Don’t have plans yet for New Year’s Eve? Music fans across New York State have got plenty of choices this Thursday. NYS Music helps you get there with the short list of NYE activities.
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at the Historic German House with special guests Danielle Ponder & Tomorrow People and Funknut. Three Heads Brewing Tasting Party start at 7pm with an acoustic jam featuring members of GPGDS and Extended Family. Late night the party continues with Subsoil and Level 7 Hip Hop DJ Set. $20 in advance/$30 day of show.
While most might dream of tropical getaways when it comes to vacation time, music fans accrue their days to travel across the country—or world—for weekends jam-packed with live performances, indulgent food and experimental fun. From the east to the west coasts to the Midwest, NYSMusic staffers traveled near and far throughout the year to see their favorite groups in action. Here we give you our top picks for out-of-state festivals of 2015.
With the growing number of small-scale festivals that seem to pop up each year, it’s no wonder that our team could not pick just one or two as their favorite—so we decided to include the ones we felt deserved an honorable mention. First up is Arise Music Festival, an event in Loveland, CO, that according to Andrew Wyatt “offers a spicy jambalaya of multi-cultural live music, electronic performances, art presentations, along with numerous workshops centered around eco-activism, social justice, and spirituality practice.” With nearly 100 musical acts, the three-day festival now in its third year featured the likes of the Polish Ambassador, Rising Appalachia, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Lukas Nelson, Turkuaz, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Trevor Hall, Emancipator Ensemble, Ozomatli and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, among others.
Headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Life Of Agony, the East Coast Tsunami Festival held in Reading, PA, treated hip hop, hardcore and metal fans to two full days of shows, including favorited groups Body Count, Mobb Deep, Murphy’s Law, Madball and more. And despite sound issues during day one, Jay Saint G. still dubbed the festival as “a wave of brutality that every music lover should experience.”
Up next is the Grand Point North Festival held in Burlington’s Waterfront Park with views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Headlined by Vermont’s sweetheart Grace Potter, the fifth annual installment boasted two nights of music featuring Phish’s Mike Gordon, the Flaming Lips, Shakey Graves, Greensky Bluegrass, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, among others, and special guests like Kenny Chesney who joined Potter to perform their single, “Wild Child.” Alexandra Provost and Laura Carbone noted that “as Potter walked onto the stage, her skin glistening from raindrops, the audience went wild” and that she “put on an astounding performance, showing off her piano, guitar and bluesy vocal skills.”
And finally the Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley, a venue favorited by the Grateful Dead in the ’80s. With a stacked lineup featuring the Werks, Papadosio, Dopapod, Lettuce, Umphrey’s McGee, the Floozies, Consider The Source, Break Science and Tauk, the sixth year for the Thornville, OH, festival “was as always a ridiculously good time for all who made the journey,” according to Ben Landsman. With three stages, a silent disco and one fan wedding,Landsman noted that “between the beauty of Legend Valley, the bright spirit of the fans, the innovative music, this festival is one of the treasures of the Midwest.”
Held at Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA, the sold-out 29th annual Green River Festival was “fresh, exciting and invigorating,” according to Eli Stein. Featuring four hot air balloon launches, the family-friendly July event pulled out all the stops with a craft tent, Frisbee dog show, acrobats, karate demonstrations, swimming, a Mardi Gras-style parade and exotic local fare like elk, boar and venison burgers, a Korean food truck and kabob vendors. Throughout the three-day weekend, more than 40 performers ranging from Americana to dance, blues and jam graced the event’s three stages nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, including Eilen Jewell, the Wood Brothers, Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento, MAKU Sound System, Langhorne Slim and the Law, the Punch Brothers and tUnE-yArDs, which Stein noted was the perfect mixture:
Musically, the festival served up a heaping slab of New England comfort food. The rest aforementioned activity, as they say, was just the gravy. Not only were the band selections great, they were clearly hand-picked and not just pulled off the nearest passing festival train. The music flowed wonderfully from set to set, and built to a nice peak at the perfect times. There was an evenness to the passion and approach of the musicians that made for a smooth transition no matter where you went.”
Celebrating its 20th year, Gathering of the Vibes offered up an impressive lineup with headliners Wilco, Weezer, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, Dark Star Orchestra, Ben Harper, Greg Allman and the String Cheese Incident. The late summer festival returned to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, CT, and treated fans to a super jam called Vibes 20th Anniversary Spectacular featuring Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Meters founding bassist George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento on keys and Joe Russo behind the drum kit, plus Jackie Greene on guitar. Although the four-day festival will take a break in 2016, VibeTribers Julia Wolfe and Steve Olker recounted the last day of the 2015 event and dubbed this run as one that would set the pace going forward:
As the sun set over Vibes for the last time, [Ben] Harper closed out with his song “Better Way,” and it was finally time to head home. Seeing so many bands perform was both enticing and overwhelming at the same time, making leaving Vibes even more bittersweet. The range of genre, popularity, age and background is what makes Gathering of the Vibes separate from other festivals. After 20 years, Gathering of the Vibes has remained one of Connecticut’s most well-known festivals, and it’s attention to bringing about change while discovering your own inner peace is what will bring success for future gatherings to come. Until next time, thank you vibes for a real good time.”
The final set of the night to check out was North American Scum, an LCD Soundsystem cover band who might be the best band to close out Summer Camp. Members of the group are formerly of This Must be the Band, a Talking Heads band from Chicago, who have traditionally played one of the final sets at Summer Camp. This incredible two hour set featured the entire Sound of Silver album and, because everyone else was playing Grateful Dead songs, a spirited version of “Scarlet Begonias” to cap the night.”
Nothing compares to experiencing live music. But when it comes to packing up and leaving the world behind to immerse in a weekend of musical debauchery with a community of like-minded souls, well, that’s the stuff that dreams are made of for music festival fans.
From one-band to multi-artist events and crowd sizes from 2,000 to 50,000, New York State hosts a bevy of festivals annually in some of the most beautiful settings imaginable, and let’s face it, our state knows how to throw a proper fest, as it is ingrained in New York’s rich musical history having put on one of the biggest rock festivals of all time, Woodstock. Here we’ve rounded up our favorites from NYS Music 2015, so sit back, relax and relive some of the festival magic that happened throughout the Empire State this year, because we all know what it’s like to experience those post-fest blues.
The third installment of Buffalove Music Festival saw a venue change from Cole Farm, Panama, NY, to North Fork Music Park, Warsaw, NY, with the new location offering four stages, a private beach, disc golf and wooded-area camping, and a record attendance that doubled previous years. With an impressive lineup including Kung Fu, Pink Talking Fish, Funktional Flow, Particle, Formula 5, Mister F, Space Junk, Dopapod, Aqueous and Aquapod, the three-day June 2015 festival created to celebrate Western New York’s emerging music scene was one for the books, according to Jen Foster and Thomas Sgroi:
Buffalove came through. Co-founder of Buffalive Productions and Founder of Buffalove Cody Conway clearly had one goal in mind: keep the energy as high as possible. Every single band had heads turning and jaws on the ground. There was never a lull, never a band that just played to fill space. Every minute was dance-worthy. If you missed out this year, we can highly recommend you don’t make that mistake next year. Without any problems or unruly attendees, this festival made its mark at North Fork Music Park in Warsaw, NY. The amount of talent coming out of Upstate New York is only paving the road for more incredible shows. Buffalove, you certainly were lovely.”
Another summer fest that saw a venue change was the fifth annual Disc Jam Music Festival, which moved from Massachusetts to New York State—and promoters recently announced that the event will return to Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown for its sixth year in June. Throughout four days of music, camping, disc golf and Flow Tribe, festivalgoers experienced live performances from more than 50 acts, including Lettuce, Electron, Dopapod, Aqueous, Brightside, Kung Fu, Consider the Source, Cabinet, Soule Monde, Roots of Creation, Formula 5, The Hornitz, Soul Rebel Project, Broccoli Samurai, Krewe de Groove and Relative Souls. According to Dave DeCrescente, the festival’s last day culminated with a “healthy dose of guest sit-ins” with jamband Twiddle, noting that:
One of the highlights of the set was the massive guest sit in with DJ Honeycomb, James Woods, and Joe Davis from Formula 5, Scott Hannay of Mister F and Todd Stoops for the ultimate mega jam on “Apples.” The Disc Jam Flow Tribe was out in full force with fire spinners and hooping entertainers that were almost as mesmerizing as the music. The weekend ended just as it started, with mind blowing music and a close knit community who continue to make the Disc Jam Festival special. Tony Scavone and crew did a suburb job of organizing the 5th annual Disc Jam with a new location but still the same friendly, loving festival experience that keeps fans coming back each year.”
While Catskill Chill is speculated to make a move to Lake George in 2016, the festival’s last waltz at bucolic Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY, this September was a success, selling 5,000 tickets, according to Chill promoter Dave Marzollo. Headlined by moe. who kicked off their fall tour at the festival and including other bands like Lotus, Zappa Plays Zappa, Lettuce, Twiddle, Turkuaz, Dopakuaz plays Studio 54 and The Motet, the sixth annual installment of Catskill Chill featured on-site cabin rentals, daily yoga, live art, a farmer’s market, craft and food vendors, a communal bonfire nightly and an open mic. The three-day event was packed with guest sit-ins and collaborations like Dopapod and Turkuaz joining forces to play as Dopakuaz, which Chill organizer Josh Cohen noted is the type of community mindset that sets this festival apart from others its size or larger by creating an environment where rising bands can experiment and grow in a unique setting:
Point is that when comparing us to larger festivals, we’re at this cool stage attendance-wise where in many band’s cases we have the best ‘music’ out there in our prime slots. I love tons of bands who’ve been around since the ’90s or earlier but there’s nothing like seeing musicians in their youthful stages, when creativity is just exploding and you can feel it dripping off the stage as opposed to later-in-their career bands who are playing mostly songs they first wrote and fell in love with decades earlier.”
It’s no surprise that Magnaball takes the cake for this category. During late August more than 30,000 phans invaded Watkins Glen International race track for Phish Festival 10. And while the three-day event took place at the site of their 2011 Superball IX festival, this time around the setup featured many upgrades, including local and regional food vendors, the five-course restaurant Festival Ate, MagnaWater Program, speciality Phish-themed cocktails and coveted craft beer from Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Hill Farmstead. (And let’s not forget to mention the interactive Glurt Institute, Drive-In movie theater, JEMP Record Store and cornhole tournament.) The Vermont quartet majorly delivered throughout the weekend’s eight sets busting out rare tunes like “Mock Song” and jamming out typical breather ballads such as “Prince Caspian” to uncharted territory, but perhaps one of the highlights was the Saturday festival tradition of performing a late-night set, which according to Pete Mason raised expectations for future secret sets:
Magnaball’s foray into the history of Phish’s special festival sets was the Drive-In Jam and it raised the bar while putting forth a performance on par with the ‘Storage Jam,’ if not exceeded this established upper echelon of improvisation. On a 183-foot movie screen, a wide array of visual treats combined with a progressively growing ambient jam that eclipsed the Lemonwheel by a longshot and morphed into a full on jam for 50 minutes. The Drive-In Set raised the bar for surprise performances and gave fans a treat after the music on the main stage ended an hour prior.”
The NYS Music team has voted and these are what we chose as the best albums released in 2015 by New York artists. Turkuaz’s Digitonium, Lettuce’sCrush and Consider the Source’s World War Trio Parts II & III each received multiple votes from the staff.
Turkuaz’s Digitonium is “the future of retro pop funk.” Turkuaz has been quite busy lately, having recently completed an extensive fall tour that spanned the continental U.S. Featuring great tracks like “Nightswimming,” “Percy Thrills the Moon Dog” and “Doktor Jazz,” the album is “the ideal listen for any pre-party or when you are just ready to share in the groove.”
The 23 track album is a mature testament to the bands growing sound that continues to push the boundaries of funk with heavy ’80s influences. The album is full of instrumental segues of experimental melodies that set the stage for evolutionary funk tunes with classic, raw Turkuaz energy. Digitonium is built upon layers of exploratory themes, characters and repetitive lyrics that get the listener to pause, rewind and think outside the album.
The latest release from Lettuce, Crush, is the first album in three years from the seasoned funk band. Jeremiah Shea calls it their “most aggressive, ambitious, and funkiest album to date.” With highlights, such as “Phyllis,” “Trilogy” and “Pockets of Change,” this is a must-hear album.
If you’ve never had the opportunity to dive into some Lettuce head first, now might be a better time than ever. Crush is the convergence of road tested and polished material, musical exploration, deep pockets of groove, and a band that is simply on top of their game. With a discography full of hits, this album somehow stands above them all.
Sticking to the funk theme of the other albums is Consider the Source and their latest effort, World War Trio Parts II & III, the follow-up double album to last year’s World War Trio Part I. In reviewing the album, Shea says “If pop music is reading at an elementary level, World War Trio Part II + III, is at least a 400 level college course.” The Middle Eastern sci-fi psychedelic funk fusion trio has been quite active in recent years. This album was no small undertaking. Of its 20 tracks, “This Dubious Honor,” “Up to, But Not to Exceed… Whoa,” “I’ll fight for the Imp” and “You are Disappearing.”
Never before though has the band done it this masterfully and with such vision. This isn’t just food for thought, but a feast, with such lush sonic depth that can’t simply be explored in one pass. This is music that commands focus in a time when fans are more flippant than ever. You could say the band is fighting a natural progression, but I applaud the effort and what they force a willing listener to listen to. The continuity between songs is beautifully orchestrated and only possible with an overall delivery being kept in perspective from the onset.
As the summer festival season draws to an end, next week’s Catskill Chill Music Festival which takes place September 18-20, a week later than it is usually held, also marks an end of an era. The 6th annual festival, which has grown in popularity each year, will be the last one held at its original home of Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY before the party moves elsewhere next year.
Fittingly, upstate NY jam legends moe. will serve as musical headliner and Particle, the only band to play every Chill, will close out the weekend in grand fashion along with help from a number of other guests and friends.
This year’s festival also offers a number of other intriguing musical collaborations as this seems to be a theme for the weekend. In addition to their own sets on Sunday, Dopapod and Turkuaz will be combining forces on Friday night and recreating a night at Studio 54. Shwizz and Fikus will follow their Saturday sets with a joint one featuring musical selections from the ‘80s before the Chillfam All-Stars perform what is sure to be an entertaining tribute to Herbie Hancock. This isn’t even the only All Star band of the weekend as the Stratosphere All-Stars, featuring members of Lotus, Particle and Digital Tape Machine, will help usher in the Saturday night dance party.
If a band on this bill isn’t collaborating with another one, there’s a good chance they’re pulling double duty and performing multiple sets. Consider the Source will be doing both an acoustic and an electric set on Friday and Twiddle will be performing a set of Grateful Dead covers in addition to a set of their own Saturday night.
Other notable performers this weekend include upstate NY’s own Aqueous and Solaris as well as Lettuce, Zappa Plays Zappa, The Motet and Electron.
Catskill Chill is known for its home of Camp Minglewood and the purely intimate setting it provides with summer camp style cabins for lodging close to all the stages and designated camping areas strewn between them all. RV parking is also available for $150 and the festival offers both VIP ticket purchases and upgrades. In addition to an incredibly packed musical docket, there’s also Open Mic sessions being offered on Saturday and Sunday afternoons as well as yoga classes.
Tickets for $195 and one last chance to experience one of the true hidden gems of the festival circuit can be purchased here.
For someone only exposed to American music, the concept might be lost. That has always been the case with Consider the Source though who has always pushed global boundaries. Never before though has the band done it this masterfully and with such vision. This isn’t just food for thought, but a feast, with such lush sonic depth that can’t simply be explored in one pass. This is music that commands focus in a time when fans are more flippant than ever. You could say the band is fighting a natural progression, but I applaud the effort and what they force a willing listener to listen to. The continuity between songs is beautifully orchestrated and only possible with an overall delivery being kept in perspective from the onset.
Consider the Source continues to improve upon the layered depth the trio creates. Most bands employ a second guitarist or a keyboard player to fill in some of those aural gaps the ear senses. Consider the Source somehow rarely leaves those though, instead filling the air with enough character and integrity on both the individual level and collectively as the full body of work.
It’s difficult to break this album down like a typical review because it lends itself more to a movie score than an actual music album, weaving rhythm and melody like a story line. This certainly isn’t a movie for everyone though. Hell, it might not even be for most, but for those willing to spend the time, this album is certainly capable of hitting you places wouldn’t think music could.
Staying with the movie parallel, this is no comedy, but a serious drama. It’s the type of movie that’s meant to make you think and not entertain per say. While there are plenty of parts where the band digs into a danceable groove, the vast majority is a complex structure meant to unlock pieces of your imagination and brain that may have been untouched otherwise.
In terms of sound, the band has always had their Middle Eastern and Sci-Fi elements, and while I would say the former is true on this album, the latter has now been pushed outside of this galaxy. The Middle Eastern elements underscore all of these other directions the band is going in. You can hear heavy metal influences this time around and that’s not a bad thing as they use it tastefully for emphasis throughout. I also heard Latin rhythms and a tonal landscape that covers so many other cultures. To someone with chromesthesia, these guys are coloring with the big box of crayons. Again, it must have taken an impeccable vision to be able to weave a thread through all of this the way they do.
On the individual level, these guys are simply incredible musicians in their own right and have found a chemistry that allows them to have a musical conversation. Jeff Mann should be commended for his uncanny ability to keep these two explorers on track, while bassist John Ferrara pulls double duty holding the rhythm and providing a sturdy base for Gabriel’s melody lines. Ferrara isn’t just support though and steps out many times throughout to take the reins and lead with the low. On guitar, Gabriel’s tonal breadth is equal parts beautiful and haunting. His understanding of timbre and where and when a tone should be called upon is literally right at his fingertips with his instrument’s flexibility. For example, when he needs a xylophone, like the solo on “Up to, But Not to Exceed…Whoa,” he does and he makes that perfect call every time. The three have hit a stride on this like they’ve never hit before.
The album ends on a dream-like wave of layered tones. The beautiful blend has a very natural and earthy feel to it that slowly draws this masterpiece to a close. The play between the various instruments perfectly compliments one another and the gentleness of the track is a great counterpoint to some of the more aggressive playing that proceeds it. This is not a loose collection of songs, but a score. The tracks below were some gems, but it really deserves a full listen to understand the concept.
Key Tracks: This Dubious Honor, Up to, But Not to Exceed…Whoa, I’ll Fight for the Imp, You Are Disappearing
The 13th annual Strange Creek thrown by Wormtown Trading Co.,was one for the books. The weekend was like a fruit filled parfait layered with wild and wonderful people, beautiful works of art, dusty roads, lots of sunshine and of course music to inspire the span of ages that attend StrangeCreek. Majority of people steadily streamed in all day Friday. EZ ups popped up, strangers became neighbors and people all became pieces of the StrangeCreek woods.
Friday included notable performances by Banooba and Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. Sister Sparrow played down bluesy tunes such as “Boom Boom,” “Too Much Ain’t No Good” and a Doors cover of “Roadhouse Blues” with a sit in by Patchen Montgomery of Strangefolk.
The crescent moon had been visible in the sky all day long and as the sun went down during a familiar Shakedown set the magic was undeniable. The wonderful Zach Deputy cleaned up the Main Stage that Friday night with his one of a kind style of comedic RnB. Unfortunately, a flip flop of set times between Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Primate Fiasco lead to a lot of people missing Pigeons set.
It feels like a blessing that year after year everyone gets to keep reuniting on the banks of the river at Camp Keewanee. Its refreshing that some of the proceeds of the festival go back to Keewanee. It is uplifting to see the amount that members of Massachusetts music community gives back to one another.
On Saturday at high noon, The Kind Buds gave a beautiful acoustic set performance at the main stage. It did not take long in the day for a mystery to surface. Who in the world is Cuty Phazed? This unknown act began to spark some questions among festival goers. It soon became clear that no one actually knew who Cuty Phazed was. But because it was Strangecreek naturally, Sheriff Zach Deputy was hot on our radars and after some good detective work it became apparent that Cuty Phazed was Zach Deputy with the letters rearranged. This mid day acoustic set at Vernville stage was better than the night before. His setlist included “Chicken Pot Pie,” “Bikers in Diapers” and a cover of “Gold Digger” by Ray Charles.
A stroll over to the main stage after Cuty Phazed lead me to my first rendezvous with Vermont native band the Gang of Thieves. Michael Reit shred the lead melody of a Led Zeppelin son. They were generating a huge sound. It was hardcore to hear Violinist, Michael Reit shred the lead the melody of a Led Zeppelin song. At 4:20 Max Creek played their first set of the day on the Vernville stage in honor of their 44 years playing together. The whole day set was a tribute too all songs that came out in 1971 such as “Playing in the Band,” “Brown Sugar” and “Riders on the Storm.” Then later a second set on main stage that when combined with the day set total six hours of music. Saturday night continued to be amazing with William Thompson Funk Experiment. They got everyone very comfortable and loose and grooving by intertwining the art of funk with the art of poetry. One of the best acts of the StrangeCreek weekend.
The 50 year anniversary of the beloved Grateful Dead has lead to more tribute shows than usual. The Dead set on Sunday featured a “Jack Straw,” the second of the weekend, a “Ripple” and a long and beautifully jammed out “Terrapin Station.” Following The Dead Set was Consider the Source, a festival favorite, they packed the main stage at 6 p.m. with almost everyone at the festival. Their setlist included “I’ll Fight for the Imp,” “Put another rock in that bag PT. 1, IV” and VI and You Go Squish Now. CTS is a hard act to follow. Smushed in between the end of Source and Ryan Montbleau a band called Llama Lasagne imposed a jovial spectacle on the river worm stage. The stage held over 12 people, it is no wonder they call themselves a party ensemble.
The sun set around us as the Ryan Montbleau and Friends set took flight. They treaded lightly into a cover of “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” to open. conveniently enough, the band slid into the tune “Dead Set” which was well played and the feeling of love became contagious as the setlist featured a bunch of songs about women and love such as “Honeymoon Eyes” and “Back in Love again”. If we weren’t already standing it would have been a standing ovation.
A successful music festival can be weighted by all the musicians who jammed so lovely that their music finds its way into your future repertoire. The bands that made a lasting impression this year include William Thompson Funk Experiment, Mother Ton, Jeremiah Hazed and Banooba. A special thank you needs to be given to everyone who went into making this StrangeCreek, the strangest and most magical to date. That includes the late working vendors, the FireWormz, the volunteers, year after year,the owners and staff, as well as, the musicians and of course the Massachusetts community.
It was certainly different from any festival I have ever attended. Rock n Roll Resort v5 Electric Avenue, nestled in the Catskills at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson, New York, promised a weekend unlike any other on the festival circuit. Instead of the typical start of setting up a tent and campsite in a giant field, all we had to do was park and check into our room. Pretty simple and uneventful.
Fishbone – Rock N Roll Resort
Inside the entrance is what you’d expect at any festival: A few stands selling clothing and trinkets and people getting prepared for the weekend. It was almost time for the first band to start, so we hustled to settle in and go right down to the Grand Ballroom, one of four venues inside the resort.
I don’t have the numbers, but it certainly felt like the crowd was thin. With dozens of festivals popping up each year, attendance was bound to suffer at some point. This was a fun and exciting weekend, and I hope it can come back for years to come.
Lucid – Rock N Roll Resort
Kicking off the music was Brooklyn-based Cousin Earth, formerly called Ukulelien, a group that appeared gimmicky at first glance.
“We all play little instruments,” Joe Calfa, on ukulele, said.
Cousin Earth, a five-piece, is about as far from a gimmick as possible. Calfa plays an electric ukulele, tuned GCEA, Corey J. Feldman plucks a four-string U-Bass, which is essentially an electric bass the size of, you guessed it, a ukulele. On lead vocals and melodica is Tara Lawton, a trained theater actor, who fits perfectly with Terry Brennan, another actor. Together, the pair added a Broadway-style flair to the hour-long set. On the backbeat is Nate Searing.
The group’s sound is so rich and full.I heard everything from calypso, to jam rock to hip-hop, reggae and even video game themes. Cousin Earth opened with a riveting cover of Phish’s Possum, which featured Calfa’s technical, but fun, chops. Out of all the acts I witnessed for the first time this weekend, Cousin Earth gets my recommendation for band you absolutely need to experience.
Next up was Eggy in the Empire Lounge. A four-piece from Connecticut, Eggy continued the tone set by Cousin Earth with a very danceable set intertwined with some deep improvisation. I was only able to stay for a bit, as I had to do interviews for the next few hours.
Sprocket’s Dan Haller took a few minutes to sit down with me. The group recently landed a residency at The Bitter End in Manhattan, playing late-night sets. Haller said, in a nutshell, that the band is continuing to rise, but doesn’t want to stop connecting with fans.
Art – Rock N Roll Resort
“We have honed our live sets, but we want to start throwing dance party ragers,” Haller said.
In the midst of all the music was the Overlook Gallery, where art was displayed on the walls while artists painted pieces in real-time. Run by Gregory “GreyEgg” McKenna from New Jersey, this art show is specific to RnR Resort, as he said he doesn’t run any other shows across the country.
I was able to stop in for brief stints with Flux Capacitor, the Skints and Sprocket, before getting ready for Lucid, a band out of Plattsburgh, NY that has risen highly among regional acts. Full disclosure: I attended SUNY Plattsburgh with a few of the band members, and have been seeing them live since 2007.
The group has grown immensely since I first saw them at the Monopole. Their sound is full, they’ve honed their chops and it’s no wonder why they are getting bigger and better gigs each year, and host their own festival in Peru, NY, each year called Backwoods Pondfest. The six-piece melded roots, rock, blues and reggae all into an hour-long set.
Consider the Source, a progressive rock band out of New York City, performed a midnight set at the Empire Lounge, and it easily was the best set of the weekend. I have been told that I needed to get out and see them, and now I understand why. The three-piece band has a sound all their own, melding rock with Middle Eastern influences and psychedelia. Their set was a throw down of epic proportions, as my eyes and ears didn’t stray for one second. Gabriel Marin plays a double-neck, fretless guitar and he’s nothing short of a master on it. John Ferrara plucks the bass while Jeff Mann mans the kit.
Headliner Fishbone had a 1 a.m. set in the Manhattan Theater. By this time, I was fading fast. Fishbone, formed in California in 1979, melds funk, metal, ska, punk and alternative into one whirlwind of a show. The seven-piece wove its way through a set that helped keep my eyes open.
Gang of Thieves, an award-winning funk group from Burlington, Vt., took the stage at 3 a.m. in the Empire Lounge. Mike Reit, on lead vocals and electric violin, was asked to sum up the band in a few words.
“Music has real power,” he said. “We tend to write everything from a collaborative standpoint, and get everyone involved. When we come together on something, it just feels so great. It’s a very fulfilling way to go about it.”
Unfortunately, after Gang of Thieves, I had to head to bed. Pooped.
Saturday was supposed to start out mellow, but it seemed the crowd was in party mode. People were rolling in, undoubtedly preparing for two sets of Twiddle that night.
Twiddle – Rock N Roll Resort
I started my day by seeing the Kind Buds, who had performed a special set the night before dedicated to the Grateful Dead. The acoustic duo harmonize well and have been at this for many years. During their day set, they invited a handful of people to hula hoop on stage. Fun way to get things rolling.
Throughout the day, Citizens Band Radio, Juggling Suns, The Other Brothers, Lespecial and an acoustic Lucid set the tone for what would be a wild night.
Around 8:30 p.m., Syracuse funk/hip-hop three-piece Sophistafunk took to the Empire Lounge. Sophistafunk has only grown in the last few years, touring Europe and gaining a following in America. Their set featured dance grooves with positive hip-hop lyricism over the top.
Over at the Grand Ballroom, was Formula 5, a talented group out of Albany, N.Y. Formed a few years ago when the members were waiting in line to get Phish tickets, Formula 5 has risen up the local rankings to headline venues such as the Putnam Den in Saratoga. Their set on Saturday was rocking and fun. These guys are going places, so remember the name.
At 10:30 p.m., the Camp Creek All-Stars, led by Max Creek guitarist Scott Murawski, led the Manhattan Theater on a jammed-out set that spanned nearly two hours. Beau Sasser, Bill Carbone and Ed Mann were part of the group. Murawski has been one of my favorite guitarists for years, and seeing him rock his Ibanez up close was a dream. I am not sure if this lineup is going to do anymore shows (Murawski told me prior to the show that he is unsure what the future holds for the band of musicians) but if they do a tour, you can bet I will see more than one show.
Twiddle is a jam-rock group out of Burlington, Vt., and they have risen up the scene’s hierarchy rapidly. With a sound similar to Phish, but not a copy, Twiddle has roped in a younger fan base that is rabid for the group’s catchy lyrics and hooks, and their unique improvisation.
Twiddle – Rock N Roll Resort
Keyboardist Ryan Dempsey took a few minutes out of his day to chat about the state of the band.
“We are rolling right now and everything seems to be clicking,” he said. “We love to play for our fans, and we enjoy making new ones. It’s a lot of fun, especially right now.”
Starting at midnight and spanning two sets, Twiddle packed the Manhattan Theater front to back with said fans. Mihali Savoulidis handles guitar and vocal duty, and mixes his leads ever so fluently with Dempsey’s funky keys. Brook Jordan on drums and Zdenek Gubb on bass provide a rhythmic backdrop for the catchiness of their songs.
I have seen this band now five times, and each one has been better than the last. Mix that with the fact that each m ember is genuinely friendly and engaged with their fan base, and Twiddle is a group that figures to be a mainstay for years to come.
I was toast after Twiddle. I needed bed, and that’s where I collapsed. The weekend was great fun, and Rock n Roll Resort is a well-run festival that has built a following. Hopefully attendance will improve in the years to come, because it would be a shame if this unique weekend were no more.
The StrangeCreek Campout will return to Camp Kee-Wanee in Greenfield, Mass., over Memorial Day weekend for the 13th consecutive year. Put on by Wormtown Trading Co., StrangeCreek features more than 50 acts this year, led by Max Creek, Ryan Montbleau, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds and Consider the Source on multiple stages. Other notable attractions include late-night sets, a Silent Disco and special cabin performances.
Jeremiah Hazed, winner of the Worcester Battle of the Bands, will perform a special late-night set on the Woods Stage. The fire spinning performers who go by, FIREWORMZ, will spin fire every night.
The StrangeCreek tribe and all the music lovers who come together in Western Massachusetts do a great job of creating a family atmosphere amongst all festival goers new and old. There is a family camping area as well as a kids cabin and teen scene. The landscape of Camp Kee-Wanee is known for its wooded camping area where the festival goers can dwell between sets, covered by the shade during the day, before exploring under the shadowy canopy at night.
A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit Camp Kee-Wanee. StrangeCreek also supports Strangers Helping Strangers, a non-profit that runs a food drive at over the weekend.
If there is always a lesson to be learned, then the one imparted to those in attendance at the Flour City Station in Rochester last Thursday night was simply: Lyrics are overrated.Two rising young bands – Consider the Source Ocular Panther – owned the stage on that night. Neither sang a single word. And yet, epic tales were told, vivid images imagined…
The night started with local stalwarts Ocular Panther. Formerly a trio, they debuted their newly minted quartet, adding drummer Jimmy Grillo, formerly of Roots Collider, to existing guitarists Colin Jones and Mike Pantano, and bassist Jason Gilly. Considering the complexity of their compositions, with long instrumental passages, shifting time signatures, and the heavily improvised nature of their music, it was not an easy role to jump into. A hiccup or two would be expected. But not on this night, and not for Jimmy Grillo. Having a live drummer, especially one of Grillo’s capability, created an entirely new dynamic for the band. The sound advanced beyond just electronic dance grooves, becoming less predictable and more nuanced. The electronic drum sounds still showed up here and there, but acted more as a spice and not a driving force. Jones was more freed up to concentrate on guitar, and both he and Pantano were equally impressive on rhythm and explosive leads. As good as they sounded, it seems they’ll only be improving in the coming shows as Grillo continues to grow more comfortable in the band. And those in Rochester will have plenty of opportunities to check Ocular Panther out in the coming weeks as they are on a bunch of upcoming bills.
The stage was set then for NYC’s Consider the Source. The individual parts of which defied comprehension. Gabriel Martin on fretless double-neck guitar could coax an incredible catalog of sounds out of his instrument. Some by effects pedals (of which he was surrounded by a rather large floor full) which turned his guitar into everything from a sitar to a clarinet. Some of it was just in the technique, which ranged from straight metal-esque raging to slinky sliding Middle Eastern melodies. At one point he utilized a trombone effect, which was particularly interesting as he played it like a slide. John Ferrara played bass like a lead instrument, melodic and beautiful and technically brilliant. Rarely content to sit back in a simple groove, his fingers were in constant motion, pulling and kneading the music into extraordinary and unusual spaces. Jeff Mann’s drumming style was that of a perpetual solo. Like Ferrara, rarely settling into a rhythm, just constant motion, constant changes, but still holding it all together.
It was soloing in triplicate. But the real magic was the intersection of all three. Their music intertwined ancient Middle Eastern and Indian influences with jazz, rock and metal into a quasi-futuristic blend that represented a land and a culture that don’t yet exist. This was particularly evident in their latest venture, Put Another Rock in That Bag, a multi-part composition released last year on their World War Trio EP. And their interpretation of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android was likewise not of this world.
After over three hours of intense instrumental jams, the crowd cheered not just for one more song, but for one more set. Yep… lyrics are definitely overrated. Lesson learned.
Best Small Festival: 
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Fittingly, upstate NY jam legends moe. will serve as musical headliner and Particle, the only band to play every Chill, will close out the weekend in grand fashion along with help from a number of other guests and friends.
If pop music is reading at an elementary level, 
The crescent moon had been visible in the sky all day long and as the sun went down during a familiar Shakedown set the magic was undeniable. The wonderful Zach Deputy cleaned up the Main Stage that Friday night with his one of a kind style of comedic RnB. Unfortunately, a flip flop of set times between 
