Phish tour looms, but in the meantime, get warmed up with The Lawn Boys, a Phish tribute band out of New York City, on Saturday, June 28th at 9pm at Red Square in Albany. This show marks The Lawn Boys their first ever show in Albany, days before Phish’s summer tour kicks off. With tickets just $10 at the door, you’ll get two sets of Phish from some of their biggest fans.
On the fence? Check out video below and get ready to Phish!
Supergroups in music usually consist of members who are individually famous for their prior work with another band. If Soulive were to form today, you could say that they would be a funk supergroup, snatching up members from some of the top bands in the scene. That’s not the case though as this is a band that has been around since the late ’90s and is in the opposite position – they were one of the bands who laid the groundwork for funk’s recent resurgence and the groups leading that push today. The trio consists of Alan Evans on drums, Neal Evans on organ/bass keys, and Eric Krasno on guitar.
At one point the band had been a touring force, even opening for the Rolling Stones and Dave Matthews. Their instrumental combination of funk, jazz, soul, and rock was enlivening and people were taking notice. With each of these guys though, keeping the pedal to the floor and constantly being involved in the scene has led to other projects and ventures. Neal and Eric are touring to a greater capacity with Lettuce, Eric splits that with contributing in the studio and occasionally touring with Tedeschi Trucks Band, while Alan has Playonbrother who have been making a name for themselves as of late. Alan also owns his own studio and regularly produces records for various bands. The net of it is that Soulive performances are now a rarity and shouldn’t be squandered. Given the fact that their shows don’t happen often, with the talent these guys possess, anytime they do get together, it’s usually a magical performance replete with inspiring moments of musical mastery. This Saturday, Rochester is in for a treat as Soulive is set to perform at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. If my words aren’t a big enough nudge, the show is free and is the only local tour date for the band besides a late August date in Turin when they appear at moe.down. The show kicks off at 9pm at the East Ave. & Alexander St. Stage and is one Jazz Fest act you don’t want to miss.
The Revivalists will be coming to the Upstate New York area with a show on August 12 at The Waiting Room in downtown Buffalo. The Revivalists have been touring non-stop since 2007 and the New Orleans based band has no plans to let up. The group has such an amazing energy level, with their rocking sound and unique blend of music that gets everyone up and wanting more.
Opening for the Buffalo show will be home-grown funkadelic jamband Funktional Flow, who have been really taking their music to the next level. The band most recently enjoyed a successful Buffalove Festival, where they were one of the headliners of the event.
Thomas Wynn and The Believers are set to open the show. The band comes from Orlando, Florida and has been coined by SOUNDBOARD as – “Southern Rock Muscle/Soulful Rock n’ Blues.”
The Waiting Room will be the place to be come Tuesday, August 12. You should anticipate a full crowd right from the beginning so get your tickets today. Tickets for The Revivalists can be purchased through the Waiting Room in Buffalo for $15, doors open at 8pm
Every once in a while you just know you are in the midst of greatness as it’s unfolding. This summarizes “An Evening With John Legend“, as he played for the sold out crowd in Syracuse at The Oncenter Crouse Hinds Theater, June 12, 2014.
John Legend, 2007 Starlight Award recipient from the Song Writers Hall of Fame and a nine time Grammy Award Winning, musician/songwriter/producer, is best known for his collaboration with artists such as Kayne West, Jay Z., Alicia Keyes, Britney Spears, The Roots, Sade, and Lauren Hill to name a few. This multi-talented musician spans genres of R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop crossing over to the pop charts with his recently number one hit “All of Me”. However John Legend has dominated the R&B chart for years with his albums, Get Lifted, Once Again, and Evolver. John is currently touring and promoting his current album Love in the Future which debuted in the Billboard Top 200 at number 4. This album to date has released four hits, “Who Do We Think We Are”, “Made to Love”, “You & I (Nobody in the World)”, and of course the number one hit , “All of Me”.
Just like John’s music, his set was comfortable and intimate with four couches set up behind the string quartet, guitar player, and John’s baby grand piano. Four lucky couples who won their upgraded seats from local radio and television stations, were able to view the entire show from the stage. As John began the show, this intimacy extended even more so to the audience as he shared an amazing history of how he began singing in his grandfather’s church choir at the age of seven. After graduating from high school as his class Salutatorian, John was offered scholarships at such prestigious schools as Harvard, Georgetown, and Morehouse College, however it was the University of Pennsylvania where he further fine tuned his musical knowledge and experience as a side bar to his studies in English and African American Literature. This insight into his course of studies, helped to explain to me his wonderful way with words and songwriting.
From the moment John took the stage, the crowd was truly mesmerized by each number he sang, as they sat on the edge of their seats awaiting the next story, joke, song he shared. As he played hits such as “Made to Love”, “Tonight”, “Maxine”, “Used to Love U”, “Ordinary People” and so many more, the audience sang back, clapped along, and prompted him to continue begging him to not stop. His rendition of “Where Did My Baby Go” with the accompaniment on strings was spectacularly beautiful, while his “Good Morning Love” was as though he was serenading each and every one of us. As he sang “Caught Up” the audience became a part of the song singing along and clapping as though they were part of the show themselves.
During the show John shared a personal story of how he was invited to perform on Jimmy Fallon’s show the week they were honoring Bruce Springsteen. During that show he sang his version of “Dancing In the Dark” hoping at one point and time to hear feedback from Bruce’s team or Bruce himself. He spoke of months going by with no hope of any response either good or bad, when out of the blue he received a call from Bruce’s management personally requesting him to play his version at a tribute for Bruce Springsteen himself. This validation should not have been a surprise to anyone as the rendition was amazingly beautiful. We often see songs remixed time and again to speed ballads up into dance numbers. However to see a fast song slowed down to a ballad tempo was amazingly beautiful as we heard the song with new insight.
It was however his dedication to his grandmother who taught him how to play that moved me the most. Many covers have been done of Simon and Grafunkels’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, however the raw emotion he put into this number brought goosebumps as he sang his resonating melody straight up to heaven for her. One could feel the love and adoration as he sang to her.
As the night came to an end and John left the stage for a moment, the crowd chanted over and over for one more song. As they cheered in anticipation, it was of course the encore they had awaited all night, “All of Me”. This sexy song, seems to touch everyone who hears it as an anthem to love, after all it was written as such for John’s wife, Christine Teigen. As I left the show, these feelings seem to spill out onto those in attendance. Unbeknownst to one unexacting lady, out in the lobby was a surprise orchestrated by her boyfriend who took this opportunity to express his love and propose to her after the show. To paraphrase one comment made by John Legend during the show, “for those men in attendance, I(John) am setting you guys up nicely for a wonderful romantic evening with your ladies. Please don’t ruin it and say something stupid”. That young man didn’t. She said yes. John would be proud.
Rockstar Energy Drink has announced their lineup for the 2014 Uproar Festival. This year’s tour will be headlined by heavy metal rockers Godsmack as they support their brand new, sixth studio album 1000hp. Formed in 1995, this will be Godsmack’s second time appearing at the Uproar Festival.
Check out Sully and Shannon of Godsmack in the Uproar Festival announcement video.
What would a festival be in 2014 without Seether? The band has already seen Rock on the Range and Rocklahoma. They will also be on the Aftershock Festival later this year. Seether will hit the tour for their second time in support of their sixth studio album, Isolate and Medicate.
Skillet will make their first run on the Uproar Festival. Skillet has been touring for over the past year supporting their current album Rise. Skillet has been on four separate tours since the summer of 2013 including last years Carnival of Madness.
Buckcherry will also grace the main stage and make their first appearance on the festival. Their single “Crazy B!^@#” is certified 2x platinum by the RIAA. The band is rumored to release an Ep titled “F#@k,” which every track on the disc will have that word in it’s song title.
Uproar’s lineup will feature 13 bands in all. The rest of the lineup will include Pop Evil, Escape The Fate, Redlight King, Three Years Hollow, New Medicine, Within Reason, Sons of Revelry, These Raven Skies & Tattered.
Also look out for the Suicide Girls to perform a Burlesque show on the festival this year.
With more dates still to be announced, Uproar will bring the festival to New York on Friday, August 22nd in Syracuse at the New York State Fairgrounds. The festival itself will kick off on Friday, August 15th at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.
Take a look back at past Uproar Tour poster’s and learn the history of this event.
Uproar’s main stage looks like one big melting pot for rock and metal music. Godsmack will bring the hard rock and heavy metal, Seether will bring their post grunge style of rock. You will hear the Christian rock and metal sound of Skillet and the hard alternative style of Buckcherry. With all the energy this show is gonna bring , you’re going to need all the free Rockstar Energy Drinks you can handle.
Click below to connect and stay updated with Rockstar’s Uproar Tour:
The Disco Biscuits recently completed a brief three night run through New York City at a Irving Plaza, a venue that didn’t seem to befit these monsters of the jam scene. Ditching their usual spacious confines of Best Buy Theatre in Times Square, the group instead opted for a throwback of sorts with the location moving downtown to the approximate 1,000 person capacity Irving Plaza. This was a curious move for a band that could easily sell out venues twice the size of this, but it did make for a highly spirited and energetic performance that surely reminded the musicians and certain audience members of a time when rooms like this were the norm.
The Philly based rockers wasted no time in getting down to business with a blistering ‘Save the Robots’ intro that settled nicely into a slow, extended jam before the next composed section that gave everyone a chance to get their bearings or attempt to carve out space on the cramped floor. Another lengthy jam then followed, anchored by stellar drum and bass play by Allen Aucoin and Marc Brownstein, respectively. Despite a ‘Crickets’-like buildup, the frenzied jam soon came to a boil and the band shifted directions into one of their oldest and most iconic songs, ‘Aceetobee’. This old school Bisco classic saw a composed section that was stretched out, played to perfection and then followed by a fascinating psychedelic jam that had elements ranging from ambient to funk rock. Eventually, the music “normalized” to a degree as keyboardist Aron Magner took control of things and led the way through a seamless segue to yet another Biscuits classic, ‘Mr. Don’. This segue and the driving, pulsating jam that followed was truly some of the best music in this set with the light rig now in full gear and taking advantage of the close walls and light fixtures. The entire run at Irving Plaza had been highlighted by four song first sets and The Disco Biscuits showed tonight would be no different by ending things with one more transition into the ending of yet another classic original number, ‘Magellan’. With a first set that could’ve been plucked right from the pages of a late 90’s setlist (as the previous night’s was) now in the books, setbreak gave everyone a change to get hydrated, refuel and set the bar high for hopes of what was to come.
The second set opened, appropriately enough, with ‘The Overture’, a song based on classical music structure that has the group’s signature style of electronica thrown on the end of it. The mesmerizing, laser light filled jam that followed seemed to delight both audience and band members as the music reached deep levels of electronic improvisation. Jon Gutwillig’s signature guitar lick signaling the beginning of ‘Gangster’ soon rang through the already saturated room that unleashed a new intensity to both the music and light show. Right on cue, the band then steered things right into one of their most renowned and associated covers, Pink Floyd’s ‘Run Like Hell’. Gutwillig continued to take the lead on the outtro jam that featured some truly impressive soloing on his part.
After yet another ‘Crickets’ jam fakeout, the Biscuits continued to honor the old school vibe and then launched into perhaps one of their oldest songs, ‘Pat and Dex’, which brought a noticeable roar from knowledgeable veteran fans. The completion of ‘Pat and Dex’ marked the first time the band finished a song and stopped playing without transitioning into something else, an impressive feat. Perhaps due to the increasingly humid temperature in the room, the band seemed to lose just a little bit of steam in finishing the second set with an unfinished ‘Shem-Rah-Boo’ that meandered for a little while before a noticeable ‘Life During Wartime’ jam took over.
This gave to way to another older song in the form of an inverted ‘Bernstein & Chasnoff’ that was well-played and then capped with a ‘Run Like Hell’ ending. This offered one last impressive display of music and light symmetry that seemed to put a bow on an impressive night of music that saw the band play a number of older and classic songs with all the electronic fury and technical prowess they have at their disposal today.
moe. celebrated a nice little homecoming party at this past Thursday’s concert. The event was Buffalo’s Canalside Concert series’ second free show and most successful one this year. moe. continues to really give their all when they return to where it all began 25 years ago. Playing in the small clubs of Buffalo back then may have been a little different from what they played in front of Thursday, but the energy level just continues to reign supreme after all of these years.
The night started off with opening band Conehead Buddha, and as the sun set, it was a perfect beginning to the night alongside Buffalo’s inner harbor. The harbor itself was lined with plenty of boats, giving the spectators on the water some great music to go along with their already fun-filled day.
moe. had a shorter run time due to a 10:00 pm curfew, but they made the best of it playing songs new and old as well as covering The Rolling Stones “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin”, Black Sabbath’s “Wizard”, and The Ramones “I Wanna Be Sedated”.
It really doesn’t matter if it’s a free show when moe. comes back home as they always seem to play to the crowd, and in Buffalo, NY, the crowd continues to love the band that remembers their roots.
Setlist: Y.O.Y. > Skrunk > Blue Jeans Pizza, Understand > 32 Things, Same Old Story >(nh) Rebubula, Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’*, Akimbo* >(nh) Threw It All Away*, The Wizard*
Encore: I Wanna Be Sedated
* w/ The Conehead Buddha Horns: Shannon Lynch on saxophone, Terry Lynch on trumpet, Shaun Bazylewicz on trombone
Check out the video of “32 Things” recorded by our friends at WNYMEDIA.NET
If you haven’t listened to Lake Street Dive’s cover of the Jackson 5 single, “I Want You Back,” then you should. After hearing it, if you aren’t swooning, crooning, or feeling the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you might want to check your pulse; chances are you are dead. This single performance around a single mic on a Brighton, Massachusetts street corner brought nearly instant and well-deserved attention (now almost two million views) to this tremendously talented Boston-based group. They have since performed on the Colbert Report, The Late Show with David Letterman, the Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Town Hall (NYC). This rising star of a band brings its captivating soul/Motown/jazz/pop sound to Syracuse’s Westcott Theater on Thursday, June 26th at 8PM.
Lake Street Dive is a four-piece, formed by fellow students who met over a decade ago at the New England Conservatory in Boston. The band was hand-picked and named by trumpet/guitar player Mike Olson, who found inspiration in a neighborhood of seedy bars in his hometown of Minneapolis. All members of the band assist in writing songs, singing, and are phenomenal musicians in their own right, but the reality is, Lake Street Dive is fronted by a goddess. Rachel Price, a Nashville native, commands a silky, yet full and powerful, soul-rattling voice that will make you melt. Her vocal technique is impeccable, her dynamic works seamlessly with her backup vocals, and her look…well, just Google her, you’ll see what I mean.
Lake Street Dive’s tour follows the release of their sixth album, Bad Self Portraits, and is sure to draw a good crowd to the Westcott Theater on Thursday, June 26th. Come support the little dive bar band that is making waves worldwide, and keeping soul alive and relevant in modern music.
There were Discs and Jams a plenty at this year’s Disc Jam Music Festival in Barre, MA on June 13 -15, 2014. The 3-day event took place at Camp Coldbrook, a “recreation destination” and golf hot spot that offered plenty of space for festival goers to relax and enjoy the weekend. Veteran Disc Jammers agreed that Camp Coldbrook was a great new location from previous years for its spacious, softer camp grounds and were happy with the addition of late night musical sets. Tent city was an organized mess as folks were given somewhat free range of the open field located at the bottom of a hill plus you could hear the music perfectly and catch a glimpse of the light shows. VIP had the perk of wooded camping plus access to two swimming pools with a pool stage that hosted various DJ’s throughout the weekend.
Disc Jam had two main stages, the Innova stage and Rage stage, set up right next to each other providing a nonstop continuous flow of music. Circled around the stages were the various food and craft vendors as well as Disc Jam Artist Collective tent, located in the corner of the entrance. The tent was overwhelmed with visual stimulation, featuring work from 16 main artists plus diverse and consistent live art that spilled onto the walkway. The festival offered “flow classes” for those who know how to surrender to the flow and were seeking to learn hoop tricks, yoga, juggling and much more. But the main focus of the weekend was the music. Over 50 musical acts from all over the Northeast and beyond traveled to Disc Jam to experience the carefree and intimate party loving festival.
Friday
Heavy rain in the morning with dark clouds throughout the day is a harsh start to any festival but Disc Jammers came prepared and ready to party. Albany’s Mister F were lucky to miss the rain with an early slot in the day with a set that had a few songs off their latest album, The F Stands Four. They began with an electronically funky “Eye Level” to a blast of brass from Matty Carl from ShwizZ on saxophone during “Answer the Dog”. Boston’s own, The Jauntee, was up next and had a set of improvisational funk rock with an extra funky “Blownin’ Up the B Line” closer. Twiddle from Vermont provided an easy shifting of genres in their set with a steady flow. One of their highlights was the “Hattie’s Jam > When It Rains It Pours” with soulful key playing from Ryan Dempsey and lyrics reflective of the weather with hopes of sunny skies with a brief “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” tease. Headliners of the night were the mighty Turkuaz and Kung Fu, plenty of funk with different flair. New York City slickers Turkuaz brought their high energy, funk loving family to Disc Jam and left nothing but smiles, especially from their traditional but always powerful encore “Monkey Fingers” featuring solos from all over the rage stage. There was no getting around the hard-hitting funk that Kung Fu throws at you. Todd Stoops scratched his double layered keys apart while Chris DeAngelis warped the crowd with his heavy bass slapping. Straight up in your face funk!
With the main stages closed at 1am, late nighters had the option of checking out the Disc Jam Music Hall that featured music until 4:30am. The music hall featured your typical stage with open dance space and a 2nd level walkway around half of the hall. The talk of the night was Indobox as they performed light, upbeat electronica. The storm of Indobox creates no destruction; it is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Silent Disco Tent was exclusively for VIP and staff members and was kept low-key despite the fast paced beats being pumped through the headphones.
Saturday
Heavy clouds still lingered into Saturday with brief breaks of sunshine and plenty of wind gusts. Santa Mamba was a great way to ease into the day thanks to their salsa flair from Rhode Island. Their cover of Peter Frampton’s “Oh Baby, I Love Your Way” was refreshingly spicy. Aqueous brought their improvisational rock jams from Buffalo with original compositions and catchy melodies, setting the groove bar high. Goosepimp Orchestra was a collection of crazy characters, donned with various wigs and party hats that created a loud funk party on the Innova stage. Their fun-loving attitude was carried out with their booming brass section and the boogie beats from the bongos. Alan Evan’s Playonbrother, formally known as the Alan Evans Trio, proved they are more than just a jazz band. Their sound is gigantic with shattering guitar shredding from Danny Mayer and Beau Sasser must have extra arms to work the keys the way he does. Alan Evans is a thunderstorm on the drums as his vocals come out clear as day.
With the clouds finally clearing, the night sky was filled with stars and a full honey moon, unleashing the wild side in party goers just in time for the evening sets. Disc Jammers got a double dose of Consider the Source for a two-hour set on the main stage and a late night acoustic set. Their bizarre and Middle Eastern psychedelic tunes are powerful, warping experiences, acoustic or not. If you’re lucky enough to get close to the stage, you can marvel at the focused finger picking skills of Gabriel Marin and John Gerrara with Jeff Mann controlling the rhythmic speed. The main act of the night was Dopapod, who were happy to return to Disc Jam for another year of experimental funky rock. The quartet from Boston blasted off with “Like a Ball” with screaming vocals and a steady climbing melody. After a 17 minute space odyssey from “STADA” with “Smoke on the Water” teases, Dopapod brought out one of their biggest fans, Kristen DeTroia, to celebrate her 100th show. The set went on after a brief set break with a pretty decent glow stick war ensuing as they soon as “Trapper Keeper” began. Dopapod makes you feel like a kid again with their playful, adventurous funky bass and relentless dance rhythms.
Sunday
Sunday brought out blue skies with limited clouds, plenty of sunshine and with a full music schedule, the day was looking bright. Hope Road: A Tribute to Bob Marley and The Wailers woke up the crowd with their laid back, chill tunes that the reggae legend and lifestyle is known for. There was no sleeping through The Party Band, a marching band that paraded around the campsites with a full brass section and drum line playing classic tunes and today’s radio hits. Otis Groove, a trio from Boston, delivered a set of high voltage rock with some funky Hammond organ playing by Sam Gilman. Disc Jam got spun some Hip Hop Funk when Upstate NY band, Sophistifunk took the main stage with Jack Brown spitting the ever true words of “Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll”. The unstoppable duo known as The Hornitz got bumped up to an earlier slot and got put on the main stage with no argument from anyone. Their fresh beat boxing and brass horn looping is original and fun as they remix Phish’s “Lengthwise” and “Day Man” from the popular TV cult show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. One of the most up and coming cover bands took over the main stage with tributes to Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish to form Pink Talking Fish. Their setlists are incredible as they easily transition from one smash hit to another twist of a surprise like “2001>Life During Wartime>Run Like Hell.”
The Nth Power do more than play music on stage, they are spreading love. They have a smooth R&B soulful with enticing vocal harmonies that ease the crowd into the groove. But when Nikki Glaspie starts to wail on those drums, the contagiousness had Nigel Hall playing his keys so hard that he literally sent them flying. He had to ask if anyone had crazy glue to piece it back together while Weedie Braimah stretched his worldly bongo skills for listening pleasure. The last two acts of the night were double hitter super jams with a special Disc Jam Funk All-Star set and Particle and Friends Super Jam to close down the main stage. The All Star set consisted of Alan Evan’s PlayonBrother guitarist Danny Mayer, Nikki Glaspie on drums, Aaron Bellamy on Bass, Club D’Elf keyboardist Amy Bellamy with Brian Thomas and Jared Sims on horns. Jen Durkin from Deep Banana Blackout joined in on vocals and tambourine as she cheered “Let’s Funk It Up!” Before Nigel Hall could join in on the fun, the power cut out resulting in an urgent rush of staff who luckily had it up and running for the final act of the night, Particle.
The West coast quartet of Particle brought up some special guests to help end the weekend at Disc Jam. The Hornitz joined them for the set starter of “The Battle Without Honor or Humility” also known as the theme to Kill Bill. Shred master Danny Mayer once again hopped onstage for his turn for “W”. Eric Gould’s friends of Pink Talking Fish Richard James and Dave Brunyak sat in for “Metropolis”. Particle jammed out their space rock until a little before midnight with half the attendees still left with the option of camping until Monday morning.
After a weekend full of unlimited music, art and disc golf, Disc Jam continues to be a festival that is spinning towards a bright future. Disc Jam is a great festival for families, people new to the scene and those who keep coming back for more. Here’s hoping that Disc Jam has found at home at Camp Coldbrook and will return next year bigger and better than ever.
Originally from Brooklyn and now based out of Philadelphia, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY for short) will be rocking BSP Kingston this Thursday night.
Formed in 2005, CYHSY are just one of the many indie rock gems to emerge from Brooklyn and have only gained momentum since then in the underground music scene. Following the departure of some band members to other musical interests, CYHSY has essentially turned into a solo project for frontman Alec Ounsworth. The band released their fourth full-length studio album Only Run on June 3rd, which features the single “Coming Down” with vocals by Matt Berninger of The National.
Opening the show is noise/art rock duo Stagnant Pools from Bloomington, Indiana who have been supporting CYHSY on a number of recent shows. The duo has been compared to acts such as Sonic Youth and Joy Division. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, they have recently released Geist on June 10 which can be previewed on their Bandcamp page.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=80403379 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and are available from BSP Kingston here.
Check out Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s single “Coming Down” here: