ManBun SteamRoller live at Sally O'Brien's in Somerville!
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Here’s our Bio:
The Completely Accurate History of ManBun SteamRoller
Music historians generally agree that the origins of ManBun SteamRoller have been deliberately covered up for decades.
It all began in the late 1960s at Ronnie Scott's in London, where legendary drummer Dave Mattacks had developed a reputation for playing tasteful grooves and relentlessly sabotaging Ginger Baker's drum throne. His signature prank involved loosening the nuts just enough so the throne would collapse precisely halfway through Baker's extended drum solo. Witnesses described it as "hilarious" except Ginger. It was there that Mattacks met guitarist Charles Hansen, fresh off turning down an offer to join the Bluesbreakers.
"Not real blues," Hansen reportedly muttered before ordering another pint and lighting what historians estimate was his 14,000th cigarette.
Night after night, the pair discussed an idea so revolutionary that the world simply wasn't ready for it: an all six-string bass band dedicated entirely to the art and philosophy of the man bun.
There was only one problem. The six-string bass hadn't been invented yet.
Undeterred, they focused on the only part of the plan that was possible. They visited Leonard of Mayfair, London's premier hipster barber, nearly forty years before hipsters officially existed, and became the first documented recipients of professionally curated man buns. The music, they reasoned, would eventually catch up.
One rainy evening, a young Jimmy Ryan wandered into Ronnie Scott's carrying nothing but a suitcase, a mysterious Irish accent, and what could only be described as a world-class man bun.
"Good Lord..." whispered Hansen. "There's another one."
Ryan explained he'd just arrived from Ireland, where an underground man-bun movement was sweeping the countryside. Entire villages had abandoned traditional employment in favor of artisanal coffee, obscure vinyl records, and discussing beard oils.
Within the hour, the three had formed a band and booked passage to Ireland.
Traveling north through the countryside, they stopped outside Cork to pick up a hitchhiker named Jim Haggerty. At first they weren't going to stop.
Then they saw the bun. The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the next sixty years, ManBun SteamRoller recorded 27 landmark albums, influenced generations of musicians, accidentally invented several genres, and sold out theaters and stadiums across Europe despite almost nobody being able to explain what kind of music they actually played.
Now, after decades of avoiding publicity, private jets, and hair ties made after 1978, the original lineup has agreed to a rare, top-secret club appearance this Friday at Sally O'Brien's in Somerville, Massachusetts.
The venue itself has an equally remarkable history. A young Louis Daniel Armstrong famously wandered in one evening and enjoyed the place so much that he eventually established a Monday night residency. Decades later, the residency is proudly maintained by the grandchildren of the original roadies' cousins, performing under the name The White Owls.
Opportunities like this come along once in a lifetime.
Or once every sixty years.
Four legends. Four man buns. Twenty-four strings. One tiny stage.
*** NO SIX-STRING BASSES WILL BE PLAYED AT THIS EVENT.
The Completely Accurate History of ManBun SteamRoller
Music historians generally agree that the origins of ManBun SteamRoller have been deliberately covered up for decades.
It all began in the late 1960s at Ronnie Scott's in London, where legendary drummer Dave Mattacks had developed a reputation for playing tasteful grooves and relentlessly sabotaging Ginger Baker's drum throne. His signature prank involved loosening the nuts just enough so the throne would collapse precisely halfway through Baker's extended drum solo. Witnesses described it as "hilarious" except Ginger. It was there that Mattacks met guitarist Charles Hansen, fresh off turning down an offer to join the Bluesbreakers.
"Not real blues," Hansen reportedly muttered before ordering another pint and lighting what historians estimate was his 14,000th cigarette.
Night after night, the pair discussed an idea so revolutionary that the world simply wasn't ready for it: an all six-string bass band dedicated entirely to the art and philosophy of the man bun.
There was only one problem. The six-string bass hadn't been invented yet.
Undeterred, they focused on the only part of the plan that was possible. They visited Leonard of Mayfair, London's premier hipster barber, nearly forty years before hipsters officially existed, and became the first documented recipients of professionally curated man buns. The music, they reasoned, would eventually catch up.
One rainy evening, a young Jimmy Ryan wandered into Ronnie Scott's carrying nothing but a suitcase, a mysterious Irish accent, and what could only be described as a world-class man bun.
"Good Lord..." whispered Hansen. "There's another one."
Ryan explained he'd just arrived from Ireland, where an underground man-bun movement was sweeping the countryside. Entire villages had abandoned traditional employment in favor of artisanal coffee, obscure vinyl records, and discussing beard oils.
Within the hour, the three had formed a band and booked passage to Ireland.
Traveling north through the countryside, they stopped outside Cork to pick up a hitchhiker named Jim Haggerty. At first they weren't going to stop.
Then they saw the bun. The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the next sixty years, ManBun SteamRoller recorded 27 landmark albums, influenced generations of musicians, accidentally invented several genres, and sold out theaters and stadiums across Europe despite almost nobody being able to explain what kind of music they actually played.
Now, after decades of avoiding publicity, private jets, and hair ties made after 1978, the original lineup has agreed to a rare, top-secret club appearance this Friday at Sally O'Brien's in Somerville, Massachusetts.
The venue itself has an equally remarkable history. A young Louis Daniel Armstrong famously wandered in one evening and enjoyed the place so much that he eventually established a Monday night residency. Decades later, the residency is proudly maintained by the grandchildren of the original roadies' cousins, performing under the name The White Owls.
Opportunities like this come along once in a lifetime.
Or once every sixty years.
Four legends. Four man buns. Twenty-four strings. One tiny stage.
*** NO SIX-STRING BASSES WILL BE PLAYED AT THIS EVENT.
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Where is it happening?
Sally O’Brien’s, 335 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143-2914, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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