Dark Star Orchestra nixed their usual routine of recreating Grateful Dead shows and played a fantastic mix of Jerry Garcia Band tunes Sunday night at the Saranac Brewery in Utica NY. This deviation of the norm was prompted by the absence of guitarist Rob Eaton who was attending his son’s wedding.
The enthusiastic crowd jammed for four hours to such classics as — “Evangeline” and “Sugaree” and a Beatle cover thrown in as well. Halfway through the second set they performed an excellent version of Shining Star with the audience chiming in on the chorus to the end.
This was my first Dark Star Orchestra show and I certainly hope it will not be the last. They certainly knew how to channel the vibe of the Jerry Garcia Band and I hope to catch one of the recreated Grateful Dead shows in the future.
Set List: One: Let It Rock, Dear Prudence, Evangeline, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, You Never Can Tell (C’est La Vie), Who Was John, I Shall Be Released, Don’t Let Go, Mystery Train
Set Two: The Set Harder They Come, Sugaree, Think, Shining Star, Tough Mama, That Lucky Old Sun, Lonesome And A Long Way From Home, Rubin and Cherise
The brand new Lakeview Amphitheater, along the shores of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, will be christened on Sept. 3 by country star Miranda Lambert, local officials announced Wednesday.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show will be sold through the usual outlets beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, July 31. Lawn seats will cost $35 and pavilion seats range from $75 to $95. The show occurs during the New York State Fair, and as such, ticket purchase also includes admission to the fair.
Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, flanked by Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, Acting New York State Fair Director Tony Waffner and County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon, made the highly anticipated announcement from the New York State Fairgrounds, the site that is home to the State Fair Grandstand, host to many high-profile concerts in its 33-year history. The grandstand has seen a decline in marquee artists in recent years and will be torn down as part of a major renovation project at the fairgrounds next year. Mahoney hopes to host 20 concerts at the new venue next year as the amphitheater replaces the grandstand as the location for State Fair concerts.
Miranda Lambert, who recently made headlines with the announcement of her divorce from country star and “The Voice” judge Blake Shelton, has been a mainstay on the country charts and at country music awards shows since her debut album Kerosene in 2004. Her most recent album, Platinum, was released in January 2014, with the latest single, “Little Red Wagon,” being the third to chart from this release.
While the venue’s construction is still incomplete, an aggressive finish date has been set for Aug. 24. Controversy has arisen with the booking of a concert at the new venue while the current one has had difficulty attracting marquee acts this year. Lambert’s show coincides with the last-ever grandstand show featuring Patti LaBelle and Meghan Trainor’s free show at Chevrolet Court during the fair. The booking has drawn criticism in a year when only four grandstand concerts have been booked during the 12-day fair run. Lambert’s only available date was the third and officials are confident the conflict will not have a major affect on overall attendance.
This fall, Central New York music lovers are in for a treat. Phish tribute band the Lawn Boys are set to recreate Phish’s 1996 Halloween show on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Westcott Theater in Syracuse.
In ’96, Phish started at the Omni in Atlanta with a set full of Phish tunes, then they came back for the second set in their “musical costume” to play the Talking Head’s fourth studio album, Remain in Light, in its entirety. After that, they came back for a third set of Phish originals to complete the epic night.
This year, the Lawn Boys will play the first and last sets of Phish originals, and they’ll welcome Talking Heads tribute band Start Making Sense for the second set to play the Remain In Light portion of the show.
Fans will also have the pleasure of witnessing both bands jam together in a special fourth set.
The Lawn Boys posted on their Facebook page about the upcoming show,
“We’ve been working on this idea for a while and we’re very excited to see it finally come to fruition. We will be recreating phish’s legendary 96 Halloween show at the The Westcott Theater in Syracuse, N.Y. … Please spread the word. Lots more to come on this!”
Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 day of show. The show starts at 8 p.m.
As a concert photographer that covers at least ten shows a month, I sometimes feel numb to the experience. I enjoy the concerts, I love photographing them, but I don’t get into it like a typical fan. When Def Leppard hit the amphitheater stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on July 24th that changed. I danced. I sang. I put my horns up. I was in the moment. I felt the energy of the crowd. I didn’t hear the music from a critics point of view, but from a fans. Something that I rarely get the pleasure of doing anymore.
Most fans were thrust back in time when rock was ROCK. You couldn’t fight the uncontrollable urge to bust into an air guitar solo. The girls were screaming as Joe Elliot took the stage just like it was 1988, except now those girls were in their 30s or 40s. That didn’t mean their kids weren’t screaming along side them, the crowd actually covered every age group. There were truly three generations of rockers in the audience, and each one knew every word to such classics as “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Rock of Ages,” “Let’s Get Rocked,” or one of the slew of other hits the band had over the past 38 years.
Def Leppard isn’t stuck on the 80s however, they are still creating new music. In 2008 they released Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, and the first single “Nine Lives” even had country music star Tim McGraw singing along side Joe Elliott. The band is scheduled to release a new album this year, and there are no signs of slowing down for the British rockers.
With all the excitement of Def Leppard, I don’t want to neglect the two openers. Legends in their own right. The arena rock gods, Styx, and fellow 80s phenoms, Tesla.
Styx was absolutely on point, both musically and performance wise. They have always played to the crowd, and in turn the crowd eats it up and gives that energy right back at them. They started their set out with a Dennis DeYoung classic “Grand Illusion.” The crowd jumped up off their feet and they never sat down the rest of the warm summer evening. From the pit to the back stretches of the lawn, fans were dancing as Styx played their seemingly too short of a set. With only ten songs from one of the bands that have absolutely been snubbed from the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, I was left wanting more. Lawrence Gowen and Tommy Shaw still sing in the key the songs were written nearly 40 years ago. That’s just something most singers into their late 50s (Gowen) or early 60s (Shaw) don’t do anymore.
The night’s opener was none other than the American rock band Tesla, who broke into the scene in 1989 with The Great Radio Controversy and the single “Love Song.” In 1990 they released the Five Man Acoustical Jam album that consisted of a few covers including “Signs” along with their own hit “Modern Day Cowboy.” On this night they played all three to an appreciating crowd that continuously filled up the famed amphitheater and lawn of SPAC. Jeff Keith gave an emotional and tight performance, showing off his vocal talents and — surprisingly enough — his range. Tesla failed to play a single song off their latest release, 2013’s Simplicity. In fact the band didn’t play any of their songs written after 1991, even though they have five original releases since then.
I have to say, overall if was a fun night of music. The energy overwhelming and the crowd was contagious. Watching the faces and bodies of old school rock stars light up and transform into their much younger selves truly exemplified the power of music. As if there were any doubt. I’m sure it won’t be long until LiveNation brings Def Leppard back to SPAC, and I will definitely be there — as both a fan and photographer.
Have you ever fallen for an artist so badly that you couldn’t wait to see them live? That was me with Interpol, and over the past few albums I couldn’t wait to see them live, expecting the same magic that goes into albums like El Pintor and Turn on the Bright Lights. Then I attended the show on July 29 at Upstate Concert Hall and was underwhelmed, having seen the equivalent of their studio work performed live with flashy visual projections drawing more of my attention at times.
I don’t know what it was about this melancholy post punk shoe gaze rock. There was no onstage chemistry between the band members, who barely seemed to look in the direction of the others while they played their instruments quite masterfully, but I didn’t come to see Paul Banks play guitar and sing, I wanted to see what kind of performance the group would give in a live setting. Live performances of studio songs led to a textbook no frills show where we heard the hits and little else to write home about.
Granted, Interpol is a band where knowing the discography is a key component to enjoying the live performance, and middle aged post-hipster crowd was certainly into hearing the hits and more, but this was ultimately music to sway to and hardly conducive to dancing. “Narc” had the first good beat of the night with a Modest Mouse feel, “Rest my Chemistry” could have found a spot on the soundtrack to The Crow, while the popular “Everything is Wrong” definitely had some fire to cure it. Generally, the bass and drums highlighted the larger, more danceable numbers, such as “Take You on a Cruise”, but some songs, including “My Blue Supreme”, “Pioneer to the Falls” and “Slow Hands” were downright depressing. I began to wonder what I liked in the albums Interpol put out over the last decade.
I still like Interpol, but until their live performance gets some balls, I’ll enjoy them from the comforts of home.
Setlist: Say Hello to the Angels, Anywhere, Narc, My Blue Supreme, Evil, C’mere, Rest my Chemistry, Everything is Wrong, The New, Take You on a Cruise, Not Even Jail, Pioneer to the Falls, Slow Hands, PDA
In a genre currently dominated by pretty boys, belt buckles and a mundane honky-tonk sound, Brad Paisley sticks out like a sore thumb. Forget the country music industry; Paisley is one of the most talented guitar players on the airwaves today, and he demonstrated his prowess on Sunday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, perhaps making up for forgettable performances by opening acts Justin Moore and Mickey Guyton.
With Paisley on the stage, sporting a white cowboy hat and a black T-shirt, the focus was entirely on the music. Beginning with his very first song, in which he opened with his 2014 hit “River Bank”, a guitar solo was included in nearly every song. Paisley’s West Virginia roots are evident in his bluegrass style of string plucking, but there was also a certain classic rock influence on his playing. His solos featured rifts up and down the fret board, and he could slide in a way that would make even Steve Miller proud. Between the bluegrass plucking in his right hand and the brilliant fretwork in his left hand, Paisley had remarkable dexterity with all ten fingers, something nearly unparalleled in today’s music scene. His vocal ability isn’t anything spectacular, but his guitar ability was impressive enough on its own merits to make up for it.
Justin Williamson, the fiddle player in Paisley’s band, also gave a memorable performance, taking numerous solos and getting ovations of his own. There were times in the concert that if you closed your eyes, it would sound like you were at a bluegrass festival. When you opened the eyes, you saw the mainstream modern country concert it was. The string playing by everyone on stage was fantastic.
Paisley’s concert team deserves kudos as well for their work on the video boards. During Paisley’s 2003 single “Celebrity,” the video featured satirical newspaper headlines and a man with a Brad Paisley mascot head running amok along the streets of a city wreaking havoc and having fun, poking fun at the different lifestyle that celebrities have. Later on, the board showed an impressive collaboration of New York City time-lapses lined up with the music. When Paisley sang his 2011 duet “Remind Me,” Carrie Underwood sang with him on a FaceTime conversation being shown on the SPAC video board. Paisley and Moore engaged in a duck-hunting video game on the board during the outro of “I’m Still a Guy.”
Compared with many of his country music counterparts, Paisley didn’t engage in much dialogue throughout the concert. All the focus was on the music. Even when he did engage with the crowd, the focus was around the guitar. After an acoustic performance of “This is Country Music,” he autographed his guitar and handed it to a young boy in the front row. A few songs later, Paisley followed up what many bands have done this summer at SPAC by playing a few acoustic songs for the people in the lawn, performing on a platform stationed directly in front of the lawn folks. Paisley poked fun at the lawn’s drunkenness, remarking that “now I’ll play a few songs for the people that won’t remember it in the morning.”
Paisley closed his set with perhaps his best known song “Mud on the Tires” and the new song that lends its name to the tour, “Crushin’ It.” When Paisley came out for the encore, he played “Then”, followed by a song that perhaps encapsulated the evening better than any other song, “Alcohol.”
Justin Moore was the co-headliner of the night, immediately preceding Paisley in the night’s events. Moore, an Arkansas native, won over the crowd with his good looks and some of his commentary, but his music left much to be desired.
Moore showed a strong vocal ability on a few songs, particularly in his 2011 hit “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” which he dedicated to the American troops around the world, but much of his performance was disappointing. Starkly contrasting Paisley, he was sub-par on the guitar,and at times it felt like the six-string was a prop instead of an instrument. I’m sorry, but if your ass faces the crowd more than your mouth, I’m not convinced that you’re worried about the music as much as you should be.
Moore also constantly pandered to the crowd by playing the redneck-card, preaching conservative values. While Paisley (an Obama supporter) restrained from talking politics during his concert, Moore wouldn’t shut up about it, talking about troops and even starting a USA chant at one point. It was disappointing that he wasn’t able to win the crowd over with his music, so he had to use his handsomeness and his rugged political views.
Mickey Guyton, the opening act of the evening, was fine, but not so fine she’d blow your mind. She recognized the concert as an opportunity to build her platform, saying at one point that “it’s such an honor to play for Brad Paisley’s crowd,” and had strong vocal abilities throughout. Guyton appeared a bit nervous for most of her performance, and was relatively fidgety with the microphone, but she loosened up a bit after large ovations for her songs “Somebody Else Will” and “Cool Ya”.
A positive thing with Guyton, being an African-American, is that she helps bring some diversity to a genre that is almost entirely white. It created a certain crude irony, with a black singer performing to a lawn spotted in Confederate flags and paraphernalia.
In all, two out of the three artists were a tad dissatisfying, but the headlining artist absolutely brought it, salvaging the concert. Paisley certainly won at least one fan on Sunday night.
Music. It evokes feelings, transports me back in time and recharges me almost as though it’s a battery pack. Music for Nashville’s newest sensation, Chase Bryant, is the same. It’s in his blood.
Coming from a musical family in small town Texas, Chase heard Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Lewis Boogie” and that was all it took. From that point on, his course was set. Learning to play the guitar at a very early age, he jokes that there were 20 guitars in his hometown, and he owned all of them. After seeing Chase perform recently at The Taste of Country Music Festival, his hard work and dedication to learning his skill showed as I was floored by his shredding ability and how he made his guitar sing.
Chase Bryant – Taste of Country Festival 2015
As Chase and the Shotgun Rider Tour comes to town Thursday, July 3o to Darien Lake, Chase will open for Nashville favorites Billy Currington and Tim McGraw. He graciously agreed to speak with our readers and share some details to what makes him tick.
Kathy Stockbridge (KS): Hi Chase, thank you so much for agreeing to speak with NYSMusic. You have taken Nashville by storm since your arrival and your fans and our readers just love you.
Chase Bryant (CB): Why thank you.
KS: Music seems to be something that has always been in your blood. For those that aren’t aware you grew up in a family of musicians. Share a little about what that was like for you growing up.
CB: Well it was definitely a loud household. My grandfather was a keyboard player for Roy Orbison, and he played along side him throughout high school and right up until the summer my grandfather bowed out of the band because his mom said he couldn’t play rock and roll music any more. After that he went on to college and played with Waylon Jennings, and then on the Glen Campbell television show in Lubbock Texas, and then my two uncles played in a band called Ricochet and had the hit “Daddy’s Money” back in 1996.
KS: I remember that song! So it was in your blood, you were destined. You were born to do this.
CB: Yep, there was nothing I could do about it, and I’m glad there was nothing I could do about it, because I love it.
KS: Share with our readers a little about your relationship with Barbara and Alex Orbison and how that relationship played a role in your career in Nashville.
CB: Alex I used to say was one of my best friends, but I think he’s now more like a second brother to me. He’s been great to me and we’ve built a really great relationship when it comes to music and life in general. He’s been so supportive of my music and his mother Barbara as well has been one of my biggest fans. I couldn’t thank her enough for signing me. She was a great lady and I was her last signing at her company before she passed away. So that was a pretty awesome experience.
KS: When you came to Nashville, Benny Brown — founder of BBR Music Group — was so taken back by your talent as a producer of your demo tapes, he allowed you to co-produce your album with Derek George, which I must add is not something he does often. Share with us a little about how you taught yourself the production end of recording and how you have grown since those early days as a producer.
CB: I was on a panel the other day and I was asked how do you teach someone producing, and you really can’t. If your ears aren’t there and you can’t hear the music then it might not be for you. There are some great artists that never produced their own records or played on their own records, or maybe even wrote the songs. But they were great records and ones I definitely looked up to. I got lucky and sometimes I think that maybe what I do isn’t always right, but Benny sure has given me an opportunity to expand on it. Whatever my name is or the sound that goes along with it, Benny Brown and Broken Bow and Red Bow Records have really let me carve that path and let me become who I really want to be. I’m thankful for that. I was able to write all the songs on this record, co-produce the record, and I played all the guitars. I didn’t produce it by myself either. I co-produced with my best friend Derek George. We had a blast making that record.
KS: Well the finished piece was amazing and you have a great ear for it.
CB: Well thank you.
KS: In addition to producing, you also write your own music. You say that you wrote 400 lousy songs before you wrote your first good one…what was that one song that caught the attention of Nashville manager, pluggers, and publishers? Did you know when writing that one, it as the one?
CB: I think “Take It On Back” was the first really organic, not left of center or anything that had never been done, but it was one of those songs that defined who I was and that sound that people know me by now. I think it was that, and a song called “Change Your Name,” and probably another one that did it, called “Wish I Was A Plane” was another one that set the radar for the label and set the tone for the record. Now “Wish I Was A Plane” is one we play live (isn’t on record). You have those couple of songs that lead to other songs, and those three definitely lead to probably 15 or 16 songs to be on this record that I would like to say are collectively my best pieces of music I could make at the moment.
KS: Yeah, “Change Your Name” is my fav.
CB: Well thank you. I’m hoping that’s a single in the near future. We’ll see what happens.
KS: It will definitely be a hit. You also are an amazing guitarist. You are a left hand guitarist that plays a right handed guitar upside down. It’s not something you notice either. I shot your set at Taste of Country Festival this past June, which by the way you killed it, and after I read that you had this unique talent…I went back to study the photos and sure enough…you rock that guitar left handed, upside-down! Wow…how did you manage to learn that skill?
CB: I don’t know, I’m still learning. Everybody always says “how do you do that, how do you do that?” There’s times I look at and go “why am I doing it this?” But it just happened. I think a lot of people told me no, and a lot of people thought that I would never play it like that, so I was a stubborn kid growing up and therefore I had to do it. It also saved my mom and dad a lot of money buying me my first right handed guitar because left handed ones are way too expensive. I know my mom thinks I have way too many guitars but in the end it ended up saving us a ton of money.
KS: You recently had the opportunity to do a project with Kia Motors and Michael McDonald in their ground breaking digital series Rediscovered. Share with my readers a little about that project and what that experience was like for you.
CB: Oh gosh! Ya know, I listened to the 70’s records a lot, whether it be Fleetwood Mac Rumours, or The Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute or Takin It To The Streets, any of those records defined who I wanted to be as a singer. Musically I thought Michael was just an absolute genius. The sounds that he had coming as a keyboard player and the tone of his voice; there is no way you could ever hear that voice and undoubtedly not think that was Michael. Nobody else you could think of, could it be. With modern technology today people hit their phone and ask Siri “who is this on the radio?,” and I think that is the quickest response from Siri is Michael McDonald because it’s one of the most recognizable voices of all time.
KS: I have to say when I watched that four part series (which I strongly urge my readers to watch the entire series) you nailed it. I could tell he was genuinely impressed as well. Now in that series you talk about your experience of playing at the Opry. Share with me what it was like for you the first time you performed at The Grand Ole Opry.
CB: Playing the Opry is one of those things that every time I play there I quote “there is no bigger religious experience for a country musician…than standing in that circle”. It’s just one of those things as a country artist, when you step in that circle you don’t know what to expect. I took a friend out to my last performance and the first time they toured the Opry they don’t know what to expect. It’s the same when you are standing in that circle; you don’t know what to expect. It’s one of those venues that are full of people who love country music. It’s not a crowd that’s going to walk into the show and scream and yell your whole entire set. They are there to listen to great music, and I’m just a proud part of that and I’m very glad that they asked me to come back again and again.
KS: Your first EP Chase Bryant charged out of the gate with its hit “Take It On Back.” We love that song and I love that video. How did the setting at the Tennessee Railway Museum for the video come about?
CB: I’m a huge train fan. My grandfather, who was a big influence of course, a huge huge huge influence musically but he and I were both obsessed with trains. When Wes Edwards threw out the idea, I didn’t know who was shooting the video, I just knew that “BAM” that was the one. Especially for my first single.
KS: Your newest release Little Bit of You is racing up the charts right now and grabbed the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine as they labeled you as one of it’s “10 New Country Artists You Need To Know.” That must have been awesome to see your name in Rolling Stone Magazine. Do you find yourself pinching yourself at moments saying…can this be really happening?
CB: There are some great names in that article and some of them I moved to town with, people I’m really really rooting for, and people somewhere down the road we’re still together in this. I grew up reading Rolling Stone and was a big fan, and once again it’s one of those things to know I’m a part of it is an honor to be included.
KS: Your music is what I consider feel good, toe tapping, smile making music. Your live show is amazing and full of the same energy. I get the impression that you are a very positive person from your music. Do you find that when create music, your wanting to send a message with each song or do you want your audiences to find their own meaning in the songs?
CB: My message in my music is who I am and who I’ll always be. I don’t know if there’s another way of saying it. I just know that whoever Chase Bryant is, and whatever you see live, and whatever you hear on the radio; that’s me and who I am.
KS: I love your philosophy on music. You said that “I’m just the guy with the guitar. If I wasn’t, I’d be the guy on the front row with his arm around his girl raising a glass to the guy onstage. No questions, it’s just who I am. Music is everything.” I think this philosophy truly defines you and why we adore you. You are in it for the music and sharing that passion with your fans, thank you. One final comment and question — you hands down win for best hair in country music!!! What’s your secret for keeping it perfectly in place as you are moving around on stage. That’s difficult…I know…my son struggles to keep his hair styled like that!
Chase Bryant – Taste of Country Festival 2015
CB: Well that’s actually funny, as I went through a few different hair cuts when I came to town, and thankfully I had a label that was very good and very patient with me getting my image correct. Who knows if it’s correct now but it’s nothing more than blow drying the thing up in the air and putting some paste in it. It’s a pretty simple process. It’s nothing tough or too hard to happen; and sometimes it happens when I wake up on the right side of the bed.
KS: Well you have that image down pat. Thanks again Chase for taking the time to speak with us and we can’t wait to see you at Darien Lake July 30th!!
As I ended the interview I could not help think what a nice young man he was and how well his music fits his personality. He is an upbeat, positive, fun loving young man who loves what he does, and it shows. He’s the next generation of country. With so many critics out there today picking apart country criticizing the new sound, I find Chase Bryant the perfect example of how the next generation is taking the roots of country, that he was whole heartedly immersed in as a child, and giving it the spin to generate new fans from this generation. As a role model, he’s definitely my choice, and again, hands down he wins my “Best Hair” award.
I’m truly looking forward to seeing his set again, and I strongly urge all of you to not miss this show as Chase, along with Billy Currington, and Tim McGraw will blow your socks off for a fun filled evening of country entertainment.
Singer Chris Taylor Brown of Trapt reportedly got into an argument the day after their performance at K-Rockathon 20 in Syracuse. On Sunday, July 26, Brown can be seen arguing with local bad Too Far Lost at the Stanhope House in New Jersey before his band mate ushered him away. A 30-second cell phone video clip popped up on Youtube showing the altercation.
Too Far Lost was one of the opening acts for Trapt that night. According to Andy Bane, frontman for another opening band on the bill called Dangerkids, Trapt told Too Far Lost band members that they could not sell their merch at the show. Bane also stated that Brown proceeded to call the band fat, worthless and told Too Far Lost members, “You’re in a local band so you don’t matter.”
Zach Myers, guitarist for Shinedown, posted a response on a fan’s Facebook page that posted about the Brown incident. Myers said Brown talked $#!t about Brent Smith of Shinedown, and Brent confronted Brown at K-Rockathon, though Brown ignored Brent and the band. Brown later posted on social media that his band Trapt was better than Shinedown. On Monday, Brown released a video on the band’s
Wanted to explain where this rage I’ve had lately comes from. Had a lot to say, so thought I would do so in a video.
Alternative Press reported that Trapt and Bane were bantering back and forth on Facebook. The post has since been taken down. Bane posted,
“You make a post about bullying and then an hour later tell one of your openings bands (who were required to sell tickets to your shitty show) that they can’t sell their merch? Call them fat and worthless and ‘you’re in a local band you don’t matter?’ Sorry ‘Headstrong’ hasn’t been relevant in over 10 years. Maybe you should hang it up.”
This prompted Trapt to reply by posting:
“Worry about your own band and your own career and maybe writing a song that people like. Our one Top 40 hit, that was the biggest alternative song of last decade, is one of our 12 songs that crossed at least the top 20 in rock, so I guess you can only have a hit if [it’s] on pop stations in your opinion. Douchebag.”
Trapt also posted:
“‘Headstrong’ makes more money yearly than you’ve made in your whole life. You’re so dangerous… No one said they can’t sell merch. That band wanted 3 fucking tables and we wanted our main support to have at least 1 table. That girl in the video bitched and said then we will take our stuff and leave and we said go ahead and then that local band said if they didn’t go out and sell tickets than no one would be at the show, all 20 tickets they sold. The second local was [way] better and did a much better job promoting the show and selling the [tickets]… We rely on hard-working local bands to promote Trapt when we come to town. Fuck you! See you out there sometime!
STS9 has announced its 2015 Fall Tour, and highlighting the 22-show trek are two stops in New York. On October 25, the jamtronica act will headline the Town Ballroom in Buffalo before weaving its way through the Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland before landing back in the Empire State for a November 5 show at the Best Buy Theater.
STS9 Fall Tour 2015:
October 22 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
October 23 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theater
October 24 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
October 25 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
October 28 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
October 29 – Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion
October 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
October 31 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore
November 01 – Live Oak, FL – Suwannee Hulaween
November 05 – New York, NY – Best Buy Theater
November 06 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
November 07 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
November 08 – Richmond, VA – The National
November 11 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
November 12 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
November 13 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
November 14 – Nashville, TN – War Memorial Auditorium
November 15 – Columbia, SC – Music Farm
November 18 – Birmingham, AL – Iron City Music Hall
November 19 – New Orleans, LA – Joy Theater
November 20 – Austin, TX – Austin Music Hall
November 21 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Get your Backwoods Pondfest party started with the ultimate New York funk trio, Sophistafunk. With the combined talent of Jack Brown’s hip-shaking vocals, Adam Gold’s keys, bass and vocals, and Emanuel Washington’s groove-inducing drumming, they’ll get you dancing and work the audience into a frenzy through deep instrumental grooves.
Recently featured in Relix Magazine “5 Artists You Should Know About” (May 2015), this funky indie trio was also featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives when Adam Gold’s venue/restaurant Funk ‘n Waffles was profiled on the Food Network show.
Backwoods Pondfest keeps getting better and better, and there’s plenty more in store! Check out the lineup and pick up tickets to this incredible festival today!
I don’t know what it was about this melancholy post punk shoe gaze rock. There was no onstage chemistry between the band members, who barely seemed to look in the direction of the others while they played their instruments quite masterfully, but I didn’t come to see Paul Banks play guitar and sing, I wanted to see what kind of performance the group would give in a live setting. Live performances of studio songs led to a textbook no frills show where we heard the hits and little else to write home about.
With Paisley on the stage, sporting a white cowboy hat and a black T-shirt, the focus was entirely on the music. Beginning with his very first song, in which he opened with his 2014 hit “River Bank”, a guitar solo was included in nearly every song. Paisley’s West Virginia roots are evident in his bluegrass style of string plucking, but there was also a certain classic rock influence on his playing. His solos featured rifts up and down the fret board, and he could slide in a way that would make even Steve Miller proud. Between the bluegrass plucking in his right hand and the brilliant fretwork in his left hand, Paisley had remarkable dexterity with all ten fingers, something nearly unparalleled in today’s music scene. His vocal ability isn’t anything spectacular, but his guitar ability was impressive enough on its own merits to make up for it.
instream modern country concert it was. The string playing by everyone on stage was fantastic.
Moore showed a strong vocal ability on a few songs, particularly in his 2011 hit “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” which he dedicated to the American troops around the world, but much of his performance was disappointing. Starkly contrasting Paisley, he was sub-par on the guitar,and at times it felt like the six-string was a prop instead of an instrument. I’m sorry, but if your ass faces the crowd more than your mouth, I’m not convinced that you’re worried about the music as much as you should be.
STS9 Fall Tour 2015: