NYS Music 20​16

Tag: NY

  • Hearing Aide: Eastern Electric ‘Suburban Daydreams’

    Eastern Electric, alternative indie rock from Guilderland, NY, put out their latest album, Suburban Daydreams, on December 9, 2016. The album opens up with the title track, led by Will Burger’s dream-like voice, and sets the listener up for the rest of the album which can be characterized as emotional and dynamic. With a balanced blend of simple yet layered ambient instrumentation, Eastern Electric delivers an impactful performance on par with most signed, touring and recording acts. Immediately upon hearing their single “She’s a Quiet Driver,” I was greatly impressed by the talent and writing of this young band, but there was no way I could have anticipated how much I would enjoy the full album. With proper determination, I could easily see a larger audience listening to Eastern Electric.

    Engineered, produced, mixed and mastered by Scoops Dardaris at the World Citizen Party House in Albany, NY, Suburban Daydreams clocks in close to thirty minutes in length. At first listen, all types of different influences are present. Tracks such as “I Don’t Know Yet” and “Raise My Fucking Grade” pull sounds from legendary rockers such as Nirvana and Brand New, especially between their bassist Ryan Keegan and drummer Jack Buttridge. Adding simple yet effective smoothness to the mix are Jackson Wolfe on guitar and Michael Beeche on keys.

    I think the key element that gives Suburban Daydreams its x-factor is that none of the musicians featured on the album overplay. While the album certainly could have been longer and still kept the listeners attention, it is devoid of over complication or long, 80’s style guitar solos or extra sprinkled toppings, save a trumpet solo in “Whispering Goodbyes,” a violin lead in “Ignite,” and a harmonica featured in “Blue Eyes Cryin’.” Eastern Electric gets on their metaphorical stage, plays without giving a speech in between songs, finishes the set in short time, but leaves the metaphorical crowd in awe. Outside of metaphors, I’ve seen them live in Albany, NY and can attest to their professionalism and quality.

    But Eastern Electric didn’t just put out a good album. They surpassed expectations set out for local bands at this stage in their career. They have my attention, and my respect, as I’m sure they will from many who enjoy groups such as City and Colour, Brand New and Cymbals Eat Guitars as well as many others. Personally, I’m looking forward to hearing their future work and seeing them live.

    Key tracks: Suburban Daydreams, She’s a Quiet Driver, Blue Eyes Cryin’, Raise My Fucking Grade

  • The Goo Goo Dolls Return Home to Buffalo

    Darien Lake was the loudest it had been all year. Our boys returned home as the Goo Goo Dolls originated in Buffalo over 20 years ago. Chatting with local Buffalonians you hear stories from how “we partied together back in the day” to “I remember when they first started out.” I have roots tied back to them from when my uncle used to work with Robby and Rzeznik at local bars back when they first started. Among their pre-set mix was Rose Royce’s “Car Wash,” a warped reference to their 1993 release “Superstar Carwash.”

    Rzeznik continued to thank Buffalo. Saying “you believed in us when nobody gave a shit.” The set was a vigorous with a blend of old and newer material, opening with “Over and Over.”  You could see pure happiness on Robby`s face as he bounced around on all over overlooking “This is perfect,” Rzeznik would say during the show, “This is exactly what summer is supposed to be like. It’s all good.”
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    Collective Soul turned up the heat; they were the best direct support Goo`s could have asked for. Ed Roland, frontman of CS had a lot to say that evening; and it was about mid-set that lead him to say what might’ve been on the minds of many. “We started in the ’90s; we are NOT of the ’90s. We still fucking rock.” The band played their newest single “See What You Started by Continuing,” the third ever performance of the song. The band dedicated their closer, “The World I Know,” to The Tragically Hip, a touching gesture and moment in the flawless set.

    Tribe Society stick out a bit on a lineup with Collective Soul and The Goo Goo Dolls. However, they quickly got the audience on their side by playing “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins. The crowd also enjoys the flute player running around the stage is a cool unique feature of this band. Vocalist Gavin took a minute to thank us photographers and how hard we work. That was highly appreciated and not a common gesture by any means.

  • The Final Countdown: Seven Days Until Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival 2016

    Through the wide hills of Oak Hill, NY, into the vast plains of Walsh Farm, the annual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival will make a grand appearance next weekend, July 14 through 17, 2016. It features every fundamental component of a great music festival, like a carefully developed lineup, camping spaces for every species of festival-goer, top food vendors and ongoing activities to be a part of, if one of the seven venues in the festival doesn’t already tickle your fancy. In honor of their recently released weekend schedule, here’s a breakdown of what we’re looking forward to at Grey Fox.
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    Potentially dabbling in and out of the ongoing jam lessons in the Grass Roots and Slow Jam Tents, this first day at the festival is about getting your bearings. Touring around through the various stages, it’s easy to submerge in the dozens of opening day bands, with some groups like the Wood Brothers playing two different stages. For some fresher sounds, the Emerging Artist Showcase is certainly worth a visit. The music stops after Scythian goes on at 11 p.m. Thursday night, but this won’t stop the music in Picker’s Paradise — the premier camping destination. For those who turn in early, there are plenty of morning activities to get the day started right, including morning yoga and meditation. The morning seems to be a high-traffic hour for vendors as well, with multiple coffee and breakfast stations for your early morning cravings. The music will pick back up around 11 a.m., and continue into Friday night, featuring Trout Steak Revival on the Catskill and High Meadow stage, and some late jammers like Lonely Heartstring Band, the SteelDrivers and Matuto.

    If you don’t make seeing Béla Fleck and Chris Thile the highlight of your Saturday, don’t bother leaving your campsite. This show starts at 9:45 p.m. sharp at the High Meadow Stage, but we recommend getting there early before flocks of people gather in front to witness this dynamic duo take on the Grey Fox Festival Stage. Luckily, there are many reasons to be there early anyway, with some killer bands playing beforehand, like Elephant Revival at 6 p.m. and the Gibson Brothers at 7:15 p.m. As Sunday brings Grey Fox to a close, there are still incentives to stay for the day, with the raffle winner drawings at 1:30 p.m. and sets from the Stray Birds and an encore performance of Della Mae at the High Meadow Stage.

    With back-to-back shows, more food than you can stomach, ongoing daily activities and the overall sensory overload, it doesn’t look like they’ll be much sleeping at Grey Fox this year. Luckily for campers, gates open as early as 7 a.m. on Wednesday, so there’s plenty of time to get settled and take a weekend’s worth of shuteye. Make sure you don’t sleep too long, because once Thursday kicks off the live performances, it’ll be hard to walk away from. If you see the NYS Music banner, make sure you give us a shout out. We’ll see you there.

    To look at the full weekend schedule, check it out here, and if you haven’t bought your tickets yet, hurry up and buy them here.

  • Metal Allegiance All-Star Lineup Jams In Rochester

    Friday night was the ultimate jam night at the Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY. The all-star lineup known as Metal Allegiance stopped in town on April 1st to give metal fans a night to remember. The band is made up of the best of the best when it comes to metal musicians. Metal Allegiance features current and past members of bands such as Testament, Dream Theater, Death Angel, Guns N’ Roses and more.

    Taking over vocal duties for the evening were Chuck Billy of Testament and Mark Osegueda of Death Angel. Together these guys ripped through a setlist that consisted of both metal classics and original songs. The guitars for the evening were provided by Chuck Billy’s bandmate in Testament Alex Skolnick and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who was, until recently, a member of Guns N’ Roses. On drums for the evening was Mike Portnoy, who has been a member of Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold. Finishing off the lineup on bass was Mark Menghi, the founder of Metal Allegiance.

    Even though attendance at the Montage Music Hall was low, the band didn’t seem to care. Mark Osegueda made it clear throughout the night that these guys were out on the road to celebrate heavy metal music and have fun. The celebration of metal started with a cover of “Electric Eye” by Judas Priest featuring Osegueda on vocals. Next up were two Iron Maiden covers that the crowd instantly got into. Chuck Billy took the vocals for “Wrathchild” and it was incredible to hear him do more Iron Maiden. The cover of “Powerslave” featured on Testament’s last studio album was a personal favorite.

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    The night wasn’t all covers for Metal Allegiance. In 2015, Metal Allegiance penned a deal with Nuclear Blast to release a full-length album of original material. The self-titled album featured a who’s-who from the metal scene, including David Ellefson of Megadeth, Gary Holt of Exodus and Slayer, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and many others. The deluxe edition of the album included one cover of the Dio song “We Rock” that included Chris Jericho, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Alissa White-Gluz, Phil Demmel, Mike Portnoy, Alex Skolnick, Mark Osegueda and more. With the core of Metal Allegiance in Rochester on Saturday, the group ripped through originals “Can’t Kill The Devil”, “Dying Song” and “Pledge of Allegiance”. These three songs mixed right in with the covers and definitely showed these all-stars are capable of anything.

    Wrapping up the second half of the night were covers of Black Sabbath, Kiss, Van Halen, AC/DC, Motörhead and Metallica. While Skolnick took out his inner Eddie Van Halen, Bumblefoot took a break to watch him make Eddie’s work seem easy. Skolnick also rocked a Gibson SG similar to Tony Iommi’s for the Black Sabbath tunes.

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    It’s unfortunate that Rochester couldn’t draw more fans for an awesome Friday night show. This Metal Allegiance all-star lineup probably won’t be back in the area anytime soon because of the difficulties in working around everyone’s schedules. For those who did make the show, they witnessed some of the absolute best cover the absolute best along with some awesome original tunes.

    To keep up to date with tour dates and new releases, check out the Metal Allegiance Facebook Page and Official Website.

    Setlist:

    Electric Eye (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Ides of March

    Wrathchild (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Can’t Kill The Devil (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Fast As A Shark (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Balls To The Wall (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Heaven & Hell (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Creeping Death (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Territory (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Dying Song (Vocals: Mark Osegueda and Chuck Billy)

    Pledge Of Allegiance (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Lord Of This World (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Into The Void (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    God Of Thunder (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Running With The Devil (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Eruption

    Whole Lotta Rosie (Vocals: Mark Osegueda)

    Iron Fist (Vocals: Chuck Billy)

    Seek And Destroy (Vocals: Mark Osegueda and Chuck Billy)

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