It was a scorching hot evening to rock and roll as the 2018 Alive at Five Concert Series kicked off a great evening of music inside Jennings Landing on June 7 in Albany. Headlining the event was none other than 1970’s American hard rock band, Great White. The band, featuring members, Mark Kendall (lead guitar/vocals), Audie Desbrow (drums), Michael Lardie (lead guitar/keyboard), Scott Snyder (bass), and Terry Ilous (vocals) are still keeping rock alive on the Alive at Five stage in support of their brand new album, “Full Circle.”
Many Great White fans, even a girl waving around a vinyl record of the group from their earlier days, were in full attendance dancing and singing along to many of the band’s current singles from “Full Circle” as well as their greatest hits including “Save Your Love,” “Rock Me,” “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” among other tunes that the band had sung to their fans. Ilous, animated within his stage presence throughout the evening, even dedicated “Save Your Love” to a married couple that was celebrating over thirty five years of marriage that were watching the band perform from the front row.
For my first time watching Great White perform, I was certainly rocking out to their tunes throughout their set, even though I wasn’t too familiar with their material, only having heard “Rock Me” and “Once Bitten Twice Shy” on the radio. Still, the band had put on a great performance to kick off Alive at Five and will be continuing to still keep rock alive after all these years of performing in front of audiences around the United States and beyond.
First things first, Imagine Dragons live performance at the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse, NY on June 11 will be a hard act for any artist to follow there this summer. The band’s energy was clear right from the beginning, starting with “Radioactive.” They were elevated into the middle of the stage playing various percussion instruments, building up the energy for the show.
Second things second, it is so rare to see huge acts spend up close and personal time with their fans. Lead singer Dan Reynolds owns his stage presence and isn’t afraid to hop off stage and walk through the entire venue as he sings. Reynolds even jumped over the fence to give fans in the lawn section some love.
About a third of the way into the show, the band dialed the energy down a bit and followed Reynolds into the crowd to perform acoustic versions of “Amsterdam,” “I Bet My Life” and a stripped down, stringed version of “Bleeding Out” with violin and cello.
Third things third, Reynolds told the crowd that he hoped their show would be a great escape from their fans’ troubles for a few hours. With confetti flying four times throughout the show and balloons dropping on the crowd at the show’s end, Imagine Dragons know how to add that extra flare of fun to their shows. Fans at the amphitheater enjoyed every minute and could hardly contain their excitement by jumping up and down singing along to every song.
Last things last, If you come to a show as a fair weather fan, Imagine Dragons will make you a believer once you’ve seen them perform live. Their love for their fans, talent and energy in their live performance is so authentic for a band as big as they have become.
Setlist: Radioactive, It’s Time, Whatever It Takes, Shots, Yesterday, Walking the Wire, Next to Me, I’ll Make It Up to You, Start Over, The River, Gold, I Don’t Know Why, Mouth of the River, Amsterdam, Bleeding Out, I Bet My Life, Demons, Thunder, On Top of the World, Believer
Saratoga Performing Arts Center hosted Dead & Company with John Mayer on Monday, June 11, bringing in over 17,000 head nodding, barefoot dancing, arms-in-the-air, grooving fans to SPAC.
True confession: this was my first experience with a Dead & Company show. And I wasn’t sure what all the fuss would be about. I’d listened to the Dead plenty of times, and while I liked the music, it wasn’t life altering to listen to alone in my room or the car.
The experience of the jam music, however, surrounded by thousands of joyful, if not chemically altered, adults was entirely different than anything listening to tapes could prepare you for. The band opened up with “Jack Straw,” a well-loved favorite. The band felt slower than usual, and like they were struggling to get their feet under them. But the audience didn’t mind, grooving along and smiling. There was a long guitar introduction and what felt a bit like an extended warm-up; fans were tolerant and were overjoyed by the band’s very presence.
John Mayer improved the energy, taking the lead on “Easy Wind” and then “Friend of the Devil.” There was an ease to Mayer’s voice and playing that fit the folk feeling perfectly. John Mayer’s ease stepping in Jerry Garcia’s role enhanced the music with a fresh voice and picking soul, refreshing old folk music with a new vibe.
And the music didn’t stop, it simply picked up the pace in the second set. Varying from jam music to bluegrass to soul, the band played for 90 minutes for their first set, with only a short intermission before returning with a roaring cover of “The Weight.” They played furiously to the end of the set, hitting on old favorites like “Uncle John’s Band” and closing with “Touch of Grey.”
While there were some shockers for this writer, including how absolutely stereotypical the drug use and over drinking was among the crowd, the true surprise of the evening was how intensely relaxing and fun the music could be when played live. The mellow groove that shifted into familiar songs as the night wore on made for a really fun community experience with music. Parents with young children, adults who were old enough to know better (but still drank too much), and young people alike danced together, sang together and remembered their common humanity together.
It is worth a visit to a live Dead & Company concert, if only for the social experiences and energy from the band that changes the sound from what you might hear on the radio to a magical community experience.
Setlist: Dead & Company | Saratoga Performing Arts Center | Saratoga Springs, New York | 6/11/18
I: Jack Straw, Easy Wind > Friend of the Devil, Minglewood Blues, Ship of Fools, Corrina, Cassidy
II: The Weight, Other One Jam > Truckin’ > He’s Gone > New Speedway Boogie > Uncle John’s Band > Supplication Jam > Drums/Space > Uncle John’s Band, Black Peter > Good Lovin’
Governors Ball Music Festival returned to Randall’s Island Park last weekend for its eighth year in a row, bringing a mainstream savvy lineup that spanned an array of genres as well as several decades in music. Nearly 150,000 people trekked to the scenic Manhattan locale, to rock and dance it out to the newest in electronic pop, the hippest in indie folk, some of the best in hop hop, and much more.
FRIDAY
Friday kicked off by bringing both some newer, big solo artist names and a few modern rock legends. Something interesting to note about Gov Ball’s lineup this year was the high percentage of non-US-based artists. On the Bacardi Stage, British foursome Wolf Alice tore through a ferocious set of their brand of garage rock, whipping up the first day audience into a frenzy right away and holding them there for the duration of their performance. Meanwhile, Canadian breakout artists Alvvays, whom took to the Gov Ball Main Stage, and Australian four piece Pond, whom rocked the Honda Stage, brought in their sets shades of dreamy shoegaze and psychedelic pop.
Maggie Rogers, later on, was beaming from the Gov Ball stage in a fluorescent stormy weather dress, channeling a hipster, young version of Ms. Frizzle. She, like many of the other breakout artists lighting up GovBall 2018, expressed her humility at getting to perform the event. She quipped at the end of her set:, “Can you believe that mother****ing Karen O is about to be standing on this stage in just a bit??” Karen O did indeed take the stage just a bit later, with her defining alternative rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs, for one of the first hugely anticipated rock sets of the weekend.
Governors Ball did well to line up their Honda Stage with some very fresh names in the music world. Shawn Mendes was announced closer to the event as a special set and, as he explained to GovBall’s Friday crowd, it was personally special to him. He told the audience that the Governors Ball was one of the first music festivals he had ever attended. Rapper Post Malone was certainly another highly anticipated act of the first day, and he delivered the goods on many of the songs that have accompanied his fast recent rise, like “Candy Paint” and “Paranoid,” and a set closer of “Congratulations.” Damian Marley, meanwhile, brought his reggae-inspired hip-hop to the lineup for a very fun performance that even included a story about telling Bruno Mars to smoke pot. Eventually, towards the end, he offered great, danceable covers of his father’s “Exodus” and “Could You Be Loved?”
Jack White returned to Governors Ball for his first appearance at the event since 2014. After an early surprise of “Lazaretto,” the guitarist offered much from the White Stripes’ catalogue, including “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” “Hotel Yorba,” and “Black Math.” White is a guitar player of a strict artistic sense—it may not pull the ripcord quite like other heavy hitters, but every time the solo is sure to be unique in both tone and melody. He split up of some of the sonic madness with a brief acoustic portion featuring tunes like “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known” and “We’re Going to Be Friends.”
Opposite him, James Blake delivered quite a different kind of closing show—deep, mellow, at times almost downright sullen in his surreal kind of new age soul. While Jack White basked in a backdrop of bizarro blue light, Blake’s set was a cool, minimalist light show that silhouetted himself and his two bandmates. The effect complimented the soft intensity of his songs and kept the focus on the singing and the playing.
SATURDAY
Saturday morning started big and bright with a few up and coming singers. New Nashville crooner Mikky Ekko shined with “Stay,” his hit song which features guest singer Rihanna, while Cuco and his backing band kicked off the American Eagle stage. Early on the Honda stage, GovBall spanned the US, first bringing Los Angeles’ The Regrettes—punk in a clean package—followed by NYC’s own VHS Collection. As the name might suggest, VHS Collection throw fresh digs on an old school sound, and the result encompasses, in a way, a lot of the musical aesthetic running through GovBall’s lienup—a love note to the past that’s written in shiny, forward-looking letters.
Galantis, for instance, are about as fresh as live electronic music gets. Their jam is club music made for a sunny day in a New York City park, so they were right at home Saturday mid day at GovBall. Galantis grooves are mechanical yet often feel good at times, all while keeping a sense of nuance and experimentation in their work—as if to say, we’re serious about our craft here but not without having some fun. And some big fun at that: for their set’s end, the electronic duo were leaping among exploding columns of smoke and glitter.
Rivaling Post Malone and Shawn Mendes and James Blake for big time single name performer was the Grammy Award-nominated Halsey. Thousands of fans flocked to catch her flawless presentation of pop magic. In her path towards super stardom, Halsey has remained a down-to-earth artist for the people. She sung her heart out on songs about tackling the patriarchy, dealing with drug issues, LBGT rights, and more.
Of course, many, many GovBall attendees were waiting to see the hyped-up debut performance of Silk City—the combined talents of electronic superstar Diplo and mega music producer Mark Ronson. The result was a nicely dressed combo of beats and remixes that mixed in touches of coastal-groove, hip hop and more. Many acts helped to dazzle out Governors Ball weekend with visually striking and ambitious set pieces, and Silk City were not in the least in that department. A mini cityscape towered behind, boasting all kinds of street sigs, while Ronson and Diplo did their thing above a bright blue, emblazoned signature of their name.
With the hard-hitting “Stay Vicious” revving things off, The Gaslight Anthem took to the Gov Ball main stage Saturday night and charged their way through a tremendous twenty-five songs—twelve of which comprised the entirety of the band’s groundbreaking album The 59 Sound. Quite the big to-do, but the band certainly delivered all the favorite bits of the record: like the heavy “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues,” and the extra tender “Here’s Looking At You, Kid.” As Anthem furrowed through a third block of songs for their GovBall set, the rain started and would soon enough be a “true test of will” kind of downpour. But the show raged on, especially also for Travis Scott, taking the Honda Stage opposite Anthem. Scott gave live versions of tracks he’s collaborated on with some of the biggest in the game—”4 AM” with 2 Chainz, “Through the Late Night” with Kid Cudi, “Goosebumps” with Kendrick Lamar.
SUNDAY
An early highlight of the festival’s third morning were Middle Kids—another breakout foursome from Australia that, like many other artists on this year’s lineup, have been successful in taking the indie world by storm, and after debuting their brand of folky garage rock only a couple of years ago. While other artists on the list ride high on the rock charts, Margo Price might be considered the newest queen of country. In addition to her own material, she offered covers of Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” and Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” Even after laying down a full set of her pop Americana, she enthralled the crowd all the more by jumping on a second drum set for a crazy breakdown ending.
Across the way, Khalid delivered a soulful, emotional set of his many beautiful songs. Kicking off with favorites like “8TEEN,” “American Teen” and “Coaster,” Khalid had one of the most massive daytime crowds of the weekend. One of the most thankful offerings was “Silence,” the song that Khalid introduced as having written with his good friend, EDM producer Marshmello. At the same time, Third Eye Blind amassed a surrounding of their own sort, perhaps more nostalgic but no less enthusiastic. After they had cranked out a few rocking early numbers, a grateful Stephen Jenkins said to TEB’s ecstatic audience, “Thank you for keeping our music alive.”
Shortly after them, one the most bombastic sets thrown down the whole weekend came from N.E.R.D, the hip-hop hard rock group centering around Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley. In a curious surprise opening bit, N.E.R.D had a young kid address the Honda Stage crowd with a moving speech about working hard for your dreams and overcoming adversity. Once done, Pharrell and company rushed the stage and alighted the scene fast. The performers never once stopped moving, circumventing the stage with a raucous energy matched also by their jubilant dance troupe. Pharrell, in between bringing hits from both N.E.R.D’s early days from over a decade ago and newer favorites, called out the crowd to help bring about all the vintage gems of intimate rock concert—crowd surfing, mosh pits, and getting everybody to get off the ground simultaneously.
Sylvan Esso delivered a black and white set of sorts, showing the range of their appeal. The first half of their hour on the Bacardi Stage stayed to a very mellow side of their electronic pop. But by the time the duo had to take their leave, they had found their way into a zone and were syncing up beats and vocals brilliantly, and the energy was overflowing through the finish. “The only way I can describe this feeling of playing Governors Ball,” a wide-eyed, out-of-breath Amelia Meath said, “is that I hope, one day, you also get to perform in front of thousands of people in the finest ice skating leotard imaginable!”
At the conclusion of Governors Ball 2018, Randall’s Island fought a second battle with some vicious rain, but that didn’t stop a dynamic, larger-than-life set from the lineup’s musical crown jewel for the weekend, Eminem. Droves of people, groups of friends, aged from mid teens to mid forties, were screaming along with the modern hip-hop phenom. Halfway through, for a huge surprise, the performer invited up another legend in 50 Cent, who stayed for versions of “Patiently Waiting,” “In Da Club,” “I Get Money” and “Crack a Bottle.” Eminem steered the end of his tenacious, spot-on performance with a slew of the classics, including “My Name Is” followed by “The Real Slim Shady.” People who had retreated to dodge the increasing rainfall were sprinting back through the mud once “Lose Yourself” was dropping as the big encore.
Mike Gantzer and David Loss of Aqueous, Mike Carubba and Josh Schwartz of Turkuaz, Ben Carrey of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Matt Jalbert of Tauk and Hayley Jane all walked into a bar for a night of Unique Jamming… and took the stage at Funk ‘n Waffles Music Hall in Rochester with no set list and no songs, not even covers. But it actually isn’t a joke. They were brought together by the mastermind behind Everyone Orchestra, Matt Butler. He would be their conductor on this mad science experiment in improvisational music.
Decked out in a glittery purple conductor’s jacket and top hat, Butler, with hand motions, vocal cues, a white board and an iPad, directed the musicians through completely made-on-the-spot compositions across two sets for over 2 hours Friday night. The only time this music will ever get played was on that night and the only people to hear it were present then and there.
Some of the jams got started with a written note from Butler. Some of these were made available to the crowd. “A2 D2, indie rock” was scrawled out on one for example; others remained for the band’s eyes only. Other jams were prompted by one of the musicians, as requested by Butler. Loss started one with a crunchy organ groove, the rest of the band joined in, and a theme was established and another jam had begun. It was a game and Butler was the game master.
As jams tend to do, these pieces changed in character the deeper they got. But with a conductor, they didn’t veer out of control either. Solos were kept in check with a nod or point, or were egged on further with emphatic arm and hand motions. In one thrilling moment, the guitarists battled to a raging tangle as Butler essentially live-edited the two competing sounds into a perfect jarring climax.
With quickly improvised lyrics and melodies, Jane, or occasionally Butler himself, was able to develop a familiarity to the pieces that the band could return to again and again, at times creating songs the crowd could even sing along to by the end. Early in the second set, the band gelled around the lyrics “Open your eyes to see / The truth will set you free,” in a jam that finished in a building and bright rock-ready progression that was certainly a highlight of the evening.
Taking in the show as a whole, one aspect that must be marveled at is how, through it all, the music never settled into a familiar or well-worn groove. There were no covers, teases, or even any “sounds-likes” to be had. With a one-time band put together for a one-time concert, that is a rather incredible feat. Perhaps in the end, the only proper reaction is to laugh after all.
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.
Summer Camp Music Festival 2018 was a circus of strange artistic juxtapositions, wild forays into the outer limits of musical expression, and once-in-a-lifetime interactions between friends, new and old, both on stage and in the crowd. Jay Goldberg Events and Entertainment has fine-tuned this ever-growing event to highlight all the glitz and grunge that makes a proper music festival special, not to mention that the lineup, amenities and culture of Summer Camp continue to set the standard for what fans have come to expect at a major festival.
It was a smooth entry into Three Sisters Park for festival goers during the day on Thursday, and while traffic increased over the weekend, there was no painful gridlock or major incidents to report. It was fun to see the dramatic increase in campsites from Thursday to Friday, and more impressive is the way in which Summer Camp maximizes the grounds to comfortably contain so many attendees, stages, and facilities within a single, highly accessible loop.
While Thursday was essentially a bonus day of music before the headliners took over the main stages for the weekend, the first night of shows was nothing to scoff at as Beats Antique, Crosseyed and Phishless, Lettuce, Porn and Chicken, Steady Flow, Keller Williams, Yonder Mountain String Band and others took turns knocking it out of the park.
Crosseyed and Phishless had the Starshine Stage rolling, treating fans to Stevie Wonder and Pink Floyd covers and teasing them with “Fluffhead” throughout the set without ever playing the Phan favorite. Beats Antique followed on the Starshine stage, successfully bringing the crowd to a boil as twilight faded into neon. Lettuce’s Starshine Stage set was one of the most talked about shows of the weekend: a flawless masterwork of psychedelic funk that had the whole field moving in waves.
Porn and Chicken’s “in-your-face” dubstep set filled out the Vibe Tent for the first time, which also started the process of transforming one of the busiest dance floors at Scamp into a mud pit. Eliot Lipp, a veteran producer based out of New York, delivered a set of his unique precision flow dance grooves, keeping the young crowd moving on their toes, as the grassy floor continued to give way to mud.
The Camping Stage hosted shows throughout the day on Thursday, but it really got rocking at night. Space Carnival, from Ithaca, New York, played an exciting set of extended, spacey jams that had the growing crowd dancing. Louisville’s Quiet Hollers took the stage next, impressing listeners in their Summer Camp return. Scamp veterans, Steady Flow’s heavy gumbo funk attracted a slew of fans, and by the time they covered Dr. Dre’s “What’s the Difference Between Me and You,” the crowd was packed and everybody in it was straight coastin’.
It was the Campfire Stage, however, that set the tone for the weekend on Thursday night. The Kyle Hollingsworth Band delighted fans by welcoming Hollingsworth’s String Cheese Incident bandmate, Jason Hann, who was there to perform with EOTO, to the stage. KHB was joined later by living legend Keller Williams, who helped close out the set with “I Know You Rider.” Keller, who has played Scamp more times than anyone but moe., took to the Campfire Stage next for his own show. Yonder Mountain String Band, who was joined by Alie Kral, played a gorgeous set of traditional bluegrass, then dubbed it the “Yonder Mountain Sausage Party” and walked off stage, promising better ratios later in the weekend.
The VIP upgrade at Summer Camp is worth it for the exclusive sets alone, but the other amenities provided with it make it a great deal. The VIP sets on Thursday were not to be missed. Headliners Umphrey’s McGee played their first sets of the weekend, first an intimate umVIP set, which was then followed by a late-night Red Barn show that featured fan favorites “Slacker,” “Out of Order,” “Blue Echo,” and “Resolution” and a cover of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Other VIP highlights included shows by Break Science, EOTO, and the one-off Nine Inch Nails tribute Nailed It!, featuring Eliot Lipp and members of Cherub, Umphrey’s McGee, and Zoogma.
Three Sisters Park was packed with people by Friday. Tents were being pitched deeper and deeper in the forest and green space was disappearing rapidly in the field. But as the weekend population of Chillicothe steadily rose, so did the jubilation in the air, and anticipation for everyone’s favorite artists.
Friday got off to a hot start as Keller and the Keels broke in the Sunshine Stage early in the afternoon. Moe. followed suit by breaking in the Moonshine Stage afterwards. Moe. opened their first set with Pink Floyd’s “Breathe,” worked through an extended “Puebla,” mirrored the stormy skies with an apropos version of “Haze,” and finally ended early when lightning shut down the festivities for the time being.
The rain held off after some brief showers, but from then on things got very complicated for fans as there were literally dozens of primo acts playing in competing timeslots, people had to pick and choose who they wanted to see and how long they wanted to stay. First Twiddle, Protoje, and Keys ‘n Krates battled for fans; then it was Yonder Mountain String Band, John Medeski’s Mad Skillet, and Con Brio who shared a time slot; the wealth of riches continued with Lettuce, Kyle Hollingsworth Band, and Organ Freeman playing at the same time; and finally SOJA, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, and Nikki Lane made fans make yet another tough decisions on where to spend their time.
After the action packed evening, headliners Umphrey’s McGee launched into their first main stage set of the weekend. The set featured the debut of “Triangle Tear,” a song off of the brand new album it’s you, sit-ins by Lettuce members Eric “Benny” Bloom and Ryan Zoidis on The Police’s “Canary in a Coalmine” and “Booth Love,” who were then joined by pedal-steel guitarist Mike Racky for a cover of Sturgill Simpson’s “Call to Arms” which ended the first set.
Between UM sets, Tipper filled the Moonshine amphitheater to the brim with fans anxiously awaiting the Englishman’s Journey set, which featured a one-off collaboration with visual artist Steven Haman, adding elusive three-dimensional visuals to the mix as Tipper moved from downtempo ambience to uptempo grooves as the set progressed. It’s safe to say Tipper had a successful Summer Camp debut, as he absolutely packed the house, delivered a fire set, and left half the festival in exuberant reflection and wanting more.
Umphrey’s McGee returned to the Sunshine Stage and played a string of classics. They opened with “Ocean Billy,” followed with a “Remind Me” > “Miss Tinkle’s Overture” > “Wappy Sprayberry” > “Remind Me” sandwich. Nigel Hall, of Lettuce, then joined Bayliss and company on keys for “Den.” After a brief pause, UM encored with another 2018 debut, “Half Delayed,” followed by another classic, “Partyin’ Peeps.”
The parade of talent was hardly over after the headliners exited the stage on Friday night. In fact, the party went long into the night, but once again fans had to make some tough decisions on whom to see. Slightly Stoopid, EOTO, and Zoogma all played at the same time, as did R.L. Grime, The Funk Hunters, The Rumpke Mountain Boys, and Marco Benevento; and while Break Science and Zomboy played outstanding electronic sets at the Vibe Tent, Pink Talking Fish performed in the Soulshine Tent, and Buffalo’s Aqueous played a wild two-hour, six-song set at the Campfire Stage, letting Scampers feast on their deep exploratory improvisation. The set also featured a “Cliffs of Dover” bustout, playing it for the first time in 300 plus shows, and the debut of Oysterhead’s “Pseudo Suicide.”
The VIP lineup for Friday was even more ridiculous than Thursday. The special sets kicked off early, with Kyle Hollingsworth and Joel Cummins pairing up for a keyboard soiree. Keller Williams, the busiest player on the scene, did another set for the lounge while the rest of the stacked schedule included shows by Horseshoes & Handgrenades, Spafford, and The Werks, plus late-night Red Barn sets by moe. and Twiddle.
Regardless of which adventure one chose to explore on Friday, there was ample fun and too much brilliant music for one person to take in, so you couldn’t go wrong. But before any of it got started, I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg Ormont, vocalist and guitarist from Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, to bring you a bird’s eye view of the festivities. Fresh off of two sold out 930 Club shows in Washington, D.C. and a headlining slot for the sold out Domefest, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong arrived at Summer Camp riding a high wave. Greg’s energy ahead of the Pigeons show was evident, as he was jubilant in describing Summer Camp, saying “this festival is awesome because a lot of our friends play here. So it’s a reunion for the artists—our buddies Aqueous are here, I just saw the Main Squeeze last night—it’s nice to be around the water cooler with all the homies again and the crowd out here is wild. It’s a rowdy group of people who love music.” After Friday, I could not agree more.
Before the music got started on Saturday, I spoke with Rob Hauk, Dave Loss, and Evan McPhaden of Aqueous, who, having just played a dynamic late-night set a few hours earlier, echoed Scrambled Greg’s sentiments. It’s so refreshing to know that these brilliant musicians can appreciate a festival for the same reasons that so many of the fans do—of course, the music—but, as guitarist Dave Loss said of Summer Camp, “It’s like a homecoming. A lot of our friends are here and it’s always fun to play in the Midwest.” Drummer Rob Hauk added, “The fans out here like our edge.” It’s this humble vibe, paired with outsized talent, which makes the whole Summer Camp experience one to savor for fans and artists alike.
Like Friday, Saturday offered a full slate of insanely juxtaposed sets from so many strangely complementary artists. The Moonshine and Sunshine Stages hosted wildly diverse rosters of music all day long. Spafford, the rapidly ascending jamsters from Arizona, started the day’s proceedings on the Sunshine stage with a hot set. They were followed in the heat by the veteran Colorado jamgrass outfit Leftover Salmon, who kept it cool jamming on classics and fresh cuts from their new album Something Higher. Just to keep it interesting, organizers followed that up with Action Bronson’s set of hardcore, humorous rap. STS9 hit the Sunshine Stage next and sounded out a seriously sexy show replete with liquid grooves, tight rhythms, and danceable jams. Despite the heat, STS9 had the crowd dialed into the party throughout their show. While there were still the familiar rumblings of jaded Tribe fans hankering for the old days following the show, the band at present is at the height of their powers and continuing to progress as a unit.
Headliners Umphrey’s McGee finished out the night on the Sunshine Stage again on Saturday. The first set included classics like “Plunger,” “Glory,” “2×2,” and “Hurt Bird Bath,” plus the always bouncing Snoop Dogg track “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None),” with percussionist Andy Farag on vocals. The sextet returned with a “Mulche’s Odyssey” > “It Doesn’t Matter” > “Mulche’s Odyssey” combo that led into the live debut of “Seasons,” another cut from it’s you. Other second set highlights included a smooth cover of Prince’s “1999” and solid takes on “Dump City” and “August.” A “Jajunk” encore concluded an eventful day at the Sunshine Stage.
The Moonshine Stage also featured crazy variety on Saturday. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to catch Mike Dillon in one of his various projects, it will come as no surprise that the Punk Rock Percussion Consortium he led at Summer Camp was the most unique show of the whole weekend. Being a percussionist extraordinaire, it only makes sense that Dillon brought the drum circle, a music festival campground staple, to the main stage. Featuring a number of special guests, the drum circle included about a dozen musicians simultaneously playing various percussion instruments on Mike Dillon’s original compositions. Indie-rockers Guster followed the Percussion Consortium, and vocalist Ryan Miller summed up the whole Scamp vibe, saying, “Thank you to the curators of this fucked-up, weird festival.”
The weirdness was in full effect as classic hip-hop foursome Cypress Hill took over the Moonshine Stage for their much anticipated set. The crowd was into the hits “Insane in the Brain” and “Dr. Greenthumb,” but there was also a deluge of in-and-out traffic for the show, as a number of the attendees only showed for a song or two just to say that they had seen Cypress Hill.
The crowd could not have been more different for moe.’s first set on Saturday. The amphitheater was packed with moe. fans who were delighted to be there and weren’t going any further than the next dance step took them. There was bliss in the air as the band opened with “Billy Goat,” featuring bassist Rob Derhak’s signature vocals and basslines. Ain’t nobody live forever, indeed, but everyone in attendance was grateful and ecstatic for Rob’s Summer Camp return. The first set also saw the band do fan favorites “Kids” and an adventurous version of “Rebubula.” The quintet came out blazing in the second set, covering Pink Floyd’s “Time” and “Breathe” before starting a saucy “Plane Crash,” which transitioned into a “Buster” > “Silver Sun” jam. To cap it off, the rockers encored with the end of “Plane Crash” before finishing with the debut of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”
The Saturday late-night lineup was up to snuff as well, with The Werks crushing the long jams all night, with beaming versions of “OG,” “Headin’ South,” and “Going Round,” plus a tasty “Hard to Find” > “Lights Out” > “Hard to Find” sandwich. Meanwhile, Z-Trip and Liquid Stranger kept the Vibe Tent packed with people until the end of the night. Sun Stereo also pulled off one of the coolest tribute sets of the weekend with their Sun Stereo Battles the Pink Robots set, during which they played songs from The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Once again the late-night VIP shows were stellar on Saturday, with Aqueous, STS9, and Keys n’ Krates all taking the stage.
Sunday’s schedule had absolutely no slack in it either: all of the headliners played, a handful of festival mainstays joined the fray, and a wealth of up-and-comers took to the stage. Longstanding, influential rockers Los Lobos played a crowded show under the scorching sun to start the final day on the Moonshine Stage, proving that they can still work their magic after all these years. Victor Wooten also made the most of his time at Summer Camp, playing three sets on Sunday. The Victor Wooten Trio set on the Moonshine Stage, featuring drummer Dennis Chambers and saxophonist Bob Franceschini, treated fans to some of the most fun and savvy musicianship of the weekend. J.J. Grey and Mofro added a set of bluesy originals and poignant covers, including John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind” and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Tycho dropped in for a set of ambient electronica played before a large crowd at the Moonshine Stage.
Fittingly, moe.’s two Sunday sets closed out the Moonshine Stage in style. They opened the first set with the rocker “Seat of My Pants,” went back to the Led Zeppelin catalogue for a cover of “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do,” and finished the first set with a flourish, pairing “Lazarus” and “Moth.” Moe. returned with purpose, letting drummer Vinnie Amico lead the band into “Brent Black” which was followed by two gems, “Bullet” and “Kyle’s Song,” that had all the moe.rons singing along. “Four” > “Brent Black (Reprise)” concluded the set, but moe. was not about to stop there, as they encored with tasty takes on “New York City” and “Wind It Up,” putting the final touches on a heady weekend of music.
The Sunshine Stage was stacked with headliners all day Sunday. Umphrey’s McGee played their final set of the weekend, a concise show that saw two more it’s you debuts, “Xmas at Wartime” and “Push & Pull,” a funky “Mail Package,” plus a multi-layered chain-jam featuring “Bridgeless,” “Great American,” “Tribute to the Spinal Shaft,” “Whistle Kids,” and a cover of Toto’s “Africa.” (Weezer fans eat your heart out!)
Sunday was the hottest day of the festival, with temperatures climbing toward 100 degrees, but Greensky Bluegrass was able to match the heat with a sweltering late afternoon set of bluegrass, priming the massive crowd for the Phil Lesh shows that were to follow on the Sunshine Stage.
Phil Lesh is one of the original beacons from which music festivals draw inspiration and he has played at nearly every major festival and venue in America, so it was a great pleasure to witness his Summer Camp debut. He brought with him the Terrapin Family Band and a friend by the name of Eric Krasno, but there were many more surprises in store. Phil opened with a pair of classics, “Alligator” and “Brown-Eyed Women” before bringing Anders Beck from Greensky Bluegrass up to play on “Cassidy.” Next, Phil picked another one from the Pigpen-era songbook, playing a scorching “Mr. Charlie.” He then invited moe. guitarist Al Schnier to the stage to help with “Jack Straw” and Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” The first set closed with “Dancing in the Streets,” which had everybody moving in sync and ready for more Dead jams. When the band emerged for the second set, Al Schnier was once again on stage, playing lead on a sizzling “Shakedown Street.” Crowd favorites “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider” followed, but Phil was pulling no punches on Sunday and unleashed a beautiful “St. Stephen” > “Terrapin Station” combo, only to venture into a raucous “Viola Lee Blues” that drifted into a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In the Free World” which ended the second set. In typical fashion, Phil returned with a donor rap honoring Cody, his liver donor, before encoring with Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” accompanied by JJ Grey and the Mofro horn section.
The headliners were the highlight on Sunday, but the schedule was packed all day. Diplo played the final Moonshine Stage show, packing it one last time, and dropping the set of the weekend for a lot of Scampers. A number of bands growing in popularity, such as Backup Planet, Future Rock, Kung Fu, Mungion and Sun Stereo also performed throughout the day, plus the VIP stages hosted even more unique performances, including shows by Tyler Childers, Mike Dillon, Liquid Stranger, Tauk, Victor Wooten, and a special show by Everyone Orchestra. The Everyone Orchestra featured an All-Star lineup, with members of Umphrey’s McGee, moe., The Terrapin Family Band, Roosevelt Collier, Mike Dillon, and more, and was played in celebration of the Make-a-Difference Village—the extensive outreach program hosted by Summer Camp Music Festival that benefits a plethora of nonprofit organizations and good causes over the weekend.
While there were plenty of heartwarming moments at Summer Camp, one of the most heartening experiences was speaking with Aaron Ghitelman of HeadCount, an organization founded by the Disco Biscuits’ Mark Brownstein that registers voters. HeadCount is now in its fourteenth year of existence and continues to grow throughout the music scene and beyond, with a presence at more than 1,000 events per year. Not only are HeadCount volunteers handing out Bobo’s Oat Bars for music fans who register to vote at events like Summer Camp all across the United States, they are gaining significant support from the artists themselves. In speaking with Ghitelman, he said, “Al Schnier was one of the first artists after Brownie to get involved, which led to Bob Weir’s involvement.” Artist engagement with HeadCount is on the rise, too. David Byrne, Dead and Co., Jack Johnson, Lake Street Dive, Dave Matthews, and Phish have all played a role in supporting HeadCount. Look for HeadCount at Participation Row on Dead and Co. tour, at Lockn’ Music Festival, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn Steel, the Capitol Theater, SPAC, and many other venues this summer.
That’s a wrap on Summer Camp 2018! In a phrase, it was fireworks, calliopes, and clowns. The music never stops, so we will see you next year, Scampers, until then check out our coverage of all the summer’s hottest concerts in New York and beyond.
In Big Flats, New York, there isn’t necessarily a lot to see, but it has the Tag’s Budweiser Summer Stage bringing in people from all over central New York. On June 2, the stage was packed with fans of Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly with both bands stopping there on their summer 2018 co-headlining US tour.
Dropkick Murphys performing during encore at Tag’s Budweiser Summer Stage. Photo by Nora Hones.
Flogging Molly performed first with the Dropkick Murphys following, but nothing about the line-up made it feel like the two bands weren’t equals. During both of their sets, they were constantly boosting each other up and dedicating songs to each other. The set-up of Tag’s Budweiser Summer Stage aided to this sense of equal partnership. The merch was equal, the stage set ups were equal, the excitement from the the crowd was equal.
Flogging Molly pulled out an array of classics including, “Devil’s Dance Floor,” “If I Ever Leave This World Alive”, and “What’s Left Of The Flag,” but also included new music in their performance that the crowd really seemed to enjoy. Dropkick Murphys also played many fan favorites like “Rose Tattoo”, “I’m Shipping Up To Boston”, and “The Boys Are Back” which the crowd went wild for, and did a multi-song encore, even bringing out some of the members of Flogging Molly on stage with them and pulling up members from the crowd.
For a pile of punk rockers, the crowd was as pleasant and polite as can be and so were the bands. It was all smiles, laughs and mosh pits. Ken Casey, who is usually the bass guitarist (he wasn’t playing bass during the show due to his recent back surgery, just singing) and co-lead singer and songwriter of Dropkick Murphys, explained to the the crowd the rules of mosh pitting at his shows. Right in front of the stage, it’s an anything-goes, mosh-pit-frenzy, where you can get a sneaker to the face and that’s totally acceptable, but if he sees anyone going too crazy in the outer areas of the crowd, like where there were kids, he made sure that the crowd knew, to use his language, that anyone who starts something where they shouldn’t be has the right to have the shit kicked out of them.
It was one of the politest crowds and band combinations I’ve seen at a show like this and would be something I would definitely look to attend again. Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly continue their 2018 summer tour throughout June and show dates can be found below.
Show dates:
June 5 – Masonic Temple Theatre – DETROIT, MI
June 7 – PMC Amphitheater -KANSAS CITY/BONNER SPRINGS, KS
June 8 – The Armory – MINNEAPOLIS, MN
June 9 – Stir Cove – COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA
June 10 – Fox Street Compound – DENVER, CO
June 12 – Pop’s Outside – ST LOUIS/SAUGET, IL
June 13 – Express Live! – COLUMBUS, OH
June 16 – RI Bold Point Park – PROVIDENCE, RI
June 17 – Stone Pony Summerstage – ASBURY PARK, NJ
June 18 – Stage AE – PITTSBURGH, PA
June 19 – Red Hat Amphitheatre – RALEIGH, NC
June 21 – Festival Pier – PHILADELPHIA, PA
June 22 – Forest Hills Stadium – QUEENS, NY
June 23 – Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion featuring Professional Boxing – GILFORD, NH
Before JJ Grey was ever seen on stage, the sound of his harmonica came humming across the PA. The man himself soon followed as he sauntered out in a slick black suit. The harp echoed throughout Funk ‘n Waffles Music Hall in Rochester. As the evening progressed, he shed the harmonica to rock out some guitar. Then lap steel, tambourine and keys followed. The instrument that was ever present was his soulful Southern croon belting out his dirty funky blues with swampy Florida roots.
Despite the prowess across many instruments, Grey is not a one man band, of course. Mofro, all in nearly matching black suits, were there every step of the way. Their attire, it should be stated, was not apropos of the evening – a hot and muggy one – even for a band from Florida. Grey even switched up the lyrics in “Every Minute,” singing “so good to be hot… in this club.” The bass, guitar, keys and drums slugged out the blues and funk while a two-trumpet back line brought some bright New Orleans flavor to the mix. Each member brought their own character to the sound and each was featured multiple times throughout.
Through his lyrics and his inter-song bantering, Grey brought to light some of his life philosophies. It’s clear he’s never been happier. He may have been an idiot before, but as he continues to improve, “next year he’ll be an idiot this year,” he says. At times, he sounded like a preacher, doling out the gospel of Mofro. “Lord I’ve changed!” “Glory Hallelujah!” Still at others, he was pining for his grandmother’s cornbread.
The rabid crowd, almost entirely decked out in Mofro attire, were not just around to be entertained, but to get involved. Most of the songs turned into singalongs. Grey using that to his advantage, managing mic-in-the-crowd choruses on “A Woman” and “Brighter Days.” None was more moving than the encore of “Hey Jude.” The show closed with the crowd heartily singing the finish to the quintessential Beatles classic. If every day ended with a communal singing of “Hey Jude,” the world would certainly be a better place, and JJ Grey would be an even happier man.
Freddy and Francine, a trio out of Nashville, opened the night with some quieter, but no less soulful tunes. It tested the exuberant crowd, but their gorgeous and powerful three-part harmonies won them over and played as a perfect setup for JJ Grey and Mofro.
Setlist: How Junior Got His Head Put Out, A Woman, Every Minute, Brighter Days, Country Ghetto, Hide and Seek, ?, Seminole Wind (John Anderson), Lochloosa, Orange Blossoms, Lazy Fo Acre, Ho Cake, The Sun is Shining Down
E: Hey Jude
The Top Dawg Entertainment Championship Tour touched down at the Northwell Health outdoor amphitheater Theater at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York on May 30 and gave the audience every bang for their buck. The tour consists of Kendrick Lamar, SZA, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SiR and Lance Skiiiwalker. SZA is currently still out due to her vocal cords being damaged but the rest blew the crowd away in her absence in a one of a kind show.
Kendrick Lamar – photo by Nora Hones
When arriving at the event, the parking lot was packed with people from every age range which would be an unexpected gem when going to a rap concert but that’s what you get when you have a headliner like Kendrick Lamar– it’s more than understandable. With his recent win of the Pulitzer Prize he has shown his worth to all generations. The set opened up with Lance Skiiwalker who performed only one song and then moved on to Ab-Soul who performed three songs.Than SiR entered the stage. SiR wasn’t an artist I had previously known but he’s not someone I’m going to forget after seeing him perform. During his set he had to deal with technical difficulties where there was no sound and then where only his vocals and none of the backing tracks or live accompanying band came through the speakers but he handled it like a champ and ended up performing through it anyways.
Next came Jay Rock who put on a show performing,“King’s Dead” off of Black Panther: The Album, which was one of the first singles off the record that was released, to the crowds excitement. Even though the song features Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Jay Rock on the studio version the fact that only one of the three was on stage was barely noticeable because of the amount of energy and devotion Jay Rock was putting into the song. Next ScHoolboy Q came out on stage to perform his set list and this is when the audience really started to get excited screaming along to their favorite songs including “Collard Greens” which cut short just before Kendrick Lamar’s verses leaving the the audience hungry for Kendrick Lamar to appear.
Than after all the waiting and anticipation the king finally made his appearance standing on a stage half way above the stage and opened with his hit song, “DNA” with the background behind him reading “Pulitzer Kenny.” He proceeded to perform an array of songs from his albums, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, To Pimp a Butterfly, Untitled Unmastered, DAMN and Black Panther: The Album. To the crowds delight and my own he performed quite a few songs Good Kid, M.A.A.D City which was a welcomed and exciting surprise. He said that he just felt like playing songs of his old stuff to the crowd which everyone was more than happy with screaming along to every word.
He continued to wow the crowd performing, “X” which features ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz & Saudi in the studio recording with ScHoolboy Q live and “Money Trees” with Jay Rock and performed, “King’s Dead” for a second time which the crowd wasn’t expecting in the slightest and from the look of Jay Rock’s face when Kendrick Said something along the lines of, “Let’s do King’s Dead again” he wasn’t either. The show ended on Kendrick telling the crowd he hadn’t been to Jones Beach since 2011 and he wanted to kick it up a notch and performed his hit song, “Humble” twice. Once with barely any music and with the crowd just singing the entire song and then once with the full music and Lamar accompaniment. To quote the guy behind me talking to his friend about what he was going to do after the show saying, “I guess I’m gonna cry myself to sleep tonight, idk man” sums up the show experience, unbelievable and sad that it’s over.
