MUSIC: The Mighty Good Boys Make It Look Easy At AS220

MUSIC: The Mighty Good Boys Make It Look Easy At AS220

2013 has been a banner year for the Providence music scene, so many fantastic albums put out by so many talented bands. This past Wednesday at AS220's Performance Space, The Mighty Good Boys joined that exclusive group by celebrating the release of their debut album It Ain't Easy. A stacked bill with Dan Dodd, Junior Beat and The Sugar Honey Iced Tea supported what was to be quite the night. If you were looking to achieve that goal of achieving that lovely pre-Thanksgiving hangover, you should have been at AS220.

With the manager of The Mighty Good Boys Don Witherslitz being the MC and starting the festivities, Dan Dodd took things over with his captivating songs and heartfelt style. Getting romantic with "Turn You On", one of Providence's best singer-songwriters set the mood perfectly. A couple new songs in "Hey Mary Ann" & "Children Of Oz" showed how well Dan is progressing with his material, they don't come more genuine than him when it comes to impeccable ability to invade your inner being. It's always a pleasure to see Dan play, dive in to what he has to offer and bask in sheer brilliance.

Don went back on stage with The Mighty Good Boys' Corey Gillard, Mike Walker, Benjamin Tilchin and Travis Conaway and got the crowd revved up with "The Day Of Your Birth Is A Happy Time For You" and then Junior Beat got nasty in the left corner of the room. Groovy drum & bass, this duo were fuzzy and emphatic. You could hear them if you went to the bar to get a drink or go outside and smoke a cigarette and still hear them, making the walls shake and everything else. That bass really got me, such a deep tone that resonated great rhythm. Junior Beat has that sound that always remind me of a classic gangster film, maybe they should hit up Guy Ritchie and do a soundtrack for him sometime.

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Their first show in Providence in ages but always enjoyable, The Sugar Honey Tea and their soothing brand of folk graced the stage. "China Shop", "Can't Stop Wanting You" and "Middle Man" were a trio of classics that highlighted a great performance. They're adorable, beautiful and immensely talented, The Sugar Honey Iced Tea are a top act in The Creative Capital and they proved why tonight. They will be putting out a full-length album sometime next year, if it's anything like they are live then it should be one of the best albums of 2014.

Junior Beat turned brains into electrified goo once again and then the main attraction took hold. There's something about backwoods folk that I love, maybe it's the bare bones of it all or maybe because it's just that damn good. Don introduced The Mighty Good Boys and they right into it with "Working Man" that had people in that dancing mood from the get go. It turns out they did a rarity, they played the whole album live from front to back. They played a few new untitled numbers in the encore as well for the sake of exclusivity. If you want to know the songs, well get the album. It Ain't Easy is a gem, you better get your hands on it before they have to reissue it 5 years from now.