This is Hi-Fi

Sometimes we Boston-area rock fans don't know how good we have it. And not even just for the ridiculous wealth of great local bands and clubs that we have access to; this is obvious. No, it's because we have the great fortune to live in the same general vicinity as the legendary Mission of Burma, and that said band continues to play terrific shows around here from time to time.

Last Saturday was one of those times, as Burma helped christen the recently opened (after a few frustrating months of delays) Sinclair in Harvard Square. The club holds 525 and it bodes well that the place was still standing after Burma's typically thunderous set. The sold-out night opened with a fine set from Cambridge's Reports, who melded pop melodies with a louder garage edge like a new take on the Feelies.


Burma played a 100-minute set, mixing in several songs from their latest release Unsound with material from their other three post-reunion albums and of course, from the classic '79-'83 first incarnation of the band. Burma was as powerful as ever: Roger Miller rocked furiously on guitar, while Clint Conley's bass reverberated through the hall and Peter Prescott made with the pounding drums and shouted vocals.

But what set this show apart from the previous Burma concerts I've seen over the last 10+ years since they reunited was the way they mixed things up. About halfway through the show, Miller introduced his brother Benjamin on sax and Steve Smith on trumpet; Prescott dubbed the combination the Burma Transit Authority. Later, Roger Miller played trumpet while his brother played sax, Conley played guitar and sang and tape loop dude Bob Weston played bass.

The piece de resistance came in the encore when Jeff "Monoman" Conolly of DMZ/Lyres fame joined the band for a couple of old DMZ songs and then a cover of the Stooges' "I Feel Alright." Conolly was hilarious, dancing around the stage like an old vaudeville performer. Interestingly, Burma never played their signature song, "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," but they didn't have to. Asses were kicked regardless.