NYS Music 20​18

Category: Photo Gallery

  • Weezer a Crowd Pleaser at Syracuse Show

    Weezer and Pixies‘ co-headlining tour brought a seamless blend of 90s rock nostalgia to the St. Joseph’s Amphitheatre in Syracuse, NY on July 15.

    Pixies ripped right into their set with their raw punk rock hits. Their set was much more rigid and simplified in comparison to Weezer’s. It was also so jam-packed that they left no time to interact with their fans. They undeniably showed the audience why they have been the influence to many of their other favorite artists.

    Once Weezer took the stage, they wasted no time busting out their mega hits. They kicked off their set with their most notable song “Buddy Holly.” Fans had a nostalgia overload because the band re-created the “Buddy Holly” Arnold’s Drive In video set and each band member was dressed in clothing to match while performing the song.

    Weezer was the complete opposite of Pixies and had numerous interactions with the crowd. The band’s front man, Rivers Cuomo even visited the cheap seats on a small stage in the back of the amphitheater and performed a few hits including “Island in the Sun” and “Feels Like Summer”. He traveled to this other stage via the S.S. Weezer which was a small boat with wheels that security operated in the absence of water.

    The crowd could be heard singing along with every song with Rivers all the way to the parking lot. You could tell Rivers and the rest of Weezer were genuinely enjoying themselves and putting on the best show they knew how.

    Weezer setlist: Happy Days Intro, Buddy Holly, Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans, Undone – The Sweater Song, Hash Pipe, Perfect Situation, My Name Is Jonas, El Scorcho, In the Garage, Susanne, Happy Together, (The Turtles cover) (with a snippet of Longview by Green Day), Keep Fishin’ (Brian Bell vocals), B-Stage, Island in the Sun – (Rivers solo), Take On Me – (a‐ha cover) (Rivers solo), Burndt Jamb, (Smells Like Teen Spirit lyrics, without Rivers), (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To, Feels Like Summer, Africa – (Toto cover)

    Encore: The Good Life, Play Video, Say It Ain’t So (with Black Sabbath “Paranoid” outro)

  • Photo Gallery: Rockin’ on the River with Skeeter Creek and Sydney Worthley

    Sydney Worthley opened for local country rockers Skeeter Creek on the rain date for their show earlier this summer at Troy’s Rockin’ on the River. Worthley played songs from her album Strong as well as a few covers with a mix of Alt rock and folk to a growing crowd for 75 minutes. Skeeter Creek, co-formed by guitarist/singer Joe Kulewicz and singers Dave Ahl and Renee Lussier-Ahl kept the crowd highly entertained all night into the dark. Playing country rock to the dancing crowd, Dave enjoyed going out into the crowd to sing with them and invited Sydney Worthley to join them to sing the encore “Shut up and Dance.”

  • Photo Gallery: Mallett Brothers Band at Troy Rockin’ on the River

    For the second week in a row, Troy’s Rockin’ on The River had a rainy start before the sun came out. Saratoga Springs’ North and South Dakotas kicked off the night with a mix of Americana, mountain folk and bluegrass. The Mallett Brothers Band headlined, featuring brothers Luke and Will who formed the band in Maine in 2009, and occasionally have Phish drummer Jon Fishman behind the kit. Their new album Vive I Acadie is out now.

  • Arise Music Festival Emerges as an Antidote for Dangerous Times

    These are dangerous times in which we live. Our culture is teetering on the brink. And if music festival organizer, Paul Bassis is correct, the Arise Music Festival held last week outside Loveland, Colorado may well be an antidote to help stop the madness. Bassis’ claim is a bold pronouncement, for sure, but he and his hearty team of Arise staffers and volunteers have made painstaking efforts to make that claim a reality.

    From the festival’s inception six years ago, Arise has staked a claim among a short list of conscientiously-based music festivals that promote environmentally conscious practices as a “leave no trace” event that plants a tree with every ticket purchase. In addition, as in past years, last week’s event featured a wide range of workshops and presentations focused on environmental and social justice issues that ran alongside its hefty live music schedule. While such offerings are familiar to Arise veterans, what has changed recently is the urgency in which Bassis and the Arise crew have pushed its more communal and activist leanings. “There was a time when I wouldn’t have called myself an activist, but now things are different. So much is at stake.”

    This year’s edition of the Arise fest did include a number of popular live and EDM music acts, including Slightly Stoopid, Thievery Corporation, Opiuo, and Trevor Hall, that perform at many other festivals around the country. However Bassis intones that while many festivals offer escapism from turbulent cultural events, Arise is designed to engage festifarians in local and national political affairs. “We have got to build a community that makes changes and makes things right,” he stated on the festival’s closing day. “My stump speech is,” he continued, “there is a reason why call this the Arise Festival and not the Wake-Up Festival.”

    That sense of urgency permeated the festival grounds throughout the weekend by way of world-renowned presenters like environmental activist Julia Butterfly and grassroots activists seeking signatures for a number of issues including a petition to ban oil fracking. After the rousing bluegrass set of the Kitchen Dwellers from Montana, bassist Joe Funk commented that he felt the Arise Festival sense of purpose was  clear and that the festival, itself, came as close as any to be able to change the world.

    Alongside its progressive social and political focus, the Arise Festival featured a diverse entertainment line-up that included a number of magical performances from the little-heralded but fiery acts such as Guerilla Brass Band, and Colorado-locals, the Gasoline Lollipops, with their unique style of psychedelic punk/folk music. Festival stages literally soared with the dazzling acrobatics of Quixotic. Even the festival’s last performance boasted the thunderous, raucous Colorado return of the New Orleans-based funk group Dumpstafunk.

    As to whether the Arise Festival will change the world, only time will tell. But festival organizers like Bassis say they have no other choice. “We must all be activists, and we must meet the challenge.”

  • Slayer’s Farewell Tour Pays Syracuse a Curtain Call

    News of a Slayer farewell tour hit many in the metal community hard, but in a year of farewell tours, it’s not surprising that this Huntington Park, CA band, created in 1981, would call it a day.

    Joining Slayer on this final trek across North America were fellow thrash metal veterans Anthrax and Testament, current thrash flag-bearers Lamb of God, and British grindcore pioneers Napalm Death.

    Slayer Farewell Tour
    Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway of Napalm Death

    It would be easy to say that this lineup of veteran thrash legends is a cash grab nostalgia tour, but nothing could be further from the truth. All five bands are touring on current releases. Critics have proclaimed the latest Anthrax and Testament releases among the best of their respective careers. This was a lineup of bands still fresh, despite several decades of headbanging that left fans of each band wanting more.

    New York-based Anthrax had an especially strong contingent of fans in attendance, as lead vocalist Joey Belladonna is a native of Oswego, a short drive from the St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater. Anthrax, always the historians, opened and closed their set with a tribute to the recently deceased Pantera drummer, Vinnie Paul. The band opened with the riff from the Pantera classic, “Cowboys From Hell” and closed with the same, sending those in attendance into a headbanging frenzy. Anthrax, particularly bassist Frankie Bello, is one fun band to watch perform.

    Slayer Farewell Tour

    While most of the show was an exercise in headbanging for the largely 40-something crowd, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe added some acrobatics to his band’s set, invariably leaping from the riser at the front of the stage.

    Napalm Death performed a career-spanning set, including a slightly extended version of their song, “You Suffer.” This track, from Napalm Death’s debut album Scum, has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Shortest Recorded Song at 1.316 seconds long. Make some time to hear that below:

    Slayer bid a fond farewell to a standing ovation following a raucous “Angel of Death” from the band’s classic Reign in Blood album. Their setlist was dotted with songs covering their entire career, including the opener, the title song from their latest album, Repentless.

    Setlists

    Slayer: Repentless, Blood Red, Disciple, Mandatory Suicide, Hate Worldwide, War Ensemble, Jihad, When the Stillness Comes, Postmortem, Black Magic, Payback, Seasons in the Abyss, Dittohead, Dead Skin Mask, Hell Awaits, South of Heaven, Raining Blood, Chemical Warfare, Angel of Death

    Lamb of God: Omerta, Ruin, Walk With Me in Hell, Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, 512, Engage the Fear Machine, Blacken the Cursed Sun, Laid to Rest, Redneck

    Anthrax: Cowboys From Hell (Pantera cover) (Jam), Caught in a Mosh, Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover), Madhouse, Be All, End All, Evil Twin, Antisocial (Trust cover), Indians

    Testament: Brotherhood of the Snake, Rise Up, Dog Faced Gods, The Preacher, Practice What You Preach, The New Order, Into the Pit, Over the Wall

    Napalm Death: Multinational Corporations, Instinct of Survival, When All Is Said and Done, Smash a Single Digit, Standardization, Suffer the Children, Silence Is Deafening, How the Years Condemn, Scum, You Suffer, Dead, Nazi Punks Fuck Off (Dead Kennedys cover)

  • 10 Years Leads the Crowd to Believe in Something

    Finding an amazing live band is like finding a rare gem, their energy while performing is what makes them unique and amazing. 10 Years is one of these rare gems. Their live performance is so amazing that they “lead you to believe in something” and forget about the numbing of life’s tolls for just a moment in time.

    10 Years outdid themselves at The Wolf Den in Uncasville, CT on July 20 and put on one of their best shows at that venue. The crowd was bigger than ever at the Wolf Den and they simply rocked!

  • Slayer Brings Their Farewell Tour To Albany

    Slayer brought their Farewell Tour to the Times Union Center in Albany, NY on August 1, along with a handful of some of the metal genre’s best acts. Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament and Napalm Death joined the legendary thrash metal band’s going away party. In January, Slayer announced that they would be embarking on a farewell tour, playing concerts all across the United States along with select dates in Canada. The show started right around 5 pm with Napalm Death taking the stage. Following a short set by Napalm Death, Testament was up next. The band played many fan favorites among music off their latest album, Brotherhood of the Snake. Anthrax took the stage next playing fan favorites such as “Indians.” The thrash metal band out of New York City also delivered a tribute to Pantera.

    slayer farewell

    Slayer opened the show with guns blazing, courtesy of one of their newer songs, “Repentless.” Next, they played “Blood Red” followed by “Disciple.” For the rest of the show, Slayer treated fans to career-spanning songs ranging from the early days up to their latest album. The line up featured Gary Holt from Exodus on lead guitar who has been with the band since the passing of the great Jeff Hanneman, along with Paul Bastoff on drums who has been in and out of the band throughout their career. Slayer’s legacy began when they formed in 1981. What made them stand out is that they pushed metal to its limits. The group out of Huntington Park, California is known to be one of the heaviest and most influential bands in the metal music community. They have produced many of the most important albums in the scene including their third album, Reign In Blood. They are also part of the “Big Four” of thrash metal which also includes Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth who all toured together between 2011-2012 all over the world, including a special concert at Yankee Stadium. Slayer has released 12 studio albums over their career and will always be known as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Fans will truly miss them.

  • Yes Celebrates 50 Years at Paramount Hudson Valley

    Fifty years after they began, Yes celebrated their half-century anniversary with a sold out show at Paramount Hudson Valley on July 17.

    Some band politics within Yes had led to two touring bands (and two bands currently touring to mark the legacy’s 50th anniversary): There’s Yes, and then there’s Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman. The Yes which we saw at the Paramount was charioted by the virtuosity of original guitarist Steve Howe, long time drummer Alan White, and Chris Squire’s heir, nominated by the late bassist himself before losing a battle with cancer in 2015.

    The younger of the bunch, Jon Davison, has taken on the role of lead vocals alongside Howe and sang in a strikingly similar fashion to that of Jon Anderson (original singer), which could be explained by his time in a now disbanded Yes tribute band, Roundabout. Toward the end of the first set and for the encore, Yes’ original drummer Alan White and original keyboard player Tony Kaye made an appearance.

    Despite being a 50th anniversary concert, Yes mostly chose to not sample their entire career but rather focus on their earlier work from 1969 through 1980, with one song from the mid-80s and one from 2004. The longer multi-movement songs such as “Close to the Edge” and “Starship Trooper” were the best treats of the night, each bringing out an ebb and flow of mood and style.

    Set 1: Close to the Edge, Nine Voices (Longwalker), Parallels, Mood for a Day, Leaves of Green, Fly From Here (Part I: We Can Fly), Sweet Dreams, Heart of the Sunrise

    Set 2: Perpetual Change, Does It Really Happen?, Soon, Awaken (with Alan White)

    Encore: Yours Is No Disgrace Roundabout, Starship Trooper (encore with Tony Kaye and Alan White)

  • Celtic Double-Bill: Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys Rock Forest Hills Stadium

    Two of the biggest names in celtic punk/rock, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys recently stopped by Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.

    Flogging Molly gave Forest Hills several mainstays from their library but also played two new songs, “The Hand of John L. Sullivan” and “Crushed” from their recent album Life is Good, both welcomed by the fans. Aside from a few easier moments in the set to let the rowdy dancers rest their feet, Flogging Molly kept a fast pace throughout. Frontman Dave King made several Guinness toast between songs, rallying the crowd who was quick to start up a small circle pit.

    Dropkick Murphys took to the stage with building anticipation while Sinead O’Connor and The Chieftans’ recording of “The Foggy Dew” played out on the PA. Without hesitation they got right into “Captain Kelly’s Kitchen” and “The Boys Are Back” making their way up close to the rail-riders. A couple of new Dropkick songs made their way into the set including “Blood” and “Rebels With A Cause” and just as with Flogging Molly’s debut of new music was greeted well. Keeping with the spirit of getting close with the crowd, Dropkick Murphys invited a bevy of their punk rocker fans on stage for the encore with an important message on the screen behind them: “only jackasses take selfies on stage” (a friendly reminder about enjoying the moment of a show rather than getting absorbed in taking 15-second videos).

    Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys shows are always reliable for hitting the mark of a fun night of their flavor of Celtic rock. With both bands having a bit of a fanbase in the New York community of first responders, a running joke of the night was about the FDNY and NYPD getting along. But joke aside, the show brought out the friendliest in everyone there – a big piece of what makes for the jollity of seeing Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, especially on the same bill.

    Flogging Molly setlist:
    (No More) Paddy’s Lament, The Hand of John L. Sullivan, Drunken Lullabies, The Likes of You Again, Swagger, The Days We’ve Yet to Meet, Requiem for a Dying Song, Float, The Spoken Wheel, Black Friday, Rule, Devil’s Dance Floor, Crushed (Hostile Nations) / We Will Rock You, If I Ever Leave This World Alive, What’s Left of the Flag, The Seven Deadly Sins, Salty Dog

    Dropkick Murphys Setlist:
    Captain Kelly’s Kitchen, The Boys Are Back, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya, Sandlot, Famous For Nothing, Blood, Barroom Hero, Caught in a Jar, Buried Alive, The State of Massachusetts, Rebels With a Cause, Paying My Way, Rocky Road to Dublin, Rose Tattoo, Out of Our Heads, Going Out in Style,
    Encore: The Body of an American (The Pogues cover), I’m Shipping Up to Boston, Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced, Skinhead on the MBTA, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

  • Photo Gallery: Twiddle’s Tumbledown

    Bernie Sanders, Kat Wright, Grahame Lesh and a few rainstorms were on hand for Twiddle at their third annual Tumbledown, held at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival in Burlington, VT over Friday July 27 and Saturday the 28. Thunderstorms on Friday meant that Twiddle’s second set was shelved until the next day, and even with some bad weather showing up Saturday, they still managed to get all three sets in.

    Twiddle welcomed special guests Kat Wright for a breathtaking performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Mihali’s GEM counterparts Grahame Lesh and Elliot Peck (Midnight North) joined Twiddle for the final set’s “Lost in the Cold,” “Hatti’s Jam” and “When it Rains it Pours.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bly6T1gntlf/

    However it was the second set on Saturday that was the most unique of the weekend. Known by fans now as ‘Orlando’s Set,’ the 7 song set featured “Orlando’s” appearing four times in the set with 6 other songs intertwining. The song “Orlando’s” talks about a bar, and each of the three verses discusses a couple of characters who come into the bar. In this case, “Jamflowman” and “Hattibagen McRat” were mentioned, and both songs were then played in the first break of “Orlando’s.” Following “McRat,” the band returned to “Orlando’s,” introducing “Frankenfoote” and “Tiberius” before performing those two and returning to “Orlando’s” once again. The last characters introduced were “Carter Candlestick” and “Cabbage Face” which were performed before the ending of “Orlando’s” closed the set. A spark of genius flowed through this character laden set, something unique not just to Twiddle, but indeed they did it first.

    July 27 setlist via Phantasytour
    Set 1: White Light1, Drifter, Doinkinbonk!!!, Syncopated Healing

    1 Bernie Sanders introduction

    July 28 setlist via Phantasytour
    Set 1: Blunderbuss, Second Wind, Dr. Remidi’s Melodium, Polluted Beauty1, Hallelujah2
    Set 2: Orlando’s> Jamflowman> Hattibagen McRat> Orlando’s> Frankenfoote> Tiberius> Orlando’s> Carter Candlestick> Cabbage Face> Orlando’s
    Set 3: Lost In The Cold3, Apples4, Hatti’s Jam5,3> When It Rains It Pours5,3

    1 w Taz
    2 w Kat Wright
    3 w Grahame Lesh
    4 Smooth Criminal tease
    5 w Elliot Peck

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