.

When I first came to Boston I was astounded that those shows were being held in Worcester (same deal for Tupelo and the Narrows too where for example Robben Ford will be playing though not in Boston etc)

I should also mention that the Regent in Arlington has had prog shows like Van Der Graaf Generator and the UK reunion with Eddie Jobson and John Wetton.

 

[michaelvincent]

If you're willing to go to Providence, RI (which isn't THAT far) there's AS220, Local 121, Dusk and Fete. Fete is actually really, really nice. Played there a few times, and always had a great show. Dusk is also pretty great, and the PVD club most likely to book lots of metal/heavy music/stoner rock, etc.