The Valley’s own Gone By Daylight have shared stages with everyone from Bret Michaels to My Chemical Romance and have more than 3,000 Facebook “likes” to their cyber credit. But it is a recent brush with a national cologne company of note that seems to have the pop-punk quartet poised for impending success on a new level.
“It was our first experience with the whole business side of the industry, and our production deal has really been life-changing,” says singer Eric Paquette of the band’s recent signing with Universal Publishing and the Axe body spray commercial that came to fruition because of it. “We’ve never worked with a producer, or anyone else, for that matter, so it was quite a wakeup call, throwing other people in the Gone By Daylight world. … But the plot of this commercial involves me getting flashed by a model, so I guess I really can’t complain.”
The commercial was shot near New York City’s famed Chelsea Market, and as evidenced by the band’s regular Saturday night residency at the renowned rock hall Arlene’s Grocery, the Big Apple certainly seems to be playing a big role in the band’s master plan.
“We’ve spent the last year playing NYC, taking bus trips to hand out CDs, playing open mics and basically doing anything we can do to make friends and fans in the city,” Paquette explains. “It’s finally starting to feel like the work is paying off, with more and more people coming out, coming up to us after sets, then seeing them again the next show.”
This Saturday, March 25, Paquette and fellow Gone By Daylight-ers Jeff Lynch (guitar) and the brother/battery of Jordan (bass) and Shaanan King (drums) headline the Pearl Street Clubroom, with improv trio The Shape, Springfield decibel-deliverers Zamia and blues-rockers Lentner and Maverick West in support. (In keeping with our sibling revelry theme, it should be noted that Lentner also includes two brothers, and Maverick West comprises the four youngest brethren from the Lynch family in Huntington).
Tix for this 8 p.m. show are $10 in advance, $13 at the door and available at gonebydaylight.com.
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Also on tap for Saturday, March 24 are a reunion and a CD release party. The former puts the founding members of Valley psych-pop practictioners The Aloha Steamtrain on stage together for the first time since 2003 at the Iron Horse for a 10 p.m. show, and has the added allure of featuring A Severe Joy—the new solo project from Valley veteran Jose Ayerve (best known for his work with Spouse).
The latter event, a celebration of journeyman bluesman Mark Nomad’s latest recorded labor of love, Torch Tones, takes place at Theodores’ downtown (theobbq.com) at 9 p.m.
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Similarly celebrating new studio product is The Pines, a Midwest septet fresh off a much-touted South By Southwest Festival performance. The disc is titled Dark So Gold and has garnered rave reviews from PopMatters and CMT.com. The local show is slated for Tuesday, March 27 at The Iron Horse (iheg.com).
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Last but not least, Greenfield’s Pushkin venue goes for Baroque with the second program in its Classics series this Sunday, March 25.
After a successful evening of folk songs from Bohemia, Ireland, Tibet and Argentina Feb. 24, artistic director Rebecca Hartka has enlisted the services of harpsichordist Gregory Hayes, violinist Colleen Jennings and cellist Deborah Sherr (as well as Hartka herself, also on cello) to resurrect the music of the Baroque.
“We are bringing high quality classical music to Greenfield,” Hartka notes. “The newly renovated Pushkin is quite beautiful, an inspirational venue in which to hear or make music, and I am passionate about performing classical music in informal settings.”
Future Classics at the Pushkin include “Tragedy and Comedy” on Sunday, April 22, with Trio Lumiere playing emotional pieces by Shostakovich. For more info on any and all things Pushkin, kindly point your browser to theartsblock.com.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 394-4262 or email garycarra@aol.com.
