NYS Music 20​14

Category: Oneonta

  • Modest Mouse Brings Some Added Excitement to Cooperstown This Memorial Day Weekend

    What better way to kick off Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of summer, than at an idyllic venue in Cooperstown, NY, with none other than indie rock legends Modest Mouse! Brewery Ommegang, known for producing a rich (and strong!) Belgian-style of beer in a part of the state that has traditionally been a large producer of hops, has also gotten into the concert business, and hosts bands on a stage in the field behind the brewery itself. There is always ample space to move around, and lots of tasty food options from local vendors available on the edges of the field during the concerts. Continuing its tradition of hosting bands that don’t typically tour as often as many other jam bands, but that you’ve secretly always wanted to check out (like Cake and Wilco, to name just a couple of bands who have played there in recent years), Brewery Ommegang is proud to be presenting Modest Mouse on Friday and Saturday, May 23 and 24!

    An American indie rock band, founded in 1993 in Washington State, Modest Mouse’s sound has often been likened to bands ranging from the Pixies to Built to Spill. While Modest Mouse’s line-up is constantly evolving, two of the band’s founding members, singer/guitarist Isaac Brock and drummer Jeremiah Green, seem to be mainstays, having gotten their start rehearsing in a shed next to Brock’s mother’s trailer home. The band’s current line-up, in addition to Brock and Green, includes percussionist Joe Plummer, guitarist/keyboardist/bassist Tom Peloso, guitarist/vocalist Jim Fairchild, and bassist Russell Higbee. Continuing in their tradition of playing eclectic venues, having played in such a unique venue as the McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn (which has since gone back to being used as a public pool!), and about to play a show later in the summer (on August 9, to be exact) at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, Modest Mouse is nice enough to include Cooperstown’s own gem of a venue on their roster.

    Both shows will be starting at 7PM, with the gates opening at 5. On May 23, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls will be opening the show, and on May 24, the opening band will be Brand New. Camping is available onsite as an option for those who are planning to partake in the tasty goodness of Ommegang beer. Tickets for this event cost $45 in advance, or $60 with camping pass included, although both shows are sold out. Visit www.ommegang.com for information. (If you are lucky enough to be seeing both Friday and Saturday nights’ shows, and are looking for something fun to do during the day on the Saturday in between, it happens to be the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s 75th anniversary this year, and they are kicking off the celebration this weekend, which includes a Game Day Parade and the Hall of Fame Classic baseball game going on on May 24! Check out their website, www.baseballhall.org, for more information.)

    Modest Mouse will be back in our area in the not-too-distant future, when they return as part of The Hudson Project, which will be taking place on Winston Farm, home of the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, in beautiful Saugerties, NY, from July 11-13. For more information on the rest of this summer’s Modest Mouse tour dates, check out the band’s website at www.modestmouse.com.

  • 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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  • Spend an Evening with Alt-Country Legend Steve Earle at Club Helsinki

    The Saturday of Presidents’ Weekend should be a blast at Club Helsinki in “Upstate’s Downtown” Hudson, where Steve Earle will be belting out some of his signature rockabilly, alt-country, and anti-war tunes. Garnering inspiration from musicians such as Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, many of Steve Earle’s songs have been recorded by country superstars including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Joan Baez. After a brief hiatus in the early ‘90s, Earle came back strong with an album that returned to more of his folksy acoustic roots. This tour will be in support of his latest album Townes, comprising songs written by Earle’s mentor, the late great singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt.  Come on out to spend an evening with this triple Grammy-winning legend, who is kind enough to make the trip to our neck of the woods for a performance.

    The show will be starting at 9 PM, with the doors opening at 6:00. Come early if you can, and be sure to enjoy a tasty dinner of slow-cooked southern cuisine served up in the restaurant right inside the club! Tickets for this event cost $55 in advance/$60 at the door. Visit Helsinki Hudson for information on how to purchase tickets or to make dinner reservations.

    For those fans who are or will be in New York City throughout the month of February, Steve Earle will be performing four all request shows every Wednesday night of the month at the City Winery!

  • Celebrating the Winter Solstice in Style with Becca Frame and Brian Shafer

    What better way to spend the December 21st, the Winter Solstice, than with area favorites Becca Frame and Brian Shafer at the quaint watering hole in Delhi known as the Shire Pub! For those lucky enough to have arrived early, Becca handed out CDs from Esquela, another of her and Brian’s bands, as Christmas presents. To add to the home-town feel, Becca’s family was in attendance, and they were proudly and publicly welcomed.

    Although the band members mentioned that cover songs are what they typically get hired for, they always try to slip in some of their originals. (On a related note, Becca and Brian are currently working on recording an album with a working title of Short Stories and Tall Boys.) With Becca on vocals and Brian on guitar, their wide range of abilities and styles was demonstrated in their choice of cover tunes, which included a gospel-y rendition of “You’ll Accompany Me”, a twang-y version of “New York City’s Killing Me”, and a spacey take on “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover”.

    As promised, Becca and Brian did perform some of their own tunes, which showcased the raw, pure talent present in both performers. “Little Girl Sing” had a kind of sing-songy tone to it, while “Setting the Record Straight” demonstrated that this band can play the blues. At times forgetting that there was only one guitarist on stage, Brian does an incredible job of playing both the rhythm and melody sections over the full range of octaves. Becca puts all she has into every song, with the words sultry and soulful coming to mind when listening to her amazing voice. As an added bonus, one of Brian’s former bandmates Matt Sauer, from the band Wreckloose, joined Brian for a few tunes. They were super tight, and nailed the harmonies between their two guitars.

    Keep an eye out for Becca Frame and Brian Shafer – they are definitely worth checking out if they come to your area, which is entirely possible, as they are very active in the Upstate circuit. They are both good about keeping their facebook pages up-to-date with upcoming tour dates, so be sure to look for them on facebook.

  • Channeling the Spirit of Jerry on New Year’s Eve with The Garcia Project

    The Garcia Project brought a crowd from near and far with some people coming simply out of nostalgia and a desire to spend New Year’s Eve reveling in the spirit of Jerry Garcia, but everyone, including those not previously familiar with the Garcia Project, left Oneonta having had a real good time this New Year’s Eve. The Garcia Project typically covers a Jerry Garcia Band show from years past, giving the audience something to think about during the set.

    The Garcia Project jerryComplete with “wall of sound” banners bordering the stage, and drummer Bob McKeon positioned front and center on stage, a true recreation of the Jerry Garcia Band experience began. As soon as the first set started with “How Sweet It Is”, the dance floor immediately filled up, but when “Run for the Roses” came on, that’s when the crowd really got into the groove, and the band seemed to play off of that, with bassist Dan Crea asserting himself on this one. “Struggling Man” featured drummer Bob McKeon crisply and cleanly landing on the upbeats, with guitarist/vocalist Mik Bondy playing some of Jerry’s well-known triple-time guitar riffs. The first set closed out with a more obscure cover of “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox”, followed by classics “My Sisters and Brothers > Deal”, which left the crowd wanting much more as the night continued.

    Before the show and between sets, as part of the ticket price, a buffet meal was provided, which gave the audience time to refuel and chat with like-minded reflective fans. Many a conversation was overheard about various Jerry stories experienced by most in attendance at this show.  While the Oneonta Theatre typically serves only beer and wine, they often offer up a specialty drink, which tonight was a tasty tropical bay breeze to help everyone get through the cold night.

    The band returned to the stage for a “wildcard” set of tunes leading up to the midnight hour. The mini set started off with a hopping version of “Mississippi Half Step Uptown Too-Da-Loo”, followed by a boogie/blues-style “Mystery Train”, and ended with a driving rendition of “Cumberland Blues” with a rocking organ send-off by Greg Marshall, who had a real mastery of the keyboards, especially the Hammond sound of which he seemed to have a true command. Mik invited the audience to join the band in the downstairs theater to watch the Times Square Ball Drop on the big screen (a champagne toast was also included in the price of the ticket, by the way), and then to head back upstairs to “party like it’s 1999”!

    After the festive NYE countdown and ball drop, Mik’s mom proudly brought out the first of two huge cakes they had brought for the occasion, and handed out pieces to the crowd; the sugar rush definitely helped at this hour, as the band still had a whole second set to play! (Apparently, the Jerry Garcia Band show the band chose to play tonight was a request from an audience member and they just decided to run with it.)

    The first two songs of the set were perfect examples of how impeccably balanced the four instrumentalists are. The audience really got into the beautiful harmonies between Mik and Kat Walkerson, with lots of slow dancing going on during one of this evening’s more romantic tunes, “Shining Star”. “Waiting for a Miracle” featured some great ascending then descending progressions, and the band really started to funk it up during this tune. Bassist Dan Crea really got to shine during “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, which is a song that often has a somewhat monotonous bass line. It was hard to believe that some of the notes he was pulling out of that bass were actually coming from his instrument!  He went way beyond the range of notes typically heard on the bass. “Evangeline” was a swingy number that had many audience members doing the twist. Another example of the spot-on harmonies between Mik and Kat was showcased in “Don’t Let Go”, and the set ended with a perfect, slightly funky cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together”.

    Following the end of the second set, the band revealed the Jerry Garcia Band show they covered, and the show was (drum roll please) … 11/12/91 at the Philadelphia Spectrum! Expressions of recognition could be heard throughout the crowd. The encore was a particularly lullaby-like rendition of “(What a) Wonderful World”, and The Garcia Project decided to throw the crowd a bonus double encore of “Lonesome and a Long Way From Home” to send us on our way. The Garcia Project truly gave everyone in attendance at the Oneonta Theatre on New Year’s Eve a night to remember, giving us the opportunity to bask in the all the glory Jerry was kind enough to share with us for all those years.

    Set 1: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), And It Stoned Me, He Ain’t Give You None, Run For The Roses, Struggling Man, Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox, My Sisters And Brothers > Deal

    Set 2: Bright Side Of The Road, Shining Star, Waiting For A Miracle, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Evangeline, Don’t Let Go, Let’s Spend The Night Together

    Encore:  (What a) Wonderful World, Lonesome and a Long Way From Home