While rumors regarding the sale of the former Ranch House building proved to be unfounded, the South Shore's nastiest bar ever still manages to exert some Authority on local nightlife.
The Jetty, a newer place located at 278 Ocean Street on the Brant Rock esplanade, has a unique and awesome marketing idea. They're celebrating the former Marshfield den of sin, with a week of Ranch House-themed entertainment. The Ranch House was described by Stephen Bowden in this very column as "sort of like the C&W bar from The Blues Brothers meets the Double Deuce from Roadhouse, except that the Double Deuce was nicer."
Starting April 11th, the Jetty will run a week of bands that former Ranchers will know and love. You can see them on the posterboard shown above, but a little bird tells me that they are in the process of booking additional acts to fill out the week.
The Jetty, owned by Richard Vaughn, has a bit of hardcore history herself. It is housed in the building which hosted the notorious Breakers bar back in the proverbial day. However, the Ranch House was the hardcore icon. Vaughn, who has to be at least somewhat local, recognizes and respects the local history.
Here are some of the acts coming to The Jetty, starting on April 11th.
Hypercane is a South Shore band with 15 years in the game. A four-piece outfit, they do a lot of cover songs. I'm a bit deaf and have never been good with music (US Grant was in the same boat, and once remarked that he had two favorite songs... "One is Yankee Doodle, and the other isn't"), but I did hear them covering Unchained by Van Halen in their promo video. They'll be playing at The Jetty on April 13th.
Raw Deal is a Stoughton-based band which I pray is named after the Ahhhhnold movie. You know, the one where his wife (not Mrs. Shriver) throws a cake at him, and he chastises her with "You should not drink andt bake." The band is based around the Kane brothers, and will be on stage at The Jetty on April 14th.
Mark Morris And The Cat Tunes (aka "Catunes") are Southie's greatest band... which is funny because Whitey Bulger, for all we know, may have waited until the Cat Tunes were rehearsing to murder people, as the din of the band would cover up the gunshots and screaming. I worked at a gas station in Sagamore once, and it was robbed one night while Italian Soup (a wedding band based around the Gallo family, who own half of the Cape side of the Canal land) was rehearsing next door. There may be a Nine Lives cat food joke in the Morris/Cat band name. They'll do a show on April 15th at The Jetty... and who doesn't need a drink on April 15th?
The Fat City Band has been a South Shore giant since the 1970s. While someone else actually owned the building and the property and all that, these guys owned the Ranch House. Anyone growing up in the area in the 1980s or 1990s most likely saw TFCB in action at some point. They have the Saturday night show at The Jetty, on April 16th.
Clutch Grabwell And The Lead Foot Horns (they may just be Clutch Grabwell now, it's tough to tell) finish off the week's fun with a Sunday night show. Clutch and the boys are a Worcester band, I believe, maybe Lowell. They were a constant at the Ranch House, and they play at The Jetty on April 17th.
Some bands we would like to see if The Jetty tries this idea again in the summer...
Jim Plunkett
The Injurys
The Steamers
The Fools
Duke And The Drivers
Feel Thing
Cats Ass
D'Spayre
Southbound
Madcow
Entropy
Draw The Line
Crystal Ship
Conrad And The Pickups
The Rude Dogs
Stiff Nipple
The Speed Lizzards
The Well-Endowed Gentlemen
Slant Six
The PsychoRelics
Bluestime
Who did we miss? That's not a band name, it's a question for you to answer in the Comments.
