The Lowell music scene appears to have a home away from home when it comes to a place to play these days....and in the last month, not only have two Mill City acts hit the stage at this new found home (Leo Blais and Trick Bag) but two others from area have literally settled into the clubs rotation becoming constant performers at this 62 seat venue wedged into Porter Square in Cambridge Massachusetts. The club is called TOAD!
And while a handful of other Lowell acts including Reverend JJ and The Casual Sinners continue to knock on the door waiting for their shot at the coveted TOAD gig. Every Monday Night at 10pm Jen Kearney and The Lost Onion not only fill the stage but also fill the room with a sound like nothing you've ever heard before. And in the last few weeks JKLO truly seems to be finding its "groove" since locking up the weekly residency last October. To no one's surprise, they have been packing them in.
Every other Thursday from 7pm to 9pm one can also drop into TOAD to check out another of Lowell's most original acts; Melvern Taylor and His Fabulous Meltones. along with the rest of his band mates Melvern and the boys appear to be producing the same results with its incredibly unique sound and very stylized neo-classic presence, making MTFM' s rotation on the TOAD schedule another must see act.
While the days of the house band, the regulars, and the residency may be fleeting a bit, at TOAD not only have they never left, they appear to be here to stay. Constantly ranked in many of the Boston area music mags as "one of the area's best live music venues" TOAD does it simply with the caliber of the acts it books. It's not the size of the place, the price of the food and drink, or the location of the club that is the attraction...it is simply the talent being booked that draws the crowds and the ever present attention of those keeping one eye on the music scene who are taking notice.
One can also assume that TOAD certainly knows where to look when they need to fill the room, and the answer to that question is; Right here in Lowell, Massachusetts!
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