NYS Music 20​18

Category: Genres

  • Queen Announces ‘The Rhapsody Tour’ With Adam Lambert

    With all the hype the new “Bohemian Rhapsody” Freddy Mercury biopic has received, it was only a matter of time the the rest of the remaining members of Queen would announce a new tour and hit the road. Summer 2019 will see Queen members once again team up with who they feel most resembles Mercury today, former American Idol star, Adam Lambert. The pairing will take “The Rhapsody Tour,” to over twenty cities, including one stop in New York on Aug. 6 at Madison square Garden. The tour kicks off July 10 in Vancouver.

    Fans planning on attending the tour can guarantee to hear a set list of Queen hits and a new unique stage show that will have Queen written all over it.

    Guitarist Brian May and current frontman Adam Lambert had commented on the upcoming “The Rhapsody Tour.”

    Queen Rhapsody TourMay stated: “This is great opportunity. Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever, and got us our best notices ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious! Watch out, America!”

    Lambert added: “The show is set to expand the parameters of what a live music experience can be. To be their most spectacular yet, an innovative and interactive celebration of the continued power of Queen’s music. We have been designing a brand new visual spectacle that will reframe these iconic songs and we are excited to unveil it!”

    Tickets go on sale to the general public on Dec. 7, 2018 at 10 am.

    Queen + Adam Lambert “The Rhapsody Tour” Dates:

    July 10 – Rogers Arena – Vancouver, British Columbia
    July 12 – Tacoma Dome – Tacoma, WA
    July 14 – SAP Center – San Jose, CA
    July 16 – Talking Stick Resort Arena – Phoenix, AZ
    July 19 – The Forum – Los Angeles, CA
    July 23 – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
    July 24 – Toyota Center – Houston, TX
    July 27 – Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, MI
    July 28 – Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, Ontario
    July 30 – Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
    July 31 – PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA
    Aug. 3 – Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
    Aug. 4 – Xfinity Center – Boston, MA
    Aug. 6 – Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
    Aug.09 – United Center – Chicago, IL
    Aug. 10 – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Il
    Aug. 13 – Nationwide Arena – Columbus, OH
    Aug. 15 – Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
    Aug. 17 – BB&T Center – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
    Aug. 18 – Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL
    Aug. 20 – Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
    Aug. 22 – State Farm Arena – Atlanta, GA
    Aug.  23 – Spectrum Center NC

  • LANY Celebrates ‘Malibu Nights’ With Sold Out Shows at Terminal 5

    Los Angeles trio LANY brought their SoCal indie pop sound from LA to NYC to celebrate the release of their second studio album, Malibu Nights, for two sold out nights at Terminal 5 on Nov. 4 and 5. Opening the evening as the crowd continued to roll in was Anna of the North, stage name for Norwegian singer-songwriter Anna Lotterud and her band.

    LANY hit the stage with the same energy seen on the 2018 Governors Ball main stage, condensed into the three-tier music club in midtown Manhattan. Frontman Paul Jason Klein’s charismatic stage presence gripped the ebullient audience throughout the entire show, navigating the dynamic between the effervescence of their pop sound and mellifluous melodies of their other songs.

    Malibu Nights was released a month prior on October 5 and met some quick success reaching #3 on Billboard’s Alternative Albums Chart and even bumped the band up to #11 on Billboard’s Emerging Artist chart.

    LANY’s brief 8-stop North American tour concluded at Terminal 5, but after a short break, the band began an aggressive tour of Europe which returns to the US in April and continues through Summer 2019. They’ll be back in NYC at the Hammerstein Ballroom on May 17.

    Setlist:

    Thick and Thin, Good Girls, 4EVER!, Babe No Way, I Don’t Wanna Love You Anymore, Taking Me Back, Made in Hollywood, Hurts, Run, 13, If You See Her, the Breakup, Pink Skies, Hericane, Super Far, Malibu Nights

    Encore: Malibu Nights, Thru These Tears

  • Dave Matthews Band Opens NYC Run With Rarities and Special Guest

    Dave Matthews Band returned to the world’s most famous arena for back-to-back sold-out shows as part of their 10-city fall tour on Nov. 29 and 30.

    Having the opportunity of a summer tour to spotlight songs from the band’s 2018 release Come Tomorrow, DMB shied away from making that the focus with one four songs from the album in their set. Instead, they took the opportunity to mix the show up a bit with some rarities and older songs not often seen in their touring set lists.

    Highlighting the latter part of the nearly three-hour single set was a special appearance by the talented Eric Krasno, a NYC native and founding member of Soulive (alongside Alan and Neal Evans) and Lettuce. Krasno joined the band for a fiery solo on “Lie In Our Graves.” (DMB’s second night featured Warren Haynes as a special guest).

    With the early 2018 departure of the band’s long-time violinist Boyd Tinsley, whose parts were a defining part of their live sound, the band found keyboardist Buddy Strong to fill the spot. Strong is a talent behind the keys, touring or performing with majors acts like Usher, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and others. He brought a different dynamic to the performance than we are used to, adding a bit of funk and soul to the overall sound and crafting a new feel to some of the improvised moments of the show such as his solo on “Funny The Way It Is.”

    A few familiar songs anchored the setlist to keep the less-seasoned DMB fans engaged such as “#41” and “Satellite,” though night two’s set was a little bit more mainstream in the tunes. Closing the encore was one of DMB’s more commercially popular songs, “Ants Marching,” featuring some extended jamming and Beauford riffing around an a drum intro that slowly teased the song.

    Setlist (Night 1):

    Seek Up, That Girl Is You, Why I Am, Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin), Kill the King, #41, Satellite, Again and Again, Sweet Emotion, Minarets, Can’t Stop, Lover Lay Down, Lie in Our Graves (w/Krasno), Sleep to Dream Her, Typical Situation, Funny the Way It Is, You & Me, You Might Die Trying

    Encore: What You Are, Ants Marching

  • Monster Energy Outbreak Tour Announces first tour of 2019 featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie

    The Monster Energy Outbreak Tour is coming out of the gates strong in 2019. The prestigious touring brand just named multi-talented rapper, singer and songwriter, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, as the headliner for their upcoming winter and spring tour. The tour kicks off February 20 in Austin, TX and will make stops in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and other major cities across the U.S.

    Monster Energy Outbreak

    Bronx native Artist Dubose, aka A Boogie, rose to stardom when his major label debut, The Bigger Artist, reached #1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart and cracked the top 5 of the Billboard Top 200. Named by The New York Times as “the most promising young rapper the city has produced in some time,” and nominated by BET for 2018’s Best New Artist award, A Boogie is poised to prove that his accolades are well-deserved in 2019.

    Amidst all the acclaim, A Boogie remains humble. Describing his excitement to connect with fans, A Boogie stated, “Partnering up with The Monster Energy Outbreak Tour marks a milestone moment in my career. I can’t wait to create memories with the fans that will live with them for a lifetime.”

    Tickets for the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour will go on sale on Friday, December 7th at 10am local at www.outbreakpresents.com and www.aboogiehbtl.com, with pre-sale schedule as follows:

    TOUR DATES:
    2/20/19 AUSTIN,TX – EMO’S
    2/21/19 DALLAS, TX – HOUSE OF BLUES
    2/23/19 HOUSTON, TX – HOUSE OF BLUES
    2/25/19 TAMPA, FL – THE RITZ
    2/26/19 ATLANTA, GA – TABERNACLE
    2/28/19 CHARLOTTE, NC – THE FILLMORE
    3/1/19 RALEIGH, NC – THE RITZ
    3/4/19 BALTIMORE, MD – SOUND STAGE
    3/5/19 SILVER SPRING, MD – THE FILLMORE
    3/7/19 NEW YORK, NY – TERMINAL 5
    3/10/19 BOSTON, MA – HOUSE OF BLUES
    3/12/19 TORONTO, ON – REBEL
    3/13/19 CLEVELAND, OH – HOUSE OF BLUES
    3/15/19 GRAND RAPIDS, MI – INTERSECTION
    3/16/19 DETROIT, MI – THE FILLMORE
    3/19/19 INDIANAPOLIS, IN – DELUXE
    3/22/19 CHICAGO, IL – HOUSE OF BLUES
    3/23/19 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – VARSITY THEATER
    3/26/19 DENVER, CO – SUMMIT
    3/28/19 LAS VEGAS, NV – HOUSE OF BLUES
    3/29/19 PHOENIX, AZ – THE VAN BUREN
    3/30/19 SAN DIEGO, CA – HOUSE OF BLUES
    4/1/19 ANAHEIM, CA – HOUSE OF BLUES
    4/2/19 LOS ANGELES, CA – THE BELASCO THEATRE
    4/4/19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – THE FILLMORE
    4/5/19 SACRAMENTO, CA – ACE OF SPADES
    4/8/19 VANCOUVER, BC – COMMODORE BALLROOM

  • RPI Celebrates Launch of New Music Degree with the Rensselaer Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

    A small yet well-known engineering school in Upstate NY isn’t somewhere that would be expected to produce the talent to perform at a world class concert hall. However, that’s what happened at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 24 when Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) celebrated the launch of a new Bachelor of Science degree program in music with a debut performance by the Rensselaer Orchestra.

    RPI Music Degree

    Produced by DCINY (Distinguished Concerts International New York), the show brought together friends, family and classmates of the performers along with NYC locals for an enjoyable night of classical music.

    Under the direction of Nicholas DeMaison, the Rensselaer Orchestra presented two pieces beginning with River Rouge Transfiguration composed by Missy Mazzoli (commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2013) and continuing with Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82, composed during the years of World War 1.

    RPI President Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson began the show with some opening remarks about the new music degree and program. “…the degree is a means of preparing today’s contemporary musician for fluency in the arts as well as in the sciences…We all have recognized the degree to which the arts can spark innovation and the value connected with the arts, science, and technology.” Dr. Jackson continues, “our new Bachelor of Science in Music will enable us to further incorporate the arts throughout our research, curriculum, and student life experience…The theme of our musical program this evening is also about transformation that celebrates the work of two innovative and inspiring composers, Missy Mazzoli and Jean Sibelius.”

    Since the concert, the university has released a video of the concert which can be seen here.

  • 2019 Newport Folk Fest Sells Out, Begins Lineup Announcements

    2019 Newport Folk Festival tickets went on sale last Thursday and completely sold out all three days within a matter of hours. This news is not particularly surprising as the festival has been selling out with increasing quickness over the past few years. But it is no less incredible, particularly since not a single artist had been announced. You can read our review of last year’s festival to get a sense of why it is a special event that garners such fervor among it’s fans new and old, old and young.

    If you missed the on sale, don’t fret, there’s still a chance. In one of many moves the organizers have employed to fight the ever present threat of scalpers, the festival set up its own fan-to-fan resale site, hosted by Lyte. Sign up for a spot in line and hope for the best. It might seem like a long shot, but it has proven to be a very successful system in the past, so sit tight. And definitely be wary of any other resellers. Since tickets haven’t even been issued yet they are most definitely not real.

    Newport is a festival of surprises, and in a pleasant surprise, soon after the sell out they revealed the festival’s finale set. Entitled “If I Had a Song,” the set will celebrate what would have been festival co-founder Pete Seeger’s 100th birthday with a singalong.

    This set will surround hate, and force it to surrender. In what would have been our co-founder’s 100th year, we could think of no better way to celebrate Pete’s spirit in a time where we need each other now more than ever, than to do so with a celebratory sing-along. We’re stronger when we sing together, so we intend to do just that for this year’s festival finale.

    The festival also announced that on behalf of every artist playing this year, the Newport Festivals Foundation will make a donation to a music education charity of the artist’s choice. In honor of this set, the festival will be making a donation to Beacon Advocates for Music in Seeger’s hometown of Beacon, NY.

    Dear Folk,

    This is an important day for the festival and the foundation because we are sharing our vision for 2019 and beyond with you, our folk family.

    Sixty years ago, our event defined the modern day festival paradigm, which is so prevalent today. Yet we feel that our own understanding of what it means to be a festival needs to be reexamined. Are we empowering artists? Are we supporting the next generation of musicians? Are we inspiring our fans? In short, can we be doing more?

    While we’ve laid the groundwork as a non-profit in recent years, it has become clear that the increasing burden to sustain music education in America is falling squarely on communities like ours.

    Therefore, we are making a commitment to partner with every artist playing Newport Folk this summer on donating to a music education cause of their choosing. That’s right, EVERY ARTIST.

    Yes, it’s going to be a challenge, but together we’re confident we can make a difference, because that’s what families do for each other.

    Grateful,

    Jay Sweet, Executive Producer

    Usually the lineup would start trickling out starting in January or February, but the festival just announced the second artist for the 2019 lineup. Gregory Alan Isakov, the indie-folk musician from Colorado will return to the Fort after his last appearance in 2014. He is slated for an appearance on Saturday, July 27 and in his honor the Foundation will be making a donation to the Columbine High School guitar class.

    Stay tuned for more lineup announcements!

  • Jam for Tots 2018 line up shows across the state

    Tis the season to enjoy live music and support a great cause, across New York State! Annually, NYS Music works with bands and promoters across the state to help those in our local communities who are less fortunate and in need of a healthy dose of cheer this holiday season. Combining live music performances and the spirit of giving during the holiday season are a natural combination, and we present these 4 Jam for Tots 2018 shows where fans are able to enjoy the best music across the state, and help kids out at each show.

    Or stop by Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs all month long and drop off a toy!

    jam for tots 2018

    December 6 – Stewart House – Athens

    In the Catskills, join John Pinder and the gang for Open Mic on the first Thursday of the month. The jam lends a hand to the Toys for Tots drive this month by asking musicians and patrons to bring along an unwrapped toy for a less fortunate child. Jam for Tots has become a cherished tradition at The Stewart House.  The list opens up at 6:30pm, be sure to ask the bartender or the host John Pinder to get signed up! All are welcome. Be it a solo, duo, group, spoken word, or stand up session, head down to the Stewart House to share your talent.

    December 13 – Parish Public House – Funk Night in Albany Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

    It’s a Funk Night XMAS Ugly Sweater Party ft. Hayley Jane & Members of Kung Fu, West End Blend, Wurliday, & More! Come out and sing some funky XMAS classics with us at this special holiday rendition of NYS Music’s Albany Funk Night! 5$ off with a toy for our Jam n Tots drive.

    On December 13, celebrate a Funk Night Christmas with an Ugly Sweater Party at Parish Public House in Albany! Join the band and sing some Christmas songs at this special holiday rendition of NYS Music’s Albany Funk Night! Take $5 off the cover charge when you bring a toy for our Jam for Tots drive.

    The Funk Night Christmas lineup includes Hayley Jane, Beau Sasser (Kung Fu), Chris DeAngelis (Kung Fu), Justin Henricks (Wurliday), and Bryan Brundige and Phil Chow (The Chronicles). Tickets are $15, or $10 if you bring a toy.

    December 15 – Nietzsche’s – Intrepid Travelers and Folkfaces

    Join two of Buffalo’s best groups, Intrepid Travelers and Folkfaces, as they team up for an incredible night of jam, rock and much more. Bring an unwrapped gift for a 2-12 year old and the gifts will be gathered by USMC representatives. Give back to those most in need this holiday season and enjoy a great show at the same time! $5 , 21+ unless accompanied by a parent/guardian

    December 21 – Caffe Lena – A Very Leonard Christmas

    Let’s Be Leonard returns to Caffe Lena for their annual holiday show! Expect to hear your favorite Leonard boys performing the holiday classics sprinkled with their signature Leonard flavor!

  • Hearing Aide: Lord Electro ‘Reinvigorator’

    The marriage of electronic and improv-based music was inevitable from the start. The malleability of overtones provides a great platform for on-stage audibles. A lot of groups have used the modern synths to their advantage, although any music hobbyist who has played a synth can vouch for its complexity. Being able to find a good sound that is purely one’s own sound is difficult given the almost infinite parameters contained in modern synths. More so, being able to control those tones on the fly, whether in studio or on stage, is equally hard. Lord Electro, a budding electronic band from Albany, figures out a way to make their synth stand out as a staple lead tone by creating rich rhythmic grooves which fit like a puzzle piece underneath competent key lines with various changing characteristics. Their recent 10-track album, Reinvigorator, gives listeners a lot digest in terms of not only the content of each song, but the emotional arc the whole album follows.

    Dan Gerken, Steve Mink and Jordan LeFleur make up Lord Electro, a trio that fills out a sound of a much larger outfit. One of their main catches, if you’re able to catch them live, is that they are an all-organic electronic group. The album reflects their ambition to remain an organic band. You can feel the chemistry on every track, with different parts within each composition lining up in sync to a level that sounds rehearsed but not computerized. Just about every piece on the album is a true dance track, staying in that sweet bpm range of 120-140. The seventh track, “Broken Glass,” features a more frenzied bass and drum line. The bass lines up almost perfectly with the bass drum accents to give the line a lot of weight, while the key parts mesh one piece providing the chord structure and rhythm while the other lead-synth part drives the melody and development of the song. This is a formula followed throughout much of the album. While this could be redundant, Lord Electro does a great job of varying even just the smallest pieces on a composition to keep it interesting.

    A couple of the songs feature vocals too, whereas the rest is mainly instrumental with some background samples of different speeches or monologues related to the song. The vocal performances add a lot of texture to the album. While sparse, they are powerful and rich, relaying lyrical content that doesn’t delve too deep and provides more of a musing or reflection related to the song. On the eighth song, “Why Wait,” the vocals mirror the emotion of the tune, delivering an empowering message. The album follows a nice transitional arc too, with some tracks acting as a kind of anchor for the true sound and other tracks experimenting around that sound. This provides great variety, with every song feeling like a hard refresh. The ups and downs are in the grittiness of the bass line, or the beautiful melody of a synth lead.

    Key Tracks: Reinvigorator, Butterfly, Why Wait

  • Cousin Earth Says Goodbye to Tara Lawton

    Cousin Earth said an emotional goodbye to singer, percussionist and keyboardist Tara Lawton last Thursday at the Mercury Lounge. The band filled the room with high energy jams, to the audiences’ delight. Lawton jumped around on stage as she took in her final performance, while delivering vibrant vocals and funky keyboard riffs. At the end of the set, the band members took turns embracing with Lawton.

    Formula 5 followed this memorable performance with a delicious set of flawless jam rock. From the first song, the Capital Region band dove into a groove, and did not stop. Guitarist Joe Davis and Keyboardist Matt Richards were often jamming together, creating electric and cohesive improvisation.

  • Blaine Holcomb Rocks a Standing Room Only Crowd in Erieville

    Nestled along Tuscarora Lake between the Madison County college towns of Cazenovia and Morrisville, the Blue Canoe is a charming Adirondack style family restaurant. On Friday, November 30, this off-the-beaten-path venue was packed as it hosted Blaine Holcomb, a Nashville singer-songwriter born and raised in Hamilton and a graduate of St. Lawrence University.

    Blaine Holcomb

    Holcomb was in the area for a hometown-ish show, celebrating the release of his self-titled debut CD and did not disappoint. Holcomb is a young artist with a flair for modern country, yet has a truly high classic country IQ. His reverence for country royalty — George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Strait — is evident in his writing and he makes it well-known that these people are his music idols.

    Blaine Holcomb

    Holcomb entertained the standing room only crowd at the Blue Canoe with an almost three-hour set; his only breaks taking place between songs when he signed CDs for the many in attendance. If there’s one thing Holcomb is, it’s appreciative. He has spent the better part of the past few years in residency at Nashville’s famed Tootsies Orchid Lounge, and in that time, has learned the skill of entertaining. He’s not above taking requests but makes sure he sprinkles classics into his set to let everyone know his roots.

    His set reflected the modern country charts, with covers from Eric Church, Keith Urban and Chris Stapleton, but also paid tribute to the legends, covering his idols, George Jones and Merle Haggard. Holcomb’s take on Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and Haggard’s “Mama Tried” had the crowd engaged and would have done the original artists proud.

    Speaking of Holcomb’s roots, his visit to Erieville on Friday was a testament to that. He holds his family and friends close and makes sure to fit in a local show whenever he is in town, whether it’s at the Blue Canoe or Ray Brothers BBQ in nearby Bouckville. His maternal grandmother sat at a table stage left the majority of his set while his mother worked the crowd selling CDs. Many fellow St. Lawrence alums and former bandmates were also in attendance.

    A highlight of the night was a ballad Blaine Holcomb wrote in honor of his grandfather, who he spent much time fishing with in his youth. The song, “Keep Your Line in the Water” is an emotional ode to an influential man that Holcomb held close and brought tears to the eyes of many in attendance.

    Holcomb paid tribute to friend Daryle Singletary, who he’d met in Nashville, describing the affable nature of the man as he introduced his cover of Singletary’s song “Spilled Whiskey” that is included on Holcomb’s album.  Singletary died earlier this year at the age of 46.

    He tried ending his set several times throughout the night, but bowing to the crowd kept extending the set for “one more” song. One more song wound up being five more songs ending the night with rousing covers of Garth Brooks’s “Friends in Low Places” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” with his fans singing along and begging for more.

    Blaine Holcomb is a unique presence in this new world of country music. An old soul housed in a young body who isn’t afraid to mix the classics with the new. You can pick up his new album at his website here or at his shows. He returns to Nashville this week to continue his Tootsies residency. You can catch him live there or through the Tootsies Live Cam here.

Built in Breakdance