Fri 11/22 @ 8:30PM
Rock critics just LOVED the Dream Syndicate.
The post-punk quartet brought a bit of a trancey, showgazerish psychedelic feel to their intense, often shambling guitar rock. It was shot through with Velvet Underground influences, one of the many obscure bands to bow in that direction.
The band’s run traversed the ’80s, ending in 1989. But they never really topped their debut record, 1982’s Days of Wine and Roses. Although they had opportunities to open up to ’80s alternative bands that did go on to become big like R.E.M. and U2, they never broke out of the record store clerk/college radio DJ ghetto. Their live performances — messy, unfocused, opaque — didn’t help.
The band’s singer, guitarist and chief songwriter Steve Wynn went on to a fairly prolific, if not high-profile, solo career.
Then last summer, the band agreed to play a one-off festival show in Bilbao, which turned into a short tour of Spain. Now they’re doing a few more dates — only four — and the first is at the Beachland Ballroom. The reformed band includes ’80s members Wynn, drummer Dennis Mehaffey and bassist Mark Walton, plus guitarist Jason Victor, whom Wynn brought along from his solo career.
The Split Squad, featuring Eddie Munoz (Plimsouls), Clem Burke (Blondie), Michael Giblin (power popsters Cherry Twister), Keith Streng (Fleshtones), and Josh Kantor (organist for the Boston Red Sox), opens.
Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door.
Photo: Dream Syndicate in the early ’80s