NYS Music 20​15

Category: Jam/Progressive

  • Mike Gordon Tours the NYS Thruway

    Twitter conversationalist, hotline recorder, and Phish bassist Mike Gordon, taking a break from his ongoing couch tour, is on the road in NYS with his solo band. Next week they’ll hit upstate New York hard, with stops in Buffalo, Syracuse (technically Baldwinsville), and Albany. After a few shows outside of New York, Mike will return to play down in Port Chester.

    mike gordon NYSThe tour has already seen the band debut a few originals as well as take on new covers of Fiona Apple, Here We Go Magic and Robert Palmer. Keyboardist Robert Walter was added to the touring band though he won’t be the only one playing the keys. The stage will feature an interactive synthesizer available for the audience to join in the fun. This could be your shot to jam with one of the greats! Dates and details below.

    Read a past interview with Phish bassist Mike Gordon here.

    June 16, Town Ballroom, Buffalo
    Doors 7pm, Show at 8pm
    Tickets $28

    June 18, Paper Mill Island Amphitheater, Baldwinsville (outside Syracuse)
    Doors 6pm, Show 7pm
    Tickets $30

    June 19, The Egg, Albany
    Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
    Tickets $31.25

    June 27, Capitol Theater, Port Chester
    Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
    Tickets $30/$45

  • Mountain Jam 2015 Day 4 Recap: Last Chance to Go Big Before Going Home

    The last day of Mountain Jam 2015 had arrived bringing festival goers one last chance to enjoy the beautiful Sunday on Hunter Mountain.

    The bitter cold was blown away as clouds parted early in the morning for another perfect summer day of blue skies and sunshine. Those looking to release stress met at 10 a.m. at Healey Hall for Yoga with Michael Franti. Hundreds piled into the hall with yoga mats and towels, gently breathing as Franti strummed his acoustic guitar with care. It’s a shame there wasn’t enough room for everyone as people spilled into the lodge area and outside on the pavement. But that didn’t stop anyone from soaking up the rejuvenating morning practice and spreading positive attitude. One of the activities that saw the most action for the weekend and one of the biggest lines for Sunday was the 25-minute chair lift ride. The $6 was totally worth it as you rose above the music and camp sites for an excellent view of the festival grounds and Catskills.
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    One of the most talked about sets for Sunday was NYC’s own, Lake Street Dive. The quartet has an old school Chicago Blues sound to them as Mike Olson’s trumpet soars over the mountain with hot plucking from bassist Bridget Kearney. Lake Street Dive had great crowd interaction as the musicians point out amusing fashion items and encouraged a “kissing cam” scenario from the roaming cameras that shown on the big screens. Rachel Price has stunning vocals as they shift from an acoustic cover of Annie Lenox’s “Broken Glass” to their original pieces “Make It Easier For Ya” and “Hello? Goodbye.” She thanked the audience for the “reviving set, feeling charged up and loved.” Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers played an easy listening, Americana Sunday Porch set. Amy Helm is the daughter of music legend Levon Helm (The Band), inheriting sensational talent as her vocals carry great soul that moved some to tears. The Handsome Strangers provided strapping harmonies and heartfelt melodies that propelled Helm’s vocals to fly.

    Mountain Jam veteran Michael Franti & Spearhead had best energy and presence as they amped up the crowd with their optimistic reggae dub. Franti did laps around the crowd with his microphone and acoustic guitar, giving high fives, dancing and drinking beer. It was great to see an artist enjoying the festival as much as the fans were. The music is full of inspirational lyrics that seek change, equality for all and nothing but love. Bringing out dozens of beach balls, shirt waving and break dancing, Franti & Spearhead know how to start the right kind of revolution. Hooray for the Riff Raff was a refreshing change-up with their New Orleans mountain music complete with great fiddle work, yodeling and tooting harmonica.

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    The crowd gathered one last time for Sunday festival headliner and best new artist, Alabama Shakes. Lead singer Brittany Howard took the stage wearing a gorgeous silk floral dress and big smile as they opened with “Rise to the Sun.” Alabama Shakes treated fans to new songs such as “Future People” and “Gimme All Your Love” off their latest album, Sound & Color, with fierce slamming energy. Howard is part anaconda as her vocals explode out of her body, nearly breaking her jaw with each word. The rolling guitar chords for “Hang Loose” and “Always Alright” have a free-flowing surfer vibe as the heavy organ notes for “I Found You” brought gospel chills. Howard’s focused body energy is a strong defense for the heartbreaking melodies and soulful blues rock that is the best of our generation. The set and festival felt as if it had ended too soon with the music ending shortly after 9 p.m. Guest exited the pit, headed toward one more night of camping or the long drive home as the Mountain Jam App alerted fans that they could already purchase tickets for next year’s festival, which after the extraordinary weekend, didn’t seem like a bad idea.

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    Check out our coverage of all four days at Mountain Jam 2015.

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  • Three Nights of Strangefolk at Garcia’s

    When one of your favorite bands for nearly 20 years comes around to play a few shows at a venue only two hours away, you make that drive. In the case of Strangefolk, there were three nights of shows at Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre, all worth the commute to Port Chester and full of surprises, guests, covers and classics.

    strangefolk garcia'sWith Jason Crosby (Susan Tedeschi Band, Phil and Friends) sitting in for the entire weekend on keys and fiddle, a venue that grew in attendance each night was treated to classic Strangefolk songs. Thursday’s first set featured “Roads,” “All the Same,” “Speculator” and a creative “Burned Down->Fire On the Mountain->Burned Down,” teasing a theme for the weekend’s sets. The second set led with five Grateful Dead songs: “Althea,” “Deal,” “Dark Hollow,” “Candyman” and “Tennessee Jed” before the band returned to originals including “Cabin John,” “Fountain” and “Westerly.” A surprise cover of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” sung poetically by Reid Genauer, preceded “Westerley” while an encore of “Valhalla” finished the night.

    On Friday, fans were treated to more Grateful Dead and originals that featured significant exploration inside of jams. An extensive “Alaska” was found in the first set alongside rarer originals “Diary” and “Faces”. There was significant interplay between Jon Trafton and Crosby during “Rather Go Fishin’,” leading to a “Shake Your Body” jam that lit the crowd up.

    Shake Your Body jam during ‘Rather be Fishin’ – #strangefolk #garcias

    A video posted by NYStateMusic (@nystatemusic) on

    Set 2 brought out more Dead songs, starting with “Shakedown Street,” “Brown Eyed Woman,” a crowd singalong of “Loser” and “Scarlet Begonias.” Originals ruled the rest of the evening with a lengthy fan favorite “Lines and Circles,” “Rachel” with Crosby on fiddle, “Songbeard,” “45 Degrees” and “So Well” closing out the set. A soulful encore of “Things That Fly” ended the night, a sweaty one for many as club had gotten steamy during the hot second set.

    Strangefolk’s three night run at Garcia’s came to a close on Saturday with the trio Sam and Margo opening as fans slowly filled the room. Strangefolk greeted a sold out crowd with “Sweet Libation” before carving deep into their repertoire with “Like You Anyway” and “Poland.” Genauer then brought out Aaron Maxwell, Jon Bevo, and Dan Pifer from God Street Wine, noting that the stage was a “little bit like a clown car” as the musicians joined. God Street Wine had tweeted earlier in the day that the trio would be joining Strangefolk at Garcia’s that night, letting the anticipation build for those attending the show. Having previously teamed with Genauer and fellow Assembly of Dust band members Adam Terrelll and Dave Diamond in 2014 under the Assembly of Wine moniker, Saturday was a chance for the God Street Wine members to play with the rest of Strangefolk.

    “Speculator” led off the collaboration between the two bands with Maxwell singing lead vocals and fellow God Street Wine alumnus Jason Crosby trading his keys for a fiddle. “Driving West,” a God Street Wine original, followed before “Sometimes” closed out the band team-up with Maxwell and Genauer trading vocals and Maxwell and Trafton exchanging guitar riffs. As the God Street Wine trio walked off the stage, Genauer hinted at what was to come by informing the crowd “they’ll be back later.” “Whatever” and “Reuben’s Place” closed out the strong opening set with the members of Strangefolk and Crosby posing for a “selfie” with the crowd in the background before heading off stage for the setbreak.

    The second set featured the return of Maxwell, Bevo, and Pifer and a journey into the Grateful Dead’s catalog. A gorgeous 17 minute rendition of “Sugaree,” featuring Maxwell on vocals and Crosby returning to the fiddle began the set and “Eyes of the World,” “Jack Straw,” and “Franklin’s Tower” followed with the fans in attendance joyously soaking in every note. Strangefolk closed out the set with their own originals, starting off with Weightless in Water’s “Valhalla” and “Chasing Away,” “Dance,” “…As,” and “Roads” following suit and “Walnut” closing out a special evening and a great three nights in a special intimate room. Strangefolk will play next this summer at the Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT and in September at Lockn’ Music Festival.

    Additional reporting by Scott Marks

  • Mountain Jam 2015 Day 3 Recap: Saturday Draws Biggest Crowd of the Weekend

    Saturday was one of the best days at Mountain Jam 2015 with endless blue skies, electric green Catskills and another day full of incredible music to ponder. The thousands of festival goers happily greeted the day, feeling recharged as they hiked up the mountain with arms full of drinks, blankets, chairs and sunscreen.

    It’s a brilliant concept to have vendors walking thru the music area, dragging coolers of cheap water and Gatorade, ensuring the best policy to rage is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

    One of the most charming acts of the afternoon was Benjamin Booker, who brought an earthy back roads set on the West Stage with his sincere loud whisper of a voice. The violin and mandolin added a bluegrass tinge as Booker wailed on his guitar for a dirty rockabilly feel.

    A light-hearted, upbeat island ambiance grew from the East Stage and climbed up Hunter Mountain as Rusted Root performed their worldly jams reminiscent of the 1990s. Michael Glabicki nearly broke his strings as he beat the hell out of his guitar and Patrick Norman laid out deep bass bombs. The music is a light mixture of Alice and Chains set in the Outback with a cowbell and washboard. It was Rusted Root’s first time at Mountain Jam and they were eager to share music from their latest album with “Save Me.” It was a new age funky groove with high vocals from Liz Berlin, a heavy percussion solo and frog-in-throat vocal effect from Glabicki. The set ended with their top hit, “Send Me on My Way,” that got the whole mountain stomping before casually coming down with an acoustic serenade.

    Texas native, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, better known as Shakey Graves, dominated the West Stage. Performing with a drummer and bass player for most of the set, Graves was left alone for a few songs to be the one-man band he is infamous for. The trio gave off a high energy, down home fun as they jumped with rodeo flair all over the stage. Rebelution brought the West Coast vibe with their swells of brass, beach like melodies and layers of hip hop. An enthusiastic traditional reggae sound with skater park boundless horn peaks. The Rasta atmosphere blazed thru the day as The Wailers awakened the crowd with deeply rooted, rock steady reggae. They performed Bob Marley classics such as “Is This Love?”, “Could You Be Loved?” and “Stir it Up,” spreading island vibes all over the mountain and feeding off the crowd’s radiating appreciation. Festival partner and veteran, Warren Haynes took center stage for a second night with his band, Govt Mule. After the previous night of Dark Side of the Mule, many were looking forward to a set of original Mule tunes that as in the tradition of the festival. One of the highlights of the set was a nostalgic “Million Miles From Yesterday” with special sit ins from Elaine Caswell and Machan Taylor plus a Stevie Wonder’s cover of “Superstition”.

    Once the sun went down under the mountain, the temperature significantly dropped causing many to immediately layer up and wrap themselves in each other in hopes to keep warm. The clear night sky revealed hundreds of stars and the captivating color changing forest surrounding the festival grounds. As bitter cold as it was, the sight was breathtaking. Headliner of the night, The Black Keys packed a heated set as drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach threw down a hard-hitting rock and roll session. The duo was joined by Richard Swift and John Wood for to create a powerful violent surge of solos that blew the roof off the East Stage. Carney and Auerbach shine best as a duo, proving all you need is a drum kit and guitar to move mountains. Thrashing about the stage with a soul-absorbing sound, it’s no wonder that the Black Keys are considered rock giants, having earned multiple Grammy Awards and platinum albums. The crowd screamed along with dusty garage favorites “Lonely Boy” and “Howlin’ For You,” soaking up the raw talent before them.

    The Main Lodge served as a great refuge for the hour set break for those eager to warm up with a full bar, plenty of table seating and an art gallery featuring show posters and photography. Arc Iris took over the Healey Hall with eccentric girl next door pop with a twist of sorcery plus an impressive stand-up electric bassist. The Budos Band closed out the Hall with heavy metal horns and dark ska, sound beckoning the crowd closer to the small stage with big band momentum.

    Big Gigantic was one of the top acts of the night with the heavy EDM tunes pumping out classic hip hop mashups with new school flavor. They are closest thing the festival saw to a rave, with hurtling glow sticks and peaks of bass drops that kept security on their toes. The electronic duo from Colorado featured Jeremy Salken pounding the hell out of his drums and Dominic Lalli doing his best Kenny G jazz saxophone work while jamming on his laptop, cranking out funky bass. The final day of Mountain Jam approaches with a buzzing lineup of Lake Street Dive, Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers, returning act Michael Franti & Spearhead plus headliners Alabama Shakes. Stay tuned for our Sunday Recap of the festival with closing thoughts on the 11th annual Mountain Jam.

  • Mountain Jam 2015 Recap Day 1

    The 11th annual Mountain Jam Festival got off to a great start on Thursday June 4 2015 with plenty of good vibes and a solid night of music in the books.

    The weather was nearly perfect as clouds parted early in the day to reveal the beautiful Catskill Mountains in all their glory. Hunter Mountain was dressed to the nines with assorted vendors, colorful stages and thousands of Jammers scattered throughout the hills. Those eager to start the fun arrived early to set up camp, find friends and get settled for the long music filled weekend ahead. Check in proved to be hassle free as fans were directed to the various parking and camping locations with minimal searches. However, the Main Gate entrance had serious pat downs to ensure clean, safe fun inside the festival grounds.

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    One of the first acts of the day started on the petite West Stage with the 5 piece Americana stylings of Sons of Bill, a three brother founded group that amped up the crowd with classic rock riffs and attitude. The first act of the massive East Stage was the bluegrass rock group, Railroad Earth and with a recently announced shared tour with Gov’t Mule, it was no surprise that Warren Haynes sat in for some classic rock and roll jamming. Guests were treated to double sets of both Marco Benevento and moe. on the mountainside for a late night special. Benevento was in rare form as his enthusiasm was top notch with crisp key pounding and contagious giddy melodies as he howled like a madman in his technicolor suit.

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    moe. was in awe of the scene as it was their first time at Mountain Jam and received grand cheers as they kicked off the set with “Same Old Story” and “Crab Eyes”. The off tempo fans got down to the marimba madness and intense focused lyrics spitting as moe. was dressed in their 25th anniversary silver attire. Warren Haynes sat in for an outlandish “Opium” adding a vintage rock voltage to end the first set. Fans raved for the multiple segues of the second set with “Silver Sun” packing an exciting climax with Pink Floyd like jamming. Al Schnier took full advantage of the broad space as he came out and shredded over the pit. The Mountain Jam app gave fans the opportunity to vote for moe.’s encore which proved to be the fiery classic “Rebubula”. It was a somewhat early night as music ended around 2am giving fans a decent amount of rest. Good thing with Friday’s headliners to include Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Robert Plant, a special set of Gov’t Mule: Dark Side of the Mule and late night Dopapod. Be sure to download the Mountain Jam app (available for both Android and iPhone) for daily updates on contests, show times, photo galleries and webcasts.

    Stayed tuned for more updates via NYSMusic’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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  • Summer Camp Music Festival 2015 Recap

    Day 1: Arrival to Chillicothe, just north of Peoria, IL, took 16 hours from Albany, and while the drive may seem daunting, it wasn’t that tough of a trip. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you wanted to go to a music festival or travel to see a band, you had to drive out of your comfort zone for the experience. What has become common place, seeing festivals within an hour or two of where you live, used to be far from reality. This may sound like a ‘back in my day’ mantra, but making this drive brings back the allure of the destination driving the journey, something that has become less frequent with the rise of music festivals and cost of travel. Read more

    Day 2: Friday at Summer Camp was a day to reconfigure, reassess and prepare for the onslaught of music that was ripe for the choosing. Now that your on site presence was established and something resembling a campsite had been formed among friends and neighbors. The weather was pristine: sunny skies, a passing cloud, a little dusty but it definitely felt like summer had arrived. Read more

    Day 3:  It is now Sunday morning and to recap what went down on Saturday at Summer Camp, here’s a play-by-play morning until late night.

    10am: wake up after three hours of sleep and sunrise kickball. Feel refreshed, not exhausted. Breakfast of banana, yogurt, life cereal and yerba mate and I am ready to roll.

    11am: Head to the church (media area) and get writing my review of Friday. Read more

    Day 4: The final day of Summer Camp featured some of the largest acts on the lineup and two regular contributors to the festival: Rain and wind. Even with the beautiful weather the past few days a little rain was expected, if not needed. A strong storm cell blew through around 1pm, causing minor delays in the music while cooling down the festival grounds and erasing the dust that had been ever present during the weekend. Strong winds tested the strength of tents and EZ-Ups, with gusts barely ceasing until fans began to load out on Monday. After three days of near-perfect weather, it was a refreshing change of pace. Read more 

  • Festy News: Festival in Berkshires Releases Schedule

    A festival in the Berkshires has revealed the schedule for the 2015 installment of the festival with headliners Lettuce, Electron, Dopapod, Cabinet and Twiddle leading a stellar lineup of musicians from the Northeast and beyond.

    They have also announced the addition of five artists-at-large who will be joining bands throughout the weekend, providing unique collaborations with artists both new and familiar. Artists-at-Large include Todd Stoops (RAQ, Kung Fu), Craig Broadhead (Turkauz), Garrick “Force” Perry (The Alchemystics), Mikey Carruba (Turkuaz) and Brian BT Thomas (Akashic Record).

    The fest is held June 11-14 at Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown, NY, a short 30 minute drive from Albany. The annual festival features 4 Days of Music, 50+ Musical Performances, Disc Golf Tournaments, 2 Main Stages, Carside, Grassy or Wooded Campsites, Food and Craft Vending, Kids Activities, Late Night Acoustic Sets, Silent Disco, Disc Golf Clinics, Live Painting, Art Installations, Yoga Sessions, Fire Performances, Hula Hoop and Flow Art Workshops and much more.

    Tickets are available now.

  • Summer Camp 2015 Day 3: The Saturday Chronicles

    Read more from Summer Camp Day 1, Day 2 and Day 4

    It is now Sunday morning and to recap what went down on Saturday at Summer Camp, here’s a play-by-play morning until late night.

    10am: wake up after three hours of sleep and sunrise kickball. Feel refreshed, not exhausted. Breakfast of banana, yogurt, life cereal and yerba mate and I am ready to roll.

    11am: Head to the church (media area) and get writing my review of Friday.

    12pm: Review submitted. I head over to the Camping Stage with camp counselor Nick Stock and catch American Babies. Good stuff, somehow I don’t see them often enough despite playing back in Albany somewhat frequently. Good catching up with Nick too – sometimes you have to meet halfway across the country to hang with your friends.

    1:00pm: Field Day. Team Purple with Mer, Mitch, Lisa and two guys from Miami (Ohio) among others. Listened to Orphic during Capture the Flag, Floodwood during Spelling Bee.

    3:30pm: Back to the Sunshine Stage for The Floozies. My friend Carrie was talking about them for weeks and for some reason I felt like they were some local/regional band playing hokey rock. This couldn’t have been farther from reality. A drummer and guitarist manning a laptop made for a sick duo ala Big Gigantic. The crowd was in love and rage sticks were everywhere.

    4:00pm: Amazeballs Mini-golf! Jason K has an awesome addition to Summer Camp and many other music festivals. In addition to 15 holes you have an opportunity to Make a Difference and win a pair of VIP tickets for Summer Camp 2016. This was a lot of fun.

    5:00pm: Back over to Vibe Tent to see how Field Day ended – Red and Yellow were neck and neck, Purple was out of the running but we did clean up the most cigarette butts. Milk n Cookies were playing on the Vibe stage – this is easily the best tent to discover brand new music, especially if you like DJs and EDM.

    5:30pm: I meet up with John and head backstage for Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD). Despite numerous opportunities over the past year, I still haven’t seen them. By 7:00pm I’ll understand the hype. Choice covers of “Viola Lee Blues” and “The Eleven” stood out, with Russo leading the charge on drums. This was phenomenal. Stopped and chatted with Scott Hannay from Mister F and Evan from Aqueous before heading up to the Relix tent with Stephen.

    8:00pm: Finally back to the site for a short break, time to decompress and change for the night’s music. Washed my face and got some food to prepare for the next six to eight hours. Listened to Victor Wooten’s set from the Starshine Stage (central camping location is perfect for not missing music on four of the seven stages). Wooten’s set seemed a little soft, but then he dropped a few Sly and the Family Stone songs to close it out. I still think his sit-in with STS9 Friday night was a highlight of the fest.

    9:00pm: I head to the pit for Umphrey’s. Lighting designer Jeff Waful clears rage sticks from his sightline. There is dude about four rows deep front row keeps singing ‘Party with my dick out’ and no one thinks this is out-of-place. He keeps it up until the lights go down. Umphrey’s opens with “Plunger,” “Pay the Snucka” and “Higgins”. I head backstage for a few, enjoy a couple of beers and catch up with Chicago friends.

    10:15pm: Head to pick up my charger at the Relix tent (thank you guys) and try to make it back for The Werks. This band still eludes me. Meet up with Erika, Drew and Phil at the site and head back over for the final set of Umphrey’s.

    11:00pm: A “Wappy Sprayberry” opener sets the tone for the rest of the night, “Divisions” has great build and peaks upon peaks, but the encore was the highlight of the night – “Glory > Divisions > ‘Jam for Jesus’/A Love Supreme (for a dude in the crowd) > Divisions”.

    12:30am: Beers at the site and then down to Moonshine Stage for moe. I remember a big segue into “Meat”. Saw a few familiar faces from New York in the crowd. The crowd for moe. at Summer Camp is larger than any moe.down I attended. Midwest moe. fans are a fun bunch.

    2:00am: I walk to my car to get my rain gear with a forecast of showers during the day on Sunday and Monday. This proved to be a great choice since, as I write this review, a thirty-minute downpour passed by. At least the dust won’t be an issue.

    3:00am: Back to the site, I lay down on a bench and listen to a brief shower pass by. This was the perfect way to relax after a long, long day. I am exhausted but beyond excited for Bruce Hornsby, Yonder Mountain String Band and Widespread Panic.

  • Summer Camp 2015 Day 1: Arrival, Setup and Thursday Pre-Party

    Read more from Summer Camp Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4

    The 15th annual Summer Camp is off to a great start amid beautiful albeit chilly weather in Central Illinois. Thousands arrived late Wednesday night and throughout the day on Thursday for the unofficial start to summer music festival season throughout the country.

    Arrival to Chillicothe, just north of Peoria, IL, took 16 hours from Albany, and while the drive may seem daunting, it wasn’t that tough of a trip. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you wanted to go to a music festival or travel to see a band, you had to drive out of your comfort zone for the experience. What has become common place, seeing festivals within an hour or two of where you live, used to be far from reality. This may sound like a ‘back in my day’ mantra, but making this drive brings back the allure of the destination driving the journey, something that has become less frequent with the rise of music festivals and cost of travel.

    The only issue with arrival at a festival such as Summer Camp is that once you arrive, you still have to get your gear searched and set up camp, adding to any exhaustion and surfeit crankiness. The line to get into Summer Camp involves a thorough search for alcohol, among other contraband items; while the check-in was expanded, we stood in line for six hours before our gear was finally given the thumbs up. There wasn’t much music we missed as a
    result but the exhaustion took a toll, especially without shade from the bright sunny day. Chicago Funk Mafia performed on a stage near the check-in area to entertain the thousands in line.

    Once inside and setup between the Sunshine Stage, Starshine Stage, Vibe Tent and Camping Stage. A money location. We caught Capital District rockers Wild Adriatic on the Starshine Stage who had the attention of the crowd with “Strange Persuasions” and a cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me”. Family Groove Company, one of Chicago’s finest jam acts for over a decade, opened their set with an extended instrumental jam on “Thriller” bringing up the Third Coast Horns for much of the set. If you missed them on Thursday, see them Saturday on Starshine Stage at Noon for a perfect wake up to the day.

    Floodwood performed a Grateful Dead set, including “Cumberland Blues,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Casey Jones,” and others. Vinny Amico and Al Schnier mixed things up and swapped roles with Al on drums and Vinny on vocals. I had to miss some of the set in order to catch yet another New York State act, Aqueous, on the Camping Stage. The handful of fans I talked to seemed to enjoy a band they were seeing for the first time, and were treated to a set of “Underlyer, Complex Pt. 1, Fame > Origami > Don’t Do It”.

    Back at the Starshine Stage, Future Rock, one of the best livetronica trios you’ll ever see, closed out the Starshine Stage for the night, pounding out incredible dance music with no chill. Late night had options for The Red Barn: Dopapod, Turbo Suit & Friends, and Manic Science. I rested up and got ready for DJ no DJ, a Daft Punk cover band made up of members of This Must be the Band, among others. You won’t see Daft Punk touring these days, and this might be the next best thing to a local band covering “Get Lucky”. Name a Daft Punk hit and they have it covered and covered WELL. The Soulshine Tent was the place to be latenight for one of the true treats of Summer Camp.

    More music is planned for Friday, starting with moe. kicking off the Moonshine Stage and Umphrey’s McGee on Sunshine Stage, among many, many other options. Stay tuned for more updates via NYSMusic’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • NYSMuse: A Conversational Review of Dear Jerry

    A few of us from NYS Music made it to the Dear Jerry show at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 14, mostly for the fun of attending an outdoor show early in the season and celebrate the music of the Grateful Dead. Afterward we couldn’t help but discuss the show and found we had several similar and differing thoughts. Even though we went without intending to review the show, we thought it would be a different twist to bring you some of our back-and-forth thoughts.

    Set 1: The Wheel, Uncle John’s Band, Standing On The Moon, Liberty (Communion featuring Phil Lesh), Get Out My Life Woman (Allen Toussaint with Bill Kreutzmann), Shady Grove (David Grisman & Sam Bush), I’m a Roadrunner (Peter Frampton with Bill Kreutzmann), Deal (Buddy Miller), Sugaree (Jorma Kaukonen with Barry Mitterhoff), The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff), Attics Of My Life (Jimmy Cliff with Bob Weir and Mickey Hart *One verse, acapella), Fire On The Mountain (Jimmy Cliff with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Dave Schools)

    Set 2: Help On The Way> Slipknot!> Franklin’s Tower (Billy & The Kids), Scarlet Begonias> I Know You Rider (Disco Biscuits with Bill Kreutzmann & Tom Hamilton), Loser (moe. Chuck on vox), St. Stephen (O.A.R), Not Fade Away > Bertha (Los Lobos with Bob Weir), Brown Eyed Women (Trampled By Turtles), Shakedown St (YMSB), Days Between (Bob Weir), Friend of the Devil (Grace Potter with Bob Weir, and Matt Burr), Tennessee Jed (Eric Church with Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart), Morning Dew (Widespread), Touch of Grey (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann & Mickey Hart), Ripple (almost all of the evening’s performers & the crowd)

    Steve Malinski: Mickey and Bill were part of the last few songs too, right?

    Graig Adler: Yeah. Bill was also in the house band as well as Dave Schools.

    SM: I didn’t have the greatest of starts to the show — thanks to DC traffic I was delayed getting there from Alexandria and didn’t arrive until “Shady Grove.” I didn’t know who was on because I couldn’t see more than some of the crowd from the gate but knew pretty quick from the mandolin that it was Grisman. It was a good first song to hear after the hassle of getting to Merriweather. I’ve always loved the Garcia/Grisman collaborations.

    SM:  There were several times I was pleased with the performances and interpretations; obviously there were some better than others and one in particular that ranked lowest. But overall I wasn’t as impressed, as my expectations were high for the show. Some groups did a couple of Dead tunes and others did just one, which was cool, no big deal. The flow of the show was a bit jagged and staggered logistically, so there was a bit of down time which for me dampened the vibes a little bit. More continuity would have made the experience better, in my opinion.

    GA: Yes, it was impossible to get in a groove. But will make for one fine $29.99 DVD, lots of professional recording equipment on stage. Biggest surprise of the night was how good O.A.R. was and how good The Disco Biscuits would be if they stopped playing that crappy jamtronica.

    SM: I thought Disco Biscuits had a pretty good groove going, especially with adding their own style jam in the middle. Billy and the Kids too. I think what made their sets stand out is they did more than one song and had the opportunity to loosen up and bloom a bit on the Dead tunes.

    GA: Also, Bill Kreutzmann on drums and Tommy Hamilton on stage — two guys who play dead tunes for a living.

    SM:  O.A.R.: It was cool to hear the island vibes from the song but they had a shaky start with the opening riffs and that set the tone for me. It wasn’t bad, but not my favorite of the night. I did enjoy the one O.A.R. show I had seen before outside of that though. I really enjoyed the refreshing arrangements by Trampled by Turtles and Yonder Mountain String Band playing stripped-down Dead. YMSB’s version of “Shakedown Street” had everyone’s attention.

    GA: O.A.R., I thought they sounded great. His mic wasn’t turned on to start the song.

    SM:  It was tough to notice that in the wash of the crowd where I was. I don’t recall seeing Phil Lesh on stage throughout the night. Was he there at all? It would’ve been awesome to see them all play together, especially since I just missed getting a Dead 50 ticket.

    GA: Communion (Phil Lesh, Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford and Jason Crosby) played the first four songs.

    SM:  I’m sad I missed Phil. I heard people mention him in passing and I hadn’t realized he was on the bill.

    GA: It seems he still doesn’t want to play with these guys. Which is concerning for Dead 50. He really only seems to play Terrapin and Shapiro events these days.

    SM: I do hope Phil settles his differences or whatever is going on for Chicago. I’m sure no one — the fans or the band — want to see the farewell shows dampened by differences.

    GA: Audley Freed and Buddy Miller were also in the house band.

    SM: The house band was pretty solid. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the stage well so it was tough from the projector to keep track of who was up there except for the announcements of the guest artist for a particular song.

    SM: For me, the end of the show made up for what I missed at the start. It was a bit emotional and a tear-jerker. “Ripple” is one of those pretty songs to begin with. Now add a slide show with images of Jerry along with the song’s lyrics to encourage a 19,000-Dead Head sing-along. This was probably the best way to end the show, with something that rings out.

    GA: I’m surprised that nobody mentioned that the house band drummer for the show was Raymond Weber, the legendary funky NOLA drummer and former member of Dumpstaphunk. He’s SOLID! There was a very funny exchange involving him in an episode of Treme that went like this: Bass player Cornell Williams asks with surprise, “I know you didn’t just tell Raymond Weber that he dropped the beat, did you?” “Yeah, I did,” Antoine replies. “Ray, when was the last fucking time you dropped the beat?” Williams asks. “Me? ’83,” Weber responds.