Marco Benevento, touring in support of his recently released half-concept/half dance-inflicted rock anthems album The Story of Fred Short, will make a run through upstate New York this week. Of the new album, the LA Times says, Marco “continues a rewarding effort to straighten his twisted sound into the guise of an indie-rock singer-songwriter, harnessing his inventive sonic palette into rewardingly bite-size pop songs that touch on disco and soul” while Boulder Weekly calls it “a swirling pastiche of deep grooves, buoyant pop filigrees and grinding old-school psychedelic reveries.”
Benevento has been keeping busy with sporadic dates in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, playing with The Arcs and The Barr Brothers, and gearing up for the long-awaited reunion of the Duo. But his main focus has been his solo band, which features fellow JRAD-ian Dave Dreiwitz on bass and Andy Borger on drums. Seeing Benevento’s solo performances is to catch him in his element.
Starting on Thursday at the Montage Music Hall in Rochester, the band will continue to Hector at the Stonecat on Friday the 13th (watch out!) before hitting the Tralf Music Hall in Buffalo on Saturday night. Rochester’s own Mikaela Davis will open the shows with her gorgeous and unique harp-lead indie folk rock. And who knows, maybe she’ll even sit in with Benevento for a song or two, like she did recently in Brooklyn.
The show kicked off with opening acts The Real Chaos, Insane E, Ajax and Trilogy. I have to admit given the number of openers and the limited amount of time each were allotted to perform, they all delivered very energetic and intense sets and did a fantastic job of getting the audience warmed up for a very powerful night of music and mayhem.
For those who may not know who Buckethead is, he’s a guitarist who can practically play anything. Buckethead is a guitar virtuoso who covers many different genres including metal, funk, classical and more. Starting in the late ’80s and learning from the great Paul Gilbert, Buckethead has been attached to his guitar ever since. Bucket’s first solo album, Bucketheadland, came out in 1992, and that’s where the journey began.
It was my first time being at 
Markellis, of Saratoga Springs, recently joined Floodwood, the bluegrass side project of moe.’s Vinnie Amico. He’ll join them at many shows throughout New York, starting this week. He also plays with a variety of other musicians in the area and can be seen throughout New York, primarily in the Capital Region.
This album can actually be enjoyed on two very different levels. On the surface, if you happen to just be listening in passing, this album can be appreciated for its simplicity and repetitiveness in both the instrumental and lyrical aspects of the music. Full disclosure: I admittedly was not overly impressed by this album when giving it a first listen, in part due to the fact that there aren’t any complicated jams or epic solos, but upon truly listening to the lyrics – which is something you evidently must do to be able to fully appreciate this album – it becomes clear just how impressive this album is. The heartfelt lyrics take you on a journey through something most of us have been through or are presently in: a relationship.
The guys follow opening track “The Builder” with a tune called “Blue Dream,” a lovely reggae song that evokes mental images of innocence, relaxation, and contentment. Guitar and drums gently ease listeners into a euphoric mix of horns and hand percussion. With that, the scene is set for the vocals, sung in a style adds to the overall reggae flavoring.