This Sunday in Albany, the Pride Center of the Capital Region will celebrate and hold its annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Festival and Parade. The parade will step off at noon along Lark Street and the festival will continue until 5 PM in Washington Park. The parade and festival take place each June during LGBTQ Pride Month and commemorates the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June 1969 in New York City that ignited the modern-day LGBTQ movement.
The festival promises to be the not-to-be-missed event of the year, featuring Grammy winning pop star, Estelle, American Idol Top 10 Finalist Ada Vox, and locally popular band Grand Central Station. This is a free, family-friendly event full of music, laughter, food, and fun and dozens of vendors will be on hand. For more information and events throughout Pride Month Capital Pride.
Intrepid Travelers performed the fifth and final show of their Cinco En Mayo Residency at Nietzsche’s on Thursday, May 31. “Freedom” was the theme for the night and the band took that as an opportunity to be “free” of any theme, and to play all the original tunes that had yet to be played this month. “Stand The Heat” was aborted as an audience member shouting “Free Bird!” was challenged to come up and play the song.
“Free Bird” featured Sean MacNamara (aka Free Bird Guy) from Mosswalk on guitar and vocals. “Stand The Heat” featured MacNamara on guitar. “Get IT To You” was dedicated to former IT bassist David Neimanis and featured teases from each residency theme: “Get Up Offa That Thing” from the James Brown Birthday show (May 3), “When I’m Sixty-Four” from Over 65 Night (May 10), “End Credits Theme” from Spongebob Night (May 17), and “Hedwig’s Theme” from John Williams Night (May 24). Watch the entire show below:
Setlist: Dark Disease > On Inside, All About It ~> Authority > Stand The Heat > Free Bird(1)% > Stand The Heat% > Get IT To You%
(1) Lynyrd Skynard
% Sean McNamara from Mosswalk on electric guitar
On June 21, celebrate Solstice at the 3rd annual Intrepid Travelers festival. The festival returns this year with a new name, on a new weekend, in a new location, with a new vibe! Join IT at the beautiful “G” Lodge in Hannibal, NY for an unforgettable weekend of community, experience, and most of all, music. Enjoy 5 sets of Intrepid Travelers, special guest musicians, open jams for fellow musicians, vendors, and an intimate gathering like no other. Get tickets here.
Johnny & the Bootlegs have released the video for “Thrift Shop” off their recently released EP NYC Rags. Bringing you straight into the heart of New York City life, Johnny & the Bootlegs combine serious talent with lighthearted fun while blending blues, punk rock and soulful rock n roll, and bring a swagger and style to the stage.
The “Thrift Shop” video brings a balance of comical scripted scenes, and live footage of the band, providing a homage of sorts to ZZ Top and their slew of lighthearted music videos. Frontman John Santiago shared, “The idea of us going to a thrift shop to try on ‘somebody else’s clothes to wear our way’ just felt like a lot of fun and relatable. I mean, living in NYC, everyone has thrifted at some point – it’s a necessity of sorts. My personal favorite spot (and the boys now agree) is Urban Jungle in Bushwick and we mention the joint in the song because we’ve popped in there and rummaged their racks plenty.”
Live shots of the band were filmed at The Studio at Webster Hall, prior to its closure last year. Santiago worked as the General Manager of the legendary joint, which made the opportunity possible.
“I came up with the idea in the last couple of weeks before Webster Hall closed up and last minute got Dream But Don’t Sleep Productions to jump on board – we got what is now the final music video ever to be filmed in The Studio at Webster Hall! We went in on a Sunday afternoon while there was a hardcore/metal festival happening on the top three floors and captured the live scenes. We got the filming done and then I jumped into working the event, haha.”
Reflecting on Johnny’s “wild six years” of NYC nightlife and personal trials and tribulations, the NYC Rags EP was recorded at Brooklyn’s Studio G by engineer Jeff Berner (Psychic TV, Chris Cubeta and the Liars Club, NAAM, Heliotropes) and is available for stream and purchase on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. New Jersey’s The Aquarian listed Johnny & the Bootlegs as one of the “Top 30 NYC Bands to Catch Live in 2018.”
Catch Johnny & the Bootlegs on Friday, June 8 at Asbury Park Brewery in Asbury, NJ, and on Wednesday, June 20 at Silvana in Harlem.
Psychedelic Jam band The Breakfast marks 20 years this fall, and the Northeast has lucky to play host to the regular performances over the past few years, including a recent headlining slot at Sterling Stage Folkfest on Saturday, May 26. Watch footage of the group courtesy of Elan Lafontaine from Tonapac Pictures and Ben Albert of Rochester Groovecast, and stay tuned for news on how The Breakfast will celebrate their 20th anniversary this fall!
The mystical, confessional artist known as Young Cobain has emerged in 2018 as a unique creative, merging hip-hop, rock, and pop to create a unique genre of his. His debut single, “Young Cobain,” deals with the very timely and controversial topic of mental health, with a portion of the proceeds from its sales to be donated to Mental Health America (MHA), a non-profit leader in mental health support, recovery and advocacy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDzDTHjYG2I
With an earnest motive and the skill to flawlessly step back and forth between hip-hop and rock music, Young Cobain offers emotionally-charged hip-hop that is both sincere and skilled, with lyrics that can’t help but make listeners think deeply. Through “Young Cobain,” the artist hopes to take hip-hop in an unexpected positive and introspective direction. Listen now on Spotify and iTunes.
Hudson Taylor, an Irish-Americana Pop duo of brothers Alfie and Harry Hudson Taylor have released the video for “Old Soul,” off their recent EP Feel it Again, which charted in the Top 5 on the Irish album chart. The video was filmed during the band’s homecoming show at Dublin’s legendary Olympia Theatre and features guest vocals from Gabrielle Aplin.
The duo recently toured the United States for the first time, supporting Aplin, and returned to Ireland where they performed to sold out crowds, as they did in Europe and the United States. Hudson Taylor will play summer festivals in Ireland, the UK and continental Europe, including high-profile spots at the UK festivals Leeds/Reading, Latitude and Isle of Wight, as well as Benicassim in Spain. The brothers will return to the UK and US for headlining tours in the fall.
Aqueous is on the road in force this summer, starting out their summer at Disc Jam Music Festival. Lead singer and guitarist (Uncle) Mike Gantzer joins host Andy Hogan for episode 5 of Empire State Music Podcast. Listen on “>iTunes, via Simplecast and below on Soundcloud.
June 21 will bring out Hayley Jane and Friends for Funk Night in Albany at Parish Public House! Hayley brings along her friends Michelangelo Carubba (Turkuaz), Beau Sasser (Kung Fu), Justin Henricks (Wurliday, The Chronicles) and Daniel Lawson. Tickets are only $10 at the door with the show getting underway at 9pm, shortly after Alive at Five with Matisyahu wraps up at Jennings Landing, just two blocks north of Parish Public House! Get tickets and more info here.
Intrepid Travelers kept their month long residency at Nietzsche’s going with a skillful tribute to the movies with a theme by the name of John Williams. Opening up with a Star Wars Suite, which included “Main Theme,” “Force Theme,” “Emperor Theme,” “Imperial March,” “Rebel Strike,” and “Cantina Band” all seamlessly linked together for an opening segment you have to see. Throughout the rest of the night, the band performed original IT arrangements of John Williams compositions from Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, along with originals mixed it.
Setlist: Star Wars Suite, Maddy & Anna, Jurassic Park Theme > Randoh’s Island, On the Grass > Indiana Jones Theme > On the Grass, Boomerang, Groove’s On You > Hedwig’s Theme > Groove’s On You
Stay tuned for this week’s show, the final of the residency, joined by Mosswalk with a theme of Freedom. More info here.
Arkells have released the video for “People’s Champ” via Last Gang Records. Directed by renowned photographer & creative Matt Barnes, the video brings the optimism sought within “People’s Champ” to life. Shot in the band’s hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, the video aims to find the joy at the at the heart of every-day, mundane surroundings. The song is set to debut this week as a key theme to the NHL’s Stanley Cup final.
“‘People’s Champ’ is a political song, but also a joyful one,” says frontman, Max Kerman. “There’s a pulse to the song we wanted to capture. We wanted to see images of different kinds of people coming to life through music and the company of their friends and surroundings.” Arkells’ vision was realized through the direction of respected collaborator Matt Barnes. “Matt Barnes has a style of photography that is uniquely HIM. He always casts interesting subjects and is able to create a world within its own. We jumped at the opportunity to make a video with him – his effervescence makes for an amazing time on set,” added Kerman.
“People’s Champ” is the first single to be announced off the upcoming fifth studio album from Arkells, set for release later this year. Written and recorded in Toronto by Arkells, produced by their previous collaborator, Eric Ratz (“Knocking at the Door” and “Leather Jacket”), and mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, The 1975), “People’s Champ” is an upbeat, horn-infused, politically-charged anthem that is resonating deeply with listeners. CBC calls the song a “top contender for the title of 2018’s protest song of the year.”
Earlier this year, Arkells announced “The Rally” on June 23, an official kick-off to the summer, live at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, with special guests Cold War Kids, Bishop Briggs and Elevator. Due to popular demand, the hometown show was shortly upgraded to a full stadium affair of up to 26,000 tickets, making it the band’s biggest headline show to-date, surpassing their 2017 summer show at Budweiser Stage in Toronto which sold out in three days. In partnership with PLUS 1, Arkells have already raised over $20K through ticket sales for “The Rally” that will be donated to Refuge: Hamilton Centre for Newcomer Health. More info and tickets can be found here.
Notable Upcoming Shows and Festivals:
June 23 – Hamilton, ON @ Tim Horton’s Field: The Rally w/ Special Guests Cold War Kids, Bishop Briggs
Aug 25 – Cleveland, OH @ INCUYA Music Festival
Aug 31 – Seattle, WA @ Seattle Centre – Bumbershoot Festival
Oct 12 – Austin, TX @ Zilker Park – Austin City Limits
Full tour schedule at arkellsmusic.com
