JULY 2026
SET LIST
“America the Beautiful” (Katharine Lee Bates), Russ Gershon with Rick McLaughlin
“Solidarity Forever” (Ralph Chaplin), The Rubin Brothers
“Antitrust,” The Rubin Brothers
“Bulls on Parade” (Rage Against the Machine), Brandie Blaze
|“Bully,” Brandie Blaze
“Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (Pete Seeger), Elisa Birdseye
“Red, White, Black & Blue,” Elisa Birdseye
“Born in the USA” (Bruce Springsteen), Melissa Ferrick
“Drive,” Melissa Ferrick
“Political World” (Bob Dylan), Todd Thibaud
“Farewell, So Long,” Todd Thibaud
“I Got Freedom,” The OG’s
“When the World’s at Peace” (O’Jays), the OG’s
Poster Design: Joanne Kaliontzis
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Saxophonist/composer/arranger RUSS GERSHON is the founder of the Either/Orchestra, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026. He is also the music director of Lookie Lookie, an eight-piece band devoted to the Latin Bugalu music of the 1960s. Gershon founded Accurate Records and has performed in the Sex Execs, the Hypnosonics, Orchestra Morphine, and many other projects.
THE RUBIN BROTHERS – the multi-instrumentalist Berklee graduates Colescott and AJ – are third-generation activist-musicians from Boston who incorporate the circus arts into their performances. Occasionally teaming with two younger brothers, the Rubins front a brass band that can expand to 12 pieces. In 2024 the Rubin Brothers appeared on “American Idol,” performing Colescott’s original song “Peanut Butter Baby.”
Dorchester native BRANDIE BLAZE is a dynamic rapper, actress, composer, and curator. A multiple nominee at both the Boston and New England Music Awards, she delivered a memorable showcase set at Boston Calling in 2023.
ELISA BIRDSEYE is a classically trained violist who has served as executive director of the Boston Chamber Ensemble and still plays with the New Bedford Symphony. She wrote “Red, White, Black & Blue” expressly for her Which Side? appearance, tapping into the activist spirit her parents instilled in her from a young age.
MELISSA FERRICK launched her career as a songwriter around 1990 and quickly found success as one of the few openly queer recording artists of the decade. She signed to Atlantic and recorded several albums for What Are Records before establishing her own label, Right On Records, in 2000. In 2017 she and David Lowery initiated a class action lawsuit against Spotify on behalf of underpaid streaming artists; the suit was settled for $43 million. Today she represents a new generation of songwriters as a booking agent.
Vermont native TODD THIBAUD first gained notice in the 1990s as frontman of the Boston band Courage Brothers. “Favorite Waste of Time,” his 1997 solo debut, was produced by Dumptruck’s Kevin Salem, kicking off a long string of success getting his songs placed on television series. Todd released his first album in seven years, “Alchemy,” in May 2026.
THE OG’S (Original Gentlemen) – Jabir Pope, Albert “Shorty Mac” Brown, Walter Bradley, and Josh Fernandes – are all formerly incarcerated individuals who met while serving time behind bars at MCI-Norfolk. Pope and Brown were exonerated of their convictions in 2022, after nearly 40 years of imprisonment.
KIM DRISCOLL is currently serving as the 73rd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. She was the mayor of Salem from 2006-2023.
TED LANDSMARK is a lawyer and public policy and urban affairs expert who has taught at Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, and several other Boston-area colleges and universities. He served for nearly 20 years as president of Boston Architectural College, was named to the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s board of directors in 2014, and has served as a trustee for the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and many other institutions.
Special thanks to additional musicians:
Paul Ahlstrand
John McGovern
Stud Green