There’s nothing better in the world than good music, food, and dancing to make an event successful. The 23rd annual Albany Latin Fest had no problem delivering on those three markers and much more. The event was proudly presented by the Albany Latin Fest Association (ALFA) at Washington Park in Albany, NY. The event was a cultural mashup celebrating the best of the best of the Latin culture and influence in the world around us. Thousands of attendees from all backgrounds banded together to destroy barriers and appreciate the contributions made by Hispanics in an international scale. With live performances from Bachata Heightz, Don Sonero, Cuboricua, and local acts, the event was one of the largest turnouts the organization’s history.
Category: Features
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Tedeschi Trucks Band and Chevy Court Crowd Agree: “I Want More”
A crowd estimated at more than 16,000 people gathered at the New York State Fair’s Chevy Court in Syracuse on a beautiful moonlit evening to hear the unique sound of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Susan Tedeschi’s powerful, emotion-soaked vocals are at the front of most of their songs. What makes the band unique is the addition of her husband, world class guitarist Derek Trucks, and a cast of fellow band mates that would be the envy of any guitar/vocal combo. Including the punch of double drums, the wallop of a horn section and extraordinarily gifted backup singers, and the sublime Kofi Burbridge contributing accents on flute and huge swaths of sweeping organ melodies, there is a multi-layered density to their music that simply doesn’t sound much like other bands.
At times, there are elements of funk, soul, roots rock, blues, jazz, free-form jams, and a kind of comfortable pulse or groove to all of it that propels the music further. While Tedeschi and Trucks have their names on the marquees, they allow plenty of latitude for every member of the band to shine and contribute. It’s the type of music that finds people that might be unfamiliar with the songs still smiling, tapping their feet, shuffling and swaying back and forth, and feeling their spirits uplifted as the music builds and soars.
A couple of the evening’s highlights occurred back to back, in the form of Tedeschi’s breathtaking vocals on the gospel-like “Bound for Glory,” followed by Mike Mattison (who shares many songwriting credits in the band) taking the lead to sing a gritty, growling cover of Bob Dylan’s “Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)”. Those weren’t the end of the highlights, as a couple of tunes later, the band invited Central New York native Al Schnier from the band moe. to join them in a cover of “Tell the Truth.” This was a guitar fan’s dream, as Trucks, Schnier and Tedeschi stood side by side at center stage and traded riffs for nearly ten minutes. In an interesting twist, the first ever live performance and first ever recording of that song by Derek and the Dominoes included Dave Mason (of Traffic), who had played earlier in the afternoon on the same Chevy Court stage.
The band finished their main set with a song that seemed to perfectly express the sentiments of the crowd, “I Want More.” After a brief exit, the band returned for encores. Derek Trucks and saxophonist Kebbi Williams teamed for an instrumental “Swamp Raga” intro to “Midnight in Harlem.” The band closed the show with an exuberant take of Joe Cocker’s “Space Captain.”
Tedeschi Trucks Band Chevy Court Setlist: Don’t Let Me Slide, Laugh About It, High & Mighty, Get What You Deserve, Lord Protect My Child @, Bound For Glory, Made Up Mind, Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood) @, Part Of Me, Tell The Truth #, More And More, How Blue Can You Get %, I Want More, Encores: Midnight In Harlem (Swamp Raga intro), Space Captain $
@ – Bob Dylan cover, # – Derek and the Dominoes cover, % – BB King arrangement cover of Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers song, $ – Joe Cocker cover
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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)
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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.”
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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.
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Dark Star Orchestra: A Grateful Dead Time Capsule
“Dark Star” was first performed, without lyrics, by the Grateful Dead in September 1967. The first version with lyrics was heard three months later. The tunes’ sole focus was improvisation. “Dark Star” was played regularly through the 1960’s, but seldom-heard after 1974. It only appeared on odd occasions in ‘78, ‘79, ‘81 and ‘84 and was last performed in March of 1994 – (deaddisc.com)
Unbox, Dark Star Orchestra; a continuation of spirit, improvisation and the greatest acid-trip, that ever was, the Grateful Dead. In the midst of digging, we teleport back to the sounds we fell in love with in 1965, obsessed over by ‘69, and post ‘96, we’re left, only aching for more. Dark Star (DSO) is NOT a cover band. They give birth to all that is Dead, then reinterpret it in modern day. DSO is a time capsule – like the vivid memories, postcards and totems we buried long ago.
“I view it as performance art,” said DSO drummer Rob Koritz. “We are blessed to play music that is 95 percent improvisation and when we’re firing on all cylinders, I can play how I want.”
Dark Star Orchestra is the idiom of self-expression. In true honor of the Grateful Dead, DSO has made this genre all-inclusive – pulling from rock, jazz, country, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, psychedelia and blues. For Koritz, the list goes on.
Their testimony goes out to Deadheads and non-cult listeners alike. There is a common thread that weaves through our mind and ears. It’s music. “They hear it and say WOW” added Koritz. “Pretty much everybody will find something.” And when you get confused, just listen to the music play.
Koritz did everything music. He was in opera, theatre, college marching band and even studied as a classical percussionist. From a music major state-side to traveling overseas, and experiencing the Grateful Dead, Rob is an encyclopedic anchor to DSO in his own regard. A band members’ father is a profound jazz musician, while another roots himself in progressive rock. A melting-pot would be far to mundane to describe this stew.
Dark Star Orchestra is prepared in the framework of the Grateful Dead’s catalog. Whether they are playing on a beach or filling massive arenas across the world, familiar tunes will be heard. On the bands’ fourth annual return to Frontier Field, earlier this month, they performed two sets with an encore of “Mr. Charlie” and “C’est La Vie (You Never Can Tell).” Read the full NYS review here.
Set 1: Alabama, Bucket, West LA, Memphis Blues, Lazy River Road, Esau, Blow Away, Ramble On, Sunrise, Music
Set 2: China Cat > Rider, She Belongs To Me, Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance > Drumz > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Throwing Stones > World To Give > Saturday Night
“We may go way further out than the Dead would have one night,” said Koritz. “Others we may not be as far out [more structured musically], it all depends.” For the lay-listener Dark Star Orchestra is explained as a group playing Jazz, i.e. improvisational music, in a Rock idiom. The experience becomes trance-like at each venue; in the ear of each listener a different note is digested.It is synonymous with the individual experience. It is unique. Memories of the Dead are relived through this music, we deem our own.
Like Frontier Field, DSO continues to recur at venues around the world. This past May marked the 7th annual Dark Star Jubilee in Ohio and the band has already announced their 7th annual return to Jamaican Jam In The Sand at Jewel Paradise Cove Resort on January 15-19, 2019.
DSO is excited to return to Pisgah Brewing Co. for a two night outdoor show in Black Mountain, NC on Friday August 17 and Saturday 18th. The Orchestra carries on across the Midwest with dates in Chicago, Illinois and Ohio. NYS Music fans, be on the lookout for more dates TBA in Rochester and Albany, to name a few upstate. DSO plans to reveal more shows throughout the holidays, with a special New Years Eve show announcement.
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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.
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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.”
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Empire State Music Podcast speaks with Cobblestone Live founder Josh Holtzman
Josh Holtzman is the co-founder of Cobblestone Live and General Manager at Buffalo Iron Works. For a complete review of Cobblestone Live 2018, see Jared Lindquist’s article, “Cobblestone Live Hosts Successful Second-Year Festival.” Visit the Empire State Music Podcast for all interviews, including an on-site discussion with Turkuaz’ drummer, MIchelangelo Carubba, at this year’s Cobblestone Live! festival.
It’s Saturday, July 28, a breezy, sunny summer day in Buffalo, New York, where the second annual Cobblestone Live! Music Festival is well underway. Amidst the heavy foot traffic, intoxicating smell of a food truck’s grill, and overwhelming sound of music flowing through the air, a busy Josh Holtzman, co-founder of Cobblestone Live! dismounts his Trek bicycle and radios to his colleagues, “team, this is Josh, be advised I’ll be offline for a bit for a quick interview.” Holtzman joins me to discuss the history of the Cobblestone district, the origins of the festival, partnership with the Child Advocacy Center, and plans for the future of Cobblestone Live!
Andy Hogan: Even five years ago, would you have imagined the Cobblestone District would one day host a major music festival?
Josh Holtzman: Honestly, this area was really only known for the [Key Bank] arena. Most people only knew of it because they saw the Sabers play here. Now, it’s really starting to turn around. We have the Lockhouse Distillery, music venues, the comedy club…it’s fantastic down here.
AH: What can you tell me about the history of the area?JH: The district itself is over 100 years old. Iron Works, the building, is 102 years old. Originally it was used for manufacturing; from steel works, machine works, iron works, etc… This was the industrial hub of Buffalo…even down the street a little bit, where the old first ward is, those were all factory and blue-collar workers that pretty much built everything we have today.
AH: How did the music festival come together? What was the jumping off point?
JH: it was early on last year. I’ve always wanted to throw a festival. Obviously, we have the venue, and we do 200+ shows a year, but we really wanted to throw a festival that was good for the community and is really something unique for Buffalo. Truth be told, I sent a quick text to Cory from Lockhouse and was like, “Hey dude, what do you think about closing down the streets and throwing a festival?” So, it went from something that sounds cool, to the actual reality of putting together a committee, we hand-picked our staff, and laid out the blueprints for what is Cobblestone Live.
AH: Last year, in your first year as a festival, to have the line-up you did was really quite something. You guys had Moon Taxi, Aqueous, The Hip Abduction, and Real Estate to name a few. This year’s line-up is just as strong, if not stronger, with Aqueous returning, plus Turkuaz, Chicano Batman, The Sheepdogs, and Broken Social Scene. What else has changed aside from the line-up?
JH: We added a lot of non-music programming, and festival experience. We also wanted to make sure that we did increase the line-up, and still get bigger bands. One of the main things we added was an additional stage, so now we have two outdoor stages, instead of one. I think that brings a really cool balance to the festival with people being able to go back-and-forth. As you’ve seen, we have alpacas down here, we have a dunk tank, we have some really cool vendors and graffiti artists. It’s just really a cool vibe right now.
AH: There’s even superheroes walking around!
JH: That’s right! Comic-Con is in the house.
AH: In your mind, what does the process of crafting a festival line-up look like?
JH: For me, it starts as a fan first. Any artist I book, I’m a fan of. I really like what they stand for, and their music. The other side is really building a vibe that will encompass everything we’re going for. You don’t want to put too many artists of different genres together so that it’s not going to flow, but, you can have fun with an eclectic line-up and really set it up so that it’s an exciting time for everyone. So, it’s a little bit of business and pleasure at the same time.
AH: Moving forward, as I can imagine this will be a long standing tradition, what are some other goals you have for the festival in the future?
JH: Looking down the road, we obviously want to keep raising awareness of the festival, and keep adding non-music programming. Down the line we’re looking to add more outdoor stages, too. I don’t want to say for sure that we’re going to go for three days, but eventually it may get to that point. You know, it’s just about having fun doing what were doing, and having the city catch on, to come on down and to have a great time.
AH: The other thing I wanted to ask you about is your partnership with the Child Advocacy Center; what can you tell me about them, and their relationship with the festival?
JH: It’s really important to everyone who is involved in this festival to give back, in one way or another. We’re not doing it for ourselves, we’re doing it for the community. What they do over at the CAC is very, very tireless work. They are helping to stop child abuse and it’s something we can all get on board with. Whether any of us were affected by it or not growing up, it still hits home and we’re going to do everything that we possibly can to raise money for them, while having a good time doing it. I think this is the first of many years we’ll be working with them, and honestly, we owe a lot to them. They provided all the volunteers for this entire event — nearly 100 people for two days, along with getting the sheriffs to donate their time to help us out.
AH: I know you’re a busy guy, so I won’t keep you too much longer, but I’m curious, what’s the one thing about planning a festival that people may not think about, but you may be losing sleep over?
JH: You know, it’s a lot, to say the least. I think one thing that people may forget is that the people who are doing this are doing it from their heart, they really care about it and it’s not just a money grab. I think that goes unsaid for a lot of things, but it’s a team that built all of this, and it’s really important that we’re doing it for Buffalo. We’re here having a great time, but we’re going to keep doing what we do for everybody out there.
This interview with Josh Holtzman was originally intended to air on Empire State Music Podcast, though due to unfortunate audio/technical issues, the conversation was condensed into written word.