Author: Jared Lindquist

A Spectacle at The Palace: The Disco Biscuits Return to Albany

The Disco Biscuits visited Albany’s Palace Theatre for a 2-night run this past weekend, the band’s first time in the Capital District since 2010’s show at The Egg. Opening up the night was the local and nationally touring band Formula 5 making their debut at the Palace. Though the weather was quite brisk, fans came out in droves to see both bands work their magic at the famous venue.

Formula 5 kicked the night off with an hour-long, all original set, opening with a newer tune “In The Sand,” into “Sad Bed,” a rocking cut from the group’s recent studio album All Points North. “Sad Bed” was left unfinished as the band transitioned into “Booher’s Pass,” a more somber instrumental tune that featured the best jam of the set, leading the group into some experimental type-2 territory. After another original “Gettin’ Tough Again,” the group closed out their set with another new song, “Breaking Glass.” The song mixes lyrical sections with synth-heavy, prog-like riffs and does it well, as the crowd was responding very positively to what F5 was laying down.

To open up the Palace show, The Disco Biscuits played the rocking “7-11,” an older song that was met with open arms by just about every fan in the theater. “7-11” was just the beginning of what became an incredible first set, which was foreshadowed by the band absolutely nailing the composed section of the tune. The jam was extremely fast-paced, featuring lots of drummer Allen Aucoin hammering away on his drum pad laying down an untzy groove for the rest of the group to build a heavy jamtronica groove off of. “7-11” was left unfinished so that the group could transition into the ending of “Above The Waves,” signaling to the fans that the band was inverting the song. Following the quick peak of “Waves” the group started working through the song’s composed section, another tune from the early days of the band.

The “Waves” jam continued the uptempo jamming from “7-11” before dropping back into the song’s chord structure and bringing the jam back to the peak it had opened with. Following a heavenly solo from Barber, the group dropped into “Minions,” a more recent tune that had a mysterious feel to it. Keyboardist Aron Magner utilized the full extents of his rig during this tune, looping a funky clavinet part during the verse and singing the chorus through a vocoder on one of his synthesizers. The majority of the “Minions” jam was the band flexing their funk muscles before they started lifting the jam into the last song of the set, “Voices Insane.” This version of “Voices” was superb, the band locked in and smoothly transitioning between each composed section, allowing some of the movements to breathe a bit before moving onto the next part.

After a quick set break, the group came out and opened the second set with “Sweating Bullets,” a grandeur tune that had a medieval feel to it during the composed section. The jam was fairly short and featured a somewhat dub reggae feel before coming to a close. The group then took a quick pause and dropped into “Resurrection,” which had an R&B feel to it and allowed for the group to show off a different side of their musical capabilities. The “Resurrection” jam was slower than most of the night’s previous jams, and served more as a jumping off point for the segue into “I-Man,” which is where the second set started to pick up.

The band very suddenly dropped into the fan favorite “I-Man” during the “Resurrection” jam, beginning with Barber singing out the opening lyrics of the tune, which was met by loud cheers from the entire crowd. Following the lyrical sections, the group started into the jam of the night, a supernatural peak that was incredibly patient in its build up, delivery, and subsequent redelivery as the group started back into the song’s chorus. Following “I-Man,” the group broke into Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia,” a song that has only been performed three times prior by the Biscuits. The “Knights” jam was full of untz and dove back into the jamtronica side of the Biscuits, before a very dramatic drop back into the song’s lyrics and main riff. To close out the set, the group broke into the upbeat “Story of the World,” which rounded out the stronger second half of the set. After the main composed section, the group broke into some more funk-themed jamming, bringing back some of the musical flavor that “Minions” was offering during the first set. The peak was pretty quick and brought the tune back into the melody of the tune before one last chorus and ending the set. For an encore the group played an extremely short, “World is Spinning.”

Saturday night was a spectacle of its own, with the crowd revved up from the night before and ready to rage the Palace. Opening with “The Tunnel,” which has found its way back into the rotation in the last few years took a journey that ended up in the latter section of “Spectacle,” which would also open Set 2 with the first portion of the song. “M.E.M.P.H.I.S.” brought the energy level even higher through the composition and eventual jam, which worked into Biscuits anthem “We Like To Party,” a statement that encompasses the tone of the crowd over the weekend. “Rock Candy” and “Save the Robots” took it back old school for a tight pairing to close the set.

To keep the party going in the second set, a 45-minute pairing of “Spectacle” -> “spacebirdmatingcall” made for a sweaty run of energetic of the Biscuits signature trancefusion jams. A brief “Hope” was a well placed breather, if you consider the flowing peaks of the song a place to rest. “Reactor” featured an inverted “Crickets” sandwiched inside, a crunchy progression of classic Biscuits jam vehicles that brought the set to a tremendous finish. “Portal to an Empty Head” closed the night in the encore slot, wrapping up the first multi-night Biscuits run in the Capital District since Camp Bisco was held in nearby Mariaville.

The Disco Biscuits have been on fire as of late, and have a few more runs you can catch them at before their NYE run at The Fillmore in Philadelphia. Check out photos from Filip Zalewski for a taste of what the the evening was like.

Setlists

Formula 5, Friday, November 23, 2018

Set: In The Sand > Sad Bed*# > Booher’s Pass, Gettin’ Tough Again, Breaking Glass
*”In the Sand” tease
# Unfinished

The Disco Biscuits, Palace Theatre, Friday, November 23, 2018

Set 1: 7-11* > Above the Waves (Inverted) > Minions > Voices Insane
Set 2: Sweating Bullets, Resurrection > I-Man, Knights of Cydonia**, Story of the World
Encore: World is Spinning
*Unfinished
**Muse Cover

The Disco Biscuits, Palace Theatre, Saturday, November 24

Set 1: The Tunnel -> Spectacle, M.E.M.P.H.I.S.-> We Like to Party-> Rock Candy, Save the Robots
Set 2: Spectacle-> Spacebirdmatingcall, Hope, Reactor-> Crickets (inverted)-> Reactor
Encore: Portal to an Empty Head

November 26, 2018
The Disco Biscuits Come Out Swinging in Worcester

On a chilly New England night in Worcester, Massachusetts, Disco Biscuits fans gathered at the famous Worcester Palladium for the group’s first run of fall tour. The room was nearly filled up by the time the band took the stage and people were ready to dance their butts off to get warmed up.

To open up the first set, the group started into “Uber Glue,” an ambient, synth-driven song that, like most Biscuits songs, acts as a great jumping off point for jams. The band wasted no time getting this rendition started, jamming on the tune for well over 20 minutes before building the groove into the beloved “Caterpillar,” which took the energy from “Uber Glue”’s jam and launched into the song’s first verses. Bassist Marc Brownstein and drummer Allen Aucoin kept the groove locked in as guitarist Jon “Barber” Gutwillig and keyboardist Aron Magner led the song’s chorus, joined by the crowd singing the lyrics passionately and dancing their butts off. Following the chorus, the group spent some time building an upbeat techno groove that brought the song into Brownstein’s first vocal effort of the night, “Miracles.” The jam in “Miracles” showed off the band’s ability to work as a unit as they brought the techno jam they had built into an ambient, almost soundscape-like section introduced by Magner and Brownie.

The group let the soundscape breathe a bit before dropping into the darker “Air Song,” which blew through the lyrics fairly quickly and led them immediately into a funk jam, mostly led by Magner on a Clavinet sounding patch. The jam didn’t really leave the song’s main structure, acting more as a platform for Barber and Magner to build off of, before the group brought it back into “Miracles,” starting off the second half of the first set sandwich. The group continued through the song’s verse and chorus sections until they broke into a dark fast-paced jam that featured the first big peak of the night, and brought the song back into the set opener “Uber Glue,” before dropping into the last verse of “Caterpillar.” The energy from “Miracles > Uber Glue” culminated in one last passionate chorus section of “Caterpillar,” before the group ended the set for a short set break. During the set break, Brownie tweeted out the fact that 75% of the songs in set 1 were songs written during the current Allen era of the band, saying “…let’s see if that trend continues into the second set!!!!”

“Rivers” kicked off the second set, getting into a Barber-led jam after the lyrics had been sung. The whole group was very active in bringing the song into an up-tempo peak before slowly ending the song with one of the main riffs. Following “Rivers” was the segment of the night, “Catalyst > Great Abyss > Boomshanker > Mr. Don,” which was filled with deep jamming and seamless transitions. “Catalyst” came out swinging, Barber following a very up tempo composed section with a high energy solo on his green Stratocaster aptly named “Money Bags.” “Catalyst”’s jam section spanned over nearly 30 minutes and was an exemplary musical representation of what the Biscuits are all about, letting a jam develop naturally and working together to bring it new places. Barber led the song into a another grand peak with another energetic solo before the group brought the jam into uncharted territory and started exploring.

Brownie, Magner, and Barber locked in on a riff that ended up being the basis for a good chunk of the jam before Brownie started driving the bus into “The Great Abyss,” a very synth heavy song that was also released during the Allen era of the band. “Great Abyss” also featured a lot of experimenting from Brownie and Magner, while Barber added textural shredding that made the jam feel extremely tense at points. Out of nowhere the group dropped into the dub reggae-esque tune “Boomshanker,” which featured a laid back synth bass line from Brownie while Barber and Magner layered textures together to add to the reggae sound. The jam was fairly straightforward, never really leaving the bounds of the main song itself. Towards the end of the jam, Magner started playing around with some organ sounds which lifted the song into the fan favorite “Mr. Don,” which lifted the tempo up a bit after “Boomshanker.” During the whole of “Mr. Don,” Barber had a smile plastered on his face, showing that he could tell they had just performed an incredible set. Following the main portion of the song, Barber took an enormous solo that was supported by the driving force of the band behind them, and led the song into a quick peak before ending the set. For an encore, the group performed the Brownstein-penned “Portal to an Empty Head.”

The Disco Biscuits performed a fantastic show in Worcester, MA, and will hopefully be back next October to continue the trend of awesome shows at the Palladium. They perform at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas November 1-3, and at The Palace Theatre in Albany November 23-24, where Albany jamband Formula 5 will open up the night on the 23rd. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of the first night of the run.

Disco Biscuits, Worcester, MA, October 20, 2018

Set 1: Uber Glue > Caterpillar > Miracles > Air Song > Miracles > Uber Glue > Caterpillar

Set 2: Rivers, Catalyst > The Great Abyss > Boomshanker > Mr. Don

Encore: Portal to an Empty Head

Photos by ATS Media

October 24, 2018
Behind the Gear: Ryan “ShwizZ” Liatsis

Ryan “ShwizZ” Liatsis is the guitarist and frontman of the power rock trio ShwizZ. A well-respected group in the scene, ShwizZ is a 3 member group who are incredible at their respective instruments, and perform a wide range of progressive rock music. Ryan uses a fairly unique rig compared to other players on the scene, using a digital modeling pedalboard rather than analog pedals, and utilizing a MIDI-trigger board to play chords for added textures during his songs. Check out ShwizZ’s performance from Disc Jam this past June, footage courtesy of mkDevo.

Photo Benny Rodriguez

Guitar: Music Man EVH Wolfgang Special
Amp Head: Mesa/Boogie Express 5:50 Plus Cab: Mesa/Boogie Widebody 1×12 Pedalboard HeadRush Pedalboard w/ Boss Expression Pedal Keith McMillan Instruments SoftStep 2
Keyboard Korg Krome Music Workstation w/ sustain pedal

Jared Lindquist: Why do you put your amp head under your cabinet?

Ryan Liatsis: This just made the most logical sense when I got the amp, though I do like to think of it as my signature move! I like when the speaker is as close to ear level as possible so you can hear what is actually being captured by the mic and therefore EQ better for the stage. That and for my particular amp (Mesa Express 5:50) the head was heavier than the cab, so it just felt right to put the heavier piece on the bottom.

JL: When did you make the switch to the modeling pedalboard?

RL: Very recently! It’s been about 2 months with the modeler and I’m a big fan. I’m currently using the Headrush FX pedalboard. I am completely happy with the tone of the overdrives and distortions as that is extremely important to me. The switch over to the modeler has just made life easy on stage with being able to switch patches with one button and digital storage. Having a gate on the input and EQ section on the master output is extremely helpful too. The best method I’ve found is to get rid of all the speaker cabinet models on your patches. I just use the FX and occasionally the amp head models right in to the front of my amp. I haven’t tried it using the xlr outs to a PA speaker, though I imagine that’s where the speaker cabs would come in handy. This past year has seen a huge leap with amp modeler technology and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more and more pro players using them.

JL: Did you model the effects after your analog pedals?

RL: I tried as best as I could, though I wasn’t exactly going for that. I think that every piece of gear just has its own flavor and you should put that to use. So instead of trying to recreate my boutique analog pedals, I decided to just see if I could get tones I like and was comfortable with out of the Headrush. Which, much to my surprise, I did! It seems about every 2-3 years I decide I want to change my tone to better fit my needs. I’m sure some new product will catch my eye a few years from now and I’ll adapt to what it has to offer. It’s a lifelong quest and I don’t think there’s an end, just a journey of different sounds and tones. Tone has a lot to do with creating your signature, but more importantly it’s your fingers and note choices. And as I mentioned I’m just a big fan of having different tones for different songs. The good thing about this current amp modeler I’m using is it has an fx loop, so I can insert any of my analog pedals in to the chain of each patch if I really wanted to.

JL: What are some of your favorite pedal combinations?

RL: Well, I am all about mixing overdrives and distortions…and now amp models. I use delay, but not much unless the song calls for it. I barely use modulation like phaser and chorus and also rarely use reverb unless for some ethereal washy effects. On my analog board I had 6 different overdrives, just for different flavors. I found I was getting bored of just having 2 overdrive sounds. One of my favorite combos is the Vox Trike Fuzz and the T-Rex Tone Bug. Putting the Fuzz first gives it quite a quality. You can hear what I mean on the guitar solo of the ShwizZ track “Hog Thai.”

JL: What’s going through your mind when you’re deciding which effects to use?

RL: Well, the options are limitless with effects these days. So just like with writing, deciding on a tone is really about what sparks your emotion and hits your ear in that special way. But to give you a theoretical answer, a big part of my decision is the type of tune we’re playing. If it’s agreed we’re going for a certain vibe or sound, I’ll cater to that style. Such as if we say this part of the tune should be like a 70’s disco feel, I’ll probably be using some phaser with a clean Fender-ish type sound. Overall, I don’t go crazy on the effects, I find the simpler the better most of the time.

JL: Who are some of your inspirations as a player?

RL: Too many to name! So I’m going to go with my top 5. Frank Zappa – need I say more? Chick Corea – I was introduced to Chick’s music at a young age and it inspired me to learn jazz and fusion. Specifically, the later electric band stuff always blew me away. He was always one of those music god’s to me who could just play whatever line came in to his head at that moment with no hesitation. Sill on a quest for that level like the rest of us. Frank Gambale – My drummer buddy introduced me to Gambale when I was about 20 and my mouth hit the floor. How can somebody get away with playing bebop lines that fast with sweep picking and overdrive!! Steve Khan – I studied with Steve for 2 years. He’s probably one of the most underrated and unknown guitarists on the planet and he’s played with all the greats and been on tons of studio recordings. His chordal work puts most to shame which struck something in me. I love the chordal movement aspect of guitar and keyboard and it’s something I don’t see enough of unfortunately in today’s music. Slash – Yes it’s true, I was obsessed with Slash from age 16-18! I just wanted to be him, the playing, the image, he was the whole package. I transcribed a lot of his solos when I was younger, my favorite of all time being the ending solo on Paradise City, complete shreddage!

JL: Who are some of your favorite contemporaries on the scene?

RL: Kung Fu is my all time favorite of our scene, if you can call the rest of us contemporaries because they basically blow everyone out of the water! Dopapod, Mungion, The Southern Belle’s and The Fritz. My ears always tend to get caught by those bands who have their own unique style. There’s so many bands out there, great bands even, but some bands just have their own sound and you know it’s them playing instantly, which is the most important thing to me.

JL: You’re one of the only guitarists I’ve seen that uses a MIDI-trigger board to play chord samples live, what inspired you to start doing that?

RL: Well, necessity really. A power trio can be a thing of beauty. BUT, I’m very much in to chordal structure and movement and I always thought drums, bass, guitar and keys was the perfect instrumentation for my tastes. The thing about ShwizZ is that I play loud and sometimes very heavily distorted guitar sounds, so playing chord melody doesn’t quite give the effect desired. After our keys player and second guitarist left I said…well just how the hell am I gonna do this?! I didn’t want to play to a click or with backing tracks, so I thought, what if I can just do what some organ players and even bass players do with their feet using pedals, except polyphonic. It took a bit of cash and a lot of experimentation with different pedals and pieces of gear until I came across a handy dandy app that could do it all and be controlled by a simple trigger pedal that connected with a USB cable. I would simply record each chord I needed for that particular part or song and could save each song file as their own entity. It adds a little more switching of sounds between songs but it’s worth it to have the phantom 4th member laying down that bed of chords. Below is a link to a video I made that goes in to a bit more depth on how the system works.

October 8, 2018
moe. Fills Second Night of Saranac Run With Heavy Hitters

After a warm, beer-scented night one at the Saranac Matt Brewery, moe. prepared to warm up the crowd on a rather chilly night two of their Utica run. It was bassist Rob Derhak’s turn to write the setlist, and he had some surprises in store for the eagerly awaiting moe.rons.
To start off the first set, moe. dropped into their classic “Spine of a Dog,” singing the opening acapella lyrics for a few lines before letting the audience take over. Following a standard composed section, the group jammed on the song’s chord structure for the entirety of the jam, leading it into an up tempo peak before dropping into “Plane Crash,” sans Al Schnier’s usual tremolo-laden intro. Arguably Derhak’s most well-known song, “Plane Crash” had the whole audience singing along with its catchy chorus. The jam again stayed within the structure of the song itself, but led to its usual Schnier-led peak before ending with one last chorus. After a little bit of banter about how playing at Saranac in Utica feels like home to Derhak, the group played the short but sweet Chuck Garvey-penned “Who You Callin’ Scared?.” “Lazarus” followed soon after, a somber sounding tune seemingly referencing the biblical figure Lazarus, the man who Jesus supposedly rose from the dead 4 days after his death. Garvey took many jaw-dropping solos throughout the song’s many music interludes, leading the group through the jam section and into the final choruses before ending the song.

To close out the set, the group whipped out the segment of “SIlver Sun > Puebla > Moth,” beginning with the Pink Floyd-esque Schnier tune “Silver Sun” to keep the slower vibe of “Lazarus” going. The intro was jammed out for a good eight and a half minutes before Schnier and Garvey broke into the song’s mysterious lyrics.

Following the lyrical portion, the song was brought into a dark ambient jam led by Garvey, and driven by the strong rhythm section of Jim Loughlin on percussion, Vinnie Amico on drums, and Derhak on bass. As the jam picked up, Schnier and Garvey dropped into the song’s beautiful guitar harmonies before bringing the tune into “Puebla,” retaining the somber vibe of “Lazarus” and “Silver Sun.” “Puebla” wasted no time getting into the jam, kicking it off a mere two and a half minutes into the song, and jamming on the song’s main structure for more than six minutes before bringing the tune into uncharted territory. The group experimented a bit before ultimately bringing the song up into “Moth,” another Schnier led number that brought the mood up after the somber previous few songs. After working through a few verses and choruses, the group let Derhak take the spotlight for his first big bass solo of the night. The rest of the band decided to back up a motif Derhak was creating in his bass solo, and added textures around it to bring the musical idea to life. After about five minutes, the group brought the jam back into “Moth” territory and Schnier led the band to the best peak of the set with a fiery solo, singing out one last chorus before exiting the stage.

After a toast to Nick Matt, the CEO of Saranac Matt Brewing Company, moe. came onstage and dropped into “New Hope For The New Year,” Garvey’s contribution to the new songs performed at the band’s return to the stage at the Capitol Theatre this past February. It seems to be Garvey’s way of putting everything into perspective and appreciating life after Derhak’s cancer scare, a very optimistic message for a somewhat downbeat song. The jam didn’t get too crazy, mainly switching between the typical A/B sections and allowing Garvey an area to stretch his legs solo-wise. After the hook, the group performed the main melody one last time before transitioning into “Kyle’s Song” through a “no huddle” segue. “Kyle’s Song” is a fan favorite across the board, coming from the band’s most loved album, Wormwood, a studio masterpiece released in 2003. The “Kyle’s” jam kicked off like it always does, with a killer solo from Garvey himself that usually makes up a good portion of the song.

After a near six minute solo, the group dropped back into the chorus, before suddenly dropping into an unusual jam on the song’s main melody, but at half time. Loughlin saw this as an opportunity for a Marimba solo, and took a quick one before the band started to pick up the pace and bring the song into the legendary “Bearsong,” one of the heaviest songs in moe.’s catalog. Big inflatable Saranac branded bears were released into the audience as the intro of the song played out, and Schnier drove the group into the main section of the song. The jam stayed in the song structure and acted more as a solo base for the dueling duo as Derhak slapped away at his bass. The audience raged in full force with the group as Schnier brought it into one last chorus and the ending riffs of the song.

As a break between the heavy jamming, Schnier led the group in his tune “What Can I Say,” a ballad with heartfelt lyrics backed by soulful blues music. The only way the band could follow that up was of course, “Rebubula > Yodelittle > Rebubula,” the jam segment of the night. Garvey kicked off “Rebubula” with an extended Leslie filled intro, before the rest of the band joined in and started to tease what song was about to start. After nearly seven minutes of open ended improv, the guitar duo broke into the opening notes of the song, and Derhak quickly fell in line behind them with Amico and Loughlin backing the groove up. The song is centered around Derhak, slapping and singing his heart out during the main verses of the song, and this time he was driving the bus a bit faster than usual. The group went through the typical composed riffs before Loughlin melted “Rebubula” into “Yodelittle,” with the help of Schnier and Garvey. Schnier assumed his role as the leader for the song, dropping into the song’s catchy chorus with Garvey harmonizing his vocals as usual. “Yodelittle” featured the longest jam of the night, clocking in at 23 minutes, and went the most out there of any song the group played over the weekend. Derhak took another of his famed fuzzy bass solos while the rest of the group layered textures behind him, before Loughlin took the reigns from him for a quick vibes solo. Schnier and Garvey dropped back into the opening riff of “Yodelittle” as they brought the song back into “Rebubula,” finishing out what they had started.

Garvey took the helm and soloed his way into the peak of the jam before Derhak broke into the final verse of the song. The group repeated the chorus a few times before ending the song, leaving the stage for a quick encore break and Al.nouncements. The encore opened with “Don’t Wanna Be,” Loughlin’s first vocal effort of the night, which started the end of the show off on a dark note. He showed off his unique, yet spectacular voice as well as his vibraphone skills before the group took a quick break and dropped into “Okayalright.” A highly upbeat Derhak-penned tune about a time before moe. was even a band. The song didn’t contain any jamming, the group seemingly wanting to spread the positivity of the chorus of the song. After a quick thank you from Derhak, the group left the stage for the final time of the weekend.

moe. performed two fantastic shows this past weekend in Utica, playing to their hometown crowd at a venue they love. The audience was spreading the love, and sharing in the incredible experience unfolding around them. Check below for a taste of the night through the photo gallery from Dave DeCrescente.

September 12, 2018
moe. Brewed Up Tasty Jams on Night 1 of Saranac Run

Buffalo rockers moe. returned to Saranac Matt Brewery in Utica, NY for a 2-night run over September 7th and 8th. The weather was warm, the city was bustling, and the moe.rons were ready for some brain-melting music.

The show opened up with a fellow Buffalo act, moe.’s protege if you will, Aqueous, a younger group more focused on groove, but inspired by moe.’s progressive music. The band opened with their version of the classic “Super Mario Bros. Theme,” before bringing it into the four on the floor dance tune “Second Sight,” a song featured on the group’s newly released Color Wheel Wave 1 EP, released the day of the show. Following “Second Sight” was one of their more popular songs, “Kitty Chaser (Explosions),” a heavier rock tune that usually leads the crowd to some head banging during the explosive chorus.

The group jammed it out a bit before segueing into their freshly debuted cover of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” Next was another heavier tune, the Evan McPhaden-penned “Origami.” At this point the crowd had started to fill up, and they grooving along to what Aqueous was brewing at Saranac. To close out the set, the band played the jovial “Random Company,” featured on their last studio effort, Best In Show. “Random Company” had the longest jam of the set at 18 minutes and solidified Aqueous as a band to look out for in many .rons’ hearts.

If you’ve ever been to a moe. show, you know the band loves to come out swinging and stay that way until they leave the stage following the encore. Saranac was no different. As they broke into “Timmy Tucker,” the audience knew they were in for a treat. It should be noted, Rob Derhak was particularly on point all weekend, nailing all of his vocal and bass parts in his typical Rob fashion, but attendees could tell he was feeling especially on fire in this home field venue.

After a few chorus sing-a-long’s with the audience, the group brought “Timmy” into a fairly standard jam, before slowing it down a bit for the majority of the improv section. Around the 15-minute mark, there was a short peak, and the group brought the song into one last chorus before bringing it to a close. Following “Timmy” was the fast-paced “Mar-DeMa,” originally written for an event the group threw called ‘The Electric Lemoe.nade Acid Test.’ The tune acted as a great break from jamming following “Timmy,” and heavily featured the rhythm pair of Vinnie Amico and Jim Loughlin on drums and percussion, respectively. The group brought “Mar-DeMa” into the Al Schnier classic “Bring It Back Home,” another crowd sing-a-long, with catchy lyrics that are easy for even the non-.rons to follow. The song stayed within the bounds of its musical world for the jam, serving as a sort of experimental solo backing track for both Chuck Garvey and Schnier.

As “Bring it Back Home” was closed out by a fantastic drum solo from Amico, the grip dropped into the fan favorite “Water,” greeted by a roar of cheers from the crowd. “Water” was the first heavier song of the show—while still keeping its flowy vibe throughout—and led to an amazing solo from Garvey as the rest of the band kept the train going behind him. After a short break, the band dropped into the Garvey-led “Hi & Lo,” slowing the feel down a bit after the faster paced “Water,” and allowing Garvey to stretch his legs vocally for the first time of the show.

“Hi & Lo” featured a more experimental jam at first, but was brought into a usually driving moe. jam with a peak led by Garvey, before being slowly dropped into Derhak’s newest tune, “LL3,” written following Derhak’s victory over cancer, penned about the train he took into Boston for his cancer treatment. This version of “LL3” was a bit faster-paced than they’ve been playing it since it was debuted at their return to the Cap and the stage this past February. The whole group was locked in throughout the tune, and Derhak was singing with all the emotion he had in his heart. The song was brought into a quick peak, featuring another fantastic Garvey solo over the tune’s dark, descending melody. After one last chorus, the group brought the tune into the set’s closer, “Big World,” an upbeat tune that brought the crowd’s energy back up following the rather somber “LL3.” Schnier led the song vocally and on guitar, taking a quacky, envelope filter-filled solo and leading the tune into its usual peak.

After a short set break, the group came out and immediately broke into “Buster,” the upbeat song about a pig that can fly, a fan favorite. “Buster” featured a fairly standard jam on the song’s main groove, and provided a soundtrack to the party .rons were having out in the audience. Following a mini-peak, the band took a quick break, and dropped into “Prestige Worldwide,” the Derhak-penned jam vehicle that debuted in late 2016. The intro of the song always provides some of the finest Schnier-Garvey guitar interplay you’ll get to see live, and sometimes will build into a mini-peak before the main song even starts.

After Derhak finished singing the last of the song’s verses, the group dropped into the “B” section of the song, and started into a typical Schnier-led jam, before Loughlin took a hefty vibrophone solo that left jaws dropped to the floor. Garvey took the helm after Loughlin’s solo and brought the group into the end of the song. Following “Prestige,” Schnier introduced Mike Gantzer of Aqueous, while praising the group and saying “they really keep us on our toes,” before leading the group into his song “Mexico.”

“Mexico” is the tale of Schnier’s 21st birthday trip to Mexico, a trip he’ll never forget. Throughout the tune, Gantzer followed along with Garvey’s textural lead playing while still adding his own flavor to the mix. Following the the main portion of the song, Gantzer grabbed the bull that is moe. by the horns and led them into a jam that isn’t exactly typical in a tune like “Mexico.” The Aqueous guitarist proceeded to take a solo that evoked the loudest cheers of the night from the crowd, and Schnier changed “cousin Dave” to “cousin Mike” for the last verse of the song.

Derhak dropped into the opening lyrics of “Captain America” and the crowd cheered as it raged full force at the brewery. The jam was getting ready to drop into “Four,” so the group took it slow and let the tension build as they crept their way towards those opening chords. Garvey and Schnier led another duo guitar section until Derhak took off on a tiny bass expedition before “Four” officially started. This version of “Four” started off a little slower than it typically does, but the group brought it up to tempo in time for Garvey to start into the lyrics. The jam was the second longest of moe.’s night, consisting of 2 peaks and a really experimental bass solo from Derhak, utilizing some of his more interesting sounding effects pedals and blowing the minds of everyone in the audience. To close out the set, the group brought “Four” into “Meat” through a really ambient, almost techno jam.

The progressive “Meat” was met by a roar of cheers from the crowd, and immediately got down and dirty. “Meat” is like Rush taking steroids and jamming for 20 minutes. The song is a prog rock masterpiece, and moe. knocked this one out of the park. Loughlin took another, shorter impressive solo in the midst of the jam, before Derhak took another long bass solo. This time he utilized some fuzz effects, making his unique bass sound like a synthesizer for doing what he does best and ending out the jam with a crazy awesome slap solo.

The group drove the train all the way home to the station at the end of the “Meat” jam, peaking with an impressive solo from Garvey that was weaving in and out of the song’s riffs. The group came out and encored with the Schnier-penned fan favorite “Seat of My Pants,” the reggae-esque rock number with scat-like lyrics. The jam didn’t get too crazy, it stayed a typical “SOMP” jam till the end, but provided the perfect ending to an incredible show.

NYS Music will also be providing coverage of the final night the moe. Saranac run, so check back tomorrow for that article. For a taste of what the first night of the Saranac run was like, check out the photo gallery below.

Setlist:

Set 1: Timmy Tucker, Mar-DeMa > Bring It Back Home > Water, Hi & Lo > LL3 > Big World
Set 2: Buster, Prestige Worldwide, Mexico*, Captain America > Four > meat
Encore: Seat of My Pants

*ft. Mike Gantzer of Aqueous on guitar

Photography by Matt Shotwell / Strawberry Island Dweller

September 11, 2018
Night Lights Music Festival Welcomes Attendees Home

This past weekend, the eighth annual Night Lights Music Festival was held at The Heron in Sherman, NY. Nestled in western New York’s Amish country, The Heron’s grounds bring attendees back to simpler times, reminiscent of the summer camps some of us were sent to as younglings. For the most part, the weather was stellar besides a heavy rainstorm rolling in during Octave Cat’s late night set on Saturday night.

One super special thing about Night Lights’ community is the festival’s focus on the physical and mental health of everyone attending. The security onsite is more focused on the well-being of each audience member than busting people for illicit activities, and on the grounds was an area called the “Sanctuary,” which was designated for those who needed to calm down or ease themselves if they were feeling particularly hairy.

The weekend started on Thursday night, with bands alternating on the smaller two of the three stages, the Cafe Stage and Drum Circle Stage. Intrepid Travelers took the Cafe Stage by storm with their jazzy improvisations, filling their set with musical segues and a few choice covers, including “Musicology” by the late funk legend Prince. The Buffalo-native group also featured one of their groovier tracks, the synth-heavy “Woolify,” towards the end of their set.

Fellow Buffalo-based group Space Junk were next and and brought their jamtronica stylings to the Drum Circle Stage. The band kept this set all original, as they were getting ready to perform a Disco Biscuits tribute set on Saturday. This first set featured the fan favorite “Das Bootie” into “Ascension,” as well as “Hammurabi’s Code,” all of which were delivered with Space Junk’s usual jam treatment, although Night Light’s environment seemed to breed something special in the group’s music, a theme that became common throughout the weekend.

Closing out the night on the Drum Circle Stage was a seemingly mysterious band known as Boss Tweed & The Carpetbaggers. Despite the mayhem they caused last year, the group was invited back to play again this year. Among the many profane songs they performed, “I Killed It With My Dick,” “I Fucked Your Wife,” and the eloquently named “Boners” seemed to get the crowd riled up the most. The band also shaved multiple audience members’ heads, pied several others in the face, and asked the audience for a dollar on numerous occasions.

Friday kicked off with Pappy Biondo of Cabinet’s side project Gatos Blancos on the Main Stage. Gatos Blancos featured a similar rocking bluegrass sound to Cabinet, while still remaining its own group.There are a few other well known artists in the group, namely drummer John Kimock of Mike Gordon Band and guitarist Justin Mazer of Ryan Montbleau Band, who showed off his impressive guitar skills throughout the set. Pappy immediately moved from the Main Stage to the Cafe Stage to sit in with the upbeat Buffalo bluegrass group Folkfaces.

Folkfaces performed numerous originals, all oozing with positivity and optimistic worldviews, which brought an overwhelming sense of joy to the audience. They’ve been making a name for themselves recently, touring extensively throughout the country, all the way from Buffalo to New Orleans. Funktional Flow performed on the Drum Circle Stage later that night, bringing their reggae-infused jams to The Heron’s grounds. Wild Adriatic brought their Led Zeppelin tribute set to the Cafe Stage, and after performing one of their original tunes, broke into numerous Zeppelin classics, including “Dazed and Confused,” “Communication Breakdown,” and “Good Times Bad TImes.” Lead vocalist Travis Gray’s voice suited the music perfectly, borrowing from Robert Plant’s soulful vocals at times while still maintaining his own soulfulness.

As the night crept on, Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous took to the Main Stage for their first set of the weekend. The group is a mainstay at Night Lights, and a big reason a lot of people return. For this first set, they broke out into the heavy rocker “Gordon’s Mule,” and then jammed out “The Median,” two fan favorites that really got the crowd going. After a stellar version of “Complex pt. 2,” they debuted their cover of Supertramp’s classic “Goodbye Stranger,” and brought it into the upbeat, yet spooky “Don’t Do It,” which featured a sit in from moe.’s Chuck Garvey on guitar. To close out the set, the group played keyboardist/guitarist Dave Loss’ magnum opus “Staring Into The Sun,” which they’ve performed at Night Lights every year they’ve played it.

Following Aqueous on the main stage were the funk outfit The Motet, the Denver-based 7 piece that always fill their shows with positivity and funky grooves. The group was on fire on Friday night, which happened to be saxophonist Drew Sayers’ birthday, a fact that vocalist Lyle Divinsky delighted in sharing with the audience multiple times throughout the set. The last major set of the night came from Fearless (A Pink Floyd Tribute), featuring Chuck Garvey of moe., Eli WInderman of Dopapod, Mike Gantzer and Evan McPhaden of Dopapod, and Matt Kellen of Mungion. The supergroup worked through many Floyd classics, including “Breathe,” “Time,” “Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Brain Damage/Eclipse,” and of course, “Fearless.” The highlights of the set included jammed out versions of “Have a Cigar,” “Run Like Hell,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Young Lust,” which the group did not shy away from putting their own spin on. The entire crowd sang along to every song, and thoroughly enjoyed the group’s renditions of these Pink Floyd classics.

Upstate, formerly known as Upstate Rubdown, were the talk of the town on Saturday, taking to the Cafe Stage for an enthusiastic set of music. The three always wonderful female lead vocalists brought their harmonies to the forefront of the music, filling the audience with a feeling of joy. After some technical difficulties, the group decided to bring the show to the crowd, and performed a couple songs acoustically amidst the attendees. Tropidelic performed on the Main Stage next, bringing their funk-infused reggae music to life with a very active hour and a half long set. Throughout the set, the group did some synchronized dance moves, which really got the crowd going amidst the drizzling of rain that occurred. Following Tropidelic, lespecial performed on the Cafe Stage, and they were on fire, despite having driven all the way there from Connecticut in a rental van. The group brought out percussionist Chuck Morris of Lotus for a few songs, namely “Jackwise,” a popular track from their most recent album Cheen. The group also performed a newer song with Chuck, titled “Machine Elf Production Co,” as well as the fan favorite “Fruit Wolf Dance.”

Aqueous took to the Main Stage for the second time of the weekend after lespecial, breaking into their super popular “Kitty Chaser (Explosions),” to kick off the set. Following “Kitty,” the group performed a new song called “Say It Again,” (debuted in Buffalo last month at Cobblestone Live), before breaking into the oldie but goodie “Dave’s Song,” which was brought into the mysterious “Mosquito Valley pt. 2.” After a stellar rendition of “Mosquito,” the band debuted their version of Prince’s classic “Kiss,” with lead guitarist Mike Gantzer singing in a falsetto Prince-esque voice to really nail the song. Towards the middle of the jam, Dopapod and Octave Cat keyboardist Eli Winderman came onstage for a killer Moog synthesizer solo, before the group brought the jam into “Warren in the Window.” To close out the set, the Buffalo groove rockers performed the somewhat rare original “20/20,” which featured a strong electronic jam section towards the end, getting the crowd ready for Lotus’ set.

Lotus started their set off with the fan favorite “Wax,” a tense tune that features one of Mike Rempel’s best guitar melodies. The group kept the groove going throughout the set, bringing their well known jamtronica sound to the woods of Sherman, NY. Rounding out the night, Octave Cat took to the Cafe Stage for a late night set, and their music seemed to bring down some heavy rain. The group performed lots of original music, including “Intl Klein,” “Spar,” and their new single “Precarious,” which had the whole crowd dancing the night away. As the set crawled on and on the sky seemed to open up more and more, leading to the crowd removing all of their cares and dancing harder. The group seamlessly integrated their improvisations into the songs, barely even letting the crowd know that they were improvising in the first place. The group provided the perfect set to close out the weekend, and created many new fans at Night Lights.

The eighth annual Night Lights was a major success, featuring a lineup of incredible bands and homegrown (literally) food vendors. The festival will return in 2019, and NYS Music hopes to see some familiar faces there. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of what the weekend was like.

Photography by Matt Shotwell at Strawberry Island Dweller

September 1, 2018
Night Lights Music Festival to Host 8th Annual Event

Next weekend, the 8th annual Night Lights Music Festival will be taking place in Sherman, NY at The Heron. This is Night Lights’ biggest year yet, featuring some big names like Lotus and The Motet. The festival will be taking place from August 23rd-25th, continuing last year’s move to a 3-day fest in late August.

In addition to the artists mentioned above, this year’s lineup features two sets from Aqueous, a “Fearless” Pink Floyd tribute set, featuring Chuck Garvey of moe. and Mike Gantzer of Aqueous on guitar, Evan McPhaden of Aqueous on bass, Eli Winderman of Dopapod on keyboards, and Matt Kellen of Mungion on drums, and a set from Winderman’s side project Octave Cat, featuring Jesse Miller of Lotus and Charlie Patierno, a local Philadelphia drummer.

Several other tribute sets will be performed over the weekend at Night Lights Music Festival, including a Led Zeppelin tribute from Glens Falls rockers Wild Adriatic, a Disco Biscuits tribute set from Buffalo-based Space Junk, and a 90’s Hip Hop tribute set from Syracuse funk group Sophistaphunk. A bunch of other Buffalo bands will be featured at the fest, including jazz rock group Intrepid Travelers, intellifunk jam group Cold Lazarus, and the funky, reggae-infused Funktional Flow. Some smaller bands that are worth checking out are the Connecticut-based rockers, lespecial, Appalachian soul group, Upstate Rubdown, and the genre-bending Ohio group Tropidelic.

Night Lights will have several food vendors throughout the fest, including A SeaSons Bounty, an event/festival dining experience that features “gulf coast cuisine,” meaning an infusion of Cajun, Caribbean, Texas Barbecue, and Florida Seafood. Bees and Thankyou will tide over the grilled cheese lovers coming to Night Lights, featuring four unique sandwiches, all with different ingredients. Grateful Grind coffee will act as the fest’s local cafe, offering cold brew coffee, smoothies, breakfast bowls, and many more delicious treats to start the day off right. Community Beer Works from Buffalo has partnered with the fest to offer their fantastic selection of beers to attendees. These are just a few of the vendors that you’ll be able to get food from throughout the weekend. The fest will also feature free, potable water to refill your reusable water bottles.

Check out the daily schedules above to plan out your Night Lights weekend. NYS Music will be releasing coverage of the fest afterwards, so check back with us for our thoughts on the experience.

August 19, 2018
Eighth Annual Levitate Music Festival Goes Green

The eighth annual Levitate Music Festival took place July 7 and 8, hosted by the Levitate Surf Shop at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. The two day event featured three stages, the Soul Stage (smallest), Style Stage (mid-sized), and Stoke Stage (main); each stage featured killer musicians, both local and national touring acts. The weather remained hot and sunny all weekend, which the festival aided with free sunscreen dispensers all across the grounds.

One of the coolest parts of this year’s Levitate was their move towards an eco-friendly festival experience. Attendees could purchase metal cups to use at the Reverb water-filling stations, or at the many beer tents around the grounds, receiving a $1 discount for purchasing the cups. There were also several compost tents, and some food vendors even served their food on biodegradable plates. Spread across the grounds were numerous local food trucks, one of the most popular being the Sweet Tomatoes pizza truck, which constantly had a line longer than the bathrooms.

Samantha Fish was one of the more surprising sets of the first day, bringing her soulful blues playing and outstanding voice to the Soul Stage, surprising many festivalgoers that were passing by. Immediately following her and her band’s performance was Vermont-native jam band Twiddle, who seemed to have drawn their fans from all over New England. The quartet played the recently dusted off “Frankenfoote,” much to the crowd’s bemusement, and clearly seemed to enjoy being back in their home field after their recent cross-country tour with Stick Figure. Robert Randolph & The Family Band brought their gospel-blues fusion sound to the Soul Stage following Twiddle’s performance, and among their many covers, brought out Samantha Fish for a fiery rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s famous “Voodoo Child,” which had the crowd dancing and singing along all the way back to the soundboard.

Slightly Stoopid and Stick Figure brought their reggae stylings and roots music to the Style and Stoke stages before the main event of the fest, Trey Anastasio Trio, took to the main stage. Trey’s trio actually became a quartet for the set, featuring Ray Paczkowski on the keyboards for his second show back since the recent removal of a brain tumor. The quartet played a mixture of Trey Anastasio Band and Phish songs, opening with the uplifting summer jam “Blaze On,” a song about being carefree and keeping on, which fit the atmosphere of the fest well. Trey was visibly excited to be onstage, probably due to having just played in Central Park the previous night, and the forthcoming start of Phish’s annual summer tour. After a unique rendition of TAB’s “Cayman Review,” the group broke into even more Phish classics, such as the jam vehicles “Gotta Jibboo” and “Sand,” as well as the fan-favorite “Farmhouse.” The highlight of the set was the segment of “Bug > Undermind > First Tube” at the end of the set, featuring the deepest jams of the night. After the usual climactic ending of “First Tube,” Trey came out with an acoustic to perform solo versions of the bittersweet love song “Waste” and the joyful “More,” and asked the crowd to cheer as loud as they could for Ray when the rest of the band came out. The deafening roar of the attendees seemed to embarrass Ray—-though they made Trey smile and laugh—and the group broke into their final song of the evening, “Push On Til’ The Day.”

On the second day of the fest, the Style Stage featured a lot of the best acts. The day was kicked off by Spafford, a first timer at Levitate, who have been on fire all summer long. The group played a near-20-minute version of their heavy hitter “Blackfoot Funk,” and a stellar version of one of their newest tunes “Broken Wing,” the fast paced rocker that heavily showcases the rhythmic abilities of bassist Jordan Fairless and drummer Cameron Laforest. The group closed out the set with “Space Gadget,” a more progressive song that features the famous main melody of Inspector Gadget theme, a request made by a fan who recently released an Inspector Gadget pin. Following Spafford were Brooklyn’s favorite funk group, the 9-piece Turkuaz, who got everyone up and dancing in the warm summer heat. Their set featured the always-entertaining “Percy Thrills, The Moon Dog,” as well as the Sami Garrett-led “Tiptoe Through the Crypto,” a song that really exemplifies her impressive vocal range. After Turkuaz came the popular bluegrass group Greensky Bluegrass, whose set featured a couple sit ins from some big names. The first sit in had singer-songwriter Ryan Montbleau sitting in on Coolio’s magnum opus, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which had a bit of a Greensky flair on it. The whole crowd was singing along with the rap anthem, really enjoying the group’s interesting take on the song. The second sit in featured guitarist Brian Moss of Spafford on their original “Kerosene,” which was taken over by Moss towards the end with an impressive solo on his beloved guitar “The Raven.”

Of all the big names that were featured on the main stage, Lake Street Dive stoke the show as always with their upbeat, soulful swing sound. The set showcased many of the group’s popular originals, including “I Don’t Care About You,” “Good Kisser,” and “Baby Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts,” as well as an impressive cover of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One.” Over on the Soul Stage, Mihali Savoulidis of Twiddle hosted a “Mihali and Frends Community Jam” set to close out the festival, which featured a hefty lineup, including Eli Winderman and Rob Compa of Dopapod, Zdenek Gubb of Twiddle, Russ Lawton of Trey Anastasio Band, and many, many more. The set consisted mainly of covers, most impressively John Lennon’s “Stand By Me,” led by a guy named Hitch on acoustic guitar, and Alanis Morrissette’s classic “You Oughta Know,” led by Rob Compa, whose vocals were eerily similar to Morrissette’s.

The eighth annual Levitate Music and Arts Festival was a major success, especially in the way of their green initiative. The festival will return next year and years to come, most likely with an even more impressive lineup and even better food. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of what the weekend was like.

August 10, 2018
Cobblestone Live Host Successful Second-Year Festival

This past weekend in Buffalo, NY the second annual Cobblestone Live was put on by the famous venue Buffalo Iron Works. The weather remained sunny for a majority of the weekend, besides a little drizzling for 15 minutes during Saturday afternoon. There were four stages spread across the Cobblestone District, one set up on both Illinois and Columbia St.’s, one inside Iron Works, and one inside Lockhouse Distillery. Some of the food highlights of the weekend were the Lloyd taco truck, Barely Edible crepe truck, and the free tacos from Breezy Burrito Company, although those were VIP-only.

The festival featured both local bands and national bands alike, such as Cold Lazarus, Space Junk, and the ever-growing groove rockers Aqueous for the former, and Andy Frasco & The U.N., Turkuaz, and Los Angeles natives Chicano Batman. The lineup also showcased some international bands, bringing Broken Social Scene and The Sheepdogs down from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. One of the first impressive sets of the weekend came from Madaila, the Burlington-based psych pop group that all were all dressed in the same turquoise t-shirts with an “M” insignia on the front. The band brought their “A” game playing song after song of their upbeat, synth-driven pop. The much talked about Chicano Batman took to the Illinois St. stage next, impressing many festivalgoers with their genre-bending soul music and frequent instrument swaps between band members. It was very clear that frontman Bando Martinez was putting his heart and soul into this performance, leaving a lasting impression on the members of the audience.

Next up were local favorites Aqueous with their first set of the weekend on the Columbia St. stage. The groove rockers busted out covers of both parts of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” by famous psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips, as well as the debut of an original tune, “Say It Again,” which was a highlight in the near-perfect set. Lead guitarist Mike Gantzer also debuted his new Paul Reed Smith guitar at this set, seemingly enjoying the new but familiar sounds he was drawing out of the instrument. Following Aqueous, Brooklyn-based funk group Turkuaz took to Illinois St. with their always-astounding tunes. The band opened with their classic “Chatte Lunatique,” immediately raising the moods of the audience up while telling their bodies to get down. The group also played some of their bigger hits such as “Percy Thrills, The Moon Dog” and “Nightswimming,” which were featured on their recent live release 040717. To close out the first night of the fest, Nashville-based jazz funk band Dynamo took to the stage inside Iron Works and laid down some fiery versions of their original tunes. They had the whole venue packed and grooving, energizing the late night attendees with their funky yet soulful grooves and positive stage presences, especially the captivating Emoni Wilkins on vocals.

Local intellifunk jam group Cold Lazarus kicked off Saturday with a remarkable set on Illinois St., waking up the Cobblestone District with their groovy, reggae infused music. The band started rather recently, just at the beginning of 2017, when guitarist Adam Gould, bassist Gavin Patierni, and drummer Marc Scapelitte came together for a new project, only to find they had instant musical chemistry, later adding keyboardist/saxophonist Drew Minton to the mix. Another local group known as Space Junk took to the Iron Works stage a little later in the afternoon, bringing their jamtronica-esque jams and progressive sound to the venue. Guitarist Matt Fantini and keyboardist Cary Meehan were melodically locked in, while the rhythm section of bassist Will Thompson and drummer Kevin Rogers kept the grooves tight and funky throughout the set. Their set was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend. Down on Columbia St., madman Andy Frasco and his band The U.N. brought their soulful blues rock and bottle of Jameson to Cobblestone, putting on one hell of a show. Frasco made sure to incorporate the audience into the show as much as possible, getting down into the crowd several times throughout the set to have the crowd play a game similar to “follow the leader” a few times, help him crowd surf to his bottle of Jameson, and lift him up in a chair Bar Mitzvah style, dancing around him in a circle. The group brought out Mike Gantzer of Aqueous for an original tune and a brief version of AC/DC’s classic “Thunderstruck,” as well as performing a few instrument swaps that led to a spectacular guitar solo from drummer Andrew Avila.

Aqueous performed their second set of the weekend on the Illinois St. stage on Saturday afternoon, jam-packing the hour and a half with jammed out versions of some heavy hitters, especially their classic “Skyway.” The set also featured a spot on cover of Paul McCartney’s James Bond theme song “Live and Let Die,” which had the crowd rocking out in the warm weather. Following Aqueous were the Canadian The Sheepdogs and Broken Social Scene, on the Columbia and Illinois St. stages respectively. The Sheepdogs featured a classic rock and roll sound, while bringing a bit of Canadian flavor to the music. Their set was comprised of mostly originals, but was closed by a song by “the greatest American rock and roll band,” (their words), “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers Band. Broken Social Scene had an indie rock sound and surprised a lot of festivalgoers, rocking out as a collective group of musicians on the Illinois St. stage. Closing out the fest was Michelangelo Carubba’s Birthday Super Jam, which was comprised of Carubba, Mike Gantzer and Dave Loss of Aqueous, Craig Brodhead of Turkuaz, and Freekbass, the internet sensation that has mastered the art of playing bass. The supergroup also featured Shira Elias of Turkuaz and Ernie Chang of Andy Frasco & The U.N. for several songs. The set featured mainly covers, most importantly stellar versions of “Life in the Fast Lane” by The Eagles, “Vultures” by John Mayer, which Carubba surprisingly sang on, prompting Mike Gantzer to complement his voice, and a Freekbass-led version of “Fame” by David Bowie, which was the highlight of the set.

Cobblestone Live was a huge success that featured lots of fantastic local, national, and international bands, as well as an alpaca farm that had attendees raving. Hopefully the festival will return in 2019, bringing more music and great food to the residents of Buffalo. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of what happened over the weekend.

August 3, 2018
Peach Music Festival Showcases Many Talented Bands

This year’s Peach Music Festival started off warm and sunny, leaving festival goers excited for the music to come. The beautiful sprawling landscape of Montage Mountain made the fest feel cozy, but grandeur, and the friendly crowd made for a pleasant festival experience.

The festivities kicked off on Thursday, July 19 with blues rock outfit The Marcus King Band, the progressive blues band that the virtuosic King put together to support his impressive playing. The group knew they needed to warm up the crowd for Pennsylvania favorites, Cabinet, and delivered a performance that everyone was buzzing about online immediately after. Cabinet’s set at Peach was their only performance of 2018, and they absolutely crushed it. The members were seemingly enjoying themselves and the wild response from the crowd only made them more energetic, closing the set with a half hour of jammed out older tunes.

Following Cabinet were Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, the funk quartet from Baltimore that have been making big moves in the jam scene, most recently their first ever Red Rocks performance opening up for moe. a few weeks ago. The group offered some stellar versions of their bigger songs, namely “Porcupine” and “Lightning,” which featured the aforementioned Marcus King, who seemed to fit right in with the group and jammed along with them comfortably. After a set from Vermont rockers Twiddle, the Brooklyn-based 9-piece funk outfit Turkuaz took the stage for the first late night performance of the weekend. The group had everyone in the pavilion dancing, playing their big hits like “Percy Thrills,” “The Moon Dog” and “Nightswimming,” as well as a fairly true to the original cover of the Talking Heads’ “Slippery People.”

Friday featured performances from the likes of moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band, Leftover Salmon, Magic Beans, and more. Some of the highlights of the day were Phil and Grahame Lesh sitting in with Twiddle + Frends for “Bertha > Subconscious Prelude,” and the classic Grateful Dead tune “Eyes of the World,” which must have converted a few older heads into Twiddle fans. NY favorites moe. came on the Peach Stage next, and delivered a stellar set that may have been the best of the weekend. They did what moe. does best, starting the set off with a nasty “Brent Black > Billy Goat > The Pit > Tubing The River Styx > George > Down Boy,” jamming in and out of each song with the ease and patience of a master woodworker whittling a wood block into a beautiful flower. The set also featured two fantastic covers, The Band’s classic “Ophelia” featuring the Turkuaz horns, and Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” led by Jim Loughlin on vocals, as well as the post-hiatus Chuck tune “New Hope For The New Year.”

Leftover Salmon took over the Mushroom Stage as the evening started to roll in, bringing forth their sweet bluegrass stylings and laidback rock tunes. Many attendees made use of the hill behind the soundboard to watch the last glimpses of sunlight dip down behind the sprawling landscape as the band played the soundtrack of the sky down below. Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band were the second to last band to play the Peach Stage, performing a set full of Grateful Dead classics, such as “China Cat Sunflower,” “Bird Song,” and “Sugaree.” “Bird Song” and the second part of “The Other One” featured Karl Denson on the flute, serving as a warm up for his upcoming late night set on the Mushroom Stage. Over on the Grove Stage, Denver-based space funk band the Magic Beans were laying down grooves for the ages. The Beans were one of a few acts to perform multiple sets, the first being a regular set and the second a “late night dance party jam” set, which featured an outstanding cover of Prince’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover” with some of the Funky Dawgz Brass Band horns. Umphrey’s McGee performed a late night set on the main stage, and performed an impressive 17-minute “Ocean Billy” into a 23-minute “Utopian Fir,” as well as “Attachments” with the Turkuaz horns.

Saturday was the biggest day of Peach Music Festival, featuring sets from the likes of Aqueous, Ghost Light, moe. + Little Feat, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, and Spafford. The inclement weather made attendees a little damp but for the most part the rain didn’t get too heavy. One of the many highlights of the day was Aqueous performing the classic “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis with the Turkuaz horns. Ghost Light performed 2 sets, the first a VIP set that featured a 45-minute version of their original “Lead Weight,” and the second a segue fest of all original and American Babies tunes. The set opened with the upbeat “If You Want It,” also featuring the Turkuaz horns, and later on the Raina Mullen-led “Diamond Eyes,” a truly breathtaking song that was a joy to hear live. After Ghost Light, moe. + Little Feat took to the main stage to perform cuts off of Little Feat’s famous live album Waiting for Columbus. Al Schnier served as the supergroup’s leader, and different members of moe. circulated in and out throughout the set. The group performed a stellar version of “Spanish Moon,” and the fan favorite “Don’t Bogart That Joint.” Joe Russo’s Almost Dead took over the main stage for the next three hours, performing two sets full of choice Grateful Dead and GD-related tunes. The group opened up with the Garcia-penned “Cats Under The Stars,” and performed a great version of “Row Jimmy.” The second set featured an impressive “Estimated Prophet > Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > Eyes of the World > Minglewood Blues,” which had the whole pavilion up and dancing.

The big Saturday late night sets were Dark Side of the Mule and Spafford. Dark Side of the Mule featured cuts from all over Pink Floyd’s catalog, from the nearly-perfect “Echoes,” to the lesser known “The Nike Song,” as well as a majority of the tracks from Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album. Fans have been buzzing about the group’s performance of the death-inspired track “Great Gig in the Sky,” famous for its wailing vocals and ominous piano progression. Spafford performed a 2 hour set on the Mushroom Stage, and opened with an hour long segment of “Peach Jam > Funkadelic > Electric Taco Stand > Dis Go in 5? > Electric Taco Stand,” all while being drenched in rain. During their original “All In,” guitarist Brian Moss’ pedal board went on the fritz and inspired the rest of the band to start jamming as a trio until Moss rose from the ashes like a phoenix and delivered a jaw dropping solo. Spafford had one of the best sets of the weekend.

Sunday at Peach Music Festival featured sets from the likes of Gov’t Mule, Soule Monde, Oteil & Friends, Dickey Betts, and Organ Freeman. Dickey Betts’ set was the talk of the day, as his homage to the Allman Brothers Band struck a chord in a lot of attendees’ hearts. The set included classics such as “Blue Sky,” “Midnight Rider,” led vocally by Gregg Allman’s son Devon, and a jammed out version of “Whipping Post,” featuring an impressive solo from the 74-year old blues rocker. Gov’t Mule closed out the festival on the main stage, playing a set of mostly Mule originals, besides a superb rendition of the Allman Brothers’ “Mountain Jam.”

Peach Music Festival was a success through and through, featuring incredible sets of music from some of the nation’s best touring acts. The festival will return next year, likely featuring an even better lineup and a better fan experience. Check back with NYS Music for more coverage when the time comes.

July 30, 2018