Mondays at Toad

What can I say about Monday nights at Toad? A lot, actually. For the last 15 years, Tim Gearan and some of the best musicians and people you will ever encounter, have been playing there free of charge. And on every one of those nights these boys deliver. And on the few nights where they weren't delivering in the way I know they are capable of, they still put to shame every other show in town. And this is less of a show where as it is an opportunity to experience an atmosphere filled with soul. Timmy is a blues man and he's the real deal. We got to talking one day about the music in the '90's when we started talking about Buffalo Tom and as Timmy put it "I had my nose to the blues grindstone." Timmy takes liberty with traditional arrangements like virtually every other artist does, but he goes a bit further with it. He finds some way, some piece of it that had always rang a chord with him and tells his story through his words. He'll take a verse or two and in the second half you hear his story if you are paying attention. Every time I walk into these rooms to see the likes of Tim, Dennis Brennan, Duke Levine, Kevin Barry, Lou Ulrich, Scott and John Aruda, Paul Ahlstrand, Andy Plaisted, Mike Piehl...the list goes on and on in this town...I want to get down on my hands and knees and thank whoever I should for not only being able to see them play, often times for no charge, but also for the privilege of being able to call them friends. I realize the latter may make me biased about the former, but ask anyone worth their salt who is not friends with them and they will say the same thing.

And sadly, as of the end of September, it will all be over. 15 years...FIFTEEN YEARS!!!! That's quite the accomplishment for any musician to be able to fill a room to capacity each week. Lou Ulrich and I were talking a couple of Monday's ago and he told me that they played during the March 31st/April 1st blizzard in 1997 and there were about 30 people in attendance. I remember where I was that night and, knowing what I know now, I wish I had been at Toad. Lou, who was living in Watertown at the time, told me it took him two and a half hours to get home and that it was totally worth it. These guys are not getting rich doing this and never have. I'm not even sure it pays a whole lot of bills. But what's important is that they love and live it.

If you do only one thing this fall get your sorry ass down to Toad before it's too late.

Tim and co. will be moving to Atwoods in East Cambridge for Friday nights beginning in October. $5 cover, good food and great people.