With an expansive state such as NY, there’s a multitude of large cities and small towns that are home to some widely diverse music venues and scenes abroad. Teetering as the fourth most populated state in the country, New York houses just under 20 million people with the majority of the larger cities snuggled along interstate 90. It’s a seamless route for bands to travel and schedule shows as they pass through the Empire State. However, our team of merry music lovers here at NYS Music voted upon one town to be the best scene for live music. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that this 5-borough concrete jungle was the top pick for best music town in New York State. That’s right, New York City indeed. Coming in hot at #1 is the largest city in the United States and has been declared as the Best Music Town for many years now. It’s probably not going to be topped anytime soon either.
Oh, but the city that never sleeps has far more venues than anyone can imagine. Clubs, bars, city parks, warehouses, basements, rooftops, to numerous theatres and stadiums are abundant in the melting pot. It’s glorious! The most regarded venue in NYC would have to be Madison Square Garden. It’s beautiful, accommodating, spacious, acoustically dynamic, and it is just historically pleasing to be in and around. MSG holds only the world’s largest acts and will be home to Phish for four consecutive nights at the end of 2015.
Though, just because NYC is ample in size, poses home to the largest/most popular arenas and theaters in the country, doesn’t mean that’s where the real glory is. People tend to have more fun in the intimate venue, smaller capacity rooms where you can practically reach out and touch the artists from any angle of the room. The venues that sell tickets at reasonable prices, have great selection of beverages, are decorated with passion, and cater to the individual concert go-er rather than consumers in bulk, are what makes the experience favorable. The Empire City has all of that and more. Some other venues that hold NYC so high are: The Beacon Theatre, The Hammerstein Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, Playstation Theater, City Winery, Terminal 5, Brooklyn Bowl, Governors Island, Central Park, Bowery Ballroom, Village Vanguard, Cake Shop, and Saint Vitus are just a sliver of the pie.
New Years Eve in New York City, well really, the whole week around New Years, is chock full of music. Just check out this list put together by Catskill Chill Music Festival!
Aside from being the music mecca of the world, it’s almost in a class of its own. Until that changes, go visit the Big Apple and enjoy some live music!
Most bands and performers have goals to play their music, record albums, have fun, and entertain thousands of fans in the largest of venues that host our favorite bands. It takes years of dedication, hard work, and constant creativity to pursue these dreams and goals. For almost every performer, they have to start their careers in the smaller clubs and work their way to the large venues. Here we have our Top NYS Music Staff Picks for the Best venues in New York State for 2015.
Best Club in New York State – Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn, NY)
This bowling alley and live-music venue fully embraces the bowl-a-rama theme park idea. This is a great place to kill a few hours by your-self or with a group of friends. You can down a pitcher of Brooklyn Brews, chew your way through the food menu from the Blue Ribbon team (delicious fatty brisket, Old Bay–fried chicken) lane-side between frames, while listening to/watching some the best music from around the world on their music stage. This establishment is also certified L.E.E.D Green with use of 100% wind energy, all beverages being on-tap only (No cans and bottles), cork and recycled truck tire flooring, and energy efficient electronics and appliances. There’s no wonder why this was voted the best club.
“Basically, Brooklyn Bowl is the Pimp My Ride of music venues. It has a 16-lane bowling alley with big-ass HD TV screens situated above the pins. “Rock. And Roll. Fries” and the “Really Sloppy Joe” are on the Blue Ribbon-supplied menu. And they book wonderfully odd and unexpected novelty shows such as Lebowski Fest, the Regional Air Guitar Championships, and Snoop Dogg. Most of the time, however, the Bowl brings out the latest in indie rock, punctuated by seasonal specialties like Questlove’s weekly DJ residency. Their couches are really comfortable, too.” – The Village Voice
Best Theatre in New York State – Palace Theatre (Albany, NY)
The top pick by our staff for best theatre turned out to be a good one. The Palace Performing Arts Center is a Baroque-style theater dating to 1931 hosts concerts, classic movies & the Albany Symphony Orchestra. This theatre is a favorite among many bands and performers visiting the capital region with its 2,800 person capacity, beautifully carved moldings, and painted ceilings. It holds events that spawn from broadways the Nutcracker to celebrating New Years Eve with the progressive jam-band Moe. The theater has also been profiting tremendously for the last 4 years straight since under new management.
With a close race in this category, SPAC came out on top for our staff pick of the best large venue in New York State. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is a complex with a large Amphitheatre and smaller theatre that hosts every single kind of music known from around the world and also hosts banquets and events for local high schools and companies. This year of 2016, SPAC is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is also up for its contract renewal with New York State.
Tied for Top Pick of the best NEW venue in New York State by our staff are two venues located in Syracuse, NY. The Lakeview Amphitheater was built this year and opened to the public in late summer, hosting one of Country music’s biggest stars, Miranda Lambert. The all-new state of the art venue seats over 17,000 people and has a picturesque view of Onondaga Lake.
Funk ‘N’ Waffles Downtown was established in late 2014 and is located near Armory Square in downtown Syracuse. The 2nd location is an offshoot of the original restaurant-slash-club located on Marshall St, near the University. The downtown spot is set up to hold 100+ people and divided into two sections (Coffee shop and Bar with live music). They serve a wonderful selection of local and popular NYS beers, have state of the art technology for their visiting musicians, and have an original tasty concoction of waffles to choose from. NYS Music is also co-sponsoring Wednesday Nights with live music every week in December.
Assembly of Dust stopped by the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, NY for their second night of their four-date Pre-Thanksgiving Tour. Supportive local bands, Soul Risin’ and Universal Transit warmed up the brisk evening for the energetic audience. We had a fantastic time chatting with Reid Genauer about music, bandmates, songwriting and children’s books.
Kevin Bedford: Welcome back to Syracuse, it’s been a little while since you’ve been here. What is it that keeps you coming back to our fair city?
Reid Genauer: Ah, well you’ve got to start with the Dinosaur BBQ, as a landmark. We had dinner from there tonight. Not in there but from there, so that’s a good start. It may not be a good end but it’s a good start. (laughs)
KB: What did you have?
RG: You know, sort of a disappointing order. I just had a cheeseburger, but it was still good. But I can assure you there was Fred Flinstonian amounts of flesh consumed. (laughs)
KB: It’s been a couple of years since your last album, Sun Shot. Tell us what’s in the works for you? Do you have a new album or anything that you’ve been working on?
RG: Yeah, you know I wish I could report global dominance, but one thing that we’ve been working on is a show from last winter that we multi-tracked in Portland, Ore. And we’ve done this a couple of times but we’ll probably take a handful of the better tracks from that show and release it as an album. So we’ve been working on that.
KB: Anything new that you’ve been working on that will be on that release?
RG: Yeah, I’ve been writing songs for a new album and you’re never sure how long that process will take but we’re due for a new album.
KB: I saw that you posted a new tune from California that you had posted online (you can hear the song on Reid’s FB page).
RG: Yeah, I’ve been going, you know, fits and starts with writing new tunes and I’ve been doing some new writing. Actually It’s not very rock n roll but I’ve been working on a childrens book as well. Which you know everybody and their mom has done but I’m really doing it. I had written a book, like a Shel Silverstein book. A book of kids poems and stuff years ago. Probably 15 years ago and tried to get it published and got rejected from a zillion different publishers and during that time I had connected with an illustrator and things have changed since then, you know, you can self publish now. Which was sort of happening back then, but now it’s really a lot easier to do now. So, I looked him back up and he lives in Michigan. He’s doing the illustration right now, it’s pretty cool. I think the next two things, besides sitting in my back yard and trying to come up with number one jams, are the new live album and the kids book. I’ll see if I can find a picture of it just so you can see it while we are talking.
KB: Do you have an estimated publish date for it yet?
RG: No, I don’t. It’s getting close though. It’s all illustrated and it’s written. It’s called Jeffery’s Jungle and it’s about this little kid that basically turns up the heat in his house and it turns into a jungle. (pulls out his phone to show several great illustrations of jungle animals in a living room) So I mean, in fairness the illustrations are the harder part here. But you know, (chuckles) I wrote the lyrics.
KB: That’s awesome. We all know you’re always good at writing the lyrics.
RG: (laughs) Yeah. Thats my magic, my parlor trick.
KB: Yes it is and I have more questions about that but first, AOD started out as your solo project back in 2003 and now here we are 12 years later. Did you ever think at the time AOD would still be playing together all these years later?
RG: I did. Well, not when we first initially started playing together. It all started out very organically. As we started to set out to be a band or whatever that means, we made more of a concrete commitment to each other. I was thinking about what the matrix for success is right, because, sure, playing the Enormo-dome 5 nights a week across the globe, that’s a pretty obvious one. But there are some less obvious ones. The one that is most central to me was just longevity. The ability to do it just sort of indefinitely. Especially after being in a band that sort of came to a glorious end, I didn’t want to have that same sort of tumultuous end point, you know. I think you can look at us as that we are underachievers on a lot of counts including the Enormo-dome, but in terms of longevity, having a good time with it and enjoying other music that we are making. We’re still at it ya know, still in it.
KB: How is it that you all came together with Adam, John, Nate and Andy?
RG: I knew all of those guys. We were all running around New England playing music in the 90’s and that’s when I met the guys from moe. and they had their own thing going on over here in Western NY, which we were all adjacent to. So there was them, the (Ominious) Seapods and Moon Boot Lover who sort of had one foot in each camp. There was Yep and I’m drawing a blank on a couple others but anyhow, it was a scene in New England, Vermont, New Hampshire and I knew those guys just from the scene. After the last Strangefolk album I spent the summer in New Hampshire and that’s where all of those guys were living. I booked some dates just to sort of test the waters and see what would happen. It was sort of experimental and they just slowly kind of coalesced and it casually all went well. It’s a pretty well known tale but I knew John and then I saw Adam at a Percy Hill gig. He was in the audience and I said, “hey, I’ve got a gig at the Stone Church, would you like to sit in?” and he did. I saw John backstage at the same gig and he said: “you know if you ever want me to play some stand up bass and play some acoustic stuff …” and then it went from there. We had three guys, bass and two guitars and we needed drums and we all knew Andy so we said well, what about Andy, and we all knew Nate so we said well what about Nate it was really that simple.
KB: You’ve had some member changes over the years, but Adam and John have been the consistent members, tell me about your relationship with these two guys, musically.
RG: They’re just close friends. It’s familial and so I’ve been looking forward to this first run of shows just to hang out with them. Again, if your aim is longevity, one of the things that you have to build into that is enjoying each other’s company both personally and musically. I think at the core that’s how I would access the relationship. We laugh a lot and tell a lot of, you know, fart jokes. And then I just enjoy the hell out of playing with them. I’ll listen to what’s going on onstage and kind of be enjoying it as a fan, a participant, and an audience member at the same time. And then I’ll listen back to shows from time to time or little snippets that people post online and i’ll be like holy shit. Somebody posted a just a little clip of one of Adams’ solos from last night and I watched it as almost like a third party observer and I was just like holy F*** that guy can play the guitar. And I sort of feel lucky to play music with guys that are that good. I mean, not sort of, I do feel lucky! It’s sort of like having a hot girlfriend. (Laughs)
KB: So you write all of the music and lyrics, I’m assuming, on an acoustic guitar. At what point does the collaboration begin with these guys?
RG: Yeah, well, over the years I have written songs from the get go in collaboration with people. In Strangefolk I wrote a lot with John the guitarist and Eric the bass player. With AOD I wrote a lot with Nate and to a lesser extent I’ve done some stuff with Jason Crosby. So it depends, is the answer. If it’s a song that I sort of conceptualized from beginning to end, then collaboration just begins with showing the band the changes and talk about what it feels like and peoples first impressions. A lot of the time, songs just based on the lyrical content or the key or the tempo that I’m playing in that moment or the rhythmic pattern, might remind someone of something, or suggest something to someone and then well, they have their own default uh, perspective on music or well, voice really, and then we have our group as a voice. So if you go and take all of those, if you look at all of those data points to inform the song, the first iteration usually happens pretty organically then you start to play it a little bit and you say eh, maybe it feels great and you play it just the way you play it and a lot of the times we do or sometimes you kind of say oh maybe this feels better a click or two slower or a more complex or less complex drum part in this section. Or it kinda feels empty here but uh you just sort of …
KB: Adjust.
RG: Yeah, you adjust. It’s sort of like rearranging furniture, if you’re moving furniture into a house. You put furniture in a room and sort of squint at it and say, “does this look like the right set up or does the chair need to be over by the window?” It’s a little bit like that. It’s a mental rearranging.
KB: So our mutual friend Al and I were talking a couple of years ago about Adam’s guitar work. And we both agreed that neither one of us has ever heard him play a sour note. (Reid laughs) What is it that you love playing with him?
RG: Well, I have heard him play a sour note but rarely, to your point. He is an executioner. What do I love about playing with him? Well first of all he is very ego-less and very humble about his talent which is really refreshing in about anybody, right. He is so multi-faceted, he can more or less play in any style and he’s sort of like a painter. While his solos are Bah-lazing and that’s the sort of the most obvious thing to latch onto, especially with what people post on social media. I think what makes Adam so unique are the parts that he plays during the song. The fills that he’ll do between the lyrical phrase or the little embellishments that he’ll do to the harmonic structure of the song while it’s in motion and he really just, like I said I think of him like a painter. I almost see colors as he plays, and it’s sometimes subtle pastels, sometimes its brilliant oil paint. The fact that he can do both is unusual. Because, usually people kind of do one or the other.
KB: I’ve always considered Adam one of the most under rated guitarists. I think he should be spoken of in the same breath as Trey Anastasio, Carlos Santana, Al and Chuck (moe.) and people of the same caliber.
RG: Yeah, yeah. So in the vein of being underachievers, um, people say that a lot about Adam. The only part that bugs me about that is that I don’t think he’s underrated. Anybody that has ever seen him, rates him very highly. He’s just under-appreciated because not enough people know about him.
KB: So do you think Dead and Co. should have asked Adam to join them instead of John Mayer?
RG: I think Adan would have fucking crushed it, I will say that! I don’t know it’s kind of an apples to oranges kind of thing but, the question I’ve asked myself many times when I think about those situations isn’t how would Adam would do in one of those incarnations. I mean he would blow the doors off! I think one of the things that I like about John Mayer’s approach is that you do still hear John Mayer but he does play homage to Jerry in a tasteful way and Adam does a really good job at it when he attempts to. He can sort of accomplish the intent while still having his own soul and his own layer represented. So, he would crush it. So, hey Bob Weir, hey Phil Lesh, if you guys are reading this? Adam Terrell, Adam Terrell, Adam Terrell…
KB: So let me ask you about Jason Crosby. Jason started playing with you in 2013 with the Sun Shot album.
RG: Yeah, and probably before that.
KB: So speaking of the Dead and in that vein, where did your paths cross for the first time and how did it lead to have him joining the band?
RG: So, Nate let us know that he was sort of done, he was tired and the immediate instinct was to sort of rush out and find a quote unquote replacement right away.
KB: But you didn’t for a while.
RG: I didn’t because it dawned on me that it was the wrong thing to do. You know, it had happened so organically because it was just so pleasant for everyone. There was such a good chemistry and rather than trying to cram something there for the sake of cramming someone in there, we just kind of sat tight and figured fate, with the intent of finding someone, would throw us a bone. And sure enough about a year after Nate left, Jason and I both have a mutual friend, Lucy Chapin who is this great singer-songwriter and she lives in Vermont. But she was a girl who was, well, when I was in Strangefolk she was just this little precocious 16 year old hanging out backstage like she owned the place and so I got to know her that way. Just because she was this petite blond 16 year old who’s, you know, making me feel uncomfortable in my own space. (laughs) Ya know, and we became friends and it turns out that she and Jason are good friends and she kinda did the match making thing. So, she said you guys ought to connect. I was living outside of New York and Jason was living in the city and we’ll tell this story till the day that we die. I went over there to just kind of introduce myself, to see if there might be something there for us to do, and we wound up having dinner. His girlfriend cooked this delicious meal, like these salty steaks and this beautiful meal. I drank a ton of vodka with dinner and I got so hammered I couldn’t even really play (laughing), so after dinner on our first meeting we barely and I mean barely played anything. We just had dinner and kinda got to know each other and just took it from there. It was funny, I went over there to jam and when we were done with dinner I couldn’t really string a song together.
KB: That’s great! You’ve had a long career as a musician and you’ve had the opportunity to play with some pretty cool people over the years. In fact, Some Assembly Required was a virtual who’s who of special guest musicians on the entire album. Besides the folks on that album, who would you say was your biggest thrill to play with either a special guest with you or you with them.
RG: Yeah, wow, I mean it’s hard to pick one but one that stands out to me that, is near and dear to this conversation, was singing and playing Friend of the Devil with Phil Lesh and Friends at Jones beach. That was pretty great for me. You know, that was definitely a moment. Um, we backed Dicky Betts at the Jammys one year at Madison Square Garden Theatre for Blue Sky and Ramblin Man, I mean that was pretty cool. In fact, if you look up in Rolling Stone’s 100 best guitar players, Dicky Betts is in there, he’s number seventy or whatever, and the shot they used of him was from that night and I’m standing behind him, so it’s (laughs) really funny, it’s like Where’s Waldo. That was a pretty special experience and I dunno, those are two that just really jump out for me. You know, there are others. We actually had Butch Trucks sit in on an Allman’s tune that we played in Rochester. And the list goes on. Mike Gordon sat in with us several times up in Vermont and that’s just special because you know, I’m a phan boy. So those are some big ones.
KB: I once heard you say at a show that you can often hear musicians try to emulate someone that they love and respect in their music. Is there someone in particular that has influenced you in your writing?
RG: Yeah, I mean for sure, 100%. But I try to emulate many so it’s not all just one. You know, here’s me doing Garcia over and over again but, you know, it’s funny in trying to emulate Garcia. I think you realize that you are actually trying to emulate Robert Hunter as much as you are Garcia, so that’s been on the front of the list for me. Neil Young is another big one. Certainly Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon, CSN, The Band. Those are the ones that come front and center and I think if you listen to the music, you hear that stuff pretty obviously. Hopefully with a fresh garnish on it. (laughs) A little celery…
KB: OK, so this is a personal question. I’ve been going to the Gathering of the Vibes for a very long time as have you and you’ve preformed at all of them except for one which you mention ever year. I’ve often wondered what was the story behind that.
RG: The story was, that was the year that I left Strangefolk and I thought those guys would have found it upsetting if I was there, so I sort of just politely bowed out, you know, to not make anybody uncomfortable.
KB: Oh, OK. I didn’t realize that because you make a joke out of it at the Vibes every year saying that, that was the year that you were in jail.
RG: I was just in the, you know, leaving the band jail. (laughs)
KB: Ok, I always pictured you on some drunken escapade gone wrong or something.
RG: No, I wish I had a better story (laughs)
KB: So what are some of your other favorite festivals to play at?
RG: Bonnaroo was awesome, right, I mean that place is just a crown jewel of a festival and we played it at noon or something. I mean, it was a really early set. It was like the breakfast set and I remember there were thousands of people. I remember the rush was just amazing. That was awesome. Um, I’ve played Summer Camp a few times and moe. had us out one time for one of there band-melding moments where you take over the instruments one at a time and I remember being in front of multiple thousands of people with AOD and Adam is just blazing the solo and people are going apeshit, it was just awesome!
There are really, sort of, different classes of festivals. The ones that I actually resonate with more tend to be the more sort of folksy ones like the Strawberry Music Festival out in California. Then there’s the High Sierra Festival. The vibe there is just, I mean if you haven’t been, it’s worth going to. It’s like, it sounds cliché but it’s the west coast and it’s just mellow. It’s like people are just, chill. Merle Fest is in there and there are others that are more folk than they are jam band festivals. I think that there is something like it’s more livable, like people are there more to experience the music and it’s not like a gauntlet of how f***ed up you can get, right, so it’s a different…
KB: A different appreciation for the music?
RG: Yeah, A different appreciation and a different approach of just experiencing it.
KB: So you have such a unique style of playing. You mix a lot of major and minor chords together, almost like a walk up or walk down to get to from one chord to the next. Whereas other musicians might just use three or four chords to piece together an entire song. You seem to blend a waterfall of colors to get from point A to point B and it never sounds muddy. How do you approach your melodies.
RG: I’ve written so many tunes that I just feel like if I don’t throw, and they’re not exceptionally complex but I feel if I don’t throw nuggets in there of more obscure chords, we call them chords from the chord museum, that we all know that i’ll just write the same song over and over again. And you know, no matter what you do, your songs sound like referencing each other or sort of cannibalizing each other. So for me, it’s a forced attempt to not do that. That’s what drives that and you know whether or not i’m successful at that I’ll leave for somebody else to access, but that’s what it’s driven by.
KB: Which leads me to my next question. Your songs, like Bootleggers Advice, Etta James, Leadbelly, Paul Henry, you have such an interesting subject matter in your songs. Where does that come from?
RG: Same thing, right. It’s like, I mean, there’s only so many times you can write about a sunny day or a broken heart. I think some of the most interesting songs are about obscure subject matter, you know, like Steely Dan. You know, unlike Phish songs which is often times nonsensical, Steely Dan’s are just about stories, like weird little vignettes. Or if you look at like Appalachian music. I mean they do tend to write about the same themes but they will still be like a tangential event in somebody’s life as opposed to the pillar event. Sure, there’s meeting the girl and falling in love but they’ll talk about nine pound hammer, talks about working in a blue collar situation. I’m trying to think of other examples of that.
I think that some of the most interesting novels are that or movies even. It’s not like your typical western. So, I’m like just thinking about the Marigold Hotel, right, I mean what a random subject matter about this guy who runs a hotel in India and these English people come there, and that makes for a great story. It’s born out of the same thing as the chord question and melody question, which is how do you keep writing songs and not just being the same story over and over again. So you have to pick on something that’s more on the edge that’s more obscure and make that the center piece of your lentance. And once you sort of coach yourself to do it, it’s a thing that you can repeat over and over and over again. So it’s repeatable ya know.
KB: You have always struck me as sort of the Mark Twain of…
RG: (laughs) Of Jam-bands.
KB: Well jam-bands, I mean I consider you just a singer songwriter but a fantastic story teller.
RG: Yeah, I’m not quite sure, ya know. They sometimes say, well they always say, necessity is the mother of invention. I wander and for me it’s just what I gravitate to. I think it was sort of like a cheat, a way for me to ratchet my way into the music world and so it’s like I’ve got a guitar and I can strum a few chords. I really didn’t have the attention span or the discipline to become Adam as a guitar player, so you know, how am I gonna fit into this picture right. That was part of how it happened and I’m sure there is some sort of biochemistry as to why my brain gravitates towards words. So it has always been a fascination, even since I was in grade school.
KB: So did you study English in college?
RG: No, That is one of my regrets. I would have loved it. I really would have enjoyed it. I love it and I just didn’t. Mainly because my parents helped out with college and my dad was like there’s no f***ing way you’re going to college and studying English. (laughs)
KB: One final question. I see that AOD, Strangefolk, and God Street Wine are coming together to preform as Assembly of Strange Wine. Now we all know your affiliation with Strangefolk but with God Street Wine, they took a pretty long hiatus and now they’re back in the game. How did they come into play with the other two bands?
RG: That’s a good question. I’ve known the bass player for years, Dan Pifer. But what happened actually, was Jason was playing with God Street a few years back and through that, they invited me to come down and play a tune. I learned one of their songs and fronted the band for a tune at the Grammercy. That sort of sparked a friendship, and I knew them tangentially for the same reasons as we talked about before as being part of the same scene. Then I needed a sub at one point and a few different times I used a few different members of the band. Dan subbed once and Jon and then Aaron, so I got to know them and then we did a gig as Assembly of Wine where we played each others tunes. That was Jon Bevo’s inspiration and then at a recent Strangefolk show, we did a sort of similar thing with Strangefolk and now we’ve all had this sort of incestuous love affair. Bevo said we ought to do a big mash up and contrary to the story around the Gathering of the Vibes thing feelings are mended and so its like one big happy family.
KB: And what a better place to do it than the Capitol Theatre and Boston at The Paradise
RG: Yeah it’ll be great!
KB: Well, on behalf of NYSMusic, thank you for hanging out, talking with us and have a great show tonight!
RG: Yeah, Thanks. I appreciate it, those were really thoughtful questions.
Halloween parties at Putnam Den are often some of the best gatherings of the year, with enthusiastic audiences & bands wearing their favorite character costumes, decorative rooms, grotesque drink mixes, and supreme music selections. The theme of every party is to dance, celebrate, enjoy the visuals, and celebrate.
This year, hosted a social event like no other at the Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs, with the help from Albany based Mister F and Plattsburgh’s own Lucid. As the holiday fell on a saturday with clear skies, Saratoga was open for menace.
Mister F kicked off the evening with their eclectic mix of funk, rock, and sophisticated rhythms which attracted many ghouls and goblins right from the start. This local four piece hit the stage dressed as characters from the movie Spaceballs and ripped up an hour performance from out of this world. Their set highlights were an original “Answer the Dog,” featuring members from Lucid and Formula 5 and Bela Fleck & the Flecktones cover, “Sinister Minister.”
Lucid brought an inspiring set with their north woods folk rock grooves that made all the skeletons shake their bones. These handsome devils attired the Village People and busted out their set with a greatest hits medley. Highlights from their set were “Backwoods” featuring George Wurster and “I Kill People” with Scott Hannay of Mister F.
Formula 5 raucously hit the stage running with a Jay & Silent Bob skit featuring Scott Hannay of Mister F and the contagious cover of “Jungle Love” by Morris Day and the Time, a tune long favored by their chosen characters. Highlights from their the Formulaic set was the Huey Lewis and Ray Parker Jr. mix, “I Want a New Drug” > “Ghostbusters” > “I Want a New Drug.”
Formula 5 Set:
Jay & Silent Bob Skit@ > Jungle Love^ > Excalibur, Perch Above the Earth$* -> I Want A New Drug* -> Ghostbusters -> I Want A New Drug -> Mister Elixir* -> Perch Above the Earth > Mister Elixir, Low Rider!, Catch Me, Nu-GEN#* -> Pedro* -> Night Time In The Switching Yard, Epiphany
Encore: Magic Carpet Ride
@ – featuring Scott Hannay (Mister F)
^ – featuring Matt Pickering and Scott Hannay (Mister F), Lowell Wurster (Lucid),
$ – Thriller Jam
* – Unfinished
! – Featuring Jamie Armstrong, Chris Shacklett and Lowell Wurster (Lucid), Scott Hannay (Mister F)
# – Featuring Andrew Chamberlaine and Scott Hannay (Mister F)
‘Jungle Love’ – Morris Day and The Time (1st time played)
‘I Need a New Drug’ – Huey Lewis & The News (1st time played with James and Joe)
‘Ghostbusters’ – Ray Parker Jr. (1st time played with James)
‘Low Rider’ – War
‘Night Time In The Switching Yard’ – Warren Zevon
‘Magic Carpet Ride’ – Steppenwolf (1st time played)
Mister F
Mister F Setlist:
Vocoder > Everything You Say, This One Goes to 11@, See Level > Answer the Dog#, Inside, Eye Level > The Machine, Do It Again%, Sinister Minister^, On and On, Don’t Lose Your Watch
@ – w/ The Munsters Theme Tease
# – w/ Joe Davis (Formula 5) & Lowell Wurster(Lucid)
% – Original, First Time Played
^ – Bela Fleck & The Flecktones Cover
Lucid
Lucid Setlist:
Village People Medley (YMCA > In the Navy > Macho Man > YMCA), 4 Bangers and Hash (Styles of the Smooth > Yanomamo Lullaby > R.L. > The Russian), Gemini Eye > Surf Side Rock Side, Black Smoke, Came and Went > Silhouettes, Backwoods*, Dirt Whiskey Dreams > Shinbones, Blessed and Cursed, I Kill People ^
* with George Wurster
^ – (Andrew James Deller) w/ Scott Hannay of Mister F
The Great NY State Fair is one of the most highly regarded and visited fairs in America, providing fair goers with an enough crafts, food, rides, entertainment, musical performances and competitions to last 12 days. Each year, the first day is held high with expectations as staff look forward to seeing large crowds and hosting some of Americas’ best musical performers to fill the first day. This year was no exception, inviting ’90s rock group Everclear and singer/actor Rick Springfield to the Chevy Court along with rising country star Eric Church to the Grandstands to cap off the night.
Everclear has been traveling the world for many years, performing their hit singles such as “Santa Monica,” “Father of Mine,” “Everything to Everyone,” and “Wonderful” to name a few. With the release of their new studio album Black is the New Black this past April, the band has been on tour supporting and sharing their new songs with audiences all over the world. Their set, which was supposed to start at 2pm, kicked off late but rockin’ as the band came out in all black clothes with instruments in hand. The group played just a few select songs from their most recent release, but stayed strong with their hits and crowd pleasers.
Once the sun had nestled into the horizon, the Chevy Court had again filled with folks waiting to see the next performer. As 8pm approached, the audience kept growing by the large numbers, thus enhancing the excitement. Soon, the stage lights dimmed and a brief video began, showing a collage of video clips of highlights throughout Rick Springfield’s’ career. With the video screen flashing on a dark stage, to a crowded audience, Rick and the band quietly made their way onto the stage preparing to burst into song. This particular performance was filled with top hits and sing-a-longs including “Affair of the Heart,” “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “Human Touch,” and “Love Somebody. During the evening, Rick even brought up some very young kids to help sing the chorus’ of “Don’t Talk to Strangers.” The quintet of rock stars took a short break to chug some water and let the anticipation of the encore increase. As cheering echoed in between the buildings, Rick and the gang boarded the stage yet again to end the “Opening Day” show with his top hit “Jessie’s Girl” and “Kristina.”
While Chevy Court was rocking to some good ole fashioned rock and roll from Rick Springfield, the filled to capacity Grandstands were preparing for what was to be the first of the last three shows to be performed at the venue. First up on the billing was Eric Church, one of country music’s biggest names in the business. The country music equivalent to Hollywood’s James Dean, this jean clad, sunglass wearing young man is definitely a rebel, but with a cause. Making his own music his own way and not apologizing for following his dreams, he has won the hearts of country music fans all over the world with his unique musical style. As the crowd began to fill in, it was apparent that the grandstands would be filled to capacity for the first of the last of shows here.
First up for the evening was opening act The Cadillac Three; three long-haired hell raise’n dudes that rocked the stage like a seasoned rock and roll band. Although they may appear to resemble members of Duck Dynasty, don’t let their appearance fool you as they are some of the most talented rockers in the business today. Playing their style of country with a southern rock and roll flare, it was the perfect pairing for the main event to follow and had the crowd a rocking when they came a knocking.
As Eric took the stage, he started us of with a “Cold One”, followed by a chaser or “Creepin”, and then eased into “Guys Like Me”. Contining to mesmerize the crowd, Eric played all of this girls favorites, including his newest “Like Wrecking Ball”, sentimental favorite, “Give Me Back My Hometown”, and even threw in a little Springsteen with “Dancing In The Dark”. How can you not love someone who plays “Dancing In The Dark”? Seriously. With a catalog of hit after hit, it was no wonder the crowd loves this hell raisin country bad boy. It was the largest “church” service I had seen in a while.
As Day One closed it’s gates, it was apparent that they definitely had set the bar high Day One and set the pace for the rest to the week to follow suit. If they continued to rock both venues, beat first day attendance crowds with their $3 Thursday promotions, it was going to be one memorable 2015 Great NY State Fair.
Set List: Creepin , Guys Like Me, How ‘Bout You, Talladega, Pledge Allegiance to the Hag, Jack Daniels, Livin’ Part Of Life, Drink in My Hand, Like a Wrecking Ball, Lotta Boot Left to Fill, That’s Damn Rock & Roll, Give Me Back My Hometown, Homeboy, Smoke a Little Smoke, Over When It’s Over, These Boots, Dancing In The Dark/Springsteen.
Portland born Folk artist, Todd Snider, brought his musically charged, humorous life stories to the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, on June 24, for his first show in central New York. Of what was supposed to be a duo with John Craigie, turned out to be a one-man show of Todd all by himself. News of why Mr. Craigie wasn’t playing or why he couldn’t make the show, was left unannounced but that didn’t stop the crowd from patiently waiting and thoroughly enjoying the only performance of the evening.
Todd’s artistry is not about the music, it’s about the story in whole. The lessons he learned from his travels, the wisdom he’s acquired from meeting strangers, past relationships and living on the road all have a say in how each show pans out. The diverse audience loves it though. From the moment Todd stepped on stage and waved his hat in the air to greet the crowd, everyone cheered in excitement to hear what he had to say. It was as if he had played in Syracuse many times before. For the following One-Hundred minutes, Todd played soft chords on his nylon-stringed acoustic guitar and told stories, which gave way to laughter, smiles and even some frowns.
Entertainment shows it’s face in many forms and Todd naturally entertained the crowd. He provided a unique and vulnerable show for everyone in attendance, aiming to show himself as an enthusiastic, opinionated, musical story teller of truth and tall tales. He accomplished just that and more as the audience was drawn into every detail that he presented about his time on this wonderful planet.
There may come a time when your favorite bands become older and stop performing live or for whatever reasons. In order to hear those special songs in a concert setting again, you may need to go see a tribute band to get that nostalgic feeling back.
You know, the music that you can just close your eyes, listen, and fall in love with all over again. Most tribute bands do a great job at replicating the signature sounds and production of the original act they promote, and one band in particular that is at the top of the list is Brit Floyd. This group is named as the ‘World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Tribute Show’ and now, I can see why.
On May 20, Brit Floyd brought their 2015 Space & Time World Tour to the Crouse Hinds Theater in Syracuse and hammered the walls down, figuratively speaking. This world tour commemorates the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd and features music from their catalog along with tunes from the Syd Barrett era. The production of this show was nothing short of spectacular, featuring the arc lighting rig with the infamous circle rig in the middle, inflatables, smoke, projection screens, lasers, and much more.
There aren’t really enough words to describe how incredible this performance was. Tho, the highlights of the night, in my opinion, are as follows. The evening’s performance started off with a silent, dark audience paying full attention to a “Speak to Me” video compilation similar to that used by Pink Floyd in the mid 1990s.
The band covertly walked on stage, strapped in and slid into “Breathe,” segueing with “On the Run” into the ever popular ‘Time,” featuring Damien Darlington on vocals. For the next song, Angela Cervantes who is one of the backup singers, performed an intense, emotional version of ‘The Great Gig in the Sky” with Damian on Lap Steel guitar and Tom Ashbrook on Piano. Bringing “See Emily Play” from Floyds’ early days was a great treat for the crowd, as well. Closing out the first set was a polished version of Sheep, from the album Animals.
After a brief intermission, Brit Floyd hustled back to stage, eager to give us their all, and started with “One of These Days,” before playing “Louder Than Words” from the 2014 album The Endless River. Ian Catell on bass, locally from Syracuse, brought back some “Money” featuring some sexy Saxophone solos by Marcus Sholar, for his hometown. Soon came “Wish You Were Here” with Bobby Harrison leading the way on acoustic guitar. Warming the hearts of everyone present, the passionate crowd sang along to the words as if each person had written the words themselves. The band then gave introductions, including an intimate speech by Ian to his close friends and family in attendance. To end the set, came an enormous “Comfortably Numb” sang by the bass player.
‘The Show Must Go On’ kicked off the multi-song encore, paving the way for an incredible “In the Flesh” and “Run Like Hell.” To top off their performance in Syracuse, Brit Floyd gave an invaluable rendition of ‘Waiting for the Worms,’ ‘Stop,’ and “The Trial.” But before bidding adieu, the group assembled together in a row for a soft “Outside the Wall.”
In a nutshell, Brit Floyd is the next best thing to Pink Floyd themselves. The production and overall show they bring to fans is simply amazing and worth far more than what their tickets cost. They’re currently in the beginning of their world tour and hopefully we can catch them back around Syracuse in the next few years. If you haven’t seen them before nor made it to this show, you can order a copy of their Live at Red Rocks DVD from 2013, filmed in front of a sold out venue.
Set 1: Speak to Me, Breathe, On the Run, Time, The Great Gig in the Sky, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), See Emily Play, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Another Brick in the Wall (Part II), Keep Talking, On the Turning Away, Sheep
Set 2: One of These Days, Louder Than Words, Money, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, The Final Cut, Band Introductions, Comfortably Numb
Encore: The Show Must Go On, In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting for the Worms, Stop, The Trial, Outside the Wall
Fishbone has been pioneering the music world since 1979 with their own brand of sound, mixing all genres including ska, funk, rock, blues, soul, and R&B. The group is an international act that tours across the world as much as they do in the the USA.
Currently, they are on a 20-date tour across this great nation with shows in NYC at the Rock & Roll Resort, two nights at the Brooklyn Bowl, and an evening at Nectars in Burlington, VT, before heading back to the west coast to finish off the tour. Show attendees can also be sure to hear a few songs from their latest EP titled, Intrinsically Intertwined, that was released last year.
Street Rock Mafia is local from Utica, NY and has recently released their first EP called Music is Life. With a full house at Gordon’s Tap Room (Utica) last saturday, S.R.M. threw one heck of a party to display their hard work, inviting guests artists such as Sam Kininger on Saxaphone and SAMMY award-winning Nineball, among other local bands. Music is Life is a five song EP packed with trembling rock riffs, funky grooves, and smooth flowing hip-hop lyrics.
Primus has announced their 2015 American Summer tour featuring Dinosaur Jr. with 18 dates. The tour kicks off with the All Good Festival in West Virginia on July 10th and will be traveling across country to end in Flagstaff, AZ. Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY will be hosting the dual performances on July 31 by Dan Smalls Presents. Ommegang has their own summer concert series with other guests such as The Pixies, The Avett Brothers, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Dinosaur Jr. is an alternative rock band from Massachusetts, formed in 1984 with original members J Mascis (guitar, vocals), Lou Barlow (bass, vocals), and Murph (drums). Through the year, the band has replaced a couple of members and recorded three major-label albums. In 2005, the original line-up reformed and released three more albums thereafter.
The Primus and Dinosaur Jr. tour will also make stops in Wallingford, CT, the Stone Pony in Asbury, NJ, and Pier 97 in NYC. Tickets for July 31st in Cooperstown will be go on sale Friday and can be purchased at Dansmallpresents.com.
2015 US Tour dates:
July 10 – SUMMIT POINT, WV – ALL GOOD FESTIVAL
July 17 – WALLINGFORD, CT – TOYOTA PRESENTS OAKDALE
July 18 – RALEIGH, NC – LINCOLN THEATRE
July 19 – BIRMINGHAM, AL – SLOSS FESTIVAL
July 20 – CHARLOTTE, NC – FILLMORE CHARLOTTE
July 23 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – PENN’S LANDING
July 24 – ASBURY PARK, NY – THE STONE PONY
July 25 – BOSTON, MA – BLUE HILLS BANK PAVILLION
July 27 – PORTLAND, ME – THOMPSON’S POINT
July 28 – HOLYOKE, MA – MOUNTAIN PARK
July 30 – NEW YORK, NY – PIER 97
July 31 – COOPERSTOWN, NY – OMMEGANG BREWERY
Aug 1 – COLUMBUS, OH – LC PAVILLION
Aug 2 – STERLING HEIGHTS, MI – FREEDOM HILL AMPHITHEATRE
Aug 4 – HUBER HEIGHTS, OH – ROSE MUSIC CENTER
Aug 6 – MILWAUKEE, WI – EAGLE’S BALLROOM
Aug 7 – PAPILLION, NE – SUMTUR AMPHITHEATER
Sep 4 – FLAGSTAFF, AZ – PEPSI AMPHITHEATRE
Street Rock Mafia is an energetic five-piece, funk/rock group with a slippery hip-hop lyrical twist, calling Utica home. Originally formed as a three-piece in early 2014 with Chris Mandry on drums, Anthony “Zee” Donaldson handling the bass, and Anthony “AO” Owens laying down vocals, the band has since welcomed Gabe Oram on electric guitar enhancing their sound dynamically. With just over a year of practicing, playing live, and promoting, these gifted artists have established themselves throughout central new york as the feel good booty-shakin’ live act around.
Music is Life is their first EP, featuring five lively tracks from their modest catalog. Recorded at Big Blue North Recording Studio in Utica, S.R.M. utilized their cushion of time to the caress the mood of the album and make sure it was fine tuned. “Are You Living” rockets us into a solid state of awareness with a massive drum and guitar heavy song, asking a serious question to the listeners while pumping its fist in the air. “Bitch Better Have My Money” comes in second on the list, as a teeth grinding forceful request of debt collection. AO presents excellent comedic relief to a story of breaking “the man” down at a past 9-to-5 mundane job. “Milky White Booty” will surely stick in your head for days with it’s pop/funk rhythms and provocative lyrics. The song truly slides into motion when Sam Kininger adds some sexy saxophone melodies that lead into a plateau of feel good energy. Next is the title track called “Music is Life,” holding fast paced verses and grunge chunky choruses, featuring Joe Sweet of Nineball on backup vocals. “Renaissance Man” has Zee introducing the last track with a silky bass line, leading into a funk inspired verse, followed by heart thumping drums and demanding lyrics.
In whole, the album is fresh and full of life that will continue to move asses and inspire crowds to come. Music is Life will be released at the official release party on April 25, 2015 at Gordon’s Tap Room in Utica. Everyone who contributes to the show will receive a USB with the album on it accompanied by pictures, video, and other goodies. Opening acts for the night will include Glen Street, Masons Revolt, Copper Vein Clones, and award-winning Nineball.
Key Tracks: Milky White Booty & Bitch Better Have My Money
More Information can be found on Facebook for Street Rock Mafia or their reverbnation page.
Check out the video below for “Bitch Better Have My Money”
Best Theatre in New York State – 
Everclear has been traveling the world for many years, performing their hit singles such as “Santa Monica,” “Father of Mine,” “Everything to Everyone,” and “Wonderful” to name a few. With the release of their new studio album Black is the New Black this past April, the band has been on tour supporting and sharing their new songs with audiences all over the world. Their set, which was supposed to start at 2pm, kicked off late but rockin’ as the band came out in all black clothes with instruments in hand. The group played just a few select songs from their most recent release, but stayed strong with their hits and crowd pleasers.
Once the sun had nestled into the horizon, the 
First up for the evening was opening act The Cadillac Three; three long-haired hell raise’n dudes that rocked the stage like a seasoned rock and roll band. Although they may appear to resemble members of Duck Dynasty, don’t let their appearance fool you as they are some of the most talented rockers in the business today. Playing their style of country with a southern rock and roll flare, it was the perfect pairing for the main event to follow and had the crowd a rocking when they came a knocking.
As Day One closed it’s gates, it was apparent that they definitely had set the bar high Day One and set the pace for the rest to the week to follow suit. If they continued to rock both venues, beat first day attendance crowds with their $3 Thursday promotions, it was going to be one memorable 2015 Great NY State Fair.
On May 20, Brit Floyd brought their 2015 Space & Time World Tour to the 
After a brief intermission, Brit Floyd hustled back to stage, eager to give us their all, and started with “One of These Days,” before playing “Louder Than Words” from the 2014 album The Endless River. Ian Catell on bass, locally from Syracuse, brought back some “Money” featuring some sexy Saxophone solos by Marcus Sholar, for his hometown. Soon came “Wish You Were Here” with Bobby Harrison leading the way on acoustic guitar. Warming the hearts of everyone present, the passionate crowd sang along to the words as if each person had written the words themselves. The band then gave introductions, including an intimate speech by Ian to his close friends and family in attendance. To end the set, came an enormous “Comfortably Numb” sang by the bass player.
In a nutshell, Brit Floyd is the next best thing to Pink Floyd themselves. The production and overall show they bring to fans is simply amazing and worth far more than what their tickets cost. They’re currently in the beginning of their world tour and hopefully we can catch them back around Syracuse in the next few years. If you haven’t seen them before nor made it to this show, you can order a copy of their Live at Red Rocks DVD from 2013, filmed in front of a sold out venue.
