Milking Diamonds is an indie/alternative duo formed in 2007 by husband and wife team: Katherine Scholl, vox/keys, and Sam French Jr., vox/guitar. Their new EP, Migratorius follows up their debut release, 2009’s SAMMY nominated Surface When It’s Clear. Migratorius was recorded at WAAV Studios in Syracuse and mastered by the magic hands and ears of Jocko (Jason Randall) at More Sound Recording Studio, also in Syracuse.
Their Bandcamp page reminded me of a genre-splitting name from the nineties, dream pop. I discounted it at the time because it was always coat-tailed with shoegazer, to me that wasn’t a match. Dream pop works well when you have a duo creating sounds like these. There’s a distinctly atmospheric feel that runs through all of it, counterpoint with guitars, keys, and voices, all leaning on the “echo” modulations and layers.
“Obvious” opens with a staccato guitar line that quickly takes the role of a beating heart in a “new love” song that won’t say the word. Katherine and Sam’s voices fit so well together, it’s almost as if she’s telling the story and he’s following her lead, just slightly behind. It’s wonderful. Katherine’s voice is ethereal and emotive while Sam’s is rich and strong like so many new romantics were. While the couple chooses a “wait and see” attitude against the majority, they’re allowing time to grow and seem quite happy in doing it their own way.
Sam takes the vocal lead on ‘The Sway” setting another clear path, it’s somewhat Bryan Ferry with splashes of New Order or Interpol. The airy space given to the vocals here is amplified by the sustaining guitar lines, each reaching out only slightly, just enough to accent until the build at the end. Very impressive. The keys do a lot of the heavy-lifting overall, providing beats, textures, and some bass, definitely adequate considering the vocal leanings and melodic richness of the songs.
“Scars” may be my favorite track, it’s focused and well mixed, the call/response vocals are almost like Kate Bush with The Edge riffing behind. The keys fill and lift the harmonies in a way that makes the listener question the number of musicians contributing to the whole. Katherine’s voice soars on the orchestral string sounds while Sam counterpoints the melody on the guitar and harmonizes through the swelling close.
The penultimate song, ‘Tracks,” embodies the statements — “Dream pop tends to focus on textures and moods rather than propulsive rock riffs” in the view of Simon Reynolds, dream pop, “celebrates rapturous and transcendent experiences, often using druggy and mystical imagery.” This is anthemic to Milking Diamonds throughout this EP and even their previous release. Especially here with the upbeat drum pattern and Sam’s guitar seamlessly switching moods for Katherine’s poppy reading.
With the flair of The Raveonettes and White Stripes, “Human Cannonball” is relentless in its beat and topic, railing against the norm while establishing their realities. It yearns and strives for more, from here it seems there could be a long way to go for them. You can feel the heart of the songs, while each has a level of familiarity, they also possess individuality while leaving room for listeners to relate.
The many strengths of Milking Diamonds are evident, their style is ear-candy to any lover of 80s and 90s post-punk romantics and more. While the drum programming provided in the keyboards works, it would be remarkable to hear these tracks pushed by a live rhythm section. You can see, hear and buy music from Milking Diamonds on their Facebook page, Twitter, CDBaby, and their aforementioned Bandcamp page. Give ‘em a spin and check ‘em live, my plan is to do the same.
Not many bands are worth fighting the traffic to get to the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. But Friday night was worth the battle when Darius Rucker performed to a nearly sold out crowd.
Rucker, on tour promoting his newest CD “Southern Style,” opened his set with “Lighter Up,” Strapping on his guitar, Rucker said, “Let’s go old school,” and played “Time.” Here and there he added “Only Wanna Be With You,” “Hold My Hand” and “Let Her Cry” from his Hootie and the Blowfish days, which the audience loved.
Rucker played covers of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” which the set could have done without. A highlight came when Rucker had the Brothers Osborne and Brett Eldredge, his opening acts, join him on stage for a rendition of “Hold My Hand.”
Rucker ended his set with the upbeat “Homegrown Honey,” with shadows of a cornfield projected on the backdrop. For part of his encore, he performed “Wagon Wheel” and had the whole crowd sing the last verse.
The opening act was the Thousand Horses has a country rock vibe to them. They were heating up an already warm night when they sang their rising single “Smoke” to a packed amphitheater.
Brothers Osborne. Their music, while country, has a certain air that gives it a more modern feel thanks to the guitar playing by brother John Osborne — most definitely a talented musician — with brother TJ at the vocals.
Following was Brett Eldredge, another up-and-coming country singer. Performing his “Lose My Mind,” Eldredge had the crowd on their feet and rocking out and, perhaps, making some of the women lose their minds.
This concert brought many genres of people under one roof. That night we all came together as one and enjoyed a night filled with country rock and roll and rising stars that one day will be headlining
Many Magnaball attendees were foggy rather groggy Sunday morning after an epic Saturday of music, so it was good that fans had all day to recover and gather their strength for a final night of revelry with Phish.
Sunday’s show started out with a cheer as fans recognized the opening chords to “Punch You in the Eye.” That segued into a rarity, “Buffalo Bill.” The song hasn’t been played since Ohio in June 2012 and the set continued with “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing,” then “Limb By Limb,” which featured a jam that built to a quick payoff. The melancholy “Waiting All Night” moved into “Theme From the Bottom,” with a beautifully melodic breakdown in the middle. That transitioned into “Maze,” the only song of the night off Rift, the album released on vinyl for the first time the previous day. “Maze” built to a frightening frenzy multiple times before breaking back into the dark, sparse end section.
The mood lightened with the lyric-heavy “The Line” while “Stash” got everyone dancing with a jam that included some great guitar/bass interplay and piano builds. “Reba”’s nonsensical recipe for disaster was super fun, as always.
Band members then sang “I Didn’t Know,” until Trey asked the Little Beast Boy (Fishman) to come forward and play the vacuum and “suck love” at a long list of people Trey read off that the band wanted to thank, ranging from the band’s crew and staff to local officials. The set finished off with a high-energy version of “Character Zero” that left the crowd hungry for more.
A loud appreciative roar from the crowd accompanied the opening audio segment of “Martian Monster” whose words of blasting off on a voyage of discovery undoubtedly rang so true for so many at Magnaball. An energized but fairly standard jam soon followed before the music shifted towards ambient spacey tones and, soon after, the opening bass notes of “Down with Disease.” As they’ve done regularly this summer, Phish stretched out a second set “Disease” jam into a beautiful one that started out with a slow ambient groove that slowly and surely evolved into a raging rock and roll blissed out jam.
After reaching an apex and stagnating for a few minutes, the music shifted seamlessly into a far less common song of late, “Scents and Subtle Sounds.” Although not played with the full intro section as it was in Philadelphia two weeks prior, this newly revived 2.0 gem ushered in a new wave of beautiful improvisational rock with standout fills from Page on piano and Trey repeating some soaring and beautifully dissonant chords on guitar. The short and power packed jam was not even finished yet as the opening chords to another rarity, “What’s the Use?” started up with Fishman still singing along to a petering out “Scents and Subtle Sounds.” This along with “Dirt” that followed seemed to serve as a chance for everyone to conserve some energy for the stretch run and for some to cross some rarer songs off their lists.
The final leg of a magical weekend began with a “Mike’s Song” that was played to perfection with Page again shining on the clavinet and Trey unleashing a relentless attach of high octave shock waves courtesy of the Echoplex. While some held their breath for another go round of the second Mike’s jam, instead, the group launched right into “Fuego” which brought its signature brand of powerhouse rock to the second set. While the composed section was run through perfectly, it was a fairly short version with no jam as the music immediately shifted gears into “Twist.” One of the true MVPs of this summer tour, “Twist” featured some of the more improvisational moments of the second set as a quick run through of the composed section gave way to a nifty guitar and bass breakdown between Trey and Mike. A quick blues based jam with the whole band involved soon followed which escalated into yet another full on rock barrage replete with “Immigrant Song” vocal teases from Trey and Fishman. Although it may not have been as stretched out or as epic as previous summer “Twist’s,” this version served as a clear example of how effortlessly the band can shift from one musical mode to another. The customary “Weekapaug Groove” that followed was also a prime example of this as some light-hearted toying around with the song’s tempo towards the end of the jam gave way to a reemergence of “Martian Monster” and all the audio samples that come along with it. If it was the band’s intention to pack as much different music and madness as they could into a short “Mike’s Groove,” then they succeeded most admirably.
A show and a weekend like this one could only have one fitting encore and the group’s seminal classic “You Enjoy Myself” fit that bill. This final musical sendoff gave Phish one last chance to delight the crowd with its mastery of ambient noise, blissful cohesiveness, trampolines and vocal jamming. At its completion, a majestic fireworks display went off to the right of the stage that left revelers with minds blown and mouths agape. It served as both the final page of a fantastic and memorable Magnaball and the initial call to arms for those fortunate fans ending the summer tour with the annual summer ending party in Colorado in two weeks.
Set 1: Punch You in the Eye > Buffalo Bill, A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Limb By Limb, Waiting All Night > Theme From the Bottom > Maze, The Line, Stash, Reba, I Didn’t Know[1], Character Zero
Set 2: Martian Monster > Down with Disease[2] -> Scents and Subtle Sounds[3] -> What’s the Use? > Dirt > Mike’s Song > Fuego > Twist -> Weekapaug Groove[2] -> Martian Monster
Encore: You Enjoy Myself
[1] Trey thanked the crew, production staff and local officials.
[2] Unfinished.
[3] No intro.
Phish has surprised their fans with special, unannounced sets at many of their festivals in the past 19 years. At The Clifford Ball, a flatbed truck drove the band around while they jammed. During The Great Went, the band DJ’d under fake names in a tent for a “Disco Set.” The Lemonwheel featured an hour long ambient set late at night, while Big Cypress had slightly-announced ‘Midnight set’ where the band played for seven hours straight, stretching from the end of the last millennium into the dawn of the new one. IT had The Tower Jam, with the band performing on an air traffic control tower while acrobats danced below and Superball IX had the ‘Storage Jam,’ which sparked a new era of psychedelic jamming and broke new ground. The Drive-In Jam would join all these in the annals of Phish lore.
Via unpluggedmusings.wordpress.com
Magnaball’s foray into the history of Phish’s special festival sets was the Drive-In Jam and it raised the bar while putting forth a performance on par with the ‘Storage Jam,’ if not exceeded this established upper echelon of improvisation. On a 183 foot movie screen, a wide array of visual treats combined with a progressively growing ambient jam that eclipsed the Lemonwheel by a longshot and morphed into a full on jam for 50 minutes. The Drive-in Set raised the bar for surprise performances and gave fans a treat after the music on the main stage ended an hour prior.
How can one explain what happened in those 50 minutes and the lead up to the Drive-in Jam performance? For starters, you can watch the video captured by Phun Guy and judge for yourself what transpired. Add to this a breakdown of what occurred in each ‘segment’ of the Drive-In jam and take a waltz through Phish at the top of their game, more than 30 years into their career.
0:00 – 8:10 Gentle, airy, spooky feedback with the sound of chains and haunted house noises – a psychedelic Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House. Screams and chimes ala “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies” build on the cosmic sound that develops from the first portion of the jam.
8:10 – 10:30 Waves and a few bass notes from Mike redirect the jam to fresh territory, an ocean-sound-scape, where some light vocals accompany the developing music.
10:30 – 12:30 Trey takes a lead and Fishman is more prevalent in the mix, building towards a jam that could be a Type II jam of any song from this summer – the epic jams we experienced are found within this portion. All four are synced up now.
12:30 – 15:30 Trey jumps ahead with some arcing riffs while Fish works the crash cymbals loudly. Page is the captain here – guiding the band into the grandiose trip through an ambient wormhole. Trey keeps jumping ahead at times, short leaps that propel the jam with the rhythm section building upon already fertile ground.
15:30 – 17:30 Mike brings the bass to the fore and now we have a change in the tone – deeper and weirder. Trey pops in with some lighter notes while Page adds in UFO sounds to freak people out. The visual display at this time was practically a trip through an episode of Cosmos, minus Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s narrating.
17:30 – 22:30 And here comes Fishman! The pace picks up a bit as Mike and Fish are going double time and leaving the ambiance behind. Trey and Page follow suit and we have lift-off. This section of the jam is quite remarkable for the build and peaks throughout the ascent. This is a hyper-space jump via ludicrous speed. Fish doesn’t let up on the drums for a second and Trey gets a little nasty towards the end here.
22:30 – 24:00 Trey wants to get weird, so Mike gets into a new bass groove. A jam that could be found in an odd version of “Catapult” grows while Page adds in some subtle screams; the build is tremendous here. Closeup fractal imagery of the band is seen over the rest of the crazy visual effects.
24:00 – 27:00 Fish returns the jam to earth’s orbit. The mild funk that develops thankfully doesn’t fizzle or fade but instead grows into a new jam, one working in deep bass from Mike and spacey Page effects. The jam collapses in a collective heap of Trey and Page.
27:00 – 29:00 Bells, looping and synth arise and slowly rebuild the jam. Fish pounds the drums to redirect and we’re off once again!
29:00 – 32:00 With a solar array lighting the screen, another Type II-esque jam develops, eliciting a portion of “Cheap Sunglasses” followed by a vocal jam from Mike and Trey. This is a freaky portion of the entire jam and fodder for future late night Freakouts by The Bunny.
32:00 – 34:30 Some meatballs from Mike as Trey slowly paces forward and new territory being broken in a disjointed area where they slowly reconvene.
34:30 – 37:00 Trey takes over and we have all four dialed back in. A blissful jam emerges. The visuals of the band projected on the screen are more solid and animated with a touch of tripped out A-Ha.
37:00 – 40:00 As this jam builds it develops into a nearly composed portion that would be a treat to hear again live. Mike and Fish steer the ship while Trey leads the way and Page sets the tone for the jam – it’s hard to hear this jam and not recoil in amazement.
40:00 – 43:20 This just keeps getting better and better. Page is now leading the way with Trey and Fish creating interplay for a broader jam to develop that adds layers to the already existing jam – a meta jam. ‘Whoa’ vocals emerge midway through then Trey takes command.
43:20 – 45:30 Trey moves the jam into final section territory, a possibly composed portion of accelerated guitar work to signal a shift, which the others follow perfectly. The jam mellows a bit without flatlining; instead Page adds some synth effects to provide a base.
45:30 – 46:30 We come towards the close of the Drive-in Jam, all four slowly winding down the jam until it is just a series of beats and feedback played behind the screen.
46:30 – 49:30 A darker section emerges, driving home the remaining jam with audio-hallucinations and growing vocals from Trey and Mike building the jam up.
49:30 – 51:40 Sound effects from Page are the beginning of the end for the Drive-In Set, as eerie mad scientist laboratory sounds carry over while Trey uses the Mu-tone to drip a little “Space” goodness into the final minutes. After one last build, the music ends slowly and gently.
51:40 – 52:17 Well deserved applause from the faithful 30,000 that stayed awake to witness this incredible musical event.
With an absolutely mind blowing Day 1 under their belt, Phish carried the momentum in stride and coasted gracefully into what was the single best day of Magnaball on Saturday. Delivering four sets, including one unannounced “secret set,” which included almost an hour of free-form jazz infused improv laced with a touch of funk that lasted well into the morning, Phish came out and laid down a more than memorable first set which included a diverse blend of both classic and revamped numbers.
As Phish took the stage for their first set of the second day of the festival the weather and the crowd could not have been better. It seemed as if the majority of the crowd was fairly responsible on Friday night and opted out of late night partying into the sunrise in order to be full force for the marathon day that was Saturday; however, this likely wasn’t the case for everyone. Nonetheless, from where the NYS Music crew was planted, the crowd was in full swing and the energy was at an all time high for the day set.
Walking out on the stage, Phish opened up with “Divided Sky,” the crowd was instantaneously locked into a dancing groove as the range of this song truly captivated the masses. One of the most beautiful live music experiences a fan can have is when they get so lost in their own dance moves – that when they do finally take a peek out of the corner of their eye, they’re embedded in a sea of dancing people locked into a developing wave of unison. That feeling of not being alone is invaluable and that energy is absolutely unparalleled. Take yourself back to some of the highest moments of your life; a sexual encounter, walking across the stage after graduating, landing that big job after a good interview, making a crowded room of people laugh at the same time, etc… None of it can be compared to that feeling of simply belonging as an individual in a crowd of thousands of people all enjoying the same music together.
After the band pushed through their classic staple “Divided Sky” they slammed into “Moma Dance” which whiplashed the crowd into another wave of dancing madness. Mike, Page and Trey each took their turn to step into the spotlight and lead the rest of the band through their own respected numbers as Phish went on to play “Mound”, “Army of One” and “Scabbard.” as well as the stellar “Sample in a Jar” and “Tube” before the band hit a cool down song with “Halfway to the Moon.” Page poured out an abundance of emotion and took his time to work through the core of the song with precision.
As the band was feeling the energy, “Camel Walk” surfaced and a flowing wave of dancing emanated through the crowd; the good people were feeling this song and had the moves to prove it. The new Mike song, “How Many People Are You?” one of many new songs Phish has in their arsenal when they hit the road for their 2015 Summer Tour, made an appearance again after being debuted earlier this summer. The new songs were well received by the fan base as well as the next studio album is sure to be as well.
The sweet and tender cover of “When the Circus Comes” put the entire weekend into retrospect. The place, the people, the crew, the music and the community as a whole were part of this traveling circus and the circus was the place to be. The band stepped in and out of their solos beautifully and even the composed parts of this version spoke volumes.
Closing their set with “Undermind” > “Run Like an Antelope” was full of raw energy simply foreshadowing what was yet to unfold throughout the rest of the day. This was just a small piece of the pie as a whole, but what was witnessed on the first day of Saturday was some top notch Phish and they set the stage for the brilliance of music that was planted firmly on the horizon. As the nightfall came the music only got better. When the lights are turning ‘round, the wheels were rolling on the ground.
How does one describe Saturday’s second set without gushing over the energetic jams? Phish came out for this first night set swinging. The set moved from rocking energy to extended inspired jamming. The audience was on their feet throughout the set, often kept on their toes, not knowing what to expect next.
A powerful “Wolfman’s Brother” kicked off this energetic set. It was followed quickly by the one-two punch of a short, but sweet, “Halley’s Comet” straight into a “46 Days” that starts out raging and morphs into a slower and darker than usual jam. As the jam picked back up, Anastasio patiently incorporated the opening chords of “Backwards Down the Number Line,” bringing about an incredibly smooth transition. The band gave this traditionally standard tune a bit more energy than usual, keeping up with the energy of the earlier songs.
The set was capped by a perfectly combined “Tweezer” and “Prince Caspian.” The “Tweezer,” which seems to have a little more pep than most, goes into an intricate jam, out of which comes a near-perfect segue into “Prince Caspian.” There is little one can say about this “Caspian” other than “WOW!” What is usually a breather song for the set was anything but that this time around. It starts off with far more power than anyone expected and morphs into a nearly 17 minute excursion that almost returns to “Tweezer” before the band keeps the improvisation moving.
The entire set is must-hear Phish, an example of some of the finest playing the band has performed in their current era and one of the best sets of the tour. The “Tweezer” > “Prince Caspian” segment alone is some of the best Phish ever played, with “Caspian” being one of the all time versions of the song.
By the time Saturday night’s set started, mild weariness from a lack of sleep may have set in due to the immense overall fun of Magnaball. That quickly dissipated, thanks to a killer opening section of “Meatstick” > “Blaze On” -> “Possum” > “Cities” > “Light” > “555.” Fresh off that amazing second set closing “Tweezer” > “Prince Caspian,” which, admittedly got the crowd wildly worked up, Phish came out blazing for an incredibly diverse set that featured 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 song choices.
“Meatstick” got the juices flowing with a short and fun solo from Trey. Up next, however, is the jam of the entire festival. And that’s an incredibly tough statement to make amidst a weekend packed with some of the best Phish jamming since — wait for it — 2004.
“Blaze On” has risen quickly up the ranks as the best new song the band has debuted since 2009. It’s almost like Trey is saying, “Hey guys, check it out. Look where we are now, compared to where we were years ago.” The chorus ends with, “You’ve got one life, blaze on,” which seems like an omen to the past, present and future, telling us that these first 32 years were only the beginning.
After some polite psychedelic rambling, the band kicked it into high gear around the 10-minute mark for a major key jam, paced initially by Page’s clavinet, before Trey ramped in with a somewhat haunting lick that takes the jam into a completely different direction. The final two minutes of “Blaze On” are so reminiscent of the Superball “Golden Age,” it’s actually a bit eerie. At times, it even dove into sounding like it was riddled with anxiety, which came right after a calm and uplifting segment. Either way, this jam is a total keeper.
Up next was a straightforward, but always fun take on “Possum.” where the real winner was the hypnotic segue into the decades-old song written by original band member Jeff Holdsworth. This is one hell of a segue and a must-hear for every fan. “Cities” was next, and for a minute, this was going to go the way of Philly’s jam on August 11, but it ended up sounding like a bit of a reprise of the “Blaze On” jam.
“Light” was fun for nearly 16 minutes, but it doesn’t stand out among the behemoths of Magnaball. A fun segue into the Mike Gordon-penned funk song “555” seemed a bit out of place coming out of the space “Light” left behind. “Wading in the Velvet Sea” slowed things down even more, but it was well played, especially for a Phish festival.
Closing out the set was a personal favorite, “Walls of the Cave.” While this version doesn’t stand out much on the radar, it was executed perfectly, with Trey building tension throughout the jam, before bringing the song to a raucous close. A “Boogie On Reggae Woman” and “Tweezer Reprise” encore put a cap to an almost perfect Phish set, the latter bringing the crowd into a swirling frenzy.
Set 1: Divided Sky, The Moma Dance > Mound, Army of One, Scabbard > Sample in a Jar, Tube, Halfway to the Moon, Camel Walk, How Many People Are You, When the Circus Comes, Undermind > Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Wolfman’s Brother, Halley’s Comet > 46 Days -> Backwards Down the Number Line > Tweezer > Prince Caspian*
Set 3: Meatstick > Blaze On -> Possum > Cities > Light > 555, Wading in the Velvet Sea > Walls of the Cave
Encore: Boogie On Reggae Woman > Tweezer Reprise
*Unfinished.
Notes: Caspian included a Tweezer tease and was unfinished. Cities contained a Mind Left Body Jam tease.
Phish returned to Watkins Glen International Raceway on Aug 21-23 for their 10th festival, Magnaball. The sold out event gathered more than 40,000 fans to the gorgeous hillsides of the Finger Lakes Region of New York for 3 days of camping, art and the musical jam stylings of the Vermont quartet.
Creating a small city within itself, MagnaBall offered a Ferris Wheel, onsite radio station known as The Bunny, a Post Office, a huge 183-foot movie screen, a high class restaurant serving local and organic five-course meals, interactive art installations and so much more to keep fans glad, glad, glad they had arrived. Despite being sold out, tickets could still be purchased at the gates making for a slightly hectic arrival on Thursday and Friday.
The festival started around 8pm on Friday with a perfect yet uncommon opener of “Simple” with Page tickling the notes of “Magilla” and a howling good time as the band went into “The Dogs” from their Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House Halloween set, a nod to us all that Phish and the fans are wild animals. A sincere surprise was the appearance of the beautiful, instrumental classic of “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday” as it jumped into a strong “Avenu Malkenu” and back home again in “The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday,” which slowly led into “Free,” reaching great heights as Trey blared the rocking riffs to Mike’s hard hitting bass.
Taking a moment from the music, Trey reflected on the band’s history with their festivals and how their families have since grown in the number of children the band collectively has. Showing a bit of his ’embarrassing dad’ side, Trey shared that this day was also daughter Eliza’s birthday and requested a collective “Happy Birthday,” which the crowd happily performed as he brought her onstage.
The major bustout of the set was the short and sweet “Mock Song,” an original Mike tune that hadn’t been played since 2003 and with an appropriate lyric change of “Clifford, Super, Magnaball.” The highlight of the set that was talked about all weekend was the set closing “Bathtub Gin”. The Magna Gin was over 20 minutes long with intense, improvisational peaks of highly danceable rhythm, layers upon layers of interchangeable, bizarre melodies and a blissful, playful pace to start the festival.
A photo posted by phishfromtheroad (@phishfromtheroad) on
We were one set deep into Phish’s 3-night, eight-set Magna-opus and the gloves were already off. You weren’t getting out of there without some pain and bruises, but you were definitely getting out alive, possibly more alive than when you entered. The summer has seen the band playing at a consistently high level, not just for 3.0, and not compared to just 2.0 or 1.0.
The band is older, the crowd is older, but the music has been reinvigorated both with new songs and new twists on old favorites that has rejuvenated all involved. A ‘Not Your Father’s’ second-set-opener of “Chalkdust Torture,” got things jumping off from the rocking shell of the song proper, and as soon as the last verse was sung we were deep into a pool of straight improvisatory gravy. That gravy would flow throughout the set, as jams became songs became jams once again, oozing together over and over into a delicious stew for over 90 minutes.
After a dark and winding “Ghost,” Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” took a journey that eventually wound around to the bopping reggae groove of “Harry Hood.” They lingered patiently for a couple of minutes before launching into the “Hood” nearly everyone saw coming, giving the band another chance to showcase one of their rejuvenated songs, with a rejiggered closing section that allowed a bit more freedom. This time it meant a nifty little “Cars Trucks Buses”-esque jam preceding the typical climactic finish.
“Waste” provided a pleasant breather before more renewal was on display with the fresh off the wire “No Men in No Man’s Land.” The 2015-debuted tune is already taking on a fun rocking life of its own. There was nothing particularly new about “Slave to the Traffic Light,” sitting there in its classic set closing greatness but it stood tall and proud still, executing the dismount perfectly. Still got it! No surprises were in store with a “Farmhouse” and “First Tube” encore, but the stage was set, and the final energetic notes would dance along the Watkins Glen air for the remainder of the weekend.
Magnaball was not just some mash-up of two random words, but simply the best way to describe the current state of Phish, a band sounding as fresh as ever, even after 32 years. The first third of that definition was in the books.
Set 1 review by Susan Rice, Set 2 review by Eli Stein
Set 1: Simple>The Dogs > The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday> Avenu Malkenu> The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Free, The Wedge, Mock Sock, Roggae > Rift, Bathtub Gin
Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture* > Ghost -> Rock and Roll > Harry Hood -> Waste > No Men In No Man’s Land -> Slave to the Traffic Light
Encore: Farmhouse, First Tube
*Unfinished.
Notes: Page teased Magilla in Simple. TMWSIY and Avenu Malkenu were played for the first time since July 4, 2012 (124 shows). After Free, Trey asked the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to his daughter, Eliza, who briefly joined him onstage. Mock Song was played for the first time since July 12, 2003 (320 shows), and featured a lyric change to “Clifford, Super, Magnaball.” CDT contained a What’s the Use? tease and was unfinished. Hood contained a CTB tease from Mike.
More than one long, strange trip began along the San Francisco Bay in 1965. The spotlight this year had been on The Grateful Dead’s anniversary during the Fare Thee Well shows in Chicago but more recently the San Francisco sound was again celebrated at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT. Exactly 50 years after the founding of the Jefferson Airplane, the Jefferson Starship teamed up with Jazz is Dead and Quicksilver ‘Happy Trails’ to mark the occasion.
Jazz is Dead made a return this summer after a 10-year hiatus, prompted by the occasion of the Dead’s 50th anniversary. Though their set was only an hour long (since they were sharing it with two other incredible acts) it was enough for them to make a solid statement about their interpretation of the Grateful Dead. The set was led in by Tom Constanten, who played alongside Pigpen in the Grateful Dead on keys around 1968-1970 including the Woodstock festival, playing “Mountains of the Moon” on keyboard. Founding bassist Alphonso Johnson was also joined by Jeff Pevar (guitar), Rod Morgenstein (drums), and Chris Smith (keys). The sound of Jazz is Dead was unique; the performance wasn’t a straightforward cover of Dead songs but rather a well-polished, technically tight arrangement of the originals that made it almost their own to a degree. In “Sugaree,” for instance, reggae rhythms were built around the main ideas of the Grateful Dead’s version. It is true that Jazz is Dead is a cover band, though defining them as one after their set in Ridgefield seems far-fetched because their arrangements are so interesting and refreshing.
A shorter set was presented by Quicksilver ‘Happy Trails,’ a version of Quicksilver Messenger Service assembled for the occasion. Founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service David Freiberg was joined by singer and wife Linda Imperial along with some fellow members of Jefferson Starship to recreate the sounds of the band. The set included a tribute to the late keyboard player Nicky Hopkins during a jam on “Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder” and some psychedelic jams on the 50’s rock and roll inspired “Mona.”
Jefferson Starship isn’t in the same form as the times of “We Built This City.” Appropriately, they came back after a six-year hiatus in 1992 under the lead of Paul Kantner to honor the music of the band they were formed from. Playing songs of the Jefferson Airplane on the day of the 50th anniversary of that band’s founding was special, particularly for the choice of venue opposite the country from California. The Starship’s presence on stage was bold and cohesive – original members of the Airplane Paul Kantner and David Freiberg kept the sound true and original to the Airplane along with longtime Starship drummer Donny Baldwin, keyboardist Chris Smith and guitarist Jude Gold. The animated and exhuberant Cathy Richardson fulfilled the big-shoes role created by Grace Slick’s powerful vocals, to whom she gave a tip of the hat to near the end of the set. Together they made the performance feel engaging to the audience with down to earth, unscripted banter and humor between songs, which has been a consistency for the group through the past several years.
The Starship’s setlist wasn’t able to cover every fan favorite but included the staples like “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.” The other parts of the set were more treats than crowd pleasers. Gold took the room through the busy finger-picked guitar tune“Embryonic Journey” adding his own improvised licks to the instrumental song. “Wooden Ships,” which Kantner wrote along with Crosby, Stills and Nash, carried a similar feel to CSN’s performance but Kanter’s and Richardson’s vocal duets throughout the song soared in its own way. The encore of performance of “Volunteers” was straight-forward but not moot. More than just a favorite, it marked the peak of energy in the show with members of Jazz is Dead, Quicksilver, and some of the crew coming on stage to jam along; the audience taking to their feet.
Hiding in the dark of a concert is the sound engineer – the person who can make or break the sound and experience of a show yet often not in the limelight. This particular show, along with a few others where Jazz is Dead and Jefferson Starship are teaming up, was both hosted by and mixed by legendary sound engineer Dan Healy, most notable for his years working with the Grateful Dead and role in the development of the Wall of Sound system. “As real as it gets” is the only way to describe the sound. Aside from Healy’s ears at the controls, the experience of the early days of the Fillmore was captured with the Pig Light Show, a recreation of the types of psychedelic projections seen at those early shows.
Dan Healy at the soundboard
Overall, the evening felt more of a community than band/audience. The small and cozy theater delivered a much bigger sound than first expected and added to the anticipation already in the air over the conglomeration of musicians who had immense contributions to the 1960’s San Francisco sound. One thing is for sure: never miss one-of-a-kind shows that don’t come around often like this one.
Jefferson Starship Setlist: She Has Funny Cars, Crown of Creation, Today, Lather, Wooden Ships, White Rabbit, Eat Starch Mom, Embryonic Journey, Have You Seen the Saucers, Greasy Heart, The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil, Somebody to Love
Encore: Somebody to Love
Jazz is Dead and Quicksilver ‘Happy Trails’
[FinalTilesGallery id=’377′] Jefferson Starship
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Fear Factory returns with its ninth album, Genexus, and this album does not disappoint. It’s absolutely amazing that nine albums in, the band still continues with the same sci-fi theme about the dangers of machines and technology. They sustain that industrial thrash metal sound that parallels their breakthrough album Demanufacture.
One bold move this album did, was the decision of moving away from the drum machine they used on the previous album, The Industrialist, and hired Mike Heller to handle the drums on this album. Dino Cazares handles all the guitars and bass tracks, while Burton C. Bell has laid down all vocals.
The album kicks off with a robotic track “Autonomous Combat System,” which reminds us that this is a Fear Factory album. A real stand out track is “Dielectic” which interestingly enough, uses a little bit of orchestral arrangements throughout the track. That’s really what makes this Fear Factory album stand out. We are used to hearing program arrangements, synthesizers, keyboards, and other electric sounds in almost every Fear Factory album, but this album continues that tradition, also using orchestral arrangements.
“Soul Hacker” is another killer track on this album, featuring some of the best vocals I Hacker” is another killer track on this album, featuring some of the best vocals you will hear from Bell. Halfway into the album, the title track features more the heavy and fast guitar riffs from Cazares that are so clutch with the double kick drums with synthesizers buried cleverly underneath. “Church Of Execution” has a bizarre and catchy riff that will get stuck in your head. Finally into the tenth track “Expiration Date” is a ballad which is a great way to end this album. It’s not very often Fear Factory graces an album with a ballad. Then this album offers two bonus tracks with “Mandatory Sacrifice” remix and “Enhanced Reality” which adds value to this album.
In conclusion, I do believe this is Fear Factory’s best album since 2001’s Digimortal. Some people may find this album redundant because of the constant theme and sound that Fear Factory has always used, but most people should appreciate all effort that was put into this album because of all the industrial arrangements that is timed out so well with the music. Fear Factory continues the momentum on Genexus and these songs need to be heard live.
Highly recommend the purchase. You can buy Genexushere.
Key Tracks: Dielectic, Soul Hacker, Church Of Execution, Expiration Date
Director F. Gary Gray (“Friday”, “Law Abiding Citizen”) did wonders in portraying the dangerous reality of Compton and South Central L.A. and the brutality of the music industry. Writers Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff put together a master script as well. My only complaint about this movie (and it is aimed at the writers) was the dialogue in the first half of the movie seemed just a tad bit exaggerated between everyone in the movie. I believe the whole purpose of that was to keep some of the elements light-hearted and humorous to keep the audience engaged in a movie that had a dangerous tone to it.
The acting was excellent. I would have to say the star of the show is easily Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr. who portrayed Ice Cube. This movie is definitely his breakout role and he is going to have a bright future in the movie industry. It is amazing how much he looks and acts like his father. Corey Hawkin’s portrayal of Dr. Dre was very powerful as well.
If you know your N.W.A. history, you will like this movie. If you have no clue about N.W.A., you will like this movie. The movie follows all the big events revolving around N.W.A., from their shaky start and struggle, to the controversy that followed the song “Fuck Tha Police,” to the breakup of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre leaving the group, and having leader Eazy-E struggling to keep the band happy as well as dealing with their manager Jerry Heller.
This movie is a celebration of what I believe was the golden era of hip hop, a reminder on how N.W.A. paved the way for all hip-hop artists today, as well as a call for the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame to induct N.W.A. Do yourself a favor and see this film and then go blast the album Straight Outta Compton.
The summer evening had people out of their house on a Tuesday, July 7 and into the one of the local metal music stomping grounds, The Montage Music Hall. The driving factor to come out this night was SOiL, listed as the special guest of Powerman 5000. Although it was a Tuesday night, the walk through the venue doors became a gateway into the future and it became Friday night. The venue had all that was needed for a good time to take place by hosting the bands on the Powerman 5000 tour.
SOiL had brought in music lovers. The talk and chatter of people clearly interpreted a cohesive understanding that this band is a staple to go see live whenever they are on tour. SOiL played an important role to progress metal to the airwaves with hit singles. These songs became a part of mainstream radio from the 2001 Scars album release. That release included two songs that were included on the set list for the evening, “Halo” and “Redefine.”
Ryan McCombs vocals were on point; full throttle power seemingly came from somewhere deep within him. The venue was over taken by a full out sound blast filling every inch of the place. Indications of acceptance that the band was delivering were immediate. People moved in as close as they could to the stage, phones glowing, ready to grab a picture before bodies started moving. The energy of the crowd shifted as they were embraced with the sound waves; that was the moment that confirmed this was a show worth going to. It became an experience, not just a night out. As the metal groove was in full play, even the biggest bad ass was moving to the beat, showing giddy approval of what they were witnessing.
Bassist Tim King did his thing by keeping the crew together in the foundation core for both the harmony and rhythm. The band was one system, one body that fed off each other. As the bass and drums built the intensity, a pulse was alive and strong. Drummer Mitch Gable literally hit it. The combination of the two were a countdown for all systems and ready for take-off. The crowd felt the pulsating vibrations to their core with the bass and drums fully in check. Harmony streamed in from guitarist Adam Zadel’s skills for people to get their metal sway on.
The connection of all systems was completed when McCombs vocals took hold, containing passion and deep meaning, what serious metal music fans want to hear and see. He was at one with the microphone, the song, his boys and himself. People were connecting and were in the moment with the band in a unique moment of time. Ryan sang with a powerful roar that included perfect pitch, pure emotion and soul. Add in qualities of stage presence and a sense of deepness and he is unique, not just through his vocals or the rasp in the voice. He is the full package as the front-man.
Each of these guys bring to the stage the talent and coolness that are combined and meant to complement each of their skills. No wonder why these guys have sold over 1 million records worldwide.
It would be dismissive not to talk about Powerman 5000 (PM5K), who displayed a wild experience and definite change up to the metal hardcore that was on before them. Described as futuristic electronic metal, the confidence in their style and skill kept everyone engaged. Spider One connected immediately with the Rochester crowd by introducing an off-topic conversation. He asked and waited for answers regarding restaurants that are open and have food in Rochester. People started yelling back responses, “WindJammers!” and then a specific response “Pizza!” Spider’s response was that he would have loved that information earlier in the evening.
Powerman 5000 performed with a futuristic sound of rap with metal and an electronic edge mixed well with the green laser lights shooting from the drum sticks, guitars and not to mention the outfits that had everyone thinking they had traveled to a future time. The tour is supporting the release of the latest album Builders of the Future.
Unfortunately for Rochester, time travel from the Friday night vibe had to return to Tuesday as the show ended. Not one person left dissatisfied with their time travel trip.
Their Bandcamp page reminded me of a genre-splitting name from the nineties, dream pop. I discounted it at the time because it was always coat-tailed with shoegazer, to me that wasn’t a match. Dream pop works well when you have a duo creating sounds like these. There’s a distinctly atmospheric feel that runs through all of it, counterpoint with guitars, keys, and voices, all leaning on the “echo” modulations and layers.
Fear Factory 
Director F. Gary Gray (“Friday”, “Law Abiding Citizen”) did wonders in portraying the dangerous reality of Compton and South Central L.A. and the brutality of the music industry. Writers Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff put together a master script as well. My only complaint about this movie (and it is aimed at the writers) was the dialogue in the first half of the movie seemed just a tad bit exaggerated between everyone in the movie. I believe the whole purpose of that was to keep some of the elements light-hearted and humorous to keep the audience engaged in a movie that had a dangerous tone to it.