Days after the announcement of the Bethel Woods joint venture with Live Nation and INVNT to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock, original Woodstock co-creator Michael Lang quickly reminded fans that the “real” anniversary show will be announced soon.
Labeled as the Music and Arts Festival celebrating the golden anniversary of Woodstock, the Bethel Woods event takes place Aug. 16-19 on the original grounds where Woodstock was born in 1969. Having the backing of Live Nation for the Bethel event could be a huge advantage when trying to secure big name artist to appear at the event.
Producer and co-founder Michael Lang stated in an recent email that he “is producing the official anniversary, but not at Bethel Woods.” He also stated through his publicist that “While the original site in Bethel remains close to our hearts, it no longer has the capacity to hold a real Woodstock Festival. I’m delighted that Bethel Woods is doing events in the coming year to celebrate what we brought to life in 1969, and I encourage people to visit the museum and concert venue.”
Lang also stated that in the next few weeks, he will announce “plans for the real Woodstock 50th Festival to bring back the much needed spirit and energy of the 1969 original.”
With the date for Bethel Woods confirmed, speculation that the Lang anniversary festival will compete with the Bethel event, which is slated close to the original weekend the festival took place in August 1969. Placing Lang’s show close, or the same weekend as the Bethel event could be troublesome for both events. Fans don’t want either show to be a watered version of the original, and are looking for both events to exceed their expectations.
Live Nation may restrict artists performing on their show, from appearing at Lang’s, especially if the dates are close together. There could also be performance clauses restricting artist from appearing in the same 100 mile radius within 90 days of each show. Guitar legend Carlos Santana, who appeared at the original Woodstock festival has stated that he will be part of the Bethel event and also expressed interest in playing Lang’s.
Fans can stay updated about Lang’s Woodstock festival at the official Woodstock site.
Founded in 2006, CAPITAL Zen is known for their innovative riffs and challenging compositions. Having a wide array of inspiration, the band has always provided soul rocking, thought provoking and body grooving jams for their fans. The new album, Grandpa Don’t Disco is no different.
Recording of the Grandpa Don’t Disco album began in 2014 with members Terry Scoville (Guitar & Vox),
Tony Leonbruno (Bass & Vox), and Ryemachine Richard Wylie (Drums). The tracks were later completed and recorded with Max Garrett (Trombone & Guitar) and Scott Hannay (Keyboard). The brand new, previously-unreleased CAPITAL Zen album is available now on Apple Music, Spotify, and CDBaby. Previous albums to revisit by the Zen crew include the debut self-titled album CAPITAL Zen (2009), Fancy Balloon Animals (2011) and Party Booby Trap (2013).
Phish returned to the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden for the 57th time in their career on Friday, opening the first of four nights with a high energy, well-rounded show featuring songs which spanned their entire career.
Many fans were wondering whether or not they would see the return of any of Halloween 18’s Kasvot Vaxt songs, and those questions were answered immediately with a show opening, grooved out “We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains.” The crowd erupted as the band took no time stretching their jam muscles with a creeping psychedelic build before returning to the final refrain. The short but sweet “Martian Monster” that followed got the crowd going with some fast-paced space funk that propelled the entire crowd into another dimension for a brief moment as the illuminated arena swirled with color from every direction.
The band kept the energy up in the stratosphere with standard, but rocking versions of “Axilla,” “Free” and “The Wedge,” which had everyone in the crowd feeling the feeling they forgot. The less frequented crowd favorite “Meat” followed and included a patient, extended jam which allowed the groove to breathe as the band dropped the tempo and showcased just how well they are able to bounce ideas off one another. “Ghost” followed, and though it was a relatively short version, the band took no time getting to an intense peak before segueing beautifully into the Phishgrass classic “Sparkle.” Next came a beautiful “If I Could,” the first ever played at MSG, and the second version in three shows despite how rare the song normally is.
“Maze” came next and was arguably the highlight of the set with knife-cutting tension and locked-in interplay between Trey and Page, as each played their respective solos with a little more gusto than typically seen. The set ended on an extremely high note with a rocking “Walls of the Cave” which featured multiple peaks from Trey as they sent the elated crowd to set break.
Set two didn’t have the greatest flow of the second sets this year, however what the set lacked in sequence they made up for with putting a little extra on every song they played. “Set Your Soul Free” opened the set, and featured the longest extended jamming of the night. The rocking TAB-turned-Phish tune oozed with psychedelia as it went through multiple movements and featured each band member strutting their stuff. CK5 put a little extra into the light show as the inside of the garden became an enormous kaleidoscope and brought the feeling of ecstasy to the next level. As the jam came down they transitioned seamlessly into the Billy Breathes combo of rarities “Swept Away” and “Steep” that featured delicate playing all around.
“The Final Hurrah,” the second Kasvot Vaxt song of the night came next, to the crowd’s delight, and featured a bit more mustard than the debut version as the combination of lights and thrashing sound squeezed the arena. The band took a bit of time deciding what to play next when they finally landed on “Fuego.” This “Fuego” was anything but ordinary and felt like the gift that kept on giving as the band peaked the song multiple times. Every time it felt like it was going to end, Trey turned it up a notch and ripped through another glorious solo. “Shade” came next for a much needed cool down before an always welcome and crunchy “Bathtub Gin” picked the energy back up. The set ended on a classic, tension-filled “Possum” which featured peak after peak to end the set on a very high note.
Thankfully, the end wasn’t the road, however, as the band came out with a two-song classic throwback encore. A standard “Bouncing Around the Room” led to a patient, building “Slave to the Traffic Light” which saw some fiery playing from Trey and left everyone going home wanting more. Phish will return to the Madison Square Garden for the second night of the run tonight, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what tricks they have up their sleeves.
I, for one, am delighted at the resurgence of new wave music. Growing up in the 80’s, synth music was everywhere – top 40 radio, movie soundtracks, and record shops. I’ve spent years as a faithful listener of WBER’s New Wave Wednesday show, waiting for the new generation to bring it back. The resurgence of the genre means having new tracks to listen to, with fresh modern takes.
Monte Vayo’s new EP Count Me Out is a brilliant little gem, clocking in at under ten minutes. The three-song collection leads with the title track “Count Me Out.” Monte Vayo paints a light and airy soundscape with minimal lyrics, which is a theme that carries throughout the entire EP. It is clear the artist is paying homage to the classics of the heyday of new wave, while at the same time adding contemporary elements for a more ambient sound. It’s the kind of thing I like to hear at an upscale coffee shop or have spun by the DJ at my favorite art gallery.
While the song’s overall tone is breezy, it also showcase’s Monte Vayo’s innate sense of rhythm. It’s hard to sit still while listening to the undulating beats accompanying the melody. So dedicated was Monte Vayo to creating an authentic sound that he purchased some decades-old drum machines in order to compose and record these songs.
As “Count Me Out” gives way to “Why” and the final song “Find A Way,” it becomes obvious that Monte Vayo is someone who shouldn’t be counted out. His work would fit in just as easily on a mix tape with Pet Shop Boys, Joy Division, and OMD as it would on a Spotify playlist with modern synthwave acts like Electric Youth, Home, and Humble Braggers.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts will be the home of the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival Aug. 16-18. The Sullivan County venue is the site of the original festival produced by Michael Lang in 1969 which drew an estimated 400,000 people to the secluded Catskills town.
Music acts have not been announced, but the weekend is being billed as a pan-generational event that will feature live music from prominent and up and coming talents and TED-style talks from leading futurists and technology experts.
In December of 2017, Bethel Woods was awarded nearly $700,000 through the New York State Regional Economic Development Council to be used towards a 50th anniversary celebration.
As the stewards of this historic site, we remain committed to preserving this rich history and spirit, and to educating and inspiring new generations to contribute positively to the world through music, culture, and community.
– Darlene Fedun, CEO, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Michael Lang, who produced the original Woodstock as well as the ensuing anniversary concerts in 1994 in Saugerties and 1999 in Rome, has hinted at plans to put together his own commemoration of the historic festival though no details have yet emerged. He will not be involved with the Bethel event, which is being presented by Live Nation Concerts and INVNT, a branding and live storytelling agency.
About three quarters through the Fall/Winter 2018 tour, power-rock trio lespecial brought their unique style of genre bending jams to Putnam Place and joined me for a conversation about who they are, where they’ve been, and what’s coming up next.
The show at Putnam Place was a much-anticipated stop for the region since their set at Adirondack Independence Festival this past summer where lespecial played a high energy set that enraptured the audience and grew the regional fan base significantly. The heavy grooving trio is composed of Luke Bemand (Bass/Synth/Percussion/Vocals), Jonathan Grusauskas (Guitar/Synth/Sampler/Percussion/Vocals), and Rory Dolan (Drums/Sampler/Percussion/Vocals.) The three childhood friends, who grew up in Connecticut and are now based in New York and Boston, have a lifetime of experiences to draw on in their creative process. Individually they are musical powerhouses, and together they won’t be stopped.
Emily VanderWiel: This fall/winter tour has been quite extensive so far and you’ve covered a lot of ground since September. What have been some highlights of the tour so far?
Luke Bemand: The Lespectacle show we do every year is usually a highlight for us, it’s our Halloween show, we collaborate with our friends at The Reliquarium and do an interactive art space. This year we did it at their space in Rhode Island where we had two stages. Some of our favorite producers and bands were there; Freddy Todd, Bella’s Bartok, we collaborated with our friends Supersillyus and that for us is our big yearly event. It’s the eighth year we’ve done it… so that’s always fun. It’s stressful and insane but it’s fun and we’ve done it in Brooklyn the last five years so being closer to Boston, Rhode Island and Connecticut is cool for us.
EV: I saw some video from Lespectacle, there were a lot of nice pro shot videos.
LB: Yeah! That was all this guy!! (pointing to his brother and lespecial road warrior Sean Bemand)
LB: Another fun one was Jacksonville with Moon Hooch, and we just announced a show in Burlington, VT with them on December 29 at Higher Ground. Looking forward to that, those guys are really cool, with our friend Honeycomb too.
LB: Honeycomb is a beatboxer from Northampton and we’ve collaborated with him for a couple years, playing festivals in the Northeast but we hope to collab a lot more.
EV: There’s been a lot of new material popping up at shows, do you guys have a new album in the works?
LB: We have a ton of new material, we have enough for a new EP or a new album. We’ve been putting out a lot of live clips of our newer stuff. We have a new track with Zion I that we’ve been working on and playing out at shows. We have a lot of different things in the works, but the focus has been on touring and with playing out so much it’s hard to get in the studio, but we’ve been rehearsing, together a lot more and writing a lot. The easiest place for people to hear our new stuff is to come out to a show. Definitely within the next year we’d like to put out a new EP or a full-length album.
EV: The tour has been covering a lot of ground, so there is certainly a lot of opportunity for fans to get out and see the new material at shows… it looks like you guys are busy straight through New Year’s?
LB: Yeah! Next week we are in Baltimore with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, at Rams Head Live… that’ll be cool and then we are back up to Hartford for more of a hometown show in Connecticut at Arch Street Tavern and then our New Year’s run is going to be Pacific Standard Tavern in New Haven, The Snow Barn in West Dover, VT…which is an awesome place, we did it last year, played two sets and it was a lot of fun, and then Aqueous on New Year’s Eve in Buffalo. Now with Moon Hooch show in Burlington added, it will be four shows in a row.
EV: You guys will probably be ready for a break after that?
LB: (Laughs) There’s no breaks!
EV: What a great way to ring in a New Year though, that many exciting shows back to back…
LB: Totally, those are really exciting. It’s fun because it’s a couple headlining shows and then a couple supporting shows for bands that we like and that we enjoy playing with. Then January we are going to be headed out to Colorado and we are going to be announcing a whole bunch of other January dates, so there’s no real breaks. People will say “how was the tour?” and it’s like, wait? It’s not over yet! It’s just never stopping, which is both good and bad. We don’t do a full on two-month tour but we will play for a couple weeks and be off for a week and play for a couple weeks so it’s cycles that kinda keep going. It keeps the wheels going, we keep writing on the road.
EV: As far as the song writing goes, do you all write? How does your creative process work?
LB: It’s definitely a collaborative process, one of us could come up with an idea for a song, like maybe Jon will have a riff for a song or something like that and we take it to practice and then we kinda add our parts. There’s never anybody that says here’s a song and this is your part, and this is your part, etc. The whole writing process is very much that somebody can bring an idea to the table and then everyone… it’s the ideas that build. So there’s that give and pull when there’s no band leader and we write our music as a trio.
EV: The show you guys have booked for tomorrow night is a cool concept. Can you tell me a little about that?
LB: So, it’s at the Brighton Music Hall and it also happens to be Jon’s birthday. What’s cool about it is that we are doing one set of originals and one special 90’s “Headbangers Ball” set. Balkun Brothers are playing with us and doing a Nirvana set… pretty excited about this show because we all grew up listening to this music.
EV: You’re finishing the year out strong, ending one hell of a tour with a show with Aqueous in Buffalo!
LB: Yes, we are for sure looking forward to that, love those guys. It should be a good time! It’s not the end of the tour though, we will be announcing some dates out west soon so people should definitely keep an eye out for that.
EV: Thanks for chatting with me guys and I know I will be catching a few of these shows along the way and I will definitely see you at The Town Ballroom! Have a great show tonight!
If there’s anything I’ve learned about Boy Jr., it’s to expect the unexpected. Rochester native Erica Lubman has been experimenting with music since childhood, combining her love for garage rock and indie pop with a flair for dramatic fashion. She’s equally likely to turn up on stage in a retro matching tracksuit as a leather skirt and torn T-shirt. As with her wardrobe, she shows off a wide range of songs in her repertoire – from punk to grunge.
Boy Jr.’s latest release “Anyway” shows her ability to continue to stretch and grow in innovative ways. “Anyway” pairs guitar-driven rock with spunky girl power (think Cage The Elephant meets Caroline Rose). Give it a spin!
Go to Spotify to hear more by Boy Jr. and follow on Facebook for upcoming shows.
Jamestown four-piece fusion group Cold Lazarus have recently released the video for “Butterflies.” Filmed in various locations in Western New York – including Ripley Beach on Lake Erie, downtown Jamestown and Nietzsche’s in Buffalo – over a period of about two months, the video was directed by Jamestown-based filmmaker Nigel Eastman, who was assisted by his director of photography, John Brown.
“Butterflies” first appeared on Cold Lazarus‘ debut EP All Alone in February 2017, and was re-recorded for inclusion on the band’s self-titled full-length debut album, released in January 2018. Stream their music on Spotify and Apple Music.
Although they’ve gone their separate ways, Oneonta’s Space Carnival have shared video from their late night Wormtown Festival set from September 15. The combination of “Pleasure in Sin” -> “2001” -> “Moon Boots” come from Space Carnival’s first Wormtown show and the late night set after Lettuce was a packed cabin for the duration of their two and a half hour set. One of the final Space Carnival shows, guitarist Jeremy Kraus said “We went into it with zero rules and no plans for anything, as we always did.”
A weekend of walkin in the finest jamgrass around was made possible by the debut appearance in Vermont over December 14-16 at Stratton Mountain. WinterWonderGrass, now in its 7th year, has held events in Colorado and California since 2012, with founder Scott Stoughton and his team creating a musical village with a welcoming vibe at all turns.
Stratton was as idyllic a setting out east as WinterWonderGrass could have asked for. Located in south-central Vermont, the mountain is tucked away and has sprawling condos and chalets, a village that practically transports you to the Alps and world class skiing. This weekend added in 8 hours of bluegrass daily, with artists from across the country making the inaugural WinterWonderGrass at Stratton a rousing success.
Scott spoke to Jambase earlier this month about the inception of the WinterWonderGrass: “The original idea for WinterWonderGrass came together because I saw a lot of different music festivals happening,” Stoughton explained. “I saw the beer culture expanding. I was also living in a mountain town at the time, and I saw corporatization of mountain communities, influx of people, everything was branded, and it wasn’t feeling right. It wasn’t authentic.”
The result of Scott’s strive for authenticity is a music village that could be found at any ski mountain – after a run down the slopes, take off your skis and head over to the sound of banjos, mandolins and dobros and take a break with a cold one (or some hot coffee, cocoa or yerba mate). Walking into the venue each day, you feel like a member of a larger family, one that is smiling, laughing and dancing, and most of all, welcoming and friendly to all.
Friday kicked off with multiple sets from Pappy & Friends, Beg, Steal or Borrow, Fruition, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Pickin’ on the Dead and Vermont’s own Saints & Liars. With the three tent stages all close to each other, catching all three was as simple as strolling 50 feet away for a taste of something new. Headliners Jeff Austin Band and The Infamous Stringdusters had the crowd looking forward to the next two days, with powerhouse sets from both. Jeff Austin led a Yonder-style band with a set of speedy jammed out bluegrass originals and covers, capping the set with crowd favorite “Sideshow Blues,” while Stringdusters took spins on Phish’s “Possum” and “Bathtub Gin,” and invited up artist-at-large Bridget Law for Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Late night sets featured more from Saints & Liars and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, as well as John Stickley Trio and Beg, Borrow or Steal.
I, for one, am delighted at the resurgence of new wave music. Growing up in the 80’s, 
Emily VanderWiel: This fall/winter tour has been quite extensive so far and you’ve covered a lot of ground since September. What have been some highlights of the tour so far?
