On Thursday December 8th 2022 at Faces Brewing Co, Parlour Bells is excited to take part in Anngelle Wood’s 11th Annual Spectacular Gift Drive to benefit the DCF Wonderfund. The Wonderfund is a private nonprofit, 501(c)3 serving kids engaged with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. The organization provides comfort and dignity to 53,000 children who have been impacted by abuse and neglect.
We’re asking attendees of the event to consider bringing an unwrapped gift to the show. Gifts can include toys, clothing, art supplies, personal care items, books, electronics, sporting goods, hoodies, gift cards, and things kids of any age would like to get for the holidays!
This is going to be an incredible holiday party featuring some fantastic local rock music, including Parlour Bells, Gretchen Shae & The Middle Eight and Little Fuss!
On Sunday, August 2, 2015, Parlour Bells enjoyed the distinct honor of performing as the supporting act for a newly reformed Culture Club featuring all four of its original core members (Boy George, Mikey Craig, Jon Moss, Roy Hay) at Boston’s Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in the City’s thriving Seaport district. In a strange coincidence, Parlour Bells singer and principal songwriter Goddamn Glenn learned about the booking via group text message as he was making his way to the Pavilion to catch The Smashing Pumpkins / Marilyn Manson concert 5 days before the Culture Club show would take place. The 2014 Boston Music Awards nominee for Live Artist of the Year, Parlour Bells leapt at the opportunity to open for the iconic, New Romantic legends most famously known for their hits “Karma Chameleon,” “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” “Time (Clock of the Heart)” and “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.”
The band welcomed its cadre of faithful photographers to the event and helped secure them access to the Pavilion’s photo pit as a token of thanks for all their coverage over the years. Below are some of the photos from Coleman Rogers, Mike Oliver and Adam P. Salsman.
Photo by Coleman Rogers
Photo by Mike Oliver
Photo by Adam P. Salsman
Parlour Bells delivered a 45 minute set to the gracious and receptive Blue Hills Bank Pavilion crowd. Press from both The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe were in attendance and said of the band’s opening set:
Afterwards, the band took in Culture Club’s fantastic set stageside, and then spent some moments chatting after the show. Backstage, Elvira “Mistress of the Dark” even made a surprise appearance.
During one memorable exchange, Parlour Bells gave legendary frontman Boy George the task of choosing the Culture Club song the band should cover in the future. His response underscored his authenticity and integrity as a songwriter as he suggested that the band cover a lesser known (albeit clearly cherished) song called “Love Is Love” from the 1984 pre-Internet singularity computer/human romance sleeper Electric Dreams. George relayed that while it was a favorite, the song hadn’t received a great deal of attention or airplay over the years. Glenn made a point to queue the song up upon returning home and instantly understood how perfect it was for the band to cover.
Parlour Bells would like to thank Culture Club, their crew, the staff of Blue Hills Bank Pavilion and Live Nationfor being tremendously accommodating and helpful to the band, for this historic opportunity, and for a night we will never forget.
Wetware, the new single from Boston’s Parlour Bells (just nominated for LIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR in the 2014 Boston Music Awards) will be released on 11/11/14 as part of the Keep Safe Boston local music compilation to benefit Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, with a show to follow at Brighton Music Hall on December 10, 2014.Stream it now here on YouTube.Read more about the song and the benefit in the Boston Herald.
Parlour Bells is humbled to be named among The Improper Bostonian’sTen Top Local Acts Who’ve Been Making Noise Around Boston and Beyond. Following a landmark set at TT the Bear’s Place on June 27, 2014 Improper Music Editor Paul Robicheau spoke to Glenn about his musical partnership with co-founder Nate Leavitt and the cybersexbernetic future Parlour Bells has prepared for the band’s beloved fans. Sealed in a cryonic chamber and shot deep into the future. Celebrities On Ice is scheduled for a Fall release. Be cool. (And thank you Boston).
Summer has found us at last and we are ready to celebrate with you! THIS Friday night 6/27 at TT the Bear’s Place in Cambridge we have assembled an absolute monster of a lineup. Parlour Bells is teaming up with Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, Muy Cansado and Future Carnivores to bring you THE SUMMER OF LOVE show. If you are unfamiliar with any of these acts, do yourself a favor and check them out because they put on some of the BEST live shows in Boston and beyond.
And after that, Parlour Bells head to Q Division to begin work on our third release, songs from which you will likely hear for the first time on Friday night. Titles from the first session of recordings include “Celebrities On Ice” and “We Keep Coming Back.” The early reception from those who have caught the new material in recent shows has been wildly enthusiastic and we cannot wait to set it to record.
No shows booked for the rest of the season, so 6/27 at TTs could be our ONLY appearance until Fall!
The Boston Mayoral Race isn’t the only contest in town. The 2013 Boston Music Award Nominations were also announced Monday, November 4th, and Parlour Bells picked up a Video of the Year nomination for Bachelor Hours. (Get your vote on early and often here). Released and celebrated at Great Scott on June 28, 2013, Bachelor Hours was shot over two months in multiple locations around Boston. Gene Dante and Mary Widow are the romantic leads in a hallucinatory crime story involving a mysterious new designer drug and the shadowy cartel responsible for getting these “moon pills” into the streets. Check out the video here.
Voting ends December 2, 2013 at 11:59PM, and the big event takes place at the Liberty Hotel on December 8, 2013. Proceeds from the 26 year old Boston Music Awards event support Music Drives Us, a non-profit that provides funding for music education programs.
Jed Gottlieb of The Boston Herald declares that the video is “more freaky than the new Pixies,” and Michael Marotta of Vanyaland, who world premiered the video calls it “a moonlit look at nightlife culture and serves as a who’s-who around the Boston rock scene,” as it features a huge cast of extras. It’s for that reason that this nomination belongs to the following individuals who helped bring Bachelor Hours to life: Gene Dante, Mary Widow, Roger Metcalf, Douglas Sherman, Malik Haddadi, Kate Sweet, Neehmias Afonso, Meaghan Sinclair, Meghan Chiampa, Autumn Pincus, Andrew Wilson, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Clark Sullivan, Katrina Galore, Michael Oliver, Leesa Coyne, Rick Kotowski, Richard Bouchard, Douglas Orey, Bridget Leahy, Emily Diggins, Janelle LaMarche, Kristen Scioli, John Langton, Elvis Collins, James Johnson, Phil Fleming, Peter Moore, Sarah Rabdau, Leah Principe, Adam Bouchard, Porcelain Dalya, and Darren McDonald, Trina’s Starlight Lounge,Radio, Anytime Limousine, Great Scott, Michael Marotta, Derek Kouyoumjian, Patrick Mussari, Garth McMurray and Charlotte Sweet. Thank you.
Parlour Bells is excited to be named one of Boston’s Best Local Rock Bands by CBS Boston, sharing the honor with other standout acts, The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, Mean Creek, Darlingside and Doomriders!
When we set out to make our first video, we had the pleasure, and urgency, of knowing exactly when it would need to be done. Michael Marotta, the celebrated music editor of the sadly missedBoston Phoenix (who got right back at it by founding the comprehensive Vanyaland online music magazine)
Michael Marotta of Vanyaland
welcomed us to release and publicly screen the premiere of Bachelor Hours at the pill at Great Scott in Allston MA. And it would all go down on June 28, 2013. We had some work to do.
The journey to the end of the night would take us to alleyways, conveyor belts, a warehouse, Radio bar, Trina’s Starlight Lounge, the streets of Davis Square, and gave us the opportunity to work with a diverse cross section of the Boston music community. To say that we have a cooperative, collaborative arts community just doesn’t say enough.
Scene from “Bachelor Hours”
So, Parlour Bells would just like to thank:
Gene Dante, Mary Widow, Roger Metcalf, Douglas Sherman, Malik Haddadi, Kate Sweet, Neehmias Afonso, Meaghan Sinclair, Meghan Chiampa, Autumn Pincus, Andrew Wilson, Michael J. Epstein, Sophia Cacciola, Clark Sullivan, Katrina Galore, Michael Oliver, Leesa Coyne, Rick Kotowski, Richard Bouchard, Douglas Orey, Bridget Leahy, Emily Diggins, Janelle LaMarche, Kristen Scioli, John Langton, Elvis Collins, James Johnson, Phil Fleming, Peter Moore, Sarah Rabdau, Leah Principe, Adam Bouchard, Porcelain Dalya, and Darren McDonald, Trina’s Starlight Lounge,Radio, Anytime Limousine, Great Scott, Michael Marotta, Derek Kouyoumjian, Patrick Mussari, Garth McMurray and Charlotte Sweet. You all helped us get this thing done just in the nick of time.
Vanyaland TV
Michael Marotta world premiered the video on Vanyaland in conjunction with MediaBoss TV, and we had just enough time to edit a few extra hours of b-roll to loop during the DJ sets for the celebration and Parlour Bells show at the pill later that night. We performed two short sets, with a break in between to screen the video to a live audience.
Written and Directed by Glenn di Benedetto. Filmed by Roger Metcalf and Glenn di Benedetto.Produced and Edited by Glenn di Benedetto. Additional Post Production by Roger Metcalf.
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