NYS Music 20​14

Author: Bryan Lasky

  • Dave Matthews Band Springs SPAC Into Summer

    It’s summer time again in Upstate New York which means a couple of things: the weather is gorgeous, people are hiking in our state parks, and another season of concerts at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is underway. Jack Johnson may have had the first major show of the season, but on Friday May 30th, Dave Matthews Band kicked off a two night stand at the venue. A regular stop on the band’s summer tour, the nearly-sold out crowd was ravenous all evening, standing, singing, and swaying along to every song the band played through two sets.

    20140530 - Dave Matthews Band 10

    To start the show, Dave Matthews came on stage solo for a special acoustic set that is starting every show this tour. Stating how “It’s always nice to spend a weekend here in Saratoga” and that SPAC is one of his favorite venues to play, he went right into a cover of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” for the first time since July 20th, 2012. After the song finished, the rest of the band took the stage and they went into a rousing rendition of “Two Step.” Ending the set with “Stay (Wasting Time)”, Dave stated that they would be back shortly for the electric portion of the evening.

    20140530 - Dave Matthews Band 16

    After about a half hour break, the band retook the stage with a full light show and everyone plugged in for what would be a great two hour set of music that spanned his whole career. The one-two punch of “Don’t Drink the Water” and “American Baby” had the crowd loud and engaged right off the bat. One thing that cannot be understated is the relationship the crowd has with the band. There are few other crowds that have the devotion and love for the Dave Matthews Band that his fans do. The double encore of “The Space Between” and “All Along the Watchtower” capped off a great evening of music. Now that the annual weekend of Dave Matthews has come and gone, summer is here and it’s looking to be a great one in Upstate New York.

    Set One (Acoustic): A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Two Step, Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd, What Would You Say, I’ll Back You Up, Tripping Billies, Sugar Man, Stay (Wasting Time)

    Set Two (Electric): Don’t Drink The Water, American Baby, #27, Belly Belly Nice, Lie In Our Graves, Rooftop, So Much To Say > Anyone Seen The Bridge > Too Much, Proudest Monkey > Warehouse, #41 > Granny, Grey Street

    Encore: The Space Between, All Along The Watchtower

  • The Strokes Coming to The Capitol Theatre This Saturday

    This coming Saturday, May 31st, The Strokes are kicking off Governors Ball festivities at The Capitol Theatre. The show sold out in mere minutes of going on sale a couple of weeks ago, as the band last played together in November of 2011, and haven’t hit the New York tri-state area since April of that year. The band was a big influence to the early 2000 rock scene and still have an influence on bands today. While the band has been on hiatus, both Julian Casablancas and Albert Hammond Jr. have enjoyed success as solo artists, but fans have been clamoring for the band to get back together and have rejoiced with the announcement of these two shows.

    strokes

    Governors Ball is going to be gearing up to hyper speed starting with this show. One week after wards The Strokes will be playing to a much bigger audience as the sun sets on June 7th.

    The Capitol Theatre is going to be a great stage for The Strokes to come back to and get their feet wet before taking over the main stage at the festival.

  • Phil Lesh & Friends Storming Onto Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield

    Phil Lesh & Friends are bringing their long strange trip to New York City on Wednesday, May 28th and Saturday, May 31st as they take the stage at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield.

    Having played many shows in the area over the past couple of months, Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead will be playing his first shows in the park. The friends for these two shows are a great mix of past friends rolled into what should be an amazing band. Joining Phil will be Warren Haynes, John Scofield, John Medeski, and Joe Russo. This is one of the stronger lineups in recent memory for Phil.

    20130609-Phil Lesh

    Tickets for the shows have sold out, but there are still tickets available for his shows on Thursday and Friday at The Capitol Theatre with a different lineup of friends. Phil Lesh’s deal with Peter Shapiro have lets New Yorkers reap the rewards, continuously getting chances at seeing the 74 year old bass player with varying lineups at venues with a mix of sizes. These are being billed as the last shows in the area until the fall, so if you can make it to this run of shows, don’t think twice about it, just hop on board the train.

  • Neutral Milk Hotel Coming to Ommegang Brewery and Higher Ground

    Neutral Milk Hotel, who have been touring extensively over the past couple of months, have announced a show on September 6th at Ommegang Brewery and two shows at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT on September 9th and 10th.

    Neutral Milk Hotel have not been in Upstate New York since their show in Ithaca, NY last year. Their reunion tour has been an absolute success since front man Jeff Mangum brought the group back together last fall. Tickets for Ommegang will be going on sale on Friday May 9th and 10AM and are expected to sell out quickly, while Higher Ground has not been given an on sale date. This will be one of their last appearances on the east coast for the foreseeable future, so if you haven’t seen them yet, don’t miss out on this.

    Neutral Milk Hotel Ommegang

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  • Governors Ball 2014 Announces Afterparties

    Governors Ball who announced their lineup in January 2014 have unveiled a batch of shows surrounding the entire weekend of festivities.

    On Thursday June 5th there are two concerts happening to help kick the weekend off. At Brooklyn Bowl Kurt Vile and The Violators will be gracing the stage, while over at Westway Tourist will be starting the weekend off. On Friday Washed Out will be taking on the crowd at Brooklyn Bowl starting at 11:30 PM. Saturday has the most announced shows so far with four concerts happening all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. On Sunday there are two shows announced so far with Diarrhea Planet heading to Glasslands while Damon Albarn will be heading to the intimate Irving Plaza. More after shows are going to be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for all pf these shows go on a special pre-sale April 29th 10 AM with the code “govballnyc.” If you miss out on that, a public sale will happen on Friday May 2nd. Tickets for Governors Ball are on sale now on their website.

    GovBall 2014 After parties

  • Boston Calling Announces September Lineup and Gears up for May 2014 Festival

    Boston Calling music festival takes over Boston’s City Hall Plaza twice in 2014. The festival has grown since its first year to now be a 3 day festival twice a year instead of a 2 day festival twice a year. Making multiple stages on the plaza, the festival lets Boston shine in the background of all the groups performing. Although there is no camping, the city has so many hotels in the area that it should be fairly easy to find lodging.

    The May portionboston calling festival 2014 of the festival is taking place over Memorial Day weekend from May 23rd to the 25th. Acts scheduled to play include Jack Johnson, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Bastille, Tegan & Sara, and Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls. Tickets are on sale now in various formats including single day, weekend only, all three days and VIP.

    Today Boston Calling announced their September portion taking place from the 5th to the 7th. Taking the stages over that weekend will be The National, Lorde, The Replacements, Nas x The Roots, The Hold Steady, Lake Street Drive, White Denim, and Girl Talk. This is also looking likely to be one of the last east coast dates for Neutral Milk Hotel for the foreseeable future. Tickets for the fall festival go on sale tomorrow.

    With these eclectic lineups, Boston Calling is spearheading the festival scene in the Northeast with something for everyone with a great mixture of –  indie, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. Get your tickets for these now as they will likely sell out much sooner than later.

  • Phil Lesh and Friends Trucking Over to Central Park

    Coming hot off of the heals of eight great performances at The Capitol Theatre and two at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Phil Lesh and Friends have added a new show at New York City’s Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on Wednesday May 28.

    For this performance Phil’s friends will be Warren Haynes, Joe Russo, John Medeski, and John Scofield. All of these amazing musicians have played with Phil in prior incarnations of the friends band over the years. This show is part of the deal that Phil Lesh made with Peter Shapiro at the beginning of the year that is letting New York City Deadheads reap the benefits with plenty of music from the 74-year-old bassist. Tickets go on sale on The Capitol Theatre’s website on Friday April 25th and Noon.

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    Photo Credit: Scott Harris at the Central Park Jazz and Colors Festival 2013

  • Photo Gallery – Rock n Roll Resort v4: The Dream Machine

    Staff Photographer Bryan Lasky gives us a look at Rock n Roll Resort v4: The Dream Machine in his extensive photo gallery of the weekend. Stay tuned for a full review on Wednesday and Chris DeCotis’ photo gallery on Thursday.

    Friday Saturday Sunday Photos

  • The Hudson Project Announces Inaugural Lineup

    The Hudson Project has come to the festival scene with a bang with its initial lineup announcement this week. With an eye towards diversity, the festival has something for everyone that could see a great mix of people traveling to Saugerties, NY come the weekend of July 11th-13th. The headliners for the festival are Kendrick Lamar, Bassnectar, Modest Mouse, and The Flaming Lips. Some of the other big names include, Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Big Gigantic, Moby (DJ set), Matt & Kim, The New Deal, Dr. Dog, Flying Lotus, Lettuce, Infected Mushroom, ZZ Ward, Marco Benevento, Twiddle, and TAUK.

    There will be more than 85 acts at the festival on four stages, as well as a fifth performance space, interactive art installations, carnival rides and a game center. All of this with the beautiful Catskill Mountains serving as the backdrop for the festival could wind up being one of the best New York has seen in a while. Taking place where Woodstock ’94 happened gives the festival a little sense of history as well.

    The Hudson Project is offering regular, VIP, and luxury camping depending on how you would like to spend the weekend. There are also going to be shuttles and buses running all weekend from various locations in New York. Tickets are on sale now at the festival’s website. Come mid-July, Upstate New York is going to be rocking like it hasn’t in a while.

    hudson project 2014

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  • The New Mastersounds Coming to Garcia’s in June

    The New Mastersounds have just announced that they will be playing Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre on Tuesday, June 10th. Their new album Therapy came out a few weeks ago and has been getting praise from around the music community.

    They are no strangers to us at as we have seen them before at Equifunk this past summer as well as a Phish after-show this past December. They always put on a fantastic show, blending rock, jazz, funk, and soul together in a beautiful arrangement of notes that only they can do. Tickets are on sale now and are expected to go quickly as they do not make that many appearances in the area.

    The New Mastersounds
    The New Mastersounds