Beast In The East
Highlighting the East Zone
(4-6PM)
Somerville Porchfest
Somerville Porchest is happening Saturday, May 10, 12-6PM.
Beast the East with Baker Thomas Band, Big Rav, Copilot, Happy Little Clouds, Hilken & Melissa, Johnnie and the Foodmasters, Linnea's Garden with special guests, Otis Shanty, Porch Fest All Stars, Skaleton Crew, The Cherry Fog, Pledge Pins, The Femmes, The Grownup Noise, The Lights Out, The Shallows, Bird Language, Buck Lonesome & The Table For One, Double Star, and Ruin The Nite.
Rain date is May 11.
Somerville Porchfest has always pulled good crowds, and it might have broken a record last year with the Guster Affair.
In response, the Somerville Arts Council introduced a few new wrinkles into this year’s edition, most notably: (1) making certain streets “out of bounds” for performers, in the hopes of preserving throughways for vehicles, and (2) adding a volunteer crew to lend a helping hand. You can learn more about the particulars and see the full Porchfest map at the SAC website.
Other than that, it’s business as usual with a tidal wave of artists sweeping across Somerville, west to east, over the course of the afternoon. Note the times.
West Zone (12-2PM)
Central Zone (2-4PM)
East Zone (4-6PM)
Over 400 porches are in play this year. Multiply that number of porches by the number of acts per porch, and you have… you have a lot.
The afternoon can be bewildering. How to navigate it best? Here are three solid strategies:
1) No Plan, Just Follow The Music
Don’t look at any lists, or maps, or social media posts. Just plant yourself at a starting point in Somerville, open your ears, and start following the music. The only parameter to keep in mind is the timing of the zones. The West Zone starts off at noon. If you want to do the whole day, start in the west and drift east.
2) Build Your Own Adventure
Maybe you have friends performing, or there’s a band performing that you always wanted to see. You can use the supermap at the SAC website to build your own adventure. The map is searchable (super helpful), giving you all the info you need to chart your course.
3) Hit The Highlights
Hump Day News has put together a list, with accompanying map, to help you cut through the chaos. These are acts that we’ve covered, seen live, know will perform a killer set.
Note that we pulled this info from the SAC supermap, which doesn’t include EVERY artist performing at a given porch. For example, Dot Dev (fka Pink Navel) is performing with Mallcops in the West Zone, but only Mallcops is listed. Maybe only the band that applies to SAC gets listed in the supermap? Not sure. Take our list as a starting point and “do your own research.”
HDN Highlights
Baker Thomas Band
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Americana, 58 Fellsway
The longtime Toad regulars having reason to celebrate lately with the reopening of the club in Porter Square. Catch ‘em in a good mood.
Big Rav
Copilot
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 75 Marshall Street
The “feel good” rockers play big stages at Boston Music Awards and the upcoming Boston Calling. Catching them on a porch will be a hoot.
Copilot
Happy Little Clouds
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 21 Aldersey St
Big guitar, big voice, complemented by a rollicking rhythm section. Fuzzy, buzzy, melodic.
Hilken & Melissa
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 11 Pearl Street Place
First names only? Is this Hilken Mancini? And who is Melissa? I guess IYKYK, but we don’t know.
Hilken Mancini
Johnnie and the Foodmasters
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Punk, 41 Sycamore Street
Punk in broad daylight.
Linnea's Garden with special guests
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 32 Stone Avenue
The band just got back from a tour. Find out what they learned on the road.
Linnea’s Garden
Otis Shanty
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Indie, 71 Boston St
Jingly, jangly slacker rock for fans of Real Estate and Kurt Vile.
Otis Shanty
Porch Fest All Stars
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Americana, 41 Dartmouth St
Who are the All Stars? Not sure, but they must be good, right?
Skaleton Crew
4:00pm – 4:45pm, Punk, 88 Oxford St
Ska-bim-boo-bah!
The Cherry Fog, Pledge Pins, and more
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 22 Waldo Ave
Pledge Pins
The Femmes
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Pop, 9 Parkdale St
The all women and nonbinary party & wedding band that holds down a regular Midway Cafe residency across town brings the music back home to Somerville.
The Grownup Noise
4:00pm – 6:00pm, Indie, 32 Prescott St.
The Noise, all grown up. How time flies.
The Lights Out
4:00pm – 4:45pm, Rock, 25 Willoughby St
Some hard rock energy. Maybe shades of a heavy Fleetwood Mac? And a touch of pre-grunge. Not proto-grunge. Don’t confuse pre- and proto- because there is a difference.
Bird Language
4:15pm – 5:00pm, Indie, 70 Union Square
The JP Music Fest veterans can communicate with birds in their own language.
Buck Lonesome & The Table For One
5:00pm – 6:00pm, Country, 22 Oxford St
Go give Buck some company!
Double Star
5:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 88 Oxford Street
Ska-adjacent rawkers who never settle for a single star.
Double Star
Ruin The Nite
5:00pm – 6:00pm, Rock, 70 Union Square
The Rock N Roll Rumble veterans might throw some brass into the mix.
Ruin The Nite
Somerville Porchfest 2024 ↓
A preview of highlights at Somerville Porchfest 2025.