During the band’s extended closing number, the two guitarists and bassist strolled away from the stage one at a time, leaving drummer Rodney Holmes to paralyze the audience with an absolute thunderstorm of percussion. The unaccompanied solo, a throwback to John Bonham’s lengthy percussive tantrums with Zeppelin, had the crowd slack-jawed and awed for more than five minutes… But we’ll come back to that. 

Project Percolator made the trip to York, Maine, from the band’s headquarters in New York for two shows at Inn on the Blues on April 30 and May 1. The show was slightly off season for the Inn, which reserves most of its live music for the busy summer months. But bandleader Jim Weider, who refers to York Harbor as “a second home,” rarely fails to draw a crowd in the area.

venue opens its doors for Krystal Polychronis CD release show

With much trepidation I made the familiar trek up Zion hill toward The Stone Church on March 21. The Newmarket venue, closed since being sold at auction in September, was open for a single night—a CD release party for Hampton-based singer-songwriter Krystal Polychronis. As the wide doors flung open, I could hear the excited chatter of concert goers embracing their beloved hall. They, like me, were anticipating a good show at their favorite venue. 

There was no cover charge, but the room was filled with children holding balloons and doing handstands while someone told a story into the microphone. My initial impression was part birthday party, part basement concert and part family reunion, but the Terrapin Station sign still hung from a reinforced wooden beam and the bar seemed to be open, so I headed that way. 

The four members of Boston-based indie rock band Aloud seemed undeterred by the evening’s obstacles. The band was supposed to split sets with Portland, Maine’s The Cambiata, who canceled at the last minute due to illness. The room in the basement of The Muddy River was mostly empty on this winter weeknight, with a row of attentive patrons dotting the bar. But the low turnout didn’t stop Aloud from spinning the adrenaline dial all the way to max.

The band is led by dual vocalists/guitarists Henry Beguiristain and Jen de la Osa, who have been collaborating as songwriters since their early teens. Behind the two leads are bassist Ryan Majoris and drummer Jonathan Schmidt. During their hour-long set, the group performed several songs from its sophomore album, “Fan the Fury,” released early last year on the band’s own Lemon Merchant Records.

“We’re still working out a lot of things,” Mehrmann said before the show.