NYS Music 20​13

Tag: The Bayou Cafe

  • The Heavy Pets’ Spring Tour Heads Through Upstate in mid-April

    The Heavy Pets have their sight’s set on the North East in April, giving fans not one but five funky opportunities to boogie deep into the night whilst taking in the sounds of their unique blend of jazz-funk and rock-and-roll deliciousness.

    In an interview by NYS Music’s Johnny Goff, with guitarist Jeff Lloyd and Syracuse University grad, Jeff explained why the Heavy Pets enjoy touring through the Upstate area while on tour,

    “NY has always been our home and our home away from home at the same time. When we are here, we get to see our families and when we are on the road, it’s always nice to be able to look forward to our east coast swings where we know we’ll be able to see our families and friends.”

    Check out the entire interview here

    heavypetsThe band will first hit the famous Nectar’s in Burlington, VT on April 17th.  Jamie Kent and the Options are the opening band that night. Admission is $7/$10 Ages:18+. The show starts at 9:00pm and tickets are available by visiting Nectar’s website here or calling 802-658-4771.

    Next up is The Java Barn in Canton, N.Y. Show starts at 9:00pm, Admission is FREE and all ages are welcome. Check out their FaceBook page for more info and upcoming events.

    The band is extra excited to be joining Conspirator & Break Science in taking over one of their favorite venues, The Westcott in Syracuse, NY April 19th! Doors open at 7:00pm and the show starts at 8:00pm. Admission is $20, all ages are welcome at this show too. Pick up your tickets online here.

    An appearance at Nietzsche’s in Buffalo, NY will continue their journey through New York on April 20th. Special guests will be the Family Funktion and The Sitar Jams. Doors open at 8:00pm show starts at 9:00pm. Admission is $10/$12 ages 21+. You can get your tickets at the venue box office. View Nietzsche’s website for all their live music listings here.

    The Pet’s will wrap up their travels through Upstate at the Bayou Cafe in Albany, N.Y. on April 23rd. Opening up for the night is the Kollectiv. Show starts at 9:00pm and admission is $10 ages 21+. Tickets can be purchased via the Bayou website here.

    With so many opportunities to see this band you really have no excuses not to get out there and support live music!

    Links: www.TheHeavyPets.com | www.facebook.com/TheHeavyPets | Twitter: @TheHeavyPets

  • Blotto and Mister F, Albany’s oldest and newest bands, play rare shows on March 1st

    On Friday, March 1st, one of Albany’s oldest bands, Blotto, took the stage at Valentines for WCDB’s 35th anniversary show, celebrating the Capital Region’s best music from 90.9 at SUNY Albany. Across town at The Bayou Cafe, Mister F, a Timbre Coup/Capital Zen side-project took shape for the first time, debuting as the newest band in the Albany scene. When Blotto first debuted in the early 1980s, none of the members of Mister F were born yet. Catching both of these shows was quite an impressive display of musical talents ranging over a span of 33 years, with each giving a stellar performance in their own right.

    blotto mister fBlotto, best known for their hits “I Wanna be a Lifeguard”, “I Quit” and “Metalhead”, play shows periodically in the Albany area, bringing their new wave/surf rock sound to the masses once again. There were plenty of hits to choose from and the crowd enthusiastically cheered on each song and laughed along with Broadway Blotto’s song exposition and Sarge Blotto’s story telling added a little extra to the songs, building up to “Goodbye, Mr. Bond” and “Lifeguard”.

    Setlist: She’s Got a Big Boyfriend, When the Second Feature Starts, I Quit, My Baby’s the Star of a Drivers Ed movie, It’s Not You, (We Are) The Nowtones, Elevator Music, Goodbye, Mr. Bond, I Wanna be a Lifeguard

    Meanwhile, at The Bayou, Mister F, made up of Andy, Ben and Matt from Timbre Coup and Scott from Capital Zen, took to the stage with “Vocodor” and from the start, this meeting of the musical minds came off as being a natural sounding act. A couple of covers thrown in – Hall and Oates’ “I can’t go for that”, White Town’s “Your Woman” and a fantastically done “Elevator”, a Particle song that moves at breakneck speeds at times, gave the night some familiarity and allowed the four to show off their chops. “Hedgehog” rounded out the night as the crowd gave big support in a debut performance for the group.

    Setlist: Vocoder, No Can Do* > Treadmill, 11, Your Woman# > Improv > Don’t Lose Your Watch, Elevator^, Final Countdown Intro > Hedgehog

    Photos by Chelsea Valente

  • Start Making Sense: A Talking Heads Tribute at The Bayou in Albany, February 7th

    After what felt like eternity, Start Making Sense: A Talking Heads Tribute made their return to the Capital Region on Thursday, February 7th. The Bayou Café in Albany welcomed the musicians with open arms and fully packed the dance floor. Start Making Sense recreates the music of Talking Heads known for their funky and punk New Wave 80’s dance parties.

    The night opened up with “Thank You for Sending Me An Angel”, lots of whoops and hollers as the drums start to rally the crowd. One of the many things I love about the Talking Heads music is the constant roller coaster volume of the lyrics. Start Making Sense is always a loud show, with every word being screamed at the top of everyone’s lungs such as “Pulled Up” and “Slippery People.” At one moment, you are yelling and stomping, giving way to your rebellious urges. The next you are gently grooving to “And She Was” and being swayed by “Air.”

    Start Making Sense performs the vast music styling’s of the Talking Heads with skilled ease and pure appreciation.  Lead man Jon Braun recreating David Byrne is spot on, including his clothes, crazy facial expressions and legendary vocals. Braun and the band have great flow with their dance moves, always a crowd pleaser. Before set break, Braun announced how “Thankful and happy the band was to be back in Upstate New York” and listed a few of their upcoming shows.

    The crowd does its best to keep up with Start Making Sense’s nonstop fireball energy being hurled throughout the second set. It’s a treat to watch the musicians laughing to each other and having just as much fun as we are. I personally enjoyed the second set better because I knew more of the songs. “Nothing but Flowers” followed by “Cities” was the best way to resume the dance party. “Burning Down the House” was electrifying. The show ended with wild keyboard ranges from “Girlfriend Is Better” into a mellow yet enthusiastic “Crosseyed and Painless.” Start Making Sense will lightly tour around the east coast, making stops in Maine, Vermont and Delaware, before returning to their home state of Pennsylvania. As the lights came on and the band started to pack up, my friends and I already were planning our next show to see them.

    Setlist:

    Set 1: Thank You For Sending Me an Angel, Pulled Up, Slippery People, And She Was, Air, Uh Oh Love Comes to Town, Psycho Killer, Drugs, Born Under Punches, Animals, Found A Job, Mind, What A Day That Was, Naïve Melody

    Set 2: Nothing But Flowers, Cities, Life During Wartime, Not In Love, Stay Hungry, Big Business/I Zimbra, Once In A Lifetime, Making Flippy Floppy, Burning Down the House, Girlfriend Is Better, Crosseyed and Painless

  • Late night in Albany: Hot Day at the Zoo with The Blind Owl Band, The Bayou Café, January 26th

    Last Saturday was a big music night in Albany: many downtown venues offered a genre of music complimentary to the sold out Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) show at The Palace Theatre.  Hot Day at the Zoo and The Blind Owl Band were scheduled for a foot stomping, hoedown of a good time.  Bluegrass at the Bayou stood on it’s own as if it were competing with TAB.  Each of these bands performing at The Bayou Café have a dedicated following which filled the venue.

    The hungry-for-more music aficionados left the Trey show and filed into the already bursting-at-the-seams café where Hot Day at the Zoo kicked off sometime around midnight. The deluge of music fans brought with them the carnival like atmosphere where they would boogie with their drunken hearts, ready for more.  While Hot Day at the Zoo is focused on traditional bluegrass, there are subtle change ups relatable in the progression of this genre.

    Throughout the set, each musician gave the others fair opportunity to take a solo, and yet, partake in a conversation through instrumentation.  Musically, the roots string band captured an underlying jazz progression.  Vocal harmonization with genuine lyrics could tug on the heartstrings.  Hot Day often add agreeable little nuances for a finishing touch to their showcased songs.  Those newly introduced to Hot Day were pleasantly surprised to hear “Ripple,” a widely known Grateful Dead tune.

    Opening for Hot Day at the Zoo was The Blind Owl Band. The four piece outfit is new to the scene, but not new to eclectic sounds, traditional instrumentation and influences of some more obscure bands in the business.  Geographically in the music world, location can often define a band.  Hailing from Saranac Lake, these bearded boys have characterized their sound as if they stood on top of their mountain reaching out their beat up instruments grabbing various concepts of music, holding it captive ultimately for a presentation unique to the scene.  On stage, they knocked the nit and grit right out of their strings.  Added vocal harmonies invite us to the darker realm, where we were lead through a journey of traditional roots, dirty jams and down right scary turns along the way.  Be brave and bold, these North Country boys can lighten it up a bit with Irish pub tunes as well.

    Surely, those meandering out on the street missed two great acts.  The energy inside was so alive you could reach out and hold on.  As was the rest of South Pearl Street, which was rather magical as if some music fairy sprinkled her dust and said, “enjoy.”