Evanescence and Lindsey Stirling shared the headline at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 28th, cutting through the humid and steamy night with ethereal vocals and punchy, athletic dancing.
Juxtaposed with the ballet at SPAC the previous week, and the Philadelphia Orchestra which is scheduled to open Wednesday at the venue, both Amy Lee and Lindsey Stirling hosted local musicians on stage to fill a full orchestra. Complete with graceful professional dancers, a LED screen with coordinating visuals, and well-timed light shows, both artists offered thoroughly enjoyable and unique performances.
Amy Lee took the stage promptly at 8, and Evanescence opened with “Overture,” which served both to check and tune the instruments as much as to tune the audience into the heavier orchestrated sound. Lee’s vocals were on pitch as she moved between piano and the microphone on “Never Go Back” and “Lacrymosa.”
Singing some incredibly sad songs, Lee spoke optimistically to her fans. She voiced gratitude to the musicians on stage with her, and would later remind audience members to be present and “enjoy the music tonight.” Her just be here now message brought a roar of approval from fans, many of whom have followed Lee for 20 years.
A highlight of the evening was Evanescence’s cover of the Beatles tune “Across the Universe.” Lee was backlit with images from nature as she sweetly sang the lyrics “Nothings gonna change my world.” While better known for heavier sounds contrasted with her voice, Lee’s vocals on this cover shifted the mood during her longer set of seventeen older tunes. “Hi-Lo” followed, with Stirling dancing on stage at the end with her fiddle.
Lee’s rendition of their famous song “My Immortal,” while still beautifully performed, lacked the usual punch from the bass and orchestration typically associated with the piece. There were a number of moments that the balance seemed a bit off, perhaps due to having different musicians each night in the orchestra, or simply a sound issue? Either way, Evanescence’s performance was still a treat.
Evanescence ended the set, bowing with bringing their children on stage to wave at fans and enjoy the applause. There was a moment of recognition that Evanescence has traveled a long way as a group, not just this summer, but over the past 20 years, to bring this experience to us. Their coordination with local musicians on songs, old and newer, and ease of performance reflect their experience and wealth of confidence.
After a brief stage change, Lindsey Stirling’s set began with a video of her quoting Teddy Roosevelt’s famous words from “The Man in the Arena.” She seemed set immediately to disprove judges from America’s Got Talent, who previously reflected Stirling’s talent, while interesting, wasn’t “enough” for her to hold an audience and fill a show. She entered in costume, kicking and dancing with her fiddle on her arm, as she performed her piece “The Arena.”
Stirling is a dancer and a performer, and each song demonstrated that while her violin playing might not be up to par for a classically trained orchestra, her fiddling while dancing can entrance young and old alike. Her costume changes, use of set, and even role-playing as she danced with the other performers told stories and held the audience’s attention in her unique presentation. She battled ghosts using her feet and bow in dance, she “flew” above the crowd on a rising platform, and she danced with wood nymphs as she rescued them from magic.
Stirling took a few long breaks to talk to the crowd, including one during which she showed her fifteen-year-old self-dancing with her high school friends to an Evanescence song. She expressed high regard for Amy Lee and spoke to young fans about being willing to chase dreams. “I was not good enough at anything,” Stirling said, “but I was willing to work enough.”
And she worked the crowd beautifully, inspiring the young faces who looked upon her graceful and playful dancing with dreamy eyes and pursed lips, perhaps imagining their own dreams coming to life.
Amy Lee joined Stirling, singing vocals on “Shatter Me.” Stirling kept the energy and imagination moving through her set of fourteen pieces, ending with a dramatic “Phantom of the Opera” encore for her fans.
Stirling offered a unique performance, one you couldn’t get from listening to her CD. She captivated the crowd with motion, and while her fiddling was only mediocre, her spirit soared with her feet as she chased her dream around the stage.
Not quite the ballet, and not quite the orchestra, both Evanescence and Stirling demonstrated similar components (orchestra, dance) used to entertain Saratoga Springs. And while not classically executed, both performances were unique in offering their authentic voices to the mix of what SPAC brings each summer and, like their classical counterparts, brought great joy to their fans.
Warped Tour made its last stop at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 25. Despite the heat and humidity, fans came out in droves from all over Central and Western New York for one last Warped Tour experience.
Ice Nine Kills
NYS Music Photographer Meredith Snow and I started the day off catching Warped alums Ice Nine Kills. Even in 79 degree heat, the horror-core band from Boston played the entire set dressed as horror movie icons like Freddy and Jason, with full costume and makeup. The highlight of the set was hearing their new song “The American Nightmare,” from their upcoming album The Silver Scream.
Ice Nine Kills
The next stage over featured As It Is. The British band doesn’t make it stateside often. I first heard band leader Patty Walters when he was a teenager doing solo cover songs on YouTube. Now he’s backed by a full band and performing original songs. Gone is the wholesome “boy next door” persona. In its place is an edgier look and sound. After singing “Hey Rachel,” from last year’s debut album, Walters introduced the band as My Chemical Romance and welcomed everyone to 2005 Warped Tour. They launched into a couple new songs, “The Stigma” and “The Wounded World,” off their new album The Great Depression which comes out in a couple weeks.
As It Is
It’s impossible to catch everything at a festival with eight stages, and sometimes we just caught snippets as we raced from stage to stage. We saw the tail end of Tonight Alive’s set, as front woman Jenna McDougall told us in her Australian accent, “You have the right to lose your minds,” before launching into one of their new songs. I took a much needed break from the heat at the Reverse Daycare tent while my photographer snapped a few pics of Buffalo’s Every Time I Die.
Every Time I Die
Then we were off to see The Maine. A whooshing sound filled the air as they filed on stage in their signature matching outfits. They started with a cover of Blur’s “Song 2” which got the crowd singing along. The rest of their set was all originals from their eleven years as a band. On “Girls Do What They Want,” they called a random audience member up on stage to help sing the song. This guy Brian came up in his tank top and shorts and made the most of his five minutes of fame, nailing the lyrics and vocals.
The Maine
It wouldn’t be Warped Tour without ska bands. Reel Big Fish was crushing it on the main stage with their signature sound and antics, and the sun had dried out the muddy ground enough to make it possible for fans to dance in the fields. Over on the Korner Stage which featured regional acts, Buffalo band The Toy Box Brigade was putting on a fantastic performance. Their set included a ska rendition of The Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch.”
One of the bands on my must-see list is Las Vegas’ Palaye Royale. These darlings of the Vegas art rock scene are originally from Toronto. The three brothers named the band after the dance hall where their grandparents met. Their last album payed homage to the bands who played The Boom Boom Room and they are set to release a Part B soon. They played the song they just released this week called “You’ll Be Fine” as well as a gritty cover of My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers.” The high-energy set included singer Remington Leith climbing up to hang upside down from the stage rafters during the song “Get Higher” and crowd surfing on a coffin-shaped raft.
Palaye Royale
Asking Alexandria was a band I’d never seen before, but the consensus from the faithful fans around me was that this was not their best performance. We then headed over to catch Simple Plan’s set. It was late afternoon and attendance had peaked; I could barely see the stage as the audience sprawled around behind tents and trailers. Despite the poor visibility, the sound was cranked to full volume and people young and old were singing along to hits like “Addicted.”
Asking Alexandria
I popped back over to catch some more locals. On The Cinder made their return for a second year at the Korner Stage. The three-piece punk rock outfit drew a lively crowd which danced and moshed throughout the entire set. Some locals were on the Full Sail Stage, too. Lucky33 from Syracuse was upgraded to the larger stage for the day. They put on an energetic set that included a version of CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising.” Between songs, bass player Red talked about attending his first Warped Tour in ’96 and being inspired to start playing music himself.
Following Lucky33 was Rochester’s Kaiser Solzie. Rochester native James Jackson has been performing under the moniker Kaiser Solzie for years, and has recently built a full band. Jackson was the driving force behind the creation of the local Korner Stage last year. And all local band members and their fans had migrated to Full Sail to rock out to Kaiser Solzie’s set. Donning his pink guitar, Jackson belted out song after song, from one about actor Bill Murray to “Punk Pop Hip Hop” and “Ordinary Average Day,” the songs paired a raw punk energy with catchy feel-good messages.
Kaiser Solzie
On the way to see 3OH!3, I ran across With Confidence. The Australian pop punk band was finishing their set with hits from their last album, “Voldemort” and “Keeper.” They signed off with a promise to return to the states by the end of the year. Over the hill, 3OH!3 was in full swing. The massive dance party spilled out from under the amphitheater tent and into the expansive lawn. For their grand finale, they brought the members of Simple Plan onto stage to join in on their hit song “Don’t Trust Me.”
We ended the day at the amphitheater tent with a performance by Waterparks, a Texas trio who are more on the pop side of the pop/punk spectrum. When I saw them at Warped Tour a couple years ago, they were playing songs from their EP Cluster. They’ve since released two full-length albums.Their set list included songs from both, including the acoustic “Lucky People.” They ended with the the catchy little love song “Stupid For You.”
Waterparks
Photographer Meredith Snow caught a few sets that I didn’t, including Motionless In White, Digital Afterlife, Doll Skin, Great American Ghost, Of Night and Light, Pros & Icons, and Every Time I Die. See the full photo gallery below for these pics and more.
All in all it was a memorable day, although tinged with sadness about the end of the Warped Tour era. Throughout the day, I spent time with friends from as far flung as Syracuse and Buffalo. I saw people I met at Warped Tour in previous years,and I met some new people. We swapped stories while making new memories. This touring festival successfully brought together some of the greatest alternative musicians from around the world and made them accessible to millions. But it also brought people together and built communal experiences that defined an entire generation.
One of the acts playing the entire run of Warped Tour this year was Rochester’s Kaiser Solzie. At the heart of this band is James Jackson, who took on the moniker Kaiser Solzie when he was a solo performer. He has since been joined by Lenny Palmieri on drums, Brian Lorenzo on guitar, and Jamie McMann on bass. NYS Music caught up with the band’s frontman at the Western NY Warped Tour date to talk about his music and involvement with Warped Tour over the years.
PHOTO BY RUBY STETTNER – James Jackson (second from right) recently rounded out his band, Kaiser Solzie, with (from left to right) Lenny Palmieri, Brian Lorenzo, and Jamie McMann.
Paula Cummings: How does this Warped Tour differ from your first time going?
Kaiser Solzie: We get to play. And I get to bring a lot of friends along, which is awesome. And I’m sober on this tour. I’m learning a lot, meeting a lot of new people. It’s been a full circle for me.
PC: How long have you been involved with Warped Tour?
KS: 2001 was my first. I was supposed to work with Phoenix TX and that fell through. I just went anyways. I ended up meeting Kevin and a bunch of the bands like Pennywise and Newfound Glory. Lots of people were like “Oh, there’s this kid on the greyhound bus just traveling around helping us out when he could.”
PC: You’ve come a long way. This is the second year organizing the local Korner stage?
KS: It just felt like the local scenes need to come together a bit more and Warped Tour was a good platform to teach that. I could have been like, “Oh, I’ll just pick a couple bands and get them on Warped Tour,” but I was like, “No, we gotta do a little bit more, show community and how we roll.” That’s been pretty cool. We have a lot of rad bands this year. Last year we had a lot of rad bands. And they built the stage. They worked together as a community and a scene, which you don’t see a lot of in other cities, you know.
PC: You have a song “Punk Pop Hip Hop” that speaks to bringing scenes together.
KS: We do. We wrote it in Washington Square Park. It was about playing music with everybody else no matter which genre you are. Just everything coming together. I try to bring that out here. We’re going to be playing that today. We’re going to be getting a bunch of people on stage. On the tour we’ve had the rapper Kosha Dillz come up and do a verse, which has been really rad. Other times we’ve had our friend Josh Kramer do a bunch of stuff. It’s been a really exciting experience.
PC: What’s next after Warped Tour?
KS: We’re going home. The rest of my band is going to rest. I’m scheming all these other different things. We’ve got a couple tour offers we’re working on. And we were only able to record seven songs for this record. We were rushed to get everything done. So we’re going to record another record when we get back.
PC: Want to put in a plug for the latest album?
KS: The new record is called Back Again. It’s an awesome record. It’s got “Bill Murray” on it. It’s got a song called “ADHD.” Lots of gnarly songs. It’s an up and down record, not just a punk rock record.
Gabriel Sanchez started The Prince Experience as a small local theatre production of Purple Rain which has expanded into a night of unbelievable entertainment. Costumes and choreographed dances really had the Troy waterfront rocking and dancing July 18, playing all of Princes hits into the night. Sanchez along with musicians from Wisconsin and Chicago bring the music of Prince to a new tribute band standard.
Adrian Lewis performing as The Age, opened the night. He plays around the Capital region and Downtown Troy, performing his Neo-soul mix of music. The crowd enjoyed his soulful singing and hot electric guitar with a great band. The Age is releasing a new EP with his Neo-sou; sound with a Jazzy feel.
I’ll be the first to admit that it took me a few listens to understand Hearts as Vessels, but I’m curious to hear more from its curator, Jeremy Discenza of Chittenango, New York. The new EP went live 28 April, 2018. First impression is that Discenza is formidable as a musician — he single handedly performed all instruments and vocal parts. Between interlocked, glassy guitar lines, 80’s horror movie soundtrack synths, and escalations to some heavy metal, we end up with a lot to think about. The music takes flight off the strength of influences characteristic of multiple genres, but most notably present is alternative rock. Fans of Stellar Young, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and La Dispute will likely appreciate many aspects of this melodic work.
While this EP is a generally strong debut, its vocal production leaves room for improvement. This is not to say that Discenza can’t sing — he obviously is competent — but his potential certainly is not realized in this iteration. Track 1, “Burning Up the Night,” features a soaring, sing-along-able chorus, but it’s verse melodies would welcome a second opinion. Needless to say, Discenza stays introspective and nails down meaningful and conceptual lyrics in all songs.
Hearts As Vessels has a lot of other great things going for it: track 3, “Destroyer of Worlds” includes twisting verse melodies and a driving chorus while remaining catchy and chaotic. “Destined to walk this Earth, created to watch it burn, is this all I am?” Discenza asks. This track stands out as the highlight. Additionally, the track listing on the album ushers the listener through a journey. The EP finishes off with “Goodnight and Goodbye Forever” whose guitar parts tie the album together thematically. In general, Hearts as Vessels does a standup job experimenting with multiple musical genres while keeping my ears tuned in — this is difficult for any musician to do and should be commended. If this is just the first release, I’m curious to see what other music Jeremy Discenza comes out with and how his abilities grow over time. In the meantime, I definitely give Discenza credit where credit is due.
Hearts As Vessels is available for streaming on major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and BandCamp.
Key Tracks: Goodnight and Goodbye Forever, Destroyer of Worlds
The Arctic Monkeys returned to Upstate NY for the second time in their touring history fresh off of their four year hiatus, making a rare appearance at CMAC on July 25, 2018.
Fans from all over NY gathered for this special occasion, weathering heavy downpours of rain. Some stating that they’d never thought they would have the opportunity to see them in their area.
The band’s near 90 minute set had fans young and old cheering and dancing in their seats, reveling in the fact that their favorite band had finally came back to perform for them. It was clear to see that the Arctic Monkeys did their job and left the masses satisfied.
Arctic Monkeys – CMAC Performing Arts Center – Canandaigua, NY – Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Setlist: Four Out of Five, Brianstorm, Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair, Crying Lightning, Teddy Picker, 505, The Ultracheese, Do Me a Favour, Cornerstone, Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?, Knee Socks, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, One Point Perspective, Do I Wanna Know?, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Pretty Visitors, Arabella
Encore: Star Treatment, The View From the Afternoon, R U Mine?
The special Sunday welcoming of Vans Warped Tour to Hartford, CT’s Xfinity Theatre was a long, hot day of nostalgia and nearly-controlled chaos. As temperatures rose into the eighties, attendees piled in around 11am in massive numbers, sectioning off sides of the neighboring overpass and crowding the front entrance gate. Upon entry, a cloud of dust and an array of color greeted each guest on the festival grounds. Brightly printed advertisements and booths lined the front pathway, and attendees showed off tattoos and spiked their hair in anticipation of Warped Tour’s last official year in operation.
The lineup for the summer represented several decades and genres, from the adored 2000’s rock band Bowling For Soup to the driving force of Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction, taking up the 2010’s and beyond by storm. After scanning over the printed artist schedule for the day (decided day-of in true Warped Tour tradition), the Buffalo natives of Every Time I Die came onto the Monster-sponsored Mutant White Lightning Stage. They opened with the abrasive “Decayin With the Boys” from the 2014 album From Parts Unknown, and followed with songs from their 2016 album Low Teens, driving a powerful pulse behind their performance of “Glitches” and “Map Change”. It wasn’t long before guitarist Jordan Buckley made his way into the crowd to meet the mosh pit that formed in the center.
With some built up anxiety to have the best final Warped Tour experience, the day of music hosted several extreme disappointments. From not enough parking to generally poor attitudes from festival staff members, the large amphitheatre setting of Xfinity was surely not fit for this kind of endeavor. Many of the bands people were excited to see on tour also weren’t included on the Hartford bill, including Warped Tour success stories All Time Low, English rock band Asking Alexandria, tour veterans August Burns Red, and the popular ska band Less Than Jake. To make matters worse, venue security guards barricaded the aisles of the main theatre as the crowd size expanded, pushing back anyone who tried to walk up to the front pit area, even when there was plenty of room. Beyond the safety concern of being trapped on both sides by a massive crowd, photographers could not get a proper glimpse of artists that played the Main Stage without being aggressively escorted out of the area. Many fans took to Facebook after Warped Tour posted that the pit had been at capacity for the entire day. With upwards of 20,000 people attending the festival, it’s no surprise that these areas filled quickly, and with better preparation from the venue, crowd control could’ve been handled in a safer and more professional fashion.
After a few snafus and some set times cut short, some great performances served as a saving grace throughout the afternoon hours of the fest. The Boulder-based electronic duo 3OH!3 played the Main Stage at 2:55pm, where a nearly-filled theatre was waiting for them. After bringing us back to 2008 with their charting single “DONTTRUSTME”, the dance duo welcomed Travis from We The Kings to join their performance of the 2008 pop dance track, “STARSTRUKK”. 3OH!3 couldn’t get Katy Perry or Kesha to join them on set for their collaborations, but the earworm melodies and dance beats came back to everyone nonetheless.
After a raging set from Falling in Reverse, including their reckless anthem “Just Like You”, Bowling For Soup set up on the left side stage to pick up on the energy left brewing in the audience. Along with their chipper charm and catchy songs, BFS was the most honest while bantering in between songs, with singer Jaret Reddick admitting the band as “a bunch of 40 year olds singing about high school”. In addition to getting a laugh from the audience, this truth could be another reason Warped Tour just couldn’t survive in the same fashion. While the millennial generation jumped around to the 2004 smash hits “1985” and “Ohio”, many of the younger concert attendees seemed to lose interest and move elsewhere, a true testament to the cultural and musical shift of rock music. For those present for the remainder of Bowling For Soup’s set, a surprise visit from Simple Plan singer Pierre Bouvier kicked the crowd’s energy into high gear to close out their set, reminding the audience of the festival’s glory years, back when we thought “High School Never Ends.”
As set times came and went, life outside the stages remained lively, with an array of food and drink choices, a hydration station, and vendor pop up shops. Tucked in the back of the bustling festival city was the owly.fm stage, which booked some of the biggest surprise bands of the festival – Warped Tour newcomers. Earlier in the day, young girls fled to this stage for Story Untold, a five piece pop punk band from Montreal. In addition to some really catchy originals in their set, they made a creative mashup of multiple legends that make up the Warped Tour family, including hits from Green Day, Linkin Park, Boys Like Girls, and more. Later in the evening, the owly.fm stage brought an unapologetic entrance from British punk sensation Dominic Harrison, under the stage name YUNGBLUD. Known for his high intensity and rebellious lyrics at only 19 years old, he and his backing band took control of the surrounding crowd, encouraging everyone to sing along and move. First gaining notoriety for his musical contribution to the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why, YUNGBLUD has since released a debut album with rebellious rock mixed in with hip hop, punk, and whatever else inspires him at the time.
YUNGBLUD’s incredible stage charisma was only outshined by his music, with the British punk-influenced “Tin Pan Boy”, and the outcast anthem “My Medication.” Like many organizations and artists on the Warped Tour stage, there was no fear in talking about complex issues. As YUNGBLUD shared on his experiences through music, there were a few speeches from other artists, encouraging people to reach out and ask for help when times get tough. It was interesting to see other rockstars throughout the day scream out a grindcore thrasher about hatred, then opening up about sensitive and personal experiences shortly after, but it was still refreshing to see a positive message get across to so many people.
After a brisk walk to the Main Stage area after being blown away by YUNGBLUD, We the Kings set up on their half of the Main Journey’s stage, and the audience count (and difficulty entering the theatre) doubled. We the Kings has always had a massive following, and you can certainly tell the band’s superfans from those who remember hearing them on the radio for a few years. Either way, the band coerced a wild chorus to sing as they went into the 2007 charting single “Check Yes Juliet” and the 2011 beach jam “Say You Like Me”. The band also dove into their latest album, named Six, to sprinkle in some variety in their set. It wasn’t until the 2013 pop anthem “I Feel Alive” that the band asked everyone to mimic a dance move that Travis’ daughter inspired, getting the audience of thousands to shake down low right before jumping up for the song’s chorus.
To add some variety to an otherwise punk sphere, Reel Big Fish took to the Main Stage for an audience-interactive, fun-filled set. They opened with an awesome cover of “Take On Me”, before diving into their own rebellious songs, including the 2012 “Everyone Else is An Asshole”, and the 2005 “Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em)”. The Main Stage performance space simply wasn’t big enough for this band, and it was clear when members of Reel Big Fish moved to different parts of the audience, only to get caught on monitors and equipment. Even trapped in a small space, Reel Big Fish brought a massive sound that kept the energy level up and ensured people stayed dancing, even after a long We The Kings set.
After a rather short set from the Maine on the Main Stage, Mayday Parade took control of the Main Stage and caused a large flock of people to rush to the inner theatre. They chose songs that truly represented their nostalgic ‘emo rock’ style, including the 2007 track “Jersey”, which lead a wave of audience members to sing along in perfect unison. The band also covered the Blink 182 classic “The Rock Show”, made famous for its reference to Warped Tour. It was a treat to have several headlining bands recognize the impact of Warped Tour’s popularity, giving bands like Blink 182 a chance to meet a diverse audience. Throughout all 24 summers of the Warped Tour, so many bands have risen in popularity and matured in music, and it’s a least partially, if not completely thanks to Warped Tour. There’s no better example of this growth than the festival’s late night performance, Canadian rock band Simple Plan.
For all the crowding issues faced throughout the day, the venue staff was not prepared for the onslaught of fans that drenched the Main Stage area in anticipation of Simple Plan. As the band came on stage, a thunderous applause rung throughout the entire concert space. Simple Plan paid homage to their many years performing at Warped Tour, playing hits like the 2002 rock ballad “Perfect” and the 2004 anthem of angst “Welcome to My Life”. For their performance of “I’m Just A Kid”, the band made a brilliant decision, bringing Travis from We the Kings and YUNGBLUD on stage to sing the song with them. This was truly a pivotal moment of Warped Tour, showing a contrast of genres, ages, and even generations coming together to perform the same rebellious music to gets you through your teens and twenties.
Seeing these contrasting, yet iconic artists celebrating Warped Tour together was a bittersweet moment, and as lyrics to Simple Plan’s remaining songs came from the library in your head to your tongue, everyone surrounding you sang along. People of various ages and backgrounds (not to mention BAC levels) came together to end the night with joy and nostalgia in remembrance of endless summers, and celebration for the next concert that will fill the void of Warped Tour for each person. Although this is Warped Tour’s last official year, there have been floating rumors of a celebration show in 2019. Details will likely be announced on the Warped Tour facebook page, and for anyone still looking to submerge themselves in the Warped Tour experience, there’s a few more tour stops coming up, including a show at Jones Beach in Wantaugh, NY on July 28. Thank you Warped Tour, party on!
Avenged Sevenfold frontman, M Shadows, posted on the band’s social media pages that he has come down with a serious vocal cord injury, forcing him and his band to cancel their upcoming “End of the World” tour featuring Prophets of Rage, Three Days Grace, and HO99O9.
It seems after the band returned from their run in Europe, Shadows suffered from a viral infection that left him voiceless. Swelling in his throat made it difficult for the doctors to see what exactly was wrong with Shadows. After some voice rest and steroids, the swelling went down and doctors discovered a blood blister on Shadows vocal cords making them unable to vibrate properly.
Feeling horrible about having to cancel the tour, M Shadows apologized to fans in the statement he posted on social media:
There is no good way to start out a note containing bad news but here it is.
After Europe I came down with a terrible viral infection that rendered me voiceless.
I tried my best to take care of the situation with voice rest, medication and doctor visits but my voice was only getting worse.
After a week of steroids the swelling went down enough to see the cause of the problem. A blood blister has formed on my vocal folds and is preventing them from vibrating properly. In short, I can’t sing anything at the moment and the more I attempt to the more damage is being done. Luckily, as of now the doctors feel that 3 months of no singing and voice rest should get my chords back on track.
Unfortunately, this means we will have to cancel all tour dates at the moment.
Decisions like this weigh on me very heavily. It’s a tour I was looking forward to very much. I want to apologize to the fans who have spent their time and money booking travel arrangements and accommodations. I also want to apologize to our crew and the other bands who were depending on this tour. None of these things are lost on me.
Just know that I have exhausted every possible solution in trying to get out there and perform for you. It just simply can’t happen at the moment.
We have a few things coming down the pipe soon that should be fun so we hope you look out for those. Again, I am deeply sorry and hope to see you all soon.
The Long Island music scene is incredibly fertile and diverse. It is rare to have an event that brings everyone together in one place, from the hardcore kids out east to the classic rock loving dads from Glen Cove, to celebrate music, art, and unity. Great South Bay Music Festival achieved this in strides with their incredibly colorful lineup of popular acts ranging from Sublime with Rome to Electric Hot Tuna. Located directly on the water of the south shore of the island at Shorefront Park in Patchogue, NY from July 12-15, the festival grounds is the optimal place to see live music on a hot Long Island summer day.
Festival Guide
Unlike other festivals around the nation which focus in on one single genre of music, Great South Bay is a family-oriented festival that mixes up the genre of music played each day to give everyone a chance to enjoy themselves. Music lovers who attended each day went through a journey of seeing hardcore/punk bands on Thursday night to ska/reggae groups on Friday night to jam bands on Saturday night with blues/classic rock acts capping off the weekend on Sunday night.
The overall vibe of the festival was incredibly relaxed, despite how many people attended, and festival goers had the option to sit back on the grass in their lawn chairs and blankets or head up front to stand in the pit if they wanted to get closer to the music. Because of how drastically the music changed from night to night, the crowd tended to change with it, creating a different feel for each day of the festival.
Jim Faith, the man responsible for putting the event together, started Great South Bay Music Festival to create a Long Island music festival which would keep the spirit of music alive, positively change people’s lives, and create a space safe for people of all races and ethnicities to come together and celebrate different kinds of music. His goal is to inspire people to listen to new music as well turn younger folks onto legendary artists they might not have heard. The festival is not designed to be an over the top production, but rather a place to bring people together and get to the heart and soul of the community- which it certainly achieved.
Happy Festival Goers
Thursday, July 12:
The first night of music kicked off with a bang with an assortment of punk and hardcore groups who played to an energetic crowd of generally younger fans. When Get Up Kids took the main stage at 6:10 pm, the crowd was antsy and ready to go. The 90’s rock/emo band got the crowd going with an injection of high energy punk-esque songs which kept up the entire set and established the first big mosh pit in front of the stage of the night, but certainly not the last.
Eddie Breckenridge of Thrice
Thrice followed at 7:30 to the excitement of many attendants, and picked up exactly where Get Up Kids left off. The veteran alternative rock band’s heavy riffs incited headbanging, fist pumps and mosh pits in the crowd close to the stage, while those who were hanging back danced to themselves. Thrice was a treat to many festival goers as they had recently released new music and came back from a three-year hiatus, so it was many fans first time seeing them since they returned. An incredibly polished, hard rocking band, their set was played with such precision it sounded as though it was recorded in a studio.
A half hour after Thrice finished their set, the headliners of the night, The Front Bottoms, took the stage and treated the crowd to an energetic hour and ten minute set of twists and turns. Playing with the “Legendary Uptown Horns,” the set featured an animated setlist of melodic arrangements. The band sounded like a mix of Mumford and Sons and Streetlight Manifesto, and produced incredibly positive and vibrant music. By the end of the set there were people jumping, crowd surfers bouncing, and heads banging: a magnificent end to the first night of the festival, which would set the stage for the next three nights.
Front Bottoms
Friday, July 13:
Friday night was all about the ska and reggae scenes, and featured an impressive assortment of some of the nation’s top touring acts for the genre. The crowd began to fill up after 6 pm as they made their way over to the festival grounds after work, and included a very diverse crowd of fans old and young.
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake started their set right on time at 6:30 and jumped right into a fast-paced, rocking ska song to the crowd’s delight. The band seemed to be in a great mood as they played a set of many of their hits from their most recent albums to older crowd favorites, and played around heavily with crowd participation. In between songs they made jokes, brought people up on stage to dance, and even had a beer chug off with people from the crowd who they brought on stage. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands as they encouraged sing-a-longs, jumping in unison, and moshing. While they were very playful they were also an incredibly tight band who clearly had been playing together for a long time.
Dirty Heads
The Dirty Heads followed at 8 pm as the smell of marijuana filled the air in anticipation. The Dirty Heads are a great, chill summer band, and the beach is the ideal place to catch one of their sets. The band played a very diverse setlist from hip-hop beats and rapping to slow, bouncing reggae tunes which saw the massive crowd swaying in harmony like the waves of the sea behind them. Everyone sang along when they played their hits, and Rome even came out to perform a song he’d recorded with them for one of their earlier albums, to the crowd’s delight.
The appearance by Rome in the Dirty Heads’ set was only a taste of what was to come, as Sublime with Rome followed in the headlining spot. The band got the crowd going right away with a few classic Sublime songs, each featuring an echo of the crowd singing along. The band was able to emulate the sound of the original Sublime lineup with ease, while at the same time staying fresh with many of their new songs. Some of their new songs sounded like something from a vintage Sublime album, while others strayed genres a bit and became much heavier. Overall the night was exactly what the crowd came for as they left smiling and hazy.
Sublime With Rome
Saturday, July 14:
Saturday’s show featured an array of artists from the jam scene, ranging from cover bands to some of the top touring acts of the scene. JGB Featuring Melvin Seals brought heat with a set of Jerry Garcia music that would make Jerry proud. Seals still has the chops he had while playing with Jerry, and put together a band of world class musicians to keep the spirit alive. The set mirrored that of a ‘90s JGB show with original Garcia tracks and some of his favorite covers played with emotion and soul. Each member of the band came to play, and every note played was treated with dignity and respect, whether it was a fast-paced rocker or classic ballad.
Photo of The Great South Bay Music Festival courtesy of their website.
Papadosio followed and began their set with a jam on middle-eastern chord progressions, which piqued the interest of the crowd. Their hour long set featured mild twisting space-funk, dangerous peaks, and breezy, floating jams which exploded like the waves on the nearby jetty. Although the band normally plays indoor shows or late night time slots, having them play in the afternoon was a treat because despite the lack of light show, the crowd was able to see that the band was dancing on stage and as into the set as the audience, which only pushed the music further.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
With the crowd loose and ready to jam, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong took the stage at 7:30 and impressed the crowd with a show that they played like it was their last. The upbeat funk-rockers explored different areas of jam music from ‘70’s disco-esque grooves to dark, gritty jams. The entire crowd grooved along as the non-stop set kept everyone dancing and on their toes for what they would play next. At the end of their set the crowd didn’t seem to want them to leave, as they didn’t want to either, and gave the band an ovation which was heard a town over.
The half hour time slot in between bands gave festival goers a chance to sit down and collect themselves before they were thrown back into the madness with a dynamic set by jam band giants Umphreys McGee. Umphreys McGee quickly dove into a high-energy rocker, each note played with sharp precision. For the first time that evening, it was dark enough for a band to incorporate a light show, and it did not disappoint as the lights added another layer to the improvisational machine on stage. The band shined effortlessly through difficult progressions and raging peaks with an incredibly fun set of music. The band left the stage before their time slot ended only to come back and deliver a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” that sounded like a crisp studio recording of the song until they put their own spin on the jam which amused and exhilarated the attentive audience.
Umphrey’s Mcgee
Sunday, July 15:
The final day of the festival seemed to attract the largest crowd, as well as the oldest crowd. From Thursday to Sunday the average age of the crowd seemed to jump nearly a decade, with the old boys coming in and finishing things off right. The Devon Allman Project featured impressive guitar work and blues jamming by sons of the original Allman Brothers Band, Devon Allman (Greg Allman’s son) and Duane Betts (Dickey Bett’s son). Looking the carry on the family musical tradition, the band did not disappoint and put a fresh spin on bluesy, rocking tunes. Some might have thought that the band was only there because of the last names of the performers, but had their names been John Doe the band would have been incredibly impressive with their set of high quality musicianship.
Festival Goers, Old and Young
Little Feat came next to the crowd’s excitement, and the classic rock legends played a set full of fun and hits. The large band of musicians played with incredible gusto, and communicated with each other musically on stage as if they were speaking a language the crowd instinctively knew. Their soulful singing and silky jams showed that they are a band worth continuing to see as they segued from song to song with their eyes closed.
After a short break, Electric Hot Tuna took the stage to an ovation unmatched by any other of the weekend. Practically ignoring the applause, they dove into a sneaky, haunting blues jam featuring impressive guitar licks and full band modulations with ease. Each song featured a notable jam of its own right, and the versatile rockers changed genres on the turn of a dime with each song. The sound was ideal as the bass was up in the mix, which is exactly what you want when Jack Casady is on stage.
Dickey Betts Band
After Electric Hot Tuna’s set, the crowd was antsy to hear the final headliner of the night, Allman Brothers Band guitar player and founder Dickey Betts take the stage with Dickey Betts Band, however they were forced to wait an additional half hour due to sound issues. The crowd was overjoyed when the band finally took the stage and jumped right into the Allman Brothers material Betts wrote. Betts was a bit rusty throughout the set, but still reached many highs on well-known Allman Brothers Band solos, and the crowd was happy to hear the music they grew up with.
Overall the festival was a great success, with attendants raving about the music they had just seen as they made their way to the parking lot on the final night. With sunlight and a cool ocean breezes, you couldn’t ask for a better weekend as people from all walks of life joined together to celebrate love and music.
Longtime Central New York festival, K-Rockathon is back to a one-day affair after Avenged Sevenfold decided to cancel their upcoming Saturday date due to an ongoing illness within the band.
Back in March, Central New York radio station K-Rock announced that the 22nd edition of the annual festival would expand to two days at the St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview (formerly Lakeview Amphitheater) in Syracuse. The July 22 date of the festival was to feature Avenged Sevenfold as the headliner with support from Rise Against, Three Days Grace and Ho99o9. The Sunday, July 23 show is still happening and features Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie.
A statement issued by Avenged Sevenfold said:
Due to a continued illness, we unfortunately have to cancel our performances this week in Rimouski at Les Grandes Fetes TELUS and at Syracuse’s KROCKATHON. To our fans, we’re just as let down about this as you are and we look forward to seeing you next time.
The band did not provide any information on the illness. In addition to the Syracuse show, shows in Quebec City, Saint John, New Brunswick and Rimouski, Quebec were also scrapped.
Tickets for the festival were available as single-day or two-day passes. Those who purchased two-day passes will be receive a 50% refund while those who purchased Saturday only will receive a full refund. Live Nation stated that online purchases will be automatically refunded. Physical tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.
K-Rock issued the following via Facebook, “Listen, it SUPER bums us out & we completely understand that everyone will be upset (and have their own opinion to voice), but we can’t control sickness so, we’re here for questions & hope you still come party with us on Sunday for Rob Zombie & Marilyn Manson”
Amy Lee took the stage promptly at 8, and Evanescence opened with “Overture,” which served both to check and tune the instruments as much as to tune the audience into the heavier orchestrated sound. Lee’s vocals were on pitch as she moved between piano and the microphone on “Never Go Back” and “Lacrymosa.”
