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Special Ed
An Elvis birthday spectacular at the Abbey
BY SARAH TOMLINSON
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Arriving exactly one minute early to his surprise 38th-birthday party, Gravel Pit and Gentlemen bassist Ed Valauskas walked in the door of the Abbey Lounge on November 13, saw a veritable who’s who of Boston rock royalty, and was surprised and abashed enough that he almost walked right back out. Fortunately, band mate Andrea Gillis was tending bar and persuaded him to stay with a cold Miller High Life. Executed with a scheduling precision generally unknown to musicians, the party was the handiwork of Valauskas’s girlfriend, Dents/Downbeat 5 siren Jen D’Angora, and came with an unbeatable theme: friends of Ed performing tunes by his favorite songwriter, Elvis Costello. The Rudds’ John Powhida kicked off the festivities, with Gentlemen frontman Mike Gent adding guitar and unmiked backing vocals for "Worthless Thing." Then D’Angora took the stage with the Downbeat 5, gave a plug for her mom’s cheeseballs at the refreshment table, and dove into a rousing version of the Valauskas-penned Gentlemen song "Three-Minute Marriage Proposal." During Costello’s classic "That Day Is Done," she belted out her vocals like an old-time soul singer while guitarist (and ex-husband) JJ Rassler slung fiery garage-punk riffs. "Ed, what are you, 23 now?" teased Furvis singer/guitarist Michael Cummings. "It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 21." Taking their best shot at "No Action," he and his fresh-faced band mates hit a false start. "Why couldn’t you make your favorite band Weezer?" Cummings joked, before delivering a version that captured the original’s sneering vulnerability. Then the group brought up two guest singers for one of the night’s highlights, an amped-up take on "What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?" The big surprise wasn’t that one of the guests was Juliana Hatfield — it was that the other one, rock scribe Tom Kielty, damn near stole the whole show. Finally Valauskas took the stage, strumming a guitar while his cake was presented with an all-star but perhaps just a bit off key sing-along of the traditional "Happy Birthday." He then backed WBCN DJ Mark Hamilton on a dramatic interpretation of "New Lace Sleeves" that achieved operatic heights of silliness. "I hate Elvis Costello," Mike Gent confessed before delivering a rousing version of "New Amsterdam." Which was fine. After all was said and done, a very appreciative Valauskas owned up to being pretty sure he never wanted to hear another Costello song again. Sarah Tomlinson can be reached at stomlins@mindspring.com
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