Let’s attempt an exercise in time travel. Specifically, I’m talking about the projecting-your-consciousness-into-yourself-at-another-point-in-time a la Days of Future Past, and not the Doc Brown “If you’re going to build a time machine out of a car, why not do it with some style” flux capacitor stuff.

It’s tomorrow. Friday, January 23, 2015. You’re sitting at home, staring at your Netflix queue, wondering which episode of Archer merits a 6th viewing when a sudden melancholy overtakes you. You wonder whether it’s just a general post-economic ennui that comes with being a millennial? No. It’s something more specific. Something you’ve missed. It hits you.

You missed Ben’s Nerdy Thirty.

How did this happen!? If only there had been some kind of… preview… on an online local music blog! While you were sitting in the silence of indecision, Bent Shapes were celebrating the 30th birthday of their band member Ben along with their pals CUFFS, Immigrants, and Heaven for Real. The latter of which came all the way from Nova Scotia. In comparison, you take stock of your proximity to The Lilypad in Cambridge.   

The images come in flashes. Party hats. Cake. Booze. Bands. Your friends laughing, dancing, and bobbing their heads to an expertly curated event presented by Boston Hassle, as the image of you begins to fade like some kind of tell-tale, temporal polaroid…

[SNAP!]

You rub your eyes. What just happened? A quick glance to your boxy 1985 clock radio playing Huey Lewis & the News (…what’s going on with that?) reveals that it is, in fact, still Thursday. THERE’S STILL TIME.

You rush to your computer and RSVP at the Facebook event and breathe a sigh of relief. Everything is going to be ok.

—

Head over to the Lilypad tomorrow night (the real Friday) at 10pm to celebrate Ben’s 30th with Bent Shapes, CUFFS, Immigrants, and Heaven for Real, as well as DJ Critical Hit.  Cake and party hats sold separately. [All Ages]

Check out tracks from all four bands below: