Category: The Northeast

  • Update: Project/Object Cancels Spring Tour

    Announced this afternoon via Facebook, the Frank Zappa Tribute band Project/Object is postponing their April 2016 tour dates until further notice. The cancellation comes due to the ongoing health issues surrounding the group’s production assistant-social media manager-merch seller Robin Gelberg, who survived a tragic car accident about a month ago near Shelby, NC; she is the partner of the band’s guitarist Andre Cholmondeley. According to Cholmondeley’s post, this is the first time Project/Object has cancelled concerts during his time with the band since the 1990s. A support page has been set up for Gelberg through GoFundMe.

    Project Object2:58 pm For Immediate ReleasePROJECT/OBJECT TOUR POSTPONEDIt is with a heavy heart that I have to…

    Original story:

    On April 14, Project/Object will bring the sounds of Frank Zappa back to life on stage at The Hollow in Albany.

    The alumni-based Zappa tribute band, featuring Ike Willis and Don Preston, is touring the Northeast this spring in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Zappa’s debut album, Freak Out! Willis’ booming baritone vocals and rhythm guitar appeared on Zappa band tours and albums from 1978 to the final FZ tour in 1988. Preston, a well-known synthesizer and jazz pioneer, played on the Mothers Of Invention records until 1974’s Roxy and Elsewhere; he has also scored soundtracks for feature films like Apocalypse Now.

    The tour kicks off in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on April 7 and makes stops in Marlboro the following night before shows in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Rochester and closing out in Teaneck, New Jersey, on May 1.

    Each show this tour will feature two sets of Zappa music with Willis and Preston; the Boston show is double billed with Consider the Source. And this April run continues the voter registration partnership with HeadCount, as shared on Twitter last month:

    Project/Object: The Music of Frank Zappa has toured the United States, Canada and Europe during its 20-year existence. The group was founded in the 1990s by guitarist Andre Cholmondeley as a tribute to Zappa, who died of cancer in 1993 at 52. In 2015, Willis and Denny Walley came out of retirement for a special tour in celebration of Zappa’s late ’70s catalog, playing several shows in New York state. Alongside Willis (guitar, vocals), Preston (keys, vocals), Cholmondeley (guitar, vocals) and Walley (bass), the group will include musicians Ryan Berg (drums), Kendall Scott (keys, synths) and special guest Rich Rakowski (sax) at select shows.

    Tickets for the 9 p.m. show at The Hollow are on sale through the venue’s website, along with passes for Brooklyn’s The Hall, Tralf Music Hall in Buffalo and Rochester’s Lovin Cup. Project/Object’s show at The Falcon in Marlboro does not require a cover charge for live music, but donations are appreciated. See the full tour dates below and visit the band’s website for more venue and ticket sales information.

    Project/Object Spring 2016 tour dates:

    4/7 – The Acoustic – Bridgeport, CT
    4/8 – The Falcon – Marlboro, NY
    4/9 – House of Independents – Ashbury Park, NJ
    4/10 – Iron Horse – Northampton, MA
    4/12 – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
    4/13 – The Middle East – Boston, MA
    4/14 – The Hollow – Albany, NY
    4/15 – The Hall – Brooklyn, NY
    4/16 – Arch St. Tavern – Hartford, CT
    4/17 – American Brewing Company – Harrisburg, PA
    4/19 – The 8×10 – Baltimore, MD
    4/20 – Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA
    4/21 – Radio Radio – Indianapolis, IN
    4/22 – Shank Hall – Milwaukee, WI
    4/23 – Martyrs – Chicago, IL
    4/26 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
    4/27 – The Tralf – Buffalo, NY
    4/28 – Lovin Cup – Rochester, NY
    4/29 – Havana’s – New Hope, PA
    4/30 – River St. Jazz Café – Wilkes Barre, PA
    5/1 – Mexicali – Teaneck, NJ

  • Q-Tip Named First-Ever Hip Hop Curator at Kennedy Center

    Breakout hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar may have created a culture shift at Kennedy Center. When it was announced last year that Lamar would perform at the storied national landmark, tickets sold swiftly. And while Lamar wasn’t the first hip hop artist to perform at Kennedy, he was the one who kickstarted a movement to push for more hip hop on the center’s Washington, D.C. marquee.

    To celebrate the 100th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s birth, Kennedy Center has named Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming and St. Albans, Queens native Q-Tip (née, Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) as artistic advisors for the 2016-2017 season.

    Q-Tip Kennedy Center

    The naming of its first-ever hip hop curator marks a milestone in Kennedy Center’s storied history. Q-Tip will curate the inaugural Hip Hop Culture series this season, recognizing the genre’s contributions to society. In a press release, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts quotes Q-Tip:

    With Hip Hop constantly changing and evolving, it is easy to forget the history and legacy that precede it. I want to begin at the beginning of the Culture to help people see its roots, better understand its present, and responsibly create its future.

    Q-Tip rose to prominence as one of the founding members of Queens hip hop collective, A Tribe Called Quest, a main force in what was to become the Native Tongues Posse, which also included Long Island trio De La Soul. Tribe was revolutionary in its sampling techniques and incorporating jazz elements into its music.

    A Tribe Called Quest recently re-released a 25th anniversary edition of its highly influential debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, in November.

    Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture Season Calendar:

    Kennedy Center Hip Hop Culture Schedule 2016

  • Strange Machines Announce Extensive Spring Tour

    Strange Machines are embarking on their biggest tour to date this spring, traveling to lots of new places and sharing the stage with great bands such as Dopapod, Consider the Source, Broccoli Samurai, Formula 5 and more!

    The guys are fresh off a successful winter tour which included headlining at some of the Northeast’s premiere venues and a show opening for Twiddle in New Haven, Connecticut. This band has been upping the ante with each and every performance and show no signs of slowing down. Check the dates below and come see what all the hype is about.

    March 20 Brooklyn, NY | Brooklyn Bowl *~
    March 24 Syracuse, NY | Funk ‘n Waffles *
    March 25 Buffalo, NY | Buffalo Iron Works *
    April 15 Northampton, MA | Bishop’s Lounge
    April 16 Bridgeport, CT | The Acoustic #
    April 23 Plymouth, NH | PSU Earth Jam
    April 28 Albany, NY | Parish Public House +
    April 29 Ithaca, NY | The Haunt *^
    April 30 Boston, MA | The Sinclair %
    May 6 Newmarket, NH | The Stone Church $
    May 7 Burlington, VT | Nectar’s +
    May 18 Washington, D.C. | Gypsy Sally’s ^
    May 19 Virginia Beach, VA | Doc Taylor’s
    May 20 TBA
    May 21 Bedford, PA | Domefest
    May 28 Great Barrington, MA | MASSGathering (2 sets)
    June 9 Stephentown, NY | Disc Jam Music Festival
    July 30 Croydon, NH | Wild Woods Music Festival

    % w/ Dopapod
    # w/ Consider the Source
    * w/ Broccoli Samurai
    ^ w/ Mister F
    ~ w/ Flux Capacitor
    + w/ Hayley Jane & The Primates
    $ w/ Formula 5

  • Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy Tour Makes 3 New York Stops

    Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy announced that they will be play a short tour together, which will make stops in Port Chester, New York City and Canandaigua.

    Guitarist Jeff Beck and bluesman Buddy Guy will co-headline the tour this summer. It kicks off July 19 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and ends Aug. 10 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The tour includes stops at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on July 20 and CMAC in Canandaigua on July 29. They also make a couple other stops in the Northeast at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey on July 23 and the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

    Jeff Beck, who replaced Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds in 1965, has been a guitar powerhouse for the past 50 plus years. He credits blues great Buddy Guy as being a major influence on his career. Beck said in a press release, “Sharing the stage and this moment with Buddy is a dream for me. His concerts are legendary, and the music world would be a very boring place without his influence.”

    In addition to the co-headlining dates, Jeff Beck is scheduled for a couple solo shows at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut on July 22 and at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. More dates for the tour with Buddy Guy are expected to be announced.

    Jeff Beck/Buddy Guy tour dates:
    July 19 – The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY
    July 20 – Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
    July 22 – Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT *
    July 23 – Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center, Atlantic City, NJ
    July 24 – Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA *
    July 26 – PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
    July 27 – Wolf Trap for the Performing Arts, Vienna, VA
    July 29 – Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Perf. Arts Center, Canandaigua, NY
    July 30 – Meadow Brook, Rochester Hills, MI
    July 31 – Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, IL
    August 3 – Ascend Amphitheatre, Nashville, TN
    August 10 – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA

    * Jeff Beck solo show

  • Venue Change: Cage the Elephant to Play Albany’s Palace Theatre, May 11

    On Tues. May 11, rock band Cage the Elephant will now play a 7 p.m. show at the Palace Theatre in Albany. The group was originally scheduled to perform at the Times Union Center. Tickets purchased prior to the venue change will be honored. Floor seat holders are granted general admission access to the orchestra section of the Palace, and all reserved tickets will have general admission seating in the balcony section. Tickets for both price levels ($45 floor; $37.50 balcony) are still available for purchase at the Palace Theatre box office at 19 Clinton Ave. or through Ticketmaster. NYS Music was on hand to cover Cage the Elephant’s stop at Rochester’s Main Street Armory in March for the Spring Fling Tour; read more here.

    Original Post:

    The Grammy-nominated rock band Cage the Elephant will head out in May on a string of tour dates that will route the Kentucky alt-rockers to several venues in New York and neighboring states, plus stops in nearby Toronto and Montreal.

    cage the elephant palace theatre
    Jack White will release new album “Boarding House Reach” on Friday, March 23.

    The headlining North American tour kicks off May 1 in Little Rock, Arkansas, before CTE stops in Canada and takes the stage at Times Union Center in Albany on May 11, the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on May 15, and at SummerStage in New York City’s Central Park May 16. Supporting acts for this run are Portugal. The Man, Broncho and Twin Peaks.

    Prior to launching the 34-date cross-country trek, which comes to a close June 26 in Phoenix, Arizona, the band is continuing Spring Fling Tour with Silversun Pickups, Foals and Bear Hands with shows billed in Pittsburgh on March 25, at the Main Street Armory in Rochester on March 26, First Niagara Center in Buffalo on March 28, XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, March 30, followed by Portland, Maine, and Providence, Rhode Island.

    The high-energy quartet consists of singer Matt Shultz, guitarist Brad Shultz, bassist Daniel Tichenor and drummer Jared Champion. CTE is hitting the road following the release of their fourth studio album, Tell Me I’m Pretty. A follow-up to 2013’s Melophobia with hits “Come a Little Closer” and “Cigarette Daydreams,” the 10-track record produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys, The Arcs) debuted in December and features the alternative chart-topping single “Mess Around.” CTE has shared the stage with Foo Fighters, Muse and Queens of the Stone Age, among other big-name artists, and most recently, the group performed on the Late Late Show with James Corden, the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Conan.

    Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday, March 18 at 10 a.m. Passes for the upcoming New York dates are currently available through the band’s website, the respective venues and ticketing sites like Ticketmaster.

    Cage the Elephant tour dates:

    3/16 – Don Haskins Center – El Paso, TX ~
    3/18 – Cox Business Center Arena – Tulsa, OK ~
    3/19 – Landers Center – Southaven, MS ~
    3/20 – Freedom Hall Civic Center – Johnson City, TN ~
    3/22 – Richmond Coliseum – Richmond, VA ~
    3/23 – Constant Convocation Center – Norfolk, VA ~
    3/25 – Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, PA ~
    3/26 – Main Street Armory – Rochester, NY ~
    3/28 – First Niagara Center – Buffalo, NY
    3/30 – XL Center – Hartford, CT ~
    3/31 – Cross Insurance Arena – Portland, ME ~
    4/1 – Dunkin Donuts Arena – Providence, RI ~
    5/1 – Verizon Arena – Little Rock, AR *
    5/3 – Chesapeake Energy Arena – Oklahoma City, OK *
    5/4 – INTRUST Bank Arena – Wichita, KS *
    5/6 – DeltaPlex – Grand Rapids, MI *
    5/7 – Masonic Temple Theatre – Detroit, MI *
    5/8 – International Centre, Arrow Hall – Toronto, ON *
    5/10 – Bell Centre – Montreal, QC *
    5/11 – Palace Theatre – Albany, NY *
    5/15 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD *
    5/16 – SummmerStage, Central Park – New York City, NY *
    5/19 – Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN *
    5/20 – Infinite Energy Arena – Duluth, GA *
    5/21 – Hangout Festival – Gulf Shores, AL
    6/3 – KFC Yum! Center – Louisville, KY ^
    6/4 – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica – Cleveland, OH ^
    6/5 – EXPRESS LIVE! – Columbus, OH ^
    6/7 – UIC Pavilion – Chicago, IL %
    6/9 – BMO Harris Pavilion – Milwaukee, WI %
    6/10 – U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center – Minneapolis, MN ^
    6/11 – Coliseum at Alliant Energy Center – Madison, WI ^
    6/14 – Calgary Stampede Corral – Calgary, AB ^
    6/15 – Shaw Convention Centre – Edmonton, AB ^
    6/17 – PNE Forum – Vancouver, BC ^
    6/18 – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater – Portland, OR ^
    6/19 – WaMu Theater – Seattle, WA ^
    6/21 – Shrine Auditorium – Los Angeles, CA %
    6/22 – Valley View Casino Center – San Diego, CA %
    6/23 – Bill Graham Civic – San Francisco, CA %
    6/25 – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, NV ^
    6/26 – Gila River Arena – Phoenix, AZ ^

    ~ Spring Fling tour dates with Silversun Pickups, Foals and Bear Hands
    * with Portugal, The Man + Broncho
    ^ with Portugal, The Man + Twin Peaks
    % with Portugal, The Man

  • Syracuse City Ballet Stages Classic Fairytale This Weekend

    This weekend, Syracuse City Ballet will present Tchaikovsky’s fairytale classic Sleeping Beauty, starring local Central New York dancers with New York City Ballet’s Ana Sophia Scheller as Aurora at the Crouse Hinds Theater. And in addition to professional choreography, glittering costumes and magical sets featuring original puppetry, audience members might catch the real chemistry between the prince and princess, as the two leads are actually a couple.

    syracuse balletScheller and Nicolai Gorodiskii, who will dance the role of Prince Desire, met back in 1996 in Argentina where the two began their dance training, as reported on Syracuse.com. Scheller, a native of Buenos Aires, became a principal ballerina with NYCB in 2012, and she first performed the role of Princess Aurora for the prestigious company in 2013. Ukraine-born Gorodiskii is a former soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet, and this will be his premier performance as Prince Desire. As told to Syracuse.com, Syracuse City Ballet  Artistic Director Kathleen Rathbun said, “Engaging a dancer who is at the level of Ana Sofia Scheller is a big step for our company. And we know that she and Nicolai will enchant our audiences with their skill and artistry in this sumptuous new production.”

    syracuse ballet
    Ana Sophia Scheller as Princess Aurora in New York City Ballet’s 2013 production.

    After months of preparation, Scheller and Gorodiskii arrived in Syracuse this Monday and began rehearsing in the theater with the Syracuse City Ballet Corps de Ballet and other cast members. The Corps consists of 12 dancers from across New York state who auditioned for the spot and have been training with Ballet Mistresses Stephanie Dattellas and Rachael Cierniakoski since January. Professional dancer Anton Kandaurov will perform the role of Bluebird and Gvansta Gavashelishvili of the Connecticut Ballet dances the role of Princess Florine, while Leonid Goikhman and Rie Aioki will play Puss-n-Boots and the White Cat. Other soloists are former SCB dancers and now Rock School for Dance Education students, Kameron Triche (yes, of the same Syracuse Basketball royalty) as the sorceress fairy, and Mary Coon as the young fairy who alters Sleeping Beauty’s curse from death to deep sleep.

    Immediately following Friday night’s show, Syracuse City Ballet hosts its second annual champagne soiree to present local arts champions with Grande Jete Awards. This year’s honorees are Syracuse University Associate Professor of Dance Anthony “Tony” Salatino and Jean Fahey, owner of the Turning Pointe. The soiree is a benefit of membership at the $100 donor level or higher. Dignitaries for the weekend performances are WSYR Newschannel9 anchors Carrie Lazarus and Jennifer Sanders. Lazarus will also emcee the awards reception, which will take place behind the stage after final curtain.

    Syracuse City Ballet is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1997, and it remains one of the only professional ballet companies serving the Central New York community. Through its dance education programs, SCB is deeply committed to serving the full diversity of youth in the community, and its special student performances of The Nutcracker each December are a well-attended and much cherished tradition. Syracuse City Ballet presents Sleeping Beauty on Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. at the Crouse Hinds Theater, John H. Mulroy Civic Center. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or the Oncenter Box Office. Check out the official production trailer below for a sneak preview of the family friendly ballet.

  • Xponential Music Festival Announces Lineup

    Now in its 12th year at Wiggins Park on the Camden waterfront, the Xponential Music Festival has again expanded its festival grounds to include BB&T Pavilion. The annual three-day, two-venue festival will be held July 22 to 24, with another noteworthy lineup just announced.

    Member-supported radio station WXPN has again partnered with Live Nation to bring a slew of national acts to the scenic waterfront festival.

    12745461_976159019087812_1869031334294453962_n

    With the purchase of a 3-Day Go Everywhere Pass, festival goers will have access to all three concerts held at the BB&T Pavilion, in addition to all three days at Wiggins Park. The first night will host Ryan Adams and Kurt Vile and Violators. Night two will include recent Grammy-nominated Alabama Shakes and Gary Clark Jr., with special guest Chicano Batman. The final night includes a special performance by Brandi Carlile and Old Crow Medicine Show, with special guest case/lang/veirs.

    Two stages at Wiggins Park will host dozens of bands and solo artists, including Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Felice Brothers, Father John Misty (solo), Femi Kuti & the Positive Force, the Districts, The Record Company, David Wax Museum, the Suffers, Darlingside and Low Cut Connie. Keeping true to tradition, many artists are featured regularly on WXPN and can attribute a measurable amount of popularity to being on their airwaves.

    The festival is easily accessed by public transportation, with a number of activities for kids and families and an extensive selection of food, drinks and vendors. Resting on a natural amphitheater with pristine acoustics, Wiggins Park has a beautiful view of the Delaware River and accompanying Philadelphia skyline.

    XPonential-Music-Fest-2015-680uw

    Reserved and lawn seating are now available through Ticketmaster.com, the BB&T Pavilion box office or by calling 800-745-3000. In addition to the reserved seat and lawn tickets, weekend passes for Wiggins Park-only concerts will be offered. Upgrade options will be available for a limited time, including a new option to upgrade to reserved seating for each night at BB&T Pavilion.

    Xponential-2016-Poster

  • String Cheese Incident to Play Brewery Ommegang

    Beer and cheese lovers will rejoice at the String Cheese Incident‘s just-announced summer tour, which makes a stop at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown and Big Sky Brewing Company in Missoula, Montana. The tour brings them back to New York to close out at Brooklyn’s historic Kings Theatre.

    string cheese summer 2016Following their three-night headlining appearance at Electric Forest, the String Cheese Incident will head out on tour starting with two back-to-back two night stands in Asheville, North Carolina on July 1 and 2 and an “Independence Incident” July 3 and 4 in Atlanta. A few days later, they roll into Cooperstown Friday, July 8 to play Brewery Ommegang, with Twiddle kicking off the night.

    The tour includes a couple special multi-night runs, including three nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado and two nights at Big Sky Brewing Company. After two nights in Oregon, they take a couple weeks off before playing the Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Aug. 12. They close out their tour with two shows at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on Aug. 13 and 14.

    string cheese summer 2016String Cheese is in the process of recording a new studio album produced by former Talking Heads guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison. They are about to embark on a March Madness tour of Nevada and California.

    Tickets for the summer tour go on sale this Friday, March 11.

    String Cheese tour dates:
    June 24-26, 2016 – Rothbury, MI @ Electric Forest
    July 1-2, 2016 – Asheville, NC @ US Cellular Center Exploreasheville.com Arena
    July 3-4, 2016 – Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park
    July 8, 2016 – Cooperstown, NY @ Brewery Ommegang w/ Twiddle
    July 9, 2016 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
    July 10, 2016 – Portsmouth, VA @ Portsmouth Pavilion w/ Yonder Mountain String Band
    July 15, 2016 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/ TAUK
    July 16, 2016 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/ Kamasi Washington
    July 17, 2016 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre w/ Hot Rize
    July 20-21, 2016 – Missoula, MT @ Big Sky Brewing Company
    July 22, 2016 – Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater
    July 23-24, 2016 – Eugene, OR @ Cuthbert Amphitheatre
    August 12, 2016 – Scranton, PA @ The Peach Music Festival Montage Mountain
    August 13-14, 2016 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre

  • Reel Big Fish Tear Up Higher Ground

    It wasn’t the ‘90s, but it sure felt like it when Reel Big Fish skanked up Burlington’s Higher Ground. It’s been 25 years since the band got its start, and they’re definitely making the most of this significant anniversary.

    Jess Collier - Reel Big Fish - Higher Ground - 2:5:16 14

    The age range in the Higher Ground Ballroom on Feb. 5 was surprising. My friend and I, who saw Reel Big Fish together in high school in the ‘90s, expected everyone there to be our age or older, but it seems the band is still drawing younger audiences as plenty of the kids in attendance seemed to be in their 20s or younger.

    The show began with a set by a California band called the Maxies. Band members all wore creepy masks as they said purposely offensive things, made fun of the headliner and played a song about how they were better than your favorite band. They also did a really touching rendition of the All-4-One classic “I Swear,” complete with the lead singer reaching out a hand to the audience. It was entertaining, but a little too heavy on shtick and light on talent.

    Jess Collier - Maxies - Higher Ground - 2:5:16 02

    Next up was Suburban Legends. The band out of California’s Orange County got the show going in the right direction with some peppy ska. The lead singer, who has a seriously impressive mustache, oozed energy, and the rest of the band wasn’t exactly sitting around. They jumped around onstage, and they carried out a serious amount of choreographed moves — little things like walking left then walking right at the same time, but it was still a lot to do while also playing instruments and singing and all that those things entail.

    Sadly, this band, which has a complicated background, announced in December 2015 that the 40-day tour with Reel Big Fish would likely be their last tour, but they left things open to the possibility of touring again after a break.

    Jess Collier - Suburban Legends - Higher Ground - 2:5:16 02

    But they definitely had fun that night in Burlington. In addition to fun originals, Suburban Legend played a wide variety of hilarious covers like “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and songs from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. They recently released an EP full of covers from animated movies, but their most recent album is called Forever in the Friend Zone, and they played a few tunes from that record as well. All in all, the set was the perfect way to get pumped up for Reel Big Fish.

    And finally, the ska legends took the stage. Reel Big Fish launched right in with one of their hits, “Everything Sucks,” with a vengeance not always seen by bands who have been touring for 25 years.

    Jess Collier - Reel Big Fish - Higher Ground - 2:5:16 01

    Reel Big Fish, from Huntington Beach, California, is currently made up of Aaron Barrett on vocals and guitar, Billy Kottage on trombone, John Christianson on trumpet, Ed Smokey Beach on drums, Derek Gibbs on bass, and Matt Appleton on saxophone and vocal harmonies. Barrett is the only member of the band who remains from the founding lineup, which started as a Led Zeppelin cover band. They grew to success in the ‘90s and early 2000s, but since then they have become more of a band with a cult following, according to their wikipedia page.

    The current band lineup is great — each musician has tons of character and they’re really entertaining to watch.

    Jess Collier - Reel Big Fish - Higher Ground - 2:5:16 07

    The band seems keenly aware of what fuels their popularity, playing plenty of songs from the albums that made them famous, especially Turn the Radio Off. The setlist bounced around between the band’s eight albums, but it started and ended with Turn the Radio Off hits. Toward the end of the show, they said they were going to play their big hit from the ’90s, and they launched into Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for a few moments. Then they went through a few other ’90s hits, teasing the crowd, including Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones‘ “Knock on Wood.” Then finally, they played the song everyone had been waiting for, “Sell Out.”

    The encore consisted of a newer song, “Everyone Else is an Asshole,” before dipping back into TTRO with “Beer.” Then to end the show, they played a-ha’s “Take On Me,” which got Reel Big Fish 15 minutes of fame when they played their rendition of it in the movie BASEketball.

    Overall the show was wholly satisfying. There was plenty of nostalgia but also had a good amount of newer material, and the band’s electric energy kept the crowd going all night. It’s impossible to stand still when Reel Big Fish is throwing it down on stage.

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  • Update: Twiddle Finalizes ‘TumbleDown’ Lineup

    In a video posted to their Facebook page, Twiddle announced the lineup for their Tumble Down taking place July 29 and 30 at Burlington, Vermont’s Waterfront Park.

    In addition to Twiddle’s four sets over the weekend, they’ll be joined by New York funk favorites Turkuaz, Montana-based bluegrass act the Kitchen Dwellers, and special guest Holly Bowling on July 29. July 30 will see them joined by Cabinet and Nahko and Medicine for the People, along with Holly Bowling.

    Tickets are on sale now. Both single-day and two-day passes are available.

    Original Post:

    Vermont-based quartet Twiddle and Higher Ground have announced two nights of Twiddle at Burlington’s Waterfront Park this summer. The weekend will be known as Tumble Down and will be held July 29 and 30.

    twid

    The weekend will continue as part of a tradition started last year at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival that included alternating sets with moe. This year, Twiddle will headline the event with two full sets each night. Several supporting acts will be announced.

    In addition to live music, the weekend will include various activities including a charity disc golf tournament supporting Twiddle’s fan-founded charity, The White Light Foundation. Late night sets will also be announced around Burlington featuring members of Twiddle.

    A limited number of early bird passes will be available at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19 for $54 through Ticketfly.

    The announcement of Tumble Down adds a punch to Twiddle’s already packed summer including dates at Red Rocks and multiple festival appearances including the Frendly Gathering, Lockn’ Festival and the Werk Out.

    Twiddle hits the road in support of their latest release, Plump – Chapter One, on Thursday for a sold-out show at the Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine.