Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous will be making their Town Ballroom headlining debut this New Year’s Eve. In anticipation of the evening, the Buffalo based quartet has announced that in addition to their own catalog, they will be dedicating a set of music to the English virtual band, Gorillaz.
“AQ draws from many different bands’ catalogs for inspiration, and the Gorillaz catalog is one that all four of us are HUGE fans of,” noted Aqueous frontman and guitarist Mike Ganzter via press release. “Their catalog integrates four styles of music that we all love: hip-hop, rock, punk and electronic, and once the idea got thrown out there to do a Gorillaz themed set, it was clear that that was the vibe we wanted to really set our NYE party over the top!”
This past March, Aqueous made their performance debut at the Town Ballroom opening in support of Vermont’s genre fusing jam band, Twiddle. As AQ steps into the headlining position to close out 2017, Ganzter reveals the evening’s importance to the band. “This city has so much love for us and has supported us on a really profound level at every turn,” he said. “We’re coming into this gig with true gratitude and a mission to deliver in a big way at a venue that we all grew up seeing our favorite bands perform at.”
Buffalo post-rock art band Lazlo Hollyfeld has been added in support.
On Thanksgiving eve, Ganzter stopped by the Lazlo Hollyfeld annual Thanksgiving Eve show for an unannounced sit-in. Besides their own unique brand of musical stylings, Lazlo Hollyfeld is also known for their perfected tribute sets, including performances of the Talking Heads, Radiohead and most recently, Arcade Fire.
Aqueous is currently finishing up a nearly three month tour of the greater United States before retuning home to celebrate the New Year with their hometown fans. AQ will kick off 2018 with performances on Jam Cruise as well as tour in support of Papadosio for recently announced dates in February and March.
Tickets for Aqueous’ NYE Gorillaz bash at Hometown Ballroom are $20 in advance and are still.
Aqueous Upcoming Tour Dates
Dec. 6 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
Dec. 8 – Fort Collins, CO – Hodi’s Half Note
Dec. 9 – Frisco, CO – The Barkley Ballroom
Dec. 12 – Davenport, IA – Redstone Room
Dec. 13 – St. Louis, MO – The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy
Dec. 14 – Lexington, KY – Cosmic Charlie’s
Dec. 15 – Columbus, OH – Woodlands Tavern
Dec. 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Rex Theater
Dec. 29 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium * Dec. 31 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Jan. 17 – 22 – Miami, FL – Jam Cruise
Vermont jam band Twiddle and Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous teamed up for a legendary weekend of music. Saturday March 4, not only marked Twiddle’s first two-night run at the historical venue, but also marked Aqueous’ debut. Saturday night was marked a sell out, while Sunday night ticket sales landed just under capacity.
Aqueous made the most out of their debut weekend. The band’s hometown fan base came out in full support, with many AQ fans traveling to witness the group’s first shows at the Town Ballroom. Mike Abrahamson made the five hour drive from Hudson Falls, NY and commented, “I’ve never heard a crowd that loud for the opening band. It was insanity.”
Saturday night, Aqueous opened with the fan favorite “Strange Times.” Moving forward, the set progressed to a newer tune, the recently debuted “Second Sight.” “Numbers and Facts” took a highly talked about turn, when the band switched gears midway and debuted a cover of the NWA classic “Express Yourself,” featuring bassist Evan McPhaden on vocals with Twiddle bassist Zdenek Gubb on bass duties. McPhaden took to crowd surfing before returning to the stage to conclude “Numbers and Facts” with the band. Aqueous closed out their debut set with the high energy “Don’t Do It” from their EP Best in Show.
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Twiddle held nothing back on night one, instantly commanding the room with “Blunderbuss” an intense, high energy instrumental that is slated for release on the upcoming Plump – Chapter 2. Their Saturday night set was a varied list of fan favorites that spanned the band’s catalog including “Brick of Barley,” “Carter Candlestick,” “Indigo Trigger” and “Lost in the Cold.”
Twiddle also welcomed Aqueous guitarist Mike Ganzter for the Twiddle instrumental “Latin Tang.” Ganzter’s guitar work added an incredible layer of guitar harmonies. It also added an incredible layer of on-stage camaraderie. There is an evident level of musical respect and appreciation between the two bands that shines, specifically when Gantzer and Twiddle guitarist Mihali Savoulidis take the stage together.
The night concluded with Ganzter returning to the stage with McPhaden on synth. The pair sat-in with Twiddle for the Ray Parker Jr. hit “Ghostbusters.” The encore choice was inspired by a plaque in the venue, listing the site at one of Western New York’s most haunted buildings. Formerly known as the Town Casino and used as a speakeasy during Prohibition, employees of the Town Ballroom often report ghost sightings, unexplained sounds through the venue’s basement tunnels and the venue’s equipment often turning on without explanation.
Both bands used Saturday night’s momentum to launch a Sunday night burner. Aqueous came out firing, bringing a unique twist to some of their most beloved tunes. The night was kicked off with “Underlyer” and “Marty.” AQ then fired into an alternative funk version of “Eon Don” (nicknamed “Eon Ron”) before bringing on Twiddle drummer Brook Jordan for the David Bowie classic “Let’s Dance.” Vocals on the tune were handled by Aqueous drummer Rob Houk. Aqueous concluded their two-night run at the Town Ballroom with the high energy favorite “Origami.”
Longtime Buffalo fan Matt Shotwell enjoyed the band’s take on songs he’s heard at many previous shows: “Still can’t get over how they gave seemingly every song at least a slight reworking. New tempos, new licks and teases aplenty.”
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Sunday night proved that Aqueous is poised to move into larger venues. Their sound is built to fill a larger space. Abrahamson summed it up best telling NYS Music, “The boys absolutely commanded the attention of the room without hiccups. The sound was perfect in my opinion. It can be hard to upscale your sound to a bigger stage but they had no problem whatsoever.”
Their incredible use of layers and depth, enhanced by Lighting Director Ryan Bress, showcased an entire stage package that hometown fans have longed to see. Bress, also went on to light Twiddle both nights to rave reviews.
Twiddle brought high energy on Sunday night. The mellow mood established by first set opener “Subconscious Prelude” was quickly turned on its ear as the band turned the Town Ballroom into a dance party fueled by “Apples>Funkytown>Apples.” Set one also contained fan favorite “Gatsby the Great” and concluded with the instrumental tune “The Catapillar.”
Set two kicked off with “Earth Mama” followed by the moody and edgy combination of “Wasabi Eruption > The Box.” The four-song set concluded with “Syncopated Healing” featuring Ganzter on a quitar solo that had fans of both band’s talking. NYS Music Photographer Tim Merrill, who was shooting at the time even noted that “Gantzers solo during syncopated had me in tears in the pit. It was beautiful.” Ganzter returned to the stage with Twiddle for a Radiohead “Karma Police” encore.
Taylor Cauwels, who traveled both nights from Rochester, summed up the feelings of a lot of fans at the conclusion of the weekend. She told NYS Music, “So thankful for this band and the medicine they provide. I leave every show with more “frends” than I came with. The amazing feelings that radiated throughout the Ballroom were almost overwhelming. My cheeks still hurt from smiling so much.”
Gantzer left the weekend feeling supported by their local fan base. “I feel a true sense of pride and admiration for our fan base at this moment in time,” he said. “Our hometown crowd really brought it (as they always do), and the weekend was full of absolute magic because of their incredible energy and excitement; it was a shared experience and one that I’ll likely never forget.”
The weekend was not only a success for Twiddle and Aqueous, but also for the Twiddle fan funded organization The White Light Foundation. The charity held its first event in Buffalo successfully raising money for two Western New York charities, Crisis Services and Going to The Dogs Rescue.
Ganzter noted that, “We also have been having THE BEST time with the twiddle boys and their awesome crew, so we’re psyched to keep this momentum going with them on and off stage!”
Twiddle and Aqueous hit the road together again and head to Keene, New Hampshire on March 17 and March 18. The two bands will also be making stops together in Stroudsburg, PA and Washington, D.C. before concluding their shows together at the Playstation Theatre in New York City on March 31 and April 1. Aqueous was also recently announced on Twiddle’s Festival Tumble Down which will be held in Burlington on July 28 and July 29.
Twiddle Setlist via uTwiddle.net
Saturday 3/4/2017 Set 1: Blunderbuss, Polluted Beauty, White Light, Brick Of Barley, Carter Candlestick
Set 2: Wildfire, Indigo Trigger, Dr. Remidi’s Melodium, Latin Tang[1], Lost In The Cold Encore: Ghostbusters[2]
Show Notes: [1] “Latin Tang” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar. [2] “Ghostbusters” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar and Evan McPhaden (Aqueous) on bass.
Sunday 3/5/2017 Set 1: Subconscious Prelude, Apples -> Funky Town -> Apples, Gatsby The Great, Dusk ‘Til Dawn, The Catapillar
Set 2: Earth Mama, Wasabi Eruption -> The Box, Syncopated Healing[1] Encore: Karma Police[1]
Show Notes: [1] “Syncopated Healing” and “Karma Police” featured Mike Gantzer (Aqueous) on guitar.
Aqueous setlist via – aqueousband.com
Saturday 3/4/2017 Set 1: Strange Times, Second Sight, Numbers and Facts > Express Yourself1 2 3 > Numbers and Facts, Don’t Do It
Show Notes: 1NWA cover, Aqueous debut 2 Evan rapping (Last Evan rap – 2013/5/11 436 shows)3 Gubb [Twiddle] on bass, Donkey Kong theme in DDI, Post rapping Evan crowd surfed. #rockstar
Sunday 3/5/2017 Set 1: Underlyer > Marty, Eon Don > Let’s Dance1 2 > Complex Pt. I, Origami
Show Notes: 1 Rob on vocals 2 Brook Jordan [Twiddle] on drums, Let’s Dance last played 2016/8/11 67 shows
Vermont-based jam band Twiddle packed the Palace Theater in Albany with a near capacity crowd on NYE. Fellow Vermont two piece Soule Monde and Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous opened in support.
photo by Steven Rauch
Twiddle pleased fans with two sets of music. The night opened with Twiddle’s most recent song “Moments.” The first set also included “Blunderbuss,” the band’s newest instrumental piece, which was debuted this past May at the Capitol Theatre. Twiddle’s first set also included fan favorites “Lost in the Cold,” “Doinkinbonk,” and first set closer “Apples.”
Twiddle took to the stage just before midnight with the members of Soul Monde and Aqueous to ring in the new year with “Auld Syne Lang”. As the clock struck midnight, fans in the venue’s balcony lobbed hundreds of green and purple balloons onto concert goers on the venue’s lower level. Everyone also stayed onstage for a rendition of ALO “Barbeque”. The second set also included an extended version of “Polluted Beauty,” “Jamflowman” and “Frankenfoote.”
Twiddle returned to the stage for their encore with Aqueous’ Mike Gantzer and Dave Loss, as the band debuted the classic hit “Layla.” Although the band is often know for teasing the tune, it was the first complete performance of the song.
The Albany performance closed out a stellar year for Twiddle, who continue to develop a growing fan base, perform sold out shows and grow into larger venues as well as their own festival Tumble Down, which will enter its sophomore year this summer.
photo by Steven Rauch
2017 is already shaping up to be another stellar year for the band. Announced dates include a January stint on Jam Cruise as well as the Jungle Jam in Costa Rica in March. Twiddle hits the road with Aqueous in support for several dates including multiple two night runs in February and March. Twiddle is on a short respite until the end of the month.
Setlist:
Set One: Moments, Doinkinbonk!!!!, Lost in the Cold, Blunderbuss, Daydream Farmer, Dusk til Dawn, Apples
Set Two: Auld Lang Syne (with Soule Monde and Aqueous) BBQ (with soule Monde and Aqueous), Polluted Beauty, Zazu’s Flight, Jamflowman, Frankenfoote
Encore: Layla (with Mike Gantzer and Dave Loss of Aqueous)
“AQ draws from many different bands’ catalogs for inspiration, and the Gorillaz catalog is one that all four of us are HUGE fans of,” noted Aqueous frontman and guitarist Mike Ganzter via press release. “Their catalog integrates four styles of music that we all love: hip-hop, rock, punk and electronic, and once the idea got thrown out there to do a Gorillaz themed set, it was clear that that was the vibe we wanted to really set our NYE party over the top!”
