The crowd slowly trickled from the streets and into one of Boston’s most well-known dive bars just in time for a night of entertainment provided by the quick poppy guitar work of Orca Orca. If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to Make Live (http://orca-orca.bandcamp.com/album/make-live-2), Orca Orca’s latest album, do so soon – it’s not 
too late. In fact, you’ll be ahead of the curve because Jimmy Hewitt’s project is just getting started. The Make Live album (cassette) release show took place this past Friday, April 6th at a sold out O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA.
Comfortable with friends Darin Thompson and Justin Mantell respectively at his side on bass and guitar, the dream-pop laden sound had bodies moving, heads nodding, and camera’s flashing from the get-go. Starting the night off with "Ghosting", a track whose first appearance was made on his Imago Demos EP (under the name Young Minds), Hewitt’s lo-fi noise echoed through the crowd and drew those in attendance closer to the stage from the spaced out group chatter it had positioned itself with the bands prior. All the focus had turned to Orca Orca in one fell swoop – and for good reason.
Orca Orca plays "Ghosting" live at O’Brien’s Pub in Alston, MA on April 6th, 2012:
The raw, dreamy guitar riffs engaged the small, dark-lit pub as Hewitt and crew dipped into what may be his strongest piece thus far under the Orca Orca name, "Change of Pace". The song has already made a couple of appearances on Boston’s 101.7 WFNX the past few months. The calm demeanor from the band provided a sense of tranquility, a perfect mix to coincide with the music. "Get Up, Get Out" and "Say So" along with "Designated Driver" (which got a few bolstering woo’s from the silhouettes in front of the stage) seemed to please the crowd a couple songs into the set. It is evident Make Live is already making its rounds throughout Boston. Overheard in the crowd, a faint voice had told another "this is my favorite one" as the opening chords to "Holding On" had begun.
There is a difference between small shows like this and household name shows just across the city. You miss out on the rawness of it all when you’re at venues that house thousands. The extravagant light show, distance from the stage, lack of conversation between performer and attendee takes away from the show. With that said, see this band before all the bells and whistles come out. It’s something special to see a band this early on develop, and you’ll want to be there to see it all unfold. The only negative to come from this show was that as soon as it began, it felt like it ended. The pace is only going to get quicker as more ears are exposed to the Orca Orca sound.
