The Next Boston Band is an entertaining and fascinating eBook by the talented author, Michael Fertik. It is about Greater Boston's top indie promoter, Mekhi Bessel, who is a likable rogue who is not above using trickery and cajoling to create concerts and events out of nothing. In Fertik's book, Bessel finds himself on the wrong side of thugs called the Tygers brothers, who, as Fertik puts it, "cooked all the nightlife in Boston." That is right as there is a movement going on in Boston, to try to have another great rock band come out of the city, something that has not happened since the 1980s, when The Cars and Aerosmith hit it big. Bessel wants to be the person behind bringing such a band to reality.
Mekhi Bessel, as Fertik writes, "could get anyone to come to anything." Bessel could, for instance, "could get the cokehead finals club WASPs from Harvard to a poetry slam at Chocolate City, the Afro-theme house at MIT. And he knew from experience he could get the Euro-Latins from Emerson to dance salsa in the freezing cold to Israeli rock music in the parking lot outside the Beanpot hockey semi-final. "
At the beginning of The Next Boston Band, Mekhi Bessel is a hustler, a person who earns his income by being skillfully able to arrange events. Bessel produced his first play and "charged for it in violation of Theater Club rules." He even arranged after-hours parties when the bars closed.
When a radio station hypes up the idea of The Cars and Aerosmith backing the search for the next great band band, Mekhi Bessel sees his chance to take the bull by the horns and make a bigger name for himself as a musical promoter.
However, the local gangsters, the Tygers brothers, "cooked all the nightlife in Boston." They do not want anyone to try to move into territory that they consider to be theirs. They take immediate offense to the efforts of Bessel to make a buck when it comes to promoting bands. They have, in general, looked the other way and allowed Bessel to conduct the limited degree of entrepreneurship that he has, so they get the idea that Mekhi owes them.
However, Bessel has had the dream of promoting a successful band since he was "a kid," as Fertik writes. As he grew older, becoming an adult, the dream never left him. He knew that such a job "brought girls, fame, and dough when you got big enough."
Besides these benefits, there was the knowledge that "there was a real something you were selling, a legit product." If Bessel succeeded, he could find a degree of pride in having done it through legit means … more or less.
However, Mekhi Bessel faces numerous complications in his attempt to be behind the next big Boston band. It could be that the Tygers brothers will prevent him from living out his dream of being a legit band promoter. But, Bessel will not give up his dream without a fight.
The Next Boston Band by Michael Fertik is a terrific look into the seedy underbelly of Boston, but it is also a look at a local hustler who is trying to go legit and become the promoter of possibly one of the biggest band to ever have come out of the city. It is also about a dream held by the rock fans of Boston, the dream that another major rock band will arise from their city and hit the big time. Check out this wonderful novel today!