With an expansive state such as NY, there’s a multitude of large cities and small towns that are home to some widely diverse music venues and scenes abroad. Teetering as the fourth most populated state in the country, New York houses just under 20 million people with the majority of the larger cities snuggled along interstate 90. It’s a seamless route for bands to travel and schedule shows as they pass through the Empire State. However, our team of merry music lovers here at NYS Music voted upon one town to be the best scene for live music. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that this 5-borough concrete jungle was the top pick for best music town in New York State. That’s right, New York City indeed. Coming in hot at #1 is the largest city in the United States and has been declared as the Best Music Town for many years now. It’s probably not going to be topped anytime soon either.
To a surprising degree, Albany and Buffalo were not so distant behind the Big Apple in the standings. The Capital District has much to offer with many venues of all capacities spread throughout the city. A brief list starts with The Hollow Bar & Kitchen, The Palace Theatre, The EGG, The Fuze Box, and The Times Union Center. Buffalo also has an impressive list of stages and events such as the Town Ballroom, The Tralf, The Waiting Room, Buffalo Iron Works, Nietzsche’s, and the First Niagara Center.
Oh, but the city that never sleeps has far more venues than anyone can imagine. Clubs, bars, city parks, warehouses, basements, rooftops, to numerous theatres and stadiums are abundant in the melting pot. It’s glorious! The most regarded venue in NYC would have to be Madison Square Garden. It’s beautiful, accommodating, spacious, acoustically dynamic, and it is just historically pleasing to be in and around. MSG holds only the world’s largest acts and will be home to Phish for four consecutive nights at the end of 2015.
The Barclays Center is home to the Brooklyn Nets, seats about 19,000 people, and opened in 2012 with a major list of performers, including Jay-Z and Pearl Jam. Its rivals in size would be MSG, Nassau Coliseum, Nikon at Jones Beach Amphitheater, and the IZOD Center (located in NJ).
Radio City Music Hall is the queen of all theaters in NYC with its 5,933 seat capacity, historical Art Deco interior, prestigious location, and Grand Stage. The elevator system in the theater is so advanced, that the U.S. Navy had incorporated identical hydraulics into WWII aircraft carriers and had security personnel guarding the theater during wartime. The Hall is sprinkled with depression-era artwork in the lobby, hallways, and the mezzanine. It’s deserving of the nickname, Showplace of the Nation.
Though, just because NYC is ample in size, poses home to the largest/most popular arenas and theaters in the country, doesn’t mean that’s where the real glory is. People tend to have more fun in the intimate venue, smaller capacity rooms where you can practically reach out and touch the artists from any angle of the room. The venues that sell tickets at reasonable prices, have great selection of beverages, are decorated with passion, and cater to the individual concert go-er rather than consumers in bulk, are what makes the experience favorable. The Empire City has all of that and more. Some other venues that hold NYC so high are: The Beacon Theatre, The Hammerstein Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, Playstation Theater, City Winery, Terminal 5, Brooklyn Bowl, Governors Island, Central Park, Bowery Ballroom, Village Vanguard, Cake Shop, and Saint Vitus are just a sliver of the pie.
New Years Eve in New York City, well really, the whole week around New Years, is chock full of music. Just check out this list put together by Catskill Chill Music Festival!
Aside from being the music mecca of the world, it’s almost in a class of its own. Until that changes, go visit the Big Apple and enjoy some live music!
Vince Neil was disappointing throughout the entire set, minus maybe a loud “yeah” here and there. Vince certainly tried to play his heart out and toward the end of the night you could hear and see the exhaustion on his face as he huffed and puffed his way through songs. During “Kickstart My Heart” there were some parts where at the end of a verse he mumbled the words, almost like he gave up. Nevertheless that’s what the pyrotechnics were there for that night, to cover up their failing ability to perform live like in days’ past. The hero of the night was Mick Mars, who didn’t need to jump around on stage in frilly costumes for people to be entranced by him. His guitar playing and solos were enough to capture people. While costume changes were happening for Nikki and Vince, Mars was given the spotlight to play some impressive solos. If this was really the band’s last hurrah, and last show in Buffalo, the band could have put more effort into performing a complete show.
While plenty of artists put on a strong show, how many of them toss beers into the crowd as they sing? Or catch a fan’s cellphone mid-song, snap a selfie and toss it back without missing a note? Bryan did it all, including rounding up his talented band and pouring tequila shots on top of his piano to toast the crowd.
On Tuesday August 25, fans lined up early in front of the gates at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center with much excitement. While some fans waited in line on the chilly August day, others took to the park to help ease the excitement. Throughout the park, families could be seen wearing their favorite Van Halen memorabilia such as shirts and shoes. Concert goers inside the theme park seemed to cover many generations. Walking through the theme park, there were young children ready to see guitar icon, Eddie Van Halen, take the stage for what would probably be their first time. Teenagers were all around the park in their own groups sporting their classic VH shirts. Most of all, the parents who grew up listening to classic Van Halen albums such as Van Halen, Van Halen II, 1984, etc. were ready to see Van Halen for what would probably be their last time at Darien Lake.
As expected, Van Halen ended the night with “Panama” and “Jump” leaving the crowd feeling like they just went back in time. Luckily for fans at Darien Lake, they didn’t have the same fate fans at Hershey Park had on Sunday. Van Halen continues their tour of North America throughout the month of September and has its final stop at the Hollywood Bowl, in Hollywood, California on Friday, October 2nd. Fans interested in catching Van Halen again before the tour ends can find all the dates and ticket information 
After a short stage tear-down the Deftones were next to take the stage. It was a mystery before the show who would close the night out because it could have easily been either the Deftones or Incubus. Opening their set with “Diamond Eyes,” off their 2010 release Diamond Eyes, the Deftones set the vibe for the rest of the show. There’s not many bands that have a distinct sound like the Deftones do. From the slow, chunky, low toned riffs of Stephen Carpenter to the melodic vocals and screams of Chino Moreno, it’s easy to identify the Deftones.
After a set that seemed to end too soon for Deftones fans, Incubus shortly came on afterwards. The band wasted no time at all and started the set off with hit after hit. Opening with “Wish You Were Here,” then going into “Anna Molly” and “Circles,” Incubus was running on all cylinders the entire night. The stage was backed with a giant curved LED screen with one on top of the stage as well. To go along with the screens, Incubus had an outstanding light show that set a great vibe for their set. Like the Deftones, Incubus also chose to vary up their setlist with songs throughout their music catalog. Fans got to hear songs from A Crow Left of the Murder…, Morning View, Trust Fall (Side A), Light Grenades, Make Yourself and others as well. The band sounded spot on and singer Brandon Boyd led the band through a solid 17 song setlist. The show was ended with a three song encore featuring “Dig,” “Drive” and “A Crow Left of the Murder” which featured a special Beatles closing.
The Deftones/Incubus tour runs until the end of August. 