NYS Music 20​14

Author: Pete Mason

  • It’s Time for March Madness!

    Welcome to March Madness! This is our first year in creating this tournament-style competition between artists and bands that originated in Upstate New York and we think with Upstate New York’s history of incredible musicians, we have the potential for an interesting style of March Madness to share with you all.

    For starters, there are four regions, made up of the four parts to Upstate NY – Western NY, Central NY, Southern Tier and Eastern NY. We broke them up by Area Codes – West Region covers 716 and 585, Central Region covers all of 315, South Region includes 845 and 607, while East Region is 100% 518, stretching all the way to Canada.

    We chose these bands based on their historical presence in Upstate NY, their origins in Upstate, popularity, a selection of many genres (but no cover bands, sorry), focusing on who comes to mind in each of these four regions. We ranked them based on the best known band/artist from each region, 1 through 16.

    Did we miss some? Let us know! There were some bands that didn’t make the cut, and some we might have overlooked in this process.

    Voting will begin on March 17th at Noon with the first round, which ends on March 20th. Round 2 will start the 21st, with more announcements as each round progresses.  Stay tuned to our Facebook page and .com for details and to see who advanced to the next round!

    – Pete Mason, Managing Editor,

    A note to moe. fans – we know they started out in Buffalo and then developed a larger following while in Albany, but have had 14 (soon 15) moe.downs in 315 – we split the difference to place them there.

    Update 3/19 7pm: Due to an OVERWHELMING response to our Upstate March Madness, voting for Round 1 has been closed. The vote totals have been counted and we will share the winners of Round 1 tomorrow afternoon, with a complete bracket of all the teams.

    The response has been greater than we expected, with THOUSANDS of votes cast by fans and bands. There are some upsets, a few Cinderallas to look out for and key Round 2 matchups to which to look forward to.

    Stay tuned for Round 2 of Upstate March Madness!!

    Update 3/21 12pm: Vote in Round 2 here!

    518 East Region

    1 Ominous Seapods
    2 Blotto
    3 Skinless
    4 Peter Prince
    5 Phantogram
    6 Conehead Buddha
    7 Stellar Young
    8 Eastbound Jesus
    9 Wild Adriatic
    10 Stigmata
    11 Titanics
    12 Restless Streets
    13 Mister F/Timbre Coup
    14 Digital Dharma
    15 Formula 5
    16 Lucid

    315 Central Region

    1 Ronnie James Dio
    2 Blue Oyster Cult
    3 moe.
    4 Joe Bonamassa
    5 Joanne Shenandoah
    6 Martin Sexton
    7 Tony Trischka
    8 Ra Ra Riot
    9 Gym Class Heroes
    10 Sophistafunk
    11 Floodwood
    12 Dexter Grove
    13 Los Blancos
    14 House on a Spring
    15 Joe Driscoll
    16 Birdseed Bandits

    716/585 West Region

    1 Goo Goo Dolls
    2 Rick James
    3 Ani Difranco
    4 Cannibal Corpse
    5 Dr. Dirty (John Valby)
    6 Neal and Alan Evan (Soulive)
    7 Snapcase
    8 Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
    9 Thunderbody
    10 Buddhahood
    11 Spyro Gyra
    12 Aqueous
    13 Big Leg Emma
    14 Manhattan Project
    15 Funktional Flow
    16 Smackdab

    607/845 South Region

    1 Pete Seeger
    2 Donna the Buffalo
    3 John Brown’s Body
    4 Perfect Thyroid
    5 Sim Redmond Band
    6 Big Mean Sound Machine
    7 Jimkata
    8 Driftwood
    9 Solaris
    10 Yolk
    11 Wingnut
    12 3
    13 Revision
    14 Spectacular Average Boys
    15 Notorious String Dusters
    16 Professor Louie and the Crowmatix

  • Chris ‘Hollywood’ English Joins Lucid as New Drummer

    North Country Adirondack-rock, blues-fusion outfit Lucid is continuing their 10-year journey with a new drummer.  Chris “Hollywood” English is deeply rooted in music as he comes from a family full of musicians. The addition of Chris only solidifies the growth and forward motion of Lucid. It is a match made in musical utopia.

    Chris has an extensive musical background and attended The School of the Arts Performing School in Rochester.  His musical upbringing, schooling and time spent playing on the road have shaped him into a musician who is not only a crowd-pleaser, but into someone that’s known and respected among his peers.

    Throughout Chris’ career, he has shared the stage with Charlie Hunter, moe., Bobby Blue Bland, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Soulive, Robert Randolph, The Word and AudioInFlux, to name a few. Chris is currently working on his first solo album, which will showcase songs that he has composed and written, with plans to release in the coming year.

    Chris plays drums with an intense rhythmic accuracy and skill that every drummer strives for, but few can deliver. His talent on the drums in concert with his incredibly powerful and soulful vocals contributes to any venture he takes on, aiding in creating a complete and euphonious musical experience for an audience.

    Find yourself in the celebration that is a Lucid show, and you’ll quickly understand the infectious, unique experience that music fans are raving about. Come and join the party.

    Follow Lucid

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  • Mister F Celebrates Year One at Red Square

    On March 1st, 2013, Albany was introduced to Mister F, a group comprised of members of Timbre Coup and Capital Zen, with an electronic-meets-progressive rock sound. One year later, after 97 shows at 48 venues across 16 states, Mister F celebrated their first anniversary with a vibrant and excited crowd at Red Square.

    With opener Formula 5 filling in for an ailing Aqueous (feel better Mike!), the Brothers Pickering, Matt and Ben, Scott Hannay and Andrew Chamberlaine played a two hour set, complete with a surprise cover of “This Must be the Place (Naive Melody)”, a rearranged “Vocoder”, where the double-time parts were half-time and the half-time parts were double-time, and an accelerating “Jump the Shark” to close the set. An occasion worth celebrating, Mister F has another big show on April 11th, the release party for their debut album The F Stands Four. 2014 is shaping up quite nicely for one of Albany’s hottest acts.

    Download the entire show from Archive.org

    Mister F at Red Square Setlist: Answer the Dawg, Deal Breaker, Treadmill, Everything You Say, Naive Melody, Vocoder^, Oasis > Eye Level, Get Used to it, Hedgehog, This one goes to 11 > Unisex Collider > This one goes to 11, Shit Catapult%, Jump the Shark.

    Encore: Oh my Dayum > On and On
    ^ inside-out
    % debut

  • Dweezil Zappa and Zappa Plays Zappa Play Roxy & Elsewhere at The Egg

    One of Frank Zappa’s classic albums, Roxy & Elsewhere, was on display for a packed house on Tuesday, February 25th at The Egg in Albany. Dweezil Zappa noted after “The Torture Never Stops” that the album is “40 years old and it’s still from the future”, a bold statement and reflection on Frank’s influence that has hardly ceased since his untimely death in 1993. Tonight, it would be a look at the past and a glance into the future of Zappa’s music through the lens of the band that is keeping the sound alive and fresh for the next generations.

    dweezil zappa

    Leading off Roxy with “Penguin in Bondage”, baritone Ben Thomas channeled Frank’s voice greater than expected – it was almost spooky how much he sounded like him. “Pygmy Twylyte” was almost too short but provided an aire of familiarity for some of the uninitiated audience members who are familiar only with certain covers provided by Zappa’s jamband descendants. During “Dummy Up”, there was a fair amount of “Albany-style twerking” between Thomas and saxophonist/flutist Scheila Gonzalez, who rolled up and mimed smoking a high school diploma. Chris Norton played daredevil during “Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?”, standing on his swivel chair and juggling, with moderate success. He returned to playing the xylophone parts of the song on his keys, doubling as a percussionist, a role he shared with drummer Ryan Brown.

    The horror movie inspired “Cheepnis” had Dweezil a little chatty while “More Trouble Everyday” received a standing ovation from the crowd. Prior to “Be-Bop Tango”, Dweezil remarked “If this is The Egg… then the stage must be the yolk”, and delved into the long exploration that to the untrained ear would be considered a musical mess when it was easily the highlight of the night. “Tango”, from which Phish’s “Reba” could have been conceived in the dorms at UVM, was accompanied by Thomas dancing while playing trombone, with Dweezil noting about this jazz, “It’s not dead, just very smooth.” And with that, the album was complete and anything else that was to come was gravy.

    The rest of the show had varying tempos, a few familiar hits (“Baby Snakes”, “Florentine Pogen”) and found deeper, longer compositions, specifically “The Black Page” (#1 & #2) as well as the stand alone, stripped down trio performing “Apostrophe”, and Peter Jones coming out for the vocals on “Debra Kadabra”. By the time the band came out for the encore, fans knew to expect even more familiarity in fan favorites that were nowhere to be found in the main set. “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” and “Cosmik Debris” segued into each other, eliciting huge applause from the crowd. Dweezil then went democratic and asked the fans to vote on the last song of the evening, with the two most popular choices being “Whipping Post” and “Muffin Man”. Naturally, the original, “Muffin Man”, took top honors and closed out the night with great fanfare and a buzz in the crowd as they slowly departed into the Swyer Theater lobby. Frank Zappa may be dead, but his legacy and music will never fade away with son Dweezil heading up Zappa Plays Zappa.

    Setlist: The Torture Never Stops, {Roxy & Elsewhere} Penguin in Bondage, Pygmy Twylyte, Dummy Up, Village of the Sun, Echidna’s Arf (Of You), Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? Cheepnis, Song of Orange County, More Trouble Everyday, Be-Bop Tango {Roxy and Elsewhere} I’m So Cute, Baby Snakes, Teenage Wind > Teenage Prostitute, Apostrophe, Debra Kadabra > The Black Page #1 > The Black Page #2 > Florentine Pogen

    Encore: Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow > Cosmik Debris, Muffin Man

  • Oversteppin’ Out: Mike Gordon Band Kicks off National Tour in Syracuse

    While we wait for Phish tour dates to be announced, the most pleasant of distractions, Mike Gordon, is making stops around the country over the next 5 weeks, an extensive tour to support Mike’s latest solo album Overstep. Starting in Syracuse on February 28th and ending in Burlington in early April, Mike Gordon Band has more than enough time to test out his recent studio tracks before live audiences and delve into his deep solo catalog. Featuring Scott Murawski on guitar, Tom Cleary on keys, Craig Myers on percussion and Todd Isler on drums, the first show of the tour was a solid one, giving a taste of what’s to come over the next 20 or so shows.

    mike gordon band syracuseA tightly packed crowd in the darkened confines of the Westcott Theater was shifting about and settling in throughout the first set, with fans craning their necks for a better view of the band, who many were seeing for the first time. Mike Gordon Band does not tour as extensively as Trey Anastasio Band, the more popular and familiar of the Phish side-projects, and as such the chances of seeing Mike Gordon’s band is limited to tours in support of new albums, or the occasional short run, as he played in December 2011. Thus, the show was sold out earlier in the week and those in attendance were lively in spirit and properly clad in Orange.

    mike gordon band syracuse“Face”, one of the half dozen songs from new album Overstep, opened the night, followed by the more familiar “Say Something”, which has been played by Phish twice in 2013 and beckons the crowd to screech the title “sAAAAy Something!” The ambiance in the jam that developed from “Traveled Too Far” is a hallmark of Mike’s band – they aren’t there to play standard versions or the same old jam each time – they have an affluence of patience when it comes to the unscripted portion of the songs, making nearly any song a jam-vehicle, even if just for one night. “Dig Further Down” wowed the audience when Mike’s bass and Scott’s guitar lit up in LED fashion; when placed against the silhouette of the backdrops, the visual took on an Anglerfish-vibe, where your attention is drawn to the light, while unable to see the full behemoth lurking in the darkness. The first set ended with “Jumping”, a solid calypso-infused number that was ripe for jamming and jumping. Ninety minutes of music to start the tour? This could bode well for the next month or more.

    A fair opener of “Paint” and an ethereal “Ether” led into more spacious jamming between Mike and Scott, with the rest of the band following suit as a well-oiled machine.  “Jones” had repeating vocals that were akin to Bowie’s “Fame” refrain, while “Fire From a Stick” had Mike and Scott bouncing back and forth on stage. “Peel”, not my favorite track on Overstep by any measure is miles better live, complete with Mike performing yoga sun salutes before the song began.

    The slow build into “Peel” featured Mike on an acoustic guitar, plucking away while percussionist Craig Myers broke out a Kamel N’goni during “Angatta”, drawing the attention of the chatty crowd. Mike spoke to the crowd briefly during the night, but unless you were close the acoustics were muffling his words like Charlie Brown’s teacher’s voice. He commented that he was so busy getting ready for tour, but he felt so much more relaxed just being there, and commented on his espresso vegan milkshake from earlier in the day. “Hap-Nappy”, a familiar tune from the GRAB/Mike & The Italians days of 2006, found its way back into “Peel” to close the set. The encore of “Andelman’s Yard” had a mossy lightscape with more stellar percussion from Myers and added another dose of familiarity to the setlist.

    Altogether, it was a great start to the tour and warmed up a cold winter chill that can only be fully thawed with Summer Tour plans in place. Mike still has a couple shows in the area, including dates in Woodstock, Tarrytown, Mass MoCA  and Burlington in late March/Early April. Get your tickets early – these shows are already selling out. 

    Set One: Face, Say Something, Cruel World, Sugar Shack, Mississippi, Traveled Too Far, Crumblin’ Bones, Dig Further Down, Jumping
    Set Two: Paint, Ether, Jones, Fire From a Stick, Peel > Mrs. Peel > Angatta, Hap Nappy > Peel
    Encore: Andelman’s Yard

  • Future Rocked at Red Square

    Future Rock returned to Albany courtesy of Zen Rose Productions with their impressive light show and livetronica trio on Saturday, February 22nd at Red Square. Chicago is lucky to have such a stellar trio of musicians performing live electronic music in the caliber of Disco Biscuits, STS9 and Lotus, with less members and just as much punch. Over the course of a two hour, 15 minute performance that went well past 2 am, Mickey Kellerman (keys), Darren Heitz (drums) and Felix Moreno (bass) took the crowd through many strata of electronica with four-on-the-floor beats throughout the night.

    The set was chock full of dancing, solid originals including “Reach Your Heitz”, “Ce Jeu” and “Pathfinder” as well as a few choice covers in Gorillaz’ “Glitter Freeze” and a slight remix of Daft Punk’s “Contact”, spliced with “One More Time” samples. The fast tempo “FM 1000”, remixed by DJ Thibault (who also opened up the night as a perfect warmup for Future Rock), is well worth a listen (check out his side project with Felix, Autobody.) After running through the setlist, Darren asked the crowd if they wanted some more and the still thriving crowd was treated to “Pathfinder” and “Romantic Rights”.

    The lights were phenomenal, if not overpowering in the intimate setting, but made the appeal of the show that much greater. Future Rock is a multi-faceted band with deep connection between the three members that creates electronica that is of a higher echelon in the genre. They can come back to Albany anytime after a performance like this.

    Setlist: Droid, Majestic, Reach Your Heitz, $$$$$, Tranzmission, Spark, Midnight Madness, One day, Tremble, Milky Way, Ce Jeu, FM 1000, Glitter Freeze, Contact, Pathfinder, Romantic Rights

  • Conspirator Makes A Stop at Putnam Den on February 27th with Digital Dharma

    Conspirator will be making a stop at Saratoga’s Putnam Den on Thursday, February 27th with local electronica band Digital Dharma. Conspirator was formed in 2004 by Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits and DJ Omen as a creative outlet to further explore electronic music production. Since 2004 the band has created quite the following and fan base nation wide and played some of the biggest festivals on the circuit. Chris Michetti of Raq and Kj Sawka of Pendulum were added to the group in 2012 to create a powerful and dynamic foursome that has taken the live music scene by storm. Drummer Torch joined the group in place of Sawka and the result has been extended improvisation that dips into blues and jazz amid an electronic base.

    conspirator digital dharmaWith the release of Unleashed in January 2013, it was clear that Conspirator was here to stay. The energy packed album brings a new light to the world of electronic music with skillful instrumentation and a vast array and fusion of different techniques and styles from all reaches of the world of music.  This is definitely going to be a show you will not want to miss. Tickets for Conspirator and Digital Dharma are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Doors at 8, Show at 9. Buy tickets here

  • moe.down 15 Announces Initial Lineup, Tickets on Sale Today

    moe.down 15 has announced their initial lineup and some heavy hitters are in store for moe.rons! Joining moe. this year will be jamtronica gurus Lotus, Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang, Soulive, O.A.R., Vermont’s Twiddle and Buffalo’s Aqueous. Expect more bands to be announced over the next two months to round out an already stellar lineup.

    Early bird general admission and VIP tickets are on sale now. Pick up tickets and RV passes here!

    moe.down 15 lineup

  • A Love Fest in Bearsville: Robert Randolph and the Family Band

    Valentine’s Day in Woodstock seemed like a perfect romantic weekend getaway, but what to do while in town besides eat, shop and enjoy the picturesque Catskill setting? Robert Randolph and the Family Band answered that question with a performance at Bearsville Theater to a vibrant, coupled crowd. The Compact warmed the crowd up with power trio guitar rock, highlighted by a some Herbie Hancock and a “Cissy Strut” jam appetizer.

    robert randolph bearsvilleThis was the first of many trips to Bearsville Theater and the location is ideal, only a little over an hour drive from Albany and right off the main road with ample parking, even with an excess of snow taking up spots, but understandably so after this eternal winter. The venue has a cabin in the woods architecture but inside its far more than that. A sunken bar so as not to block the view of the view of the stage, which was unfettered via glass windows, making for optimal sightlines to the crowd in the bar. Limited reserved seating upstairs provided a great view but downstairs among the crowd, dancing on the floor were the majority of the crowd. Randolph’s howling, and screaming pedal steel guitar squealed as he and his band took the stage for an all too short 90 minute set.

    Following a warm up instrumental, The Family Band tore into “Amped Up”, one of the many highlights off of 2013’s Lickety Split, and gave the crowd an electric charge to begin the night. Seated at first, then standing up for some of the songs that took a more aggressive touch, Randolph was mellower but still gave off an energy that fed into the crowd. This was the breakout Bonnaroo star of 2002, but with more restraint and focus. The result: a honed sound and showcase of the beauty of the pedal steel as well as what you can do when you possess a great deal of talent in the instrument. Randolph’s cousin, Danyel Morgan, held grooves down on bass and quickly escalated the beat as Robert sped up the lead. A variation on the Wetlands classic “The March” brought the quartet into sync in one of the few composed parts of the evening. 

    It wasn’t “La Grange” but it was damn close. Pouring ZZ Top into “Shake Your Hips” included Robert inviting the ladies in the audience to dance on stage, an ever-welcome staple of a Randolph show. Deep instrumentals and a sit-in with an unknown guitarist preceded the closing “I Don’t Know What You’ve Come to Do”, with Danyel’s high-range vocals setting the crowd a foot. Between the pedal steel’s shrieks of joy and Danyel’s passion, you couldn’t find a better closing song for the sweat-inducing set.

    An encore of a slow Randolph-led jam deferred to Ted’s Jam, wrapping up the show just after midnight. Altogether, it was a perfect Valentine’s Day with The Family Band. The only thing that seemed amiss – one of their biggest hits is “I Need More Love” but it wasn’t played on Valentine’s Day? The show had no complaints, but it felt like a missed opportunity on second glance. Nevertheless, Robert Randolph and the Family Band have a unique and rounded sound that is second to none. You can catch them in Syracuse on March 20th at The Westcott Theater. 

  • moe. Celebrates The Wetlands 25th Anniversary with Friends

    The Wetlands Preserve may be gone, but it is far from forgotten, thanks to Pete Shapiro and The Capitol Theatre, which served as the location from which to pay tribute to the fabled venue on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The former lower Manhattan club is still fresh in the many memories of the fans but especially the musicians who performed in lower Manhattan in the 1990s. A wide group, including Jimmy Herring, Nate Wilson, Reid Genauer, Conehead Buddha, Peter Prince, Chris Barron and many more joined moe. over the course of February 7th and 8th. It was a night where those fans who did frequent The Wetlands and those who know the venue just from the oral history of the Jamband scene combined to share in the legacy of the venue and make new memories.

    moe wetlandsThere is a great deal of history coming from The Wetlands, with extensive proof found in Wetlands Perserved, a must-see DVD. The venue lineup any given week was a who’s who of touring bands. Having moe. play for two nights and bring out friends served as a fitting throwback to yesteryear. When is moe. not moe.? When they have their friends playing with them on jam-friendly originals and a variety of covers on a special occasions such as this.

    Opening for moe. were The Ringers, featuring three guitarists – Jimmy Herring,Wayne Krantz, Michael Landau, bassist Etienne Mbappe and drummer Gary Novak. A full set of rockin’ blues with glorious jamming was a sight not to miss. Flawless rock and shred done right, but the set was all too short. We need more Ringers shows, simple as that.  In between the sets, video and photo footage was projected on the Capitol Theatre’s majestic walls; those in the balcony had a great view that aided the crowd in reminiscing.

    moe. came out to “New York City”, naturally, then dipped into the past with “Y.O.Y.” and “Nebraska”, and brought up Nate Wilson to play piano and organ on “Blue Jeans Pizza” and “Plane Crash”, where he recalled “Giorgio by Morodor” from Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. Michael Landeau joined on guitar, as did Jimmy Herring for “Buster”, with a projection of the flying pig on the tour poster projected across both sides of the stage. To cap off an already stellar set, members of Percy Hill, Max Creek, Strangefolk and Aquarium Rescue Unit joined moe. for an instant classic rendition of “Sugaree”, rotating verses between them. What a closer.

    “Mexico” kicked off the second set, and moe.’s oft-used jam-vehicle for friends had yet another stellar showing, launching themselves into the rest of the night. Reid joined and led on vocals during this conversational “Mexico”. A surprise to many, Strangefolk’s “Speculator” kept Reid on vocals and was rocked out between Chuck, Reid, Al and Nate. In particular, Nate played the perfect accents of piano in “Speculator”, a song above all other Strangefolk songs that is greatly benefited by the addition of piano. It’s a good song. “Growin”, “She” and “The Road” rounded out the set, with a monstrous “Timmy Tucker” closing out the set. An encore of “Up on Cripple Creek” with Reid, Scott and Nate made for an ideal communal song to end the night’s festivities. This was a classic night that will be recalled vividly, and hopefully, repeated annually at The Cap.

    Bonus from the two shows! Pick up a FREE download of the weekend’s shows: February 7th and February 8th. Don’t miss out on these hot shows

    photos by Mike Geller