This just in to the SCR news desk: The Downbeat 5 will be bringing their (not officially patented) brand of electrifying garage / soul / rock 'n' roll stomp to familiar stomping ground Geno's in Portland Maine on Saturday, March 31st. Also on the bill are Mink Wilde And The Gentlemen Callers & The Visitors.

This is the band's first "local" show since returning from the whirlwind of music and schmoozing that is SXSW, where they played two sold out shows to two well-oiled and enthusiastic crowds full of writers, industry types, fellow musicians, red-eyed Red Eye employees and regular ol' music fans. Here are some quotes from the blogosphere:

"Brash, lively, femme-fronted garage rockers from Boston… Jen has some voice - a dynamic, shouty rasp that you can't believe is coming from so tiny a package."
-Doug Brod, Spin.com

"At the Blender Bar, Boston's Downbeat 5 was kicking out some serious garage jams. Fronted by Joan Jett-like singer/guitarist Jennifer D'Angora and guitarist J.J. Rassler (ex-DMZ/Queers), they deliver cat-scratch classic punk leavened by powerpop and no small dose of blue-eyed soul."
-Fred Mills, HarpMagazine.com

"The surprise of the night was The Downbeat Five, a Boston quartet with petite singer-guitarist as cute as she is fierce - think Belinda Carlisle meets Joan Jett. (Ponder that for a moment.) Only meant to see part of the band's set so I could stake out a spot up front for Hoodoo Gurus, but we're glad we went early."
-Randy "The Machine" Harward, HarpMagazine.com

"Hungry for a little straight-ahead Boston-style garage rock, I headed to see the Downbeat 5 at the Blender Bar. Disclosure: I saw guitarist-singers J.J. Rassler and Jen D’Angora get married a decade ago, so I’m not exactly objective on this one, but I had a blast. (Since then, the two have gotten divorced but still appear to get along great personally and musically, even though D’Angora now seems to be dating the bass player. Whatever works!) D'Angora is a fireball of a singer and adorable to boot, and Rassler is a Boston rock mainstay dating back to his days in DMZ in the mid-'70s. The band mixed spunky originals with perfectly chosen covers - "Dum Dum Ditty" by the Shangri-Las, "Come On Now" by the Kinks, "Shake" by Sam Cooke."
-Shay Quillen, MercuryNews.com

The Downbeat 5's third full-length disc, Smoke & Mirrors was released March 6th, 2007 on Philly's Steel Cage Records. The CD was recorded completely live at a blow-out party the band threw at Q Division Studios this past fall and captures all the raw energy and dynamics audiences have experienced over the years at DB5 shows.

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