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By : Gannopy Urena
6 min read
If you haven’t been to a show at the Sil yet, I would go yesterday. When I went to a Wednesday night show at 8 pm, the bar was packed. The bartenders are the sweetest, the drinks are strong, and the sets are always good.
The opener of the night, a Duo called Wed Betters, started us off with some slow paced, folksy, borderline country tunes. Both Spencer Reap and Daniel Valentine took the lead on vocals. They have beautiful voices and they harmonize with each other well. Their music would be perfect for an early 2000’s sad teen movie montage. They had some pretty funny comments in between songs, like calling one of them “a sad valentine’s christmas song, like Hallmark I guess.”
Listening to the other bands of the night was like being taken on a tour of rock through the decades.
Liam Numrich, the lead singer of Rain House, has a lovely high tenor voice that really fits their 70’s sound. I was definitely thinking about Fleetwood Mac during their set. What I really liked about their set was the emphasis on the instrumentals rather than vocals. The bassist, Daniel Martinez, and the guitarist, Noah Landi, are incredibly talented. The entire set I was amazed by the phenomenal riffs they were pulling off. Gabriel Pino was killing it on the drums as well, really pulling the music together. The crowd was full of their friends who were incredibly supportive and filled the room with cheers after every song.
Asphalt Nap had a 90’s heavy metal reggae sound that lived in the rhythm of the bass and the drums. This trio seemed to know each other well and were in tune with each other. The bassist, Patrick Lally, definitely performed beyond an ordinary bassline. The bass being allowed to shine as well as the guitar is something I always appreciate. One of my favorite moments on stage was when the drummer, Evan Aldrige, called out to the lead singer, “Ready Gabriel?” (of Rain House fame) “This one’s about the cops!” and they immediately dived into an angry song.
I knew I was going to like Fossil when I noticed their mascot, Bones the dinosaur. This band had a phenomenal stage presence I don’t often see in Allston shows. The band started off with a dramatic guitar intro. Max Chow-Gillet, the lead singer, introduced the rest of the band with musical accompaniment. Let me tell you, Geoff Tobia (Bass), Joe Sinkovits (Drums), and Brandon Karavitch (Guitar) shouldn’t need an introduction because this band is great. Max has a deep, powerful voice that I could tell came straight from the diaphragm. I have nothing to say about the guitar and bass riffs except that they were fucking sick. The drums went hard. A tiny mosh pit kept forming in the front of the room. They have that dramatic, theatrical 80’s sound that really hits hard during a workout or after a rough day. I could tell that they were inspired by the 80’s after Max told us to “keep on rockin’ in the free world”.
The Sil feels welcoming and hosts amazing shows every Monday and Wednesday. Stop by to listen to some music and perhaps grab a hot dog!
—Gannopy Urena
Originally published in-print in Boston Compass Newspaper #155 March 2023
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