Tuesday night saw, what seemed like, a never ending election style end to the tune of some funky, improvisational music at this photog’s favorite small NYC venue, Brooklyn Bowl. It was here that HeadCount presented a “Soundtrack to History” via the Everyone Orchestra. Hosted by Matt Butler, Everyone Orchestra is an ever changing cast of musicians who are conducted through a dry erase board and crowd participation.
This evenings cast for Headcount’s “Soundtrack to History” was no slouch, and included Marc Brownstein, Steve Kimock, Marco Benevento, Karina Rykman, Mihali Savoulidas, Vinnie Amico, Jeremy Salken, Jay Jennings, Chris Bullock, Natalie Cressman, Jans Ingber, and, unannounced for the second set, Robert Randolph. What a list… apologies if I missed someone.
As you can tell from the gallery below, the Bowl had televisions tuned in to the election, offering a unique vibe to say the least. There were cheers, jeers, eyes locked high to the walls and not at the stage, and nearly everyone on their cell phone. Not a reflection of the music in any way, as this was my favorite EO show I’ve caught over the years, exceeding expectations to be quite honest. Feel free to make your own call as the show is available on YouTube.
On Thursday night at the Westcott Theater, Matt Butler and Everyone Orchestra concocted a musical potion that had us all under a spell. Butler played the role of lead hypnotist as he memorized not only the crowd, but also the band that he so craftily pulled together for this outstanding evening of sonic surprises.
Binghamton-based three-piece, Several Sons, opened the blissful trifecta of acts with their mellow harmonies and soulful unplugged sound. Their performance featured Bradford Allen on cajón drum for the entirety of the performance, which created a backyard fire-pit vibe. Kevin Ludwig took over the lead vocals and rhythm guitar, paving the way for Jack Bucher to display his bluesy chops on lead guitar. The mostly instrumental set list was capped off by a folk rock original, “Moonshine,” paying tribute to the act of getting drunk with friends. What a way to send us off into a set break.
Located just a couple of cities to the left of Syracuse is the blue-collar, “Bills Mafia” community of Buffalo, NY. Football probably holds the title for most discussed topic of conversation on a Saturday night, but I can guarantee that the local groove-rock quartet, Aqueous, is definitely on the minds of many Western New Yorkers. Their appropriately named, “2016 Random Company Tour,” fits the bill perfectly as the entire room anxiously awaits their arrival to the stage. As they entered to DMX’s “Party Up (Up In Here)” blaring on the speakers, we hoped they were about to make us lose our minds (sorry, I went there) and lose our minds we did.
“Strange Times” was first up and allowed Mike Gantzer and Dave Loss to share the spotlight on vocals and guitar solos. The two methodically went line-for-line on this lyrically appealing tune before dropping into a sludgy, greasy transition. Evan McPhaden pounded away on bass to symbolically clean up the jam goo. Solid improvising segued into “The Median” off the 2014 album, Cycles. Rob Houk’s drumming showcased their genre blending skills by combining elements of progressive rock and reggae with a hint of electronica. There was one point towards the end of “Median” where it almost sounded like a completely different piece, but long time fan, Mitch (the guy on the rail whose head seemed to explode note to note), explained that this phenomenon is common during one of their juiciest originals. Loss then seamlessly goes back and forth from guitar to keys while Gatzner pans for gold on lead guitar during the third and final song of the set, “Don’t Do It.” The crowd was definitely thirsty for more after the brief second act, but with Everyone Orchestra being served as an entrée, just about the entire room decided to take a break outside to work up an even stronger appetite.
Butler appeared on stage with his 7-piece mixture of talent to specify the guidelines of the show. He would be writing notes to the band and the crowd on his simple yet effective white board while signaling to all of us via hand gestures, screams resembling words and Hulk Hogan-like crowd controls. Realistically, Butler runs the show like a drag race in the movie Grease, “Rules are, there ain’t no rules.” The ceremony began with Butler warming up the fingers of the esteemed group of musicians as they delivered a tight and funky beat that got the room dancing immediately. Eric Yates deserves the first MVP award of the night due to his funky banjo plucking while Ryan Montbleau deserves a shout out for creating the lyrics, “What do I see in my sight? Westcott Theater on a Thursday night.” Rob Derhak’s bass was bumping along with Emanuel Washington’s drumbeat when Butler asked the crowd to throw an idea at Montbleau for additional lyrics. The best we could up with was “sexy night” which morphed into an entire band-crowd, call-response of “Ugly, sexy night, yeah!”
After a brief stretch of weirdness, the conductor brought us all back down to planet Earth and asked Yates to pick away on the banjo during a fast-paced, unusual and unplanned cover of Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain.” The Westcott was transformed into an old-timey honky-tonk as the band turned the Dylan cover into something reminiscent of Johnny Cash in his prime. Montbleau and Yates had a dueling guitar-banjo section before turning the spotlight to moe.’s Al Schnier for a signature guitar solo. Syracuse’s own Adam Gold from Sophistafunk kicked off the next piece with a heavy yet buttery organ solo. Butler did an amazing job of hazing the Everyone Orchestra freshmen as each member of Sophistafunk joined the group for the first time on Thursday. The conductor wrote, “This is Part A” on the iPad while scribbling up directions on his whiteboard for only the band’s eyes to see. Tommy Weeks took over to deliver a spectacular sax solo before returning to Gold for a spacey synth solo. The baton was passed back to Montbleau for an Everyone Orchestra modification of his original “Dead Set” which features the lyrics “Observe your mind, and stop your thinking” which is good advice for a band expected to go with their gut on these improvised reconstructions.
Aqueous guitarist Mike Gantzer returned to the stage and the applause grew when Butler informed us that it was his birthday. “Soft” was written on the whiteboard as Gantzer took over with a silky guitar riff. The crowd participation was at an all time high as we yelled “Birthday” to celebrate the joyous occasion. The band was fully in sync at this point in the performance and it was evident through the design of a new smash hit “Hotel Party” which Montbleau creatively developed before our eyes. “There’s ice in the bathtub” and “Everyone’s invited” were only some of the outstanding sporadic lyrics sung by Montbleau which brought a collective smile to the room. Gantzer channeled the energy of Jerry Garcia, with a liquid fuzz distortion on his incredible solo before Gold killed the keys on Butler’s command. After the Holiday Inn jungle boogie, the show wrapped up in an epic formation of nine band members with the addition of David Loss from Aqueous and the return of Eric Yates on banjo. The conductor looked more like a mad scientist as he circled the stage giving each and every member one last time to shine. The evening was capped off with birthday boy Gantzer’s in-your-face knockout solo.
Butler thanked the crowd and noted that after 15 years of asking members of different bands to come together so that he can live his dream, they keep showing up and they keep showing up! There is no question that this traveling circus of insane talent brought the goods to Syracuse on Thursday. Some bands spend years touring and writing music together to find out what it is that makes them unique. Matt Butler pulls the rabbit out of his hat night after night by creating the magic rather than searching for it. He is a composer, a communicator, and a connector all in one while leaving his mark on music through his whiteboard, iPad and multitude of invisible air instruments. When asked to join the Everyone Orchestra in the future, just say, “Yes” and strap in for a truly special ride.
Aqueous Setlist: Strange Times> The Median, Don’t Do It
Everyone Orchestra Setlist (To the best of my ability): Funky Intro, Jam (Ugly Sexy Night), Buckets of Rain*, Part A Jam> Dead Set**, Gatzner’s Birthday Jam, Hotel Party Jam, Set Closing Jam
The 7th annual Werk Out Music and Arts Festival at Legend Valley Music Venue and Campground was stacked for success with a powerhouse line-up.
Taking place in Thornville, Ohio, August 4-6, it was more than just the music that fueled the success of this year’s festival. Anchored by moving tributes in honor of former Werks’ keyboardist Norman Dimitrouleas, as well a plethora of artist sit-ins and breakout performances, this year’s festival was marked with emotion and surprises.
The Werk Out’s biggest surprise literally fell on STS9 drummer Zach Velmer, when a female fan managed to bypass festival security. Once onstage, the fan made Werk Out history by attempting a trust fall onto Velmer and his kit. STS9 left the stage to regroup and returned for a high energy second set that closed out the Main Stage on Friday Night.
Friday afternoon was highlighted by the Big Damn Jam’s performance of the Beatles’ classic album Abbey Road. The performance was dedicated to Dimitrouleas, who passed earlier this year. As a member of Big Damn Jam, Dimitrouleas always wanted to perform the album. After his passing, BDJ decided to honor him posthumously with the performance at this year’s Werk Out Music Festival.
The Abbey Road set included a rotating cast of musicians most notably Dino Dimitrouleas (The Werks), Todd Stoop, Alex Delk (Octopus’ Garden), Marcus Cornwell (The Vibe) and Justin Robb (Litz) as well almost a dozen other musicians throughout the afternoon set. Most of the musicians participating had played with Dimitrouleas in various projects over the year. During the set, fabric flowers fashioned from Dimitrouleas’ old shirts were passed out in his honor. Fans and musicians wore them on hats, backpacks and various pieces of clothing throughout the rest of the weekend.
The tributes to Dimitrouleas continued throughout the weekend including The Werks’ Saturday night encore with a dedicated performance of “Carry Me Back Home.”
“I’ve never been so emotionally touched by a musical performance as I was during the Werks encore tribute to Norman on Saturday night,” said Zachary Burns of Grand Rapids, MI. “Everything from the crowd chanting ‘DINO! DINO! DINO!’, to Dino’s speech before the song starting, to seemingly every member and a good portion of the crowd crying during ‘Carry Me Back Home.’ That was the definition of being happy and sad at the same time.”
The Werk Out’s most talked about performance came in the form of the Twerkapod “Tribute to the 90s.” Featuring members of Twiddle, The Werks, and Dopapod, the Friday night late night set was packed with a mix of obvious choices (Green Day, Blink 182, Sublime, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine) and stunning surprises (Britney Spears, Hanson and TLC). Highlighted performances from the set included “Gangsta’s Paradise” which featured a perfect reproduction of the song’s ending choral arrangement and Twerkapod’s word perfect performance of TLC’s “Waterfalls.”
Fans of The Werks weren’t in agreement on which of the weekends multiple sets were the band’s best. Most found that each of the weekend’s set contributed a different experience for the weekend.
“I really enjoyed the first Werks set on Thursday,” noted Tyler Raymond of Michigan. “I’ve seen the Werks more than any other band and the sound and production was top notch from them. The way the light show was coordinated with the band was seriously next level. You could really tell that they were putting the shows on for us and that the guys really love us.”
Dino Dimitrouleas, currently on a hiatus from bass duties with The Werks, joined his band mates on several occasions for sit-ins throughout the weekend starting Friday night. “When Dino came on stage in the tent everyone was so happy” Raymond told NYS Music, “Definitely a moment to always remember.”
Vermont based quartet Twiddle continued to create a buzz about their unique brand of jam. Raymond also noted that the band’s Saturday night sunset performance on the Side Stage was among his favorite non-Werks set of the weekend. “They are moving up the list of my favorite bands quickly because what they bring to the take is so fresh and different than anyone else out there right now.”
The weekend also featured several breakout performances. New York’s Mister F and Teddy Midnight created a buzz in the Big Tent Stage. North Carolina’s Big Something capitalized on their first Werk Out appearance on the Side Stage with a high energy afternoon performance on Saturday afternoon, while Maryland based band Litz turned heads during their Big Tent Stage set, which featured a sit-in from Twiddle keyboardist Ryan Dempsey.
In fact, the weekend was full of sit-ins including Twiddle’s Mihali Savoulidis and The Werks’ Chris Houser performing with Greensky Bluegrass and Dopapod’s Rob Compa shredding during Twiddle’s “Apples.” And according to Derrick Webber of Ypsilanti, MI, these sit-ins add a new element of musicianship for some of his favorite musicians. “It blows me away to hear such clean performances from guys that don’t typically play together, and the passion they still have is inspiring.
The weekend’s ultimate sit-in featured members of the Werks, Twiddle, Greensky Bluegrass and Big Something in Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra. Butler finds a way to coordinate a variety of musical sounds, while leading his EO members to create unique and one time only jams. Twiddle bassist Zdenek Gubb stepped on stage to lead the EO to the highest energy, grooved out dance party of the set. However, Houser received the set’s MVP award for showcasing a variety of styles, genres and face-melting solos throughout the performance.
Beyond the music, the Werk Out featured a large number of vendors, giving attendee’s a variety of food, beverages, merchandise and crafts to choose from over the weekend. Vendors for the weekend all were competitively priced, creating a fairly priced and active marketplace throughout the weekend.
Nick Augustine, a first time Werk Out attendee from Maryland, noted that his favorite non-musical part of the weekend was the fire spinners and propane dance floor set up near the late night stage. “What a cool addition to the atmosphere!”
The Werk Out looks to return to the Legend Valley Music Venue and Campground for its eighth installment next August. The venue has plenty of space for the festival to grow without the inconvenience of having to move locations to accommodate its growing popularity. What the Werk Out does right is that it cultivates an environment of friendship and community while packing its line-up with musicians and artists that clearly have solid working relationships and mutual respect for their fellow musicians.
Augustine, who told NYS Music that he will be making the Werk Out an annual addition to his summer festival plans, said it was the overwhelming sense of community that made the festival a stand-out event. “The staff, the crew and the people were all adding to making this festival fun, beautiful, exciting and safe. From the decorations to the sound and lights to the amount of good vibes and vending, this festival was one of the best I’ve attended!”
Nestled inside the Legend Valley Concert Venue and Campground, the Werk Out looks to be the sleeper festival of Summer 2016. With a jam packed lineup and the intimacy of a smaller venue, this year’s festival features a variety of musical acts, vendors, craftspeople and activities. Now in it’s seventh year, the festival returns to Thornville, Ohio, August 4 through 6.
Headliners and host band The Werks will perform all three nights, while Twiddle and Dopapod will hit the stages for two nights. STS9 tops the lineup with two sets while funk masters Lettuce and The Motet lead the festival’s late night efforts.
The Werk Out will also play host to several tribute sets including the highly anticipated Twerkapod “Tribute to the 90s” featuring members of The Werks, Dopapod and Twiddle as well as Daft Phunk – a Daft Punk tribute performed by Earphunk.
The festival is also packed with many of Ohio’s finest up and coming festival artists including Broccoli Samauri, reggae rock fusion Tropidelic, and Ghost Gardens.
Other must see non native Ohio see include North Carolina based rock jam fusion Big Something, Maryland-based band Litz, and New York state based bands Mister F and Teddy Midnight.
“Don’t miss the Glostik Willy late night set on Saturday Night/Sunday morning,” noted Grand Haven, MI, native Zachary Burns, a three-year vet of the Werk Out. He also suggests getting to the venue early to take advantage of wooded shady camping, as space in these areas is limited.
“Definitely don’t skip out in the Disc-O-Pizza vendor,” Burns also suggested. “ Some of the best/fairly priced festi food you can get.”
Columbus, Ohio native Jake Ashworth agrees with Burns. “When in need of food, seek out Disc-O-Pizza. And Gilligan’s has the best smoothies.”
Ashworth also mentioned taking advantage of the showers near the stage to stay cool and suggest if you want to post up in your hammock, to get there early because “the trees fill up fast.”
Music begins on Thursday at 4 p.m. Saturday day passes are available at the gate for $80. Weekend passes are still available and can be purchased in advance or at the gate. Camping is included. No alcohol is sold during the festival, however, according to the festival website, “Please bring your own alcohol for the weekend. And some to share.”
Summer Camp Music Festival has developed into a time-suspended Bonnaroo, c. 2002-2005. Big names and small alike are found at the annual festival in Chillicothe, IL, and while the size of the festival grounds have grown only as needed to accommodate growth, attendance reached a reported 30,000 in 2016, the festival’s largest year. But Summer Camp seems to know when to stop, unlike Bonnaroo; the number of stages has been mostly consistent for a number of years, and the propensity to add-on the big names is reserved for acts that fans may only get one chance to see this year, like Jason Isbell or Mudcrutch, and not reverting to bringing in an LCD Soundsystem or 2015 Outkast when they can be found at many festivals.
photos by Dave Decrescente
What makes Summer Camp standout is that it sticks to a lineup that works; start with moe., Umphrey’s McGee, a handful of Chicago and Midwest bands, the best funk and jam bands touring today, some new names, some DJs and a couple of random acts (Big Grizmatic, George Clinton and P-Funk) and you have a functional recipe that doesn’t need to be reevaluated each year to bolster the bottom line or appeal to a newer fanbase. Summer Camp remains an annual tradition for thousands, and the familiar yet diverse lineup with must-see acts from around the country is the origin of this tradition. Collaboration and a constant flowing party with the Midwest’s finest soundtrack is the focus of the weekend at Summer Camp, with a little rain mixed in for good measure.
Now when it comes to attending a large festival, or really any festival for that matter, it becomes impossible to see everything, and sacrifices need to be made. If you’ll see Turkuaz in two weeks, do you skip them and go see Future Rock, a band you might not see outside the Midwest? Or pass up a little Sunday night moe. for March Fourth? (Answers may vary.) That being said, when your RV blows a tire on the way out to Summer Camp, you can cross a few artists off your Thursday list and pray the tire repair gods smile kindly upon you. And with that, we begin at Summer Camp, in the Vibe Tent on Thursday night, with Wyllys.
Creating a bookend for NYS Music’s Summer Camp as he performed late night in the VIP tent until dawn on Sunday, Wyllys threw down a powerhouse set in the Vibe Tent, dropping nu disco on the unsuspecting crowd, followed by Break Science, who was joined the next evening by the Shady Horns on the Starshine Stage. After getting warmed up in the Vibe Tent, we headed to the Camping Stage and happened upon The Waydown Wanderers who come across as the next Railroad Earth and more than a string band with ardent fans packing the hill. Sun Stereo was a pleasant and energetic surprise, filling in for the delayed London Souls, while in the Red Barn, all guests were welcomed to join the Werks, Louis the Saint and Lettuce for the Thursday night pre-party.
Friday morning got hoppin’ with a dose of the Nth Power’s high-intensity soul, which transferred over nicely to Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds who woke the crowd on the Sunshine Stage with a healthy serving of funk and a cover of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes.” Down at the Moonshine Stage, moe. dropped their first set of the weekend, featuring a monster “Haze,” and later played an acoustic “Not Coming Down” > “Wormwood” > “Okayalright” for the VIP crowd that evening.
At the Camping Stage, Aqueous tore into their second set of the weekend with “Origami” and “Kitty Chaser,” with Rob Houk behind the kit, a potentially great fit for a band that has been searching for a permanent drummer for the past six months. On Thursday night, Rob handed off the sticks to Vinnie Amico from moe., who sat in for Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Jimkata followed with a lively set, highlighted by “In the Moment,” an indie-pop number that didn’t stray far from improvisational roots and showed the trio in great form.
On the Moonshine Stage, Greensky Bluegrass invited Al from moe. to join them for the Wood Brothers’ “Luckiest Man,” followed by bringing Keller Williams up for “For Sure, Uh Huh” and covering the Band’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” for good measure. Back up at Sunshine Stage, Umphrey’s rained down on the crowd with a ridiculous “Plunger” > “Wife Soup,” hit fans with a one-two punch of “Syncopated Strangers” and “Divisions” to close their first set of the weekend. A monster second set began with the recent arrival “Stinko’s Ascension” and “Ocean Billy,” which seemingly turned the spigot in the sky off for the rest of the night. A “2×2” sandwich with “Speak Up” and “In the Kitchen” > “Hurt Bird Bath.”
Between moe. and Umphrey’s sets, Future Rock’s livetronica hit the Starshine Stage, a Second City complement that kept the energy rolling from the two fire sets of Umphrey’s. Over at the Campfire Stage was one of the largest crowds of the weekend, where a few thousand filled in for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. For non-stop late night funk, this four piece from Baltimore was the perfect pre-Sunrise Kickball music you could ask for. Performing songs off their 2015 album Psychology, as well as covers of the “Cantina Jam” from Star Wars and “Psycho Killer,” and a second time ever played “We Put the Fun in Funk,” made for one of the most enjoyable and exhausting sets of the weekend.
After getting some post-Sunrise Kickball rest, Saturday began with Field Day activities. From 3 to 6 p.m., the music from Starshine Stage and Vibe Tent were the soundtrack to the games this year, and what a soundtrack it was. Unlike Pluto got things started during Dodgeball and Tug of War, treating us to trap and progressive house beats, perfect to warm things up on the field. Michael Menert and the Pretty Fantastics were pretty damn incredible, bringing a dose of soul to electronic music honed under Pretty Lights Music, aiding in an epic Capture the Flag that ended with the Yellow Team winning the event. When it was time for the Twister competition, Gibbz provided the perfect beats for the extended yoga session on a makeshift Twister board. Given that this Brooklyn DJ burst onto the scene only recently, having him as the beats to the last hour of Field Day was perfection in scheduling. (Oh, and the Red Team won Field Day, in case anyone was keeping score.)
Dopapod served as outro music as the weary legs of sweaty Scampers departed Field Day for some rest before another raging night of Umphrey’s and moe. A brief storm featuring a double rainbow cooled the festival down a bit before Umphrey’s, the timing of which is always welcome to keep dust down and chill the grounds slightly after a long hot day. Umphrey’s two sets were a hard rock lovers dream, with “Miss Tinkle’s Overture,” “Puppet String,” “Wizard Burial Ground,” “1348,” and “Nothing Too Fancy.” The encore of Mark Ronson’s “Daffodils” was perfectly executed before segueing back into “All in Time,” capping off an old-school set, perfect if you were celebrating your 200th Umphrey’s show that evening.
Heading back down to the Moonshine Stage, moe. gave a nod to two of the major music losses of 2016, David Bowie, with a cover of “Fame,” and Prince, with “Purple Rain.” The string of covered continued in the second set with Kyle Hollingsworth joining for “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” “Opium” and “Making Flippy Floppy,” the former and latter being usual Umphrey’s covers. “George,” “Wind it Up” and “Lazarus” closed out the set and fans moved onto campsites or late-night stages. Strolling back to the late-night music, Turbo Suit with Ryan Stasik performed a funked-out rendition of Nirvana’s Nevermind, and festival dark horse Sunsquabi threw down at the Camping Stage with serious drive behind his electro-funk.
Relaxing with a keg of Goose Island Green Line and the Field Day crew started the day off just right, with Tom Hamilton’s American Babies playing on Starshine Stage. Heading over for Umphrey’s day set, the “early” risers (1 p.m.) were treated to a “Cemetery Walk” > “Bad Friday” and some acoustic tunes as well, including “Gone for Good,” “No Diablo” and the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?”before wrapping up the day with “Sociable Jimmy” > “JaJunk.”
Catching Twiddle in the Midwest made me curious if the Vermont group had the same response they did in the Northeast, and indeed they did. The largest audience of the weekend at Starshine was a captive one for a five-song set, including an energetic opener in “Apples” and an emotional “Hattie’s Jam” > “When it Rains it Poors,” featuring Chris Houser from the Werks on guitar.
Following Twiddle’s set, the Werks invited up Ryan and Mihali to join them on a shredtastic “G Funk” and closed their set with a cover of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein.” Heading over quickly to the Red Barn for Make a Difference’s Everyone Orchestra set, guest bandleader Derek Chamberlain led a group including Al Schnier, Marc Brownstein, Jeremy Salken, Kyle Hollingsworth, Jennifer Hartswick, Tom Hamilton, Mimi Naja, Daniel Lamb, Nicholas Gerlach and Chris Gelbuda through his own funky creation, while Matt Butler handled conducting duties for an hour’s worth of on-the-spot all-star compositions.
Rushing back over to the Starshine Stage for Here Come the Mummies was worth it—this is one of the best festival acts, period. Award-winning studio musicians from Nashville, who are under contract and thus, cannot perform under their own names, keep their identity under-wraps by performing as mummies. But all the while, they put on the funkiest of shows, one honed in Nashville studios and elsewhere around the country, performing suggestive songs that will keep you smiling, while your feet and hips do the rest.
Tom Petty and Mike Campbell’s pre-Heartbreakers group Mudcrutch got their highly anticipated set off to a rousing start with the classic “Shady Grove,” selections from their first album, “Orphan on the Storm,” “Scare Easy,” “Crystal River,” and the Byrds’ “Lords of the Bayou.” The set had a handful of tracks off their latest release 2 that fit neatly into the middle of the set, including the outlaw cowboy tune and Benmont Trench penned “Welcome to Hell,” “Dreams of Flying,” “Beautiful World” and “Hope.” For those who don’t get to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sell out sheds when they do tour, seeing Mudcrutch allows you to catch a slightly different Petty/Campbell outfit that is a resounding late-career success.
moe. finished the Moonshine Stage off with “Baba O’Reilly,” where they were joined by Yonder Mountain’s Allie Kral on fiddle, following up with “Spine of a Dog” > “Buster,” “Jazz Wank” > “Rebubula” with the benefit of quadrophonic sound emitted from speakers across the bowl. As an added tongue-in-cheek bonus, the Who’s Quadrophenia served as set-break music.
Set two began with a bittersweet moment for Summer Camp; Mike Armintrout bid farewell to the festival he had a hand in booking and marketing for 16 years, bringing a large number of Summer Camp staff to the stage as Al Schnier and festival promoter Ian Goldberg gave credit where credit was due to Armintrout, before an emotional on-stage audience.
moe. dropped a five-song set for the last notes of the Moonshine Stage, starting with a 30-minute “Recreational Chemistry” followed by “Kids,” and between both Rob was on top of his game on bass, a highlight of moe.’s sets this weekend for sure. A Floyd-ish “Silversun” and rockin’ “Timmy Tucker” all brought out Rob’s bass, something that Big Grizmatic’s crowd missed out on. An encore of Cream’s “White Room” featured a Rob on near-perfect vocals and a disco ball lighting up the entire crowd—the perfect ending to the weekend of the host band. Props to the guy behind me shouting out “Chicken rigis,” “Utica Club” and “Saranac” during lulls between songs, for a delicious reminder of home while the hometown band closed out their Midwest festival.
One last stop of the night was to catch Crosseyed and Phishless, a unique idea for a Phish cover band in that they only cover Phish covers and jam them out quite well. The five-piece group notably includes the sounds of a Languedoc guitar and Modulus bass, making the performance uncanny to what you might find at Wrigley Field in a few weeks. Covers of “Sneakin Sally Through the Alley,” “Roses are Free,” “Drowned” and even “When the Circus Comes to Town” were crowd pleasers, hinting at Phish but never fully crossing the line into being a Phish cover band.
As the RVs rolled out Monday morning and Scampers cleaned up their campsites to head home across the country, another year of Summer Camp was in the books. There are few festivals like Summer Camp, and many that can take a page from the successful chapter Jay Goldberg Presents writes each year.
The Ether Project, a new jam band experience that brings the audience into the creation of the music, will bring special guest Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band) with them to Brooklyn Bowl on Friday, February 5.
The process of engaging the audience starts with a lucky guest who gets to choose a new key and genre for the jam from a selection of white laminated placards. The genres range from “Phunky Furry Thug” to “Hipster Polka” to “Light Metal” and builds a back-and-forth of audience participation leading to a unique musical performance.
Guitarist Vic Cornette spoke with NYS Music to share what their live performance entails and what fans can expect from their special performance this weekend at Brooklyn Bowl.
Pete Mason: Ether Project is a unique live experience. For the uninitiated, what sets Ether Project shows apart from other improvisational performances?
Victor Cornette: I think what sets us apart from other improv performances is that the audience initiates what we do next by choosing key and Genre before each Jam or song. It ultimately breaks down the barrier between audience and musician.
PM: How does Ether Project differ from Everyone Orchestra?
VC: It’s funny that you bring up Everyone Orchestra because Matt Butler is the inspiration for this project. I had great pleasure in working with them intimately for some runs through Colorado and the East Coast. The difference between us is the audience decides musician to start jam, the key and the genre not the conductor. I feel Ether takes on the daunting task of letting the listener be apart of the improv process and to understand how magical it is when it all works out or when it doesn’t. PM: What influences does the band draw upon in creating each live show?
VC: As far as influences for each live show it’s completely based on what the audience wants, who I have sit in and what’s on the mind of my bandmates. It’s all from The Ether.
PM: In what way does the audience play a part in The Ether Project?
VC: This took some time to work out but I came to solution with the help of my amazing band. A table is placed in front of the stage which have cards of genres and keys. Audience members ,first come first serve , will decide what we do next. Our Jam liaison helps orchestrate this and puts it into play when we are ready for the next Jam.
As you can tell from the gallery below, the Bowl had televisions tuned in to the election, offering a unique vibe to say the least. There were cheers, jeers, eyes locked high to the walls and not at the stage, and nearly everyone on their cell phone. Not a reflection of the music in any way, as this was my favorite EO show I’ve caught over the years, exceeding expectations to be quite honest. Feel free to make your own call as the show is available on YouTube.
The process of engaging the audience starts with a lucky guest who gets to choose a new key and genre for the jam from a selection of white laminated placards. The genres range from “Phunky Furry Thug” to “Hipster Polka” to “Light Metal” and builds a back-and-forth of audience participation leading to a unique musical performance.