When Borg Party converged on Buffalo Iron Works to a packed house, no one really knew what to expect. If you expected the obvious, a simple fusion of the super group’s respective sounds, you would have been slightly disappointed. When Rob Compa (Dopapod), Mike Gantzer (Aqueous), Mickey Carrubba (Turkuaz), James Searl (Giant Guerilla Panda Dub Squad) and Wiley O’Riley (The Niche) took the stage, surprisingly, they offered something very different. Borg Party was a masterclass in improvisational jazz subtly infused with a soulful yet intensive rock union.
The night was about five incredibly talented musicians playing some of their favorite tunes. The evening’s set list included rare, odd and surprising covers and a chance for these musicians to play the music that inspires them . “I was planning on coming home for the week of Christmas to visit my parents,” Compa told NYS Music. “So I figured I would call up some people whose playing I really love, who are from western New York and put together a couple shows just to have some fun and blow off some steam. That is really pretty much the whole point.”
The evening began with “Rise of the Borg”, an original composition written by O’Riley for the evening. Aqueous guitarist Dave Loss sat in during a playful version of Grant Green’s “Flood in Lincoln Park”. Borg Party also opted to play musical tributes to John Scofield, Buddy Miles and The Beatles.
Champagne Brown (The Swooners, The Niche), who has been singing with O’Riley since her teens, joined the band on stage during a rousing cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. Her stunning yet strong vocals were the perfect complement to the band’s solid and dialed in musical focus. She also lent vocals on the night’s encore of James Brown’s “Sex Machine”.
Despite running a set list of mostly covers, Borg Party never lent itself to sound unrehearsed or unsure – a true testament to their talent as studied musicians. The five members of the super group all prepared on their own. “We’ve had a big e-mail chain of cover ideas,” Compa told NYSMusic before the show, ”We’re all just learning stuff on our own and we’re gonna see how it goes.”
Watching Borg Party play was a fascinating musical classroom. With the five members having only pre-show rehearsal time together, they were more reliant on the purity of improvisational cues showing that improvisational music really is as much about instinct as it is preparation.
The set list and tone of the night was much more mellow than anticipated. The song selection was a history lesson with a majority of the evening’s covers having been originally released before 1980. The deep track set list also reflected that the five members of Borg Party are more than just studied musicians, but also music fans.
Compa and Gantzer, who have previously played together on several occasions including this summer’s Aquapod set at Buffalove, have an incredible on-stage chemistry. It is clear that these two have a deep respect for each other’s talent.
Borg Party was a two night only engagement at Buffalo Iron Works in Buffalo and Flour City Station in Rochester. According to Compa, the group doesn’t have plans for future dates. When asked if Borg Party could surface again, Compa simply stated, “I guess we’ll see how it goes and then take it from there. For now, though, just those two.”
Buffalo Setlist: Rise of the Borg (Willy O’Riley), Them Changes (Buddy Miles), Chank (John Scofield), Since I’ve Been Loving You* (Led Zeppelin), Flood in Franklin Park^ (Grant Green cover), Hey Bulldog (Beatles), Back at the Chicken Shack (Jimmy Smith), Offspring (John Scofield), Circles (Incubus)
E: Sex Machine* (James Brown)
*w/ Champagne Brown on vocals, ^w/ Dave Loss from Aqueous on guitar
The band took a new approach to how fans see and experience a show in Madison Square Garden by utilizing an innovative space in the room for the first time during their New Year’s gag. As the third set started, all four members rose up on a small stage at the back of the house. Once the band was positioned under a funnel shaped screen a curtain suspended fully encapsulating the quartet in a full cone shaped hourglass complete with a full light show. This new, visually aesthetic treat was something that shed a light on why Phish fans come back time and time again. The deeper undertone of the hourglass is open to interpretation, but it looked like that band was literally lost in time and in full control of their musical destiny.
New Year’s Eve is one of the most anticipated nights for live music all year and along with Halloween is one of the toughest tickets to get. Phish delivered three sets and an encore full of musical highlights, stretching many of their songs well beyond their traditional norms and as the band broke into a new stratosphere there was no looking back. The first set saw some serious heat in a nice extended, delay-based jam from Trey in “Wolfman’s Brother,” the sold out crowd singing the outro to “I Didn’t Know” and a smoking “Reba” > “Walls of the Cave” to cap off the first set was just a warm up, though packed full of heat. The second set was where Phish took standard songs and stretched them into something great through some stellar improvisation. The “Kill Devil Falls” -> “Piper” -> “Twist” was some of the most beautiful pieces of improvisation and the most fluid transitions of the entire run. With two sets under their belt, the band was flexing their range and evidently having so much fun on stage.
Being a fan of improvisational jam band music means that you’re open to trying new things and after your ticket gets scanned and you walk into the venue, you’re taking a musical leap of faith and a risk to explore parts unknown. As Phish closed the chapter of 2015 they proved that they’re firing from all cylinders with their foot firmly pressing down on the gas pedal looking into 2016. It seems as if the band is unstoppable of even being slowed down and no matter what they do next, they’ll do it with grace and conviction. There’s simply no better way to ring in the new year than with a garden party and whether the band is flying in on a hot dog, being raised on hydraulic lifts, literally staging a runaway golf cart marathon, playing on top of an equipment truck or fully encapsulating themselves under a psychedelic hourglass, for that brief moment perhaps you can quench that insatiable thirst for more Phish.
Over three sold out nights in Burlington this New Year’s weekend, Twiddle played into the past, present and future of their musical catalog and continued to prove why they are one of the most talked about bands in the jam scene. The packed crowds at Higher Ground were treated to three very different nights of 
The second set saw a weaving of non-Twiddle moments, including a tease of Phish’s “Divided Sky” as well as a meaty jam of Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock,” in the middle of a nearly 20-minute version of “The Box.” The night ended with a more mellow approach as Twiddle cooled off the crowd with “Beethoven and Greene” before ending with a “Gatsby the Great” Reprise.
While the three day run didn’t include much in the way of catalog rarity, what it lacked in surprise it more than made up for in production value. Twiddle demonstrated a growth in technical skill and creative staging. Their studio polish appears to be rubbing off into their live performance with precision, turn-on-the-dime transitions and unique musical moments. The latest addition of Evan Antal as Lighting Director (Zed’s Dead, Kendrick Lamar) on this three-day run elevated the overall show experience.
This show started off as a Trey lover’s wet dream. “Sample In a Jar” kicked the festivities off in fine fashion, with Anastasio showing the renewed vigor in his fingers had carried over from the summer. His short lead was crisp and fluid, and featured bursts of notes that show he has been practicing a lot. “Free” continued the Trey-led theme, as Anastasio was a rapid-fire genius from about 6 minutes on, up until the song’s closing coda. “Simple”>”Back on the Train” displayed a little full-band interplay, but again it was Anastasio who owned the section, before “Waiting All Night” and “555” slowed things down and funked them back up.
A sublime “Roggae” gently gave way to a story of a child being frightened by a big, scary dog. A rollicking version of 2014 Halloween favorite “The Dogs” gave way to a set-closing “46 Days,” where Anastasio and Page McConnell traded haunting, yet tasty licks, sending the crowd completely amped up heading into set break.
Up next was “Ghost,” and it wouldn’t be a notable version if it didn’t sandwich a brand new song, “Can’t Always listen,” which I honestly thought was “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” for a handful of seconds. A line from the chorus, “The stars are sitting pretty/and the world’s just spinning fine,” made for an upbeat and happy vibe of the song that simply made me smile and think that everything will be fine. Sit back, forget about everything else, and enjoy these four nights with four guys on stage and 20,000 of my closest friends.
A segue back to a short “Ghost” jam gave way to a “Waves” that proved inspired, but wasn’t anything to get crazy over. Phish decided that during the 15:17 that followed, the duration of “Bathtub Gin,” that they were going to take us on a sonic journey. There are so many times in my years of seeing this band that I am convinced they read each other’s minds, but this “Gin,” which did not contain a moment of down time or any confusing parts, proved my thoughts right. The last five minutes soar to a level that only Phish can climb to. If the Magnaball “Gin” was a surprising treat that brought the song back to its improvisational roots, then the “MSGin” surpasses that in stature and cohesion alone.