BRAIN: Review of 12/22/95 Mamakin Gig

[John A Swartz]

The "technical details":

          Brain Surgeons
          Mama Kin
          Boston, Massachusetts
          December 22, 1995

     The songs (in order performed):

          Name Your Monster
          My Civilization
          Sally
          Soul Jive
          A Kiss Is A Promise
          Medusa
          Baby Ice Dog
          Gimme Nothin'
          Language Of Love
          Death Valley Nights
          Career Of Evil
          Cities On Flame (Spanish)/Night Of The 1,000 Guitars

Brain Surgeons:  Albert Bouchard, Deborah Frost, Dave Hirschberg, Pete
Bohovesky, Billy Hilfiger


Now, for some more details from a completely biased fan . . .

Once again, the Brain Surgeons came to Boston and put on an excellent
show.  The band went on at about 11:00 p.m. and played an hour.  There
were many great moments in the set.  I'll mention two of my favorites:
The performance of "Medusa" was excellent, and well delivered.  Deborah
then announced the next song, "Baby Ice Dog" as being a song "about
another bitch".  The performance of "Death Valley Nights", which
featured Albert on guitar and Deborah on drums was also a real crowd-
pleaser.  Al got a few laughs when he mentioned that the song has only
been played live a few times since it was never performed by "Blue Oy .
. . uh, my old band."

I arrived at the club at about 9:30, just as the band was walking out
(to grab a beer and something to eat), and they let me tag along.
Actually, the whole band wasn't there yet as Billy Hilfiger was in his
own car, and still trying to find the club (he made it in time for the
gig though).  We ended up going back to the club as the Boston
Beerworks was a bit too crowded that night.

As the only act that night, the Brain Surgeons were supposed to play
for about an hour and a half, but apparently the person "in charge"
that night was not aware of this.  After "Career Of Evil", the band was
told it could do one more song -- their setlist indicated that they had
at least 4 more planned.  So, the enthusiastic Boston crowd did not get
to hear "I Play The Drums" (which would have featured a drum solo by
Albert), "The Red And The Black" (a BOC classic), or "Time Will Take
Care Of You" (one of Deborah's finest vocal performances).  Of those 3
songs, plus "Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll", Deborah asked the
audience what they wanted to hear.  Before selecting the final song
though, the Brain Surgeons' guitarists decided to have a little fun.
First, a few people in the crowd, perhaps having their "Bouchards"
mixed-up, screamed out "Hot Rails!"  Although Deb indicated that they
don't do Joe's songs, Billy Hilfiger (who plays with Joe in "The Cult
Brothers") launched in to the intro for the song.  And while I'm sure
Albert could've accompanied him, the looks from the rest of the band
told me that Billy was probably the only one who knew the chords.  So,
he stopped after a few bars -- knowing the song myself, I almost wanted
to jump on stage and "borrow" Dave Hirshcberg's bass for the song.
Then, it was Pete Bohovesky's turn.  He stepped up to his mike and
said, "Let's do my new Christmas song!"  With Albert on drums
accompanying him, he slashed away at his guitar for about 30 seconds
and sang this sort of punk-rock-sounding song who's predominant lyric
was "Fucking fucking fucking fucking Christmas."  After the guitarist's
games had concluded, the band launched into a bone-crunching rendition
of "Ciudades . . ." culminating in Albert joining the rest of the band
on guitar for the "Night Of The 1,000 Guitars" ending.  As the song's
final chord began to fade, Albert brought out a small electronic toy
guitar to play the final notes of the song on.  Then, before the band
left the stage, Pete Bohovesky slashed away at his guitar again and
sang the final verse of his new Christmas song one more time for us.

I got to talk to Albert and Deborah for a bit before the show, and the
rest of the band after the show.  They are all very nice people to talk
with.  Despite having been up very late the night before working on a
piece for "Rolling Stone" (actually for a book they are doing, if
memory serves), Deborah was very personable, and didn't let lack of
sleep affect her performance on-stage.  Albert indicated that work on
the new CD is coming along well (no titles being given out by the band
yet -- someone else asked), and may again include a few songs that
Albert wrote back when he was in BOC.  Albert says that he wrote alot
of songs around the time of "Agents Of Fortune", but at the time wasn't
able to make all of the ideas work the way he would have liked to.  I
may be inferring this from our conversation, but my take on it is that
Albert had alot of raw musical creativity in those days, but perhaps
not some of the technical know-how to synthesize some of the ideas into
a complete productions.  Whereas now, however, having more production
experience (and perhaps a much better personal situation), he feels
that he can go back and give those old good ideas the attention that
they deserve.  Billy Hilfiger indicated to me that while he is not
playing in the band, "Wired" at this time, he has been doing some work
with Joe Bouchard in "The Cult Brothers" again.  Also, Billy's 17-year-
old nephew has been singing lead vocals in "The Cult Brothers"
recently, and may be getting his own recording deal -- apparently the
guy who produced Michael Jackson's last album ("Hisstory") is
interested in producing some work with Billy's nephew.

I also got to meet Tox, Rudy, and Jeff Berry (and his girlfriend, who's
name escapes me) from the list.  I also met some guy named Eric who
came to the show a BOC fan, but may have left a Brain Surgeons' fan.
Speaking of which, there was definitely a good number of people at the
club specifically to see the Brain Surgeons.  It's good to see a loyal
following beginning to build for the band.  Hopefully, with
*Trepanation* to be in stores in January, and another CD in production,
1996 will be a good year for the Brain Surgeons.


John