Band-tenders

^{Photo: JOEL VEAK}

Bartenders are the new rock stars in Boston, at least if you consult magazines like this one, where more and more space is being devoted to the art of cocktail mixing instead of - wait for it - sound mixing. (I'm sorry for that.) Having spent time slinging drinks and singing in a band, I've always been struck by the similarities between the two gigs. In fact, I might even go so far as to say being a bartender and being in a band are exactly the same thing.

There's a reason the two go hand in hand: 100 percent of bartenders and musicians are drunks. Okay, I'm half kidding, but they are two of the only jobs where you might perform better if you've had a few sips beforehand.

Every service is like a show: you hope people are going to show up and spend money on your brand of entertainment. Setting up your bar, slicing fruit, and stocking shelves is like sound check (and moving kegs feels a lot like carrying a bass amp down a flight of stairs). The cocktail menu is your set list; mixing drinks in front of an audience is a form of performance. Oh, and parents don't respect your decision to pursue either career - and people tend to think men and women on stage and behind a bar are a lot more physically attractive than they actually are.

I've retired my singing pipes and tap-pulling elbow, so for further insight, I turned to some dudes who are still in the trenches, working double duty in the city's clubs and bars.

Dan Burke, bass player for one of Boston's best rock bands, Viva Viva, also tends bar at one of the best clubs, Middlesex Lounge. "In both cases, for me anyway, there seems to be a delicate dance of being in the moment, just holding it together while teetering on disaster," he says. It's true. Anyone who's worked in the service industry can tell you that a sense of rhythm is key. And when everything is going right, you find yourself on an adrenaline rush that puts you in the zone: falling into place in the midst of an extended jam is closely related to knowing just how to move around your co-workers when you're in the weeds. "Those are the times when a little magic happens," Burke says.

Things can go wrong quickly though. Everyone in a restaurant or a band either hates each other, is fucking someone that someone else wants to be fucking, or is trying to undermine each other passive-aggressively. (The drinking and late hours probably play a role here.)

That's why teamwork is crucial, says Michael Coen, a member of the moody indie-rock outfit Midatlantic (who will be performing under their new band name, All Echoes Return, on July 16 at the Middle East). He also works at the bar he owns in Waltham, The Gaff, as well as at the goth night Ceremony at An Tua Nua.

"One [similarity] that comes to mind is when there is a co-worker who is working a shift beside you and for some reason just can't get their shit together. People in the business know what I'm talking about," Coen says. "The result is myself and all the other people on the shift having to pick up that co-worker's slack." In a band, there's a name for that type of slacker: the singer.

Tommy Allen of the indie-pop bands Drug Rug and Fedavees, who works at the Middle East, sees a few parallels of his own. "Sometimes there are great nights. Everyone tips and treats you like a person, just like a show where everyone comes out and has fun and supports you. The flip to that is nobody coming to the show, or there are people there but they don't care."

You've got to know how to handle the highs and lows in both situations, especially now that bartenders are the city's swaggering hipsters, composing cocktail hits and performing for rapt crowds of onlookers. The pressure to deliver is on.

"I'm glad to know that this new rock-star trend is now more about talent rather than just good looks behind the bar, which seemed to be the trend for many years in bars," says Coen.

Burke agrees. "I do think good rock and roll and good bartending both come from engaging your audience and customers," he says. "People see through the fake shit; the flashy cocktail show and the creative facial hair can only take you so far, just like the trendy looks and styles in music. There has to be depth and a classic sensibility to really have an authentic aesthetic as the rock star/barman."

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