NYS Music 20​17

Category: Music Festivals

  • Revisit moe.downs 11-15 and the Festival’s Return to Snow Ridge

    The third and final chapter in NYS Music’s three part series on moe.down revisits the 11th through 15th festivals. In 2010, the band moved the festival from the grounds of Turin, NY, where they spent the last decade, to a new location at Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, New York. For the next two years, moe.down would call this location home.

    moe.down XI

    Line-up: moe. The Black Keys. Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. Mike Gordon. Lotus. Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. Punch Brothers. Built to Spill. Tortoise. Ryan Montbleau Band. The Macpodz. The Brew. Monkey Wrench. Orgone. Turbine. Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds.

    moe.

    moe.down XI was the first time a multi-day festival had been held at the Gelston venue. Infrastructure had to be built to pump in water to the campgrounds and crude roads had to be roughly smoothed out to get attendees on site. This first year on the grounds also brought drizzles of rain throughout, as well as a chill, damp air that lingered each day, with touches of sun peaking through here and there.

    The original line-up in 2010 featured Jakob Dylan, but he unfortunately had to back out and was replaced with Grace Potter and The Nocturnals for this year’s events. It’s not very often that artists on the original line-up have to back out, but this year’s schedule change kept the flow going. Who doesn’t love watching Grace Potter literally grace the stage with her beauty, Flying V guitar in hand, and breathy vocals melting into the microphone? Other noteworthy performances over the weekend included sets by Phish bassist Mike Gordon and his solo band, who’s set included Radiohead’s “15 step,” as well as The Brew blowing up the venue with an unexpected cover of Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero.”

    Host band moe. played on the main stage each day of the festival. The customary kids parade occurred on Saturday, with the stream of kids attending ending up on the main stage while moe. laid down some energetic jams. Each year, a mayor is chosen by the audience. The winner of the annual election of the mayor of moe.down went to Rage Lincoln and his reading of the Headysburg Address.

    Notable sets included the evening Saturday set that opened with “Plane Crash” and then closed out the night, before encore, going back into “Plane Crash,” bringing the night’s performance to a smooth finish.  The last night of the festival, moe. busted out a twisty turny extended “Farmer Ben” that was crammed with nuggets of unexpected surprises. Hints and teases of Rush splashed about through the jam, including touches of “Spirit of Radio,” “Tom Sawyer,” and “Working Man.”

    moe. fan, Mike Quinn, looked back at some of his most unforgettable moments from moe.down and this year in particular brought fond memories. “I’ve been lucky enough to witness some really amazing things at moe.down. I’ve seen friends get engaged (moe.down 11) and then two years later get married at the top of the hill (moe.down 13). I was with my friends when they felt their son in utero kick for the first time at moe.down (11).”

    Check out a smoking “Recreational Chemistry” from 9/4/2010:

    9/3/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set 1: Zed Naught Z>(nh) Time Again>Waiting For The Punchline, Blue Jeans Pizza>(nh) Captain America>Puebla>George, Brent Black>Akimbo

    Encore: Brent Black>Billy Goat

    9/4/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set 1: Skrunk>Lazarus>Spine Of A Dog*, New York City^, St. Augustine>32 Things

    Encore: Y.O.Y.^^

    Set 2: Plane Crash>Hector.’s Pillow>Bring You Down, Daydreaming, Paranoid Android#>Ricky Marten>Time Ed

    Set 3: Seat Of My Pants>(nh) Bearsong>(nh) Runaway Overlude>(nh) Recreational Chemistry, Not Coming Down>Wormwood>Plane Crash

    Encore: Faker

    * w/ Powerhouse ending
    ^ moe.down Kids’ Tent Parade
    ^^ Dedicated to Monkey Wrench (who played on the Buzz Stage right afterwards)
    # Last time played 7/20/07

    9/5/10 – Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set 1: Buster>Haze>Yodelittle>McBain, Cornflake Girl>(nh) Timmy Tucker

    Set 2: Moth>Queen Of Everything, Four>Rebubula

    Encore: Deep This Time, Tubing The River Styx>The Pit>Farmer Ben**>Moth

    * Ben jam section: Ben>Spirit Of The Radio (Rush)>Ben>Tom Sawyer (Rush)>Ben>Working Man (Rush)>Powerhouse>Ben

    moe.down XII

    Line-up: moe. The Levon Helm Band (featuring special guest Bob Weir). Ween. TV On The Radio. Slightly Stoopid. Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers. Ozomatli. Railroad Earth. The New Mastersounds. Rubblebucket. Danger Muffin. The Ragbirds. Empire Sound. Band. Gary Clark, Jr.

    This year’s three-day event called into question whether it may even go on. Hurricane Irene rolled through the area just a few days prior, shutting down the flooded thruway. Those concerns were dashed, however, as the thruway opened and the show went on.

    moe.

    Once again, the festival was held at Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, NY. One big draw was heavy hitter Bob Weir as special guest with The Levon Helm Band. Gary Clark, Jr., an up and coming artist at that time, was slated to perform, along with well seasoned bands, Ween and Slightly Stoopid. Railroad Earth also made an appearance, and will be returning to this year’s moe.down.

    The weather did have it’s say on some of the schedule during the weekend. The Levon Helm Band was postponed for nearly an hour due to lightning in the area. Fans took shelter under tarps and tents until the storm subsided. When the band finally took to the stage, Bob Weir sat in for their moving set.

    On Saturday, moe. performed back to back sets in the evening, with the encore featuring “Crab Eyes” played on iPads to honor the passing of Steve Jobs. Sunday’s moe. evening sets brought Bob Weir to the stage as he joined in on a jaw dropping triple punch during “The Other One>Smokestack Lightning>The Other One.” The winner of this year’s mayor of moe.down was announced before encore and went to both Bob Weir and Rob’s hair. “Spine of a Dog” and “Seat of My Pants” brought the festival to a close.

    Check out the band performing “Crab Eyes” completely on iPads:

    9/2/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set 1: Captain America, Down Boy>(nh) Skrunk>George, Where Does The Time Go?>Dr. Graffenberg, Deep This Time>32 Things

    Encore: Plane Crash

    9/3/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set I: Rise>(nh) St. Augustine, She Sends Me, Nebraska^, Puebla>(nh) Mar-Dema>Timmy Tucker, Hi & Lo>Moth

    Set 2: Good Trip>Akimbo, Blue Jeans Pizza, Downward Facing Dog, Tubing the River Styx>The Pit, Haze@>Rebubula@

    Set 3: meat.>Don’t Fuck With Flo>Yodelittle>Lazarus, Four>Buster

    Encore: Crab Eyes**, Bearsong

    * w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade
    @ w/ al. on ’74 double-neck Gibson
    ** w/ band playing on iPads

    9/4/11 Gelston Castle Estate – Mohawk, NY
    Set 1: Rainshine, Happy Hour Hero, Big World>Ricky Marten>The Other One*#>Smokestack Lightning*##>The Other One*#, Stuck Inside of Mobile (with the Memphis Blues Again)@*%, Feel Like A Stranger*%%

    Set 2: Wind It Up, Faker>Billy Goat, Suck A Lemon, Paper Dragon>Recreational Chemistry

    Encore: Mayor of moe.ville Election$, Spine of a Dog>Seat of My Pants

    * w/ Bob Weir
    @ w/ al. on mandolin
    # LTP > 7/17/09
    ## FTP – Chester Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin’ Wolf cover
    % FTP – Bob Dylan cover
    %% FTP – Grateful Dead cover 
    $ w/ Bob Weir (and rob.’s hair) elected mayor

    moe.

    moe.down XIII

    Line-up: moe. Umphrey’s McGee. North Mississippi Allstars Duo. SOJA. Bright Light Social Hour. Timbre Coup. Aqueous. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Galactic. The Wood Brothers. Marco Benevento. Kyle Hollingsworth. The Everyone Orchestra. Leroy Justice. JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. Infantree.

    This year’s moe.down was moved back to the original Turin, NY venue at Snow Ridge Ski Resort.  It was also moved up to an earlier date, this time in August. The move back to the original venue, as well as an earlier time slot made for a successful festival, and one of their best to date. Fans were ecstatic to be back on the old stomping grounds and, much to their delight, were able to experience two full sets of moe. each day. 2012 also brought much anticipated camping areas designated for families and sober attendees.

    It just wouldn’t be a moe.down without some rain in the forecast. Occasional showers rolled in on Friday night, but the bands that took to the stage made sure to keep the energy going late into the night. Once again, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals performed, opening up the main stage on the first day. She later joined in with moe. during their cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”

    Saturday’s second set by moe. in the evening turned spicy as Galactic joined the group on stage to bust out The Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek,” which was immediately followed by a hefty jam session by both. The double jamming session continued as they flowed into “How Many More Years” with both Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin on percussion.

    One attendee, Chris Perrault, recalls the magic of this year’s festival overall. “Musically, I remember standing high up on the hill as the sun was setting, watching everyone groove. As the sun went down, everything became electric or illuminated. The stage. The hula hoops. The glow sticks. But mostly the dancers and the music just changed course from happy daytime music to crunchy ‘oh, you want to get down? Well, then let’s!’ It was fantastic!”

    Sunday’s performances brought a heavy hitting set by Umphrey’s McGee, which included a sit-in by Stanley Jordan. moe.’s evening performance included Umphrey’s McGee joining in for a band switch during a double dose of Pink Floyd covers, performing “Time” and “Breathe.” This year’s mayor of moe.down went to Goldbond. A surprise second set delighted fans as fireworks blew up in the sky, with “Billy Goat>meat.” bringing the event to a close.

    8/10/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Plane Crash@ >(nh) Not Coming Down@ > Wormwood > Okayalright, Gimme Shelter*#, Tubing The River Styx > The Pit > Puebla > Timmy Tucker, Letter Home^, Wind It Up

    Set 2: Tailspin## > head., Happy Hour Hero**, McBain > Skrunk > Brent Black

    Encore: Seat Of My Pants^^ >(nh) Akimbo

    @ w/ al. on ’74 Gibson double-neck guitar
    *w/ Grace Potter on vox
    ** w/ Kyle Hollingsworth on keys
    ^ ’97 / Reggae version
    ^^ SDB tease
    # Last time played 3/06/08
    ## Last time played 1/31/11

    8/11/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Crab Eyes>(nh) Down Boy>(nh) The Bones Of Lazarus, Blue Eyed Son@, Captain America>Waiting For The Punchline, Faker>Moth

    Set 2: Paper Dragon>Dr. Graffenberg, Sticks and Stones, Zed Naught Z>Don’t Fuck With Flo>Zed Naught Z, Up On Cripple Creek*>moe. / Galactic Jam>How Many More Years**, George, Recreational Chemistry

    @ w/ al on electric mandolin
    * w/ Galactic
    ** Galactic w/ Vin & Jim on percussion

    8/12/12 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Haze@, It>St. Augustine>Downward Facing Dog, Bring It Back Home*, Spine Of A Dog>Buster

    Set 2: Bullet>Deep This Time, The Road>Kyle’s Song>Kids, Time^>moe. / Umphrey’s band-switch>Breathe

    Encore: Rebubula

    Encore 2: Billy Goat>meat.

    @ w/ al on ’74 Gibson double-neck guitar
    * w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade
    ^ w/ Umphrey’s McGee
    Mayor of moe.ville = Goldbond
    Fireworks went off after Rebubula, and band played a 2nd encore as surprise to fans

    moe.down XIV

    Line-up: moe. Steve Kimock Band. Mike Dillon Band. Conehead Buddha. Pennyshine. Conspirator. Stanley Jordan Trio. Savoy. Floodwood. Dr. Dog. Del McCoury Band. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. RAQ. Eastbound Jesus. Wolf! The Stepkids.

    This year’s event was once again held in Turin, NY. The crowd of attendees was much smaller, and more intimate, than usual. Friday’s musical set began on a stylish note, as the Del McCoury Band took to the stage. With perfectly coifed hair and stylish suits, these guys brought nothing but class and bluegrass to the stage. It was a refreshing musical change to the festival without a doubt. moe.’s Friday set included a tip of the hat to Jerry Garcia with a performance of “Casey Jones,” as the anniversary of his death was August 9. For the first time in recent years, the Friday night sky was crystal clear, without a hint of rain in sight.

    moe.

    Saturday’s events brought a lost wandering Beagle puppy to the attention of everyone.  moe. even made an announcement to try and find the owner.  Without any luck finding who the dog belonged to, she was eventually turned over to the local Humane Society, to which she was appropriately named “Moe.Na.” Speaking of moe., their evening set busted out a ridiculously energetic version of “Plane Crash” that included Shannon and Terry Lynch, of Conehead Buddhas, on horns. If that wasn’t enough to blow fans away, second set was basically one of the most insane sets they’ve ever played. Fierce compositions followed one after the other, filled with emotional jams that brought a wave of energy up and down as the melodies ebbed into each other. That set brought down the house, and had fans staring in disbelief at the amazing shreds the band was throwing out to the mountain side.

    Sunday’s musical delights included the Mike Dillon Band, with Carly Meyers of ROAR! crushing a killer trombone as part of the ever rotating cast of musicians in this project. Stanley Jordan, famous for his two-handed tapping guitar style, had fans who’ve never seen him perform watch on in awe and dropped jaws. Speaking of Jordan, he joined moe. during encore with “Rebubula,” after the new mayor of moe.down went to the ditch. “Happy Hour Hero” closed out the year, followed by the annual fireworks display.

    Watch moe.’s entire second set from 8/10/13:

    8/9/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1 Big World>Ricky Marten>Bring You Down, Casey Jones, Blue Jeans Pizza>Silver Sun>Mexico

    Set 2: St. Augustine>32 Things, Deal#, Time Ed>Water*>Brent Black%>Mar-DeMa>Time Ed

    Encore: Spine Of A Dog**

    # LTP > 12/02/12
    * w/ Enter Sandman Jam
    % unfinished
    ** w/ Powerhouse ending

    8/10/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Skrunk>Timmy Tucker, Wind It Up, Godzilla*, Puebla>Tubing The River Styx>The Pit>Plane Crash**

    Set 2: Smoke>Chromatic Nightmare>Smoke>Recreational Chemistry>Akimbo>Tubing The River Styx>Seat Of My Pants>meat.#>Brent Black^

    Encore: Traveling Light##, Dr. Graffenberg

    * w/ Chris Michetti on guitar
    ** w/ Shannon & Terry Lynch on horns
    ^ completes 8/09/13 version
    # unfinished
    ## first time played- (cover – JJ Cale) – dedicated to JJ Cale and Mikey Houser

    8/11/13 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Stranger Than Fiction, Suck A Lemon, Crackers, Bearsong*, Billy Goat > CalfironIA >(nh) Y.O.Y.>Buster**

    Set 2: Queen Of Everything, Moth>Hi & Lo>Opium, Yodelittle%>meat.#, The Bones Of Lazarus>George

    Encore: – Rebubula^, Happy Hour Hero^^

    * w/ moe.down Kids Parade & Carly Meyers on trombone
    ** w/ Mike Dillon on percussion
    % w/ Stanley Jordan on guitar
    # completes 8/10/13 version
    – Ditch voted in as mayor. of moe.ville
    ^ w/ Stanley Jordan on guitar & Kenwood Dennard switched out for a period of time with Vin, who played percussion with Jim, before switching back with Kenwood on drums
    ^^ Fireworks were shot afterwards

    moe.down XV

    Line-up: moe. Gogol Bordello, O.A.R., Lotus, Solve, Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang, Jerry Douglas Band, Everyone Orchestra, Twiddle, Floodwood, Aqueous, The Werks, Conehead Buddha, American Babies, Wild Adriatic

    Since 2000, moe. has been hosting this festival for fans, friends and family. This year, the three day festival was especially welcome as the event returned to the original Labor Day weekend date at Snow Ridge in Turin, NY. Not having to go to work on Monday was a big factor for fans, as many did not want to miss the epic fireworks display after the band’s last song on Sunday. The rain held up for most of the weekend, keeping the grounds dry during the day.

    Two bands making debut appearances this year included Twiddle and Wild Adriatic. Both bands are scheduled to appear this year for moe.down XVI. Conehead Buddha, Lotus, and Les Claypool’s Due De Twang gave powerhouse performance sets jam packed with high energy. Lotus took the place of The Rich Robinson Band, who were originally scheduled to perform. The most surprising act of the festival was from Gogol Bordello, an intensely high energy band whose music was a combination of bordello, punk and theatrics all rolled into one.

    moe.’s Saturday evening performance included the members of Conehead Buddha horns joining the group on stage for the majority of the set. moe. put out the call to fans stating that if their Facebook page reached 100,000 likes, they would play a “Voter’s Choice” song during moe.down. They did not disappoint. They brought out the rare instrumental “Canned Pastries,” that had only been played five times previously, making it’s last appearance on the setlist on August 25, 1994. Before the encore of “Rebubula,” the mayor of moe.ville was announced.  This year finally went to Rex Thomson, who had been competing for the mayor for the past few years.

    Check out the encore which wrapped up the last moe.down three years ago:

    8/29/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: meat.*>Dr. Graffenberg>Low, Same Old Story, Chromatic Nightmare, Don’t Fuck With Flo>Timmy Tucker, White Lightning Turpentine, Faker>meat.

    Encore: Spine Of A Dog>Seat Of My Pants

    * w/ Bullet Jam / false start

    8/30/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Mar-DeMa>(nh) Captain America, Okayalright>(nh) Crab Eyes, This I Know, Billy Goat%, Skrunk>Blue Jeans Pizza>Waiting For The Punchline Reprise>Waiting For The Punchline, Downward Facing Dog

    Set 2: Yodelittle>(nh) Bullet, Nebraska*, Spaz Medicine*, Happy Hour Hero*>Mexico*>Akimbo*>Tenth Avenue Freeze Out*

    Set 3: Silver Sun, Threw It All Away*, Not Coming Down*>Wormwood*>Brittle End*, The Wizard*^, Spanish Moon*>Blond Hair And Blue Eyes*, Late In The Evening*, Plane Crash*

    Encore: Jazz Wank>Hava Negilah>Long Island Girls Rule

    % w/ moe.down Kid’s Tent Parade
    * w/ Conehead Buddha horns: Shannon Lynch on saxaphone, Terry Lynch on trumpet, Shaun Bazylewicz on trombone
    ^ w/ Terry Lynch on vox

    8/31/14 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Paper Dragon, Annihilation Blues, Do Or Die, Water>Hector’s Pillow>Four>32 Things, Canned Pastries#
    Set 2: Big World>Rickey Marten>Time Ed>Moth, Puebla>Kyle’s Song

    Encore: Rebubula

    # last time played 8/25/94

  • Dopapod’s Chuck Jones, Rob Compa Dish Upcoming Album News, Fan Antics

    A weekend spent in Stephentown, NY meant a finely curated lineup over four days at Gardner’s Farm. Having headlined every single year since the festival’s conception in 2011, this year was no different as progressive jam outfit Dopapod prepped for their Friday night set ahead. With a recent spring tour in the rear view mirror, the quartet offered fans a live compilation album, II Saw Live Dopapod, Evil Was II, to curb the anticipation ahead of their impending studio album, which they’ve been placing the finishing touches on. The strings of the group, bassist Chuck Jones and guitarist Rob Compa were kind enough to chat with NYS Music just ahead of their 9:30pm headlining set.  Jones, adorned in a mock, heavy metal Celine Dion tee started off by noting their progression as a group over the years as we dove into fun tidbits about the upcoming album and the band as a whole.

    rob compa chuck jones

    Alyssa Ladzinski: Your most recent release was a live album of fan-favorites, what can you tell us about your upcoming release?

    Chuck Jones:  We just finished our new studio album, we’ve been working on it a lot this last month when we haven’t had any shows. I think we’re trying to release that in the fall before touring.

    Rob Compa: We just finished all the recording and tracking for the studio album. There’s gonna be some songs nobodies heard yet, there’s gonna be a lot of instrumentation that a lot of people probably aren’t expecting. I.E. people can expect lots of strings, violins and cellos in certain songs. It’s the first time I recorded guitar parts at home with my amp in my closet, trying not to piss off my neighbors too much. It was a lot of fun to make. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while actually.

    AL: Your auxiliary chord breaks while touring in the van. What’s one album the four of you can agree on listening to, front to back?

    CJ: I don’t know if we could, our tastes are so diverse there’s no one album we can all agree on. We would get to a point where we could settle. Probably Pink Floyd we can all agree on. That’s what makes this group so enjoyable to play in, everyone has such eclectic tastes from all over.

    RC: Uberjam by John Scofield or Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.

    AL: Now you’re all alone on a road trip, what’s one album you’re singing along and playing air instruments to?

    RC: Lately I’m not listening to that much music. I could always go for Ben Folds Rock in the Suburbs all the way through or Dire Straits first album.

    CJ: Silence. I enjoy the time to think. There’s a lot of saturation in listening, at this point I’ll have to think about putting on music.

    rob compa chuck jonesAL: Create your own super group you’d want to play in.

    CJ: Mike from Aqueous, Beau from Kung Fu,  I’m not sure. I like to let other people handle these things and I go to my safe spot.

    RC: Well I love James Searl from Giant Panda, Tim Palmieri on guitar, Scotty Zwang on drums, Caden from the Jauntee. I’ll leave it at that, no keys.

    AL: Favorite show you’ve seen lately?

    CJ: I just moved to Colorado a month ago and quickly I went to see two nights of Primus. Once in a smaller room and then at Red Rocks.

    RC: Main Squeeze at Brooklyn Bowl for their CD release.  Lyle Brewer of Ryan Montbleau Band played a solo guitar set at Rockwood Music Hall in NY.

    AL: If the guys were going to surprise Rob and Becky with an impromptu performance at the wedding, what would it be and who would fill in for Rob on guitar?

    CJ: Probably a Phish song, I think he would love that. I can only play “Cars, Trucks and Busses.” He would love if we played a Phish song and had Luke play guitar. Or Pink Floyd.

    RC: “Kick N’ Bach” by Frogwings but they’d have to get the real guitarists on the track, Herring and Trucks. Becky would scream with glee.

    rob compa chuck jonesAL: Being with NYS Music, I have to ask, who’ your favorite NY native artist?

    RC: The Niche in Rochester, my heroes when i was 18. They’d sneak me backstage and they were the first band in the scene to let me sit in with them.

    CJ: Giant panda, Aqueous, NY Jazz Trio. NY is saturated with good music.

    AL: If you could switch bodies with anyone in Dopapod, who would it be and why?

    CJ: I’d stay with myself. Maybe Neal cause it would be really fun to be that good at drums.

    AL: Weirdest thing a fan has done for you?

    CJ: A fan once made a T-shirt with my face on it. My mom has it. It’s weird and flattering and my mom loves it. She was wearing it the other day.

    RC: One time at a show in Syracuse my 96 year old grandma was there in a wheelchair and people kept offering to buy her shots. She didn’t have them, but I thought that was pretty funny.

    AL: What’s your biggest challenge as a band as of late?

    CJ: Having more responsibilities. I’m about to be 30 in August and you look around at festivals and realize the age group ranges from 18-24. This is a young person’s sport!

    RC: Half of us are on the East Coast while the other half is in Colorado. Trying to make that work is a thing. Today is the first time we’ve played together in a month and a half. Financially, it’s a challenge too. There’s always the ebb and flow of your band being a hot ticket or not. If you haven’t put out a new album in a couple years, you don’t have any fuel or anything to hand people. So dealing with that.

    AL: Rob, you offer guitar lessons to prospective students. How has that worked out for you?

    RC: I get a lot of bite and about half of the work. With teaching, I like that I’m directly helping somebody. I don’t really feel that so much when I’m playing on stage. Maybe it happens accidentally, but it doesn’t happen intentionally for that reason.

    AL: You seem active on Facebook enough to notice the day in and day out analysis of your music in Dopafam. Is it weird to see your music that deeply dissected on a regular basis?

    CJ: They notice the small details. The fact that there’s one person, let alone a handful of people spending that much time listening to our music is all you can ask for.

    AL: Can you pinpoint one Dopapod show that stands out as a favorite?

    RC: I really liked the last Richmond show we played. It was just a lot of fun and my favorite part was Neal, our drummer has a mic, so he talks to us while we’re playing and during a song I was soloing, he told me how to solo the whole time. You can only solo on this string, now you can only solo on this string and the first five frets of the guitar, now only on A flat. It was just goofy. If I had a favorite one five years ago it would probably be bad because you just keep getting better.

    Setlist: 8 Years Ended, Present Ghosts, Mucho, Indian Grits > Freight Train Filled With Dynamite, Priorities, Trickery, Cloud World

  • As this Summer’s Music Festivals Begin to Unfold, Disc Jam 7 Comes Out on Top

    With well loved music festivals being forced to fold their cards and encountering unfortunate mishaps in an ever-growing and highly competitive field, it’s both refreshing and reassuring that Stephentown, NY’s Disc Jam 7 can boast a laid back atmosphere and tightly-woven, yet growing community and still come out on top. A jam-packed, 4-day musical jaunt with a star-studded lineup attracted herds of fans from all over the Northeast and then some. Nearly 4,000 flocked to the cozy farm for a potpourri of funky jam headliners, late night producer and DJ sets, skilled vendors, a hula hooping and fire spinning flow tribe, on site artists and food trucks to keep festival dwellers happy, well-fed and entertained.

    Thursday set the tone for the sunny weekend ahead, as Albany’s Lord Electro warmed things up on the CEG stage, before Strange Machines welcomed the booming voice and bubbly personality that is Hayley Jane, for the first of her many sit-ins as artist at large. Just after their set, they hopped on Teddy Midnight’s RV, also accompanied by a hot tub, for a quick interview on Teddy TV, which we later found out doubled as a surprise, late night party bus.

    NYC trio Lespecial jumped up on the main stage to deliver some night-time grit and grime as Thursday night headliners. Their odd time signatures, heavy tunes and musical fortitude brought fitting teases of Tool, Rage Against the Machine and Primus’ own “Cannibal Holocaust.” After the help of Dopapod  drummer Neal “Fro” Evans on the genre bending “Enter Sandman” into “Sandstorm,” the trio closed out their headlining performance on the main stage,  riding the wave of symbiotic high energy between fans and artist.

    Friday found a string of New York state bands representing their native stomping grounds into the early evening, including an all-star lineup of Aqueous, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Wild Adriatic, Chromatropic, Leila, Litz, The Motet and jamtronica four piece Teddy Midnight, who rolled out phish teases and a number of stellar covers of The New Deal, STS9 and a pair of hard-hitting Disco Biscuits tunes, “Rock Candy” and “Tricycle,” proving Wiley Griffin can absolutely man handle a guitar. Over on the tent stage, Litz worked their magic to hype up the crowd while the saxophonist alone had enough personality on hand for the whole group. A sound malfunction forced immediate improv with bongo and guitar solos. Doing so seamlessly, the group dove right back into the jams once all issues were resolved and held down their set like true musicians and professionals.

    The excitement for Friday night’s headlining Dopapod set loomed in the air as other festival favorites, Kung Fu, took the stage. Beau Sasser and company  brought an arsenal of just that to the stage at Disc Jam this year for their one of a kind “Sunset-Set.” With Disc Jam 7 being their 6th time playing the festival, Kung Fu has been a fan favorite of the fest since 2012. That being said, the Fu you now groove to in 2017 may not have been the same back in 2012. With fresh tunes and a familiar sound, the group proved why they get invited back every year to the ever-growing festival. Kung Fu welcomed Hayley Jane during their set to perform Joan Jett’s “Reputation,” or for Freaks and Geeks fans, it’s notable theme song while their full set  jammed through a slew of songs such as “Chop Suey,” “Joyride,” and a set closer of Steely Dan’s “Charlemagne.”

    In past years, Dopapod have been known to deliver two sets to the festival they’ve been with since its culmination seven years ago. Unfortunately a gig in Colorado called for the festival veterans to head out early but not before offering up an eye-opening set that had all on feet and moving to the zips Eli’s keys and defined head bobs. Adorned in a blue Dopapod hoodie, Rob Compa took to the front row of the crowd to incite fan engagement, asking what songs they’d like to hear. After a “Trapper Keeper” suggestion and “Nerds” being loudly projected to the forefront of the stage, they launched into none of the above as they continued with songs of their choice. While the hour and a half set didn’t boast a laundry list of material, each delivery had a flair of its own and incorporated lengthy jams throughout, leaving fans both thankful and energized. Fans were treated to an opener of “8 years,” new track “Mucho, classic Dopapod hits and two-bit favorites “Priorities,” “Trickery” and “Cloud.”

    Feeling wired post-Dopapod, a two hour “after party” ensued at the tent stage with the Motet’s uplifting and encapsulating music. Their kinetic energy and signature style made it impossible to stand still, as everyone underneath the tent found a dance partner in the strangers to their left and right. Paired with groovy visuals on the back wall of the tented  stage, the Motet provided time travel through the decades with their genre-spanning music. Just in case anyone let out a yawn or felt their bodies slowly yearning for sleep, singer Lyle Divinsky doubled as hype man for the group, spewing catch phrases into the mic and pumping up the crowd as he stalked back and forth across the front of the stage.

    With late night sets and DJs playing through the early stages of the morning, many found their way back under the tent to witness the magic that poured out of the tips of Holly Bowling’s fingers. While first depicting psychedelic visuals to pair with her compositions of well-loved jam tunes, Bowling offered the audience a “behind the scenes” look at her performance with a special camera placed in front of her hands. Viewers were able to watch her fingers tickle the instrument as she raced her hands back and forth while banging on the black and white keys, all while sporting a quirky smile on her face. It’s evident that Bowling is not only great at what she does but that it embodies the happiness she feels inside. Her takes on Grateful Dead, Phish and The Disco Biscuits found sweet symphonic sounds mimicking “Franklin’s Tower,” “It’s Ice,” and “Magellan” among others. Thankfully, this wasn’t the last we saw of the all-star pianist.

    With at least one expected day of rain, the only dampening of the weekend came from the early morning dew and spilled beer across widely spread campsites. If you even attempted to get some sleep between the late woods parties and the beat boxers dressed in all black outfits adorned in glow sticks, the sun was enough to jolt you up out of your increasingly heated tent making you feel just Bearly Dead, or at least awake enough to go catch their early morning Grateful Dead tribute set–a slot they held at the tent stage all weekend. As Saturday progressed, Consider the Source took on their late afternoon set on the main stage, gathering a large crowd regardless of the fact they had a highly anticipated late night set scheduled for 2am. Ripping through well-known source tracks like “This Dubious Honor,” “Many Words of Disapproval” and “Closer to Home” paired with the wailing of instruments and heavy emotion written across their faces, the trio proved and surpassed reasons why they deserved two slots at disc jam. Never missing a note and playing the most difficult instruments and arrangements, consider the source managed to put a spin on their already involved tunes, oozing mastery musicianship.

    Wild Adriatic brought their Saratoga Springs flair to the Disc Jam stage as declarations of “getting my hair like that guy’s” were made in the crowd, referencing to the stellar afro rocked by bassist Rich Derbyshire. Keeping it in the Capital region, Formula 5 boasted an unforgettable set, complete with a sit in by Holly Bowling and an emotional Allman Brother’s Band tribute cover. Drawing a solid, dance-ready crowd, Formula 5 brought the jams to those swaying back and forth on feet as well as those sitting and relishing in the moment. Bowling sat in for “Floating” as the group made what was the only Gregg Allman tribute of the weekend at the time, with an impassioned selection of “No One to Run With.” Mister F kept the upstate grooves going directly after, despite their recent misfortune of being down a tour van and itching to get new music out to fans, Scott Hannay showed his chops and delivered hard on keys before treating fans to a late night surprise.

    Anticipation struck Gardner’s Farm for the party that Turkuaz was about to unleash on its weekend inhabitants. Making their rounds on the festival circuit, the 9-piece power funk ensemble offered harmonica stylings and powerful vocals with a groovy dance party to match. Shira Elias and Sammi Garrett have been getting more and more attention and for good reason. Their dialed up vocal chops, coordinated dance moves and soulful sound give enough reason as to why–plus, a cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It” didn’t hurt.

    Saying the tent stage was filled to capacity for Break Science Live would be an understatement. When they took the stage on Saturday night, the original duo of Adam Deitch and Borahm Lee reeled in a humongous crowd as well as support on stage when they were accompanied by a handful of Lettuce members– Erick Coomes on Bass, Eric Bloom on Trumpet, Adam Smirnoff on Guitar and Ryan Zoidis on Tenor Sax. The super group, paired with an intense light show captivated the audience with a combination of trip-hop, dub and jazz which found the tent jumping as a unit. During their set, Manic Focus joined Lee on the table to help with DJing, which brought a unique sound to an already extraordinary group of musicians.

    A 2am set drew in a rather large and sleepy crowd underneath the tent stage. Known for their magical history with performing late night festy sets, most of the audience knew to place their blankets and tired bodies on the floor to witness an amplified, yet scaled back Consider the Source set in a more intimate setting with calming visuals to match. Two girls, however, missed the memo and kept prompting everyone to “stand up and enjoy the music” while others retaliated with, “but it’s a seated performance!” Nonetheless, all in attendance found themselves in awe at the mastery level in which the trio plays. Having checked off deliveries of stirring tracks, including one they learned during their trip to India and haven’t played since, Jeff Mann, John Ferrara and Gabriel Marin know how to nail a performance through tempo, chord progressions, arrangement and elements of surprise.

    At the same time Consider the Source was delivering their intimate set to a lulled crowd, Teddy Midnight’s surprise RV party bus was at full force. Disc Jam artists swapped on and off the luxury bus, playing tunes from the backside of the opened vehicle and slithering guitar necks in between its doorways. Joe Davis and Matt Richards of Formula 5, Scott Hannay of Mister F, Adrian Tramontano of Kung Fu, Wiley Griffin of Teddy Midnight all took a musical ride on the bus.

    As silent discos were offered into the premature minutes of the early mornings, Saturday night/Sunday morning offered listeners a stroll through the Techni-colored woods to “No Diggity” as one looked around and noticed life in the woods is a bit different than out on the wide open spaces of the farm. After placing a pair of silver headphones over your head, you were welcomed into a wooded world of festival dogs, multiple pin boards circulating and growing raves.

    Sunday morning’s sunrise guided everyone to their tents for a quick nap ahead of the final day of Disc Jam 7. Upon awakening and being lazy around camp, the opening notes of Dopapod’s “Bubblebrain” trailed widely across the farm, conjuring many to the stage. Quickly, it had to be discovered who was playing such a top-notch delivery of the unique track. To the surprise of many, it was a group of kids from the ages 11-18 in Zachademy of Music All Stars, including a young boy with luscious blond locks, reminiscent to that of Formula 5 bassist James Woods. A mind blown audience watched as kids half the age of the festival goers shredded through a difficult catalogue including covers of Vulfpeck, Consider the Source and Kung Fu. Dopapod’s Compa went forth to share the “Bubblebrain” video to Facebook, announcing that even he messes up his guitar solo at times and further affirming the true talent boasted by the all stars.

    Around noon, a very talented group new to the scene took the tent stage and made it their own. New Paltz’ The Other Brothers brought a unique sound to the festival, drawing a nice crowd to their set that blended a variety of genres. As always, Chris Owen was able to captivate the crowd with his larger than life vocals and impressive dance moves while Bera, Marquez, Morrison, Nelson and Mendelson kept every groove as tight as possible. Where one song took on the structure of a love ballad, the others were sure to get toes tapping and hips swiveling, gaining a new circle of Disc Jam fans. Be sure to check out this humble group on the rise, you won’t want to miss these brothers in a city near you before they ultimately break through. They’re currently out in L.A. recording their spirited music at the famous Sound City Studios.

    Comparable to the tunes of Twiddle and their upbeat feel, Annie in the Water proved to be the fun 5-piece they are with a super involved set– a smorgasbord of sit ins by Holly Bowling on ‘Carry the Burden,” “Girl Let’s Dance,” with Twiddle’s Dempsey and Hannay of Mister F as well as Hayley Jane and Meadow Eliz offering assistance on “Crispy.” Keeping the theme going, a bulk of talent joined the Twiddle side project known as Gubbulidis. The group’s name derives from the combination the two members;  Zdenek Gubb on bass Mahali Savoulidis on acoustic guitar and vocals. Usually all the two need are some loop pedals to make their sound one that very few could duplicate but to add depth to their one-off set, the power duo was joined by a plethora of talented artists such as the other components of Twiddle, Holly Bowling, Honeycomb,  Billy Comstock of Annie in the Water, Wiley Griffin of Teddy Midnight and two members of Mister F; Colin Shore and Scott Hannay, making their Disc Jam set one of a kind. The full performance, which pieces together “Juggernaut,” “Rocky Raccoon,” “Mad World,” and more, can be found on Archive.org.

    Later on in the day, a tent stage party was hosted by none other than G-Nome Project. The Israeli-based Livetronica Electro-Funk band rocked the tent and everyone inside with their synth-heavy instrumental tunes. Resembling jams taken on by trans-fusion/jam bands such as The Disco Biscuits, Lotus and Phish, G-Nome Project appealed to the masses, zeroing in on a unique blend of genres and inverted jams with covers of tunes from Game of Thrones, Lotus’ “Livingston Storm,” the Biscuits’ “Abraxas,” and Phish’s “Frankie Sez.”

    Pink Talking Fish helped round out the festival with a Sunday evening performance, rotating their famous Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish covers to an appreciative crowd. Mixing up the music of three undeniable bands in the scene, treats came in all sizes with covers of “One in a Lifetime,” “Run Like Hell,” “Mother,” “Rift” and “Harry Hood.” To close out their set, guitarist Eric Gould and artist manager brought out his latest guided talent, Hayley Jane to end with the second and final tribute to Gregg Allman with a moving version of “Soulshine.”

    Neal “Fro” Evans, Holly Bowling and Hayley Jane certainly made their rounds throughout their four days on the farm, collectively marking an impressive number of sit ins. Evans brought his skill on the kit to help Lespecial and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad on stage. Bowling spent time jamming with Electric Beethoven, Formula 5 and Annie in the Water while Hayley Jane notched an impressive sit in count of nine, with a TLC “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” cover alongside Roots of Creation and appearances with Strange Machines, Bearly Dead, Aqueous, Congo Sanchez, Kung Fu, After Funk, Pink Talking Fish and, Annie in the Water. Her final performance with Ryan Montbleau tucked Disc Jam 7 into bed and put the weekend to sleep with one last performance as Yes Darling, as they ripped through a set of original material.

    An intimate experience and independent effort, Disc Jam 7 sure packed a punch of a weekend before coming to a close. Every year, Disc Jam sees exponential growth and although it’s tucked away in the cozy knolls of Stephentown, NY, it’s small town aesthetic and low maintenance atmosphere is exactly what keeps fans coming back for more. When you step onto the farm, you step into the Disc Jam Fam–a world in which you meet and click with those you cross paths with if only for the weekend, a world in which you most likely already know an abundance of people there. After a widely successful seventh year in operation, those who self-identify as Disc Jam Fam left Gardner’s farm already mapping out next year’s detailed blueprints for Disc Jam 8.

  • moe.down 6-10: A Flash Back

    NYS Music continues its review of the history of moe.down, one of the most established and successful summer festivals the state has to offer. We looked at the first 5 moe.downs last week, and here’s a look back at some of the more memorable moments in years 6 through 10, as moe.down set roots down in Turin, NY and became a Labor Day Weekend tradition.

    moe.down VI

    After five increasingly successful years in Turin, moe.down had established itself as one of the premier summer festivals in the Northeast.  It was now not only a “must go” destination for moe.rons but for music fans alike thanks to increasingly diverse lineups that featured more and more nationally prominent acts.  The sixth rendition featured Keller Williams, who was everywhere at that time, The Violent Femmes, Matisyahu and Medeski, Martin & Wood as the lineups continued to be made with a blend of popular acts and those that were favorites of the band.

    Night one of the festival only calls for one moe. set, and while this year would be no different, it was definitely cover heavy with versions of “Stairway to Heaven,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “All Along the Watchtower,” the latter of which featured Keller Williams sitting in. Setlists courtesy of Phantasy Tour.

    moe.down

    9/2/05 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

    Set 1: Jazz Wank> Rebubula*> Cornflake Girl> Recreational Chemistry, Wind it up, Salt Creek, Stairway To Heaven Jam^> All along the Watchtower^, Faker> Moth> The Pit> Brent Black> Moth
    Encore: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

    * unfinished
    ^ with Keller Williams

    The following day’s opening sat saw guitarist Al Schnier’s children get involved and ended appropriately enough with a rousing rendition of “Kids.” Other highlights included a “Timmy Tucker” that was stretched across two sets and a full on instrument switch with Japanese band Big Frog.  The band switch continued a recent tradition of sorts as the same thing had been done in years past with other headliners like The Disco Biscuits and Galactic, showing just how gracious the festival hosts are in sharing the spotlight at their festival.

    9/3/05 • Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

    Set 1: Spine Of A Dog> Buster, Shanna Robe*, Ayla Schnier solo^, She, Crab Eyes, Hi and Lo> Timmy Tucker&> Kids
     
    Set 2: New York City, Head> Timmy Tucker&+, Happy Hour Hero%> Rise> Karma Police> Head
     
    Set 3: Not Coming Down> Wormwood> St. Augustine> 32 Things$, The Road> Kyle’s Song, Akimbo
    Encore: Time, Sensory Deprivation Bank
     
    * with Ben Schnier
    ^ Ayla Schnier solo on piano
    & unfinished
    &+ finished
    % with complete band switch with Big Frog
    $ with members of Dread Clampett

    moe.down VI was closed out in style with a show that featured the band’s first ever take on The Grateful Dead classic “Terrapin Station” before steering back into a “Rebubula” that was left unfinished from the day before.  As if that weren’t enough, the encore ended with a superb version of “Meat” that gave way to a brilliant fireworks display that left everyone gazing at the sky as the band completed another stellar chapter in the book of moe.down.

    9/4/2005 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: The Ghost Of Ralph’s Mom, She Sends Me, Tailspin> Californ IA> Bullet> Big World

    Set 2: Y.O.Y.> Down Boy, McBain, Four> Dr. Graffenberg> Terrapin Station*> Rebubula^
    Encore: Tijuana Donkey Show, Meat&

    * first time played
    ^ completed from friday night
    & with fireworks

    Here’s a clip of the aforementioned “Meat” which closed things out.

    moe.down VII

    The seventh rendition of moe.down had a Phish-y vibe to it with three of the four members appearing on the bill.  Bassist Mike Gordon played with his side project Ramble Dove while Page McConnell and Jon Fishman also lent their talents on keys and drums, respectively, to the festivities.  Naturally, rumors of guitarist Trey Anastasio appearing as well swirled about as 2006 was right in the middle of the band’s near five year hiatus – an event that undoubtedly fostered some of the festival and band’s growth.  This year also featured a band skyrocketing in national popularity in Umphrey’s McGee, an up and coming act in Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Ziggy Marley and Yolk, a legendary NY band with roots in Binghamton.

    moe. opened up their portion of the weekend with a ripping cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” and later brought out McConnell to assist on two of the band’s more classic numbers in “Buster” and “Mexico” as well as “Blue Jeans Pizza,” a fairly new one at the time.

    9/1/06 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Godzilla> Spine Of A Dog> Plane Crash> Buster*, Mexico*, Blue Jeans Pizza*, Good Trip> Wind it up
    Encore: Meat
    * with Page McConnell

    The hosts enlisted some more help the following day with two separate Umphrey’s McGee sit ins. First, Jake Cinninger (guitar) and Kris Meyers (drums) came out and assisted on “Faker” which cooled things down after a monster 2nd set “George” that was accentuated by some brilliant disco ball lighting effects.  Later in the set, guitarist Brendan Bayliss came out for the staple “Rebubula,” just as he had done a few summers earlier at the first Bonnaroo during moe.’s epic late night set – an event that, arguably, entrenched both of these bands on the national stage.

    9/2/06 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

     
    Set 1: Not Coming Down> Wormwood> The Ghost Of Ralph’s Mom, Akimbo, Lazarus*, 32 Things, Tailspin> Timmy Tucker
     
    Set 2: Head> George, Faker^> Water> Rebubula&
     
    Set 3: Crab Eyes, Bullet> Big World, The Road> Don’t Fuck With Flo$> The Pit> Godzilla
    Encore: Karma Police> Head
     
    * with Stephen Perkins
    ^ with Jake Cinninger, Steven Perkins, and Kris Meyers
    & with Brendan Bayliss
    $ with Andrew Bellivia and Willie Waldman

    Sunday saw two more moe. classics get the special guest treatment as pedal steel guitar virtuoso Gordon Stone joined in for “New York City” and “Waiting for the Punchline” in a first set that was a highlighted by a “Moth” that nearly bookended the whole thing.

    The Rolling Stones classic “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” served as a more than tasty treat in the 2nd set and the weekend was capped off with a rip roaring “Recreational Chemistry” that closed the book on the 7th moe.down.

    9/3/06 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Moth> New York City*, Down Boy, Waiting For The Punchline*, Y.O.Y.> Moth> Brent Black
     
    Set 2: Jazz Wank> Dr. Graffenberg^> Can’t You Hear Me Knocking> Plane Crash, Brittle End, Seat Of My Pants
    Encore: Recreational Chemistry
     
    * with Gordon Stone
    ^ with Willie Waldman

    Check out this 2006 promo for moe.down.  It gives a great view as to the surroundings and communal vibe that this festival cultivates so well.  And if that’s not enough, it also contains a baby faced Al Schnier and a tasty outro jam from a live version of “The Road.”

    moe.down VIII

    By 2007, the festival had become a well oiled machine and was not only producing a string of memorable Labor Day Weekends one after the other, but also showing the ability to adapt on the fly.  Ryan Adams was scheduled to be one of the headliners  at moe.down 8 but had to cancel.  Instead of replacing him with a local or unknown artist, the festival was able to score Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction fame and his side project Satellite Party.  This continued the precedent set last year when Stephen Perkins, drummer for Jane’s Addiction, appeared with his band Banyan in addition to sitting in with moe. on a take of “Lazarus.”

    This year showcased a really impressive array of musical selections. There was the classic hip-hop/R&B stylings of The Roots, 90s jam band Strangefolk, alternative legends The Meat Puppets, a young electronica influenced band called Lotus and Medeski Martin Scofield & Wood all on the same bill. As moe.down continued to grow in popularity, it seemed to produce festival lineups with more and more depth each year.

    8/31/07 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Stranger Than Fiction, Bearsong, Bullet> Tailspin, Kyle’s Song, Opium> lyleloveit., She> 32 Things
    Encore: Don’t Do It*, She Sends Me
    * First time played.

    Saturday’s sets at moe.down 8 exemplified everything the festival had become, beginning with a “Buster” opener that saw a parade of kids marching on and around the stage.  Just as it had grown in popularity and musical talent, each year there seemed to be more designated areas and activities scheduled for children, showing that the festival could also cater to families as well. And in keeping with other moe.down traditions, Saturday also had a full band switch with the Meat Puppets in the middle of “Big World” and a captivating sit in from Perry Farrell on a cover of the Jane’s Addiction tune “Ocean Size.”

    9/1/07 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

    Set 1: Buster*, The Road, Shoot First^, Down Boy, The Ghost Of Ralph’s Mom, So Long&, Mexico%
     
    Set 2: Lazarus> Skrunk, Ocean Size$, Okayalright> Wind it up, Plane Crash
     
    Set 3: Big World> Meat Puppets Jam#> Big World, McBain> George, Faker> Timmy Tucker
    Encore: Spine Of A Dog@> Spaz Medicine
     
    * with The Kid Zone Buster parade lining the front of the stage.
    ^ with Rob on upright bass, Al on acoustic guitar
    & with Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Pink Floyd), Al on acoustic guitar.
    % with Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets) on guitar
    $ First time played. w/ Perry Farrell on vocals
    # moe. / meat puppets band switch
    @ with Al solo intro

    Closing out the festival this year featured more of the same with a beautiful ending to the opening set with a cover of “The Weight” that saw various members of Uncle Earl and The Brakes give this classic number an acoustic feel.  Later in the evening, another band member switch of sorts took place as moe.’s crew members each took over an instrument on a cover of “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” before yet another spectacular fireworks display set from atop the hill sent everybody home.

    9/2/07 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

    Set 1: Crab Eyes, Hi and Lo> Kids, The Pit> Meat, The Weight*

    Set 2: Blue Jeans Pizza> Recreational Chemistry^, Not Coming Down> Wormwood> St. Augustine> Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere%$> Rebubula

    Encore: Akimbo, Letter Home#
     
    * with KC Groves, Kristin Andreassen, Abigail Washburn, Bryn Davies of Uncle Earl on backing vocals, Rayna Gellert of Uncle Earl on fiddle, and Zach Djanikian of The Brakes on vocals.
    ^ with Chuck on bass guitar and Rob on guitar for part
    % with Jeff Waful on Chuck’s guitar and vocals, Frank Robbins on Al’s guitar, Hector Jimenez on bass and vocals, Steve Young on keyboards, Cass Libbers on drums, and Ken “Skip” Richman on percussion
    $ first time played (Neil Young & Crazy Horse)
    # Fireworks followed “Letter Home” with Rainboe. singing “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America”
     

    moe.down IX

    With moe.down now firmly entrenched as a summer festival staple, the 2008 version offered a lineup chock full of easy listening with acts like The Levon Helm Band that, naturally, did a bunch of popular The Band covers, The Sparrow Quartet featuring Abigail Washburn (back from last year) and Bela Fleck, Cornmeal and Yonder Mountain String Band.  For the non-acoustic fans, groups like U-Melt, American Babies and The Benevento Russo Duo offered their various takes on improvisational rock.  And Presidents of the United States of America seemed to fit the early 90s/alternative band slot this year and wowed the crowd with a fun Sunday afternoon set under a blazing hot sun.

     
    8/29/08 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Spaz Medicine, Blue Jeans Pizza, Funky Reuben*, Letter Home> Okayalright, Darkness> Shoot First^> The Road> Rebubula
    Encore: Sensory Deprivation Bank
     
    * Last time played 02/15/92 (1552 shows)
    ^ with Bela Fleck

    The guest appearances this weekend fell right in line with the country feel to this year’s bill with Bela Fleck lending his talents to “Shoot First” and Jeff Austin from YMSB fitting in perfectly on “Bring You Down.”  One of the weekend’s other memorable sets was delivered by Cornmeal who played an engaging set of bluegrass and uptempo folk tunes with Allie Kral, now of YMSB, on fiddle.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ9I5-_s7gI

    8/30/08 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY

    Set 1: Bring It Back Home, Bearsong, All Roads Lead to Home*, Captain America^> Waiting For The Punchline, Brent Black#

    Set 2: Defrost@> Crab Eyes, Sticks and Stones*, Deep This Time*, The Pit, Bullet> Bring You Down$
     
    Set 3: Buster> Second Cousins&> Runaway Overlude> She*%, Voodoo Child> Seat Of My Pants
     
    Encore: Spine Of A Dog> Yankee Doodle+
    * with Nadine LaFond on vocals
    ^ with Kids tent parade coming on stage
    # with Marco Benevento on keyboards and Joe Russo on drums
    @ last time played 01/22/97 (1228 shows)
    $ with Jeff Austin on mandolin
    & First time played and on stage setlist as “ShitLy”
    % band segue with Fishbone
    + last time played 03/18/99 (947 shows)

    For the hardcore moe. fans, there were bust outs galore at moe.down 9.  Songs like “Funky Reuben” and “Defrost” that hadn’t been played since the 90s made appearances.  It seemed as if the entire moe.playbook was an option this weekend.  While plenty of songs from the recently released Sticks and Stones album also got some play, standout versions of old school hits like “Sensory Deprivation Bank,” “Recreational Chemistry” and a rollicking third set opener of “Buster” from Saturday night really made their mark this year.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHrYNV1PwI

    Sunday was not lacking in special moe.ments either as Cornmeal made another appearance and helped close out the first set set with their version of ‘jamgrass’ on a blistering “32 Things” that closed out the first set.  And the second set saw Shannon and Terry Lynch of Conehead Buddha lend some brass support on “Happy Hour Hero.”  Not to be outdone by the previous days’ offerings of bustouts, the second set also contained a “Roll >Armageddon Jig>Strychnine Waltz” sequence that hadn’t been seen in more than 7 years.  But, by far, the most unexpected performance of the weekend may have been the last one as the entire band played around one mic and sent moe.down 9 attendees away for another year with their heads up thanks to the Monty Python sing-a-long classic, “Always Look on the Bright of Life,” replete with responsive whistling from another year’s worth of tired yet satiated fans.

    8/31/08 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
     
    Set 1: Tailspin> Timmy Tucker> Understand, Queen of Everything, Down Boy, Macintyre Range*^> 32 Things^
     
    Set 2: George> Happy Hour Hero$> Recreational Chemistry, New York City> George> Roll#> Armageddon Jig#> Strychnine Waltz#> Plane Crash
     
    Encore: Wind it up, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life@&
    * without Rob
    ^ with members of Cornmeal
    $ with Shannon Lynch on saxophone and Terry Lynch on trumpet
    # last time played 4/22/01 (710 shows)
    @ first time played (Monty Python). Chuck on guitar and Jim on tambourine. Entire band around one mic, Rob singing lead.
    & second encore (after fireworks)

    moe.down X

    As a testament to the tireless work put in by moe.’s management team and the bond created with Snow Ridge over the years, 2009 marked the 10th year of the festival, all at the same location.  And perhaps no previous lineup offered such a diverse selection of musical artists.  Not too many other festivals could promote a bill that had acts like Ani DiFranco alongside ones like Method Man and Redman.  And in a rare treat for any East Coast show, the festival was able to lure out California-based rock outfit CAKE who delighted the Saturday night crowd with a set of classic hits.  Fledgling bands at the time like The Heavy Pets and The New Mastersounds both increased their exposure thanks to sets at the smaller stage on site.  And like any other moe.down, the hosts were everywhere and playing with everyone.

    moe. brought out something of a new trick this year as well.  Each day, their performances began with one member on stage beginning a song before slowly being joined by everyone else one by one. Vinnie Amico got things started on night one with an opening drum solo before being joined by the rest of the band in a set that delivered such staples as “New York City,” “Hi and Lo” and “Four.”

    9/4/09 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
     
    Set 1: Buster*> New York City, Big World> Hi and Lo> Tubing The River Styx> The Pit, The Seed^, Spine Of A Dog$> Waiting For The Punchline$, Four$> Buster$
    Encore: McBain
     
    * Vinny drum solo > Jim > Rob > Al > Chuck to start Buster
    ^ first time played (new moe. song)
    $ with Kirk Juhaus

    MVP honors for the weekend could have easily been given to Sam Bush who not only played an afternoon set with his band, but lent his violin prowess and infectious energy on sit ins with moe. on songs like “Tambourine” and a rocking “Meat” that closed out Saturday’s second set.  Perhaps no song befits moe.down’s rapid ascension into the top tier of the summer music festival hierarchy better than “Where Does the Time Go?” from the final set of night two.

    moe.down sam bush

    9/5/09 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Mexico*, Crab Eyes, Tambourine^, 32 Things%, Deep This Time> Brent Black
    Set 2: Zed Nought Z&> Skrunk> Akimbo, Queen of Everything, Lazarus> George, Meat#
    Set 3: Dr. Graffenberg, Understand> Okayalright, Where Does the Time Go?> Plane Crash, Captain America> Recreational Chemistry@
    Encore: Wind it up
     
    * Al solo > Chuck > Vinny > Jim > Rob > jam (kids parade) prior to the start
    ^ with Sam Bush on vilolin w/ bow
    % with Sam Bush on minature gutiar
    & Jim malletkat solo > Vinny > Rob > Chuck > Al prior to the start
    # with Sam Bush on violin
    @ with Suke Cerulo

    As the sun set on yet another year of magic in Turin, NY, expectations were that the festival would continue to motor along on its current pace and continue the tradition it had firmly established at Snow Ridge Ski Resort.  As we’ll see in the upcoming part 3 of NYS Music’s moe.down review, this would not necessarily be the case.  However, even though the venue may change, it’s clear that the spirit and the elements that make this festival special never will.

    9/6/09 Snow Ridge Ski Area, Turin, NY
    Set 1: Shoot First*> Bearsong, Borderline^, Bullet> Hector’s Pillow> Ricky Marten> Second Cousins> Runaway Overlude, She$
    Set 2: Timmy Tucker, Seat Of My Pants> Sensory Deprivation Bank@, Happy Hour Hero@, Not Coming Down@> Wormwood@> St. Augustine@, The Road@
    Encore: Rebubula@
     
    *Chuck solo > Vinny > Jim > Rob > Al prior to the start
    ^first time played (moe. song)
    $ with Jake, Brendan, & Andy from Umphrey’s McGee
    @ with Nate Wilson on keys

  • Top 5 Reasons to Attend Electric Zoo

    Festival season for 2017 has begun and is in full swing! There are more and more festivals popping up every year, but a solid returning fest worth mentioning is taking place over Labor Day weekend in NYC. Electric Zoo is in its ninth year and takes place on Randall’s Island in the East River. It’s NYC’s largest electronic music festival and that’s saying something!

    electric zooThis iconic music and arts festival is known for it’s zoo theme and for bringing in the heaviest hitters in the EDM scene. There are countless reasons why this festival is one to check out so we’ve compiled the top five reasons for attending this year.

    NYC’s Own Festival

    This event is perfect for New Yorkers because it takes place right in your backyard. Being able to sleep in your own bed at the end of a long day of dancing is something every festival goer dreams of. Located in the heart of New York City, the views from EZoo are what makes it so unique.

    There are many different ways to get to the event: bus, train, subway, ferry ride, or walk over one of the bridges connecting Randall’s Island to Manhattan. The idea of a festival placed in a park in the middle of a major city is so unique that there are very few venues who can achieve this perfect storm of a location.

    Epic Lineup

    EZoo always manages to draw in big names and a diverse lineup, so there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re a bass-head, or more into melodies, every genre of EDM is represented at this festival. The headliners for Friday are DJ Snake, the Trap legend, and Galantis the House gods.

    On Saturday the House vibes will be coming in hot with Above & Beyond and Zedd. Finally, Sunday will close out the fest bringing the GOAT Deadmau5 back and better than ever. This return will bring out a crowd because he hasn’t been performing recently. He will be going back-to-back with Eric Prydz and then Armin Van Buuren to close.

    Cashless Payment System

    The anxiety of carrying around cash all weekend while trying to unplug and let loose is eliminated by this cashless system. Many festivals have shifted from using cash and cards to make the payment process more enjoyable for festival goers. The wristband is activated before you enter the grounds so that you can purchase any event merch, epic rave glasses, food & beverages, and other products with the flick of the wrist.

    Diverse Crowd

    NYC is considered the melting pot of the world, and couple that with a diverse lineup of artists, and you’ll be sure to encounter people from all over the world! Much like a normal zoo has a variety of animals on display, so will Electric Zoo. Don’t forget to bring your candies to speak the universal language of PLUR.

    On-Call Medical Care

    They say anything is fine as long as it’s in moderation, but some people get a little carried away. For anyone in danger of hurting themselves or others, there are medical tents placed throughout the fest. They are fully staffed with experienced New York medical personnel who can offer you anything from a bottle of water or band-aid to pump you full of an iv to rehydrate your body. Since the event is in September, it can get pretty hot out there so the medical staff tries to help everyone who walks, stumbles, or gets carried in.

    Final Thoughts 

    Re-entry is not allowed so once you finally leave the zoo, be sure you don’t leave anything but footprints behind. This festival is unlike anything you’ve ever seen and so purchase your tickets before they sell out! You can buy single day tickets, or splurge a little and go for the whole weekend!

  • The NYS Music Guide to the 2017 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival

    Starting June 23, and up until July 1, 2017, Rochester will once again become one of the hottest destinations for live jazz, and music in general. Once a year, for a nine-day stretch, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest brings this medium-sized city wall-to-wall big city talent from across the globe. Headliners at the glorious Eastman Theatre, the Club Series making use of every viable hall in the East End neighborhood, and free shows filling the streets with sound; it’s a music lover’s paradise. With so much to see and hear, and only two eyes and two ears with which to take it all in, decisions must be made. Hit this, not that. But what? Well, that’s why we’re here. Here again we have compiled must-see acts for every type of fan. No matter what tune you’re singing as you stroll down Jazz Street, there’s something for you. Don’t forget to check out our tips for the best way to enjoy your time at the Rochester Jazz Fest.


    “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”
    Are you more of a traditionalist? You’ll want to be at these sets:

    Miguel Zenon
    Puerto-Rican saxophonist Zenon is a Grammy winner and a Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow. He brings his longtime quartet and the music from his fantastic new release, Tipico, which blends his Latin roots and adventurous hard bop for a sound that can be reminiscent of Horace Silver, with more than a few unexpected turns.
    June 26, Kilbourn Hall    , 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; $35 or Club Pass

    Billy Childs Quartet
    Previously seen on a XRIJF stage as the pianist in Chris Botti’s band, Childs brings his own quartet this year, playing from his own impressive songbook. Perhaps he will throw in a Laura Nyro cover or two from his Reimagining Laura Nyro record, but more likely the set will lean heavily on his superb 2017 release, Rebirth.
    June 24, Kilbourn Hall, 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; $35 or Club Pass

    4 By Monk By 4
    Four piano masters celebrating the works of a trailblazer and legend of jazz, Thelonious Monk. Kenny Barron, Benny Green, George Cables and Cyrus Chestnut will combine forces to do the man justice, playing together in various combinations. This has the all the makings of a special night of music.
    June 29, Lyric Theatre, 4:00 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass
    June 30, Kilbourn Hall, 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; $35 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Kendrick Scott Oracle
    June 27, Xerox Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Hot Club of Cowtown
    June 28, Big Tent, 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.;$30 or Club Pass


    “It don’t mean a thang if it ain’t got that twang”
    In the, well this ain’t jazz category, here are some acts for the lovers of the tried and true roots and Americana tradition.

    The Jerry Douglas Band
    The unquestioned best dobro player around, Douglas might best be known these days for his work in Alison Krauss’ band, but he has been kicking around in the newgrass scene since it’s inception. He’ll be with his new band previewing his new album What If, which is out in mid-August.
    June 24, City of Rochester East Ave and Chestnut Street Stage, 9 p.m.; FREE

    John Paul White
    White found great success as the male half of the much acclaimed folk duo, The Civil Wars. Moving on from that project, White returned to his solo roots, plumbing the depths of Americana for his second solo effort, Buelah, released last year.
    June 25, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    The Dustbowl Revival
    An eight-piece that combines bluegrass, gospel, New Orleans swing and blues, they are no mere string revival band, mixing in some brass to throw it all for a unique loop.
    June 29, Montage Music Hall, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Jack Broadbent
    June 25, Montage Music Hall, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Lera Lynn
    June 26, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass


    “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got six strings”
    The festival has an unusually strong slate of guitar slingers this year.

    Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan
    If the Jazz Fest existed for the singular purpose of getting Frisell to Rochester every couple of years it would be well worth it. Your favorite guitar player’s favorite guitar player, he is returning for his seventh festival. Every time he brings a different band and it never disappoints. This year he is presenting a duo set with bassist Thomas Morgan.
    June 25, Kilbourn Hall, 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; $35 or Club Pass

    Matthew Stevens
    A major contributor to the sound behind Esperanza Spalding’s standout 2016 hit Emily’s D+Evolution, Stevens is out with a stunning brain melter of an album of his own this year, Preverbal. Angular and adventurous, you’re in for a thrilling ride at these sets.
    July 1, Wilder Room    , 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Eric Krasno
    The guitarist for jamband and XRIJF veterans Soulive, Krasno returns for a set with his own band. He has mixed in more rock and blues to the funk and soul, and even added vocals to the repertoire, but there’ll still be plenty of improvisation to go around.
    June 30, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Charlie Hunter Trio
    June 27, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    International Orange
    July 1, The Little Theatre, 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

     
    “It don’t mean a thing if I ain’t moving my thing”
    If you want to move while you listen, these are the acts that will have the crowd out of their chairs and on their feet. Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes.

    St. Paul and the Broken Bones
    Paul Janeway, an energetic singer with an electric and unique voice, leads this eight-piece soul band that turns heads wherever they go, wherever they’re heard. The streets will be a sea of dancers when they unleash music from their latest, Sea of Noise.
    June 23, City of Rochester East Ave and Chestnut Street Stage, 9 p.m.; FREE

    The Nth Power
    Soulful groove and dance music from a group borne from a late-night jam session at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, this is a young band quickly making a name for themselves for their electrifying live shows.
    June 23, Rochester Regional Health Big Tent, 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Electric Kif
    Another energetic soulful quartet, this Miami band started as a side project for the members but quickly grew into something special and lasting.
    June 28, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Huntertones
    June 23, Montage Music Hall, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
    June 24, Rochester Regional Health Big Tent, 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass for either venue

    New Breed Brass Band
    June 26, Rochester Regional Health Big Tent, 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
    June 27, Montage Music Hall, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.    ; $30 or Club Pass for either venue


    “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that sing”
    If you want some vocals with your jazz, check out these shows.

    Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
    Scott Bradlee invited different musicians to play today’s popular music in specific classic styles and quickly grew his concept into a YouTube sensation. Be prepared to hear familiar songs as you’ve never heard them before. It makes for a truly unique and exciting live performance like you’ve never seen before. Browse the endless string of videos at his web site and you’ll get the idea fairly quickly.
    June 27, Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 8 p.m.; $45 – $85

    Mavis Staples
    One of the few true living legends featured at this year’s festival, Mavis Staples is an American treasure that is still making new and relevant music. If you’re looking for some soul and gospel, accept no substitute.
    June 28, Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 8 p.m.; $25 – $65

    Eivor
    As long as you’re in a church, you may as well listen to a voice from the heavens. From Norway’s Faroe Islands, Eivor will do nothing if not mystify you.
    June 24, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People
    June 29, City of Rochester Midtown Stage, 7:00 p.m.; FREE

    Youn Sun Nah
    June 29, Harro East Ballroom, 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass


    “It don’t mean a thung if it ain’t fresh and young”
    People have been calling for the death of jazz for decades, but the youth keep reinvigorating the genre. Check out these younger acts to keep hip to what’s new. But if you want to catch the youngest talent, plan to catch some of the school bands gracing the Jazz Street stage throughout the festival.

    Phronesis
    This piano trio is making a very welcome return to the XRIJF lineup. The London Jazz News sums them up nicely: “established as one of the great trios. Three players, moving as one – head, heart and hands.”
    June 29, Christ Church, 6:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Neil Cowley Trio
    Like Phronesis, another brilliant British piano trio making their Jazz Fest return. These guys lean more heavily on the hook-laden melodies, adding a pop and rock sensibility to their compositions.
    June 24, Christ Church, 6:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Donny McCaslin Group
    The band behind David Bowie’s universally-lauded final album, Blackstar, this is jazz highly influenced and informed by that experience.
    July 1, Xerox Auditorium, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Binker and Moses
    June 30, Christ Church, 6:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Jacob Collier
    June 23, Squeezers Stage at Anthology, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m.; $30 or Club Pass


    “Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah”
    And now for something a little different. When you invite bands from around the world you can get into some interesting and adventurous stuff.

    Shabaka and the Ancestors
    London-ite Shabaka Hutchens put together this ensemble of South African musicians, which recorded one of the most thrilling new records of 2016, The Wisdom of Elders. Spiritual afrocentric jazz that is equal parts soul-stirring and soul-soothing, in the vein of Coltrane or Sun Ra.
    June 25, Harro East Ballroom, 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Dakha Brakha
    This Ukrainian quartet plays music from another side of the world. Unusual, both visually and aurally, but quickly familiar and enjoyable, they blend tribal rhythms, chant-like singing and an odd mix of instruments into an infectious melting-pot of sound. This set will have Jazz Street talking.
    June 29, Rochester Regional Health Big Tent, 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Dinosaur
    Led by trumpeter Laura Jurd, this young quartet plays creative instrumental music that rests in the crux of jazz, rock, electronic and funk.
    June 26, Christ Church, 6:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Also make time for…
    Klabbesbank
    June 28, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    Ikonostasis
    June 26, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; $30 or Club Pass

    See the full lineup and all of the festival details at RochesterJazz.com.

  • Getting Weird at the 15th Strangecreek Campout

    Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend bookend the festival season, meaning many northeasterners start and end their summers at Camp Kee-Wanee in Greenfield, Mass., for the 15th Strangecreek and Wormtown Campouts.

    strangecreekLast week was the 15th annual Strangecreek, and the vibe was very focused around the family that had been built up over the years. Camp Kee-Wanee is the perfect spot to host this festival, with a picturesque green landscape that leads into the forest, which is cut in half by a stream running through the creek. The late night cabins make it as fun for ragers as all the kid friendly activities make it perfect for families.

    The four-day fete spanned May 26 to 29 and was a hit to everyone in attendance. Aside from the rain over the first two days, the festival went off without issue, and by the time the music was done late on Sunday night, everyone was left with ear-to-ear smiles.

    I wasn’t able to arrive until Friday evening, just as Consider the Source was soaring on the main stage. Prior to that, David Gans’ tribute to the Grateful Dead’s Ron “Pigpen” McKernan had fans singing the type of blues that only Pigpen could sing. Rebel Alliance and Relative Souls were prior.

    At 7:30 p.m., Shakedown took over the Vernville stage to play 90 minutes of the way they interpret the Grateful Dead. It was a very nice and relaxing way to segue back to the mainstage, where headliner Badfish brought the sunny spirit of Sublime to Strangecreek. It was a welcomed surprise to boogie down to one of my favorite bands from my teenage years.

    A few minutes before 11, I caught the tail end of Western Mass. group The Alchemystics and their genre melding blend of funk and hip hop.

    In the Keewanee Cabin, Tweed jammed, and jammed and jammed until the early morning hours, before Skeleton Keys brought a new spin on Grateful Dead music, using two pianos to interpret the legendary catalog. West End Blend and Bella’s Bartok were the late night acts at the Wormtown Cabin.

    After some late night campground shenanigans, I turned in to my tent and took a much needed rest. The cool mountain air, paired with a quiet camping area, made it easy to fall and stay asleep.

    The morning started with a delicious smoothie from the Solar Cafe and a bacon, egg and cheese from an independent vendor. By the time I got to the Vernville stage, Desert Rain was wrapping up, so I wandered to the Riverworm stage, nestled in the woods, to check out Rhythmic Circus, who were the perfect complement to the fair weather.

    A friend messaged me and told me not to miss The Broadcast, a three-piece group that played the main stage at 3 p.m. They brought a sort of straightforward approach to rock and roll, but mixed in some fiery soloing.

    Big Mean Sound Machine, The Fritz and Ryan Montbleau were up next, before a dinner break to get ready for the band I come to see every year: Max Creek.

    The four-piece band has been around since the late 1960s, and continues to innovate in the jam scene. Guitarist Scott Murawski has been playing a lot with Phish bassist Mike Gordon in recent years, and the duo’s partnership and style showed a lot during the show. Max Creek, years ago, sometimes felt like it was Murawski soloing over chord progressions, but this show featured a lot more in the ways of subtle rhythm shifts and deep grooves, which is similar to what he does with Gordon. And not to be forgotten is the Dead’s spirit, which is tattooed all over Max Creek’s live sets.

    Shakedown and Zach Deputy rocked the Wormtown late night cabin, and Keepers of the Vibe and the Z3 held down Kewanee.

    Sunday morning is what I’ve been looking to for a while. New York based group Cousin Earth was opening the Riverworm stage at 10:30 a.m. to bring their super unique, sometimes quirky and all-the-time fun and intricate music to Strangecreek for the first time. The five-piece band featured Joey Calfa on electric ukulele, Corey J. Feldman on a bass the size of a ukulele, Terry Brennan on vocals and percussion, Nate Searing on drums and Tara Lawton on vocals and melodica. They bring a Broadway vibe to rock and roll, and add in memories from your childhood, such as playing the Animaniacs theme song, or performing a video game medley. All in all, Cousin Earth was the most energizing set of the weekend, and I urge you to catch this band any chance you get.

    The Rev Tor Band and Hayley Jane and the Primates performed on the main stage, before Bella’s Bartok took another shot at the crowd. Bella’s Bartok is quite unique, with an indy rock feel and also a singalong sort of vibe. At one point, their singer sang a song while on an inflatable couch that the crowd was making surf.

    The Talking Dreads and Annie in the Water had the Vernville stage hopping, while Steal Your Peach brought the river to life.

    Eric Krasno of Soulive played a set with his solo band on the main stage right around the time people were learning that Gregg Allman had passed away.

    Zach Deputy, Pink Talking Fish and Pink Floyd tribute The Machine closed out the festival in grand fashion. Pink Talking Fish’s set consisted of all Phish material, adding another layer to the weekend.

    From September 15 to 17 at Kee-Wanee is Wormtown, which is put on by the same people. Melvin Seals and JGB and Max Creek are the headliners. You should really plan on attending if you want to experience one of the most amazing and laid back festivals in the country.

  • Strange Machines To Host Inaugural Festival At The Stone Church In NH

    June 2 & 3, Strange Machines will host the very first Strange Days Festival at The Stone Church in Newmarket, NH. The guys are bringing a jam-heavy lineup to one of their favorite venues. An intimate Friday night includes an opening set from Litz and the first of many from the Strange Train. Saturday is an all day affair that ends with a double dose from the hosts, including a Doors tribute set. Single-day passes are available and a two-day pass is only $20 and worth every penny. Check out the event on Facebook and catch the band as they head south this week on a short tour before playing at Domefest this weekend.

  • An Interview with MAYfest founder Dave Marzollo

    This Memorial Day weekend, MAYfest returns to Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, NY, about an hour north of the NYC metro area. Highlighted by Music, Arts and Yoga, MAYfest brings together dozens of all-star yoga instructors including Elena Brower, Sadie Nardini and Amy Pearce-Hayden​ during the day alongside headliners Rusted Root​, Ozomatli​, Dar Williams​ and DJ Drez​, as well as combination yoga/live music sessions that are part of a memorable festival weekend.

    dave marzolloMAYfesters can come for the weekend of just for a single day and create their own schedule online for any of the 140 sessions of yoga that vary in type and skill level. In between sessions, Vendor Village is open to attendees where they can shop for local and hand crafted goods and receive holistic services from healers in the Wellness Center. At night, the main stage is alight with national and regional touring acts. MAYfest and Catskill Chill founder Dave Marzollo spoke to NYS Music about the upcoming festival and how the yoga and music focus of MAYfest sets it apart from other festivals.

    Pete Mason: Where did the idea to start a music and yoga-based festival first start?

    Dave Marzollo: My wife has been a yoga studio owner for over ten years, For the last five years, and she currently hosts a ton of different styles of yoga, pilates, meditation and kids programs at SkyBaby Studio. Meanwhile, I had spent five years founding and developing The Catskill Chill Music Festival. When a yoga class at The Chill in 2014 hosted over 300 people, we had a vision. We felt that we could combine our skills to create a new and different kind of event: one where people could workshop or relax all day, and then hold a big rock ‘n roll concert at night.

    dave marzollo mayfestPM: MAYfest highlights Music, Art and Yoga. What sets MAYfest apart from other music festivals?

    DM: People go take classes and workshops to further themselves. They work to develop their minds, their bodies and their creative and loving spirits. We want to be able to gather like-minded people together in the interest of cultivating an environment where people can experience this growth together. On the flip side, people go to concerts to reveal and celebrate in a different spirit, through dancing and singing. Again the community is gathered, but after the hard work of a day’s pursuit or self-betterment, it just feels nice to see everyone be able to let loose again. Celebration always feels better after accomplishment!

    PM: Over the last two years of MAYfest, you have attracted a wide audience. For fans considering attending, what kind of festival-goer does MAYfest invite?

    DM: That is the perfect follow up question! This festival’s aim is to give people a place to pursue their personal development by day, and then give them a place to party and celebrate life by night! We are seeking to attract are the type that love both pursuits!

    PM: The lineup is tailored a little differently than other fests, including Catskill Chill, with what feels like more roots based music. How did the lineup for this year come together?

    DM: When we pick the bands for this event, we are looking for music that lifts the human spirit. If you look at our bands from this year and in years past you will see soulful, spiritual, uplifting and conscientious. In these turbulent times we like to feature bands who are both fun to dance to, while also delivering powerful messages of growth and harmony.

    PM: You have more than 4 dozen yoga instructors on tap for the weekend. What variety of yoga is possible with so many yogis on hand?

    DM: My wonderful wife Melia is the curator of the yoga program, but I can speak for both of us when I say that one thing we both love about yoga is how many different interpretations of yoga there are. Sometimes yogis or yoga studios can be to narrow focused on one specific kind of yoga, but we think it is best to offer as many varieties as possible. There is a lot to choose from, and you can never take every class, but there is something for everyone.

    Get tickets to MAYFest now!

  • Gorillaz Announce Demon Dayz Festival

    Gorillaz, the Grammy-winning virtual band co-created by multi-instrumentalist Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett in 1998, has laid plans for its own festival, which is to be called Demon Dayz Festival, after its second album. While the lineup has yet to be released, this is slated to be Gorillaz’ first live performance since the conclusion of 2010’s Escape to Plastic Beach Tour in Auckland, New Zealand.

    demon days festivalAt that show Albarn warned fans that it might be the last ever for Gorillaz, so today’s news comes as a sigh of relief for Gorillaz fans worldwide, who, for several years now, have been inundated with rumours of Albarn and Hewlett’s falling-out, delayed releases, and other speculation.

    The announcement comes following an increase in social media activity by the band, which has included biographies for the band’s four virtual members—2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russell Hobbs, and Noodle—a revised timeline of the band’s history, and the January release of “Hallelujah Money,” a single featuring Benjamin Clementine. While an album of new material has been in the works for a couple of years, a 2017 release now appears to be imminent. Check out the video for “Hallelujah Money” here.

    The single-day Demon Dayz Festival is scheduled for June 10 in Margate, England at the Dreamland amusement park. Tickets are now available starting at £60.00, with priority entry tickets for £70.00. Tickets include full access to the park’s rides. RedBull TV will also live stream the festival. Click here to visit the Demon Dayz website for tickets and more information.

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