Author: Neil Benjamin Jr.

Don’t Miss Saturday’s Jam Packed ‘Brooklyn Comes Alive’

On October 22, the musical jam spirit in New York will be at its height when the sold-out Brooklyn Comes Alive festival comes to three venues in the heart of Williamsburg. This one-day event features a veritable who’s who spanning the jam band, funk and electronic scenes

Members of The Disco Biscuits, Medeski, Martin & Wood, The String Cheese Incident, Lettuce, Break Science, Greyboy Allstars, Mike Gordon Band, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Soulive and the Trey Anastasio Band are just a few of the more than 50 artists slated to perform.

This event promises to feature performances from hand-selected super groups, impromptu jam sessions, and very rare collaborations, kicking off with brunch and running well into the depths of the evening. The venues that will host this monstrosity also happen to be Brooklyn’s most popular venues – Brooklyn Bowl, The Hall at MP, and Music Hall of Williamsburg, which are all conveniently within a 10-minute walking distance from each other.

With the festivities kicking off at noon at The Hall at MP, brunch will be hosted inside at the MP Taverna, featuring an amazing dining experience from Michelin Star chef Michael Psilakis. For those that are worried about missing out on some of the action while fueling up, live audio will be pumped into the dining room to keep the grooves going.

Also featured are members from groups such as The Knux, Ne-Yo, Snarky Puppy, RAQ, Nth Power, Stanton Moore Trio, Kung Fu, Primus, Dopapod, Garaj Mahal, Dub Trio, Gov’t Mule, The Black Crowes, The Stepkids, Deep Banana Blackout, Matisyahu, Organ Freeman, and Santana. In addition to the collaboration of band members from different groups, established solo artists will be making an appearance including Samora Pinderhughes, Raul Pineda, Farnell Newton, Chauncey Yearwood, Ian McGuire, Wiley Griffin, Luke Bemand and Dan Lyons.

Holly Bowling, the solo pianist who takes Phish and Grateful Dead classic jams and transcribes them arranged for piano, will open the festivities just after noon at The Hall MP of Brooklyn. Highlights include the All Brothers Band — featuring Oteil and Kofi Burbridge, and Neal and Alan Evans — Tim Palmieri and Friends, DRKWAV, which features John Medeski, Adam Deitch and Skerik, and Horizon Wireless.

Reed Mathis and Electric Beethoven is a new group that takes inspiration from Ludwig Van Beethoven, and has arranged some of his classic pieces for a rock group. This is one of the must see acts of the festival. The Rhythmatronix, featuring Jason Hann, Oteil Burbridge and Sting and Garage Mahal guitarist Fareed Haque, are the late-night group at The MP. This is just a small smattering of the incredible lineup put together by Live 4 Live Music.

A few hours after brunch is concluded, Brooklyn Bowl and Music Hall of Williamsburg will open and will stay open throughout the night.

Full List of Performers:
Joe Russo (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead/Furthur/Benevento-Russo Duo)
Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers/Dead & Company)
Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits)
Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits)
John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood)
Borahm Lee (Break Science)
Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band)
James Casey (Trey Anastasio Band)
Chris Bullock (Snarky Puppy)
Scott Metzger (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead)
Kofi Burbridge (Tedeschi Trucks Band)
Alan Evans (Soulive)
Neal Evans (Soulive)
Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce)
Jesus Coomes (Lettuce)
Adam Smirnoff (Lettuce)
Ryan Zoidis (Lettuce)
Roosevelt Collier
Michael League (Snarky Puppy)
Skerik
Todd Stoops (RAQ)
Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy)
Nikki Glaspie (The Nth Power)
Nick Cassarino (The Nth Power)
Nate Edgar (The Nth Power)
Courtney J’Mell Smith (The Nth Power)
Manic Focus
Will Bernard (Stanton Moore Trio)
Tim Palmieri (Kung Fu)
Jay Lane (Primus/Electric Beethoven)
Rob Compa (Dopapod)
Eli Winderman (Dopapod)
Adrian Tramontano (Kung Fu)
Holly Bowling
Rob Marscher (Matisyahu)
Brasstracks
Fareed Haque (Garaj Mahal)
Cochrane McMillan (Tea Leaf Green)
Andy Hess (Gov’t Mule/The Black Crowes)
Eric Slick (Dr. Dog)
Dan Edinburg (The Stepkids)
Jen Durkin (Deep Banana Blackout)
Johnny Durkin (Deep Banana Blackout)
Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident)
Adam Deitch (Lettuce/Break Science)
Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars/Mike Gordon)
Reed Mathis (Electric Beethoven)
Rob Somerville (Kung Fu)
Benny Rietveld (Santana)
Jake Sherman
Raul Pineda
Farnell Newton
Danny Sadownick

October 19, 2016
Hearing Aide: Green Day’s “Revolution Radio”

I remember it vividly: On a long bus ride for an elementary school field trip, one of my oldest friends handed me a cassette that would be the very first turning point on the musical journey that my life has become.

The year was 1993, and I was very much into rap at the tender age of 8. Caleb, who had a serious disdain for my musical choices at the time, took my Walkman and inserted a recently released tape of Kerplunk, Green Day’s second album. I’d never heard of the band, and was not sure what to expect.

The snarling growl that accompanied Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitar slapped my eardrums around on the opening track, “2,000 Light Years Away,” and I didn’t know what to do. It was odd, at first, but as I made my way through the tracks, I became quickly hooked on the pop-punk that would soon propel Green Day into super-stardom.

And this was only the beginning of what became my first, and biggest, band obsession. I made my parents get me their debut album, 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, which was a compilation of all their earliest material. I loved Green Day before anyone knew who they were.

Later that year, a friend and I devised a plan to get our parents to take us to see them at Union College in Schenectady. To make a very long and boring story short, the two of us ended up by ourselves at the concert, swinging and swaying in a rowdy group of maybe 1,000 people, and I will never forget the awe I felt seeing a trio of early 20s kids playing the fastest and catchiest rock and roll on the planet. It started a live music obsession that, to this day, comes first in my life after my family and work.

I can talk about how Dookie is my all-time favorite album ever released by anyone, or about how Insomniac spoke to my pre-pubescent self better than anyone, or how Nimrod, while not universally liked, showed how Green Day can shake things up. What about Warning, which featured a bevy of instruments which helped the band veer away from three-chord pop-punk? Or how American Idiot vaulted the band back to super popularity and brought music and politics together again? I don’t think we need to talk much about 21st Century Breakdown, or their quickly released trio of albums, Uno, Dos and Tres, which were not Green Day’s best efforts.

Now, 23 years later, Green Day just dropped its 12th studio album, Revolution Radio, and I have to say that for a band I idolized growing up, then grew to despise a bit in the mid-2000s, they have reeled me right back in. Gone are the days of songs about masturbation, moving out of mom’s house and staying up all night snorting meth.

And while it has some political undertones, Revolution Radio really is a 12-song collection of angst, anger, mortality and youthful remembrance by Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool. And it’s fast, loud, mean and chock full of emotion and that “we don’t give a fuck what you think” attitude that made me fall head over heels 23 years ago.

“Somewhere Now” starts the album with a Clash kind of feel. Its catchy chorus and clever wording simply give way to the meat of this album. “Bang Bang,” the first single released, shoots out at you like a bullet from a stolen gun. “Daddy’s little psycho and mommy’s little soldier” is a line that hits close to home, as this was me as a child. Great choice for a single, and it’s mean as hell with that charm that only Green Day can insert into a morbid song.

“Revolution Radio” is the catchiest song on the album, and is as close to classic Green Day as it gets. Think the anger and destruction captured throughout Insomniac and this is what you’re getting in the title track. “Say Goodbye” opens with a vibe of The Wall-era Pink Floyd, then quickly transforms into a preachy ditty that touches on, presumably, the recent spate of violence in this country involving police.

“Outlaws” is a love song that misses its mark. It is the only song that seems out of place here. “Bouncing Off The Wall” is another throwback to Armstrong’s wilder days, before he went to rehab a few years ago.

“Still Breathing,” “Youngblood” and “Too Dumb To Die” are a trilogy of songs that I have listened to over and over in the last 72 hours. “Youngblood” is a punk rock love song that ends with the subject saying “but fuck you I’m from Oakland” and is a great way to close it out.

“Too Dumb To Die” is about reckless behavior from the band’s past, and became my favorite song from the band in many, many years. It’s the most punk rock thing on the entire album, and maybe of the band’s career. “Troubled Times,” “Forever Now” and “Ordinary World” touch back on the societal and political unrest in the country, without slamming it down our throats like American Idiot did.

Overall, this is the best Green Day album, in my opinion, since Nimrod. Green Day returned to what made the world fall in love with them and made it angrier, faster, louder and catchier.

I am certainly back into this band like it’s 1997.

Key Tracks: Too Dumb To Die, Revolution Radio, Youngblood, Bang Bang

October 11, 2016
Hearing Aide: Phish’s “Big Boat”

Ever think Phish would start off a studio album with a sort of Brit-pop-punk sounding song?

Me either, but that’s exactly what the band did by kicking off Big Boat with the Jon Fishman song “Friends,” which is the perfect lead-in to an album by a band that has built its fanbase by throwing it curveballs. Phish’s 13th studio recording is the most genre bending album they have released.

Teaming back up with Fuego producer Bob Ezrin, Phish has created an at-times overproduced record that probably will not be universally loved by fans and aside from a few tracks, won’t get much play from me. But, the beauty of Phish is that this is perfectly fine because each of these songs will be defined by what they do on stage.

“Blaze On” and “No Man in No Man’s Land” both debuted live in 2015 and become almost immediate jam vehicles. The album versions of these songs are very strong and have the same feel of the live performances.

The apocalyptic “Breath and Burning” gives way to the first Page McConnell song, “Home,” which features a very Phishy little synth-driven jam. “Things People Do” is very Mike Gordon-like, but is written by McConnell. “Waking Up Dead,” written by Gordon, is among the few songs that sound Phishy.

The Anastasio ballads “Running Out of Time” and “Miss You” are poignant, with the latter being one of the more emotive songs the guitarist has written in a while. “I Always Wanted it That Way” goes back toward the synth-pop sound, before straightforward rocker “More” sits as the last barrier until the orchestral composition “Petrichor” closes the album with a complicated, at times intricate but often wandering song that Anastasio initially wrote to be performed with an orchestra.

Big Boat is not their best album, but honestly, who cares? Let’s see what happens on Fall Tour and during the New Year’s Run.

Key Tracks: More, Waking Up Dead, Petrichor

October 7, 2016
Hearing Aide: Electric Beethoven’s “Beathoven”

Reed Mathis has a lengthy resume as a bassist in the jam scene as a member of Tea Leaf Green, a touring member of Billy & the Kids and longtime part of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey. Seems like he doesn’t take a break in his schedule.

Recently, while on the road, he decided to rearrange a few of classical composer Beethoven’s symphonies, “Symphony No.3” and “Symphony No. 6.” When finished, Mathis pieced together an incredible lineup of other musicians, and recorded them by traveling all over and record the music in its natural environment. Page McConnell and Mike Gordon, of Phish, Marco Benevento, Matt Chamberlain, Joe Russo, Robert Walter and Mike Dillon are some of the cast Mathis recruited for an album that really re-imagines Beethoven in a modern — and proggy, jammy — way.

The result is Electric Beethoven, and their debut album Beathoven track “Awakening of Happiness,” featuring Russo and Luke Bolla, answers any question you’ll have about what the band sounds like, as the piano-heavy track melds rock and blues aspects, as well as a little psychedelia, with the noticeable Beethoven composition sound. Andrew Barr and Steve Pryor are featured on “Scene by the River,” before Galactic drummer Stanton Moore and Jared Tyler take over a danceable “Rain Dance.”

The appetizer of “Shepherd’s Dog” (McConnell and Jason Smart) pairs perfectly with the main course, “In Memory of a Great Man” (Gordon and Russo.) The sometimes jazzy, sometimes trippy “Funeral March” (Benevento and Chamberlain) make up a powerful middle of the order combination, which stands out as the most interesting interpretation on the recording.

“Rebirth,” featuring the Barr Brothers, and “Finale” (Moore and Walter) close the album with two numbers filled with jazzy guitar lines, intricate piano parts and a dash of some down south funk.

If you didn’t know who Beethoven was or were unfamiliar with his catalog, you wouldn’t mind in any way. Mathis manages to turn music you focus on into music you boogie to, without losing even a shred of integrity from the original compositions. If this album is any indication, this band is going to see its moment in the sun on the festival circuit in the next few years.

The band performed last week at the Catskill Chill, and are currently out playing a string of dates in support of the new album.

Beathoven tracklist

1. Awakening of Happiness (feat. Joe Russo & Luke Bolla)
2. Scene by the River (feat. Andrew Barr & Steve Pryor)
3. Rain Dance (feat. Stanton Moore & Jared Tyler)
4. Thunderstorm (feat. Matt Chamberlain & Mike Dillon)
5. Shepherd’s Song (feat. Page McConnell & Jason Smart)
6. In Memory of a Great Man (feat. Mike Gordon & Joe Russo)
7. Funeral March (feat. Marco Benevento & Matt Chamberlain)
8. Rebirth (feat. Brad Barr & Andrew Barr)
9. Finale (feat. Stanton Moore & Robert Walter)

Key Tracks: Rain Dance, In Memory of a Great Man, Funeral March

September 30, 2016
Rock and Remembrance: Umphrey’s McGee Pack Saranac

Poor souls centered in the selfish earth
How could silence for what suffers worth
Old worms shall never reach these excesses
Define terms to lease you to another friend.
— “The Haunt”

On September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. That same night, Umphrey’s McGee performed at a venue in Ithaca called The Haunt, a Central New York venue well known to all up-and-coming bands. While Umphrey’s was still in the midst of finding its footing in rock and roll, the band showed that the events of that fateful day were not lost on them, as they penned a song called “The Haunt” which sums up the band’s feeling about the terrorist attacks that crippled the World Trade Center in New York City.

Fast forward almost 15 years to the day, and that band which headlined The Haunt was taking the stage not far from Ithaca, at the Saranac Brewery in Utica. The band with the technical prowess of a jazz master and the gleaming intensity of the best of the prog-rock world showed a crowd of about 1,000 thirsty fans that they haven’t forgotten what happened that night by performing a somewhat haunting rendition of the song about halfway through their opening frame.

Heading into the show, the usual Umphrey’s circus of dedicated fans was gathered outside the brewery, preparing for the night ahead. Being on the home turf of their good friends in moe., Umphrey’s delivered a very straightforward performance that won’t stand out among the best in the band’s history, but certainly satiated a hungry crowd.

“Slacker” and “Linear” > “The Floor” set the tone for a night filled with syncopated guitar from axemen Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, before the pairing of “Uncle Wally” > “Higgins” provided a somewhat funky — for Umphrey’s, anyway — danceable breakdown.

That’s when they launched into “The Haunt.” A guy standing next to me leaned over and tried to explain the significance of the tune, but I could only make out some of his words, prompting me to look into it. The impassioned song seemed to provide the crowd a reflective period in the show to remember the lives lost in the senseless tragedy 15 years ago. “The Haunt” then gave way to “Miss Tinkles’ Overture,” which closed out the set.

During setbreak, I took a walk around the backstage area, and noticed Al Schnier, moe. guitarist, trotting around, making me believe a sit in was imminent. That would turn out to be false, but at least it kept me guessing throughout the second set, which featured more guitar-heavy material, but with a bit more improvisation than the earlier set.

“Hunt Bird Bath” and “Intentions Clear” > “Upward” were both upbeat and spot-on, but it seemed the crowd had thinned out a lot during setbreak. Maybe the locals who wanted to check Umphrey’s out decided to end their night, because the fans who remained were deeply into this set.

“Bridgeless” > “Day Nurse,” “Mail Package,” “Resolution” and a segue back into “Bridgeless” was classic Umphrey’s, with dueling guitars, a drum solo and a somewhat rare keyboard jaunt from Joel Cummins.

Just before the “Hollywood Nights” encore, bassist Ryan Stasik gave a short speech about how moe. had influenced the band in their infancy, and even brought out Schnier to wave to the crowd in a show of support. Overall, the show was very well done, with minimal miscues, but there was a bit of creativity lacking, however there was no questioning the band’s soul. It was worth the drive, the total lack of sleep heading into work the next day and the ringing in my ears from being way too close to one of the stage speakers.

Setlist:

Set 1: Slacker, Linear >The Floor, Uncle Wally > Higgins, The Haunt > Miss Tinkles’ Overture
Set 2: Hurt Bird Bath, Intentions Clear > Upward, Bridgeless > Day Nurse, Mail Package, Resolution >Bridgeless
Encore: Hollywood Nights

September 13, 2016
A Milestone at 10: Pondfest Continues to Innovate

For any festival to survive – let alone thrive – for 10 years is an impressive feat. Bonnaroo and Coachella are two names that immediately pop into mind, but now it’s time to add Backwoods Pondfest to that list.

This past weekend at Twin Ponds Campsite in Peru, N.Y., Pondfest, which is put on by northern New York band Lucid, celebrated its 10^th birthday by throwing a truly cohesive party melding the fun of camping in the middle of the forest with live music.

The lineup mixed the best that the Adirondacks has to offer, with some of the bigger acts of the festival circuit. Lucid, a band straight from the heart of the Adirondacks, has been a staple of the weekend since inception, and while this year was the same, it was also very different. Last year, the band announced it was taking a long break, but not officially breaking up and would continue to play events like Pondfest.

And just to put any rumors to bed, bassist Chris Shacklett gave me a brief interview on Saturday afternoon to discuss the state of the band. First off, Lucid is not breaking up.

“We are totally shifting our focus,” Shacklett said. “Instead of continuing to hemorrhage money, we are being smarter about what we do. There’s not going to be much in the way of touring anymore, but we’re going to do more things like this (Pondfest).”

Along with Lucid, the other headliners were Melvin Seals and JGB, Pink Talking Fish (is Bowie), the Blind Owl Band and Twiddle’s guitarist Mihali Savoulidis and his ‘Frends’, who brought the surprise of a Twiddle set. NYS Music contributor Chelsea Wright was in attendance and gives us a first hand account of how it went down:

“I received a message from Lowell, letting me know that there would be a special surprise Thursday night. I made the last minute decision to travel the two hours from Vermont for the ‘Mihali & Frends’ show, knowing that if Lowell promised a surprise, it was bound to be extra special. Having seen Mihali & Frends the weekend prior as a part of Twiddle’s first major event, Tumble Down, I knew that some amazing collaborations were going to happen – at his sold out Higher Ground show, he brought together musicians from Nahko & Medicine For The People, Twiddle, and the Kitchen Dwellers for two full hours of incredible jams.

Arriving just on time, I approached the stage and Mihali was just getting it started by inviting a few good Frends up to join him. It was like revolving doors, including some of my favorite musicians; Ryan Dempsey on keys, Jamie Armstrong on Sax, Joshua West on drums, to Kevin Sabourin on guitar and vocals. At one point Brad Hester from Annie in The Water came up and had a back and forth match on a kazoo, with Jamie’s sax. Then they switched it up to Chris Shacklett on bass, Lowell Wurster on percussion and vocals, the beautiful Meadow on vocals, and then the big surprise of a total shift into a set by Twiddle. After Twiddle finished, Mihali remained, and invited members of Capital Zen up to join him. It was an all-around party, with special moments that no one could have anticipated.”

Arriving on Friday, I was greeted by multiple ambulances and state police cars with lights flashing all over. I was not allowed to enter for nearly two hours as the entrance was blocked for any cars getting in or out.

When pressed for a reason, a State Police officer said, “We’re here because of some overdoses. Make sure you’re safe when you go in.”

Derek Haviland, the press and marketing man for the festival, said there weren’t any overdoses in the sense that you’d think of, but rather that someone had simply imbibed a bit too much and just needed a little help. He hinted at a bit of an overreaction by local first responders.

“Little towns like this aren’t really used to stuff like this, so I think they just took any and every precaution while they were here,” Haviland said, adding that the individual was fine by the following morning. “We are safety first; we took all the right precautions.”

With my delayed arrival killing any chance at seeing Hayley Jane and the Primates, Bella’s Bartok, Thunder Body and Lucid, I arrived just as Melvin Seals was taking the stage. The longtime keyboardist for Jerry Garcia had a nice groove going for “Cats Under the Stars,” before starting right up into a Grateful Dead regular, “Sugaree.” “Strugglin’ Man,” “Rhapsody in Red” and “Money Honey” perfectly captured the essence of a JGB show, with swirling, noodly guitar and the big church organ sound. “Sisters and Brothers” and “Deal” were my personal favorites, with the latter coaxing an uproarious applause from the crowd of beards, sun dresses and dreadlocks.

Right after, on the Woods Stage, Syracuse hip-hop trio Sophistafunk took the audience on a positive mental trip with lyrics of encouragement, happiness and elation.

Spiritual Rez then started the late night sets and there seemed to be a large congregation of fans in attendance mainly to see this band. After a set with some sit-ins, Rez gave way to Tweed on the Woods Stage at around 2:25 a.m.

Tweed could be categorized as a jamtronic act, but I thought the set was more dreamy than anything else. Because of the downpour, I made the decision to hear the set from my tent which was about 300 feet from the stage. I drifted right off into blissful slumber.

Waking up in the woods when the weather is hot but still pleasant, is everything I want in a festival morning. This morning was special as some of my favorite live acts were slated to perform. Making my way backstage to interview some folks, I bumped into Formula 5’s bassist and the young Gregg Allman-lookalike James Woods, who was energized and pumped for the band’s set later that afternoon.

After grabbing a sausage, egg and cheese, two coffees and water (thanks to my editor), I made my way to catch some of Doomf#@k, a band with some of the Lucid guys. I can only describe this act as a talented, humorous joke band.

The Honey Smugglers were slated to perform on the smaller stage, but because the members of The Brummy Brothers, scheduled to perform on the main stage later, got into a car accident and were unable to make the trek, the Smugglers were asked to move from their slot and play on the main stage later.

Formula 5 comprises young men from the Adirondacks, led by guitarist Joe Davis who totes a red Gibson SG, a guitar he loves with all his heart.

“This thing is a beauty,” he said before loading in his gear.

F5’s set consisted of some of the tightest jamming I have ever heard from the group. Matt Richards, who recently took over keyboard duties, displayed the energy and enthusiasm he brings to the band. Woods and Davis are a natural team, with Davis typically weaving his speedy licks around Woods’ boisterous bass lines.

Mister F’s insane pace and tempo made them perfect for the late afternoon slot before Lucid and The Blind Owl Band satiated the crowd’s thirst for jams, before leading into Pink Talking Fish’s set in honor of David Bowie. The band weaved in songs from Bowie, Phish, Talking Heads and Pink Floyd seamlessly while guitarist Dave Brunyak shredded uncontrollably.

Gang of Thieves, The Nth Power and Subsoil finished off the music with abandon and there wasn’t an unhappy soul in attendance.

With 10 years under the belt, Pondfest shows no signs of slowing down, even a bit. Attendees often speak of the weekend as “going home” to see their friends and make new ones. With a great philosophy and positive outlook, Pondfest stands to be around and rocking the Adirondacks for years to come.

August 11, 2016
A Jammin’ Dark Star and an IPA, Please

They high-stepped into the Saranac Brewery and bid us all a fond goodnight, but in the middle, Dark Star Orchestra took the near capacity crowd on a mind bending, psychedelic journey through the middle 1970s.

One of the most fun aspects of attending a DSO is trying to figure out what Grateful Dead setlist they are recreating. Opening the show with a fast “Bertha” made it immediately feel like a 1970s show to me, but because the band has played it for their entire career, it didn’t help much in determining a year. “Me and My Uncle,” “Loser” and “Black Throated Wind” confirmed that it was a show somewhere between 1970 and 1979, which, again, doesn’t do much in helping me decide.

It was the following, stand alone “Scarlet Begonias,” complete with a harmonious and ferocious solo by Jeff Mattson, that gave away the show either being an original Dark Star Orchestra setlist, or coming from a show prior to March 18, 1977, when the first ever “Scarlet Begonias”>”Fire on the Mountain” was performed at the Winterland Arena.

A song mainly performed by Jerry Garcia Band, “It Must Have Been the Roses” preceded “Jack Straw,” “Tennessee Jed” and “Mexicali Blues.” “Deal” then featured fun interplay between keyboardist Rob Barraco and Mattson, and really gave the show a 1973/74 feel. Rhythm guitarist Rob Eaton was visibly impressed with how the band was performing, smiling often and seeming more animated than usual.

“Big River” and “Brown Eyed Women” were short and succinct, before the highlight of the show, “Playin’ in the Band” kicked into another realm. During the lengthy jam, I mentioned how I was confident this was a 1974 show, when an older gentleman informed me that DSO was recreating a Dead show from May 14, 1974 in Montana.

“US Blues,” “El Paso” and “Row Jimmy” were executed impeccably to open the second frame. “Weather Report Suite” then bled seamlessly into “Let it Grow,” before the opening lines to the 1960s psychedelic masterpiece “Dark Star” were played. Being the band’s namesake, DSO brought us on a journey from 1967 up until 1974, with elements of the grungy, late 1960s Dead feel, up to the mid-1970s, more mild tempo style and everything in between. It was the highlight of the entire show.

Garcia ballad “China Doll” gave the crowd a breather before “Promised Land,” “Not Fade Away” and “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” literally rocked the set to a close. If there was a single person not dancing like a maniac, I surely did not witness that, and the set concluded with the utmost energy.

Already prepared for the “One More Saturday Night” encore, I snagged one last $5 Saranac Legacy IPA (seriously, though, where else can you get a beer that delicious at a concert these days for $5? Most Bud Lights at other places cost more than $10 …) and took my space back for one final boogie.

DSO, almost 20 years into a pretty successful career, is showing no signs of slowing down whatsoever. In a recent interview with NYSMusic, Barraco said the band plans to cut back on the number of shows per year to focus on new family members, and put the emphasis on bigger events. A stop at the Saranac Brewery seems to be an annual thing for the band, and I can’t think of a better place to spend a summer night grooving to my favorite music ever made.

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July 27, 2016
DSO and Rob Barraco are Ready for Summer Tour

Next year will mark 20 years since a group of guys got together, under a shared love of the Grateful Dead, and started what would grow to be the country’s most well-known Dead tribute act. Rob Barraco looks upon his time in our interview with the legendary keyboardist.

Dark Star Orchestra

From humble beginnings in 1997 to packing a baseball stadium in 2015, Dark Star Orchestra has more than put in the work to earn such praise. Not only does the band recreate specific setlists from the Dead’s more than 2,300-show cannon, but the members are all very well versed in the era each show took place. Now, they do not play note-for-note renditions, but they do alter their improvisational style to portray a mood similar to the original.

“We get a show book (of GD shows) before each tour,” Rob Barraco, DSO keyboardist of 11 years, said in a phone interview. “Sometimes it’s the ’70s, sometimes it’s the ’80s or ’90s, and then I think ‘oh no’ then we start the show and it just does not matter. We are all locked in and that’s when the best improv happens. We play the songs, but it’s anyone’s guess what happens when we go off.”

And that is the spirit of what Jerry Garcia left behind. Any given night, once the words were over and he started his unique flurries of notes, anything could — and did — happen. DSO brings that same mindset across the country upward of 120 times each year, and this Sunday at the Saranac Brewery in Utica, you can see the magic that occurs. On Friday and Saturday, the band is playing Stateside Ampitheater at Jay Peak Resort in Jay. Vt., to lead up to the Saranac show.

A few days later, on July 26, DSO returns to Frontier Field in Rochester, site of the largest non-festival crowd the band has ever performed in front of. Last summer at the minor league baseball stadium, the band hit a grand slam, packing about 10,000 fans and delivering what can only be described as a no-hitter complete with an offensive explosion.

“It’s the biggest turnout we’ve ever had as the headliner,” Rob Barraco said. “We loved it, and the energy was palpable. We went and fed off of that, and the crowd gave us back so much love. It was so great that we’re going back.”

For DSO, the show marked a step up in terms of audience size. Typically a festival and mid-sized theater band, DSO has been inching toward playing larger venues over the last three years. Maybe coincidentally, that’s when bassist Skip Vangelas took over for Kevin Rosen, who retired in 2013. Rob Eaton, an original member, plays rhythm guitar; Jeff Mattson plays lead; Dino English and Rob Koritz handle the rhythm section and Lisa Mackey is a backup singer/dancer extraordinaire.

Barraco doesn’t hide his roots. He first saw the Dead in 1972, and continued to attend shows as often as possible up until around 1980, not long after graduation from a college in New Paltz. He recalls the Wall of Sound and the band’s universally renowned 1977 Spring Tour, where he said he was lucky enough to catch a large portion of the Northeast shows.

It was, however, when he got the chance to play with Phil Lesh in 2000 when his music performing dreams came true. He was a member of the timeless Quintet (featuring Warren Haynes and Jimmy Herring) and also toured with The Dead in 2002-03. He regularly played with Lesh until around 2012, and is very vocal about the lessons he learned from the legendary bassist.

“From the very first note I played with Phil, it was just complete improv,” he said. “Phil didn’t ask us to play like the Grateful Dead. He wanted us to be who we are, and it was magical every single night. We took the music and we did some crazy shit, man. With The Dead, they decided they wanted to be a bit more traditional, and that took a little adjusting. And Phil used to tell me, ‘it’s like playing in one band is a Ferrari and the other is a freight train.’ My heart will always be with Phil.”

In the summer of 2006, Phil and Friends did a co-headlining tour with GRAB (Mike Gordon, Joe Russo, Trey Anastasio and Marco Benevento), and they made a stop at Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center. Anastasio sat in with Phil almost every night, but the Bethel show was special for many reasons, not the least of which was because it took place on the same grounds that hosted the original Woodstock.

“We were playing (with Trey) and then we all started to realize something, that we were playing the same setlist the Dead played at Woodstock,” Barraco said with a laugh. “That’s Phil — he gave us the setlist, but just didn’t mention that we were doing that.”

Of all the lessons he took from Lesh, the main one was this: “In DSO, I can never get above myself. None of us do, and that really makes it so great.”

Rob Barraco attended Fare Thee Well last summer, and gave a fun anecdote of an encounter he had.

“Trey did a phenomenal job (at GD50.) On the last night, I ran into him backstage and he looked at me and said, ‘Do you realize that if it wasn’t for these guys we wouldn’t have a job?’ Phish never would have done what they’ve done. The Grateful Dead are the architects of the jam band scene. The Allman Brothers Band wouldn’t have started the jam band thing we have. And when Trey said that to me, I said, ‘no shit, dude,’ and that’s the truth.”

The band recently discussed the state of DSO, and they all agreed they would like to keep this thing going forever. Barraco said the only change, due to band members having children and wanting more family time, is that they’d like to cut the number of shows down to around 100 per year.

“We are all looking forward to this tour,” he concluded. “We are giddy for the baseball stadiums and I think we are really going to knock some doors down.”

July 20, 2016
Tonight, Dark Star Orchestra is my Grateful Dead

I love the Grateful Dead.

American Beauty changed my life when I was 14. I have a multi-colored 13-point lightning bolt encompassing a New York Yankees logo tattooed on my left shoulder. I have spent, now, more than half my life chasing “Don’t Ease Me In” with any of the countless bands featuring Grateful Dead band members since 2000. Sometimes I joke that I put one of Phil Lesh’s kids through college with the amount of money I have spent seeing him.

The number of complaints I have with the amount and quality of Dead music I have been lucky enough to catch is the same number of championships the Boston Red Sox won between 1919 and 2003: 0. I’ve witnessed the living members reunite for a show billed as Deadheads for Obama in 2008; I followed almost the entire 2009 tour; Furthur was one of the best jammy treats of the modern era; lastly, seeing Lesh and Anastasio, by far my two favorite musicians currently on this Earth, perform together nearly 20 times has been beyond elating.

All of this is wonderful, as the spirit of the Grateful Dead has carried on in so many ways — as I’ve bragged about above — but there’s something missing that just about any head in my 2003 high school graduating class will admit: None of us were lucky enough to experience the band with its leader and commander, Jerry Garcia. Sure, some can say they saw the man himself, but being 5 doesn’t allow much to the memory of the full band. Garcia, who died in 1995, was such a force and leader of the band, that no one in my age group can really say they have seen the Grateful Dead.

Enter Dark Star Orchestra, a group of highly talented and devoted musicians who have made a nice living out being THE Dead tribute band.

Tribute band. A lot of people might write it off simply because it’s not the real thing.

Except in this case, DSO is the best Dead band going. Their sound is spot on. If they’re recreating February 22, 1974, they capture the hazy, lazy sound of that era. If it’s a mid-1980s show, Dark Star nails down the speedy, more up-tempo sound the Dead had.

Simply put, you cannot get the true sound and essence of the Grateful Dead today anywhere more than a Dark Star Orchestra show.

On November 22, 2009, I was standing at a urinal in Syracuse, N.Y., at a Phish concert. I looked to my right and did a double take.

“No f—— way! Fake Jerry!” I said, getting a completely genuine grin in return. Peeing next to me was John Kadlecik, original DSO lead guitarist who had recently left the band to play with Lesh and Bob Weir in Furthur. The journalist in me immediately came out, as I asked him blunt questions about leaving to go play with Dead members. He was incredibly nice and said something that has stuck with me ever since.

“I have never played with a more dedicated group of musicians than [the DSO] guys,” he said, adding that they do not skip even a minute detail in bringing, what appears effortlessly, the highest quality show to everyone in attendance.

I have vivid memories of ringing in 2009 with the band at the Ram’s Head in Baltimore. Noodling my way through the crowd, I kept my eyes closed and did not have to pretend any further than that, that I was at a Grateful Dead show. I was 9 when Garcia died, and I oftentimes say that I would give up every single concert experience I have ever had simply to see the Dead with their leader just one time. The phrase, “there’s nothing like a Grateful Dead show” might be the most pure musical statement ever made, according to the numerous people I have interviewed on the topic who have seen the band.

Let’s not get confused here — I am not telling you that DSO today is the equivalent of the Grateful Dead from 1965-1995.

I’m telling you that, in a Garcia-free world, the members of DSO are keeping alive something that so many people hold so close: The Grateful Dead experience. With my eyes closed, I feel like I am hearing what I missed out on.

It’s why I continue to see DSO upward of 10 times per year. Tonight, at the Egg in Albany, Dark Star Orchestra is performing. I get to be anxious at work all day, debating with myself if they’re going to possibly play one of my favorite concerts, or if they will concoct their own setlist.

I get to text my friends in anticipation. I get to see friends I don’t get to see very often these days.

Tonight, I get the Grateful Dead experience.

Tonight, I love Dark Star Orchestra.

May 17, 2016
Fit for a Queen: Holly Bowling Closes Massry Season with a Thriller

A couple years ago, few knew of Holly Bowling. The unassuming Phish fan — a classically trained pianist with a love of improvisational music — was just going about her life. And that life would be changed on July 31, 2013, when Phish dropped a 37-minute “Tweezer” opus in Lake Tahoe.

How are the two connected? Well, Bowling decided to transcribe the improvised jam note-for-note and arrange it for the piano. Her YouTube video has been viewed more than 65,000 times, and spawned her album Distillation of a Dream, which is full of Phish songs reimagined for the piano.

Fast forward to the present, and Bowling has some time under her belt on the road, taking her act of just herself and a piano across the country. On May 12, Holly Bowling headlined the Massry Center for the Arts on the College of Saint Rose campus in Albany, becoming the first person ever to perform at the venue twice in one season. (Side note: This is the second time in a week I was lucky enough to see her live. She played a benefit at Garcia’s at the Capitol Theater ahead of Twiddle’s headlining show last Saturday.)

To a crowd of enthusiasts in a space with room to move, Bowling jumped right into Phish’s “Pebbles and Marbles,” with her form-fitting black dress a near perfect compliment to St. Rose’s black baby grand piano. With an iPad affixed inches from her eyes, Bowling locked in with the focus of a baseball player at bat down by a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Aside from the lights, which were provided by Buffalo’s Craig Freudenthal, and the songs, Bowling’s show couldn’t be any more different than what Phish does dozens of times each year. At one point, the green lights providing the backdrop appeared to look like the outside of Hampton Coliseum, a place Phish fans know well.

“Train Song” was next, before Bowling explained that recently, she’s been transcribing Grateful Dead songs. On that note began my all-time favorite song ever written by anyone, the Phil Lesh-penned “Unbroken Chain.” “Theme From the Bottom,” a passionate “Wharf Rat,” “Roggae” and June 18, 1974’s “Eyes of the World”>”China Doll” closed out the hour-long set.

The second set began with “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing” from Phish’s run at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in June, 2004, which featured a prominent “Piper” tease. To everyone’s delight, Bowling ripped into the entire “Terrapin Station” suite, which took us to the close of the second set. “Slave to the Traffic Light” was a fitting encore to a wonderfully unique experience.

But wait — Bowling wasn’t done. Just after announcing she’s working on a new album of Grateful Dead transcriptions, Bowling played a second encore of Phish’s “Taste,” a regular in her setlist. The crowd erupted in applause and Bowling flashed her overly thankful smile, sending everyone out the door in baited exhilaration.

If you get the opportunity to see Bowling, you should not pass it up. Phish fans tend to be supremely passionate about their band, but Bowling has taken that fanaticism to another level with her performances and dedication.

May 17, 2016