Photo credit: Adam Parshall
Nearly a year ago, we covered post-hardcore powerhouse group Actor|Observer’s single “Fool’s Gold,” and what the song meant for the broader arts community of Boston. In the subsequent year, little has changed: luxury apartments are still being constructed with no tenants, tech companies are imposing their expansions, and Great Scott remains without a home. So it is unfortunately fitting that we’re finally getting a music video for the song.
“Fool’s Gold” is a bemoaned love letter to the music scene of Boston and, specifically, Allston. Amid rapid corporate expansion, rising rent costs and general gentrification, the arts scene is getting suffocated. The song works as a simultaneous eulogy for what we’ve lost and a call to arms to preserve and strengthen what remains. Given as such, it seems slightly paradoxical that Actor|Observer would accept a gig at this year’s Boston Calling – which, as fun as it was, was absolutely drowning in corporate sponsorships. Well, the video for “Fool’s Gold” successfully melds the two ideas into one. The video uses footage of the band’s Calling set (which we noted was one of Saturday’s highlights), with singer Greg Marquis’s perfectly choreographed monologue, keeping the fans in check about when and where they see live music in Boston. The call to action is shown in full, and woven into the beginning of the track.
The video was, naturally, a full DIY project. Ben Eames produced the video, which is completely centered around the paradox of the song being performed at Boston Calling. The festival saw out-of-towners like Foo Fighters and Paramore command a space owned by Harvard, while everyone from Subaru to Jimmy John’s hawked their products at swaths of festivalgoers. In the video, footage of the band playing at this corporate spectacle was projected onto buildings, including the barren former homes of Great Scott and The Sound Museum. Other house venues and graffiti-riddled buildings get projected onto as well. And the irony is not lost on the band, who project part of the set onto the stadium where Boston Calling took place. The video highlights the stark contrast of how entertainment and music is viewed in the city these days; the big bands are welcomed, but spaces for the smaller bands to play are getting bulldozed. It’s a paradox itself, one driven by the corporate heads who have cartoonish dollar signs in their eyes. And it’s also terminal, as the arts scene in Boston is getting crushed, worse than ever before.
But, like the song itself, there is a harmonious aspect amidst the mire. Great Scott may be gone, but multiple active venues – the Paradise, the Sinclair, even Roadrunner, among others – lent their marquee space to show various lyrics from the song. These venues are thriving, and still work to showcase local talent among the national tours. It’s an important reminder that there is no competition in this scene, that everyone must support everyone, and that there is a common enemy. We’re all about live music here, and showing up and showing out is the way to keep the Boston music scene alive. The scene cannot consist solely of corporate festivals. These venues need local bands, just as local bands need these venues.
On that note, Actor|Observer is soon departing on a brief tour with He Is Legend and Inspirit, including a show at Taffeta in Lowell on 9/2. Tickets for that and the full tour schedule can be found on the band’s website. The video for “Fool’s Gold” can be watched below, and the album “Songs For The Newly Reclusive” can be streamed wherever you prefer. Please support your local live venues.