4.6 The Thermals @ EXPLX
It’s so unbelievably great when good things happen to nice people. And so it was extra special to see the enormous crowd of sweaty, bouncy, sing-a-long-happy kids rocking their hearts out to The Thermals at EXPLX on Friday night. Playing as a three piece, the band delivered a taut, high energy set full of banter (singer/guitarist Hutch Harris would be a prime contender for the role of lead funnyman in any Seinfeld-style sitcom about the real life adventures of an indie rock almost star). “How’s my hair?” he joked midway through the set, playing up his anti-diva aura. And even when a security guard sternly emerged to sit on the edge of the stage and keep the kids inline, he had a quip to keep the mood light. “Fight nice,” he said. Not that there was much need to worry. The fans were too busy dancing and grinning to offer up much in the way of a real mosh pit anyhow. The songs may have a stripped down punk fever and smart, socially conscious lyrics, but are more ebullient than angry, and everyone there (including the band) seemed happy to rock it out, rather than get too agro. See, it can pay to be nice! (Let's hope there are no skeletons in this band's closet -- tabloid payoffs, Satanic rituals aimed at spurring record sales -- boy would my face be red).
