Event is 21+
$15/20 door
Established in Boston in 2007, The Macrotones are a 10-piece unit steeped in off-beat funk & soul rhythms from all over the globe. Blazing horns meet mighty hooks for a progressive mix fit to fill any dancefloor.
The band’s tightly-honed grooves and infectious sound has shared the stage with like-minded practitioners such as Lee Fields & the Expressions, Durand Jones & the Indications, the Budos Band, Grupo Fantasma, Orgone, Ikebe Shakedown, and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. Since typical genre descriptions fail to fully capture the scope of the Macrotones sound, new monikers need exploration: imperial funk, astrobeat, or even “a soundtrack for spies” all fit.After self-recording their first record, 2008’s Wayne Manor, the Macrotones followed up with two studio albums: First Signs of Danger, released on Young Cub Records in 2010 and produced by Craig Welsh (John Brown’s Body, 10 Ft. Ganja Plant), and Darvaza, released on Music ADD Records in 2012 and produced by Sean Slade (Radiohead, Morphine).
2016 saw the release of Macro’s third full-length, Unknown Outpost, with Boston Music Award-wInner and Grammy-nominated engineer/producer Benny Grotto at the helm. The LP was also their first to feature guest vocalists on a number of songs, including emerging star Iyeoka. Several members of the band toured internationally with Iyeoka, performing some of their original tunes to large crowds across Europe. In the fall of 2017, the band released two back-to-back EPs; The Prisoner Flees & The Shark Eats on Music ADD Records. The first was tracked at Converse Rubber Tracks Boston studio and mixed by Dan Cardinal, while the second was done with Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios in Allston MA.
A new era for the band began in 2019 when friend and occasional guest vocalist Phil Desisto joined full time. Phil’s commanding and gritty vocals, drawing comparisons to Bobby Womack, saw the band embrace more classic soul sounds from the ‘6os and ’70s, while retaining their edgy funk. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, they tracked the 4-song EP Bloody Hands and released it on Music ADD in May 2020.
Flying Vipers emerged from a basement lair outside Boston MA in 2015, but their sound is of another time and place. Looking first to the Jamaican dub engineers of the ’70s, the Vipers lay down steady drum & bass driven rhythms, adding in modal jazz, soul and post-punk sensibilities. Their debut LP, Cuttings, was called “one of the top reggae records of the year” by Flea Market Funk, and the band plans to release their next LP summer/fall 2024. Their 7-piece live unit features Kellee Webb on vocals, an ace horn section, and the rock solid trio of twin brothers Marc & John on drum & bass, and Zack Brines on keys.
