If you want to sample a bunch of local bands live very quickly, the unusual round-robin format of “Boston Underground Summit 11” is for you.
“All 10 bands set up at once on three stages and they are forced to share gear and get close. Once it starts, we go to curfew,” explains Sam Potrykus of Boston Hassle, which is presenting the concert at Massasoit Elks Lodge in Cambridge from 8 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27.
As they’ve done since the first Boston Underground Summit in September 2009, each band takes turns, playing one song, then the next band plays one song, and the next, and on and on until the place closes at 11 p.m. “As an audience member, you can step in and in 30 minutes for 40 minutes, however a round takes, ad you can hear 10 bands,” Potrykus says.
The lineup so far mainly features Boston bands. Scream Castle is a groovy punk prog act. Guiding Wave plays gritty post-punk. Goon Planet from Providence offers no wave noise rock. Rogozo favors metal-inspired synth rock. Experimental cyberpunk noise outfit ____Highlightreel presents, Potrykus says, “Scifi movie background shit where the aliens are attacking the earth.” The Laces from Walpole specialize in trashy garage rock seasoned with punk. Porno Portal to Florida plays spastic noise rock. And the The Jazz Massagers is improvisational poetry backed by a jam band.
“Overall, I would describe this as a wild rock show” Potrykus says, “definitely bombastic, and rock in varying degrees.”
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