Photos + Review | Copenhagen Beer & Music Celebration

The Copenhagen Beer and Music Celebration originated in Copenhagen, Denmark and has been celebrating the blissful marriage between beer and music for years. This weekend marked the first ever CBC in the United States and Boston was fortunate enough to host. Friday night’s session kicked off with music from Boston’s local band Vunderbar followed by folk rock band, The Barr Brothers from Montreal. Unfortunately, just as Friday’s headliner, experimental indie rock band Yo La Tengo, was finishing their set storms sent event goers running for the shelter of the beer tents.

The high energy banjo twang of the local folk punk band Tigerman Whoa! was exactly what the festival needed to jumpstart the early session on Saturday. Tremolo Beer Gut surprised many of the festival goers, and the photographers who were waiting by the stage, by refusing to take the main stage and setting up shop in the middle of the festival tents. Their hijinks, surf style, and the free beer they passed out during their set made them a festival favorite. Session one on Saturday ended with Mariachi El Bronx, the mariachi alter ego of Los Angeles hardcore punk band, Bronx. While hardcore punk would have been slightly out of place among the young professional beer enthusiast, Mariachi El Bronx’s mariachi rock and roll complimented the vibe of the festival perfectly.

After a three hour break, or pub crawl around Faneuil, depending on who you asked, session two started off with a little 70s inspired Southern rock from The Silks. Caroline Rose, with her self-deprecating humor, “Fuck Fear” t-shirts, and eclectic alt country helped round out the festival lineup with a strong female presence. Festival headliner, Lucero, drew the largest, most devoted crowd of the weekend with their alt country blues rock sound that kept people singing along with frontman Ben Nichols’ soulful growl until the festival had to pull the plug.