Category: Reviews

Pale Green Stars “The Honky Tonk Years”

Syracuse natives Jeff Jones, Brian Coyne and Jeff Tripoli, collectively known as The Pale Green Stars, celebrate the release of their album The Honky Tonk Years this week. The album mixes strains of blues, rock and full-bodied vocals to bring together an offering well suited to its moniker.

Observations of and reflections on life experiences make for songs like “Lazy Man”, which ponders the possibility of getting rich without working, and the literal “Dance Floor’s Empty” in what can only be an attempt to motivate audiences to move.

True storytellers, the trio set scenes with each of their songs, weaving in context for their lyrical stories. The fast tempo of “Never Took Nothin”, a ditty about love, doing time and getting pulled over brings the listener to the moment those red lights start flashing on the highway. The slow tempo and baritone vocals of “Cold Vicious Man” was quickly reminiscent of The Grinch, slithering around Whoville, up to no good. The Frampton-esque “You Keep on Talking” bemoans an ever nagging significant other whose voice inexplicably sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher.

The bands humorous spin on work, life, love and struggles combined with talented musicianship make for an enjoyable album from start to finish. The Pale Green Stars are actively touring in support of The Honky Tonk Years. Find their tourdates on their Facebook page and pick up their album.

Key Tracks: You Keep on Talking, Long Hard Road, Dance Floor’s Empty

October 22, 2013
Pearl Jam Electrifies Buffalo With Career Spanning Performance

Pearl Jam has always been known as an amazing live act going back to when they first started 23 years ago. On Saturday Oct 12, it was clear that nothing has changed, as they brought the same wild energy to the second night of the Pearl Jam 2013 tour to Buffalo, NY behind the great new album Lightning Bolt.

Coming on at 8:20 without an opener, the band started with a great trio of songs. “Pendulum” off the new album, “Low Light” and “Sometimes.” It was the fourth song of the show, “Corduroy”, that really got the building shaking, something that would happen several times throughout the evening. The band had a great light show that dazzled the crowd the entire night and the first time it was really put into use was during the title track to the new album Lightning Bolt. The hard rocking tunes continued with “Mind Your Manners” and “Do The Evolution.” This run of four songs were absolute barn- burners and the crowd ate up every second of it, singing loudly and throwing their hands up in the air. Pearl Jam fans are some of the most vocal during a show and they showed up in Buffalo loud and clear.

The band then got together to discuss the next song and it seemed for once that they were not following a specific setlist, which is very unusual. The next highlight came during “Sirens”, a new ballad off off Lightning Bolt that shone just as bright in person as it does on the album. “Comatose” kept the energy high and it seemed Eddie was pleased with how everything was going and proceeded to tell the crowd a story of how the next song “I Got Id” was thought up with Neil Young during the Mirror Ball sessions. Eddie is a great storyteller and hearing how Neil asked him for a song and all he could muster up was “I got nothing man, I got shit,” to which Neil said “well there you go, song title Ed.” The set ended with two hard rocking numbers, “State of Love and Trust” and “Porch”, two of their oldest songs that were a perfect cap to an amazing set of music. These two songs got the crowd so riled up that there were some crowd surfers being passed over everyone, something I’m sure the band has not seen since its earlier days.

The first encore began with the band sitting down playing semi-acoustically. When the band does this it is a treat for the fans, for they do it so flawlessly. Pearl Jam has really embraced their acoustic side over the years and the three song mini-set was perfect. After they finished “Future Days”, Eddie said “We are going to play to the small city now”, and the whole band went to the back of the stage and played “Elderly Woman Behind the Small Counter in a Small Town.” This was a rarity for the back of the audience as they were able to see the whole band, playing right to them and not seeing the back of their heads, which they had done for most of the night up until that point. The rest of the encore was straight rock and roll with “Rats”, “Got Some”, and an absolutely scorching “Rearviewmirror.” During the song it looked as though Mike McCready was going to blow his guitar up he was playing so fast.

Coming back for the second encore, the band dug into Vs. and Ten tracks “Go” and “Alive”, respectively. Both are tremendous crowd pleasers and a great way to cap an amazing show. The lights came on, but Eddie and the band weren’t ready to leave and they went into “Baba O’Riley.” The Who cover was played with tons of energy and smiles could be seen throughout the building. To end the night they chose the great song “Indifference.” Even the tune is slower than most, it was a beautiful way to end a very high energy show. Pearl Jam may be an older band these days, but their energy has not waned a bit.

Setlist: Pendulum, Low Light, Sometimes, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, Do the Evolution, Immortality, My Father’s Son, Even Flow, Swallowed Whole, Sirens, Once, Comatose, I Got Id, Infallible, Present Tense, State of Love and Trust, Porch

Encore: Off He Goes, Yellow Moon, Future Days, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Rats, Got Some, Rearviewmirror

Encore 2: Go, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Indifference

October 21, 2013
SOULFLY Invades the Lost Horizon

Syracuse Goes Back to the Primitive as SOULFLY Invades the Lost Horizon for the 2^nd Time in 2 Years.”

On Sunday, October 13 at the Lost Horizon in Syracuse got the treat of having Soulfly, who is coming off a brand new album Savages (which is a great album, better than the previous two in my opinion). With a whole new line-up featuring Max Cavalera, Marc Rizzo, (who is also in Cavalera Conspiracy), Prong’s Tony Campos, and new comer Zyon Cavalera, Max’s son on drums. Openers Havok kickstarted the show with a very thrashy and political set to get the 200 plus crowd going. Great set. Everyone should check out Havok if they haven’t already.

Soulfly opened their set “Bloodshed” and “Cannibal Holocaust” which are the first two tracks off of “Savages” which really set the spark. Max seemed more energetic and looked healthier than the last time Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy came to the Lost. Soulfly then went into the set with some of the classics from the earlier Soulfly years with hits such as “Prophecy,” “Seek N Strike,” (my favorite) and “Back to the Primitive.”

We were treated to more songs off “Savages” as Tony Campos took lead vocal midway through the set for “El Comegente.” Anyone who is a fan of Tony with his work in Prong and Static X probably lost their shit during that song.

Then we got to what I thought was the best part of the show. Soulfly then focused their set with some old school Sepultura with songs and medleys such as “Refuse Resist,” “Territory,” “Nailbomb,” “Arise,” and “Dead Embryonic Cells” (my personal favorite) which had the moshpits going hard.

Tony Campos took lead vocals again for “Plata O Plomo” off the “Enslaved” album. Soulfly then closed out the set with “Masters of Savagery,” “Rise of the Fallen,” and wrapped it up with Sepultura’s “Roots.”

Max and the gang came back for an encore of 2 of Soulfly’s earliest hits “Jumpdafuck up” and “Eye for an Eye.” Total of a 20 song set (including a number of medleys)

Personally I would say Soulfly put on a fantastic show, although it is clear Max is well past his prime and can’t dish out the kind of energy he used to during the early years of Soulfly and Sepultura. However, it was still a kickass show. Some may say that Soulfly should do full songs in their set instead of setlist consisting of a lot of medleys. It was awesome to see Tony Campos presence on stage and I think Zyon will stick around in Soulfly for while. I would imagine Soulfly will return to the CNY area with a year or two. However Max Cavalera has a new band on the way, along with a new Cavalera Conspiracy album with his brother Igor. Time will tell.

October 19, 2013
Chris Trapper at Syracuse Jazz Central, October 11th

Every once in awhile you see a show that just evokes blithesome emotion within you. Chris Trapper’s performances accomplish just this for his audiences. Embarking on his fall tour, Chris Trapper made a stop to Jazz Central, located at 441 East Washington Street in Syracuse, to share his talents with the Central New York region before heading out to numerous major cities such as NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison, and Duluth.

Jazz Central

Opening for Chris was multi-talented newcomer Ariel Strasser. Ariel, a singer and songwriter hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota had the opportunity to grow up in a musical family. Her love of music extended to become her focus at Boston Conservatory where she concentrated on musical songwriting. Her talent in songwriting was apparent immediately as she began to belt out songs soon to be released on her new album Crooked Line. This petite young lady with such a strong voice and melodic sound, blew the audience away. She is one artist to keep tabs as on, as her career unfolds. Give a listen to her debut CD.

Ariel Strasser

Chris Trapper, a member of the band The Push Stars, has quite the resume of musical talent. As a teenager, Chris, like many of us do, used music as a creative outlet. Chris picked up a guitar at the age of 13 and taught himself how to play. In addition to being self taught, he also began his career at this time as a talented songwriter. Chris is humble and doesn’t like to pat himself on the back for his talent in songwriting, but he deserves these accolades as many of us have heard his songs throughout the years in a number of films and television. In 2008 his song “This Time” was featured in the film August Rush and was nominated for a Grammy. His songwriting ability has been featured in other movies such The Devil Wears Prada, There’s Something About Mary, Say It Isn’t So, and Gun Shy. In the event you don’t catch films very often, you can always catch his music on television shows such as All My Children, Malcolm In the Middle, ER, Rescue Me, or television movies such as The Elevator Girl, to just name a few. His songs have been performed by the likes of such acts as The Great Big Sea, Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, and Antigone Rising.

Chris Trapper

His live show is, however, much more than just a performance. He develops a relationship with the audience and he shares his songs not only by performing them, but also by narrating the message behind the music. This ability of storytelling and humor he shares gives you an ownership in the song you may never have had by just listening to it on your own. Examples that come to mind are the comical story of the frat house party he arrived late to in which he was the only sober being in the house at the time was the basis of the song “Drunk Is Better Than Dead”, or the song “Skin”, which tells how easy it is to write songs about falling in love, but a real accomplishment of staying in love is what it’s all about . Yes, we all adapt music to fit whatever situation it may pertain to us, but by sharing his innermost thoughts on the songs allowed the audience to embrace his songwriting skills on an entirely different level by getting to know him better.

Chris Trapper

By the end of the night, the audience joined in the final number “Keg On My Coffin” as though they were all celebrating his life till the end. For a peak into what you are in store for at a Chris Trapper performance please check out his site and see Chris in action with his audience performing “Keg On My Coffin”.

As Chris narrates throughout the show, one story he told resonated within. He claimed to wonder and envy what it feels like to achieve “Bliss”. Bliss being defined as complete happiness within one self and ones life. I believe the audience achieved this “Bliss” throughout the night. Chris’s achievement is sharing his love of songwriting and music with each and everyone he comes in contact with demonstrates this perfectly. This my friend is a gift, and in this is Bliss.

October 17, 2013
Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck Rocked Out at The Palace on October 8th

Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck make for an unlikely pair to headline a tour, yet their individual sets provide an interesting contrast of the music from the 1960s and 1970s. Wilson with his Beach Boys tunes, Pet Sounds and more experimental material are starkly opposite to Jeff Beck’s guitar sound that can be heard emulated in heavy metal songs to this day. Together, the show they put on at The Palace Theater in Albany over the course of two separate sets and one stellar group encore made the night truly memorable.

Brian Wilson and musicians were set up Big Band style with 12 others in his group, performing an acapella tune, “Their Hearts were Full of Spring” by The Four Freshmen, to start the night off on a weird yet intriguing note. Following familiar Beach Boys tunes like “Do it Again” and “Don’t Worry Baby,” the first half of the set was focused on the singer/songwriter, giving intros to songs before performing them, familiar or not. A sign of a musician in his later years, discussing the history and background of the music, was well-received by the audience and the stories elicited knowing nods from the mostly seated crowd. “Sail on Sailor” and “Heroes and Villains” stood out among these tunes, the former off the forgotten Holland album while the latter was quite psychedelic in the vein of Pet Sounds, as the backup band sang a synthesizer friendly ballad that could substitute as music for a montage in any 1980s film.

Set highlights included “God Only Knows,” Brian Wilson’s signature work and one he spoke with great pride of, recalled Big Love and sister wives; “Sloop John B”, with vocals from the diminutive Al Jardine were accompanied with soft flute and the harmony of guitarist Jeffrey Foskett, and “I Get Around,” which has forever ingrained the image of sperm navigating Fallopian tubes in the memories of Gen Xers, was as good as any other Beach Boys tune that night, something the crowd was excited to hear, even though it seemed repetitive from last year’s 50th anniversary tour. “Good Vibrations” and “Fun Fun Fun” closed out a set with the crowd rising to do their best white-hair surf rock boogie to, if their hips could manage.

Brian Wilson Setlist: Their Hearts were Full of Spring, California Girls, Do it Again, Then I Kissed Her, Don’t Worry Baby, Little Bird, Old Man River/Cottonfields, Til I Die, Sail on Sailor, Heroes and Villains, Marcella, Pet Sounds, God Only Knows, Sloop John B, Wouldn’t it be Nice, Help me Rhonda, I Get Around, Good Vibrations, Fun Fun Fun

If Brian Wilson’s set was the Obi-Wan/Luke side of the force, then Jeff Beck and his band represented the Dark Side, but Jeff made a much better offer towards crossing over than The Emperor ever did. Opening with “Eternity’s Breath/Stratus”, the soaring prog-rock sounds wowed the crowd in a manner befitting the Maxell ‘Blown Away Guy’ ads of the 1980s. Drummer Jonathan Joseph powered “You Know You Know” with loud, sharp intensity, a tune whose guitar riffs recalled Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality”. Beck traded licks with guitarist Nicolas Meier and plucky bassist Rhonda Smith, who had Wooten-esque chops honed from her days with Prince. In fact during the brief bass/drums segment, there was more than a hint of jazz improv with a nod to a Flecktones style of jamming spreading to all five band members. “Little Wing” – well, if one of the members of the Yardbirds can rock it, why can’t two?

Then, the anticipated collaboration came and what a treat it was and finally, we saw why these two musicians were touring together. Members of both bands converged and played party to “Our Prayer”, with its trippy humming/vocals, while “Surf’s Up” had skyward vocal peaks. Beck’s “Brush with the Blues” was deep and soulful, painful almost. “Rollin and Tumblin” recalled Robert Johnson’s “If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day” and gave some gritty blues equal time on the stage, to complement the jazz influence in the first set “A Day in the Life” was nasty and dark, rocked out perfectly.

For the encore, all of Brian Wilson’s 13 band members and Jeff Beck’s quintent polished off the night with “Barbara Ann” and “Surfin USA.” I’ve never seen Jeff Beck perform before but he did not look comfortable on such unchallenging pieces, but when it came time for Beck’s performance of “Danny Boy,” he once again pressed play on the Maxell tape, leaving the audience with a reminder that the Boys were in the first set and the Men were in the second set, with the Rock God having the final word.

Jeff Beck Setlist: Eternity’s Breath/Stratus, Even Odds, You Know You Know, Yemin, Pump, Little Wing, You Never Know, Corpus Christi, Big Block, Our Prayer*, Surf’s Up*, Brush with the Blues^, How High, Rollin and Tumblin^, A Day in the Life

Encore: Barbara Ann#, Surfin’ USA#, Danny Boy#

*With members of Brian Wilson’s Band
^Brian Wilson vocals
# featuring all members of both bands

October 16, 2013
Electric Lineup: Conspirator, SOLARiS, Mister F at Westcott Theater, October 11th

As summer fades and fall begins, the festival season comes to a close once again. The endless lineups of favorite bands, the coming together of masses of people and the weekend-long festivities will return in a number of months, but until then, we have shows like the one put on by Conspirator, SOLARiS, and Mister F at the Westcott Theater on October 11th. Located just outside Syracuse University’s campus, the Westcott Theater hosted an audience composed of both students and locals, bridging the gap between the University and its surrounding community.

Before fans could see headlining act Conspirator’s elaborate display of visuals , the crowd’s light-up hula-hoops provided aesthetic entertainment during the evening’s first act, Mister F. Made up of members from Timbre Coup and Capital Zen, Mister F’s music fuses the progressive, funk, and rock elements found in the group members’ outside projects. Utilizing a five-string bass and a seven-string guitar, Mister F’s uncommon instrumentation set the dance-dominated tone for the rest of the evening..

Following Mister F’s set, fellow Upstate New Yorkers SOLARiS continued the night’s electro instrumental theme with their 3-piece fusion tunes. Although SOLARiS played an opening set, the extendedness of their jams and the crowd’s participation created an environment reminiscent of any headlining act. Drummer Daniel Scott Lyons’ ability to direct tempo changes with his quick-paced clicks influenced smooth transitions and allowed the band to jam without pause for almost the entire set.

As Conspirator took the stage against a backdrop of sun and palm trees, bassist Marc Brownstein introduced the band’s newest member, known simply as Torch. Brownstein explained that while Conspirator has played in Syracuse more than almost any other city, Friday night marked the first time in town for the band’s most recent addition. Inexperience, however, played no role in their set. As Conspirator’s jams evolved from slow grooves to an all-involved dance scene, the togetherness exemplified in the crowd also showed in the band’s ability to flow from jam to jam.

Conspirator’s electronic backdrop altered with the band’s music. The sun and palm trees that once occupied the set’s beginnings transformed throughout the show, creating abstract patterns representative of the band’s psychedelic tunes. While the season most closely associated with sun and palm trees has transitioned into the recent past as well, experiencing a show like this is always a fine way to spend Friday night.

Setlist: Right/Wrong -> Onamewa -> Flash Mob -> Velvet Red -> Up -> Dynasty ->Orch Theme -> Hellsling
Encore: Caves of the East

Photos by Lorenzo Cook

October 16, 2013
Dopapod Turns Buffalo’s Waiting Room into Raging Room 10/10/13

The second time that I saw Dopapod was much different than my first as this was my first trip to the Waiting Room in Buffalo and I was happily impressed.

The venue is spacious, clean and has a huge bar. With great beer on tap, nice clean bathrooms and free parking, the Waiting Room has those nice little touches that help the concert experience along. When Dopapod hit the stage, iconic looking drummer Neal “Fro” Evans was missing. Scotty Zwang has stepped into the role for the rest of their fall tour (via their facebook page). Apparently “Fro” is dealing with some personal matters and Scotty had just two days playing with the band under his belt. I was thoroughly impressed with Scotty as he did not seem to miss a beat. There were times during the show where he was not only holding the rhythm down, but helping to drive some of the jams.

The first set got things moving quite quickly, with “Black and White” and “Onionhead” as first set highlights. Setbreak occurred after the band encountered some keyboard problems. Following a quick intermission, the best music of night greeted the crowd of around 200. The first two songs, “Sonic” and “French Bowling” provided an array of improvisational music that hit on many levels. Dopapod was rocking, funking, and breaking jams all the way down before building back up to a fury. “Trapper Keeper” was perfectly placed and punctuated the risk taking reward of the improvisation before it.

Dopapod is a mixed bag for some. Much of their music can makes one get down like an elevator with Neil Peart’s drum kit in it. Other times, especially during long “jamtronica” sections, you may drift off, perhaps thinking about which flavor of ice cream to eat when I get home. With so many different genres that Dopapod delves into, that is probably to be expected. Regardless, Dopapod really brings it with their excellent musical skills.

Last time I saw Dopapod at Nietzsche’s on September 8th, 2012, I thought Eli Winderman (keyboards) completely dominated the show. This time around, Rob Compa (guitar) and Chuck Jones (bass) were much more of a factor at the Waiting Room. Rob is particularly impressive and tonight being his birthday, which the band seemed to feed on. Compa’s playing is creative and technically strong; every solo, riff or melody seemed to be unique and inspired, leading to moments where Rob is leading the jams on top of a strong bass line from Chuck. Eli was excellent during these Rob-led jams, using his creativity to enhance the sound rather than force the jam in a new direction.

When Dopapod laid down the funk, the crowd danced like they were on Soul Train, if only the bell bottoms and leisure suits had been replaced by flat brim hats and patchy beards. When Dopapod brought the hard stuff, the crowd’s energy was unmistakable. People jumping up and down, sweat becoming as abundant as Buffalo Sabres losses – make no mistake, with every twist and turn during the show the crowd was into it. Live Dopapod proves to be great fun to be around each and every time.

October 16, 2013
Pearl Jam takes Buffalo to church

Buffalo’s First Niagara Center was buzzing on October 12th for what was a rare opportunity to experience the amazing energy that is Pearl Jam.

Fans were eager, despite a line of 20,000 and no opening band, they all filled their seats by the time the lights went down. The stage was artistically constructed to transform the arena venue to a more intimate atmosphere. The band came on stage under low lighting, and prepared their respective places. Eddie Vedder, on the other hand, intentionally looked around to take in the moment. It was as if he wanted to see each of the thousands of faces in the arena. Was he giving the crowd a moment to enjoy the scene before the performance began? Or, was he soaking up the crowd’s love? Either way, it was a pleasure to see a rock star appreciate the experience.

As a Gen-X’er who “struck out on my own” when “Alive” was the rage, I gotta say I was a bit apprehensive about the new stuff. I mean, what could possibly top Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy? Then, the show opened with “Pendulum”, from their newest album, Lightning Bolt (released October 15th).Well, hearing the new stuff live for the first time at this show – I’m humbled to say, I’m sold.

The performance contained thirty songs, including two live debuts from the newest release; “My Father’s Son” and “Swallowed Whole”. The entire performance was a well-balanced compilation of PJ history, ranging from 1992 to 2013. All songs portrayed and was played with the same energy — many offering a painful reminder that bad parenting has an incredible effect. Speaking of parenting, Vedder shared a bittersweet, heartbreak moment when he announced that his youngest daughter had scored her first soccer goal that day. “I hated to miss that,” he said. “But, you all make it worth it.” It was a powerful reminder that the people on stage, in order to entertain us, make heartbreaking sacrifices.

Pearl Jam still infects the audience with the same passion and energy they had in the ‘90s only with a more musically, and emotionally, mature sound. Vedder continues to show unabashed, raw emotion in his voice, which seems to have been the consistent draw and dominates the newest music. Those at First Niagara all seemed to love it, and it reminded me, too, of why I fell in love with them twenty years ago.

Things I loved:

1. The lighting: The light show was designed to show off the crowd regularly. The band WANTED to see all 20,000 of us — often. Their stage lighting was a virtual work of art, while also focusing on one as well. Rising and falling “lamps,” colored to impress a given mood, drew attention alternatively to the musicians and the awesome sculpture hanging over the band.

2. The sound: What Pearl Jam is able to achieve with their music is what people seek from church. When twenty thousand people are — together — singing the same words, with the same conviction, at the same time – it’s an amazingly unifying experience.

3. The set list: Two-thirds of my song wish list was satisfied. I wanted “Rats”, “Rearview Mirror”, and “Breath”. I got the first two (which NEVER happens), and “State of Love & Trust” replaced my need for Breath. But, honestly, with a set list like this (below), who could be dissatisfied? Now that it’s over and done with the song I am most glad I heard was “I Got ID (SHIT)”, which was accompanied by a very short explanation, that involved Neil Young.

My Downsides:

1. Eddie didn’t crowd surf.

Set List:

Pendulum, Low Light, Sometimes, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, Do the Evolution, Immortality, My Father’s Son (live debut), Even Flow, Swallowed Whole (live debut), Sirens, Once, Comatose, I Got Id, Infallible, Present Tense, State of Love and Trust, Porch

Encore: Off He Goes, Yellow Moon, Future Days, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Rats, Got Some, Rearviewmirror

Encore 2: Go, Alive, Baba O’Riley, (The Who cover), Indifference

October 15, 2013
Taking the Ride with School Bus Yellow at The Hollow

The Hollow in Albany overflowed with jams last Saturday, October 5th, with the help from rock veterans School Bus Yellow. The dancing never stopped with high energy music lasting late into the night. School Bus Yellow opened the night by shouting “Thank you, this is a very important venue for us”, only to have the crowd yell “Thank You!” right back. An authentic Upstate band, School Bus Yellow has been around for almost a decade and it’s no surprise given their unexpected splendor of light reggae rock tunes.

Greg Bell from Guthrie/Bell Productions attended the show stating, “This is the band that got drum circles cancelled at BellStock,” an understandable fact when those bongos add a unique and ear catching rhythm, causing a primitive stir that unfolded in the crowd. Their set included teases of the Harry Potter theme as well as the Indiana Jones theme song, plus fresh psychedelic funky jams. As the saying goes, “You’re either on the bus…or off the bus” so trust , when we say make sure you get on board when they stop in your town.

It has been months since Formula 5’s last show in the Albany area, creating much anticipation among fans and the band. The almost three hour set was a nonstop musical roller coaster ride, complete with guest sit-ins, plenty of teases and a few solid covers. As the band urged Chuck Valentine from School Bus Yellow to join them on stage.

Few bands can take on the challenge of covering the legendary jam band Phish but Formula 5 always rises to the occasion, especially with their rendition of “Weekapaug Groove.” Strangers quickly became friends as anyone on the dance floor got caught interlocking arms in a huge crowd free for all. One of the highlights was the short riot caused during “3 Ring” when Formula 5 teased “Killing in the Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine, a harder look into their upbeat jazz styling. Each band member shone as their music blended perfectly together, a key ingredient for any successful band. Formula 5’s improvisational jams have reached new levels as there were consistent peaks with jaw dropping flow that Albany has been sincerely missing.

Setlist: The Clear -> Goin Down, Earthbound Tim, Rising Tide, Chuck Song@ -> Drums -> Weekapaug Groove+, Nu-Gen -> 3 Ring -> Perch -> 3 Ring%, Movin On* -> Catch Me, Excalibur, Sledgehammer -> The Clear Ending, Hot Box
E: Grey Seal #

@ Impromptu Band and Crowd collaboration to urge Chuck out of the basement and onto the stage
+ w/ Chuck Valentine of School Bus Yellow on guitar
% “Killing in the Name Of” (Rage Against the Machine) teases
* “Backstroke” (Fatback Band) teases throughout, “Push On Til the Day” (Trey Anastasio) teases
# Elton John Cover

October 14, 2013
City Bisco Makes its Mark on The Festival Circuit

Since Camp Bisco came and went in the early days of July, it seems all anyone could talk about was the return of City Bisco at the end of September and it only seemed right that the Disco Biscuits host the two day festival in their own hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Mann Center was the perfect venue to host the variety of fantastic artists that the Disco Biscuits brought together for the weekend.

Disco Biscuits-City Bisco 2013

The lots of the Mann Center were filled with people tailgating, looking for tickets and peddling various Philadelphia themed Disco Biscuits merchandise while the gates were packed with people creating a relatively long wait to get searched and get inside. Getting searched upon arrival to the festival was a lot like going through security at an airport – patrons were made to take their shoes, jackets and hats off while they were searched thoroughly by each security member. Every orifice of your backpack, purse or wallet was turned inside out to ensure you weren’t smuggling in drugs or weapons. It was definitely excessive, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Once inside of the venue, fans were in the middle of both stages with long winding stairs leading to both. Having two separate stages inside of a venue like this definitely worked for what was trying to be accomplished. The skyline tent showcased many up and coming artists while the main stage held all the larger acts and from the top of the hill standing outside of the tent, you could see a beautifully perfect view of the Philadelphia skyline.

Philly based DJs Risky and Disko took on the skyline tent with their dance worthy beats that warmed up the crowd for the long night to come. Each song bounced between a heavy house influence and the underlying presence of disco – definitely an interesting pair to bring to the stage. Following was Twiddle, whose popularity and fanbase is ever growing as they finish their long and extensive summer festival run and begin their Fall Tour throughout the country. Their set was nothing short of phenomenal, as they busted out their fast and energetic tunes to get the crowd ready for the Disco Biscuits on main stage.

The main stage at the Mann Center left nothing to be desired, as the entire area was completely open allowing a perfect breeze to sweep through the arena, with impeccable sound no matter where you chose to stand or sit. When the Disco Biscuits took stage the crowd was immediately alive with waves of intensity. Opening with “Basis For A Day”, which could have turned even the biggest Biscuits skeptic into a believer – what the band would break out of their jam into was impossible to tell until well into the song. The “Basis” that was played at City Bisco was one that will unarguably go down in Disco Biscuits history, as it was biggest highlight of night one and perhaps the entire festival. Fan favorite “Story of the World” followed to remind everyone in the crowd why they had waited so long to see these guys take stage again. The lasers that have become a staple to Disco Biscuits shows only intensified the brilliant jams the Biscuits were throwing down at the Mann Center. For an almost entirely open venue, the lasers spanned the crowd wall to wall.

In between sets from RedMan and Method Man were probably not the highlight of the festival, but it was still surreal to be seeing these two legends take the stage at a Disco Biscuits festival. The performance consisted of a lot of hype crew yelling but very little music or rapping. For a hip-hop performance the crowd had little to no energy at all, due perhaps to the excessive amount of energy that set 1 drained from the crowd, but it was still a little disappointing. The second set of The Disco Biscuits was much slower than the first and was highlighted by a quick tease of “Theme from Shaft” and a pretty decent “Reactor> Floes”, the latter of which got a little sloppy towards the end as it seemed like the entire band was trying their best to get back onto the same page by segueing back into the groove of “Reactor”. First night held no encore, which was disappointing but also perhaps for the best with the whole next day of music to be seen.

Saturday was a beautiful day in Philadelphia and Fairmount Park was filled with people, eager to get into the Mann for part two of an epic weekend. The skyline tent was the place to be throughout the afternoon, for every artist that took stage kept the energy levels high and the crowd dancing. Cosmic Dust Bunnies took the stage first, bringing their typical high energy bouncy, psychedelic grooves to the skyline tent. Pimps of Joytime and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong also threw down well-received sets in the tent from the large, energetic crowds. It was definitely great to see all of the up and coming bands get so much love from the crowd. Emancipator and Gigamesh both had amazing sets on the main stage before the Disco Biscuits took stage for their last two sets of the weekend.

The Disco Biscuits appeared with another explosion of energy as the crowd filed quickly in from the outskirts of the Mann. First set was on fire opening with “Hope” and following it with a dynamic and energetic “Caterpillar”. There was never a dull moment during first set, at one point the band trailed off into a instrumental “Tom Sawyer” jam that was not only extremely surprising but also well executed. Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig slammed on his guitar in such a way that his ax channeled the vocals of Rush’s Geddy Lee while Marc Brownstein filled in with the epic unforgettable Rush bass line. They finished the set with a segue back into “Caterpillar” before setbreak.

Simon Posford of Shpongle took stage during set break for the Disco Biscuits. Shpongle is perhaps one of the most eclectic and talented bands on the music scene these days and if you are lucky enough to get to see them perform with their live band, you’ll understand exactly what that means. Shpongle has made it an art form to capture abstract concepts and feelings so as to portray them through their psychedelic DMT fueled music. The set was great, Simon opened with a few of his new songs from the new album Museum of Consciousness and played some of their more popular older songs as well. The crowd seemed very lackluster about the entire set and most people stayed seated which was strange for a Shpongle show. It seems as though when playing this type of music for a crowd, DJ sets just simply cannot and do not to the music any justice. The intricate layerings of each individual song are so complex that simply watching Simon spin the tracks on stage does not actually put into perspective how phenomenal each piece of music is.

The second and final Disco Biscuits set of the weekend ended on a high note with a set covering all facets of the Disco Biscuits talents. “Mindless Dribble” was certainly one of the highlights of the second set with a Daft Punk “Get Lucky” jam and a “Disco Inferno” bust out. They took stage one last time for their encore of “Frog Legs” into a tease of “Run Like Hell.” The encore was a little lackluster considering how full of energy the entire weekend had been, but you really can’t complain with a “Frog Legs.” All of the artists performed at such full force all weekend it was certainly worth the trip to the city of brotherly love. City Bisco is definitely a staple to the festival season and the perfect installment to the much-loved Camp Bisco. After waiting months and months in anticipation for City Bisco, it was a little sad to leave Philadelphia. Lucky for us all, New Years run is right around the corner.

October 11, 2013