Playing the Scene: Boston

Boston, Mass.—home to the original park, Boston Commons; the original neighborhood bar, Cheers; and the original green monster…Fenway Park. As one of the oldest and largest cities in New England, Boston’s music scene is as diverse and colorful as the city itself.

On any given night, Bostonians can head down to the Theatre District to check out the famous acoustics in Symphony Hall, throw down at a hardcore club like the Exchange near Faneuille Hall, or hit up the hip hop scene at Sugar Shack in the Alley.

Musicians such as teen pop star JoJo, metal heroes Godsmack, Irish Punksters Dropkick Murpheys, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, proudly call Boston home. But up-and-coming local bands are making just as much noise as those national acts, especially the bands active in the city’s massive punk and hardcore community.

Hardcore/thrashers Unearth graduated from playing local bars to rocking European arenas. The Unseen, a skank-worthy punk band, has recently embarked on its own European tour with punk vets Rancid. The DeGeorge brothers have gained regional attention for their unique indie/punk band, Harry and the Potters, which dares to imagine what might happen if the fictional wizard in his fourth year of school formed a band with himself in his seventh year.

Ear-splitting, bone-crushing rock isn’t the only major genre in Boston. A cappella, music performed exclusively with vocals, is rapidly becoming a major public draw. Five O’Clock Shadow, the reigning kings of Boston a cappella, have performed on VH1, Monday Night Football and ESPN, among others. Even with national success, the group finds time to perform for the hometown crowd in clubs like Ryles in Cambridge.

Another a cappella group, Ball in the House, is finding it’s in a position to usurp Five O’Clock Shadow’s place on top. Ball in the House has been racking up shows all over the east coast, with a large number in Boston and surrounding cities. The band attributes their recent success to the colleges around Boston.

“The college circuit is the biggest market for a cappella music, and Boston’s college scene is one of the best in the country,” the group boasts. With 36 colleges and universities in the area, it’s no wonder a cappella music found a cushy niche in the city.

Ball in the House admits they don’t really fit in with the rest of the Boston scene, but they shouldn’t be counted out just yet.

“There’s an MTV2 website inside Boston that ranks local bands, and we’re in the top three,” the guys proudly boast. “We can hold our ground.”

One of the most recognized schools in Boston is Berklee College of Music, located in the center of the city. Since 1945, Berklee has been molding aspiring musicians from all over the work into contemporary superstars like producer Quincy Jones, film composer Howard Shore and singer/songwriter John Mayer.

For relatively inexpensive shows, the Berklee Performance Center offers audiences some of the most eclectic shows in the city from jazz-fusion to swing to rock orchestras.

No matter what you crave—a cappella vocal acrobatics, kicking some ass in a mosh pit or cultural enlightenment at the symphony—Boston’s music scene clearly has it all.