Sidewalk Driver

Sidewalk Driver are an intense blast of amazing power pop riffs doused with confetti and glitter. Remember back on the Fourth of July, the city of San Diego accidentally set of all of their fireworks at once, running the planned 40 minute show in just over 15 seconds? Watching them is like standing in the middle of that scene, it’s loud, powerful, and more colorful than you can possibly imagine. Lead singer Tad McKitterick possesses one of the best vocal ranges in Boston, and unleashes his full power in every performance; all while wearing giant platform shoes and prancing around the stage like a drunken incubus. As over the top as they are, though, his antics don’t overpower the show, as the band matches his insanity with their own fury for every note. - Boston Band Crush

Congrats to Sidewalk Driver for their victory on the third night of the Preliminary Round of the 2011 Rock & Roll Rumble! Ripping solos, more glitter and confetti than a teenage birthday party, and one of the most commanding and captivating voices in the city propelled the band to the winner’s circle over one of the toughest lineups in the entire competition!
- Bryan Donoghue - Playground Boston

The morning after Semi-Final Night #1 of the 2011 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble I found myself in my kitchen trying to describe the night to my son. He’s 4 years old. For several minutes I told him about platform boots, confetti cannons, playing guitar behind your head, layers of outrageous costumes, facial adornments, winged shirts and glitter. I told my wife about the witty and outrageously infectious songs. “The singer, Tad, wore a little hat… and he shot confetti out of the hat!” I explained excitedly. There was a brief pause while my son took it all in… “Is this real?” …Yup. It’s real. It’s called Sidewalk Driver…
- Johnny Anguish - Daykamp Music

Fronted by the over the top Tad McKitterick, Sidewalk Driver play intelligent glitter-pop. He’s sort of what you’d get if David Bowie and David St. Hubbins had adopted a baby and moved to the countryside, but what keeps them from being more than a sparkly-dressed gimmick act is the fact that they don’t need the glitter and confetti and capes and makeup to be good, that’s all just icing on the cake. Tad sings like he’s made a deal with Satan and the band matches his flamboyance with intensity and raw power every step of the way.
- Richard Bouchard - Boston Band Crush

Sidewalk Driver are known for their over the top live performances. Anyone who has ever walked out of the club covered in glitter and confetti after one of their shows will tell you that. They’re one of those bands you’ll tell your kids about having seen back in the day. The thing that makes Sidewalk Driver truly special, though, is that they manage to back up all the glitz and glamor with great musicianship and songs so catchy no quarantine can contain them. For All The Boys And Girls is a non-stop barrage of clever lyrics and big rock hooks…
- Johnny Anguish - Daykamp Music

OK, Sidewalk Driver. Cool band, great live, deserving of all the usual accolades. But the take home message is what I knew it would be: “Dancing with Her Friends” might be the greatest song ever written (as good live as it is on record)… How good is this song? Take a black 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass S 442 with an orange racing stripe down the side and fill it with: a disco ball, a bottle of cheap champagne, high heels, a Gibson SG, cocaine, a James Brown bobble head, a used tube of David Bowie’s eyeliner, a Beta copy of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and a whole mess of KISS and ABBA 8-tracks. Now crush the car into a pop song, sprinkle with loads of glitter and you have “Dancing with Her Friends.” Yeah, it’s that good.
- Jed Gottlieb - Boston Herald

If you have never seen [Sidewalk Driver] you are missing out. Dollar for dollar, this is probably the best entertainment for your buck. McKitterick, besides being funny as hell, is probably one of the region’s strongest vocalists. The best part? You never know what you’ll get with a Sidewalk Driver show!
- Ryan Spaulding - Ryan's Smashing Life

Come showtime, Sidewalk Driver did what they do best: worked their glorious confetti and power chord magic to make the audience swoon. Isn’t that what they always do? Hell yes, it is. This band lives to entertain.
- Johnny Anguish - Daykamp Music

A thunderous rock anthem like “Dancing With Her Friends” was just born to fill up a big room, and tonight SIDEWALK DRIVER gets that chance as the colorful Boston glam n’ glitter crew open for the B-52's at the House of Blues.
- Michael Marotta - Boston Phoenix

The morning after Semi-Final Night #1 of the 2011 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble I found myself in my kitchen trying to describe the night to my son. He’s 4 years old. For several minutes I told him about platform boots, confetti cannons, playing guitar behind your head, layers of outrageous costumes, facial adornments, winged shirts and glitter. I told my wife about the witty and outrageously infectious songs. “The singer, Tad, wore a little hat… and he shot confetti out of the hat!” I explained excitedly. There was a brief pause while my son took it all in... "Is this real?” ...Yup. It’s real. It’s called Sidewalk Driver... - Daykamp Music

After 16 months of noteworthy (often legendary) live performances here in New England, McKitterick and Sidewalk Driver played one of the most inspired sets in modern Rumble history on Saturday night before a sold-out crowd... - Ryan's Smashing Life

Led by chrome-domed, platform-booted frontman Tad McKitterick, Sidewalk Driver is a band of cheeky culture vultures who like to name-check ABBA, Frank Black, and Baryshnikov in songs, but never forget to fuel their dance-floor fun with rock ’n’ roll fire — not to mention glitter-encrusted hooks galore. Call it glam, call it power pop, we’re calling it hard to beat. - The Boston Globe

Sidewalk Driver is fronted by a powerfully flamboyant singer, but they're more than just a gimmick because their music is so much stronger than just his stage antics. Tad McKitterick preens and frolics around the stage like a sparkling, coked-out luchador, but it’s ok because he’s backed by some of the best players around. Every member of the band holds their own and demands attention of the audience, even when he’s at his his craziest.

- Richard Bouchard - Boston Band Crush

...Sidewalk Driver will descend from their mothership to entertain us. Watching them is like walking into an orgy in which the Thin White Duke, Pirate Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, and Jareth the Goblin King are all running a train on Vegas era Elvis. Beautiful and horrifying at the same time, it will be impossible not to get swept up in the sweaty, sparkling love...

- Richard Bouchard - Boston Band Crush

"The Sun Shines"

What is up with these Sidewalk Driver kids? Are they going to ever take a break from writing these infectious and addictive songs? They haven't yet, so why start now? It's like they are all vampires and are just continually glamoring us every time we gaze into their (musical) eyes.

- C.D. Di Guardia - Boston Band Crush - C.D. On Songs

Sidewalk Driver... never disappoint. Fronted by a glitter-covered cape-wearing pansexual demon, they combine flamboyant theatrics with tight and powerful instrumentation to create a beast that commands attention.

- Richard Bouchard - Boston Band Crush

Sidewalk Driver are always an absolute pleasure to witness. They rock hard by pulling a lot of '70s arena rock in, packaging it with some glam, wrapping the whole thing in awesome and shooting it back out at the audience with glitter cannons and smoke machines. They are one of the best live bands in Boston and I look forward VERY much to the release of their debut album later this year.

- Michael Epstein - Boston Band Crush

"Dancing with Her Friends"

A good chorus can and will get you everywhere. The chorus to Sidewalk Driver's "Dancing With Her Friends" might get them free admittance to Disney World, the upcoming Winter Classic and the Oval Office all at once.

It's a simple thing really; your standard I - V - VIm - IV trip through the chords, but the band works the hell out of these four chords. Vocalist Tad McKitterick does this weird thing where it's not how forcefully he sings, but how he plays with the words like a cat plays with its own favorite catnip toy.

McKitterick sings as if he really, really enjoys this melody to the point where singing it is an act of self-gratification. When McKitterick hits the glorious third iteration of "DANCE-ING..." you feel it. And anxiously wait for the next go-round. McKitterick sings like a man chemically dependent upon the chorus, an addiction he soon passes along.

- C.D. Di Guardia - Boston Band Crush - C.D. On Songs

Four years is a VERY long time to have a band together and not have put out a CD (in recent times at least). And if you've witnessed Sidewalk Driver's live show (complete with costume changes, glitter, smoke machines, fake eyelashes and MORE) you've wanted to take some SD home with you. So it was with great anticipation and total dread that I approached listening to our press copy of their DEBUT CD, For All the Boys & Girls. Dread, because I was worried that this would not live up to the live renditions of the songs that I often find myself humming days after seeing a show. After a week of the new record being on repeat at HQ I can say that it is totally awesome. The songs, hooks, and performances are incredibly strong and this debut will make a big splash.

-by Sophia Cacciola - Boston Band Crush

Provincetown Rocks - The Festival: Day 4 Recap

...I think they might have had the most memorable set of the entire festival... words alone cannot possibly describe this spectacle... the band pulled off a jaw-dropping performance. They were tight, they were talented, and I loved hearing guitarist Jared Egan lay down some ridiculous solos as Tad McKitterick’s vocals soared, displaying his incredibly vast range.

Sidewalk Driver’s final song was perhaps the most powerful moment of the week... Sidewalk Driver came out with one of the most moving, soulful, and absolutely beautiful versions of David Bowie’s “Rock n Roll Suicide” that has EVER been played - anywhere. I’ll stand by this broad statement, no question...

The entire crowd - which had filled out since the beginning of the set - was stunned into silence for a good ten seconds after the close of the song before breaking out into an awestruck standing ovation. It was clear that I had just bore witness to one of the most heartrending performances I’ve ever seen, and I think all in attendance would most likely agree.

- Bryan Donoghue - Playground Boston

Sequins, capes, fake eyelashes: Tad McKitterick busts out these big guns, in addition to his octave-leaping pipes, as frontman for Sidewalk Driver. Their showmanship and epic balladry make them one of most legitimate glam acts in Boston...

-by Hilary Hughes - Weekly Dig

"For All the Boys and Girls"

Sidewalk Driver's long-awaited debut LP perfectly channels their energetic live performances into a smartly crafted, deftly produced party platter. Bursting with flavors of glam rock and hook-filled pop that owe to the Cars, Elton John and the Pixies, there isn't a single skippable track on it.

-by Selene Angier - The Metro - Boston

"For All the Boys and Girls"

INSANELY AWESOME! Sidewalk Driver's "For All The Boys & Girls" is an album that you listen to and if you do not end up in a more happy, joy induced state, you may need medication to pull you out of your funk. With choruses of handclaps, armies of singalong melodies and a band bonhomie that makes the band your new band best friends. There is no way around it: Sidewalk Driver are a power pop band with a decidedly 70s glitter pop twist who committed to enhancing your life`s enjoyment, like a warm breeze blowing over the listener. After 4 listens the last few weeks, it has been added to my Top 10 list for the year, so far and the competition to displace it from this halfway-point status better be ready to deliver the goods to top this passionate achievement. Strains of "Ziggy"-era Bowie, late 70s new wavey pop combine to a modern rock strain that fans of Locksley and The Killers anthemically float in and out this highly textured music. All of it infused with endelible melodies, warm harmonies and the production values that picky pop fans will appreciate.

-by Bruce Brodeen - Not Lame

"For All the Boys and Girls"

What can be said about Sidewalk Driver that hasn’t been already? They’re pop royalty, but they don’t preach or issue decrees – they lead by example. Tight, chugging guitars, perfectly-placed harmonies, and an impeccable rhythm section set the stage for Tad’s skipping over, weaving through, and soaring high above.

- Cullen Corley - Band Over Boston

"For All the Boys and Girls"

From the tick-tock guitars of "Dancing With Her Friends" to the opening hand claps of "Radio," the band jubilantly regresses to the days of the Cars, the Sidewinders and the Real Kids. In other words, there's nothing new here - except the energy and ingenuity that keep reinvigorating rock-and-roll...

- Mark Jenkins - The Washington Post

One of the best Live Acts in New England... We're a fan of the band and their hardworking and likable singer Tad McKitterick. Ignoring all the guitar and stage flair, folks; this guy could be the most talented male voice this city's live music scene's got to offer. Not convinced? You gotta see this band live!

- Ryan Spaulding - Ryan's Smashing Life