The Capitol Theatre in Rome will play host to Binghamton’s Driftwood and Rome’s Pocket Change in a double-bill of Americana, folk and bluegrass Friday, September 25 beginning at 7:30. Tickets for the general admission show are available for $15 presale and $20 at the door.
Pocket Change will open the show. Formed in 2011, singer/guitarist Matt Moore describes the band’s eclectic mix of rock-informed bluegrass, “musical compost.” Joining Moore in the band are his wife, Liz Moore (mandolin/vocals) and new members Joe Cantanaro (guitar) and Tim Slusarczyk (upright bass). Pocket Change is no stranger to the Capitol Theatre stage, having headlined last year’s Mohawk Valley Bluegrass Association’s Indoor Bluegrass Festival there. It also has a history with Driftwood, joining them at last year’s Utica Music and Arts Festival.
Driftwood, formed in Binghamton in 2005, earned its chops the hard way, performing in bars, coffee houses and the streets. As banjo player Joe Kollar says, “a lot in the streets.” With backgrounds in jazz, classical and rock, the move to bluegrass and roots music was one the band came upon naturally. Driftwood prides itself in its songwriting skills and high energy shows, punctuated by its haunting harmonies, featuring violinist Claire Byrne, guitarist Dan Forsyth and Kollar.
Driftwood released its debut album Rally Day in 2009 and has released A Rock and Roll Heart (2011), a self-titled album (2013) and most recently, its first live album, Live at Grassroots 2014. Absolute Punk described Driftwood as a “revelation” and “one of the best roots discs…in quite some time.”
Having graced festival stages alongside the likes of Bela Fleck, Old Crow Medicine Show, Del McCoury, Railroad Earth, Robert Randolph, Leon Russell and Emmylou Harris, the band is poised for a breakthrough in the burgeoning Newgrass scene. With each show, the crowds have gotten bigger. Having a video for its single “The Sun’s Going Down” in rotation on CMT has only served to increase the band’s fanbase beyond its Upstate roots.
The Capitol Theatre is located in Rome’s Art and Cultural District at 220 W. Dominick St. Tickets are available through the Capitol’s website and at the door the night of the show. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $20 and allow early access to the venue and a meet and greet with the musicians.
In what seemed to be at first a pre-taped video entrance, Al is seen starting off one of his latest songs, “Tacky,” just around the corner of The Cap, slowly making his way around the to the marquee in front (rendering some confusion in the drivers stopped at the nearby traffic light) and through some side alleys in a similar style to the 
It wouldn’t be a Weird Al show with at least a little bit of polka. His latest polka medley “Now That’s What I Call Polka” (an obvious play on the title of the Now That’s What I Call Music… series) took on “Wrecking Ball,” “Gangnam Style,” “Get Lucky,” and “Thrift Shop,” among a few others. For the younger folks in the crowd, this medley may have caught their attention more than his parody of an older song such as “Smells Like Nirvana.” It would have been fun to hear one of his earlier polka medleys toward the end of the show but there certainly wasn’t any disappointment in the set list.
He pulled something off this time which worked very well. Forming a semi-circle with his band armed with acoustic instruments and some candles for effect, he performed a medley of “Eat It,” “I Lost On Jeopardy,” “I Love Rocky Road,” and “Like A Surgeon” in a few easy-going cool styles. It was slightly confusing at first when Jim West (guitar) opened this run of songs with what sounded like Clapton’s 
The highlight of the night was also the most interactive …if you’d call testing the realm of personal space interactive. Walking out of the shadows of the stage with a swagger accentuated by his flame-licked shirt and pants, Al soon made his way through the isles of the orchestra seats singing”Wanna B Ur Lovr.” There wasn’t really a chance for people to get in a cell phone photo frenzy as everyone was too busy catching every moment of his serenade of a handful of the women in the audience.
Aside from the comedy appeal of the show, it was musically fulfilling as well. There were some occasional sound effect samples in the songs, but the band comprised of Jon Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, Jim West on guitar, and Rubén Valtierra on keys recreated the sounds of the original songs across several genres flawlessy without any cheese factor. Valtierra joined the band in 1991, but the other three were part of Al’s music/comedy recordings since at least the 1982 debut album. This goes to show that Weird Al’s shows are way more than just a solo performer backed by filler music.
Hidalgo referenced Jerry Garcia, saying “We miss him too.” and “We’ll try to do him justice,” as they began the classic Grateful Dead number “Bertha” which an overjoyed crowd cheered loudly for. A four song encore of “Don’t Worry Baby, Mas y Mas, La Bamba > Good Lovin’ > La Bamba” lit a fire under the few who were still seated. On a night like this, Los Lobos were nothing short of fantastic from start to finish.
The venue was alive with fans, most of whom seemed to be letting loose for an evening of drinking and music much like they would have with this same band in the mid ’90s. As the room packed in the band took to the stage instantly jumping into an energetic cover of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” The song which was left unfinished instantly set the tone for the evening infusing the band and crowd alike with an energy that could be felt throughout the night. As the evening progressed the band received echoing cheers from the intoxicated crowd as they dug deep into their song bank playing hits such as “Run Around” and “Hook” before delivering a moving version of “Mountains Win Again.”