Someone once told me that the best shows around are the local ones.

Up until May 25th, I had always taken that with a grain of salt. But by midnight that evening in Cambridge, Mass., as local favorites Cassavettes were roaring through the middle of their set, it became clear to me: it’s the hidden gems that always rock the hardest.

The Boston-based indie darlings, now approaching 2 years in the running as a full lineup, appeared that night as the headliners at T.T. the Bear’s in Cambridge, along with Logos Business Systems, Self-Righteous Brothers and The Appreciation Post.

Riding on the recent release of their first full-length album, It’s Gonna Change, the relatively young quartet re-energized the seemingly drowsy crowd in the half-empty venue, and kicked some life back into the room.

Cassavettes broke the ice with “You’ll Be Crying Soon” and “On The Lam,” and by the time they blasted into the chorus of their third song, “Carolyn Don’t Leave” — a crowd favorite — they had almost instantly won the affection of every kid in the room.

With three-quarters of the group hailing from Texas, the band seems to capitalize on its twangy Southern charm; every other song possesses an endearingly sweet quality that leaps into the listener’s chest and plants a little seed of country love.

Apart from their musical assets, the group features a few aesthetic values that boost their live performance. Among them, perhaps, is Glenn Yoder’s (Vocalist, Guitar/Piano player) gleeful grin peeking through his slightly disheveled muff-top hair, or Scott Jones’ (Bassist) playful interaction with the crowd.

The real crux of the show, however, was the crowd’s impeccably personal connection with the band; the audience members loved Cassavettes and Cassavettes loved them back. Every song brought with it at least 20 wildly dancing fans, pumping their fists at the band and screaming every other lyric, nearly drowning out the band’s own vocals.

By the end of their set, the band had finished something which they had only 40 minutes earlier created: an almost illegally entertaining local show that shed a glimmer of massive future potential.

About The Author

Daniel Peleschuk is one of our founding staff writers and an editor-at-large. He can be reached at [email protected]

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