Have you been to a show at Rock Mansion? If you haven’t, you’re missing out! Amy Tyson rebuilt the Dorchester home herself over a period of years and it’s the most welcoming place in town to play a show. She sets up her PA from her home studio in the dining room and it’s an instant safe space for Queers, misfits, artists, and their allies to debut new material, new projects, and show off their talents.
On December 31, 2019, Rock Mansion welcomed the end of a tough year by celebrating 3 bands and one artist. Up first was New Recording 23, which is Pam Nicholas from Pop Smear, Shiva Speedway, and the current Dowager, and Amy Tyson of Fur Purse and Rock Mansion ownership. They are an instrumental rock project and are amazing. Pam is a force on the drums and Amy Tyson wails on her Ibanez like nobody’s business.
David Champagne played solo next. He was a small package with a lot of heart and I linked here to his web page for more info about his music and upcoming shows with his other projects. Most of his other shows, if not all, are sold out, but you can get a sense of his sound at the link provided.
After a short break came Bicker. According to Eve Belfer-Ahern, Bicker can be described as, “Bicker is me n claire (Passey) (of FurPurse with Eve and Amy Tyson) and Ella from lady pills and Adam from Stompbox and Chris from black cat guitar, FIRST SHOW!!”
Bicker ruled! If you like Fur Purse, watch out for Bicker! I took like 50 photos I swear to God. I wish I had a video, but you’ll just have to keep your eyes open for their next show.
If you want to see New Recording 23 again, you have to bother Amy and Pam to keep it up, which they better!
Holy Ghost was supposed to play, but one of the women, Mary Beth Cahill got sick. Suzanne Hinton says about Holy Ghost, “This will be the first show for Holy Ghost, me and Mary Beth Cahill (we used to have a band called Looker).” I hope to see Holy Ghost come together again in the new year.
The final band of the night, Argo Arkestra, was supposed to bring the extravaganza with sci-fi covers and the like, but I missed it because I had to leave before they went on. Christopher Carmelovich describes the Argo Arkestra as, “Argo Arkestra is Noell Dorsey (Guillermo Sexo/Major Stars/Beautiful Weekend), Aaron Bennett (Crystal Understanding/Death Shepherd/Planet of Adventure), Ernie Kim (Tristan Da Cunha), me (Planet of Adventure), Adam Brilla (Broken River Prophet), Bear Brown (Ho-Ag/Gun Mother), Tyler Derryberry (Ho-Ag/Planet of Adventure/Squirty Worm), and Brian Church (Tristan Da Cunha, who won’t be there this time).”
There could not have been a better party with a better group of people to ring in 2020. The Rock Mansion 2020 is a place to watch. Words can’t really describe what the Rock Mansion means to me and I hope you have the chance to experience it for yourself so you don’t have to wonder what all the fuss is about. It’s not open to the public,it’s a private home with small private parties, but if you’re nice and get to know these amazing women, maybe you’ll be invited to the next show.
