Blake Babies w/ Wheat
at the Middle East Downstairs 7/21/01

 The best music is usually fueled by passion, and the passion was fully evident at the Blake Babies’ show at the Middle East, the final performance of their reunion tour. After a 10 year hiatus, the band regrouped late last year to record a terrific new album, and this year, the reunion tour, ostensibly to support the album, seemed more importantly a return to band’s roots as they reconnected as people. The reunion, as has been made clear on the band’s website, has always been more for the band members’ sake than the fans. The fact that the fans got some great music out of the deal was just the icing on the cake.

 The show kicked off with Wheat, a band that has supported the Babies on several dates during the tour. The quartet gave an energetic, enjoyable opening set. But the show really began around 11:30, when John Strohm, Freda Love-Smith, and Juliana Hatfield, along with bassist Daniel Jackson, came on stage. The crowd let out a wail that sounded similar to an airplane taking off, as the band ripped into “Cesspool.” The Blake Babies’ live sound was much harder than on record, with a punk energy cranking through the scorching, dirty guitars of Strohm and Hatfield, the crunching bass of Jackson, and the spot-on drumming of Love-Smith. Songs such as “Until I Almost Died” and “Baby Gets High” were played hard, fast, and tight as hell. The power pop of “Disappear,” which opens the new album, was transformed on stage into a cross between the Rolling Stones and the Clash, with a classic guitar riff propelling the song forward. All band members seemed to be in high spirits. At various points, Strohm waxed reminiscent by talking about the old days of playing the Middle East, as well as the last Blake Babies show. “It’s really great to come back here and end this thing in Boston, where it all began. The last show we played together before we split was in Belgium, and they just didn’t get it,” he said, smiling. Hatfield, who profusely thanked the crowd at several points, also kept repeating that it was good to be ending the reunion at the Middle East. While the future of the band is up in the air, it seemed that the members were already trying to put the notion of the band as a continuing presence to rest.

 The Blake Babies spent more time pouring their hearts into performing than they did reminiscing, however. Blistering versions of “Civil War,” “Lament,” “Downtime,” and “Out There” followed, full of screeching feedback, played by a band that knew they were cooking. After “On,” the band left the stage, but, as the applause level was threatening to deafen those of us that still had some hearing intact, Strohm came back to the stage. Upon a heckler calling out for a solo Hatfield song, Strohm jokingly replied, “I hate my sister. She’s such a bitch!” quoting the song in question, and drawing applause and laughs. He launched into “Girl In A Box,” as one by one, the other members slowly made their way back to the stage to join in. After that, they launched into a smoking version of Paul McCartney’s “Let Me Roll It,” and thanked the crowd for the warm reception. The crowd wanted more though, and there was a sense that the Blake Babies wanted to hang on just a little longer, so they came back for a second encore, playing “Brain Damage,” off the new album. Once again, the song was much harder played live, and, as the final chords chimed out and the band left the stage, the Babies’ reunion passed into memory. For everyone in attendance at the Blake Babies final reunion show, the music, the emotions, and the good vibrations made sure that this night will be remembered for a long time to come.

 -Neal Alpert