A new Gloucester music venue opens with a celebration of Willie Alexander

Fifty-seven years ago — on January 20, 1967 to be precise — Willie “Loco” Alexander and his psychedelic garage band the Lost were the first band to play at the Boston Tea Party on Berkeley Street. The club became legendary, hosting The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, Led Zeppelin and The Who.

Last Saturday, Jan. 13, the lanky, white-haired Alexander — joined by about 80 other musician friends and collaborators — had opening night honors once again. This time, it was at The Cut, a spacious, well-appointed 500-capacity room smack dab in Alexander’s hometown of 27 years, Gloucester. It doubled as a celebration of Alexander’s 80th birthday, though it really was his 81st. (He had COVID-19 last year at this time; thus, no party.)

But it was not just a birthday celebration for Alexander. It was, as his wife photographer Anne Rearick put it from the stage, a celebration “of Boston music.” Particularly of the bands that played the Rat club in Kenmore Square during the punk rock heyday of the mid to late-1970s through the early ‘80s. That’s where Alexander, an early and frequent Rat headliner with his Boom Boom Band, got the tag “Godfather of Boston Punk.”

Alexander laughed a bit when he heard the old sobriquet, but in the mid to late 1970s, “everybody was called a punk. I kinda understood — the sound and maybe my singing sounded punky, I don’t know.”

“Back when I started, I thought you had to be almost a teenager to play rock ‘n’ roll,” Alexander said in a phone interview ahead of the show. “When I got to the Boom Boom Band period, I was 34 years old and they were writing me off. But I’m a f---ing musician. I’m a lucky son of a b---- to still be here.”

The basic concept of the four-hour concert was that each band played two songs, one of Alexander’s and one of their own. Alexander played two songs early on with his blues/jazz/skronk group the Persistence of Memory Orchestra, later with the Boom Boom Band and jumped in to join various acts along the way.

Others on the bill, hosted by former WBCN DJ and Program Director Oedipus, included configurations of the Neighborhoods, Reddy Teddy, Classic Ruins, The Real Kids, among others. The latter was led by singer-guitarist John Felice and featured former Cars drummer David Robinson. Both also played in early versions of The Modern Lovers and they brought out the classic “Roadrunner,” perhaps the definitive Boston rock song.

Robinson, who recorded the propulsive two-chord rocker with Modern Lovers bandleader-writer Jonathan Richman in the early ‘70s, said he had not played the song in any setting in 53 years.

“The song has gotten so much attention over the years that I actually appreciate it more than I ever did,” he said, noting covers by the Sex Pistols and Joan Jett. “It’s a lonely song — that’s the basis of it — but it’s also really joyous and a celebration of the loneliness.”

The defunct Mission of Burma mutated into Mission of Burnham for a night, meaning bassist-singer Clint Conley and guitarist-singer Roger Miller were joined by Gang of Four drummer Hugo Burnham, filling Peter Prescott’s slot.

“I just felt so honored to be part of a celebration of Willie, the benevolent presiding spirit over decades of Boston music, from psychedelic to glam to punk to experimental free jazz,” said Conley. “We are all children of Willie Alexander. Everybody in the Boston music scene has been touched by his generosity, curiosity and virtuosity as a composer, poet and artist.”

The Neighborhoods, which had a taste of fame back in the late-1970s to mid-‘80s, played Alexander’s “Gourmet Baby” and “Melinda.” “Willie gave me my first break,” said singer-guitarist David Minehan. “We were teenage boys in high school, and we were gaga over Willie’s stuff and learned all his songs. He was like a gateway drug for a kid out in the suburbs.”

When Alexander’s Boom Boom Band broke up, he took on the ‘hoods as his backing band and did an East Coast tour. “It was Willie who gave us the gravitas for us to be taken seriously,” Minehan said. And now, “we’re all like VFW members of rock ‘n’ roll and a few of us get to wear our purple hearts at gigs like this for a guy who ties it all together. It’s about as perfect as it gets.’’

As to The Cut, the 22,000-square-foot facility (which includes the 6,500-square-foot club) was carved out of a space once occupied by an abandoned CVS store. It’s not dissimilar to what’s been done in Boston with the MGM Music Hall at Fenway and Roadrunner. It’s horseshoe-shaped and tiered, with a sunken floor ringed by railings, allowing for clear views from anywhere in the room. The sound, too, is excellent.

“That was an empty building and [to me] the club was sort of a surprise,” Robinson said. He lived in Gloucester for 18 years and has been in Rockport for 20. “I don’t think I was missing a concert venue in Gloucester; it never occurred to me before it was done. It can’t do anything but be fantastic for the scene.”

Burnham, a longtime Gloucester resident and assistant professor at Endicott College, helped advise The Cut’s Concert and Events Manager Tom Clark and Director of Operations Travis Siewers regarding design, sound and layout. “I think everyone involved were pleasantly surprised how smoothly it all went, given so many damn musicians playing,” he said the day after the show.

Club booker Randi Millman, a veteran of T.T. the Bear’s Place and Atwood’s Tavern, said the intent is to bring in both local and national talent, with a diverse genre mix. The first major booking to be announced was that of ace singer-songwriter-guitarist Richard Thompson, a coup for the new club. On April 5, there will be tables and chairs, the capacity knocked down to 300. The gig is right in Thompson’s wheelhouse.

“When I have a record released, we do bigger tours that hit the major markets — but that’s only every few years,” Thompson said via email. “In between these, my kindly agent will find me things to do in secondary and tertiary markets. The nice thing about these shows is the smaller venue size, and the more intimate relationship with the audience. The Cut should be a lot of fun. I look forward to an enjoyable evening.”