Author: Darren Kemp

If there’s anything the fervent fans of Buffalo’s Aqueous have had to complain about the past few years it’s the lack of released live material. This all changed recently with a slew of high quality recordings including last years fantastic “Wizard of Oz” themed, Dark Side of the Moon infused Halloween show, the recent Boulder, Colorado release, and a bunch of new recordings on archive.org.

On the heels of this flurry of activity the band has put forth the latest multi-track live set – From the ArQives: 2015-04-11 King’s Rook Club, Erie PA. This two set monster of a show features some of the bands most intense jamming and “type II” level improvisation within a slew of their top notch original material and some debut covers.

Set one kicks off with “Complex Pt. I” and focuses on a mix of material including bust-outs of old school Aqueous tracks “Marty” and “They’re Calling for You” which made their first set-list appearances in close to a year. Also included is a super jammed out cover of Steely Dan’s “Josie.” Aqueous has covered many Dan songs throughout the years (Including a November 2015 cover of “Peg” featuring a Joel Cummins sit-in). Guitarist Mike Gantzer spoke about the Dan’s influence:

“I always dig pulling out the occasional Steely Dan tune; they’ve personally been a huge influence on my writing and playing style. and often times their tunes are great catalysts for improvisation.”

Set two continues the jam fest with notable versions of orginal tunes “Underlyer,” “Eon Don,” an “Aldehyde” sandwich with the meat being a cover of The Police’s “Canary in a Coalmine,” and a rare full version of the epic fifteen minute Cycles track “Staring into the Sun.” The audio was recorded and mastered by the bands sound and light engineer Ben Wayt and is available on SoundCloud and archive.org.

Check out Aqueous in New York Saturday April 16 at Letchworth Pines in Portageville for a rare intimate two set show, and next Friday at Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs with Pink Talking Fish.

April 11th, 2015
King’s Rook Club, Erie, PA

SET 1:
Complex Pt. I > They’re Calling for You, Triangle, Marty, Josie¹ > Don’t Do It

SET 2:
Underlyer > Gordon’s Mule > Eon Don > Aldehyde > Canary in a Coal Mine² > Aldehyde, Staring into the Sun, What’s the Connection?

ENCORE:
Mosquito Valley Pt. 1 > Flagpole Sitta³

Notes:
¹ Steely Dan cover, AQ debut
² Police cover, AQ debut
³ Harvey Danger cover, AQ debut

Complex had a Josie tease by Steely Dan
TCFY had a “Waves” tease by Phish and a “Wheels” tease by Cake.
Eon Don contained a “devils pie” intro by D’angelo, and Master of Puppets by Metallica and Machine Gun by Hendrix teases.
Staring into the Sun had a long improvised section.
What’s the Connection had a “We Want the Funk” tease that was audience started.
MV one had a “Chicken Grease” intro also by D’angelo.

TCFY was last played on 2014-08-14
Marty was last played on 2014-06-17