Branching out from one of Albany’s biggest bands, Mister F is set to debut on March 1st in Albany as a side project of prog-rock group Timbre Coup. The band will be playing shows on a recurring basis, but by no means supplanting the current lineup. Musical growth is always welcome and stands to benefit all musicians from both bands in the long run.
Included in Mister F are three members of Timbre Coup: Matt Pickering (drums), Ben Pickering (bass) and Andrew Chamberlaine (guitar) and Scott Hannay from Capital Zen (keys), although you can expect a fair amount of instrument switching from these talented musicians. Scott has been friends with Timbre Coup for many years now, having sat in with them, as well as playing with the likes of Umphrey’s McGee. Scott also created the Umphrey’s McNes stream of songs (Nintendo-style versions of Umphrey’s songs) which can be heard on MySpace. Matt Pickering remarked “I think we have great chemistry and he writes amazing music on all instruments. In fact, he writes and programs drum parts better than I can play them. It’s a challenge learning his drum parts and I know the other guys feel the same about his guitar and bass parts.”
The name of the band, Mister F, is a nod to one of the best shows in American Television history, Arrested Development and all band members share an affinity for the program.
The group’s debut show will be at The Bayou Cafe in Albany on March 1st with Cosmic Dust Bunnies slated to play the late night portion of the night, with an opening act set to be announced soon. Look for Mister F to play shows in April and into the summer.
Listen to an exclusive track ‘Hedgehog’, featuring some instrument switching – Scott on bass, Ben and Andrew on guitar creating the key/synth sounds, and Matt on drums.
When Dickey Betts and Great Southern took the Turning Stone Casino Showroom stage Wednesday night, the sold out crowd roared. When he played his first solo seconds into the show, the crowd roared. For two solid hours the crowd roared.
Dickey Betts is a living legend who has a reputation for being a little mean, a whole lot of tough, and in a love-hate relationship with the bottle. The gloom of the Allman Brothers breakup lingers around his name. Last year when the Allman Brothers received the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, Dickey Betts didn’t show. He said he wanted to be there but couldn’t. But after departing ways with the Allman Brothers in 2000 under an unsavory situation, it is often Dickey’s name that got tossed around as the problem. While Greg Allman and ABB continued the way of being a jam band; Dickey went back to his roots and approached his music from a Southern Rock perspective.
The majority of Dickey Betts and Great Southern’s show is without vocals. In fact, the only break from mind-blowing guitar was when James Varnado & Frank Lombardi took turns offering up funky drum solos. On keyboards and offering vocals was Mike Kach. Mike has played with numerous acts including touring with Molly Hatchet. Pedro Arevalo was on electric bass and offered the deep, pulsating rhythm that Dickey set his numerous solos to. On the other side of the stage was Andy Aledort. Andy played second lead guitar and worked in the slide often in a style reflective of Duane Allman. Andy is recognized as one of the top guitarists around and is a Senior Editor at Guitar World.
Then there was the prodigal son, Duane Betts, on lead guitar. Imagine living up to having your father be Dickey Betts, and knowing that you were named after Duane Allman. Duane Betts seems to be handling it just fine, and filling those big shoes given to him at birth. In fact, while Dickey was notorious for playing the Les Paul Goldtop, that legendary guitar seems to have passed from father to son. Dickey was playing his Gibson SG and sharing lead with his son. Most solos were definitely Dickey’s, but when Duane got a lick or two in, they stuck.
The setlist was a good mix of popular Allman Brother songs: “Blue Sky”, “Jessica”, “Liz Reed”; and well-known guitar covers such as “Statesboro Blues” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”. The pace throughout the concert was good and you can tell the band has been holding strong with this grouping since 2006 when Andy and James joined Frankie (2000), Mike (2003) and Pedro (2004). The transitions were smooth and all eyes were on Dickey as he was the obvious band leader and in complete control of the stage.
When the night ended and Dickey Betts and Great Southern played the encore of the Allman Brothers’ most famous song, penned by Betts, “Ramblin’ Man” the crowd roared it’s loudest.
Look for Dickey Betts and Great Southern throughout the year. Instead of their typical single four-show run each month, the band is hoping for two four-show runs a month. That’s twice as much DB & GS for the Dick Heads in 2013.
Also look for more legends performing at Turning Stone in the upcoming months. The Wailers will be at the casino on January 23rd, George Thorogood in March, and BB King in April.
SETLIST: High Falls, Nothin You Can Do, Statesboro Blues, Change My Way of Living, Blue Sky, One Way Out, You Don’t Love Me, Southbound, Jessica, Back Where It All Begins, 7-Turns, Hoochie Coochie Man, Having a Hard Time, My Get Away, Long Time Gone, Nobody Knows, Liz Reed, No One Left to Run With
Last month, AURA Music and Arts Festival held a contest called “Vote To Aura” in which they asked their Facebook fans to go online and vote to choose a band to fill the opening spot on the bill for this year’s festival. After a few weeks of voting, a clear winner emerged; “The McLovins” were chosen as the fan’s entry for the 2013 musical line-up.
As part of this musical journey, The McLovins are now asking the fans to help support their touring effort by participating in “The McLovins Road to AURA” campaign on Kickstarter.
NYS Music spoke to Michael Printup, President of Watkins Glen, about the possibility of Phish making a return to the Southern Tier this summer.
Johnny Goff – Hey Michael, It’s been two years since we chatted pre-Super Ball to discuss Phish rumors at Watkins Glen. Here we are, two years later and I’m curious what you think the legacy is of having the Phish SuperBall 9 festival at Watkins Glen International?
Michael Printup, Watkins Glen International Track President – It was such a great show. I mean, it was obvious so much more than I initially would have given it credit to be, even though I had attended some Phish shows in the past. What a great festie it was. It really gained some attention from the music business, which, in all honesty, was one of the goals. It wasn’t something we were surprised at. But we are still looking, you know. I went out to California to talk to Coran Capshaw and his main group Red Light Management about coming back and unfortunately, we just couldn’t find common ground to put it back together and come back and even the band, according to Coran, wanted to come back but it just wasn’t going to work for 2013. We just both agreed to put it on the hook and see if we could put something together and do it again in 2014.
JG– So at this point, you can definitively say Phish would not be returning to Watkins Glen this summer?
MP– Nope, Sorry folks, Phish is not coming back this summer. We are not even in discussions. We told them we’d stay in touch and every now and again, Richard (Glasgow) and I email each other and stay in touch but we don’t have any Phish shows coming back this summer.
JG – May I ask what are the details behind the band not returning? Is it coming from WGI’s parent corporation in Daytona – (International Speedway Corp.) wanting to focus more on its core with Auto Racing or was it based on scheduling conflicts?
MP– It was all scheduling and that’s what we told Coran and Richard. We’re booked almost a full year and half ahead for the following year so when we’re entering spring of 2013, we are already booked for 2014. So schedules materialize very fast and so by the time we went back out there in April to Coachella to speak with them, it was just a matter of conflict. They only had certain dates that worked for them and we only had certain dates that worked for us, it just wasn’t conducive to hold a concert in October or November, which was really the only timeframe we had open.
JG– Does Watkins Glen still have a commitment down the road to holding more musical events there and have you engaged in any talks with Live Nation?
MP– Yes. Absolutely. In fact, I’ve been meeting with Live Nation and another group out of Los Angeles. There’s interest from numerous promoters to put something on here, so at this point, it really just comes down to scheduling, like it did with Phish. So it is imperative we maintain a very historical spot for music, dating back to 1973’s Summer Jam to some of the famous festivals that have happened in New York State. It’s almost like something we have a reputation to do and the ability to do and I think there’s some type of cache’ with Watkins Glen so we want to keep it going. Our primary business is racing, that’s what we’re here to do and we’re going to keep that up too, but music is a big goal of mine, it has been since I got here. We were very fortunate to have booked Phish and we’re hopeful we can do it again in the future.
JG– How does your plan for music play into ISC’s plans for auto racing at Watkins Glen and possibly segmenting your core audience?
MP– It’s funny you asked this because I just had a conversation with John Saunders who is president of our entire company (ISC) and he shared with me that he’d like me to speak with some of the other (race)tracks about our model and how we did it because he said, ‘Let’s face it, you had a very successful concert so let’s take a look at that model and see if we can do that at other racetracks.’ The good thing is we do have a very successful model and the boss recognizes it and has been more than supportive in letting us our business. So I think that’s a good thing. John (Saunders) lets us run it and we’ve got a great group supporting us.
Phish @ SuperBall IX – photo by Andy Hill
JG– Hypothetically, if all of your plans jive perfectly and the schedules fall in line with would-be promoters, what is EARLIEST fans could expect to see music back at Watkins Glen?
MP– I honestly think Johnny that if we get really lucky, I want to say this year. Not Phish though.(laughing). I’d like to make that clear again. But there are some other opportunities that may just slip into our schedule. We’re still waiting to hear back from a couple of promoters on whether some things will work. We could do evening concerts all day long because our track is pretty much booked until October already so if we could put something together, you know, where we book 2-3 night shows and it works for someone else, we’re trying to find, right now for 2013, we need to find that perfect recipe to bake the perfect cake. I think we’ve found 1 of possibly 2 promoters who would be flexible in that and if we do, but then it’s just up to the artists at that point to tie it all together.
JG– What genres do you forsee being good fit for a local and regional draw?
MP– You know…I’m not going to rule out anything. I think whatever you can think of. Truly. I mean, we could be successful with everything from country to EDM so I really think we can do everything. That’s not an arrogant statement. I just think we have the population of all the cities that surround us, not even counting New York City, but Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany Erie, Binghamton, northern tier of Pennsylvania: you add all those up and that’s a pretty solid population base. Literally, we could do EDM, rock, country. I think we’ve get pretty lucky because one thing promoters have really liked and wanted to plan out after the success of that Phish show is our capacity for camping. That’s what really highlights and made it easier for the fans and in turn, makes it easier for the promoter.
Asia, the super-group formed by Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and John Wetton sent along two press releases today. The first is announcing Howe’s departure from the legendary band to concentrate on his other musical projects and the second announcing his replacement and the band’s future plans.
Asia released their first LP in 1982, driven by hits like “The Heat of The Moment”, it spent nine weeks at the top of the Billboard charts riding on the pedigree of the band while helping the explosive growth of MTV. The band reunited in 2006 for a US tour, which was followed by several world and continental tours, the release of three cds, three dvds and numerous live albums. Their critically acclaimed release XXX marks the end of Howe’s tenure. Just a 30 year history or so, and it continues on. Howe said, “Myself and the band wish to thank our fans for the enthusiasm shown during the original members’ reunion. I will continue with Yes, my trio and solo guitar works. I wish my friends continued success”.
2013 will be a new chapter in Asia’s history as newcomer Sam Coulson joins the band to fill Steve Howe’s shoes on guitar. Sam is well known and world-renowned with virtuoso players. Asia will be touring and recording a new album titled “Valkyrie” cementing their relationship with new label, Frontier Records. Sweden Rock 2013 will mark Sam’s first international gig with the band, no pressure man.
Of the 220 different songs Phish played in 2012, #218 was Ricky Nelson’s “Garden Party”, played on New Years Eve at the World’s Most Famous Arena, perhaps had the most defining chorus to all their phans. The bands opening tune on December 31, 2012 included these first lyrics:
“I went to a garden party, reminisced with my old friends A chance to share old memories and play our songs again When I got to the garden party they all knew my name But no one recognized me I didn’t look the same.”
Barring a flux capacitor, no one could have predicted the complete change of direction 3.0 phish took in 2012, let alone from last year’s “Steam” stunt to this year’s golf-themed funked-out classic New Years Eve throwdown into 2013. That juxtaposition from last year’s New Year’s Eve low energy affair that garnered much criticism from the band’s outspoken fanbase to this entire 2012’s stellar record of epic shows appeared to be the impetus behind the band choosing “Garden Party” as their opening number at MSG. Upon entering MSG, phans (some of whom paid as much as $1500+ for a scalped ticket) were greeted with lush green astroturf/grass on the stage and GA floor and perhaps the first time in the band’s 30 year history, people enjoyed lawn seats at an indoor venue. Complete with sunbathers, croquet, badminton and picnickers, the stage was literally set for a Garden Party. Little did we know however, that an obscure phish-geek-stat-guy- type of song would prove to be the tee box for a golf-themed third set party that ensued in the wee-hours of 2013.
Artist James Flames created this poster for the three-night run
Once lyrics were clearly delivered by bassist Mike Gordon, it became obvious why the band chose to start their 3-set throwdown at the Garden with such an poignant, anticlimactic song. However, no one in attendance could have predicted the actual Garden Party that ensued hours later. Phish has always walked the line of music-geekery and headier-than-thou status among jam fans with their setlists. Perpetuating that pervasive purgatory, Phish delivered a masterful setlist for all, satisfying both the jam-centric lovers of “Ghost”, “Piper”, “Sand” and also for phans who love Phish for well-documented New Years’ antics.
Following “Garden Party”, the band moved into one of their 1.0 staples, “Possum”, which appeared to be specifically chosen for that slot after Garden Party, in response to perhaps, previous phans criticism of the band overplaying the old fave too many times during Summer Tour. Can you imagine? The disgust and outrage! However, this 10+ min Possum was delivered flawlessly and was a great energetic springboard for easily, the band’s most energetic set of the three on New Years Eve. From “Possum”, they went feverishly through Ween’s “Roses are Free”, “Rift” and a thoughtful “Sample in a Jar” that prompted many noteworthy compliments around my section 102 at the Garden. From there, they played “Alaska” and a great “Mike’s Song”, but rather segue into the traditional “Hydrogen>Weekapaug Groove”, the band dropped a rousing “Walk Away” cover before going into a frenetic, high-paced “Weekapaug” (Perhaps the best MSG version since 1995) that saw Trey Anastasio jumping, spinning his red locks and keeping his vertical head bobbing with his signature “Trey Face” that just continued to whip the Garden crowd into a frenzy. Finally the band wrapped up the 70 min set with an upbeat “Character Zero” that just wet the pallets of everyone in attendance for a dark, funky second set filled with historic jam vehicles from the Vermont quartet.
The second set began swiftly with crowd favorite “Birds of a Feather”. A rather rudimentary rendition, the band simply spring-boarded that energy into the start of “Ghost”, which would be the last time the band would stop between songs during the second set. During the next 65 minutes, Phish simply segued between songs playing puppet-master of crescendos with “Ghost>Piper>Light>2001>The Horse->Silent in the Morning>You Enjoy Myself.” The highlights of the set, hands down, were the quickly revved up Piper with early dashes of the epic Vegas 2003 version, and a 2001 that while short (like nearly all 3.0 ‘Sprach’s) had brief, deep concentrations of syncopation. Phish then appropriately slowed it down with a dash of perfectly placed Horse/Silent and gently placed the cherry atop the set with the always anticipated “YEM”, so much so during these 4-night runs that it’s previously prompting the lot acronym “YEMSG.” While typically not always a fan of the concluding YEM ‘Vocal Jam’, this year’s version was eerie and possibly intentionally weird, only foreshadowing the “Bizarro-Golf-Garden Party” that was about to ensue after the 30 min setbreak. During setbreak, the music notably included some gag hints, including Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” with phans energy soaring and crowds singing along.
Around 11:45 pm, Phish returned for their final notes of 2012 and their first of 2013. It was a perfect 15-minute entertaining reprieve from the sweaty Garden crowd dancing their asses of. It was quite entertaining w/ Trey, Page Mike and a caddie-adorned Jon Fishman hitting tee shots into the crowd.Kicking things off w/ a fun “Party Time” before moving a 27-yr old obscure Phish chant “Kung.” Starting dark and creepy w/ odd lyrics including the lines “Can we stand?…Can we stare? We can stage a run away golf cart marathon!” (Unbeknownst initially to even this old 17 year jaded vet) Basing this song as this year’s NYE theme (2010 was “Meatstick” and 2011 was “Steam”) Kung allowed the band to unleash a feverish on-stage Garden Party including midgets, dancers, the band hitting foam golf balls into the crow and an aforementioned “golf cart marathon” rapidly moving across the stage and through the backstage MSG tunnels at a frenetic pace. Following the entire dimpled display, the foursome continued into classic upbeat “Chalkdust Torture” where the band brought us into 2013 with everyone in the garden hugging it out over “Auld Lang Syne.” Following Auld Lang Syne, Phish capped off the 28th’s “Tweezer” with “Tweezer Reprise”, a great selection to commemorate 2012m considering NBC famously used ‘TweePrise’ as its audio accompaniment for its much heralded Gold-Medal video montage of Michael Phelps. I encourage readers to check out Youtube videos of this gag which includes a powerful “Tweezer Reprise”, complete with female backup vocals, featuring Syracuse’s own Carrie Manolakos.
Following the ‘Reprise’ is just one more reason to either love Phish for their quirkiness or hate them for breeding setlist thirsty stat geeks. Follow me here: along with the golf-themed “Garden Party” third set, the band also made a point to play golf-themed songs from their catalog and bust-out covers with “Sand”, “The Wedge” a masterfully played debut cover of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle”, a rocking “Wilson” (with a Wilson-logo golf ball appearing on the MSG jumbotron) and a doo-wop version of “Lawn Boy”, before closing out the occasion with the encore of “Driver” (first attempt botched by band has led to online speculation they initially flubbed “Driver” as to try again ala ‘using their mulligan’) and a classic rock-n-roll bustout cover (and first time played the extended rock ballad version) of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” (Many phans also debated whether the song “Par Tee-Time” aka Party Time was also intentional by the band). When the lights came around 1 am in 2013, the Phish crew had even orchestrated Kenny Loggins’ “I’m Alright” (from Caddyshack) as the departing chorus. Oblivious to many saggy-eyed faithful, it was just one more observation on how this band is still putting the inside-joke on us.
While the night before was musically my personal favorite show of the four-night run, with 12/28 and 12/29 paling in comparison to the run’s latter shows. But Phish knows it not about how you start, but how you finish. That was evident with the entire 12/31 show including this monster version of “Iron Man” which proved to be historic. In return, the entire sweaty Garden crowd appeared thankful Phish chose such a powerful, energetic, classic song to close out what has been heralded by phans and myself as thee best year in Phish 3.0. The 220th different song of the year, “Iron Man” that Phish played, in some way, symbolized a band that had just wrapped up their 27th show at Madison Square Garden and triumphantly began their 30th year as one of most successful touring acts today: definitely an ‘Iron Man’ feat this day and age.
December 30th has always had a somewhat special place in Phish lore and there’s some that say this night has produced better shows than the far more renowned New Year’s Eve. With this being the third show of a four night run at the mecca of rock and roll, Madison Square Garden, it was safe to say all bets were off and hopes were raised high this evening. As they always do, Phish delivered in its own unique way with a show that may not necessarily go down in the annals as a legendary one, but certainly one with some incredible musical moments that featured some memorable jamming.
poster by Franky Scaglione
Those who called a ‘Runaway Jim’ to open on this night were right and Phish wasted no time in delivering a fairly standard version of this classic show opening song which certainly did nothing to dampen the already high energy level in the Garden. After some soft early interplay with keyboardist Page McConnell, Trey Anastasio’s guitar licks gradually grow in intensity and precision as the song comes to its peak before finishing. The short, but emotive, jam seems to serve as the perfect musical warm up for both the band and the fans, giving everyone a chance to get stretched out and warmed up for a long night of music. This reviewer was hoping they’d open with an old school flair and follow this up with a ‘Foam’, but instead, after a short discussion, the decision was made to go with ‘Cities’. This Talking Heads cover is no stranger to Phish first sets and the group plowed with through with a clean, yet fairly meek rendition that didn’t feature much of a jam unlike some ‘Cities’ of yesteryear (see: 1997). Batting in the third spot this evening was one of Phish’s oldest and most iconic numbers, ‘The Divided Sky’. This song with its exquisite composition, multi-layered sounds and unique vocal section exemplifies the essence of this band and is generally a crowd-pleaser. While Trey was slightly off on some of the early ‘technical’ parts, he and the group more than made up for it with a rousing and powerful finish to the song that re-established the high energy level in the building. To keep things moving, it was time to ‘Back on the Train’. Another crowd favorite, this version saw Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman shine on bass and drums, respectively, as they spearheaded the effort through a shuffle type jam that finally brought about the first glimpses of group improvisation on this night. Next, came another cover as Page led the group through a short and fairly standard ‘Ride Captain Ride’. So far, the first set saw all the songs played more than adequately but without much jamming or extended improv. ‘Ocelot’ changed all that in a hurry with a stirring 11 minute version that finally saw the group get into an extended jam and stretch things out a little. This version saw Anastasio and McConnell once again complimenting each other wonderfully in a jam that took its time and was played to perfection. While it didn’t seem incredibly too well received at its inception, the crowd got loud and made sure the band’s effort on this one was appreciated at the end. This was followed by ‘Ya Mar’, another one of the band’s older numbers (and another cover). The calypso-groove classic kept everyone moving, but again, a fairly routine and uneventful version was played as the song selection in the first set continued to be all over the map with few continuations or any innovative segues between songs. Keeping in line with this, ‘Horn’ was played next to little fanfare and this parlayed into ‘My Friend, My Friend’. Both songs again gave Phish a chance to show off some of their compositional wizardry and prowess, but also didn’t feature anything out of the ordinary. With one last bullet in its holster for the first set, Phish made it count with the always entertaining ‘Run Like an Antelope’ set closer. This vintage Phish staple gave everyone a final chance to cut loose this set and the boys delivered a high octane rendition that served as a fitting end to the set in that it was played flawlessly but without anything truly memorable. No extended build up, no guest vocalists, not even a slight lyrical alteration. Not that these things are necessary by any means, but hopes are a little higher and dreams a little wilder on a night like tonight. To recap, the first set had several very enjoyable songs (Divided Sky and Back on the Train) and featured one quasi-intensive jam (Ocelot), but overall lacked a sense of continuity and explosiveness often felt in other 12/30 shows of the past. Set break served as an opportunity for everyone to recharge and wonder what lay in store next.
The second set is typically the time the band will really delve into the heavy improvisation and ‘darker’ jams and this set proved to be absolutely no exception to that rule. ‘Down with Disease’ let everyone know it was game on for the second set as the corresponding jams in this tune have the capability of reaching epic proportions. The first several minutes of such proceed in a typical fashion and the high tempo rocker has everyone moving along and anticipating a big second set. Around the ten-minute mark, Fishman starts to slow the tempo slightly with Page throwing in delicate piano fills. Shortly after, Trey takes the reigns with some guitar play that seeks to bring the tempo back up and it’s clear each band member is prominently involved in this one – always a clear indicator of a good jam. As the second set opener continues to march on, Trey soon introduces some darker, mysterious tones to the jam before finally dissolving into some familiar, spacy ‘whale call’ sounds – somewhat of a staple of the Phish 3.0 era. Not much time is wasted on this and, before long, the jam begins to pick up pace and intensity again. At this point, it was all over the map, but in a good way. Gordon then takes his turn and introduces a sinister bass effect that drives the jam to a new level of darkness and fun. When all is said and done, the ‘Disease’ clocks in at almost 20 minutes long and finally gives everyone a taste of the spontaneous and cohesive playing this band has hung its hat on its entire career.
As a breather of sorts, Trey then starts up ‘Twenty Years Later’ which seems to always find a home after an intense second set jam. This fairly new original is played to perfection and does little to diminish the still high energy level that’s present. Upon its completion, Trey immediately starts the opening riffs to what many are already calling one of the highlights of this four night run, ‘Carini’. This powerful number has been taken to a new level in the 3.0 era and this version followed suit and then some. For the next few minutes or so, Phish builds on an already dark and powerful number and gives it a menacing jam that at one point drops off into an almost eerily ambient one. This one is Phish at their finest – dark, melodious and full of improvisational goodness. At one point, during one of the more menacing portions of the jam, it even sounds like Trey makes a half-effort to re-introduce the ‘Little Drummer Boy’ theme that was so prevalent on 12/28/12. There’s also somewhat of a ‘Crossroads’-esque section introduced by Trey before the jam blisses out and ends almost 15 minutes after the start of the song. Three songs into the second set, Phish has already dropped two noteworthy and inspiring jams. Seeking to keep momentum going, Trey then begins ‘Backwards Down the Number Line’ which seems to be a hit or miss song with the crowd these days and, in this spot, may be more miss than hit. However, that didn’t stop the group from delivering a soulful and inspired version of the song that gives Trey a chance to shine with some inspired guitar play in the jam that ensues. It certainly kept the second set energy high and Page’s complimentary play on both piano and organ is stunning on this version. One can tell that the band just simply loves to play this song and this energy always seems to carry over into the crowd by song’s end. Before Fishman even hits the last cymbal crash, Trey has already started the opening riff to a somewhat older Phish ‘rocker’, ‘Julius’. This leads to another eight minutes of high tempo, fun arena rock that has the Garden again moving as a collective whole. It’s cleanly played and brings to the forefront, once again, the cohesiveness and skill of these longtime friends who have now been playing together for over 30 years!
With a monstrous second set already under its belt, the call is made to have the classic hit ‘Slave to the Traffic Light’ bring things to an end as only it can do. This is met with great approval and seems to be the perfect choice to cap off a memorable and truly innovative set. This is another song that fits the ‘exquisite composition/odd vocal styling/mind-blowing performance’ mold of song that Phish has officially perfected. A truly masterful ‘Slave’ jam that takes its time and builds to perfection follows and leaves the crowd standing in applause as the foursome takes a well-deserved and long bow on stage. A somewhat of a two-faced encore followed as it began with a sterling rendition of the crowd favorite, ‘Harry Hood’. This gave the group one last chance to bob and weave through a 12 minute musical masterpiece while taking everyone in the Garden along for one last ride for the night. This ‘Hood’ was typical of all good ones: slow, patient and bursting with energy by song’s end. The show could have ended right there, but instead, ‘Show of Life’ took the honors and was met with some groans by the crowd, as it usually seems to be. The short, but powerful, number served as a fitting end to a show that had a little bit of everything. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/56567290 w=400&h=300] Overall, Phish delivered a fun and memorable show like they always do. While some of the song selection was sporadic at best in the first set, they more than made up for it with intense, thoughtful and innovative jamming in the second. The stage was now officially set for New Year’s Eve where, as we all know, anything can (and did) happen.
Going backstage to hang out with a band is always interesting. You are never quite sure what you are going to get. With Big D and the Kids Table it was a bunch of guys on couches and chairs around a table of fried chicken and Jameson Irish Whiskey. That part was actually pretty normal. What was strange was the conversation involving a viral video of Sonseed’s “Jesus is a Friend of Mine.” Between watching the video on the iPad that was being passed around, to plans on redoing it as a ska or punk number, or finding a remake that another band did to mock the original. Now the mystery of what happens back in the green room is gone forever.
On the stage was completely different from a laid back, tongue in cheek conversation about a cheesy song. What happened on stage was energetic, chasmatic, enthusiantic, and down-right fantastic. The doors opened to the Putnam Den at 8pm and by 9pm the first of two opening bands, Sugar Eater, was met by over 100 fans. Sugar Eater is a Saratoga-based punk trio that have been playing together for 10 years. They sounded great and to see an opening band surrounded by dozens of dancing, frantic lunatics by the stage as early as 9pm was an encouraging sign of what was ahead. The most refreshing thing about Sugar Eater is that they have no sub-genre. They are PUNK. Simple, kick ass, grind it out, explosive, PUNK. They will unfortunately be losing their bassist to the west coast, but I am hoping that they come back later this year with the same attitude and sound. It will be a show that should not be missed.
Next up was Rhodeachusetts-based Brunt of It, to say they were a traditional ska band would do them a great disservice. Brunt of It could have been the headliner of any show in the capital region Saturday night and the cover charge would have been justified. They are a big sounding ska band with an in-your-face punk attitude. When the promoter thought of the line-up of how to get from Sugar Eater to Big D – Brunt of It was the perfect connecting piece. Brunt of It’s vocals were what every band wants but few have – fast, furious and concise. The horns section was outrageous and the bass and drums did not give you the choice -if you had a pulse you were dancing. As to the dozens of people at the stage for Sugar Eater, add a couple more dozen lunatics to the bunch to imagine the dance floor at the Den.
Big D and the Kids Table have been around for 17 years playing live nearly 200 times a year and supporting bands such as as Less Than Jake, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Dropkick Murphys, Mustard Plug, Rancid, Reel Big Fish, and Anti-Flag. They had a headlining national tour in 2007. They know their way around a stage and Saturday night at the Putnam Den was absolutely no different. David McWane’s Boston bad boy charm combined with Ryan O’Connor’s deadly sax invaded Saratoga Springs. While I was suspected the ska/punk feel that Big D has been known for overly the past decade and a half I was not entirely disappointed to find it replaced with a new twist to Dub Step. The kids in the audience stomped and strutted and twirled with delight at the never-ending barrage of upbeat tempo with enough brass to tie the songs together. The show had seemingly everything. There was even a break in the middle of the long set for a young concert goer to ask his girlfriend to marry him. According to the band this is the third time that someone proposed at the Big D show.
For the first weekend of the year, Putnam Den started out with a bang. Would there have been more people there when Skidmore was in session? Or a little more after the New Year recovery? We will never know. We do know that live music is alive and well in Saratoga Springs and can be found every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No matter what your taste, keep an eye out for upcoming shows on the NYS Music site.
Umphreys McGee will start their 15th year together as a band with a national winter/spring tour that starts right here in Upstate NY, with back to back shows at The Town Ballroom in Buffalo on Wednesday January 16th and at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse on Thursday January 17th. Rochester natives Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad will open both shows.
From there it’s a month’s worth of shows in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest. 3 weeks later, leg 2 will start with a 2 night stand in Aspen, CO, plus stops in Utah, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona.
Umphrey’s McGee recently announced their return to the Full Moon Resort June 17th through 21st, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains in Big Indian, New York for sUMmer school 2013. Musicians and music lovers will be given an up close and personal hands-on exploration into the music and inner workings of Umphrey’s McGee. Last year, attendees were treated to an unforgettable week where the band pulled back the curtain to reveal details on songwriting, improvisational techniques, gear, business, marketing and more.
The opening night of Phish’s New Year’s run left little to be desired. The band came out and eased through a first set, before dropping the defining ‘Wolfman’s Brother’ of the so-called 3.0 era. The second set, well you’ve heard about the second set. There is little to say about it other than it was one of the best sets of Phish I’ve seen in a long time. Understandably, the proverbial bar was set incredibly high for the second of the four shows. With mid-town Manhattan lit up with cheer, lights and lagers, it was an easy stroll into Madison Square Garden, a place that has become a second home of sorts to Phish. The crowd ready, aside from the stragglers staggering in, the quartet opened with a standard ‘Crowd Control’, an uninspired ‘Mound’ and a standard ‘AC/DC Bag’. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it felt like Phish was getting the opening jitters out. Then came ‘Rock and Roll’, a Velvet Underground tune that Phish has slayed countless times in the band’s career. After the standard part of the song, guitarist Trey Anastasio jumps into the lead, laying down relentless licks over a true rock and roll backing. The ending “It was alright” chants were inspired, and it seemed as if Phish was starting to take this show to a new level.
Then, BOOM. Sorry for the personal touch, but I love ‘Sugar Shack’. It seemed like it was slightly re-worked, with Anastasio playing a slightly more rhythmic riff under bassist Mike Gordon’s boppy bass line. Anytime Phish plays ‘Sugar Shack’, I go nuts, therefore I suggest you listen to the song instead of me. It’s one of the best songs Gordon has penned. ‘Reba’, a short ‘Halley’s Comet’, ‘Limb by Limb’ and a somewhat extended ‘Wading in the Velvet Sea’ add a softer touch to set. An inspired ‘Bathtub Gin’, with a slow ascension complete with a ‘Suzie Q’ segment, followed by some exploration with Anastasio again taking charge with ferocious licks, closed out a well-played set.
‘Golden Age’, a song that debuted in 2009 (A TV On the Radio cover), opened the second set. I am still not sold on this tune, aside from the Superball version (which I believe is a Top-10 3.0 jam) because it just doesn’t do it for me. The jam that came out of it had the fans around me raging, dancing and high-fiving, and was engaging, but I was still high from the ending of Wolfman’s, so maybe I wasn’t listening closely enough.
‘Waves’ then bled into ‘Prince Caspian’ before the pace picked up with a tight, fast ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’. Gordon tears the ending into a meatball-bass free-for-all. ‘Suzy Greenberg’, ‘Bug’ and ‘Cavern’ fill the next few slots before the arena-rocker ’46 Days’ makes an appearance. Again, Anastasio takes the lead and builds up several tension and release riffs. It’s becoming apparent that while Phish isn’t taking many risks on this night, Anastasio has decided he’s going to put that Languedoc to the test by bending and building notes until the place explodes. ‘The Squirming Coil’ started a three-song encore, followed by ‘Grind’ and a rollicking ‘First Tube’.
This show was pure fun. Tightly played music with some exploration and certainly some guitar lessons from Anastasio. It definitely was different from the first night, but no doubt this show deserves a listen or two or ten. In fact, the energy comes through in the LivePhish recording. Go on a long run and you won’t stop until this show ends. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPT5SkEXhRU?&w=560&h=315]
Included in Mister F are three members of Timbre Coup: Matt Pickering (drums), Ben Pickering (bass) and Andrew Chamberlaine (guitar) and Scott Hannay from Capital Zen (keys), although you can expect a fair amount of instrument switching from these talented musicians. Scott has been friends with Timbre Coup for many years now, having sat in with them, as well as playing with the likes of Umphrey’s McGee. Scott also created the Umphrey’s McNes stream of songs (Nintendo-style versions of Umphrey’s songs) which can be heard on MySpace. Matt Pickering remarked “I think we have great chemistry and he writes amazing music on all instruments. In fact, he writes and programs drum parts better than I can play them. It’s a challenge learning his drum parts and I know the other guys feel the same about his guitar and bass parts.”
JG– So at this point, you can definitively say Phish would not be returning to Watkins Glen this summer?
