Steely Dan has announced their latest Beacon Theatre residency which will take place for eight nights. The shows start on Oct. 6 and ends on the 17.
These nights will include Steely Dan performing their whole 1977 album Aja and 1980 album Gaucho with a few select hits. There will also be two nights focusing on their greatest hits such as “Do it Again”, “Reelin In The Years”, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” Fans will be able to help pick the set list on October 16.
An AMEX pre-sale runs May 28 – June 4 before tickets go on sale to the general public June 5. Multi-night ticket packages will be available.
Steely Dan Beacon Residency 2015
10/6 – Aja – Plus Selected Hits
10/7 – Greatest Hits
10/9 – Gaucho – Plus Selected Hits
10/10 – Royal Scam – Plus Selected Hits
10/13 – Aja – Plus Selected Hits
10/14 – Greatest Hits
10/16 – By Popular Demand
10/17 – “The Most Unforgettable Night of Whatever – Featuring Spectacular Musical Guests, Glorious Tunes and Riffage, and Whatever the Party Calls for! Parking Validated for First Dozen Diehard Fans”
Kicking off their Radio Cinematic Tour this past week, Jonathan Jackson + Enation will be making their way to the Westcott Theater, on June 1 for their first time performance in Syracuse. Although it’s their first time playing in this area, this trio of musicians although new to some of us, have certainly earned their stripes in the entertainment business in both film and music.
Jonathan Jackson + ENation
Jonathan Jackson + Enation consists of brothers Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson together with long time friend and musician Daniel Sweatt. Many of you may already know Jonathan from his current role on ABC’s hit series, Nashville as Avery Barkley. You may recognize Richard in his roles in both film and television. These two brothers together with musician and friend Sweatt, have taken the country by storm with their recent release, Radio Cinematic, their fourth album to date. This album, really showcases their essence of sound and personalities in their music.
Richard took a moment out of his really hectic schedule prior to the start of the tour to speak with NYSMusic about their musical careers, making of the new album, and life in Nashville.
Kathy Stockbridge (KS): Hi Richard, so nice to talk with you and thank you so much for agreeing to speak with our readers. We’re really looking forward to having you up this way to the Westcott Theater in Syracuse. Have you played up this way before?
Richard Lee Jackson (RJ): The closest we’ve played in Upstate, NY would be Rochester. So we haven’t actually played yet in Syracuse.
KS: I feel like I’m late to this party. You guys have been making music now for quite a few years and I’m just now discovering you. I love your sound by the way. It’s really unique and cool. You and your brother started playing music together at a young age. Talk to me a little about how that came about. Was it something your family fostered, or was it something you just picked up?
RJ: Well my brother and I started music when we were pretty young. I started playing drums when I was in first grade, and Jonathan started guitar when he was 8-years-old. So we were both very young. Our family is very musical. My dad was a country music singer for a while, kinda semi-professional. So we would play with him in concerts, and be his special guests. So we grew up around music in that sense. But we really didn’t know we were going to do it as a band until we got to be teenagers. We lived in Los Angeles at the time, and we started playing at clubs on the Sunset Strip, like The Whisky A Go Go, The Roxy Theater, and The Viper Room.
KS: Wow, those are great venues to start playing in.
RJ: Yeah, they were great. We were so young, Jonathan I think was 14 and I was 17 when we started doing that. So we couldn’t drink as we were too young, but we had a great time. The band, Enation formed not long after that when we met up with Dan (Sweatt) our bass player, and we started playing together.
KS: Now was Dan a family friend or how did you come to find Dan?
RJ: Our friendship revolved around music as we were in the same group of friends. We found out that he was a guitar player, so he originally started playing guitar for us, but moved to bass a couple of years after. We just started playing together, and there was this chemistry between the three of us, from the bands we listened to and the music that we liked, it was kind of natural communication and friendship that developed around it. It’s been really strong, and really fun. We’ve been doing this now independently for about eight to 10 years, but then this last year we finally got signed and took it to another level.
KS: Yeah I see that as I was researching that you have been doing this now for years; this isn’t your first album. So do you find that your father’s influence and musical taste influenced the direction you guys went, or did you develop your own direction based on those influences and musical likes you had at the time growing up?
RJ: I think we were more influenced by the music we listened to. Back in the early ’90s and the mid ’90s we were all very much in to the alt rock scene. I guess U2 and REM are not quite alt rock, but Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead kinda met with U2, REM, and Peter Gabriel and somewhere in this anthemic rock we had an emotional experience attached to the music and it sort of infiltrated our perspective. Our dad sang a lot of country, but he and his brother grew up listening to a lot of rock and roll and southern rock. So we grew up around Led Zepplin and that type of music as well, and that also has a place in our music as well.
KS: A lot of times when writing about a style of music and describing it to our readers I tend to categorize the sound and I give examples of artists they may sound like. With your music though I can’t pinpoint it to a specific sound because it’s so unique. You have a distinct unique sound, an awesome sound. And it’s one of those things that people will say they sound like “you” we sound like Enation.
RJ: Thank you. That’s a huge compliment. That’s great of you to say.
KS: I must add also, I cover a lot of shows and I notice that music tends to be categorized in a specific genre of a sound. Then there’s those break out artists that go out on their own and develop a new sound, like the hair bands of the ’80s or grunge sound of the ’90s. I find your sound is distinctive and pleasing, and I can see it as a break out sound to be emulated by others.
RJ: I don’t know how that comes to be, but for a long time we’ve been searching to be genuine and authentic and who we are. I think when you are a young band you have to imitate in some ways, because you’ve never done it before. But pretty soon we started to realize that imitation isn’t that great. So we are always trying to find that sound and feel that is most genuine to us. So maybe that’s part of where it comes from.
KS: Exactly. You’ve been in the business for a long time now, not just with music, but with acting as well. Talk to me a little about that journey and do you feel that one calls to you more than the other? Or does it satiate your soul by being able to do both and pursue both avenues?
RJ: I think that being in the acting and film making world has helped us in some ways as artists. It gives you kind of an idea of building an emotional story and relating to an audience on an emotional level, because a lot of what you’re doing as an actor is trying to communicate something in that story that touches people and communicates emotionally. Especially Jonathan as the front man of the band, he is a very fine actor, he has a real strong sense of how to relate something from that emotional place and how to experience something like music, concerts, the album. So it’s not enough for us to just play our music we’re always trying to figure out, is there an emotional moment that we can pinpoint that might take this music to the next level. It could be visual, it could be a song, a theme, lyrics… So from an artistic standpoint I think it’s very complimentary. From a business standpoint, logistically you have to gauge where your going to put your time and energy. So for us right now, Jonathan is working on the tv show for about nine months out of the year. So that creates some logistical complications, but it also gives us an audience to communicate with. So there are pluses and minuses at being in both worlds. Ultimately though, we look at it as something that complimentary.
KS: You just recently moved to the Nashville area. This must give you more time in the studio, as you are right there all together at the same time now. Is that what drew you towards Nashville, or is it that Nashville is just a really cool musical scene right now that you just wanted to be out there?
RJ: Nashville is a great city in and of itself for sure, but the main draw for the band to relocate here is because this is sort of where the center of our music team is. Our management is here. A lot of the meetings that we have are here. Of course Jonathan’s working here right now on the tv show. But the studios, and the producers, and just kind of the whole atmosphere is so exciting and makes life a lot easier to be in one place. You know, we lived in LA for a long time, and of course there’s a great artistic community there, but there is something unique about Nashville that it just seems very communal. Very community oriented. You’re not afraid to really reach out and develop relationships and often times people are real friends, they’re just not business acquaintances.
KS: It’s that southern hospitality.
RJ: It is. It definitely is.
KS: For most of those coming to the show that may never have heard your music before, they may assume it’s country. What would you categorize your music as. Indie, New Rock?
RJ: Well, when I’m explaining it to people I usually say it’s like U2, Pearl Jam, and Bob Dylan adopted a baby boy and left it to fend for itself. In terms of a genre I like to say it’s alt/rock/pop because it’s really all three of those things. If someone wants to call us indie, then that’s totally fine. On iTunes we’re just under rock or alternative. But iTunes has big umbrellas so if I was going to have an expression of our music it’s a little bit nuance, I would probably say alt/rock/pop. If I was to have a blanket statement I would say indie or alternative.
Jonathan Jackson + ENation
KS: You’re touring right now for Radio Cinematic, your fourth album released back last November. Talk to me a little about this album, making it, some things you want our readers to take away after listening to the album.
RJ: We made the record with our co-producer Greg Archilla who worked on Matchbox 20 and some Collective Soul stuff. He’s someone we met in town, and he got really excited about working with us after seeing our live show. One of the goals we have in making Radio Cinematic was trying to capture the sense of what our band is like live. And it’s a difficult thing to do, transitioning from one type of outreach of music to the other. But we felt that Greg really got that after coming to our show. So we were really excited to work with him. We demoed about thirty to forty songs over the course of two years and then narrowed down to the final twelve songs on the record.
You never know exactly what’s going to happen when we go in, but as the canvas formed and the paint started to get thrown on we kinda started seeing this picture of wanting to explore music as something cinematic. So juxtaposition of radio cinematic has to do with a combining of the audio and visual of an artistic expression, and wanting to tell a story in a way that really brings out an emotion in our story. In terms of a theme of the record, I would say that it kind of comes down to of a sense of ..we’re born and we live in a sense of wonder as children and along the way we sort of lose that as we get older. And so one of the songs leads off with how do we get back to that. The record sort of explores these ups and downs of our emotional journeys from childhood to adulthood, and how do we find that sense of joy again in life. Maybe it’s a fact that we’ve been a band for a while but whether it’s a band, or a friendship, or a marriage, or even a business partnership, you sometimes loose that lust for life. And we explore those themes in our songs on how do you renew and refresh and get back that sense of wonder in life.
KS: I can’t wait to see you live. I loved what I’ve heard. Now do you all write and add to the songs? Is it a group collective process?
RJ: It’s a very collaborative process with us. Jonathan is the lyricist, I’ve written a couple of songs with him, one on this album. But Jonathan has 99% of the songs structured already when he brings them to us. So he has the basic structure, and then the band will get together and sometimes the songs will take on a completely different life when we’re playing them, and sometimes our aim is to execute something that Jonathan’s already brought. But it’s a very collaborate process. That’s why we put that this album was co-produced by us because every piece of it was all of us “all hands on deck” to figure out how best to tell the story.
KS: One of the things I came across when preparing for our interview was you recently accomplished a 1/2 marathon. That is quite an accomplishment as I am a runner, okay a brisk walker, and I really want to congratulate you on that accomplishment. You raised a lot of money for St. Jude Research as well. How did you get involved with this, especially with your hectic schedule, how did you fit something like training for something like that in there?
RJ: I’ve always been a little bit of a runner in that I ran a few miles here and there but never more than three or five miles. I was inspired by a couple of my friends who run like that, and I thought if they can do it, I can do it. It’s fun to set goals, and I thought a little bit about wanting to be in great shape before the tour. Then while signing up I realized that St. Jude Research was involved so I was really happy about that, that I was able to put a little bit of a buzz out there to help them out. I can’t believe that the race that day helped them raise over two-million dollars. That was an amazing thing. Yeah, the hectic schedule is definitely there, but you kind of have to make it priority and once you do, you do your best to stick with it and hope everything goes well on the race day.
KS: Well congratulations on the race, on the tour, and we can’t wait to see you here in Central New York.
As I hung up from my interview with Richard, I couldn’t help but think how down to earth this young man was and how creative this band is in their interpretation of music. He nailed it with his description of the love child of U2, REM, and Peter Gabrielle. Their sound is a mixture of all my favorite sounds from several ’80s, ’90s, and millennium bands that blend so perfectly to make their own unique sound. Like I was saying to Richard, I try to give a description to readers so they know what they can expect, however with ENation, it’s something you must listen to, to appreciate. Trust me that this not a country band by any means. Although I love Jonathan’s character and musical renditions on the show, Nashville, it’s a pleasant surprise to see him in a new context that showcases his musical abilities and creativity of the band. If their album is anything close to their live show, I will guarantee you will not be disappointed. Hope to see you there. Tickets can be purchased online.
Jonathan Jackson + Enation
Tour Dates:
5/22 – 3rd & Lindsley – Nashville, TN
5/23 – Vinyl Room – Atlanta, GA
5/24 – Double Door Inn – Charlotte, NC
5/28 – Madison Live – Covington, KY
5/29 – A&R Music Bar – Columbus, OH
5/30 – The Broadberry – Richmond, VA
5/31 – Hard Rock Café – Pittsburgh, PA 6/1 – The Westcott Theater – Syracuse, NY
6/11 – Expo Five – Louisville, KY
6/18 – The Nick – Birmingham, AL
6/19 – George’s Majestic Lounge – Fayetteville, AR
6/20 – Outland Ballroom – Springfield, MO
6/21 – Atomic Cowboy – St. Louis, MO
6/22 – Knuckleheads – Kansas City, MO
6/24 – McGonigel’s Mucky Duck – Houston, TX
6/25 – Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill – Dallas, TX
7/1 – The Hi-Fi – Indianapolis, IN
7/2 – M.I.K.E Stage on the Green Space – Sheboygan, WI
7/25 – Jefferson Park – Chicago, IL
The band Swampcandy truly lives up to its name, with its music being like candy to your ears. It’s hard to believe that this band consists of just two musicians, Ruben Dobbs on guitar and Joey Mitchell on bass, as they manage to fill up a huge amount of musical space between the two of them. From self-taught Dobbs to university-trained Mitchell, one is the yin to the other’s yang, balancing each other out in the most seamless way imaginable. Their latest album Swampcandy Land has a somewhat distant quality to it, giving the listener a sense that it could have been recorded several decades ago in an old saloon or at a barn dance. You really feel like you’re sitting right there next to the musicians as they are playing each one of their unique jaw-dropping songs.
Combining a fun element with the otherwise somber genre of Mississippi Delta Blues, this band’s latest album Swampcandy Land has a way of working its way into your brain from the first listen. It’s going to be a challenge to gets these songs out of your head, especially “If I Die With My Eyes Open,” which has both infectious lyrics and a riff that is just repetitive enough to get stuck in your head without it being annoying. Adding to the driving beat present throughout the album is Mitchell’s impressive ability to simultaneously play the bass and the kick drum, on which he effectively mimics the sound of a full drum kit. “Drink Whiskey With Me” adds a jazzier, almost klezmer-like, element to the album, featuring a full-on brass section. Getting a little more psychedelic on “Positive Drinking,” somewhat bluegrassy on “Love in My Veins,” and classical and folky at the same time on “Good Day,” Swampcandy sure provided something to please everyone. Dobbs’s voice, though, is perhaps the most striking aspect of the band, covering a wide range of notes with an amazing amount of energy and soul evident in each and every one.
Touring pretty relentlessly last year, playing more than 250 shows throughout the U.S. and the U.K., Swampcandy has deservedly been gaining numerous honors in recent years, having won the 2014 Floydfest “On the Rise” competition and Radio Flag’s Radio Star Award for “Best Artist Fall 2014,” to name just a few. Judging by their latest album, it is easy to see why these awards have been bestowed upon them. Hosting a CD release party on May 22 in Annapolis, MD (with Upstate NY’s very own Blind Owl Band opening up for them), the band will be touring aggressively throughout the rest of the summer, including a stop at The Waterhole in Saranac Lake on August 13, which will definitely be a show not to miss if you happen to be in the area.
If you’re looking for an album with heartfelt lyrics, a pure classic bluesy oldtimey sound, and songs that you won’t mind humming along to all day, then Swampcandy Land is one that you’ll undoubtedly want to add to your collection. Be sure to pick up a copy when it comes out on June 1, and you will get the added bonus of a fun board game to go along with the album. These guys are creative geniuses.
Key Tracks: “If I Die With My Eyes Open,” “Drink Whiskey With Me,” “Swampcandy Land”
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.
Self deprecating, awkward, obtuse, David Letterman. I grew up with this man. His short-lived show on NBC mornings following the Today Show was something I looked forward to more than the Price is Right on days off from school. My sense of humor was formed by this man. He combined the legacy of Johnny Carson and the lunacy of Looney Tunes and mixed it with a smidge of humanity. Dave changed the game.
David Letterman with Warren Zevon
May 20, 2015 was a sad day for me. My man Letterman was heading off into the sunset. After tonight the television world will be much less funny. He has influenced me in more ways than I really considered until he announced his retirement.
There have been many tributes to David Letterman in the past few weeks. Most of them have focused on his comedy. The man is a natural in that department. I owe a lot of my sense of humor to this legendary performer. Thanks, Dave.
That said, Letterman did more for music on television than many realize. Prior to Dave, musical guests were primarily the hit makers of the day.
Letterman brought in the fringe artists. Dave gave R.E.M. their network debut. Dave convinced legends like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to appear on television despite their reluctance to do so. He had Rage Against the Machine perform on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater.
David Letterman gave artists such as Tom Waits and Warren Zevon a stage — he was a fan and a champion of Zevon and his work.
A friend of mine, Lisa, gave me a true fan’s perspective of the relationship between David Letterman and Warren Zevon. Lisa said of Zevon, “For anyone other than Letterman, I don’t know that he’d have set foot on the TV stage. Dave had a genuine respect for the musical genius and general intelligence of Zevon and it grew into a warm personal friendship.
Photo courtesy http://warrenzevon.wikia.com/
Among Warren Zevon devotees, the TV spots are treasured because we can look back and watch those to see a thumbnail of Zevon’s evolution into revealing himself to the public. Without David Letterman, we’d have only the music, the shows, and the chance encounters. He allowed more people to become familiar with the human behind the legend so the focus could be on the music, the product, rather than the legend.”
Letterman thought so highly of Zevon that when his musical director, Paul Schaffer took time off, he made him the musical director for the show. He cared so much for him that he dedicated the entire hour of his show on October 30, 2002 to Zevon, in what would prove to be Zevon’s last appearance on network television before succumbing to lung cancer.
Above all else, Letterman is a big fan of music, as evidenced by his Live on Letterman: Music From the Late Show series of albums produced by the show.
What tribute to Letterman would be complete without the ubiquitous Top Ten List, so with that, here is tonight’s Top Ten List, Warren Zevon’s Top Ten Appearances on David Letterman.
#10. Zevon sat in for Shaffer as music director on a couple of occasions. Letterman is giving Zevon some on the job training in this clip.
#9. “Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)”. From WZ’s last studio recording. Shaffer plays Letterman’s role in this version of a song about a Canadian farm boy looking to make it to the NHL as a goon.
#8. “Mr. Bad Example” Pony-tailed Zevon delivering his trademark lyrical genius in this Letterman clip from 1993.
#7. “Excitable Boy” and “The Overdraft” from Zevon’s first appearance with Letterman. He is championing Zevon right from the beginning. The interview piece shows how their sardonic wit jived.
#6. “Trouble” and “Lawyers, Guns & Money.” This is a classic performance with Shaffer’s late ’80s version of The World’s Most Dangerous Band
#5. “Boom Boom Mancini.” Being a boxing fan, this song re-introduced me to Zevon’s work outside of the FM radio staples. Tells the tragic story of professional boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEuSTy5VRwQ
#4. “Porcelain Monkey.” This is a late-era Zevon song that would fit comfortably on “Excitable Boy”. Take note of Sid McGinnis completely making this song his own on the guitar. Shaffer’s bands are always a great compliment to whomever they are backing but when Zevon was on the show, they truly gelled.
#3. “Splendid Isolation.” From a 1995 appearance. This clip also contains some interview footage showing their admiration for each other. Letterman goes fanboy.
#2. “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.” My favorite Zevon song and his final ever public appearance.
#1. “The Mutineer.” Letterman announcing Zevon’s death and his tribute to his good friend. He ends this piece with a clip from Zevon’s final appearance on the show a year earlier.
Letterman had Zevon as his only guest on his October 30, 2002 show, describing Zevon as, “the real deal. He’s not one of these pretty faced, phony rock and roll guys, he’s the real deal — a poet and a singer and a songwriter. It doesn’t get any better.” Zevon, despite the dire prognosis of inoperable lung cancer, kept his typical cynical sense of humor, stating, “Dave is the best friend my music has ever had.” Letterman brought Zevon’s music to the masses, even when Zevon showed resistance.
This appearance proved to be Zevon’s final public performance. You’d never know he was suffering from inoperable lung cancer from his performance and humor on this show. I highly recommend checking out the entire episode available on YouTube. It’s strange. It’s funny. It’s hearwarming. It’s pure Letterman and Zevon.
Letterman may have retired, but his legacy to music on late night television will continue. Thanks, Dave.
Faith No More has released what is not only comeback of the year, this album so far, is album of the year, speaking of, Sol Invictus makes the first time Faith No More released anything since 1997’s Album Of The Year. Also, this is the first time the band released an album via Reclamation Recordings. What makes this band so fascinating to so many fans of metal is their unpredictability, and the fact they have never released the same album twice. This album is no exception.
Sol Invictus (which means Latin for Unconquered Sun) starts off with the title track. It begins with a beautiful keyboard track from Roddy Bottum over Mike Bordin’s precision drumming. Once you hear that crazy voice of Mike Patton …BOOM! You know that it’s a Faith No More record. The album immediately goes into “Superhero” which may be my favorite song because it’s a fun, groovy, and heavy track with very catchy keyboards blended so nicely into the overall track. Then the satire track “Sunny Side Up” lightens the mood of that album.
“Separation Anxiety” goes polar opposite of the previous track and it begins with a killer bass and drum rhythm that leads to a gloomy and dark atmospheric tone that makes this track a real stand out. Sol Invictus wouldn’t be a Faith No More album without some kind of unpredictable and strange track that makes you scratch you head a little bit and make you think “WTF?” and that track would be the fifth song on the album “Cone Of Shame” because I don’t know what the fuck this track is. The album goes into another strange track but this time you get a really get an awesome range of Patton’s vocals on “Rise Of The Fall” and guitarist Jon Hudson really shines on “Black Friday.”
Going into the tail end of the album, the hilarious but awesome track “Motherfucker” will be playing over and over in your head for days to come. Patton delivers another grand vocal performance on “Matador” before the album ends with “From The Dead” which is an appropriate ending because its upbeat song. Overall, Faith No More delivered a grand and deep album that takes you on an unpredicatable and enjoyable ride. Bassist Billy Gould wrote most of the music on this album as well as produced this masterpiece. With lots of touring ahead, we can only hope that this is just the beginning for the revamped Faith No More. I highly recommend this purchase. You can buy SolInvictushere.
Key Tracks: “Superhero,” “Separation Anxiety,” “Motherfucker,” “From The Dead”
After Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar’s sudden closure this past weekend, several local bands found themselves with a few weekends free. In an effort to assist artists keep their schedules in tact, Revolutions together with East Coast Music Productions decided to step up and pick up one of the bands to keep the music rolling. Located directly across the corridor on the third floor at Destiny USA, Revolutions is another large chain venue offering patrons The Red Brick Grille eatery, together with two bars, 24 lanes of bowling, an arcade, and a live music venue.
Billy Lord
One of our recent ‘Artists To Watch’ national country music artist, Billy Lord, was one of the acts originally scheduled to perform at Toby Keith’s this coming week. Unfortunately the venue suddenly closed without notice to patrons, acts, or even staff. In true show biz fashion though the show will go on, just across the walkway this time.
The show is still May 23 and will begin at 8pm. The first 75 fans through the door will receive a signed copy of Billy’s newest CD, National Anthem — as well as a chance to win an acoustic guitar at the end of the evening. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online or at the door the night of the event.
On Thursday May 14, Hatebreed managed to get away from their tour with Slipknot and headline their own show at the Montage Music Hall. This gave them the opportunity to play in a much smaller venue and play songs over their entire catalog including rare tracks and demos.
The place was jam-packed but before Hatebreed took the stage, local openers Order Of The Dead and Hate Machine had time to shine.
I was really impressed with both bands but Hate Machine really stood out. Shame on me for not actually knowing who they were prior to that night because apparently they been around for almost twenty-years. Proof that I’m not a Rochester native.
Their use of hardcore and hip hop drum beats, under their crushing guitar riffs, really made them stand out. And vocalist Jed Seaver’s use of rapping, singing and growls added to his kick ass stage presence, really made them a treat to watch and rock out to. They owned the crowd.
Hatebreed stormed the stage as vital as they come. After all these years, there hasn’t been a step back at all for their performances. They all look like they still enjoy what they do and they continuously give their best. They ripped through their setlist starting with “To The Threshold” and “Before Dishonor.”
They never really took much time in between songs but still managed to give fun crowd interactions. Frontman Jamey Jasta still proves he’s one of the best frontmen in metal. Other highlights were, “Puritan,” “As Diehard As They Come,” and by the crowd’s request, “A Call For Blood.”
The last time I saw Hatebreed in Syracuse they had sound issues, thankfully, Montage got it right and there were no sound issues at all. There was a clear bloody knuckle atmosphere, but no one was hurt, no fights (from what I saw) and everyone let their hardcore jollies out. Hatebreed managed to finish their 22 song set with their fist pumping anthem “I will Be Heard” and “Destroy Everything.” I was a little surprised they didn’t play “Last Breath” but there were plenty songs that were played that usually the band doesn’t get to play.
To wrap it up, it was nice to see Hatebreed take the time to play a small venue, especially at this point in their career where they are used to playing much bigger venues. Anyone who missed this show missed out on one of Hatebreed’s best concerts.
Nestled away in Central Park lays a bastion for music lovers, a musical oasis in the midst of Gotham. A serene evening with Tedeschi Trucks Band rang in the unofficial beginning of summer with the opening night of Summerstage. Rock ‘n’ Roll royalty Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi orchestrate an amazingly talented ensemble of musicians.
Kofi Burbridge (keyboard, flute), Tim Lefebvre (bass), Tyler Greenwell (drums), J.J. Johnson (drums), Kebbi Williams (saxophone), Maurice “Mo’ Betta” Brown (Trumpet), Saunders Sermons (trombone), Mike Mattison (vocals), and Mark Rivers (vocals). All got the opportunity to showcase their individual talents throughout the evening.
Tedeschi led the way out of the gate with her exceptional blues guitar and booming vocals on “Made Up Mind” and “Do I Look Worried” both off of their 2013 release Made Up Mind. Trucks’ slow and deliberate guitar started off “Midnight in Harlem” off of TTB’s 2012 Grammy award-winning, best blues album, Revelator followed with raucous applause from the audience before Tedeschi’s crooning sent them into a blissful trance.
After The Derek Trucks Band’s fast paced and raucous “Get What You Deserve” the first guest of the evening was invited out on stage, with Doyle Bramhall II (guitar) joining the group. Fans had the rare occurrence of having two former Eric Clapton guitarists on the same stage.
Next up came The Beatles “I’ve Got A Feeling” from Let It Be then Bramhall and Trucks traded off guitar licks on Derek & The Dominoes’ “Keep On Growing”. Bramhall stayed on for “Key To The Highway,” a tribute to the recently passed B.B. King. King recorded the song with Eric Clapton on 2000’s Riding With The King. Bramhall stepped off stage for the gospel “Break In The Road” which featured another shredding guitar solo from the prodigy Trucks.
Bramhall returned to join the band with the second guest of the evening Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Trading harmonies and smiles with Tedeschi on Sam Cooke’s soulful “Bring It On Home To Me” and Etta James “Tell Mama”.
Bramhall and Jones left Susan and Derek in capable hands as Burbridge led the band into Made Up Mind’s “Idle Wind” leaving the keys for his flute to start off the tune before the band gave way for Johnson and Greenwell to show off their drumming talents and convening to bring the song to a close.
TTB busted out a rendition of Bobby Bland’s 1960 R&B classic “I Pity The Fool” before bringing the two-hour plus set to a close with the original, “The Storm”. Tedeschi reached down deep and soothed the audience one last time with her mesmerizing vocals for the encore of Revelator’s “Bound For Glory”. If this night was a precursor to TTB’s upcoming ‘Wheels of Soul’ tour, fans will be in for a treat with welcomed collaboration between TTB, Bramhall, and Jones.
The Wheels of Soul tour will be in Rochester, NY as a headliner at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival (XRIJF) at Kodak Hall June 25. Followed by a stop at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, on July 29. The band will make one final stop in New York this year for a four night residency at the famed Beacon Theater, September 25-26 and October 2-3. Tickets go on sale on May 21 through Ticketmaster.
Setlist:
Made Up Mind, Do I Look Worried, Midnight In Harlem, Get What You Deserve, I’ve Got A Feeling*, Keep On Growing*, Key To The Highway*, Break In The Road, Bring It On Home To Me#*, Tell Mama#*, Idle Wind>Drums>Idle Wind, I Pity The Fool, The Storm E: Bound For Glory
* – Doyle Bramhall II
# – Sharon Jones
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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.
An AMEX pre-sale runs May 28 – June 4 before tickets go on sale to the general public June 5. Multi-night ticket packages will be available.
