Mission of Burma | the Bradford Ballroom | March 12, 1983
By PHOENIX STAFF | October 25, 2006
Mission of Burma back in their younger days |
Burma had played like screaming geniuses to nearly empty rooms all over town when they decided to call it quits in ’83. They’d even been barred from the Paradise for having insufficient draw. But by the end of their first career, capacity crowds were finally catching on to the one band who would keep Boston on the post-punk map. The biggest shows were their last, in the theater district’s Bradford Ballroom. As legend goes, the all-ages matinee was wilder because, for some kids, this last show was also the first time they got to see a band they loved. By night, the group were well practiced and ripping. It was a rare case of a group dissolving in peak form. Hearing and seeing Burma, with Roger Miller by then requiring huge ear protectors on stage, tearing through great tunes like “Revolver” and the artful, angular “Peking Spring” was exhilarating and sad. Of course, the joke was on us. After nearly 20 years, Burma reunited in 2002 to reap the accolades that evaded them when they were helping to ink the blueprint for alternative rock. |
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This article originally appeared in the January 18, 1983 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
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