Don’t have plans yet for New Year’s Eve? Music fans across New York State have got plenty of choices this Thursday. NYS Music helps you get there with the short list of NYE activities.
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at the Historic German House with special guests Danielle Ponder & Tomorrow People and Funknut. Three Heads Brewing Tasting Party start at 7pm with an acoustic jam featuring members of GPGDS and Extended Family. Late night the party continues with Subsoil and Level 7 Hip Hop DJ Set. $20 in advance/$30 day of show.
Strangefolk’sGarden of Eden takes place this weekend in Jay, VT at Stateside Amphitheater, bringing back to Vermont the original festival that was spawned 20 years ago on nearly the same weekend. The Vermont foursome have teamed up with Percy Hill and Assembly of Dust for two days of music amid an idyllic setting that provides incredible views and sound in a remote location that encourages a weekend trek to the site.
Guitarist/Singer Jon Trafton spoke to NYS Music about his thoughts on the 20th anniversary event, the return to Eden, and what fans can expect from the weekend:
“This upcoming Eden festival at Jay Peak is the 20th anniversary – almost to the date – of the first one we did. What’s cool about it is that Jay Peak is about 20 miles down the road from the original site, in Eden, VT. So, twenty years later we come nearly full circle.
I’ve been spending a lot of time revisiting the Eden shows, checking out what we played, looking at pictures, getting back into that mindset. The early Edens were so free and easy and under the radar. They were more like a big party we threw for our friends and fans.
I remember at the first Eden it struck me that we had something bigger than ourselves happening. There was a group of 600 or so people who trekked into the middle of Vermont to be together and celebrate with us. We were just a part of it, maybe a catalyst but not necessarily the focus. It had a life of its own. That has always stuck with me. So many of those people have remained friends and we’ve all grown up together. I know a lot of them will be at Jay Peak, so going into it feels like a family affair.
It’s been fun looking back on those years. They seem so long ago and not long ago at all. I’m looking forward to this upcoming one and hopefully we can re-launch the Eden annual tradition.”
The music starts on Friday at 7pm with Percy Hill, followed by two sets of Strangefolk. On Saturday, fans have a wide variety of music and events to choose from. The VIP Strangefolk set takes place at noon, as well as a free performance by Dead Sessions, celebrating the August West Festival, with free Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and more throughout the day. There is also hiking, golfing, mountain biking and much more that Jay Peak has to offer, including the indoor water park! The music gets started at 7pm on Saturday once again with Percy Hill, followed by two more sets of Strangefolk, and at midnight, Assembly of Dust performs at Bullwheel Bar right next to Stateside Amphitheater until 2am.
Strangefolk formed in 1991 and began holding the Garden of Eden festival in 1996 in Eden Mills, Vermont. The festival was also held in subsequent years in Plattsburgh, various locations in Vermont, and Greenfield, Massachusetts, the latter morphing into the StrangeCreek Campout which continues to this day.
Strangefolk took a hit in 2000 when band founding member and guitarist Reid Genauer left to pursue a graduate degree. The founding members of the band joined forces again as Strangefolk Reunion in 2012 and continue to play shows each year.
While the Garden of Eden hasn’t been held since 2006, when Strangefolk played the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival in Burlington in 2013, they called the performance “Edge of Eden” as a hat tip to the fest.
While most might dream of tropical getaways when it comes to vacation time, music fans accrue their days to travel across the country—or world—for weekends jam-packed with live performances, indulgent food and experimental fun. From the east to the west coasts to the Midwest, NYSMusic staffers traveled near and far throughout the year to see their favorite groups in action. Here we give you our top picks for out-of-state festivals of 2015.
With the growing number of small-scale festivals that seem to pop up each year, it’s no wonder that our team could not pick just one or two as their favorite—so we decided to include the ones we felt deserved an honorable mention. First up is Arise Music Festival, an event in Loveland, CO, that according to Andrew Wyatt “offers a spicy jambalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.” With nearly 100 musical acts, the three-day festival now in its third year featured the likes of the Polish Ambassador, Rising Appalachia, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Lukas Nelson, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Trevor Hall, Emancipator Ensemble, Ozomatli and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.
Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Life Of Agony, the East Coast Tsunami Festival held in Reading, PA, treated hip hop, hardcore and metal fans to two full days of shows, including favorited groups Body Count, Mobb Deep, Murphy’s Law, Madball and more. And despite sound issues during day one, Jay Saint G. still dubbed the festival as “a wave of brutality that every music lover should experience.”
Up next is the Grand Point North Festival held in Burlington’s Waterfront Park with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Headlined by Vermont’s sweetheart Grace Potter, the fifth annual installment boasted two nights of music featuring Phish’s Mike Gordon, the Flaming Lips, Shakey Graves, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, among others, and special guests like Kenny Chesney who joined Potter to perform their single, “Wild Child.” Alexandra Provost and Laura Carbone noted that “as Potter walked onto the stage, her skin glistening from raindrops, the audience went wild” and that she “put on an astounding performance, showing off her piano, guitar and bluesy vocal skills.”
And finally the Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley, a venue favorited by the Grateful Dead in the ’80s. With a stacked lineup featuring the Werks, Papadosio, Dopapod, Lettuce, Umphrey’s McGee, the Floozies, Consider The Source, Break Science and Tauk, the sixth year for the Thornville, OH, festival “was as always a ridiculously good time for all who made the journey,” according to Ben Landsman. With three stages, a silent disco and one fan wedding,Landsman noted that “between the beauty of Legend Valley, the bright spirit of the fans, the innovative music, this festival is one of the treasures of the Midwest.”
Held at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, the sold-out 29th annual Green River Festival was “fresh, exciting and invigorating,” according to Eli Stein. Featuring four hot air balloon launches, the family-friendly July event pulled out all the stops with a craft tent, Frisbee dog show, acrobats, karate demonstrations, swimming, a Mardi Gras-style parade and exotic local fare like elk, boar and venison burgers, a Korean food truck and kabob vendors. Throughout the three-day weekend, more than 40 performers ranging from Americana to dance, blues and jam graced the event’s three stages nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, including Eilen Jewell, the Wood Brothers, Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento, MAKU Sound System, Langhorne Slim and the Law, the Punch Brothers and tUnE-yArDs, which Stein noted was the perfect mixture:
Musically, the festival served up a heaping slab of New England comfort food. The rest aforementioned activity, as they say, was just the gravy. Not only were the band selections great, they were clearly hand-picked and not just pulled off the nearest passing festival train. The music flowed wonderfully from set to set, and built to a nice peak at the perfect times. There was an evenness to the passion and approach of the musicians that made for a smooth transition no matter where you went.”
Celebrating its 20th year, Gathering of the Vibes offered up an impressive lineup with headliners Wilco, Weezer, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Ben Harper, Greg Allman and the String Cheese Incident. The late summer festival returned to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, and treated fans to a super jam called Vibes 20th Anniversary Spectacular featuring Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Meters founding bassist George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento on keys and Joe Russo behind the drum kit, plus Jackie Greene on guitar. Although the four-day festival will take a break in 2016, VibeTribers Julia Wolfe and Steve Olker recounted the last day of the 2015 event and dubbed this run as one that would set the pace going forward:
As the sun set over Vibes for the last time, [Ben] Harper closed out with his song “Better Way,” and it was finally time to head home. Seeing so many bands perform was both enticing and overwhelming at the same time, making leaving Vibes even more bittersweet. The range of genre, popularity, age and background is what makes Gathering of the Vibes separate from other festivals. After 20 years, Gathering of the Vibes has remained one of Connecticut’s most well-known festivals, and it’s attention to bringing about change while discovering your own inner peace is what will bring success for future gatherings to come. Until next time, thank you vibes for a real good time.”
The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.”
Mister F guitarist Andrew Chamberlaine is leaving the band.
Chamberlaine, also known as Mister A, announced the news on his Facebook page today. “Making music with my best friends Ben, Matt, Scott, and Mike while visiting at least 20 new states will always be one of the best memories I’ll ever have, however it is something I will not be continuing in 2016,” he wrote in the announcement.
He notes that he will continue his involvement with music, writing songs and playing as much as possible while building his student base at Parkway Music in Clifton Park.
The Albany-based jam band, which formed in 2013 with members of Timbre Coup (including Chamberlain) and Capital Zen, has two New Year’s shows lined up — Dec. 31 at the Monopole in Plattsburgh and a post-moe. show Jan. 1 at Albany’s The Hollow. They will be Chamberlain’s last two shows with the band. The band has an extensive tour schedule for January and February, but there is no news yet from the band as to whether Chamberlain will be replaced for those dates.
The full announcement from Chamberlaine’s Facebook page:
Dear Friends, Family, And Fans of Mister F, I’d like to start off by saying that this last 3 years has been one…
Elise Testone has a voice to be reckoned with and she showed it off beautifully at The Hollow in Albany on the 17th of December. Her all-star band consisting of Todd Stoops, Eric Kalb, Jed Lingat, and Brad Williams played great funk, soul, and rock and roll behind her booming voice.
Unlike other recent shows they have done, Elise Testone stuck to playing mostly all original material. The songs were great and show that she has the “it” factor that is needed to succeed in the music industry. Only bigger and better things can be coming for her as we roll into 2016.
Opening the evening was Brian LaPoint & the Joints with set that mixed covers and originals. The Joints are always a rotating cast of Albany musicians and on this night included members of School Bus Yellow, and MONK. Brian is a great band leader and made sure each member got their moment to shine brightly in the various jams that occurred throughout the set.
Nothing compares to experiencing live music. But when it comes to packing up and leaving the world behind to immerse in a weekend of musical debauchery with a community of like-minded souls, well, that’s the stuff that dreams are made of for music festival fans.
From one-band to multi-artist events and crowd sizes from 2,000 to 50,000, New York State hosts a bevy of festivals annually in some of the most beautiful settings imaginable, and let’s face it, our state knows how to throw a proper fest, as it is ingrained in New York’s rich musical history having put on one of the biggest rock festivals of all time, Woodstock. Here we’ve rounded up our favorites from NYS Music 2015, so sit back, relax and relive some of the festival magic that happened throughout the Empire State this year, because we all know what it’s like to experience those post-fest blues.
The third installment of Buffalove Music Festival saw a venue change from Cole Farm, Panama, NY, to North Fork Music Park, Warsaw, NY, with the new location offering four stages, a private beach, disc golf and wooded-area camping, and a record attendance that doubled previous years. With an impressive lineup including Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish, Funktional Flow, Particle, Formula 5, Mister F, Space Junk, Dopapod, Aqueous and Aquapod, the three-day June 2015 festival created to celebrate Western New York’s emerging music scene was one for the books, according to Jen Foster and Thomas Sgroi:
Buffalove came through. Co-founder of Buffalive Productions and Founder of Buffalove Cody Conway clearly had one goal in mind: keep the energy as high as possible. Every single band had heads turning and jaws on the ground. There was never a lull, never a band that just played to fill space. Every minute was dance-worthy. If you missed out this year, we can highly recommend you don’t make that mistake next year. Without any problems or unruly attendees, this festival made its mark at North Fork Music Park in Warsaw, NY. The amount of talent coming out of Upstate New York is only paving the road for more incredible shows. Buffalove, you certainly were lovely.”
Another summer fest that saw a venue change was the fifth annual Disc Jam Music Festival, which moved from Massachusetts to New York State—and promoters recently announced that the event will return to Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown for its sixth year in June. Throughout four days of music, camping, disc golf and Flow Tribe, festivalgoers experienced live performances from more than 50 acts, including Lettuce, Electron, Dopapod, Aqueous, Brightside, Kung Fu, Consider the Source, Cabinet, Soule Monde, Roots of Creation, Formula 5, The Hornitz, Soul Rebel Project, Broccoli Samurai, Krewe de Groove and Relative Souls. According to Dave DeCrescente, the festival’s last day culminated with a “healthy dose of guest sit-ins” with jamband Twiddle, noting that:
One of the highlights of the set was the massive guest sit in with DJ Honeycomb, James Woods, and Joe Davis from Formula 5, Scott Hannay of Mister F and Todd Stoops for the ultimate mega jam on “Apples.” The Disc Jam Flow Tribe was out in full force with fire spinners and hooping entertainers that were almost as mesmerizing as the music. The weekend ended just as it started, with mind blowing music and a close knit community who continue to make the Disc Jam Festival special. Tony Scavone and crew did a suburb job of organizing the 5th annual Disc Jam with a new location but still the same friendly, loving festival experience that keeps fans coming back each year.”
While Catskill Chill is speculated to make a move to Lake George in 2016, the festival’s last waltz at bucolic Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY, this September was a success, selling 5,000 tickets, according to Chill promoter Dave Marzollo. Headlined by moe. who kicked off their fall tour at the festival and including other bands like Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa, Lettuce, Twiddle, Turkuaz, Dopakuaz plays Studio 54 and The Motet, the sixth annual installment of Catskill Chill featured on-site cabin rentals, daily yoga, live art, a farmer’s market, craft and food vendors, a communal bonfire nightly and an open mic. The three-day event was packed with guest sit-ins and collaborations like Dopapod and Turkuaz joining forces to play as Dopakuaz, which Chill organizer Josh Cohen noted is the type of community mindset that sets this festival apart from others its size or larger by creating an environment where rising bands can experiment and grow in a unique setting:
Point is that when comparing us to larger festivals, we’re at this cool stage attendance-wise where in many band’s cases we have the best ‘music’ out there in our prime slots. I love tons of bands who’ve been around since the ’90s or earlier but there’s nothing like seeing musicians in their youthful stages, when creativity is just exploding and you can feel it dripping off the stage as opposed to later-in-their career bands who are playing mostly songs they first wrote and fell in love with decades earlier.”
It’s no surprise that Magnaball takes the cake for this category. During late August more than 30,000 phans invaded Watkins Glen International race track for Phish Festival 10. And while the three-day event took place at the site of their 2011 Superball IX festival, this time around the setup featured many upgrades, including local and regional food vendors, the five-course restaurant Festival Ate, MagnaWater Program, speciality Phish-themed cocktails and coveted craft beer from Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Hill Farmstead. (And let’s not forget to mention the interactive Glurt Institute, Drive-In movie theater, JEMP Record Store and cornhole tournament.) The Vermont quartet majorly delivered throughout the weekend’s eight sets busting out rare tunes like “Mock Song” and jamming out typical breather ballads such as “Prince Caspian” to uncharted territory, but perhaps one of the highlights was the Saturday festival tradition of performing a late-night set, which according to Pete Mason raised expectations for future secret sets:
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.”
Rumble Strips brought to life such sweet musicality and delicate soundwaves at Black Oak Tavern on December 3. A band formed out of Oneonta brought everyone together to enjoy some chill beats and rhythmic tunes. They shook the world in the most gentle way, combining soft jams and uplifting and powerful funk. They put the ‘rumble’ in Rumble Strips.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy played host to a very special event this past Saturday for a band near and dear to the local music community. Nestled next to the Green Island Bridge on the riverfront, the famous barbecue joint’s back end was teeming with excitement as the Albany-based Formula 5 shuffled onstage for what would be their final performance of 2015. Perhaps more significantly, though, as the event’s poster artwork indicated, it was “Mike’s Farewell Show,” the last hoorah of keyboardist Mike McDonald with the band he helped start.
The band broke through the anticipatory bustle with the dark and searching prelude that introduced Jeff Beck’s “Freeway Jam.” The tune set the tone for the evening with a texture that was thick and blissful with melodious playing from guitarist Joe Davis. The music seamlessly morphed into the reggae-bounce and staccato hooks of “Coming Home.” Here the lyrical themes were appropriately reflective. With impressive precision in the rhythm section, the band jammed this one to an exuberant peak, McDonald banging passionately on the piano. A verse from the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” was subtly dropped in the transition to Phish’s “Sand.”
Tucker Callander joined the band onstage to contribute energetic fiddle playing, helping bring “Mister Elixir” to a frenzied peak. Next up founding bassist Bill Shattuck was brought onstage, reassembling the original Formula 5 lineup. Stepping outside of time, where past and future merge into the eternal now, Shattuck led the band through the deep funk of “3 Ring Circus,” which gave way to a jam featuring F5’s new keyboardist Matt Richards. The first set ended with a poignant “Floating,” again featuring Callander’s fiddle and McDonald slicing it up on synth.
The second set opened with a twofer of guest vocals. First Brian LaPoint provided an authentic delivery of the Allman Brothers’ “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” Then Bill Shattuck was summoned back to the stage, where after professing his love for and gratitude to the band, he danced and shouted his way through an uproarious version of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” A string of original songs was then triumphantly delivered. The rubbery but rhythmically exact style of James Woods’ bass playing supported and propelled the soaring jam on signature original “Hot Box.” Drummer Graig could be seen with eyes locked on any of his band mates, playing with nuance and finesse to bolster and compliment their contributions to the improv, or at times would play with eyes closed, engrossed in the tight aural soundscape F5 has increasingly mastered in recent years. Glittering guitar phrases from Davis scampered around in “The Clear,” and a “Little Drummer Boy” tease reminded the audience of the festive time of year despite unseasonably warm weather. The set culminated with a nod to the band’s full set of Phish covers performed at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que this past summer, this time uniting the crowd in celebration by debuting their version of “Run Like An Antelope.”
Mike’s Farewell Show was an even mix of Formula 5’s most memorable originals and heartfelt tributes to the band’s roots. Influence from Phish could be sensed in the texture and pacing of the group’s improvisations. Years of hard work were evident in the coherence of a band sounding tighter than ever. At one point departing keyboardist Mike McDonald took a moment to assure the crowd that “Formula 5 is going nowhere,” but not in that sense. Though the void at the end of the show was filled with chants of “Mike! Mike! Mike!” and McDonald will be moving on to life’s next adventure, Formula 5 demonstrated themselves to be a band with some staying power. Expect great things from this band in 2016 with keyboardist Matt Richards in the mix.
Setlist:
Set 1: Freeway Jam* -> Coming Home -> Sand# -> Coming Home, Mister Elixir+, 3 Ring Circus%, Floating+
Set 2: Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More^, Sledgehammer@, Hot Box, The Clear -> Ride -> Run Like An Antelope#
*Jeff Beck cover
# Phish cover
+ feat Tucker Callander on violin
% feat Bill Shattuck on bass/vocals & Matt Richards on keys
@ feat. Bill Shattuck on vocals
^ Allman Brothers Band cover feat. Brian LaPoint on vocals
Gowanus is a New York City canal. Gowanus is a New York City neighborhood. And, Gowanus is a New York City band.
Gowanus, the band, recently released their 2nd album, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Members Duke Kurick (guitar), Alan Maginn (keys/vocals), Matt Domser (bass) and Brandon McClaskey (drums) rejoined Dean Baltulonis, producer of their 2012 release And to the Lost, at his Wild Arctic Studio in Portsmouth, NH. Clocking in at just under an hour, the eight tracks, written over the course of 2013 and 2014, take the listener along some surprising twists and turns.
Devil makes a somewhat unceremonious entrance with “Hughene Jackman,” an organ-driven instrumental that sounds like it was lifted straight from the early 90’s jamband scene. Not bad, but covering some well-worn territory. Keep the record playing though, because it gets better the deeper you dive. This is just the set-up before they knock you down.
“You Don’t Know” starts as a slow-building, high-flying guitar epic with electronic spooky undertones, until, after 5 whole minutes, it jumps the tracks and suddenly is trudging knee-deep in reggae. You’ll be checking to make sure the track hadn’t changed for at least the first couple listens. “How to Climb a Moving Mountain” emerges smoothly from there, sounding like the soundtrack to a protagonist’s eventual self-discovery.
Gowanus provides a one-two-three punch that forms the meatiest portion of the album. After conditioning the listener for long instrumentals, “Probably Not,” a fist-pumping anti-love rock ballad, is literally the piece of rock holding the albums’ more adventurous tracks together. “Blank” is another longer instrumental that takes another surprising turn, from a straight-ahead rocker to a closing section that sounds like the music from a super-secret level from Super Mario Brothers. It’s the level you purposefully never complete, so that you can just sit back and enjoy the jams, while Mario stands tapping his toe, waiting patiently for you to make a move. Completing the album’s strongest portion, “Prestige Worldwide” mixes elements of Black Sabbath and Funkadelic, showing off the band’s heavier side.
On album-closing “The Cage,” they again wait until well after the 5-minute mark to drop into the vocals, before finishing off with a infectiously fun romp that surely must highlight their live shows.
Speaking of which, Gowanus has one upcoming date on the calendar, a New Year’s Eve gig at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn.
Before the Devil Knows Your Dead is available now at the band’s Bandcamp page.
Mark Jan. 30, 2016, on your concert calendar. That’s the date Oneonta’s Space Carnival has set for CarnEvil 3.
The bi-annual event was created as a way for Space Carnival to give back to its fans. Featuring carnival and space-themed artwork, carnival games and face-painting booths, the band encourages all in attendance to come in costume as a carnie or associated freak.
Tickets for this New York State Music-sponsored show went on sale Dec. 11 and can also be purchased at the Oneonta Theatre box office. Advance sale tickets are $10 and $12 at the door.
Previous CarnEvil events have been held at the band’s second home in Oneonta, the Black Oak Tavern. Due to popular demand, the third edition has been moved to the more spacious Oneonta Theatre. See footage of CarnEvil 2 below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M8TGqyX9x8
CarnEvil 3 begins with another Oneonta band, Boketto, followed by Brooklyn-based Teddy Midnight.
This event’s proceeds will go directly toward funding Space Carnival’s debut album. The band has put together an IndieGoGo campaign to help fund the recording.
Formed in spring 2013, Space Carnival plays a blend of high-energy disco, funk and progressive rock. The band’s roster includes Jeremy Kraus on guitar, Cameron Fitch on keys and vocals, Chris Meier on bass, and Nick Tassinari on drums.
Check out Space Carnival’s release from earlier this year, recorded at the Oneonta Theatre:
Best Small Festival: 
