The four original members of the legendary 1960s Boston garage band Barry & The Remains reunited at the Brighton Music Hall for a rocking 90 minute set on Friday night, which included a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone."
The Remains - Barry Tashian (guitar), Bill Briggs (keyboards), Vern Miller (bass) and Rudolph "Chip" Damiani (drums) - gathered from various part of the country to play a couple of gigs on their old stomping grounds.
The band originally formed at Boston University, and went on to record a handful of classic sides including "Why Do I Cry" and "Don't Look Back." When Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band played the first ever rock concerts at Fenway Park in 2003, just around the corner from B.U., they opened with "Diddy Wah Diddy" in honor of the Remains' definitive cover version.
The Remains were one of the hottest live acts in their day, and were chosen to open for the Beatles on their final 1966 U.S. tour, including gigs at Shea Stadium and Candlestick Park. Tashian recalled some personal observations of the tour after being prompted by an audience member. (The first words he heard from a Beatle was George Harrison complaining that a stewardess - as they were then called - gave the band the "lousy outside lettuce" for their salads.)
The band split up soon after the tour ended, and went on to other projects, most notably Tashian's time in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band, and musical collaborations with his wife, Holly.
The tone of Friday's show was one of a group of friends getting together to have a good time and rock out a bit. They were appreciative of their past and their fans, and appeared to be amused at their success and legacy.
Their set list hasn't changed much since their heyday. The Remains opened with "Hang On Sloopy" and "My Babe," then mixed some original materials with more covers. The quartet also sprinkled in some newer tunes, including "Monbo Time," a Red Sox-themed single benefitting cancer research.
Bob Dylan was twice conjured up during the show. Early in the evening, Tashian ending a talk about the old days by saying, "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." Later, Barry and the Remains did their two verse version of "Like A Rolling Stone," with the same lyrics change they did back in the day, "Without a license to roam."
You can watch the highlights of the evening in the embedded clip on the left.
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