Upstate Phishheads can rejoice today as one of the most memorable shows the foursome has ever played in Western New York is released by LivePhish with beautiful sounding board quality from Darien Lake on August 7, 1993.
1993 was a time of change for Phish – transitioning from small theaters into larger amphitheaters and watching their fan base literally explode in size. The summer of ’93 contains some of the most memorable moments in Phishtory and this heater of a show from the then 16,000 capacity Darien Lake Performing Arts center was no exception.
Highlights include a ripping “Llama” opener, a radically non-standard “Mike’s > Groove” (w/ “The Sloth” taking the Weekapaug spot), and an ascent up Colonel Forbin’s mountain via the “Roller Coaster of the Mind”. This show is top notch from end to end – I should know, I was there and it was my phirst.
A cover heavy jammin good time was had by a packed State Theater in Ithaca on Monday Nov. 10, the band’s first return to the Southern Tier since 2005.
Opening with a 10+ minute “Shine”, the audience was enthralled from the high energy exhibited from the band members. “Orange Blossom Special” emerged from a jammed out “So Far From Home,” while “Dirk > Jungle Boogie > Dirk” stood out as a highlight of the show, giving a nod to their performance at Lockn’ Festival with K.C. of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. A closing “Colorado Bluebird Sky” was the highest of notes to end on, full of jamgrassy goodness throughout the western anthem.
Two songs stood out in the second set – the opener “BollyMunster” and off of the recent release Song in My Head, “Colliding”. I am still not sold on “BollyMunster,” simply because of its melting pot nature, featuring touches of bluegrass, Bollywood, and electronic as it just overwhelms what could be a stronger composition if stripped down slightly, even to an acoustic level. “Colliding,” however, wowed the audience with returns to the composition after a strong central jam. “Can’t Wait Another Day,” another track off Song in My Head, could easily transport you to a beach in the Caribbean, full of life and carefree dancing. “Outside and Inside” had a surprising inclusion of U2’s “Mysterious Ways,” catching the audience off guard but welcomed more than Songs of Innocence on their iPhones.
The encore was a treat. Bill Nershi weaved his way through the semi-biographical “Jellyfish,” which ended up with two verses of Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritavilla” before moving into the closer “Black Clouds”. Their first time back in Upstate in nine years and String Cheese impressed the capacity crowd who were sent buzzing into the streets of Ithaca. Fortunately, this night’s show did not end early with the fire alarm being pulled. Back in October 2005, Bill Nershi made up for this faux pas by treating the fans to acoustic versions of “Bar Stool” and “Texas” in the street in front of the venue, but tonight the band would leave it all on the stage and the fans likewise would leave it all on the dance floor.
Set 1: Shine > So Far From Home > Orange Blossom Special, Sweet Spot, Master Blaster (Jammin), Drums, Dirk > Jungle Boogie > Dirk, Colorado Bluebird Sky
Set 2: BollyMunster, Miss Brown’s Teahouse > Chameleon > Miss Brown’s Teahouse, Colliding > Land’s End > Can’t Wait Another Day, Outside And Inside > Mysterious Ways > Outside And Inside
Encore: Jellyfish > Margaritaville > Black Clouds
String Cheese Incident continued their tour of NY with two nights at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on Tuesday the 11th and Wednesday the 12th. The crowd was getting restless until, at last, SCI took the stage a little after 8:30 with no shoes on but big smiles. The show kicked off with “Search” featuring some killer dueling solos from percussionists Jason Hann and Michael Travis. Keeping up with the upbeat vibe, “Birdland” saw strong organ chords from Kyle Hollingsworth with light cymbal work making for a fusion of jazz and funk when adding Keith Moseley’s bass. Bill Nershi gives a consistent earthy folk sound on his acoustic guitar as he danced merrily around the stage with Michael Kang, providing high voltage on the electric guitar. “Sometimes a River” held the classic rock rhythm with an easy flowing country melody as the crowd happily sang back the lyrics with gusto. Performing the title song of their album, “Song in my Head” was a swirling and dizzying light tune with steady builds before turning into a dark jam as the melody suddenly dropped to the thunderous boom of Travis. The set ended with “Close Your Eyes” which was a harmonious and ferocious jam with an ethnic flair from Hann on bongos and old world plucking from Nershi.
The second set was a nonstop roller coaster of dark space and psychedelic melodies, starting out with an awesome Caribbean cover of “This Must Be the Place” by Talking Heads. “Valley of the Jig” was an Irish Lord of the Dance show, but with a dark side of Mars vibe. Taking a moment to experience the here and now, Moseley shouted out “Happy 11/11!” at 11:11pm as the band appropriately went into the breezy cute ballad of “Smile”. Not too surprising given the reputation of The Cap, but the beginning notes of The Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” resulted in a full-out explosion of midnight madness. SCI must have been on Colorado time as the show went pretty late for a week night as the set closed out with a spooky “Desert Dawn.” The encore of “Restless Wind” summed up everything there is about String Cheese Incident. Kang’s fiddle work brought out their deep roots of bluegrass, Hollingsworth slammed on his keys, and the entire band lifted the crowd with rockitude. SCI was appreciative of the fans and the atmosphere of the venue as they repetitively thanked the crowd. Both shows are available for download on livecheese.com.
Set 1: Search, Birdland, You’ve Got the World, Sometimes a River, Indian Creek, Song In My Head > Give Me the Love, Close Your Eyes
Set 2 : This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) > It Is What It Is> Valley of the Jig, Smile, Joyful Sound> Shakedown Street> Desert Dawn
Hartford, Connecticut’s The McLovins have announced four new tour dates including two visits to Upstate in Rochester and Saratoga Springs. The Superbad “hero” monikered group has grown at a furious pace since their debut in 2008 touring all over the US.
Saratoga Springs gets a visit at the Putnam Den Dec 5 w/ The Orwells providing support. This show is FREE. Fast forward to 2015 and you can catch the ‘lovin’ at Rochester’s Montage Music Hall February 21.
The band will also be working in some new lighting and video effects with lighting director Thai Guy. According to drummer Jake Huffman: “This tour we will have 3 lasers, lights, and a full projection rig with us and we are starting to dabble in video.”
Celebrating their first twenty years, Gov’t Mule will be stopping at the State Theatre in Ithaca, NY on November 15 in the midst of their celebratory anniversary tour to spread their unique organic brand of heavy rock and blues. In support of their 2013 LP Shout!, the concert is sure to feature recent Mule compositions in addition to a plethora of unique cover tunes and Mule classics from their genre twisting classic recordings.
Following a preceding November 14 visit to The Palace Theatre in Albany, the Mule will be bringing the musical party to the Upstate masses in what is sure to be the usual incendiary Govt Mule musical display. The current tour reaches its conclusion in Ithaca, in what is guaranteed to be blow out finale for the band.
After consuming Dopapod’s fourth studio effort Never Odd or Even a few times I started to feel a kinship with that moth lead guitarist/vocalist Rob Compa sings about in “Present Ghost” – the albums lead track. Unlike most releases of late, it ruled my brains mental music player for days without rest. End to end the 9 (+1 hidden) track piece has no dead air, no filler, no bathroom songs and more peaks and valleys then the beautiful Upstate NY terrain. This is music that goes beyond simple listening and invites your other senses to an emotion filled rager (w/ free tequila!). It’s happy, sad, spooky, mysterious, and ecstatic all in one prettily packaged jewel case.
“Remembering is everything! Everything! Everything!”
The ‘pod’s music, like many of their peers, is impossible to pigeon-hole into any sort of simple description . This is genre-non-biased music by definition – a conglomeration of every influential mentor on four musician’s lives. Like Mr. Compa says – remembering is everything – to transcend ones predecessors one must appreciate their crafts in their own original way. Influences are rife throughout N.O.O.E – the “Empty Spaces” (Pink Floyd) like breakdown in lead track “Present Ghost” – the Zappa like guitar and organ harmony in “Like a Ball” – the Cream sludge rock bookends on quite probably the world’s only honky-tonk jazz instrumental: “Hey Zeus (Que Pasa)”. Even Hollywood gets a nod here with the Poindexter infused peaks of the aptly titled “Nerds” which – beyond an amusing spoken part – only contains the repeated lyric “No words”.
“They just don’t like sing that much, there’s like no words”
It would be remiss of me to exit this review without mentioning the absolute high point of an album full of them. Track 4 – the mysteriously titled all instrumental “FABA” – takes back the sadly overused word “epic” to its original meaning. Despite containing elements of jazz, funk, rock, and electronica this nine minute piece is closest to a classical composition – as if Mozart and Anastasio smoked a giant blunt and made a hippie opus for the ages. Put simply – it fucking rocks. All of it rocks, get on this album, it’s the best 10$ you’ll spend this year.
The day of the dead saw the demise of one Phish Halloween tradition and the birth of something completely different. Rather than play another band’s album as a musical costume, Phish opted to interpret a rare cut from the Disney collection – Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House (1964), turning a 25 minute sound effects album into a 65 minute demonstration in improvised interpretation.
The result was one of the most talked about nights of Phish, not only for the performance that was experienced, but the potential of what was to come the next two nights and over their upcoming New Years run in Miami.
The first of three sets was bookended with haunted numbers, an opening sequence of “Buried Alive > Ghost” and a funk filled “Wolfman’s Brother” to close it out, steadily building the anticipation for the grand mystery of what this Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House set would end up being.
The stage and lighting were well done, per usual. The word in the casino was that the Cirque du Soleil show at MGM Grand, KÀ, was not in production that night, meaning the elaborate stage performances that Phish has become known for at their larger events would be accompanied by some of Vegas’ best. Phish began their set with “The Haunted House” inside of a haunted house that was pushed out onto a stage filled with smoke and a graveyard. An audio-visual highlight, “The Fuse” showed a slow burning fuse across the front of the haunted house which built the audience to froth and a jam that is hopefully heard in Miami. When the fuse went out, the walls from the house blew down and it was game on – the band was dressed in white tuxedos with ghoulish makeup, playing on top of this haunted house. The cheers were defeaning.
photo by Rene Huemer
During “Dogs” the audience, naturally, howled along with the pre-recorded barks and screams and the band worked into a jam that could re-emerge in “I Saw it Again.” “Timber” was the first really spooky song of the night while “Your Pet Cat”, like all songs on the album, were introduced by Esther, a graveyard resident who kept the interpretation of the album true to the original by including the original narration.
photo by Rene Huemer
The spaciest jam of the night, “Shipwreck”, was full of weirdness and had the deepest jam, in the vein of “Sand”, a looming threat in Set 3. “The Unsafe Bridge” became a PulpFiction-esque surf rocker while both dark and foreboding.
“The Chinese Water Torture” ended up being the song that sounded most like an above-standard Phish-jam while “The Birds” got deep and heavy and gave the crowd a gift in the form of Esther’s pre-recorded “They Attack!” serving as both a catalyst and bridge to the jams that developed. The set was ending on such a high note when “Martian Monster” followed “The Birds” with its own sound snipper with ‘Your Trip is Short’. Repeated over and over, the crowd caught on quickly during a 10 minute groove that never let up.
photo by Dave Vann
I look forward to finding out how this album came to the band’s attention and how their discussion of how to play this set developed, as well as how the night was produced and choreographed. Those who put the show together command respect for contributing such a major component to evening.
The third set kept the energy flowing, starting with “Punch You in the Eye > Golden Age > Tweezer > Heavy Things”, all of which flowed together seamlessly. Guyute was greeted with cheers for its rarity while “Sand” gave us the longest jam of the weekend, clocking in at 18 minutes and segued seamlessly into “Tweezer Reprise”. An encore of Leonard Cohen’s “Is this what you Wanted” referenced ghosts of a relationship haunting a house, and doubling as a question to difficult to please Phish fans. Page McConnell broke out the keytar for an appropriate “Frankenstein” cover that ended the night.
Poster by Michael Boyer
The introduction of brand new improv, a counterbalance to last year’s brand new album Wingsuit (later released in June as Fuego) was more than welcome by fans – there was no ambivalence here as nearly all saw this for what it was: Phish doing the unexpected and appealing to the pleas of fans who seek a greater degree of improvisational jamming.
We all won in Vegas with Phish. Each night kept getting better and we had reminders on the 1st and 2nd of November with some choice teases and jams. Never a dull moment to be had, Phish connected early with a surprise roundhouse and we enjoyed the bewilderment that followed through the bold choice of Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House.
Set 1: Buried Alive>Ghost, Scent of a Mule, Sample in a Jar, Reba, 46 Days, Big Black Furry Creature from Mars, Lawn Boy, Saw It Again>Tube, Wolfman’s Brother
Set 2: The Haunted House, The Very Long Fuse, The Dogs, Timber, Your Pet Cat, Shipwreck, The Unsafe Bridge, The Chinese Water Torture, The Birds, Martian Monster
Set 3: Punch You In the Eye>Golden Age>Tweezer->Heavy Things, Guyute, Sand->Tweezer Reprise
Aqueous have announced plans for a NYE party at Buffalo’s Iron Works with regional funk superstars Funktional Flow. This will be the band’s second show at one of the Nickel City’s newest venues following a near sell-out at their CD release show October 25th. The Iron Works is located in the harbor district across the street from the home of the Buffalo Sabres – The First Niagara Center – and features an “always open” kitchen, killer draft lineup, and top notch sound lights and stage. Sabres fans should take note, as attendees to the NYE home game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning can get $5 off at the door with their ticket stub.
Non-hockey fans can net a pre-sale ticket for $10 or take their chances at the door for $12. Don’t delay on those tickets – it is extremely likely this event will sell-out – Flow has a huge local crowd and Aqueous has not been in town for NYE since 2012. Given both bands last few NYE sets there should be lots of surprises in store. Check out last year’s Aqueous setlist below. Welcome back to the Buff AQ! (Shirts and shoes required)
2013/12/31 Aqueous at The Crooked I, Erie PA
SET I: The Median, Skyway > Eon Don, Complex Pt. II *, Coyote Run **, Africa ***
SET II: Auld Lang Syne > Master of Puppets ^ > Origami, Dave’s Song > Kitty Chaser (Explosions), King For a Day > Willy is 40, All In, Mean Mr. Mustard ^^ > Polythene Pam ^^ > She Came in Through the Bathroom Window ^^ > Golden Slumbers ^^ > Carry that Weight ^^ > The End ^^
ENCORE: Her Majesty ^^ > Warren in the Window
NOTES:
* First time played original
** with Eric Brewer on guitar
*** First time played, Toto cover
^ First time played, Metallica cover
^^ First time played, The Beatles cover
The jam band Umphrey’s McGee took the stage at the Broome County Forum on Wednesday, October 29. The GA show left the lower orchestra packed and an intimate environment for the dedicated fans that traveled and locals that indulged in the convenience. These fans know they’re always in for a new treat, with Umph constantly changing with the tide and adapting to the crowd.
Amidst it’s fall touring of the Midwest and East Coast promoting the new album Similar Skin, the rarely hosting Forum had it in their cards to land a class act. Guitarist/vocalist Brendan Bayliss, guitarist/vocalist Jake Cinninger, keyboardist/pianist/vocalist Joel Cummins, drummer/vocalist Kris Myers, bassist Ryan Stasik, and percussionist Andy Farag, together form a Voltron-like beast as formidable as any other jam creation. They made sure to suit up for the Forum, providing plenty of their classics, spreading they’re new album exposure across the tour.
Starting with “Jekyll & Hyde > Robot World”, Umph played a transforming “Walletsworth”, “Rocker Pt. 2”, “Anchor Drops”, a “Get in the Van” that explored thrashing to a paradise breeze and everywhere in-between, followed by a stanky legged “Smell the Mitten”, and clear fan favorite, a sixteen minute “Plunger” to wrap up the first set.
The second set opened with “Search For”, followed by a “Much Obliged” that featured a “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” (Paul Simon) jam. “Yoga Pants” then fooled me into thinking we we’re getting an “In the Kitchen”, instead it sounds like a song among the stars, where I’m sure we can agree “Yoga Pants” came from anyway. A nearly seventeen minute beastly “Hurt Bird Bath” would be a journey as the jam buildt and transitioned from one moment to the next. The next part of the journey was the win; it was Mario taking out Bowser back on NES, a “2×2 > Final Word > 2×2” that single-handedly stormed the castle, rescued the princess, earned her eternal love, and Hulk Hogan’ed off her chastity belt. In celebration, a Steely Dan cover of “Reelin in the Years” brought everyone on the same page of joy and nostalgia. An 11 minute “Conduit” would close out the second set.
“WE WANT THE UMPH, GOTTA HAVE THAT UMPH!” – the familiar chant wasn’t heard on this evening, but the interactive band would never let its loyals down. They came out with a soul food serving of Waylon Jennings “Good Ol’ Boys”, and a send off a moving “Wife Soup” for dessert.
Umphrey’s not only fails to disappoint, they’re still getting better. With a huge following across the country selling out theaters and headlining festivals, if you haven’t walked out of a venue with an “Umph Love” sticker lately, get off life support and get out there.
Umphrey’s McGee at The Broome County Forum Setlist via All Things Umphrey’s: Set 1: Jekyll & Hyde > Robot World > Walletsworth, Rocker Part 2, Anchor Drops > Get In The Van, Comma Later > Smell the Mitten, Plunger Set 2: Search 4, Much Obliged[1] > Yoga Pants > Hurt Bird Bath[2], 2×2 > Final Word > 2×2, Reelin’ in the Years, Conduit Encore: Good Ol’ Boys, Wife Soup
[1] with 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Paul Simon) jam
[2] with Domino Theory teases
Last weekend Phil Lesh and Friends played their first of a five weekend residency at the storied Capitol Theatre, starting with a Halloween show. Highlights included spooky takes on “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” “Sympathy for the Devil” and both versions of “Dark Star” with “Fire on the Mountain” sandwiched in between. An encore of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” ended the night, like the song did for The Grateful Dead in 1990 and 1991. The next night saw the band tackle “He’s Gone” which included an extended jam,”Mason’s Children” and a great encore of the run of “Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklin’s Tower”. The two night run consisted of members John Kadlecik, Dan Lebowitz, Rob Barraco, Joe Russo, and Scott Law, while Nels Cline joined in on night two.
This coming weekend Phil will be joined by Eric Krasno, Joe Russo, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood featuring Chris Robinson, Neal Casal, and Adam MacDougall. This line up is surely to take the music towards a more psychedelic sound. The 2005 tour with Chris Robinson has been said to be one of the stronger line ups in the Friends history. Eric Krasno most famously played with Lesh and Russo in Central Park at an unannounced show almost exactly one year ago. The set last about a half-hour and consisted of primarily jazz-style improvisation. The theatre should be buzzing with feelings of the mid 60’s as soon as the band takes the stage on Friday November 7. Tickets are still availabe, but are limited in supply.
This five week residency is of course part of the deal that Lesh maybe with Peter Shapiro, owner of Relix, Brooklyn Bowl, and The Capitol Theatre. Although it looks like Phil won’t be performing 30 shows at The Capitol Theatre like first thought, he will be getting close after he closes the year out with help from Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. The PhilRAD shows take place on December 30 and 31 and are already sold out. At age 74 Phil Lesh definitely won’t be doing this for much longer, so if you have the chance to buy a ticket, take the ride and see the bassist when you get the chance.
What do you get when you cross an improvisational instrumental trio and a good amount of studio time? This Is What You Get. That’s the name of the newest album of Ithaca-bred band SOLARiS, who have taken the Upstate music scene by storm with their minimal use of instrumentation and maximum use of funkadelic improvisation.
Released on September 9, this LP has 13 tracks that often contrast in style. With the mutual understanding of the improv art, however, these three amigos certainly create a sound that blends each song together with the next.
Back in 2010, bandmates Jared Raphel, Vince Naro, and Daniel Scott Lyons met in Binghamton and had a vision: to create a jam band that sounds completely rehearsed, but thrives in creating music on the spot. With their earlier releases, such as Beyond 3-D, BLACK, and NeoN, they have kept this vision alive, combining their raw improv with production effects. Even skimming through their discography, you can see this vision within their song titles, like “First Jam”, “Unfrozen (A Live Jam),” and let’s not forget one of my favorites from This Is What You Get (or TIWYG), entitled “Billy’s Jam.”
While albums like Beyond 3-D clearly blend studio production into their mix, TIWYG brings listeners back to basics using only three instruments: keys, bass, and drums. The most basic instrumental combinations take place at the beginning of the album, especially in songs like “Doomsday” as well as “Drum and Bass” (no kidding).
As the album continues, the trio introduce electronic components, such as a drum pad versus a kit, as well as added synthesizer effects on what was a keyboard. By the time we are brought “In The Jungle,” we are greeted by a progressing bass line and simultaneous synth melodies, embodying a walk through an African safari. Following right after is the title track of the album, “This Is What You Get” where we switch gears to include more of a hip hop drum influence, with swirling echoes throughout the keyboard section. In case that wasn’t enough contrast for you, be sure to listen to “Iron Dome,” which I can only describe as electronic drum pad meets the Indian santoor.
To experience this improvisational magic, you can always find This Is What You Get on their Bandcamp. Luckily for us, the band tours primarily in the New England area, making stops throughout Upstate quite often. They’re playing a show this Halloween at the Lot 10 in Ithaca, so don’t just take my word for it; experience their live improvisation for yourself! Make sure you follow their website and Facebook page, and go catch them at one of their shows and see what YOU get from SOLARiS.
Key Tracks: Billy’s Jam, Doomsday, This is What you Get
Upstate Phishheads can rejoice today as one of the most memorable shows the foursome has ever played in Western New York is released by LivePhish with beautiful sounding board quality from Darien Lake on August 7, 1993.
Opening with a 10+ minute “Shine”, the audience was enthralled from the high energy exhibited from the band members. “Orange Blossom Special” emerged from a jammed out “So Far From Home,” while “Dirk > Jungle Boogie > Dirk” stood out as a highlight of the show, giving a nod to their performance at Lockn’ Festival with K.C. of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. A closing “Colorado Bluebird Sky” was the highest of notes to end on, full of jamgrassy goodness throughout the western anthem.
Tickets are available for $29.50-39.50 for the all age’s performance here.
The first of three sets was bookended with haunted numbers, an opening sequence of “Buried Alive > Ghost” and a funk filled “Wolfman’s Brother” to close it out, steadily building the anticipation for the grand mystery of what this Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House set would end up being.
What do you get when you cross an improvisational instrumental trio and a good amount of studio time? This Is What You Get. That’s the name of the newest album of Ithaca-bred band