NYS Music 20​14

Category: Rochester

  • ABORTED Coming to Rochester, Albany in March

    Belgian death metal veterans ABORTED are hitting the bricks in support of their upcoming release, The Necrotic Manifesto, launching an international tour on February 22.

    ABORTED named Rochester and Albany among the cities they will pass through during their upcoming international tour. (Photo Credit: Aborted/Century Media Records)
    ABORTED named Rochester and Albany among the cities they will pass through during their upcoming international tour. (Photo Credit: Aborted/Century Media Records)

    The tour takes them through upstate New York, with stops in Rochester on March 30th, at the Montage Music Hall, and a stop in Albany the following day at Bogie’s.

    The Necrotic Manifesto will released on April 29th by Century Media Records, and will be the band’s eighth full-length studio album.  It will feature Jacob Hansen as producer, who is also known for his work with Volbeat, Heaven Shall Burn and Mercenary.

    “I can’t believe we did it to be honest.”, stated front-man Sven de Caluwé, through his label’s press release. “We had a little over three months from start to master on this record– everyone really gave 300% on this record, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with Jacob once again, who really pulled the best out of all our asses.

    “I can say in all honesty that ‘The Necrotic Manifesto’ is without a doubt the strongest record ABORTED has done thus far and could not be more proud of everyone involved in the project, stated de Caluwé.  He continued to describe the CD as the band’s “most brutal,” and “technical” record from the band, in their nearly 20 years of recording.

    Phlegethon, of Wormed, and Vincent Bennett, of The Acacia Strain, provide cameoi appearances on the CD with their vocals.

    The album artwork was done by Par Olofsson (Pathology, Immolation, Immortal).”

    Below is a track listing for the upcoming CD, along with announced tour dates.

    The Necrotic Manifesto track-listing:

    1. Six Feet Of Foreplay

    2. The Extirpation Agenda

    3. Necrotic Manifesto

    4. An Enumeration Of Cadavers

    5. Your Entitlement Means Nothing

    6. The Davidian Deceit

    7. Coffin Upon Coffin

    8. Chronicles Of Detruncation

    9. Sade & Libertine Lunacy

    10. Die Verzweiflung

    11. Excremental Veracity

    12. Purity Of Perversion

    13. Of Dead Skin & Decay

    14. Cenobites

    In support of The Necrotic Manifesto, ABORTED will tour North America together with Kataklysm in March/April 2014. The band will then return to Europe in May for a handful of release shows before heading into the festival season. See below for all upcoming tour dates.

     ABORTED tour dates:

    Feb. 22 –          BlastFest – Bergen (Norway)

    Mar. 27 –          Empire – Springfield, VA (United States)

    Mar. 28 –          Sounds Asylum – Middletown, NY (United States)

    Mar. 29 –          The Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA (United States)

    Mar. 30 –         Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY (United States)

    Mar. 31 –         Bogie’s – Albany, NY (United States)

    Apr. 1 –             Middle-East – Cambridge, MA (United States)

    Apr. 2 –             Palace Theater – Stafford Springs, CT (United States)

    Apr. 3 –             St. Vitus – Brooklyn, NY (United States)

    Apr. 4 –             Club Soda – Montreal, QC (Canada) *

    Apr. 5 –             El Mocambo – Toronto, ON (Canada) *

    Apr. 6 –             The Foundry – Lakewood, OH (United States) *

    Apr. 7 –             High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI (United States) *

    Apr. 8 –             Zoo Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB (Canada) *

    Apr. 9 –             The Exchange – Regina, SK (Canada) *

    Apr. 10 –           Pawn Shop – Edmonton, AB (Canada) *

    Apr. 11 –           Republik – Calgary, AB (Canada) *

    Apr. 12 –           Columbo Lodge – Kamloops, BC (Canada) *

    Apr. 13 –           Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC (Canada) *

    Apr. 14 –           Studio Seven – Seattle, WA (United States) *

    Apr. 15 –           Jub Jubs – Reno, NV (United States) *

    Apr. 16 –           DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA (United States) *

    Apr. 17 –           Ramona Mainstage – Ramona, CA (United States) *

    Apr. 18 –           Mirror Image – Anaheim, CA (United States) *

    Apr. 19 –           Joe’s Grotto – Phoenix, AZ (United States) *

    Apr. 20 –           Tricky Falls – El Paso, TX (United States) *

    Apr. 21 –           Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO (United States) *
    Apr. 22 –           Riot Room – Kansas City, MO (United States) *

    Apr. 23 –           Reggie’s – Chicago, IL (United States) *

    Apr. 30 –           Magasin 4 – Brussels (Belgium)

    May 1 –             Steinbruch Theater – Darmstadt (Germany) ***The Necrotic Manifesto release show w/ GORGUTS, MISERY INDEX***

    May 2 –             Neurotic Deathfest – Tilburg (The Netherlands)

    July 18 –           Boarstream Festival – Mulfingen (Germany)

    July 19 –           Grindtastic Open Air – Mittelsinn (Germany)

    July 21 –           Metal Days – Tolmin (Slovenia)

    Aug. 1 –            Xtreme Fest – Albi (France)

    Aug. 8 –            Party San Open Air – Schlotheim (Germany)

    Aug. 10 –          Bloodstock – Walton on Trent (United Kingdom)
    Aug. 14 –          Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbuhl (Germany)

    Aug. 23 –          Kaltenbach Festival – Spital am Semmering (Austria)

    *=with KATAKLYSM

    ABORTED online:

    http://www.goremageddon.be/

    https://www.facebook.com/Abortedofficial

  • The Black Lillies are Coming to Rochester’s Abilene Bar & Lounge

    the-black-lillies-at-liberty-community-center-seated-by-deone-jahnke

    Black Lillies front man Cruz Contreras is no stranger to the music business and the Black Lillies are not his first musical endeavor. Having lent his name to two previous bands that held notable success – Contreras continues that success and more with this electrifying bluegrass outfit. The Black Lillies have grown from a group of friends sitting around a campfire to one of the hardest working independent bands in the industry.

    If you missed their barn burner this past Summer at the Rochester Jazz Festival, this is your chance to see what you missed – if you were one of the foot-stomping attendees to that dance party, you know what to do! Come and enjoy the Appalachian sounds of Knoxville, Tennessee at Abilene in Rochester, NY on March 3rd. Show starts at 8:30PM and tickets are $12 and this is an all ages show.

    Eschewing record labels, they’ve still managed to conquer the Billboard Top 200 charts (Runaway Freeway Blues debuted at #43), put three tracks in Country Music Television’s top 12 requested videos, and film a nationally broadcast commercial for Twizzlers. They’ve been featured on numerous television specials and played festivals as widespread as Bonnaroo, Rochester Jazz Festival, MerleFest, and CMA Fan Fair.  Despite trafficking in a richer, more authentic brand of country and Americana than what gets played on mainstream country radio, they’ve still been invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry more than twenty times – a record for an independent act.

    The Band:  front-man Cruz Contreras, harmony vocalist Trisha Gene Brady, multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor, bass player Robert Richards and drummer Bowman Townsend.

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  • Influenced, an Artist’s Review: Umphrey’s ROCKchester

    For this Umphrey’s review we invited Aqueous‘s Mike Gantzer to sit in as guest reporter and cover one of his and Aqueous’s big influences.  

    In the Fall of 2007, I’d been strongly advised by my fellow band mate Evan McPhaden, (who’d been strongly advised by some guy he worked with) to check out a band I’d never heard of. They were playing on a Monday night at the Harro East Ballroom in Rochester, NY. I decided to go based on the pretense that this band “melts faces” and mostly that it was an excuse to see live music on a Monday night instead of doing schoolwork. Six years and 20 some odd shows later, its pretty safe to say that my face really hasn’t been the same, and it’s all Umphrey’s McGee’s fault.

    Something resonated with Aqueous when we first started seeing Umphrey’s. They did what we wanted to do: they grooved, they shredded, they listened to each other. The interplay between every member of that band is out of control, and that set an intense pace for us when we were defining our sound. Specifically for me, the aggressive but dynamic guitar approach was perfect, and I loved how Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss worked as a unit. They sort of re-affirmed my belief that the best way for a band to function is to have every member completely cognizant of the others in the group, and to build every song or jam as one whole; a foundation that we have built our entire band around. Beyond the music, their general structure was fresh and innovative, and it always seems like they’re pushing the jam scene into new territories. (UM bowl, The Headphones and Snocones program, their music education program sUMmer school, etc…)

    It was only fitting that I found myself at the Harro East Ballroom seeing Umphrey’s McGee destroying the place in the very same fashion they had when I began my journey with them all those years ago (albeit with a significant upgrade to Jefferson Waful’s light rig, and probably double the amount of people in attendance). Although the Harro East isn’t the best room acoustically speaking, the band was still totally dialed in, and every nuance could be heard from the right spot in the venue.

    Umphrey’s McGee has mastered the art of the setlist, which in a way is like mastering the art of musical contrast. Given that their catalog is extensive and their musical prowess spans and draws from several genres, Umphrey’s has managed to consistently write setlists that showcase so many sides of the band, and they move seamlessly between those sides with mind-blowing segues and some of the tightest on-the-dime transitions you can imagine. This night was no exception, they seemed to have struck a perfect balance between three notable and specifically Umphrey’s-esque themes: prog, groove, and dance.

    Opening the show with a super aggressive “Padgett’s Profile” right into a burning “2×2”, it was clear that they weren’t taking any prisoners this Sunday night. After the incredible composed section that sounds something like Mozart with the distortion on 11, they opened the song up into a beautiful and patient but ever-building jam. This show in particular saw a lot more psychedelic moments than I’d seen Umphrey’s get into before, which culminated in several chill-inducing moments when songs finally peaked, and that tone was set early on with this particular rendition of “2×2”.

    The set continued on with a standard but excellent version of “Anchor Drops”. Short and sweet, this showcased super solid three part vocal harmonies, and some great and tasteful playing/phrasing by Cinninger. Moving into Safety In Numbers territory, a “Nemo>Sweetness>Nemo sandwich saw one of the most uplifting and triumphant peaks of the first set, and the final lyrics of “Nemo” always resonate deeply with me: “As many times as we’ve been there and back again, Now I don’t care if I’ll be no one in the end.”

    I was psyched to see the band touching on older material from the Local Band Does OK era, as they started up the super prog-y and air-guitar worthy “Water”. This particular composition is adventurous and intense; seguing through many driving peaks and valleys, and the band nailed this version, an impressive task with so many changes. The set came to a screaming close with the deep, slouchy groove “Smell the Mitten”. The guitar harmonies on this song are super playful and fun, and the groove built into a driving/dance-y jam that centered around Joel Cummins’ keyboard leads. There was some specific interplay between drummer Kris Myers and bassist Ryan Stasik that was really pushing the jam, and the song and set came to an epic end with a huge sounding riff. After proclaiming, “Thank you, we’re Joel Cummins and the Twitter Junkies”, the band exited the stage as Supertramp came on over the PA system.

    Excitement mounted as the band took the stage for the second set with the fan-favorite “Jajunk”, and nearly everyone in the place was air-guitaring along, myself included. As the band came away from the composed intro, this section saw a distinctive interplay between Bayliss and Cinninger in the form of a guitar line that served as the theme of that jam. Again, Umphrey’s pulled back the reigns and opted for some brief psychedelia before jumping into the Steely Dan-esque “Comma Later”. Another Joel-led jam found the band entranced in a deep dance groove. Percussionist Andy Farag’s role in coloring the music with tasteful and necessary additions really stood out here. As the jam came to a close, they built it into the instrumental “Space Funk Booty”, a dirty groove based on diminished chords and solid rock riffing, which came to a decently concise close. Bayliss commented on the crowd’s enthusiasm for a Sunday night, before kicking into a newer tune “Glide”. Stasik’s slap work served as the groundwork for a super funky, falsetto vocal-based dance machine of a tune, and the entire crowd responded by dancing even harder than before.

    Moving again into the Local Band Does OK catalog, the band jumped right into “Prowler>”2nd Self”, just as it is on the aforementioned album. “Prowler” featured a super quick tease of Van Halen’s “Unchained” by Cinninger, and both Cummins and Bayliss shined in this section, with beautiful, peaking solos. It’s worth mentioning again how they nailed these songs to a tee; especially given how many intense changes the songs have built into their respective structures.  As Umphrey’s started to draw the set to a close, they pulled out a “Dump City” on the crowd, and this might have been the highlight of the show. It jumped between a sly groove and some super heavy guitar riffs, and two things specifically stood out here. Initially, Jake took some super clean leads that were pretty shocking, very Jeff Beck-esque and tasteful. Secondly, the jam culminated in the ongoing theme of space and psychedelic jamming in the form of a super strange build out of a Myers/Farag solo that launched straight into the atmosphere. It was an odd mix of metal and space, and you could even see the band being surprised by what was happening. Out of nowhere, they pulled it back into “Dump City”, and it came to a raucous close. Bayliss noted that it got “Weird, almost like the Twilight Zone”, and the band appropriately closed the set with the 1982 classic rock hit “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring, sung by Cinninger.

    Returning to the stage for the encore, they dropped into the shuffle beat/reggae influenced “Thin Air”, an interesting and fun choice, and promptly moved into a shifting section between a Latin samba feel with Bayliss leads, and a jazz feel with Cinninger leads. This built into a soaring duel guitar jam that ended with the classical “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, only to return to “JaJunk Part Two”. Cinninger proceeded to destroy everyone in the building with fiery leads, and the show came to an epic and final ending as the band thanked the crowd and walked off.

    This show achieved what every Umphrey’s McGee show achieves for me; I left feeling incredibly inspired. There’s a strong correlation between any member of Aqueous seeing an Umphrey’s show and new material forming quickly from us thereafter, and that has been a consistent pattern since we all first saw them, fittingly in this same venue. Face: successfully melted.

    Setlist
    Set 1: Padgett’s Profile, 2×2, Anchor Drops, Nemo -> Sweetness[1] > Nemo, Water, Smell the Mitten
    Set 2: JaJunk, Comma Later > Space Funk Booty, Glide, Prowler > 2nd Self, Dump City, Twilight Zone
    Encore: Thin Air > JaJunk

  • Sammy nominee Jeremy Miller is a rocker and an author

    Last December, Upstate Metal’s Steve Strader took the opportunity to speak with Jeremy Miller, lead vocalist of Syracuse’s One Last Shot. Last week, One Last Shot was named among two Syracuse metal bands that are up for a 2014 Sammy Award.

    Jeremy Milller

    The Sammys are presented each year by The Syracuse Area Music Awards Executive Committee. The committee is a not-for-profit organization that supports Syracuse musicians.

    The award ceremony is scheduled for March 7th, at the Palace Theatre.

    Jeremy Miller is a natural wordsmith and his band depends upon him for his writing skills as much as his singing ability. Like many writers, he falls victim to inspiration and often finds himself writing down ideas as they come, or speaking into a digital recorder. Over time, those notes have turned into song lyrics or have collected inside numerous notebooks. Those notebooks are now being worked into a book, about which he spoke to Upstate Metal.

    Strader: So first off what made you want to write a book?

    Miller: A lot of reasons actually. First, I’ve always wanted to have my own book. A lot of my favorite artists have put out books similar to this like Danzig, and William Control of Aiden. Most importantly my fiancee saw all these lyrics I have laying around in notebooks and pushed me to do it. I finally took her push and am doing it now.

    Strader: How long have you been working on this?

    Miller: I guess realistically since I started writing lyrics. I’ve been writing lyrics and poetry since around 11 years old.

    Strader: You mentioned there will be un-used lyrics in it, is there any other cool content you’ll be displaying to your fans?

    Miller: Yeah, so far it’s split in 4 parts. First part is unused lyrics/ poetry, the 2nd part is random short ideas, the 3rd part is passages I’ve written about important band situations, and the last part is stories from shows. There’s also flyer art inside/ art I’ve made throughout the book.

    Strader: Will there be any embarrassing moments?

    Miller: Maybe for other people, everything I do in life can be looked at as embarrassing. I’m okay with that, it makes life fun.

    Strader: What are you hoping readers will get out of this by the end?

    Miller: Maybe it can give some insight to people trying to start a band, and hopefully people in underground DIY bands will be able to relate these situations. Also people can have a laugh or two at some of the stories.

    Strader: Anything you can “leak” about this book and what we can expect?

    Miller: There’s situations with drugs (not my band mates obviously), bum fights, and violence all inside. It comes out late December or early January. Most likely early January. I may leak something around mid December-ish. Oh, and its 50+ pages long. (So far…)

    Strader: How will this book be made available?

    Miller: It will be a real physical book. It will be printed professionally like if you got it at Barnes and Noble. You will be able to get one online or at shows. Just follow us at Facebook or Twitter and you’ll get all the updates.

    Strader: Any last thoughts or words?

    Miller: If this goes well, I have other books planned. This is also “Volume 1”, so as more events happen and if things stay interesting, I hope to make a “Volume 2”. Just stay tuned, and thank you for talking to me about this.

  • Dio Tribute Album to Release April 1

    Earlier this week, the announcement was made that This Is Your Life, a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio, is set for an April 1 release.

    This Is Your Life will include heavy weights in today’s metal, lead by Metallica, Anthrax, Motorhead, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and more.

    Born in Cortland, NY, Dio is famous for fronting various metal juggernauts such as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell before making a major breakthrough with his own group Dio.  Beloved and considered by many as possessing the most powerful voice in Heavy Metal, Dio left us all way too early as he sadly lost his battle with stomach cancer back in 2010.

    To celebrate Dio’s achievements, This Is Your Life will raise funds for The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.

    This Is Your Life is produced by Wendy Dio, his longtime manger and wife and will be released by Rhino Records.

    The track listing and lineup:

    01. “Neon Knights” – ANTHRAX
    02. “The Last In Line” – TENACIOUS D
    03. “The Mob Rules” – ADRENALINE MOB
    04. “Rainbow In The Dark” – Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher *
    05. “Straight Through The Heart” – HALESTORM
    06. “Starstruck” – MOTÖRHEAD with Biff Byford
    07. “Temple Of The King” – SCORPIONS
    08. “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” – DORO
    09. “Holy Diver” – KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
    10. “Catch The Rainbow” – Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren
    11. “I” – Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy
    12. “Man On The Silver Mountain” – Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren
    13. “Ronnie Rising Medley” (featuring “A Light In The Black”, “Tarot Woman”, “Stargazer”, “Kill The King”) – METALLICA
    14. “This Is Your Life” – DIO (previously unreleased)

    Next month, Dio is expected the posthumous honor of The Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s SAMMYS Award Show in Syracuse.

    The SAMMYS will be held at The Palace Theater in Syracuse on Friday, March 7th and tickets can be purchased at www.syracuseareamusic.com.

    For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial where you are free to share your thoughts with me.

    ronniejamesdiothisisyourlife_638 Ronnie James Dio Dio_Way

  • Steve Martin Returns to the Rochester Jazz Festival This June – Tickets On Sale Tomorrow!

    SteveMartinandtheSteepCanyonRangersfeatEdieBrickell

    XRIJF announced the return of Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers to the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre for the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival 13th Edition, which will be held June 20-28. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 7 at 10:00 a.m. at rochesterjazz.com. Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers last performed in Rochester at the XRIJF in 2012 in two sold-out shows.

    Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell will perform on Saturday, June 21. Tickets are $105 boxes/$95 orchestra/$80 mezzanine and loge/$65 balcony plus $8 per ticket service charge/facility fee. All performances will be at 8:00 p.m. at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.

    Check out ‘s 2013 XRIJF coverage – Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus and Willie Nelson & Family

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  • The David Mayfield Parade at Abilene in Rochester, NY

    To say that one has “seen” a David Mayfield Parade show is an understatement. The experience can best be described as an event that you were a part of when the Parade came to your town. The charisma that emanates from Mayfield’s heart and soul, the music that he creates and the interactions he shares with the crowd are a spectacular occasion.

    The David Mayfield ParadeThis night the venue was full and the music was hot! Highlights were hearing originals like, “Love Will Only Break Your Heart” – in true Mayfield fashion songs about love were followed by strong fiddle and bass filled dance songs, and dancing on the bar and the chairs and flat-out on the floor.

    Banter among band members is common place at live shows but banter WITH the audience is what you get from Mayfield. Saturday’s show at Abilene Bar & Lounge in Rochester, NY was no exception to the carnival side-show antics that make this band who they are and sets them apart from the others.  Mayfield was in the midst of performing his sexual prowess where he fit the entire mic into his mouth while batting his eyes and flirting with the crowd – a female fan yelled out, “I love you David!” to which Mayfield replied, “I thought I told you to wait outside”. The small crowd at the intimate one room venue erupted with roars of laughter at the well-played banter.

    Another moment shared between the crowd and Mayfield was set inside a circle of fans as Mayfield serenaded us with his acoustic guitar – sharing these intimate interactive moments with music and the artist is what music lovers hope for with shows like this.

    The setting is small, especially in the winter when the back deck is closed off but the intimacy that can be reached between bands and patrons can not be found in any other venue in this city. Abilene has become Rochester’s secret garden for music, whether it’s as the Americana stage at Jazz Fest or the little bar with the blue grassy – rockabilly bands in the cold of winter. This venue is perfect just the way it is and I look forward to seeing shows here in the future.

    • The David Mayfield Parade
    • The David Mayfield Parade
    • The David Mayfield Parade

  • We Can Dance If We Want To: Lotus at Water Street Music Hall

    Despite several non-heady forces: A red hot Syracuse basketball team playing,  sub-zero wind chills, and a liquor license-less venue; Rochesterians turned out en masse for the electro-jam instrumentals of Philly based Lotus. Touring heavily behind their latest critically acclaimed release Monks, fans came from far and near to catch this rare Upstate performance of Lotus at Water Street Music Hall. Local DJ favorite Papi Chulo opened the night with his skillful genre hopping house infused DJ set that got everyone limbered up for the headliner.

    DSC_0735

    Water Street, as many know, has been struggling to get their new liquor license for many months, and many shows have been canceled, rescheduled or moved. Despite the lack of delicious hops, this show was expertly staffed and it was a relief to see a packed show again in Rochester’s most history filled venue. Note to New York State: These unbelievably long, senseless bureaucratic delays for a simple license continue to cripple small businesses struggling to profit and stay open. Reboot this system and let’s get New York’s small entrepreneurs back on top!

    DSC_0939

    By the time Lotus took the stage Water Street was elbow to hoop girl from front to back with a large contingency spilling upward into the balcony for some dancing room. Their sound, while definitely in the EDM genre, sticks mostly to old school influences with healthy doses of funk and hip-hoppy beats mixed within melodic keyboard battles and a dual-ax core. Beyond some occasional voice effects by guitarist Luke Miller, the songs are all instrumental, yet hold a distinct memorable vocal character to them that transcends many similar bands in the genre. No UntzUntzUntzDROP here, this is hypnotic organic dance music filled with timeless melodies.  Unfortunately Lotus has no more shows scheduled in NY currently, but keep an eye on their tour page, as they’ll be back and you won’t want to miss it.

    Check out and purchase Lotus’s Monks  here

    Setlist:
    Set 1: Bellwether, Ashcon, Neon Tubes, Opo, Wooly Mammoth, Bubonic Tonic ->Tip Of the Tongue
    Set 2: Debris, Golden Ghost -> Livingston Storm, Different Dream, Behind Midwest Storefronts, IACTMN ->Wax
    Encore: Cain & Abel, Hammerstrike

  • BML and Babayaga Storm the Bug Jar in Rochester

    There’s something exciting about looking at equipment on an otherwise empty stage, waiting to be used. As soon as audience members rounded the corner into the backroom at Bug Jar on Friday, January 17th, they were greeted with BabaYaga’s tasteful, bare-bones set up: a Marshall head atop two 12 inch speakers on the left, Orange amp and Gibson Les Paul to the right, drum kit front and center.

    The sound BabaYaga gets out of this set up is my favorite part about the band: warm vintage tones, cranked to the max. Todd Dentico threw down huge bass energy with sturdy notes that popped every time. Dave Fein’s guitar licks were steady and tastefully distorted, and his solos were like climbing a ladder, occasionally breaking a rung just to mix things up. As for Adam Banachi’s vocals, the screaming wasn’t muddy or jarring, but instead blended nicely with instruments for a tight, powerful sound. Adam’s vocals and stage presence could be the perfect metaphor for BabaYaga: a grimace, not a front.

    BML took the stage next, just before midnight, to a diverse audience of old timers, college kids from the bar, metal die-hards and even a few cops. Cutting right to the chase: as soon these three guys take the stage they transform into a well-oiled rock-and-roll machine. Tight, on point, and unassuming, BML lets their sound speak for itself. Transitions are subtle but happen quickly; in a matter of seconds BML can discretely move into a new phrase and have audiences getting down to a new lick or tempo, without knowing how they got there. Since Friday’s show was a release party for the band’s new album, That There Dog’s A Chicken, the set featured a bunch of new songs with a few classics sprinkled in for flavor. Coincidentally, two of my favorite tunes came after the following phrases: “We’re gonna play an old one…” and, “This song should be interesting…we haven’t played it in a while”. This preference by no means discredits BML’s new stuff—which is detailed, contrasting and well executed—but is instead a testament to their history. These guys have been around for just under ten years now, and they command respect on stage without relying on gimmicks or familiarity. From start to finish, BML challenges themselves and the audience through complex scales and transitions at a super-fast space, hitting and fleeing high points and drops in the blink of an eye.

    Two things are for sure after Friday Night: Genesee Bock is back with a vengeance, and, in the hands of BabaYaga and BML, heavy rock-and-roll is alive and well in Rochester, New York.

  • Umphstate: An Interview with Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee

    The hype from all of the New Year’s runs has finally died down and right on its heels come the first announcements of the festival season. Sandwiched right in between though, and largely overlooked, is the winter tour where bands often times debut new material and dig deep for old fan favorites. Umphrey’s McGee tour has begun and the band is set to blaze a trail right through the heart of Upstate New York, all within the first week of February. The band will make stops in Clifton Park, Syracuse, and Rochester among many other dates across the U.S. The Chicago-natives recently finished a two-night standalone set at the famous Beacon Theater in New York City which has only led to more anticipation for these upcoming dates.

    Writer Jeremiah Shea had a chance to interview with keyboardist Joel Cummins about the upcoming tour and their new album that is due to come out in the coming months.

    joel cummins interviewJeremiah Shea: What are your thoughts on the recent two-night run at The Beacon Theater?
    Joel Cummins: It was a pretty awesome weekend. Being able to play the Beacon last year and then doing two nights this year really let us soak it in a little more. The Beacon is one of the greatest venues in the country, if not the world. There’s been so many great shows there and amazing performances that when you play there, you really feel like you have to step up and not just bring your A game, but your A+ game. You have to wow people in New York.

    JS: Last year in January you guys played Buffalo and Syracuse on back to back nights before making a stop at The Beacon Theater; this year you’re hitting Clifton Park, Syracuse, and Rochester.  Is there a reason you show Upstate New York so much love?
    JC: A lot of it has to do with two things: where people are and how far you can travel between cities. Logistically, our typical limit is about 450 miles before you make touring increasingly more expensive. Coincidentally, there are a lot of good places in New York to play between Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany. There are a lot of good mid-size cities that we’ve been trying to build over the years. Since we played Buffalo in the Fall, it made sense for us to come to Rochester this time. We played the Harro East Ballroom one other time and had a great time there, so we’re psyched to come back. We haven’t played the F Shed in Syracuse before, so that’ll be a really fun night and we’re pumped to have Kung Fu out with us on that one.

    JS: Are you guys doing anything special on this run of shows to celebrate the band’s 16th birthday?
    JC: Every show is a special night to be honest; you know how we do it.  We try to mix it up and play as many different things as possible.  We have this website called All Things Umphrey’s where everything is in a database that we’ve played in the past.  We can use that to go back and see what we’ve played and haven’t played in an area and continue to shred as much of the catalog as we can to keep it fresh for people.  Once somebody has seen 8-10 shows, they start to hone in on what they haven’t seen yet; every city is different.  We’ll go in and see that we haven’t played “Booth Love” or “Hurt Bird Bath” at a particular place in four years.  It’s a really helpful tool for us to keep mixing things up.  This is our typical biggest tour of the year between January and April and we try to hit every corner of the US.  Our new album will be coming out in the first half of 2014, probably sometime in May, so this will kind of be the warm-up for that.  My guess is that one or two of the songs that didn’t make the new album will probably get played on this winter tour.

    JS: You made some mentions of the new album on your Twitter account.  What’s on tap and is there anything you can share?
    JC: Ya know, not too much at this point as we’re trying to keep it under wraps right now.  I can tell you that we started by recording 16 tunes, 7 of which were brand new and 9 of which we’ve played live before. I think we’re going to end up with probably 10 or 11 tunes on the new album with some bonus material. There’s at least 5 new tracks on the album, I’d say, that we haven’t played live previously. I think that’s always exciting for the fans when you can kind of inject the set list with some brand new stuff for people. We also have a couple of newer ones that we’ve been playing pretty consistently for the past couple of years and a couple of classic Umphrey’s McGee tunes that we previously haven’t been able to hit perfectly with the studio takes. We finally got a couple of these where we really feel like we nailed the essence of the song and they fit the overall vibe of the new album which is definitely heading in a more hard rock direction; there are tons of great guitar riffs on this album.

    JS: Does the band’s approach vary nightly depending on the venue or city?  If so, how?
    JC: It’s different every night and we mix up who writes the set list. On a typical day, we make a list of songs in the morning and people can add or subtract things depending on what they’re feeling. By the afternoon, somebody will pick it up and try to make a set list out of everything that’s been suggested. I think that really keeps it fresh, especially when you have different people writing the set list who think about it and approach it differently. We’ll typically try to always do a mix of newer and older material so that it’s fresh for everyone.

    JS: How do you guys interject teasers into your songs live?  Are they planned or discovered during your set?
    JC: Most of the time if we’re teasing something, it’s happening in the moment. It’s very rare that it’s something that’s planned. I think one of the things that we all thrive on is that stuff in the moment where nobody’s really sure what’s going to happen, but you kind of try to pick up a song. That actually happened at The Beacon. We started teasing the Eminem song “Lose Yourself” and then it ended up kind of morphing into “Kashmir”. That was an example from this weekend where we ended up hitting a cool little patch of teases there, but it was certainly not planned.

    JS: What do you like about touring compared to the festival circuit in the summer?
    JC: I feel like when we do our own shows, we’re playing to our people; everybody who’s there is there for us. That’s always a really special thing when you can do these tours and really feel the excitement from the fan base. That’s the fun thing about the beginning of the year. With the festivals now, it’s such a great time getting to see so many of our friends all around the country. That’s kind of the highlight of the summer festival season whenever we get to do that. That’s also the time when we try to convert some new fans, so we definitely approach the shows a little bit differently. We’ll still try to throw in a few rarities or things that you might not expect to see us play at a festival, but when we play for the hardcore fans, I’d say that these winter tours definitely have the biggest variety of our catalog that you’ll see. I looked on All Things Umphrey’s the other day and in 2013 we played 329 different songs, so there really is a lot of room for variety. It’s really nice at this point to have that catalog selection where we can play so many different things.

    JS: Does Jefferson Waful have any new tricks up his sleeve this year?
    JC: He does! He’s actually in the process of transitioning from the grandMA console, which we’ve been using, to the grandMA2. I’m not totally sure if he’s going to have it up yet for these shows as it’s probably about a month-long process to make that transition and learn everything that needs to be learned. That is definitely new though and in the works for 2014, so it’s only going to promise to make the production and light show that much stronger. We’re always tweaking our light show and playing different things out depending on what the venues allow. This most recent run at The Beacon we definitely had our biggest light rig that we’ve ever brought to New York. We’re definitely trending in that direction of bigger and better, which is a nice way to trend. We’ve been really lucky with Jefferson that he’s such a passionate, driven, and really great artist behind the light console. There are plenty of moments during the night when the fans get excited about the music, but you know you have somebody who has a really great eye for art and a way to connect that to music when the lighting designer can elicit cheers from the crowd.

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