NYS Music 20​15

Tag: Brooklyn Bowl

  • Bowlive VI – Night 6 – Soulive with Anders Osborne and George Porter Jr. “The Captain of Bowlive Pt.1”

    On the sixth night, we had confusion. Opener Curtis Harding was suddenly unavailable at the last minute, with the lone announcement of “Showtime will be changed to 8:45, full refunds will be available.” Despite the nice gesture, I don’t believe anyone was running to get their money back, with the New Orleans powerhouse combo of Anders Osbone and George Porter Jr. headlining the event.

    Soulive Anders Osborne

    Soulive, consisting of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums), and Neal Evans (keys) took the stage at the adjusted set time to a half full Brooklyn Bowl as it appears not everyone got the memo. The opening act has a large responsibility and its not just to kill time until the headliner goes on. They are intended to insert a certain amount of energy in the crowd, and on this night when Soulive took the stage both audience and band seemed to be missing that energy. It felt as if the trio was going through the motions on the original “Dig” as well as the nightly Beatles cover we’ve come to expect “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

    The Shady Horns then joined on stage and while the hope seemed to be they would inject a little energy into the building, they ran their way through two more Soulive originals “Fire Eater” and “The Swamp” without too much fanfare. On the last Soulive original tune of the night “Upshot” the band finally drew the crowds undivided attention with horn filled funk. The energy inside finally came to a peak as “The Captain of Bowlive” as dubbed by band leader Krasno, George Porter Jr.(bass, The Meters), took the stage and Neil Evans (keyboard) was finally able to give his left hand a break from that clavinet. When Porter Jr. is on stage his presence usurps Krasno from his traditional band leader roll and works each musician like he is conducting an orchestra. Porter Jr. got the best out of each musician on stage for the three Meters songs to close the set “Pungee,” “Keep On Marching,” and “He Bite Me (The Dragon).”

    Soulive Anders Osborne

    This show could easily be described as a tale of two sets. Set two began with Soulive, The Shady Horns, and the second guest of the evening Anders Osborne (guitar). Anders Osborne led us through two of his original tunes “On The Road To Charlie Parker” and “Pleasin You” before The Shady Horns left the stage for a rendition of “Back Together” from Osborne’s newest project NMO All-Stars. With Porter Jr. back on stage joining Anders Osborne we were treated to two living New Orleans legend doing their own funky takes on some classic tunes. First up was the JJ Cale penned “After Midnight,” and for the first time tonight the building was shaking. What came next will one day appear on a Best of Bowlive album. Kicked off with The Shady Horns back on stage and joined by Maurice “Mo Betta” Brown (trumpet, TTB) CSNY’s Ohio led the way with a phenomenal trumpet solo by Brown with Osborne, Krasno, and Porter Jr. on vocals. A seamless segue in a mind melting mashup of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” > Neil Young’s “Down By The River” > “Breathe” had everyone mesmorized. This mashup was highlighted by Victor Cornette’s mastery of the lighting rigs at Brooklyn Bowl to give you the full experience. The Grateful Dead’s “Bertha” followed and didn’t disappoint as Neal took it to another level on the organ as Porter Jr. egged him on with deep rhythmic basslines. To round out this phenomenal set, Questlove (drums, The Roots) commandeered the drum kit from Alan to join in on another The Meter’s original “Africa,” this was the most talent that had been on stage at one time during the Bowlive run and the crowd responded appropriately. For the night six encore Soulive and The Shady Horns were joined on stage by Brown and Porter Jr. for one more The Meters tune “Ain’t No Use” starting out with Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” being teased into the intro. George Porter Jr. returns tomorrow night to end his two night run with Soulive.

    Video by Marc Millman

  • Bowlive VI – Day 4 – Soule Monde and Soulive with Chris Robinson

    After a two-day recess, night four of Bowlive VI was underway in formidable fashion, with guest Chris Robinson. As far as the opener setting the tone for the evening, Soule Monde has been the most musically appropriate choice of the run to date. The jazz/funk duo of Russ Lawton (drums) and Ray Paczkowski (clavinet, organ) were quick to put everyone in the mood. Lawton continually pushed the pace faster as Paczkowski followed on his Hammond B-3 and laid down deep funky riffs on his clavinet. Paczkowski has you wondering where the third hepcat was keeping the groove going on his four string. They set the stage for Soulive to bring their own style of modern funk to the table.
    Bowlive Soule Monde
    Soule Monde
     
    While Eric Krasno kept himself busy during the short break in the Bowlive residency, sitting in with Phil & Friends for his 75th birthday show at The Capitol Theater, fans got a much-needed hiatus from all the dancing. The fourth night started same as all the previous ones with just the three Soulive members on stage. Charging out of the gate with the classic original tune “So Live” off of their debut album, 2002’s Turn It Out. Once the mood was set, the trio went into the more soulful “Bubble” which segued wonderfully into the first of many covers for the night, The Beatles “Something.” The Extra Shady Horns on this night consisting of Zoidis (sax), Bloom (trumpet). The first guest of the evening was DJ Williams (guitar, KDTU) who joined in the fun for another old school Soulive original “Uncle Junior.” Williams and Krasno took this out for a ride and were upended by a screaming solo by Zoidis’ sax.
    Bowlive Soule Monde
     
    As the show was compressed from two sets down to one, most likely to placate the strap hangers with early morning meetings. At the end of the first hour of mostly Soulive originals, Chris Robinson finally made his way onto the Bowlive stage. He was joined by Cochema Gastelum (sax, Dap Kings)  and backup singers Sasha Ortiz and Maya Sharpe. The first tune that Robinson crooned for his enthusiastic fans was Otis Redding’s “Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Sad Song.” Only one song in and Robinson picked up his guitar to join Krasno on a medley of cover tunes. The Dr. John classic “Quitters Never Win” was up next followed by Robinson’s Bowlive coming out party as he blew the roof off the joint in a funk laden take on the Grateful Dead’s “West LA Fadeaway.”

    Bowlive Soule Monde chris robinson

     
    Everything was coming up blues as we heard takes on Joe Cocker’s “Space Captain” and Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out My Life Woman.” Robinson and Neil Evans led the charge with their take on the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter tune “Sugaree.” To close out the night, which had the crowd singing along for the last hour, Robinson channeled his best Mick Jagger impersonation for The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter.” His soaring vocals led the crowd in what was the most authentic sounding cover of the night. To close out a night of classic rock tunes everyone was back on stage and joined by Ross James (guitar, Terrapin Family Band) for a cover of “Lovelight” that sounded more like the original Bobby Bland version than the more widely known Grateful Dead version. Based on the audience’s reaction, Robinson might have been the standout guest so far, and everyone will have another chance to see him Wednesday as he closes out his two-night stand with Soulive.

  • Bowlive VI – Day 3 – Bowlive for Kids, Cabinet, Soulive w/ Sam Kininger and Jennifer Hartswick

    Shortly after night two of the eight night Soulive run came to an end, day three began for one of the hardest working men in music. Eric Krasno joined by bandmates Alan Evans, and Neal Evans, took the stage joined by The Shady Horns — Ryan Zoidis (sax) and Eric Bloom (trumpet) for the annual Soulive For Kids concert. Doors opened at noon and by the 2PM show time Brooklyn Bowl was jam-packed with families, kids of all ages were eating, and bowling while parents were enjoying a bloody mary or mimosa. Krasno, looking dapper in his suit and tie, led the band in classic Soulive funk laden tracks. The seventy-five minute set was brought to a close with covers of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and Sly & The Family Stone’s “If You Want Me To Stay” which had fans of all ages singing along.

    Bowlive Sam Kininger

    Bluegrass outfit Cabinet, who has been gaining quite a reputation on the festival circuit, was an interesting selection to open the third evening of Bowlive. Hailing from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – JP Biondo (mandolin), Mickey Coviello (guitar), Pappy Biondo (banjo), Dylan Skursky (bass), Todd Kopec (fiddle), Jami Novak (drums). They brought their own Appalachian Chic stylings for a night out in Brooklyn. Off their newly released album Celebration, Cabinet original “Shine Like The Sun” sounded inspired by American Beauty era Grateful Dead with Pennsylvania bluegrass influences. While for “Bottom Of The Sea” and “Poor Man’s Blues” Coviello and Skursky traded in their acoustic instruments for electric and the band took on an entirely new progressive jamgrass feel. The band returned to their acoustic instruments to close the set with the Biondo penned Susquehanna Breakdown a fast paced traditional bluegrass tune that definitely left the crowd wanting more.

    Bowlive Sam Kininger

    For their second show of the day Soulive began the night with just the core three members on stage, for what was to be a night of classic Soulive collaborations. After just one song the band was joined on stage by original band member Sam Kininger (sax). Sam took center the stage and led the band through Soulive classics “Hurry Up and Wait” off of the 2001 album Doin’ Something and “Rudy’s Way” off of the 2002 Turn It Out. The Shady Horns then joined on stage while Kininger sat in with the horns section for the rest of the first set. Set two began with Kininger and The Shady Horns on stage for “Backwards Jack,” before finally being joined by second special guest of the evening Jennifer Hartswick (vocals, trumpet) and the first surprise guest Bob Reynolds (Snarky Puppy, sax) for a soulful rendition of Etta James “Tell Mama”.

    Next to join onstage was Chris Bullock (Snarky Puppy, sax) for Soulive original “Povo” and lastly Miker Maher (Snarky Puppy, sax) joined in on “Blues for Mama,” the second set was brought to a close with the 2002 smooth jazz original “Tuesday Night Squad.” This set already seemed to be the hands down winner for best set of the run so far before Jennifer Hartswtick led the trio in a building shaking rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean.” Eric Krasno will spend the next two days joining some of the other hardest working men in music Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes at the Capitol Theater for Lesh’s 75th birthday Phil & Friends show before returning to Brooklyn Bowl Tuesday night for the fourth night of Bowlive joined by Chris Robinson of Black Crowes fame.

  • Bowlive VI – Soulive w/ Charles Bradley – The Screaming Eagle of Soulive

    In what has become an annual Olympics of sorts for NYC music lovers, Soulive kicked off their sixth annual eight show residency at Brooklyn Bowl, dubbed Bowlive VI, with Charles Bradley. Bowlive has become famous for special guest headliners and even more special surprise guests. This is the first year that it did not coincide with the Allman Bros. Beacon residency and standard sit-ins by the likes of Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Susan Tedeschi.

    bowlive charles bradley

    It was only fitting that local outfit WOLF!, consisting of band leader Scott Metzger (guitar, JRAD), Jon Shaw (bass), and Taylor Floreth (drums) opened the run in what may appear to be a passing of the torch of Brooklyn based rockers. Metzger awed the crowd with his shredding guitar solos and commanding stage presence as they rolled in with excitement for the main event. Before they left the stage, Metzger announced that they will be releasing their debut album this April on the Royal Potato label, with a record release party at Brooklyn’s Hometown BBQ April 2.

    Soulive took the stage with just the three core members Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums), and Neal Evans (keyboard, organ) to lay down a couple of funky grooves to get the crowd ready for what was yet to come. The first guests of the evening, The Shady Horns – Ryan Zoidis (sax) and Eric Bloom (trumpet) – who will be sitting in all eight nights, came out for soulful renditions of “Hat Trick” and “Vapor.” After much anticipation, the 66-year-old Charles Bradley, who was unknown until 2011, strutted out in a silver sequin tank top blowing kisses to the crowd. Bradley has a voice and stage presence akin to James Brown, whom he impersonated as Black Velvet up until his solo career was propelled by Dap-Tone Records. He crooned three of his original tunes to end the first set: “Ain’t It A Sin,” “The World (Is Going Up In Flames),” and “Why Is It So Hard.”

    The second set began like the first with the core three members taking the stage for a cover of the 1967 Jimi Hendrix tune “Manic Depression.” The Shady Horns were back out followed by Bradley and Metzger. Bradley took over again, pulling out some classic soul inspired dance moves as he fell to his knees with the mic stand raised high over his head. Bradley gave way to the first true surprise guest of Bowlive VI, Tash Neal (guitar, The London Souls) who closed the second set with The Beatles classic “Get Back.” The first night of Bowlive came to a close with two powerhouse guitarists on stage for a cover of Buddy Miles “Them Changes” with a mesmerizing solo by Neal.

  • Photo Gallery: Railroad Earth Visits a Frozen Niagara Falls

    Railroad Earth played to a solid crowd during a very cold Sunday night at Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls.

    The band played through a number of songs stretching through their growing catalog. The band seemed to hit on all strides providing some great jams and hearty Americana rock. The New Jersey band continues to give New York state some love as they make it out this way whenever they can and will be continuing their tour with a stop in New York City with three dates this weekend at Brooklyn Bowl.