Thurs. March 20

There's a multi-band/fashion show benefit at Harpers Ferry Thursday March 20 called "Allston Rock City Music & Style Show." On the bill are SuperPower, Pulp45, Monolith, and BadAsh, and Vagiant. Well, not Vagiant anymore. We'll explain in a bit. The fashion component features wares from Allston businesses and the excess money goes to the Allston Village Main Streets organization. All fair enough. But Helen McWilliams, from Vagiant, e-mails us, "My band just got kicked off a benefit show for the Allston Village Main Streets due to our refusal to drop a song called (here) "F the Kells” from our setlist. The AVMS wasasking us not to play the song due to the influence of the owner of the Kells. We replied that we intended to play our full set without edit, but that we were willing to preface it with a tongue-in-cheek intro, like, 'The opinions expressed in this song do not reflect the opinions of the AVMS but they did not want to compromise and have kicked us from the bill."
"I just find it potentially newsworthy that a band FROM Allston is getting kicked off a BENEFIT show FOR Allston because one of their songs is ABOUT Allston." How anti-Kells is it? McWilliams explains: "Oh the lyrics are really silly, it’s a classic little upbeat punk song. It’s on our myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/vagiantboston.  I actually don’t even know that much about what goes on inside that bar, I just wrote it one day because I was frustrated because it tends to be a huge frat magnet – any night in Allston when the Kells closes, there is a throng of white hat wearing dudes and way-too-drunk young ladies outside who just congregate while looking for a fight. They also have a dress code which allegedly is designed to keep the population Caucasian (though I’ve only heard this second-hand.) Their recent expansion also took out some cool local business that have been in Allston for a trillion years. So I was vaguely annoyed with them and wrote a little song." So, you can go to their myspace page to hear the song but not Harpers Ferry to hear the other bands. The other bands are still playing, and the music should start around 9, with a $10 cover.

158 Brighton Ave., Allston, 617-254-7380 www.harpersferryboston.com