As we continue our look at the best of and the brightest in music in 2017, we shift our focus to up and coming bands that are ready to burst on to the national stage. While our staff picks may mirror those of last year, NYS Music readers have voted for a new act that’s ready to join the ranks of other popular New York bands with bight futures.
And if you’ve missed any of our previous voting results from earlier this week, check out our winners for Best Venues, Best Albums and Best Festivals.
For the second year in a row, our staff has selected Aqueous as a band on the rise as the Buffalo, NY quartet continues their steady progression towards national relevancy. Playing bigger festivals, opening for acts like The Disco Biscuits, and collaborating with members of moe., fellow Upstate New Yorkers, in addition to a steady touring schedule have all contributed to this band’s surge in popularity. This should come as no surprise to Buffalo area music fans who have been singing the group’s praises for years now. They’ll get to enjoy Aqueous back in their hometown as they ring in the new year at Town Ballroom. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
At least the readers of NYS Music have offered up a new taste this year for their Band on the Rise selection as they’ve chosen The Other Brothers. Fresh off the heels of their recently released EP Jones, this band has seen a steady rise in prominence in 2017 thanks to increased exposure this summer at local festivals like Disc Jam and strong word of mouth. They hang their hat on being able to mix delicate ballad-like songs with focused and heavy jamming in the live setting.
Artists You Should Know
We’re always looking for new music, especially bands from New York State, and this year we stepped up our game and found bands from all corners of the state playing our local bars and clubs, just getting started.
We checked in with our readers, and they overwhelmingly suggested three New York artists: The Backseat Bullets (for fans of shoegaze and a 90s grunge influence), Aqueous (jam stalwarts of Buffalo), and Hartley’s Encore, the new funk powerhouse in Albany.
Meanwhile, we asked the staff who were some artists readers should know about, and we ended up with an impressive list of 21 different artists to check out. There’s no sense in sending you off to listen to three or four bands worth checking out when there is so much variety in store. So here’s the NYS Music Staff list of Best Artists You Should Know for 2017.
It’s no secret that the Disco Biscuits are touring, improvisational machines. The trance-fusion foursome offers their die-hard fan base countless opportunities to catch them on the road throughout the year, even if they tend to favor the East Coast, their home base in Philadelphia, PA and the renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. What remains annually constant, is their long-running Montage Mountain mania. Camp Bisco is now boasting a ‘save the date’ and offering alumni pre sale tickets to bring your ass to the party, taking place from July 12-14, 2018.
After being held in a total of four different locations and taking a break in 2014, Magner, Barber, Brownie and Allen will bring their flair to Montage Mountain, with Scranton acting as the festival’s residence for the fourth consecutive year. While freshly crafted festivals are popping up each year, Camp Bisco managed to hold its own, on and off since ‘99. With its 16th festival and year in operation, the recurring party provides six Biscuits sets, mesmerizing laser shows, abundant art and camping, cool downs in the pool, 5k marathons, zany color wars and other activities over the course of three jam-packed days. Although hosted and heavily based around the Biscuits, fans favoring a multitude of genres, specifically electronic dance music, find their way to the mountain. In the past, favorable acts have included STS9, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Gramatik, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Lotus and more.
Partying isn’t the only thing taking precedence over the weekend, the quartet makes sure they give back to the community by promoting fundraising and food drives, having raised money for hurricane relief and even gathering young fans to register to vote.
An alumni pre-sale begins this Thursday, Dec. 21 at noon at the Camp Bisco website with the password: ALUMNI. You can catch The Disco Biscuits for the last time in 2017 at NYC’s Playstation Theater from Dec. 28-31.
The Camp Bisco 2018 lineup is still TBA but check out the official 2017 aftermovie and NYS Music’s coverage of last year’s fest here to hold you over:
It’s the first snowy evening of the season on November 19 and I can think of no better way to spend it than by checking out the “Master of Horror” John Carpenter and his incredibly talented band on the final date of their live Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 tour. What a treat for those in attendance at the Palace Theater in Syracuse. They got to see the famed movie director change up roles and get behind a synthesizer to perform themes from his beloved horror flicks with clips from the films playing on a giant screen behind him.
Carpenter took the stage promptly at 7:30 and showed that he is a man of many talents. He made eye contact, danced and pointed at fans as he worked his way through his impressive catalog. Carpenter came well-armed with a gifted back-up band comprised of Tenacious D’s drummer Scott Seiver, their guitarist John Konesky, their bassist John Spiker and Carpenter’s son Cody Carpenter on lead synth and his godson whom Carpenter described as, “the prince in waiting” Daniel Davies on lead guitar.
The group produced an impressive sound. They took fans through the main title theme from “Escape from New York,” “Assault on Precinct 13” and “The Fog.” In an excellent tribute to the late “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Harry Dean Stanton, Carpenter and the band donned sunglasses as they performed “Coming to L.A.” from “They Live.” This drew a large roar of applause from the crowd. The fans also went wild when Carpenter stated, “I believe in love and I believe in love that lasts forever,” as he introduced the opening notes to his infamous “Halloween” theme. Fans of Carpenter’s Halloween will be excited to note that it appears he will be releasing a follow up to the 1978 film due to hit theaters October 2018. It is even rumored that Jamie Lee Curtis will reprise her role as Laurie Strode. Yeah, I’m excited!
The group ended the main set with the theme from the ever creepy “In the Mouth of Madness.” Do you read Sutter Cane? They barely stepped off stage for a moment before returning and punching through a four-song encore that culminated with Carpenter advising everyone to “drive home safely this evening. Christine’s out there.” They ended their set with “Christine Attacks.” It was fantastic to see Mr. Carpenter bring his work to life in such a unique way. He seemed to be legitimately having a great time and proved that he is in fact a “master of horror.”
Setlist: Escape from New York: Main Title, Assault on Precinct 13: Main Title, Village of the Damned: March of the Children, The Fog: Main Title Theme, Vortex, Mystery, They Live: Coming to L.A., Starman: Starman Leaves (Jack Nitzsche), The Thing: Main Theme – Desolation (Ennio Morricone), Distant Dream, Big Trouble in Little China: Pork Chop Express, Wraith, Halloween Theme – Main Title, In the Mouth of Madness: In the Mouth of Madness
Encore: Body Bags, Vampires (Santiago), Prince of Darkness: Darkness Begins, Christine: Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)
A sense of wonder. It’s that wide-eyed gleam that happens when any other breed of dog spots a poodle for the first time. It is that sixth sense so rare in adulthood that it has been referred to as the superpower of children. It is so potent a gift that marine biologist, Rachel Carson once exclaimed, “If I had influence with a good fairy, I would ask that her gift to each child be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”
Luckily, I have found that such magic does exist. One reminder came last week in form of Quixotic, an innovative performance art collective that fuses mind boggling imagination with technology, dance, aerials, projection mapping and live music. Quixotic started an an experimental artistic collaboration in Kansas City, Missouri in the mid-2000s has exploded into a worldwide performance phenomenon.
Last week, Quixotic, along with world-beat electronic music group, the Desert Dwellers, transformed the Ogden Theatre into an awe-inspiring house of wonder imbued with fierce athleticism, grace, and lilting beauty. The performance, aptly titled, “Beyond”, explored the boundaries of what is commonly thought possible in visual/music performances. The performers challenged the boundaries of human limitation in a show that featured risky aerial hoop performances and astonishing contortionist dance movements accompanied by dramatic live and electronic music.
If I had influence with a good fairy, I would ask that each adult have the opportunity to witness such a performance that possesses such an indestructible sense of wonder. Its effect would last a lifetime.
Chris Frantz, founder of the Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, and one of the curators of the emerging artist series, interviewed Pierce Fulton to learn more about his roots, influences, and connection to Fairfield, Connecticut.
Chris Frantz: We are looking forward to your upcoming show at FTC in our Emerging Artists Series. Have you ever been to Fairfield, CT before? Have you ever performed here?
Pierce Fulton: I’m really looking forward to it too!! And it’s funny because I was born in Bridgeport, CT! I lived in Fairfield until I was 9 and then moved to Vermont for middle school, high school and
college. A very large majority of my family lives in Fairfield so it’s always still felt like home and playing at FTC will be my first time playing in Fairfield which is big for me! The fact that it’s an all
ages show means my entire extended family can come and see me play, young cousins, aunts, uncles etc!
CF: How would you describe your musical style at the moment or do you prefer to avoid categorization?
PF: Well a majority of my music falls under the Progressive House categorization, which is totally accurate and I’ve mostly made Progressive House over my years pursuing music full time. I’ve been playing music my entire life though; well before producing electronic music I was playing guitar in bands and picking up various instruments in school music classes. 3 years ago, after I’d
established myself in the electronic scene a bit, I decided to bring back those early influences by injecting more recorded music into my electronic songs. The combination is what I describe as “electronic music with a live band feel” because typically I play and sing all of the recorded parts on my songs so it’s basically a band of myself with featured vocalists from time to time.
CF: Do you have any musical heroes, influences or mentors that people should know about?
PF: Like my past, my influences totally come from opposite sides of the spectrum. I was very fortunate to be raised by parents that have an excellent ear for music. My childhood was filled with the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, and lots of really timeless rock music. And on the flip side, what got me into electronic music were artists like Eric Prydz, Above & Beyond, Paul Kalkbrenner and a lot of the more melodic house and trance sounds that came out of 2007-2010. After years of experimenting and teaching myself the ins and outs of producing and engineering on the computer, all of those influences started blending together unintentionally.
CF: How do you feel about protest music and people expressing their political views in song?
PF: I think it’s both very good and very bad. There are a lot of issues that people are too afraid to even think about, let alone talk about, and to be able to express that with music is so powerful in the really good way. But then I think about all of the mixed messages that one person can take in between the media, the art world, their family, friends, colleges, etc. Anyone’s opinion can get in front of millions of people these days so it scares me to think about how many are flying around the internet and how people who have a hard time having their own opinion might latch onto someone else’s.
CF: What can people expect from your show production wise?
PF: So I’ve been building up to a tour like this since I first started sprinkling live instruments into my electronic music. I’ve been collecting gear, learning live show tips, and slowly preparing my
songs to be played live rather than on turntables for close to 3 years. I even did some mock up sets in private years ago just to test techniques out that I was positive I’d one day turn into my actual show. And that was all just preparation for the past 3 months that I’ve spent deconstructing my entire catalog for a completely live and unique show experience each night, programing a light show that is tied to each musical element of each individual song (which means I can rearrange my set at any given moment wooo!), and simply practicing playing and singing my songs. As I said, I’ve been planning to make my show like this for a very long time so I’m putting 110% of myself into this tour and so far it feels incredible.
Join Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and record producer Peter Katis for Pierce Fulton and NVDES’ debut in The Warehouse on Monday, November 27. Tickets, information, and samples of the music can be found at Fairfieldtheatre.org.
There is no greater joy in life than discovering music that resonates with the soul, sending spirits soaring into heights of ecstasy. I recently found myself captivated by a performance by Barbarosa. The self-described “loud and pretty” Rochester band combines both male and female vocals over intricately arranged instrumentation. The overall effect is like being guided through a labyrinth in the dewy haze of dawn. I met up with the band’s founder, Kyle Waldron, to discover more about the origin and evolution of this captivating band.
Paula Cummings: What sparked your interest in music?
Kyle Waldron: I’ve always liked music a lot. My dad was a bass player back in the 70’s. He had a lot of instruments. I learned to play bass, I learned to play guitar. I got super into it. It feels like something I was supposed to do. And I used to go to church. That’s how I learned to play in band, in the church. After a while, it was like ‘I want to start my own band.’ I started Barbarosa while I was in college. I’ve always been obsessed with it. There’s nothing in life I’ve ever felt so strongly about.
PC: Why the name Barbarosa?
KW: We were looking for a name for the band and my bass player in college came up with the name Barbarossa. It means red beard. I took out the extra “s” because of copyright with a band in the UK. I’m really into history – I was a history major in college. It’s got historical significance. Barbarossa was an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the name of the Nazi invasion in Russia in WWII. It comes back to my interests and what I look like.
PC: So you and Hannah Gouldrick take turns on vocals on the songs?
KW: Hannah has been helpful with writing vocals. That’s not really my strong suit. I like to come up with songs and guitar parts. Lately it’s been fun. We’ve actually started taking vocal lessons with a coach. So now I feel like “Oh, I can do this harmony.” I just couldn’t do that before. Now I like it a lot.
PC: What is your songwriting process?
KW: Almost always it will start with an idea I came up with on guitar and then I’ll record it. I’ll have someone make drums for the song. And then I’ll go back and flesh it out with bass and vocals. Usually vocals come last. I’ve started changing that. I realized some of the best songs have integrated vocal and instrumental parts. I used to be into post-rock instrumental. Lately I’ve been trying to write vocals, simple songs with chords and then add everything else. I’ve experimented a lot with how I write songs. I strive for not just doing things the same way.
PC: Do you think the changes in the songwriting process have been the result of taking vocal lessons?
KW: I feel like for a lot of musicians, you have a preconceived notion of how you think people write songs. Then you go through it and do it for a while. Then you’re like “Oh, I think there’s a bunch of ways that people do this.” It changes how you think. The more you do it, the more the process shifts. I realized that if I do the vocals first, it would make them more prominent in the song. I think that’s what most people identify with is vocals. I’ve tried hard at improving. Like I said, it was always an afterthought. It’s still a work in progress.
PC: And it’s probably changed as the dynamics of the band has changed.
KW: That’s another major change is getting away from guitar music and into synth – keyboards. I was really into guitar amps for a while but now with the synth… I’m really into gear, so it’s a whole new world to explore. That’s changed a lot too because my friend Nick Maynard did the first two songs on the new EP and he’s a master at that stuff. He has cool synth stuff, vintage gear, and he knows what he’s doing. That helped me out a lot. Nick’s not into doing the live stuff. He loves writing music. He was instrumental in helping me learn that stuff. My roommate also plays keys. Dave Heeks is really into that stuff. He’s going to probably end up being our keyboard player. We’ll be adding keys on more songs. It’s cool because there’s progress. I’ve had three different people work on drums. Matt Battle (of Oh Manitou) was the original drummer. He was on the first song I recorded, “Colorblind.” Then I did another song with him. Then Frank Dicesare, who’s more into hip-hop, which was kind of cool. He plays groovy, and adds stuff you wouldn’t normally hear in indie rock. And then Greg Best. He’s done all the live shows with us. He did the last two songs we put out. Greg is amazing. He went to Nazareth for performance and studied under a famous jazz drummer. He comes up with things in no time at all.
Barbarosa at Wicked Squid Studios
PC: I saw you last month, and you did a cover of a No Doubt song, which was different.
KW: That was Hannah’s idea. We kind of changed it around so it sounded more like Barbarosa. It came together. That’s one of Hannah’s biggest influences in music and she was happy to be able to do that song. Now it’s in our repertoire. Now that we’ve done that, I can see where Hannah gets a lot of her melodies from.
PC: What was the first concert you went to?
KW: It was at Madison Square Garden. It was a Christian music festival. TobyMac and Jars of Clay. That was 5th grade. I didn’t know what was going on. It ended up being “Woah!” It was loud, and you get the adrenalin for the first time. I got into more shows in high school. I saw Balance and Composure in Philadelphia. It woke me up to crowd involvement. And punk shows where people were going nuts and piling onto each other, moshing and stuff like that. That set up my whole idea of playing music. It was a community thing. It was so cool to see so many people in one area connecting. I didn’t know that was possible at that point. That it can make them happy or make them sad. That’s when I realized I want to do this. I want to start a band.
PC: Where do you get inspiration?
KW: There’s a podcast called Song Exploder. They interview artists and go through their songwriting process. It changed my songwriting process. For one of the songs on the EP, I was reading. I was on a history binge. I was going through a bunch of books about the WWII era. I was reading about the Nazis and how they were on drugs. But it was legal. They had these crazy pharmacies in Germany. Nobody knew what heroin was yet. They were just like, “I take this drug and work all night.” It was basically heroin. It probably helped spur WWII. Hitler was an opiate addict, and I’m sure a lot of the terrible decisions he made had to do with that. The drug was called Pervetin. It was the miracle drug of their day. I took a bunch of quotes from that book, mixed them all up, and picked lines that sounded the best. Then we picked the melodies and crafted the song. And it sounded awesome. It was a lot of fun. I got the idea from the Rivers Cuomo episode on Song Exploder. I never would have thought to do that.
PC: Music is meant to be fun, right?
KW: It got me out of my rut of songwriting. I was like “I’ve got to sit down and write some lyrics.” Some of it you can’t force. When it comes to art, you have to let it burst out of you. If I’m sitting there having fun and trying new stuff, it comes out. I try to do that more often. (At the EP Release show) I’ll be playing in Brotherless, too. For Brotherless, we’re going to be covering a Nirvana song. We’re playing this song and it’s so fun. I get to slam power chords and sing harmonies. It’s so much more carefree. I’ve also been pushing a lot of my music in that direction. I’ve learned to simplify because you realize that no one is going to notice. If you can write a simple song that is entertaining that’s so much more important than being able to write a ten minute song full of guitar solos and technicality. I’ve really toned down the riffage and time signatures. I still want it to be creative, but like a mix or creative but also easy to understand and accessible. Like the first song on the EP is not in 4/4, it’s in 7/8. That’s what I want to do is find ways to impress musicians but also at the same time doing it in a way that people who don’t know these things will understand. If you reel yourself in, then you’re a little more within your capabilities, everything’s a little tighter. People underestimate how important the basics are.
Joywave answered the question off their first LP, How Do You Feel Now? with this year’s second LP, Content. To promote the new album, they spent the summer touring with Young The Giant and Cold War Kids. Now they’re on their own headlining tour. Thanks. Thanks for Coming 2017 tour began on November 11 with a sold out show at Anthology in their hometown of Rochester.
The frigid cold weather didn’t stop people from arriving early. An hour before the show, the line had already wrapped around the corner from Anthology in Rochester’s East End district. Once the doors opened, a smoking hot rock ‘n roll performance by The Demos helped to warm people up.
The Demos
All-female quartet The Aces wowed the audience with their indie pop prowess. Then KOPPS took to the stage, combining vivacious electro-pop songs with synchronized dance moves. By the time the supporting bands wrapped up, the sleek but chic industrial space had filled to capacity.
Joywave started with the title track from their new album. In “Content” singer Daniel Armbruster plays with the homonym ‘content’ and the relationship between commercialism and satisfaction. The theme prevails in other songs from the new album, including “It’s a Trip!” and “Little Lies You’re Told.”
Interspersed between the tracks from Content were songs from across their seven year span, including more obscure tunes like their 2011 single “Golden State” (featuring Armbruster on guitar) and the bonus track from the compilation Swish called “Life In A Bubble I Blew.” They also premiered a brand new song called “Alice.” A Joywave set wouldn’t be complete without songs from How Do You Feel Now?. The crowd went wild with “Destruction,” jumping in time to the beat and singing along, ” Oh my God, there’s nobody who can set me right. I’ve been sent to torch the palace down in broad daylight.”
Daniel Armbruster of Joywave
The tour is called Thanks. Thanks for Coming, so named for one of the tracks on Content. It’s also representative of their immense gratitude for everyone who has been a part of their journey. They took a break between songs to thank everyone, including the supporting bands, the venue, and the local alternative radio station.
The last song of the set was “Going to a Place.” The room resonated with the sound of a thousand voices and a thousand pairs of hands clapping along. Keyboardist Benjamin Bailey extended the outro of the song. He continued to play long after the rest of the band left the stage, before eventually conceding to the end of the song.
Benjamin Bailey of Joywave
It didn’t take much to convince Joywave to come out for an encore. Armbruster picked up the guitar again, plucking along to the simple but sincere tune “Confidence.” They picked up the pace with “Nice House” and “Tongues.” The evening concluded aptly with a performance of “Thanks. Thanks For Coming.”
Joywave is on tour through the end of the month. They will be joined by The Aces, The Demos, and Maybird on select dates. In addition, they are playing a few shows in December. The second leg of the Thanks. Thanks For Coming Tour was just announced. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 17.
Setlist: Content, Now, It’s a Trip!, Shutdown, Life in a Bubble I Blew, Parade, Traveling at the Speed of Light, Alice, Rumors, Little Lies You’re Told, Golden State, Destruction, Doubt, Somebody New, Going to a Place. Encore: Confidence, Nice House, Tongues, Thanks. Thanks For Coming.
On Saturday November 4, Teddy Midnight returned to the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn with a new lineup for their first hometown gig in months. The genre bending duo In Flux and party-starting DJ Tucci kicked off the night. Teddy Midnight, now consisting of bassist Sean Silva, drummer Adam Magnan, and new member Danny Caridi formerly of Chromatropic on keys, debuted brand new material including originals and covers.
The trio kicked off the set with a cover of The Chemical Brothers “Go,” setting the tone for the night. Next up was the new original “Menudo Phalanges” that is a high energy disco romp in the vein of LCD Soundsystem’s relentless grooves. After a cover of EDM classic “We Are Your Friends” by Justice and Simian, the trio invited former Chromatropic guitarist Andrew Carton to the stage. Carton ripped through the first old Teddy song of the set, “Velvet Mist,” and continued through another new tune, the funky deep house influenced “French Press” and then a jam filled cover of the New Deal‘s “Back to the Middle.” The trio then threw down a cover of Deadmau5’s “Some Chords” that lead into the third new song of the night “Moon Funk” and a raucous cover of Prodigy’s big beat hit “Smack My B****Up,” an ode to cranking up the volume on a DJ mixer, a fitting end to a high energy set.
The band’s exciting new direction is sure to turn heads and get crowds dancing from start to finish. Upcoming shows include The Hollow Bar and Kitchen in Albany Dec. 8 and Pacific Standard Tavern in New Haven on Dec. 9, both with Consider the Source, followed by a return to New York City on Dec. 28 to play a Phish Pre Party at American Beauty. Listen to the set below!
Setlist: Go, Menudo Phalanges, We Are Your Friends, Velvet Mist >French Press, J > Back to the Middle, Some Chords, Moon Funk, Smack My B**** Up
Philadelphia trance-fusion pioneers, The Disco Biscuits, brought their unique sound to a two-night run at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts for Halloween. With Lespecial for support on their first night, and Jaw Gems on the second, The Disco Biscuits delivered two jaw-dropping shows to the crowd at the recently renovated Palladium.
Opening with the flowery and optimistic “Grass is Green,” things quickly took a dark turn when they dropped into “Minions,” returning to “Grass is Green” to complete the sandwich. They followed this immediately afterwards with their newly reworked version of the song “Loose Change” for only the third time since it’s reintroduction into rotation. Before 2017, the song had not been played since 2010, in its old format. They concluded their set with a yet another sandwich, this time featuring fan-favorite “Confrontation” (complete with “Funkytown” teases as well as a myriad of Biscuits teases) as the bread and the dark instrumental “Gangster” as the meat. The final chorus of “Confrontation” had the entire crowd chanting in unison before a well-deserved setbreak.
The Biscuits weren’t pulling any punches when they opened set 2 with the high-energy introduction to “Munchkin Invasion” which segue-wayed into the rare “Voices Insane,” which featured bass-slapper Marc Brownstein on the vocoder for the chorus and a creepy robotic vocal jam. This transitioned seamlessly into a soaring version of “Astronaut” that nearly ripped the roof right off the theater. “Astronaut” featured an “Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes)” tease. This onslaught of music was concluded with the peak and ultimate conclusion of “Munchkin Invasion” before the Biscuits wrapped the second set up with a standalone version of their tune, “Reactor.”
After two blissful sets, full of teases and intense peaks, the Biscuits were clearly still hungry, and delivered a lengthy, three-song encore including an improv-heavy version of “Once the Fiddler Paid,” a smoking version of their flagship song, “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” and finally, an extended “Spacebirdmatingcall.”
If Thursday night was the night of blissful peaks and scorching improvisation, Friday night was the night for dark, creepy ambience. The Halloween spirit was certainly present, as the Biscuits delivered a night of tricks, fake-outs, and long, dark, spooky and meandering jams.
Thursday’s show began with a four-song set, showcasing the Biscuits’ impeccable ability to improvise and keep their audience both kinetic and confused, as they struggle to identify the next tune. The whimsical “Crystal Ball” opener gave way to the high-intensity peak of “Mulberry’s Dream”, which was inverted, one of the Disco Biscuits’ trademark moves in setlist writing. “Mulberry’s” gave way to the ending of “Crystal Ball,” followed by an extraordinarily lengthy version of the heartfelt “Therapy,” penned by Marc Brownstein about his father and family life that teased damn near every song in the Bisco catalog.
Set 2 opened with “Triumph,” which flowed into “Save the Robots” before seguing into the atmospheric and Halloween-appropriate theme song from the Netflix original “Stranger Things,” which was expertly executed and infused with teases from the Biscuits original “Portal to an Empty Head.” This segue-wayed back into “Save the Robots” before the Biscuits took their only pause of the second set. The eager crowd turned rabid when the band began playing the opening notes of fan-favorite “Spraypaint.” “Spraypaint” bled into a capable cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” before shredding into the instrumental “Tempest” and then back into “Spraypaint” to conclude the second set. The second set featured a fake-out of classic Biscuit song “Little Betty Boop” as well as “Orch Theme,” which was performed a few days later at Hulaween. Teases of “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. and “Electric Avenue” by Eddy Grant were present throughout the night, as well as strong teases of “And The Ladies Were The Rest of the Night” during “Therapy.” The Biscuits concluded the run with a standalone version of “Ladies” as the encore.
The Disco Biscuits truly delivered in Worcester for Halloween weekend, with a full-on sonic assault that showcased their ability to play rock, funk, electronica, and of course, blistering improvisation.
For the past six years during the Autumnal Equinox in late September, what has been described by hosing band Lespecial as a “Pagan inspired multi-media mini-fest” has taken place. After making its rounds at various venues in both Boston and New York, Lespectacle VII landed at one of the top music clubs in the country, Brooklyn Bowl, which Rolling Stone ranked the venue 20th in the nation in 2013.
This year the “psychedelic, haunted circus” not only featured stage design provided by The Reliquarium, a multi-media light and visual show from Vin Pugliese, and was boasting the best lineup of musical acts the mini-fest has seen yet, it was also moved to be held on October, 31… Halloween night. Oh, and did I mention Lespecial would be taking the opportunity to release their second studio album, Cheen? Trick or Treat Lespecialists… Happy Hallo-CHEEN!
Supporting acts included Dallas’s “The Funky Knuckles,” New York’s own Horizon Wireless, as well as a set from Oakland California’s legendary hip-hop act Zion I with non other than your hosts Lespecial as the backing band. That collaboration first came about with a set at The Great North Music Festival. After working with Zion I, Lespecial decided to feature the MC on the 4th track of the new album titled “Sound That We Do.” The set at Lespectacle 7 was the second time the cross-genre on-stage collaboration took place. Luke Bemand’s heavy bass and Jonathan Grusauskas’ sampled sounds and synth-scapes lend themselves well to the prolific word flow Zion I has been bringing to the stage since the early 2000’s.
As for the new sophomore studio album, Cheen, we find a band unafraid to challenge the concepts of traditional genres. They have taken a step further in refining their style by not adhering to the preconceived notions of what that style should be. In fact there is hardly a genre this album doesn’t touch. They have become known for their metal/funk mash up sound on tracks like “Skull Kid” featuring samples of Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman, and the Primus-esque “American Apocalypse” However the track “Stolen Land” brings in a roots-rock/dub sound, and tracks like “Sounds That We Do” and “Donut Ghost House I” and “Donut Ghost House II” bring a hip-hop sound to the album. It’s as if someone said “It’s all been done before” and Lepecial said “Then let’s just do it all.” Spotify player below.
Setlist: Escape from New York: Main Title, Assault on Precinct 13: Main Title, Village of the Damned: March of the Children, The Fog: Main Title Theme, Vortex, Mystery, They Live: Coming to L.A., Starman: Starman Leaves (Jack Nitzsche), The Thing: Main Theme – Desolation (Ennio Morricone), Distant Dream, Big Trouble in Little China: Pork Chop Express, Wraith, Halloween Theme – Main Title, In the Mouth of Madness: In the Mouth of Madness
Chris Frantz: We are looking forward to your upcoming show at FTC in our Emerging Artists Series. Have you ever been to Fairfield, CT before? Have you ever performed here?
The trio kicked off the set with a cover of The Chemical Brothers “Go,” setting the tone for the night. Next up was the new original “Menudo Phalanges” that is a high energy disco romp in the vein of LCD Soundsystem’s relentless grooves. After a cover of EDM classic “We Are Your Friends” by Justice and Simian, the trio invited former Chromatropic guitarist Andrew Carton to the stage. Carton ripped through the first old Teddy song of the set, “Velvet Mist,” and continued through another new tune, the funky deep house influenced “French Press” and then a jam filled cover of the 
This year the “psychedelic, haunted circus” not only featured stage design provided by