Tag: soulive

Best of NYS Music 2015: Staff Picks for Best Shows by Region

A lot of great shows and festivals took place around New York over the course of 2015, from big festivals to small club shows and everything in between. The team at NYS Music loves live music. You can always catch us out and about at live music happenings. Here are what we considered the best concerts of 2015, sorted by region of the state.

Best Show in Western New York: Aqueous Halloween
When Aqueous announced they were going to pay tribute to “Dark Side of Oz,” the legendary mashup of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and the cinematic classic The Wizard of Oz, their fans were pumped. However, this was a multi-night run, and it wouldn’t be fun without a theme for the first night. Back to the Future was chosen, and the band covered many of the hits off the soundtrack.

Best Show in Central New York: moe. at Saranac Brewery and K-Rockathon 20
Two anniversaries were celebrated in Central New York, and they brought the crowds and rave reviews. New York’s favorite jamband, moe., celebrated their 25 years in Utica at the FX Matt Brewery, home to Saranac beer. The multi-day celebration had a festival vibe with multiple bands performing each day. New York’s biggest rock radio station, K-Rock, celebrated their 20th annual K-Rockathon with headliners Breaking Benjamin and Shinedown.

Best Show in the Capital District: Dead & Company at Times Union Center
2015 was a big year for the music of the Grateful Dead. The much anticipated Fare Thee Well shows in Santa Clara, California and Chicago celebrated the 50th anniversary of the originators of the jam scene. Following the shows, billed as the last shows the remaining four members would play together, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann announced they would go on tour as Dead & Company with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti. They kicked off their fall tour at Albany’s Times Union Center.

Best Show in the North Country: The Waterhole’s final show with EMEFE
The Waterhole, a mainstay in Saranac Lake, shut its doors after over 20 years of providing live music to the residents of the North Country. The venue will be missed by many. EMEFE played on the last night, dedicating the song “Good Future” to the Waterhole staff.

Best Show in the Mid-Hudson: Twiddle at the Rock n Roll Resort
The Rock n Roll Resort festival is always a favorite. It takes the best parts of a music festival and brings them to a chic resort hotel. Rising stars from Vermont, Twiddle, took the resort by storm with their headlining set.

Twiddle – Rock N Roll Resort

Best Show in the Finger Lakes: Phish’s Magnaball
A lot can be written about Phish’s 10th festival. A lot has already been written about it. Tens of thousands of Phish fans returned to Watkins Glen International, the fabled NASCAR track that was home to 1973’s Summer Jam. Not one fan that attended Magnaball had negative comments. That should say it all.

Best Show in the Southern Tier: Rob Zombie at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena
Rob Zombie brought in the Halloween season with his nightmarish heavy metal show. Fans arrived dressed in costume for the show that was opened by Zombie’s drummer, DJ Ginger Fish. Chris Besaw had the opportunity to sit down and speak with guitarist John 5 before the show about his inspiration and favorite horror films.

Best Show in New York City
It’s difficult to pick just one or two shows in a city that has several amazing shows on a nightly basis. Here are some of what we thought were the best shows in New York City in 2015.

Ghost at Terminal 5
L7 at The Warsaw
Faith No More at Webster Hall
Vulfpeck at Brooklyn Bowl
Soulive’s Bowlive VI (and more here and here and here and here and here)

Best Show on Long Island: Biohazard, Sworn Enemy and Zire’s War at Revolution Music Hall
In a night of hardcore music that rocked Revolution Music Hall, Biohazard and Sworn Enemy co-headlined what was practically a homecoming for them. Life of Agony’s guitarist Joey Zampella started a new band, Zire’s War, that kicked things off.

December 21, 2015
Bowlive VI, Night 8 – Wyllys and Soulive with Marco Benevento “At The Show”

The final night of the Bowlive run is akin to the last day of your wedding week. Seeing the same faces you have seen all week, reminiscing over all the great times you had, and looking forward to one final party to cap it all off. On this the eighth night, Soulive could’ve chosen any band in NYC to open the show. Instead they tapped Royal Potato favorite Wyllys to get the crowd warmed up ahead of Marco Benevento and Soulive. Wyllys still opts for the old school method of spinning rock, funk, and soul tunes on vinyl in addition to using the electronic devices at his disposal. If one thing was learned throughout this run it was the importance of the opener to not only set the stage for Soulive but to warm the crowd up. On this Saturday night in Brooklyn, the crowd was ready to have the best night of their lives.

Soulive took the stage for their final engagement with just the three members of the band. Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums), and Neal Evans (keys) hit the ground running with “Rudy’s Way” off of the 2002 album Turn It Out, then took it back even further with the 2001 tune “One In Seven” off of Doin’ Something. Only two songs into the night and The Shady Horns consisting of Benny Bloom (trumpet) and Ryan Zoidis (sax) joined in on the action on “Spark”, a tune penned as a tribute to American jazz blues guitarist Melvin Sparks. The next two songs “Backwards Jack” and “PJ’s” both came off of the 2009 release Up Here. The final guest of Bowlive 6, Marco Benevento, joined in the fun to occupy his empty piano at center stage and close out the first set with a psychedelic rendition of the appropriately named “Up Right.” He jammed away on his piano, giving the crowd a slight foreshadowing of how electric the remainder of the night would be. In between sets a montage was played on the screens at Brooklyn Bowl recapping the previous seven nights, the same you would find at a wedding, recapping all the good times spent together.

The second set began with the ensemble on stage joined by Maurice “Mo Betta” Brown (trumpet, Tedeschi Trucks Band) for the second time of the run for a heart filled rendition of George Benson’s “Soulful Strut.” As Marco delved into “Limbs of a Pine” off his 2012 Tigerface, it became apparent that no man was smiling wider then Benevento, his electric personality and smile energizing the audience and band in what would be their seventeenth and final set of Bowlive 6. Up next was “At The Show,” which featured Benevento leaving his bench and keys to prance around the stage like a exuberant child on Christmas morning, only making a pit stop to share a dance with his ivory tickling brother, Neal. Marco returned to his piano to close out the second set with the jammed out psych jazz “The In Crowd.”

For the final encore Soulive, The Shady Horns, and Marco Benevento went an interesting route and chose an instrumental version of Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean,” the same tune they closed out the previous Saturday night with, with Jennifer Hartswick on vocals. After the encore, Pete Shapiro came out on stage and gifted the band “61” necklaces to honor the 61 shows Soulive has played at Brooklyn Bowl to date. The evening was brought to an end with Wyllys continuing to keep the crowd grooving into the late hours of the night with his unique mash-ups and fan favorite tunes.

March 26, 2015
Bowlive 6 Night 7 – Erik Deutsch and The Jazz Outlaws, Soulive w/ George Porter Jr. “The Captain of Bowlive Pt. 2”

Night seven of Bowlive opened with local musician Erik Deutsch (keyboard) and his band The Jazz Outlaws. Deutch and company brought more of a crushing rock and roll set to Brooklyn Bowl than the classic psych jazz he is known for. Joined on stage by Scott Metzger (guitar, WOLF!) Erik Deutsch gave way to his band to carry the set and performing a mixture of original tunes and covers of The Rolling Stones “Wild Horses,” Etta James “Dearest Darling,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Too Long At The Fair,” and Waylon Jenning’s “Whistlers and Jugglers.” The set was capped off by Greg Humphrey’s (guitar) original tune “Natural Child.”

Soulive began the evening with The Shady Horns on stage for the first time of the run. The night was kicked off with “El Ron” off of Soulive’s 2002 self titled album. “Flurries” off Next followed and Eric Bloom (trumpet) and Ryan Zoidos (sax) brought some heat to to this tune as the evening was kicked into high gear right off the bat. We were lead through a soulful rendition of “Vapor” and a slow psychedelic journey through “Third Stone From The Sun” and “Lenny”, all Soulive originals. For the second night in a row George Porter Jr. dubbed ‘The Captain of Bowlive’ joined the band for the remainder of the first set where he brought us New Orleans classics “Junco Partner,” an abbreviated “Iko Iko,” and the Rebirth Brass Band original “I Feel Like Funkin It Up.” The set came to a close with Porter Jr. and The Runnin’ Pardners original “Take A Chance.”

The second set began with the same group on stage and hit the ground running with The Meters smooth jazz melody “No More Okey Dokey.” Donny Hathaway tune “Voices Inside (Everything is Everything)” followed up and kept pace with the blissful jazz to begin this set. Porter Jr. then brought us “I Need More Time” off of his 2011 project Can’t Beat The Funk. The surprise guest for this evening was none other than 12 year old guitar prodigy Brandan “Taz” Niederauer. Anyone who has witnessed his shredding guitar style knows that at his young age he can stand toe to toe with the pros. Taz led Krasno and Porter Jr. on The Meters upbeat “Fire On The Bayou” and “People Say” standing front and center on stage showing off of rock star chops and signature curly hair before leaving the stage. The Meters “Hand Clapping Song” followed and featured Krasno getting the crowd involved and clapping their hands in the air before segueing into “Funky Miracle.” The set came to a close with the Wilson Pickett hit “In The Midnight Hour,” highlighted by an Alan Evans drum solo that continually got pushed harder and faster by Porter Jr. For an encore, Taz came back out on stage and stole the show one more time for The Meters “Just Kissed My Baby,” Niederauer showed off his amazing talents as he handled his instrument with the control and professionalism of any guitarist in the scene today.

March 25, 2015
Alan Evans Reunites With Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

Buffalo native Alan Evans is at it again. This time, it is a reunion with soul-funk icon Karl Denson and his band Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.

Evans is no stranger to the funk scene as drummer for the wildly popular band Soulive, as well branching out with his own (now defunct) trio PlayOnBrother. When Soulive was in their freshman years, he was an integral part of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe almost three decades ago as one of their first drummers.

Alan Evans of Playonbrother

Denson has seen his share of success – touring and recording with Lenny Kravitz’s band, then playing saxophone and singing for jazz/funk legends the Greyboy Allstars. More recently, Denson joined Slightly Stoopid, while still maintaining his Tiny Universe. Denson and his band recently released their debut album on Stoopid Records titled New Ammo.

With decades of experience and success behind them, Evans and Denson are most certainly a force to be reckoned with. Fresh off another successful Brooklyn Bowl residency – Bowlive – Evans will be shaking the walls with Denson. Though we have seen our fair share of Royal Family Records collaborations, this one is sure to leave fans begging for more. Keep an eye out for show announcements in the very near future.

March 24, 2015
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, 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).”

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

March 23, 2015
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.

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.

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.”

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.
March 19, 2015
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.

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.

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.
March 17, 2015
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.

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.

March 16, 2015