Capital Records Live, to be held on March 23 at the GE Theatre at Proctors, is a new model for local music entertainment. Presented in association with WAIX, “Albany’s Independent Experience,” the series’ debut performance will feature six of the region’s most popular bands playing classic songs of The Beatles.
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The first act in the inaugural show will find the Bryan Brundige Collective, Clear Mind, Eastbound Jesus, Girl Blue, Let’s Be Leonard and Wild Adriatic offering self-chosen selections from 1968’s The Beatles, better known as The White Album.
The second act will challenge the same groups, with Proctors and WAIX 106.1 determining which songs the band will perform, all from 1967’s groundbreaking, multiple Grammy Award-winning album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Whether you’re a fan of local artists, wanting to support local music or a Beatles buff who can’t miss these iconic albums performed in a whole new way, Capital Records Live will be the place to be.
Capital Records Live is a planned annual concert featuring a variety of local and regional artists performing a classic album live in concert. Its mission is to promote the local music scene by introducing artists to new audiences, fostering new musical relationships and offering a performance opportunity in a world class environment. Audiences, in turn, are treated to a local “All Star” night of music featuring timeless favorites.
Tickets for Capital Records Live, $25, are available at the Box Office at Proctors, 432 State Street, Schenectady; by phone at (518) 346-6204; and online at proctors.org.
This article, originally published by The Spot 518, is property of Spotlight Newspapers in Albany, N.Y, and appears as a special to NYS Music. TheSpot518 and NYS Music work in partnership to provide readers with in-depth coverage of the local music scene in the Capital District and New York State, respectively. For more, visit TheSpot518.com.
The Summit, a first time concert series presented by Wild Adriatic and Mean Max Brew Works made it’s way into The Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, N.Y. for a two night engagement on Friday, September 29 and 30.
Night one featured, Sun Satellites, Sad, The Lateshift, Girl Blue, Madaila, event hosts and organizers, Wild Adriatic and headliner, Aqueous. Night two brought on a full evening of music with Last Daze, Chestnut Grove, Paradox Saints, Ramblers Home, Angels On The Fourth, Let’s Be Leonard and Wild Adriatic to close out the event.
After years of planning, Wild Adriatic unveiled details of their very own music festival. The Summit will be an annual hometown event featuring up-and-coming live bands. Wild Adriatic aims to use the event to bring music lovers together to foster community and collaboration. The premier on September 29 and 30 at the Queensbury Hotel will include performances by Aqueous, Madaila, Girl Blue, NYS Music 87/90 artist Let’s Be Leonard, Angels on the Fourth, the LateShift, Ramblers Home, Last Daze, Paradox Saints and Chestnut Grove.
Wild Adriatic spends much of the year on the road. Fresh on the heels of their new album, Feel, the power trio is currently on tour. They dish out high-energy rock and roll, creatively incorporating elements from influences including Motown and classic rock.
Wild Adriatic member and festival producer Mateo Vosganian issued the following statement regarding the new festival:
We’re three guys who were raised within two miles of each other in Queensbury and we’ve been fortunate enough to build a career of touring the world playing our music. Our hometown played huge roles in that in so many ways and we’ve been looking for ways to do something fun, memorable, and community oriented.
The Summit is an opportunity for us to gather friends from all over the northeast under one roof with the intention of collaborating and creating a special, memorable weekend that we can build on as a yearly function. We’ve already been poking around about next year and adding an outdoor mainstage, so this is something we’re looking to keep cheap, fun, and accessible for our local community for ideally a long time to come.
Featured artists for the festival include bands that they’ve played with over the years. This sense of camaraderie is sure to add fun to the festivities. Live performances will run from 5 p.m. – 1 a.m. both nights, running on two stages within the Queensbury Hotel. The festival is a bargain at $15 for one day or $25 for both, thanks to partnerships with Mean Max Brew Works, Empire Audio Recording + Sound, and the Queensbury Hotel. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, July 20.
After a two year hiatus, moe.down returned to its birthplace at Snow Ridge for the Fourth of July weekend. The highly anticipated return of the festival featured many sit-ins and covers along with rarely played moe. classics and seven full sets of moe.
moe.down was founded as a fan and family friendly festival in 2000 at Snow Ridge Ski Resort in the Tug Hill town of Turin. The festival made a name for itself over the years by inviting bands not typically associated with the jamband scene. Past years of moe.down have seen such acts as They Might Be Giants, Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven, Violent Femmes, Flaming Lips and Meat Puppets join moe. in upstate New York on a yearly basis. You can read all about past moe.downs in NYS Music‘s featured series here, here and here.
moe. also has a reputation for fostering younger bands. This year’s festival was indicative of that. Up and comers such as Mister F, Wild Adriatic, Organ Freeman, the Black River, Hayley Jane and the Primates, Ripe and the Hip Abduction were included in this year’s lineup, along with such familiar tour mates as Kung Fu, Twiddle, Railroad Earth, Ryan Montbleau and Blackberry Smoke. Fishbone was this year’s inclusion for outside-the-jamband mainstream act and did not disappoint. Several moe.-related bands were also included in this year’s lineup, including Floodwood, Al and the Transamericans and the Mike Dillon Band. Frequent moe.laborator, Shannon Lynch of Conehead Buddha and Lynch was also on hand, contributing her sax and vocals to several performances throughout the weekend.
Occasional heavy downpours throughout the day on Friday made for a muddy start to the weekend as much of the parking, main stage and high traffic areas became nearly nonnegotiable. Regardless, moe.rons are a hardy bunch and mud or not, moe.down was back.
Friday opened with Yes Darling on the tent stage. Yes Darling is a collaborative effort of Ryan Montbleau and Hayley Jane. Their chemistry got the festival off to a great start and provided a foreshadowing of what would come later in the night.
A reunion set of Al and the Transamericans followed on the main stage, followed by Hayley Jane and the Primates’ set in the tent and Ryan Montbleau on the main stage. The scheduling throughout the weekend was precise. As soon as one band finished on one stage, the other stage cranked up almost immediately. The proximity of the stages also allowed those at either stage to remain where they were and still enjoy the music from the other.
Kung Fu funked up the tent as many of the moe. faithful began filing in for the band’s first set at Snow Ridge in nearly three years.
moe. kicked off its festival with the apropos “Bring it Back Home,” seamlessly segueing into “Akimbo.” The segue-fest continued with “Defrost” > “Bearsong” until they brought it all back home to “Bring it Back Home” > “Captain America.” A fairly straight-forward rendition of “Captain America” was interrupted by a slight lyrical flub that was quickly recovered.
This led to the first sit-in of the weekend as Kirk Juhas and his Hammond B3 made their way to stage left to participate in three songs, “Blue Jeans Pizza,” a stellar cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” Juhas’ keyboard style fit in well with the flow of “Blue Jeans Pizza.” A “Two Tickets to Paradise” tease alluded to the moe.down hiatus before flowing back into “Blue Jeans.” If moe. were to consider adding a full-time keyboardist to the lineup, Juhas would be a great fit.
The “Elizabeth Reed” cover was noticed early on by many in the crowd and met with a huge roar when the opening notes hit Chuck Garvey’s pick. Juhas played the part of Gregg Allman as Garvey and Al Schnier did their best Duane Allman/Dickie Betts. The band made this song its own while still nodding to its Allman’s influence. The first cover of the weekend would have been the perfect set closer but moe. had another trick up its sleeve.
The trick in question was bringing Ryan Montbleau and Haley Jane onstage for a spot-on rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” Montbleau nailed Lindsey Buckingham’s vocals while Jane’s Stevie Nicks was a bit more bluesy than the original but a perfect complement to Montbleau. This is where the two’s chemistry was truly on full display.
Friday’s second set was joined by three members of Kung Fu for a ripping version of Frank Zappa’s “San Ber’dino.” Guitarist Tim Palmieri, keyboardist Beau Sasser and saxophonist Robert Somerville joined moe. for one of the band’s traditional covers turned into a funky guitar duel between Garvey and Palmieri that also featured some “Elizabeth Reed” teases. Somerville’s solos added a punch sometimes lacking in moe.’s versions of the Zappa classic while Sasser’s keys added the crunch the song very much needed. The fun had onstage among all the musicians was truly evident as Garvey and Palmieri traded licks and Sasser smiled from ear-to-ear. Despite being the opening song to the second set of what would be a marathon night, the crowd was visibly spent as was Garvey, who exclaimed as the Kung Fu fellows exited the stage, “Now what the hell are we gonna do?”
What moe. did was get back into its catalog with a series that included “Billy Goat” > “Tailspin” > “Hi & Lo” > “Water” > “Hector’s Pillow” into a tease-heavy “Farmer Ben,” that hinted at influences throughout moe.’s career, and finally into a trippy, short “meat.” The inclusion of “Water” was truly appropriate considering the amounts of it that had fallen from the sky leading up to and during the fest.
Following the traditional post-set Al.nouncements, Schnier thanked the musicians that had performed that day and the soundcheck the previous night along with the crew that helped to keep things going despite the weather, offering a cheers to the moe.down faithful as they broke into an acoustic version of “Raise a Glass.”
The four song encore got into the silly zone as the clock sniffed the 2 a.m. barrier. A cover of the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun,” sung by Schnier, turned into a group sing-along. Friday ended with “Nebraska” and an extended “Faker.” An epic, nearly five hour set by the hometown heroes set the stage for an amazing weekend.
After the rain came the sun, and with that even more interesting interplay between the acts on Saturday at moe.down.
Waking up Saturday, it appeared we might be in for even more mud and gross weather, but that never happened. What did occur was a day saved by increasing temperatures, a bright sun and a renewed positive energy among the crowd, who were clearly ready to un-cake the mud, dry out and boogie without sliding down the slippery mountain terrain.
Kung Fu and moe. both battled the elements Friday night to piece together a memorable evening. But a little after noon on Saturday, the Black River kicked things off inside the tent stage. Perfect for the lazy morning, Mike Powell lead the still waking crowd through an hour of fun rock.
A little after its slated 1:30 p.m. time slot, moe. took to the mountain stage and intertwined some of the parade from the kids tent into their set, performing Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and rousing the attendees to sing along in unison. “Spine of a Dog” and “Buster” opened the set in fun fashion, with Schnier and Garvey trading licks, as is usual.
“Bullet”> “Kyle’s Song” > “Kids” proved itself to be a trio of meticulous segues. moe. then closed out the Saturday set with an extended “Moth.”
Albany-area progressive funk rockers Mister F, who were all enjoying their weekends near the VIP camping area, were up next in the Tent Stage. Keyboardist Scott Hannay said prior to their set that the band was very prepared to give fans a treat.
What they weren’t planning for was more bad weather, as rain and lightning caused the band to have to exit the stage for about 15 minutes due to safety reasons. They didn’t miss a beat when they returned, giving the rowdy crowd another half hour of blistering time signatures. “Duck Tales” > “Eye Level” > “Everything You Say” kicked off the set, but it was “Answer the Dog” that was the set highlight. It featured teases of Inspector Gadget and the Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre classic “Nuthin’ but a G Thang.”
Funk and reggae mixed with a little punk rock was up next, as veterans Fishbone brought its crew onstage for 90 minutes of unadulterated, unapologetic, in-your-face music. Maybe they were energized by what was going to happen later?
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Floodwood brought its folksy, Americana blend to the tent stage next. This writer missed most of the set due to having to change out of soggy, muddy clothing and to prepare for the evening’s activities. Blackberry Smoke, followed by Saratoga Springs riff rockers Wild Adriatic, were next on the docket. It was the perfect back-to-back combination, as the southern charm of Blackberry Smoke was the perfect breeding ground for the hard hitting Wild Adriatic.
moe. came back on for its second Saturday set with blazing covers of Pink Floyd’s “In the Flesh,” followed by “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.” The energy caused the crowd to sing along in unison with the two of the psychedelic rock group’s most beloved songs off The Wall. Fishbone then joined in the fun for a cover of “Freddie’s Dead,” before Charlie Starr, of Blackberry Smoke, sat in for a southern tinged take on moe. favorite “Opium.” “32 Things,” “Seat of my Pants” and “Plane Crash” were performed, with the latter two closing out the set.
For the late night set, moe. kept with the theme of inviting guests to explore their material, as well as others’ music. “Wind It Up,” “Same Old Story,” “Tubing the River Styx” and “The Pit” began the set, before “Silver Sun” gave way to a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “The Other One,” which featured Jason Barady and Nick Piccininni, both of Floodwood.
Sunday featured a renewed optimism, as the mud was nearly dried, and some fresh music on tap.
Mike Dillon Band started the music on the tent stage, before roots-Americana band Railroad Earth brought their brand of bluegrass to the Main Stage.
Twiddle, seeing its stock rise steadily in 2016 and into 2017, took to the mountain stage at 5:30 p.m. and lit right into “Nicodemus Portulay,” featuring an extended trance-like jam. Favorites “Polluted Beauty” and “Lost in the Cold” were up next, as the former carried into the 16-minute range.
“Orlando’s,” “The Fantastic Tale of Ricky Snickle,” and “Drifter” finally gave way for a set-closing “Wasabi Eruption” > “The Box” before finally settling on “Juggernaut.” It’s abundantly clear that Twiddle have not only carved out their place in the jam scene, but based of their moe.down set, they’re ready to continue pushing to uncapped heights.
The final night of moe.down had the band dressed all in white, similar to Saturday night. The band opened with “Puebla” and quickly returned to “meat.” from Friday night. Loughlin’s extended malletkat (“It’s not a xylophone”) solo led the band into an early moe. classic, “Awesome Gary,” sending the crowd into a dancing frenzy, while also indicating that Loughlin would have a large presence on this night.
Schnier donned a white suit with a fedora reminiscent of the Panama Jack spokesman and proceeded to level up to rock star mode during the solo in the proceeding “Crab Eyes,” standing on top of the monitors and all.
The unexpected highlight of Sunday’s set was when Rob Derhak forgot the lyrics to “New York City” and asked the audience for help, “Someone’s gotta give me the first line. The band has no clue…But what’s the first word? Anybody know the first word of this next line? This is gonna go down as the most epic ‘New York City’ ever.” Unfortunately the crowd was no help, which resulted in his son pulling up the lyrics on his phone while the band continued the bridge in the background.
Sunday’s first set concluded with a guest appearance from Twiddle’s Mihali Savoulidis and Ryan Dempsey for a performance of moe.’s “Mexico.” Dempsey’s keys weren’t really prominent in the mix, while Savouldis’ fretwork mixed well with Schnier and Garvey. All of the musicians were obviously pleased to be sharing the stage as the crowd sang along.
Following setbreak, the traditional Mayor of moe.down election took place. It’s obvious at this stage of the game that Derhak has had enough of this tradition. The nominees included such animate and inanimate objects as the hay (that was laid down on top of the mud), Screaming Trumpkin (a rubber chicken that resembled President Donald Trump), Frank (moe.’s guitar tech, Frank Robbins), Rex (the reigning Mayor of moe.down) and Rob’s Bulge (a reference to bassist Derhak). The resulting “election,” much to Derhak’s chagrin, was Rob’s Bulge. The acceptance speech included Derhak saying, “I hate this. And, uh, fuck everybody here. But my bulge is Mayor of moe.down.” This was followed by a chant of “Rob’s Bulge” led by Schnier.
Following the election, a “McBain” sandwich occurred, that included a “Skrunk,” a “Yodelittle” and a return to “McBain” that featured percussionist Mike Dillon battling Loughlin on the mallets, truly one of the many highlights of the weekend.
As the band broke into “Brent Black,” the skies opened yet again, sending the faithful scurrying for cover. Many gathered in the tent stage area as the band troopered on through the downpour. As the rain fell, the band converged to presumably discuss what to do for the remainder of the show. Vinnie Amico and Derhak continued playing as Schnier convalesced with the stage crew. The rains diminished and the band persevered, the result was pure exuberance from fans.
The weekend concluded with Schnier thanking the crew, their families, fans, Snow Ridge and the people who cleaned out his basement during the recent flooding in the Utica area, followed by an encore that included a “Not Coming Down” > “Okayalright” and a fitting “America, Fuck Yeah” from the Team America soundtrack.
moe.down XVI by all accounts was a success despite the weather. When it comes to moe.down, it’s expected you’re going to get weather. That’s what makes moe.rons such a special breed and moe. such a special band. The return of this festival to its origin proved successful and bodes well for a return for moe.down XVII in 2018. Let’s hope it’s so.
Summer Camp 2017 was another fantastic year in the Midwest festival’s history. Amid powerhouse sets from hosts Umphrey’s McGee and moe., and alongside memorable performances from Trey Anastasio Band, Pretty Lights Live, Gov’t Mule, Turkuaz, TAUK, The Disco Biscuits and dozens more artists from across the country.
Tributes to Gregg Allman, who passed away on the third day of the festival, poured out almost immediately, with Eric Krasno Band, Flaccid and Gov’t Mule all covering “Whipping Post” within hours of his death. Trey Anastasio Band followed suit the next day by covering “Midnight Rider,” just a small sampling of the immense influence and praise Greg Allman earned from nearly 50 years of performing. Watch Gov’t Mule’s star-studded tribute:
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Buffalo’s Aqueous played three sets over the weekend, each one drawing a larger crowd than the last as they finally moved from the Camping Stage to the Starshine Stage. The following Aqueous has developed over the past decade is a testament to the band’s work ethic and connection with fans as far back as performances at Nietzsche’s. They welcomed moe.’s Vinnie Amico and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee to the stage for a cover of Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne,” putting an exclamation point on their breakout weekend.
Lettuce alums Break Science and Eric Krasno Band stepped out on their own for well received performances, as did Brooklyn’s Turkuaz, who blew the crowd away at the Campfire Stage late Saturday night with a powerhouse set, putting them head and shoulders above others in the funk world. Wild Adriatic and Intrepid Travelers performed at the Camping Stage, a stepping stone for the many rising bands that Upstate New York produces. Both bands dropped spirited covers to the Camping audience, with Wild Adriatic covering Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Intrepid Travelers paying homage to Prince with “Electric Avenue.”
Of course moe. performed five sets throughout the weekend, with one set being rained out on Friday afternoon. Their late night performance in the Red Barn with Everyone Orchestra was full improv, and a treat for all ticket holders. moe. later brought up Turkuaz horns for “Ophelia” and “Happy Hour Hero” and bringing a jaw-dropping opener “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and was part of moe.’s Halloween performance last year. Turkuaz later came out in full for “Life During Wartime” in a show that featured a giant “Meat” sandwich of the entire second set on Saturday. Sunday’s performance closed out with pure moe. start to finish, including a “Chromatic Nightmare” sandwich of the second set and “Opium” featuring Allie Kral of Yonder Mountain String Band on fiddle.
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.
Music Festival season gets underway across the country in May, and Summer Camp Music Festival has made a mark for being a destination event in the Midwest. Umphrey’s McGee, moe., Trey Anastasio Band, Pretty Lights Live and dozens more can be seen this weekend, May 25-28 at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, IL. New York State artists Aqueous, Break Science, Eric Krasno Band, Escort, Turkuaz, Intrepid Travelers, Wild Adriatic, and of course moe., will perform at the four-day festival, now in its 17th year.
Summer Camp has a lot going on, making it tough to see it all, but far from overwhelming like mega-concerts and nowhere near the dumpster fire that is/was Fyre Festival. Check out the full schedule here, or create your own on the Summer Camp app (highly recommended).
Listen to your Counselors!
You should listen to your counselors. Seriously, these are the pros who know Summer Camp inside and out. They’re the best resource for Scampers of all ages and experience levels. Read the handbook, which covers virtually every detail and question about the festival, and if you still have questions, join the Facebook group where you can find answers to virtually any question that may arise over the weekend.
When it comes to camping, unless you’re in an RV, NYS Music recommends the field between Sunshine and Camping (Area D in the map above). Why? Because you are proximate to five stages—Sunshine, Starshine, Vibe Tent, Camping and Soulshine Tent (very underrated, even late at night)—and although there is no shade, you’ll love being able to catch a set of music while chilling between sets of music. The Woods are a solid option as well if you have a smaller set up, but fear not—the sprawling area in the woods is one of the coolest areas to walk through at any festival, night or day.
And while you are at Summer Camp, Make a Difference! there are so many ways to leave Three Sisters Park better than how you found it; clean up trash, cigarette butts, bring a reusable water bottle, recycle your waste and check out the Soulshine Tent to find ways to bring some of that positive energy from Summer Camp back home with you.
Then, of course, what do you do when you want to relive a little bit of Summer Camp from your youth? You participate in Field Day! Yes, Field Day is an annual tradition at Summer Camp, one that has a rightful place in the history of the festival. Started in 2011, the annual event takes the cake as the most unique and most fun non-musical component of Summer Camp. Sign up online, and the first 100 get a free team bandana on Friday from noon–1 p.m. at the Vibe Tent. Come back Saturday at 3 p.m. and participate in capture the flag, arm wrestling, spelling bee, banana eating contest and much more, with a Champions ceremony at noon Sunday. Field Day is open to all, the smack talk is free and it has become a growing event everyone should check out, whether as spectator or participant.
The Field Day staff shared a little insight into why you should take part in Field Day:
The number-one reason why people should sign up is because of the amount of awesome people you’ll meet doing so, especially myself Ashley Pardy. What keeps me coming back is all of the memories, and the Red Team wins. I mean would you leave a team that has won almost every year?” – Ashley Pardy
“You will meet amazing people, laugh your ass off and drink free beer. Participating in one of the many cool activities at Summer Camp will make your festival experience unique beyond just seeing shows.”
– Jessica Coughlin
“Bragging rights.” – Elizabeth Cox
What memories of past years keep these wonderful staff keep coming back, year after year?
I come back year after year because the people are so amazing. Favorite memory is Sheppy nearly getting arrested by some serious looking state troopers for defacing an American flag, while simultaneously being hoisted on our shoulders raising the red flag after yet another contested victory.” – Anthony Piccirilli (Shep talked his way out of it and the cop came to our keg party.)
“Mud Tug-o-War, Drunken Spelling Bees, Sheppy drunken walks with the cup.” – Elizabeth Cox
“Drunken Spelling Bees.” – Anthony Piccirilli
And while sunrise kickball isn’t an official activity, it has been the unofficial opening ceremony of the games for six years now. This is one of the highlights of Summer Camp; at 5:30 a.m. come to the Sunshine Stage for a game of kickball with faithful fans led by Ryan Stasik. There will be trampolines, bacon at second base and no apparent rules; it is the most beautiful and absurd shit-show ever witnessed, and one worth staying up for!
There you have it; NYS Music gives you the ins and outs of Summer Camp 2017. Make sure to follow us all weekend on Twitter and Instagram to live vicariously if you can’t make the trip to the Midwest.
The Albany Tulip Festival, now in its 69th year, is the city’s signature spring event featuring a variety of activities for all ages. The music lineup features headliners Minus the Bear and the Delfonics along with several local acts, including Wild Adriatic.
Held at Albany’s Washington Park, the Tulip Festival showcases local artisans and businesses, available on hand selling their crafts and food. The music is the main attraction with two stages featuring both national and local acts. The main stage headliners are Minus the Bear on Saturday and the Delfonics on Sunday.
The Mother’s Day Weekend festival kicks off on Saturday, May 13 at 11:30 a.m. with the Tulip Queen coronation ceremony. The Mendelssohn Club of Albany performs during the procession and coronation on the Washington Park Lakehouse Stage. Music on the main stage begins at 1:30 p.m. with local act Wild Adriatic.
The festival features other musical attractions, including the KidZone stage featuring entertainment for children of all ages. The Albany School of Rock has a tent at the festival where attendees can check out the future of music performing throughout the day.
69th Annual Tulip Festival Schedule of Events Saturday, May 13 Tulip Queen Coronation Ceremony Washington Park Lakehouse Stage
11:30 a.m. – The Mendelssohn Club of Albany
11:45 a.m. – Tulip Queen Procession (Begins at formal Tulip Beds by Moses Statue)
12:00 p.m. – Tulip Queen Coronation (Lakehouse Stage)
Main Stage Washington Park Parade Grounds
4:30 p.m. – Minus The Bear
3:00 p.m. – The Palms
1:30 p.m. – Wild Adriatic
Local 518 Stage Washington Park Lakehouse Stage
4:45 p.m. – Dryer
3:30 p.m. – Cannon the Brave
2:15 p.m. – Jasper
1:00 p.m. – Maurizio
Sunday, May 14 Main Stage
4:30 p.m. – The Delfonics
3:00 p.m. – Erin Harkes
1:30 p.m. – Holly and Evan
Local 518 Stage
4:45 p.m. – Ramblin’ Jug Stompers
3:30 p.m. – Dyer Switch Band
2:15 p.m. – Sydney Worthley
1:00 p.m. – Andrew Wheeler & Donna Marie Tritico
12:00 p.m. – 19th Annual Mother of the Year Award
Wild Adriatic premieres today their video for ‘Come Back Baby,’ off their latest album Feel. DrummerMateo Vosganian shares a little on the making of the video:
“For this video we had the idea of involving the local community a bit more and put out a call for local young theater students to cast in this video. We ended up working with kids from Ballston Spa and had such a great time shooting with them. They were, of course, way more professional than we were on set and committed a whole weekend of their lives to making a fun video with us. Everything related to the video stems from our home community. Our friend Josh Casano is a band director at Oneida Middle School and connected us with the school principal who agreed to let us shoot there. Our friends Chromoscope Pictures are based in the Troy area and directed, produced, and edited this project. All in all it ended up being a super fun concept and we loved being able to sneak nods to some of our heroes into it.“
Greg Nash, a beloved Albany based drummer, recently suffered a massive stroke, and to help with medical expenses, a benefit will be held on Thursday, March 23 at the Hollow Bar and Grill on Pearl Street beginning at 5 p.m. The event is being advertised as “Love For Greg.”
A group of local and regional bands are coming together to help their brother and you can check them all out for just $10, of which all the proceeds will go to benefit Nash. Saratoga rockers Wild Adriatic, as well as Super 400 and Sean Rowe will headline the event, which runs until midnight. Sly Fox and the Hustlers, Let Go Daylight, Soul Sky, The Erotics, Blackcat Elliot, Toys in the Attic, Dashboard Anthem, Last Daze, Under the Den, Vatrano Road, Two Guys, Herb Carter, Erin Hawkes and Luke McNamme round out the bill.
Event organizers said they are making special t-shirts to be sold that will also help Greg Nash, drummer of local legends Ten Year Vamp.
moe.down was founded as a fan and family friendly festival in 2000 at Snow Ridge Ski Resort in the Tug Hill town of Turin. The festival made a name for itself over the years by inviting bands not typically associated with the jamband scene. Past years of moe.down have seen such acts as They Might Be Giants, Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven, Violent Femmes, Flaming Lips and Meat Puppets join moe. in upstate New York on a yearly basis. You can read all about past moe.downs in NYS Music‘s featured series 
Tributes to Gregg Allman, who passed away on the third day of the festival, poured out almost immediately, with Eric Krasno Band, Flaccid and Gov’t Mule all covering “Whipping Post” within hours of his death. Trey Anastasio Band followed suit the next day by covering “Midnight Rider,” just a small sampling of the immense influence and praise Greg Allman earned from nearly 50 years of performing. Watch Gov’t Mule’s star-studded tribute:
When it comes to camping, unless you’re in an RV, NYS Music recommends the field between Sunshine and Camping (Area D in the map above). Why? Because you are proximate to five stages—Sunshine, Starshine, Vibe Tent, Camping and Soulshine Tent (very underrated, even late at night)—and although there is no shade, you’ll love being able to catch a set of music while chilling between sets of music. The Woods are a solid option as well if you have a smaller set up, but fear not—the sprawling area in the woods is one of the coolest areas to walk through at any festival, night or day.
The Field Day staff shared a little insight into why you should take part in Field Day:
Held at Albany’s Washington Park, the Tulip Festival showcases local artisans and businesses, available on hand selling their crafts and food. The music is the main attraction with two stages featuring both national and local acts. The main stage headliners are Minus the Bear on Saturday and the Delfonics on Sunday.
