NYS Music 20​15

Tag: music marathon

  • Seven Day Music Marathon Day 7: Tulip Fest, Upstate Concert Hall and The Hollow

    Why see one show to end a week-long Music Marathon when you can see three? That was the plan on this final day of seeing music of all varieties across the Capital District over the course of a week. And being Tulip Fest weekend, what a better way to start things out than music in the sun with hundreds of fans in Washington Park?

    tulip fest the hollowShow 1: Even though I didn’t really have intentions to go to Tulip Fest this year, you couldn’t beat the weather today and I was in need of some fresh live music that I had been introduced to by 102.7 WEQX. If I’m doing a Music Marathon, I may as well hit the first free city-wide music event of the year.

    Hitting the WEQX stage, I missed Flagship but caught Joywave and The Kooks. Even though the Kooks were the headliner, I found Joywave to be way more intriguing and appealing overall. Joywave has a bassist who sounds like and has an on stage persona akin to Flea, a keyboardist and drummer who give a Pet Shop Boys meets Duran Duran base for guitarist Joseph Morinelli and singer Daniel Armbruster (who sounds like Bono) to build a song from. It was Nine Inch Nails with post-hipster vocals, especially on “In Clover”. Joywave is one of the best discoveries this week and being from Rochester doesn’t hurt either.

    The Kooks, from England, took the stage at 4pm with what passes for pop rock in the UK, and while I’ve heard it on the radio and enjoyed it, hearing them live was just like listening to the radio. Maybe we all had too much sun, but it felt like snooze rock for the first half hour, then picked up quite a bit with “Westside” and “Junk of the Heart”. The first track off their latest album Listen, “Around Town” was the highlight of the set, coming late when it should have led. Hints of Beck, INXS, Talking Heads and even Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz and the Tantrums) were found throughout, but overall it felt like good but not great inspirational pop rock.

    Show 2: Flat tire and car issues = drove back home after only making it 2 miles towards Upstate Concert Hall. I was pissed to be missing this show, especially a metal show with 4 bands would really round out the music I saw this week. Bummed to miss Dark Matter and Crown the Empire in particular. Ah well, something was bound to go wrong.

    Show 3: Taking the bus to The Hollow for Kopecky, the post-Tulip Fest show was good poppy American rock from Nashville, but the real draw tonight was the second show from Best Good Frends, a group made up of Mihali Savoulidis (guitar) and Zdenek Gubb (bass) from Twiddle, Kenny Brooks (sax) from Ratdog, Ryan Clausen (drums) and John Dobbs (keys). This is a new side-project of Twiddle and the venue was packed with great anticipation. Best Good Frends took a song to launch a jam from, explored that jam without rushing before returning to the original number. Kenny Brooks took the lead on an early funk jam that kicked off the night, while Justin Henricks (Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan, Groovestick) joined on guitar for “Boogie on Reggae Woman” and the jam that ensued. Sublime’s “What I Got” started the second set and Mihali and Kenny went back and forth to build the jam to a head. “Folsom Prison Blues” led into a weird circus calliope like jam with many asking “What was the name of that song?” yet it was all improv, right down to the really weird lyrics that seemed to come out of nowhere. The encore of “Brown Eyed Woman” found more fun inside the framework of the song and continued the dancing that had only paused for setbreak. This was a real treat and hopefully more shows are planned in the future in the Northeast.

    Final tally: Nine shows at eight venues seeing a total of 17 bands, all in seven days time. There’s a ton of music in the greater Albany area, and some very pleasant surprises in store if you just go out and see live music!

  • Seven Day Music Marathon Day 6: Mister F and ELM at The Hollow

    It’s Day 6 of this Music Marathon and for the first time this week, I am seeing a band that I have seen before and am quite familiar with – Mister F. It’s roughly Mile 20 of this marathon and I hit a smooth flat stretch this evening with excellent new music from ELM and Mister F’s themed ‘White Lightning’ show.

    mister f ELMThe idea for the show was hatched in the van while Mister F thought of a theme for their first hometown show since February. Keyboardist Scott Hannay explained that the theme for the show arose from band members tossing out colors and words to see what would stick to develop a theme for the evening, and based on the propensity of songs with ‘white’ and ‘lightning’ in the band name or song title, ‘White Lightning’ turned the show into a unique event. The band even wore white shirts and had pictures of Whitey Ford, Barry White, Vanna White, White Chicks (the movie), Betty White, Jaleel White and the White Power Ranger around the venue, but alas, no Golden Girls theme song teases. (A complaint has been lodged with management.)

    Opening the night was ELM (Electric Love Machine) from Baltimore, an electro-jam band with truly impressive drumming from Steve Gorsuch who lead the way for the one of the best discoveries of the week. How has ELM skirted the radar thus far? This is beyond the formulaic jamband I have grown accustomed to seeing and one with intense potential. A cover of “When the Levee Breaks” was an extended highlight that rolled into a well crafted jam, followed by Scott Hannay sitting in with ELM on “Dance Floor Politics.” This was ELM’s second trip to Albany and a must see at any festival this summer.

    Mister F’s ‘White Lightning’ set began with “Lightning Strikes” with a clean segue into original “On and On”. The first real treat of the night was a mashup of “Everything You Say” and The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”, a true test of playing one song while singing another, then switching those two up without missing a beat. I guessed early that “White Room” would be included in the show simply because of the familiarity and general excellence of the song, and was rewarded with a fantastic version that hopefully isn’t the only performance for the band. Hannay’s vocals and Andrew Chamberlaine’s guitar didn’t copy the original – they made it their own, which gets far more mileage than a straight cover of a song. I did not expect “White Wedding” to work into the setlist, but given that fans and band alike were wearing white clothing, it was a perfect fit. An encore of “Octo-Puss-E” by Rock Candy Funk Party ended the night around 2am and a well planned and received theme show from Mister F.

    Setlist: Lightning Strikes* > On and On, Don’t Lose Your Watch, Everything You Say/Seven Nation Army^ mashup, ‘New Song’, The Machine, Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong& > Hedgehog, Answer the Dog, Oasis > White Pickle# > Oasis > White Pickle > Oasis > White Room@, Inside, Vocoder, White Wedding$ > Unisex Collider, White Lightning§ > Greased Lightning¶ > This One Goes to 11µ
    E: Octopus-E
    * first time played, Cypress Hill, intro only
    ^ first time played, The White Stripes/Mister F song mashup
    & first time played, Consider the Source, intro only
    # first time played, Umphrey’s McGee, unfinished
    @ first time played, Cream
    $ first time played, Billy Idol, unfinished
    § first time played, George Jones
    ¶ first time played, Grease
    µ w/First Tube (Phish) and Gone Gone Gone (The New Deal) teases

    Next up: The musical equivalent of Heartbreak Hill. Why see one show when I can see three? Tulip Fest this afternoon in Washington Part, followed by Dark Matter, Adhara, Volumes and Crown the Empire at Upstate Concert Hall, and finally Kopecky at The Hollow.

  • Seven Day Music Marathon Day 4: Masters of Nostaglia in Saratoga Springs

    1. Halfway through this week-long Music Marathon, I opted to stay local and see Masters of Nostalgia at One Caroline Street at the suggestion of bassist Tony Markellis, who was sitting in with the group this evening. Set up in a semi-formal dining restaurant that hosts live music nightly, One Caroline Street Bistro provides great music, ambiance and fantastic gumbo that paired well with a smooth Malbec.

    Masters of nostalgiaAnd the music was as local as you can get, with area musicians Dave Pedinotti (guitar, harmonica), Andy Hearn (drums) and skillful session guitarist James Gascoyne joined by bassist Tony Markellis (Trey Anastasio Band). The bass and drums combo made their presence known in each song, not relegated to the background and stood out to keep a solid beat going while Dave led the group through a smattering of covers – some well-known and some not so well-known – with Pedinotti’s soulful voice accompanied by his great harmonica playing.

    The set included “House of the Rising Sun”, “Into the Mystic”, “Ain’t no Sunshine”, “Born on the Bayou”, Buddy Holly’s “It’s So Easy”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Get Back”, “Take it Easy”, “Free Fallin”, “Wild Nights” and two stand out highlights of the night – John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” and Merle Travis’ “Nine Pound Hammer”. The selections played were all surefire hits and drew a crowd in over the course of the evening. As the audience got lubricated over the course of the night, they began to dance and take up space on the dance floor, which was my cue to head back to Albany, full of delicious gumbo and experiencing a fresh venue for live music.

    Next up: Grand Ole Opry legend Hal Ketchum at The Egg

  • Seven Day Music Marathon Day 3: Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless and Starset at The Palace

    Working into Day 3 of this Music Marathon, I found myself once again seeing music I was unfamiliar with and had little knowledge of beforehand so I had no expectations. The only thing that made tonight’s show different was the venue – The Palace Theatre, where I would see a vastly different crowd take in the great music Albany has to offer compared to the usual shows I attended, with a lineup of Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless And Starset.

    Halestorm The Pretty RecklessUnfortunately, I walked into this show with Nickelback on my mind, but only for the most hilarious reasons. Starset snapped me out of it with symphonic sounds brought about by lead singer/keyboardist Dustin Bates, who spoke to me later citing Hans Zimmer, Nine Inch Nails and Sigur Ros as influences on their sound. I was impressed, and reminded of Stabbing Westward amid the intensity of the show. The band wore light up masks which added depth to the pageantry, capped off by mentioning the “Starset Society”, a latter day KISS Army or nonpoint Nation. The concept of a band-driven community instead of a community-driven band intrigues me – its the opposite of what I’m used to, but if it keeps the fan base strong, go for it.

    The audience for the three bands was such a mix of rock fans, young and old, kids with parents and parents without kids. I knew nothing about these bands but couldn’t help but remark on the diversity of the crowd, the metal heads and rock stars lightly thrashing to the music throughout the night. It was a nice break from the usual for me and The Pretty Reckless were the stand out set of the night. With a “For Whom the Bell Tolls” intro followed by sounds of a woman moaning, this female fronted band was heavy, but not metal. Taylor Momsen has great stage presence and an incredible voice, while drummer Jamie Perkins looks like Mick Foley. They have a good ‘rock god’ motif down, and has an edge of Pantera influence to the music, especially on “Going to Hell.” Overall I found The Pretty Reckless to be like Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, but from the wrong side of the tracks, and by wrong I mean the hard rocking side. They were great.

    Halestorm, fronted by Lzzy Hale made this night into a rarity – two female-fronted rock bands, and I could only count four off the top of my head upon Halestorm taking the stage (Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Hole, L7). Encouraging fans to raise their devil horns high, I heard Whitesnake through the guitar work of Joe Hottinger and an altogether more polished sound than The Pretty Reckless.

    The set seemed to mellow about halfway through – the first seven or eight songs were straight fire, but the drum solo and all that followed were underwhelming. They could have thrown in a Def Leppard cover or something – the lack of covers this night surprised me greatly – but instead it was all originals. “Apocalyptic” was pretty solid, and the three encores were good and catchy, especially “Like a Reckoning”, but it was pushing on soft rock at that point. To cap the night, the band had the crowd serenade bassist Josh with “Happy Birthday” while toasting shots of Jagermeister. Halestorm is solid and has a rightful following, but I’m thinking that The Pretty Reckless could lap them in a few years time, with Starset showing strong potential if the fans can dig it.

    Next up for Seven Day Music Marathon: I head to Saratoga Springs for Dave Pedinotti and the Masters of Nostalgia at One Caroline Street.