{"id":738,"date":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2015\/2015\/11\/04\/utica-music-and-arts-festival-2015-a-destination-fest\/"},"modified":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","slug":"utica-music-and-arts-festival-2015-a-destination-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2015\/2015\/11\/04\/utica-music-and-arts-festival-2015-a-destination-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"Utica Music and Arts Festival 2015 – A Destination Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Utica Music and Arts Festival <\/span><\/a>has quickly become a must-do summer ending activity in Central New York. The 8th Annual version of UMAF, was held at various venues throughout Utica the weekend of September 11-13. The biggest problem involved with attending this festival is being able to fit in all the great music available throughout the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Going in without a plan\u00a0is probably the best way to attack\u00a0this weekend. Doing it this way, one can experience such pleasant surprises as the young brother and sister combo of <\/span>Jocelyn and Chris Arndt<\/b><\/a>,<\/b> who played a Saturday mid-afternoon set at Nail Creek Pub, in the process winning over those in \u00a0attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jocelyn
Jocelyn Arndt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joceyln is slight in stature, yet huge in vocal talent. She has a soulful, bluesy voice backed up with power; think Bonnie Raitt channeled through Grace Potter with a visit from PJ Harvey. Jocelyn\u2019s animated vocal delivery<\/a> commands attention. Her brother Chris, who is also her co-writer, delivers a solid and crisp sounding blues-rock style guitar that is the perfect accompaniment to Jocelyn\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s tour itinerary is scant during the school year, as both are students at Harvard, but they will be hitting stages across New York in the coming weeks. \u00a0Check <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> for dates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spending the weekend bouncing between Lukin\u2019s and <\/span>Nail Creek Pub<\/span><\/a> seemed to be what many people were doing but to do so is to miss out on many of the other acts. Tiny\u2019s hosted several jazz influenced bands, including <\/span>Notified<\/b> and the <\/span>Carmen Caramanica Jazz Trio<\/b>, while D.A. Bentley\u2019s entertained the EDM crowd with sets from <\/span>DJ D.A.<\/b>, <\/span>Vongel <\/b>and <\/span>Phungeye<\/b> among others. Harlee\u2019s Pub & Grille was geared towards the metal. Local favorites <\/span>Nineball <\/b>and <\/span>Street Rock Mafia<\/b> provided Friday crowds with high energy entertainment at Harlee\u2019s. Nineball is also festival producer, Joe Sweet\u2019s main project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lukin\u2019s<\/span><\/a> hosted <\/span>Conehead Buddha<\/b><\/a> on Friday night. The Albany-area band has been on the jamband circuit for twenty years and showed no signs of wear this weekend. While the band has taken a hiatus here or there within that time, on this night it provided a sharp mix of reggae, ska and jam that has endeared Conehead Buddha to the northeast scene all these years. Also saxophonist Shannon Lynch provided much of the theatrics throughout the set, anchoring the big horn sound Conehead Buddha is known for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Conehead
Conehead Buddha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Female artists took ownership of this year\u2019s Utica Music and Arts Festival. In addition to Lynch and Arndt\u2019s performances; on Saturday, the festival faithful were treated to the eclectic mix of jangle pop of\u00a0<\/span>Sirsy<\/b><\/a>. Lead singer and stand-up drummer, Melanie Khramer and her partner, guitarist <\/span>Rich Libutti, had the Nail Creek crowd, the biggest one of the weekend to this point, dancing and singing along. Khramer has the uncanny ability to engage the crowd with humor and powerful vocals with lyrics that may take you to a darker place. The fact that the music is typically so upbeat and Khramer so quick-witted with her banter, may disguise some of the darkness in the lyrics but it also gives the listener pause. \u00a0Krahmer’s Ella-like voice and stage presence added a terrific touch to the band’s final song of the night, a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Melanie
Melanie Khramer of SIRSY belting it out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sirsy will be in Utica again on Dec. 8, performing an all-ages show at The Tramontane<\/a> (known familiarly as The Tram). The show begins at 8:00 p.m. and will be a celebration of the band\u2019s new EP to be released the week prior.<\/p>\n

Exploding onto the Nail Creek stage after Sirsy\u2019s set was Brooklyn\u2019s <\/span>Shinobi Ninja<\/b><\/a>. With an elaborate and energetic stage show led by lead singer, Baby G, clad in an Iron Maiden t-shirt. It was clear from the start that this wouldn\u2019t be your typical rock show. The band\u2019s uniqueness has been described as being \u201clike the Beastie Boys, Slayer and Lauryn Hill all mixed together.\u201d After witnessing the band\u2019s performance, that is an appropriate description. The following video gives a good impression of a Shinobi Ninja experience. Mix in some metal, reggae, rap, a little punk and a whole lot of jumping and you get this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n