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?
People from all over the world rolled into a small town called Trumansburg in upstate NY on Thursday, July 19 for the 28th annual Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance. The festival works to nurture local artists while reaching around the globe to bring a world’s worth of music, introducing it to new audiences. The festival tries to do all of this while creating an environment to inspire creativity and foster community building. Some people even arrived four days early to attend the festival Culture Camp, four days of workshops on musical instruments, dance and art. The festival is known for not being like most other festivals and is joked about by locals as, “Such an ‘Ithacan’ thing,” because of its close proximity to the city of Ithaca.
Grandstand of Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance.
The festival started off sunny at the stroke of noon with onsite campers rushing in to get their preferred spots with distant recorded music in the background playing greatest hits reggae until the live music started at 1:30. Like most years at Grassroots, I spent the first couple hours setting up my tentsite, right outside one of the four stages, and in the only shady area of the festival. With it being common to hit 100+ degree days, campers want all the shade they can get!
Thursday’s biggest highlight was roots reggae sensation and headliner, Toots and the Maytals, performing at the Infield stage. They put on a show no one is going to forget, starting off with their classic hit, “Pressure Drop” and by the end of their set, the large crowd was all smiles and cheers. The other big highlight of the night was The Ithaca Bottom Boys, a local favorite who transcend falling into a certain genre with their folky twang, hinting at the background of all their songs, but with this overlaying groove that one can’t help but dance to. Their song “Some Are Beavers” had the crowd going wild as most of them either knew the words or caught on very quickly and were singing their hearts out to it.
On Friday, the morning started with yoga and the instrument contest like it does every year. The Grassroots festival schedule has an air of familiar repetition to long time attendees, but one thing attendees can always count on is the array of different genres introducing artists they haven’t heard of before, but won’t soon forget. Artists like Dakha Brakha, a Ukrainian folk quartet that left the crowd speechless. Or Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People, rooted in classic groove and soul, but expanding into so much more. During her performance on Friday, she parted the crowd from the stage, jumped off stage, and ran up and down the created aisle, pulling people from the crowd to dance with her. It was an intimate experience you usually don’t get with a festival the size of Grassroots, which has an attendance reaching around 15,000 people. It’s not every day you get a musician like Danielle Ponder dancing just a few feet from you, tripping slightly on a backpack, losing her footing, and you get to reach out and help keep her on her feet, like I got to.
Danielle Ponder and the Tomorrow People
At this festival you not only get intimate shows, you get to see the band members walking around enjoying the festival, like members of festival fan favorite, Uma Galera, who performed on Friday night to a huge crowd. With their Latin-infused sound, high energy, and mid-performance dance moves, they were definitely one of the most anticipated and enjoyed acts at the festival. This being their third year returning, not only were people excited to see them, but knew words to their songs. They couldn’t leave the stage without at least three encores on their Friday night and their Saturday night performances. Other big names who killed it Friday night were folk music singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, and Valerie June’s unique mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass, both of which brought in big crowds and devoted fans to their respective shows.
Saturday started with yoga once again and the band contest, a popular competition with a first prize being a slot at next year’s festival. The day then progressed through Grassroots classics consisting of many festival favorites like Keith Frank and The Soileau Zydeco Family Band, Sim Redmond Band, Donna the Buffalo, Uma Galera, and many more. And this is when the rain started. Now for Grassroots a little rain isn’t a problem, in fact it’s expected. Locals joke that the rain knows when the festival is happening and makes a point to make an appearance which, having attended it for over a decade, I can attest to being true. But the rain didn’t stop people from going out and dancing their socks, shoes and other possessions off late into the night with Keith Frank and The Soileau Zydeco Family Band playing until almost four in the morning.
Sunday came early and soggy to most people, with the rain not letting up, but that didn’t seem to phase many festival goers as they still got up bright and early for their yoga. As someone who has been attending this festival for over a decade, it’s hard for me to put into words how this festival is different than others I’ve attended. Luckily for me, I had a friend attend with me this year who had never gone before and he was able to pinpoint what is so different about it a little bit better than me. He said, “I was amazed at the variety of music Grassroots brought to the table, seamlessly blending reggae, rock, soul, dance and many other genres into a festival experience everyone can enjoy. Even going into the festival not knowing any of the lineup, I found that there was more than enough variety to always keep me entertained and excited for more.”
Apart from music, the festival also has the annual Happiness Parade, a variety of workshops with musicians and artist in the Workshop Tent, massages, acupuncture and meditation at the Healing Arts Tent, a kid’s area with crafts and games, and volunteers worked at the Kids Tent, the Art Barn, the Congo Square Market, and the Sustainability fair throughout the weekend. There were also lots of vendors both for food and arts, clothing, drums, etc. and even a changing station for cell phones run by solar panels.
The music was above par, the people attending are polite and generally good spirited, the food is good (even though it’s a little expensive), and the general atmosphere was just pleasant. The thing about Grassroots is, there really is something for everyone, and that can be seen by the different types of people that attend it. From seniors to children, frat boys to punks, parents to singles ready to mingle, American flag-wearing to hippy-loving non-showering-folk, the festival really had something for everyone. The festival was a great experience as it always is and I will definitely be back again next year.
Uma GaleraValerie JuneValerie June. Photo by Isabella Romeo-Hall.Grandstand view. Photo by Isabella Romeo-Hall.Onsite tent camping. Photo by Isabella Romeo-Hall.
Area fans of Rich Robinson, Marc Ford, and all of their previous musical projects, had eagerly anticipated the first Central New York appearance of their latest collaboration, The Magpie Salute at del Lago Casino in Waterloo, New York on July 19. In addition to Robinson and Ford, the band includes Sven Pipien on bass, Joe Magistro on drums, Matt Slocum on keyboards, and John Hogg on vocals, guitar, and harmonica.
Del Lago Casino’s first class, state-of-the-art, 2400-seat theater, The Vine, hosted an enthusiastic crowd with many people up and dancing, or advancing to the stage. The opening song, “Mary the Gypsy,” set the tone with Magistro’s booming, manic drums, with layers of guitars and keyboards energizing the entire room. Later in the set, the band raised the bar even higher with a full-throttle version of Jeff Beck’s “All Shook Up.” The band displayed remarkable range by switching immediately from that powerhouse high-tempo blues rock number to covering the alt-country tune “Hot Burrito #2,” a love letter of sorts from the iconic Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
It was interesting to see a few of the band members smile as they recognized familiar faces in the crowd. Robinson made mention of this, stating that such continuing support of he and Ford over all the years meant a lot. He made it a point to say that this was a new venture, with new ideas, and in the face of the world being “batshit crazy these days,” it was important to focus on now, and maybe not so much on the past. That notion was reflected in the set list. Though there were a few songs from Ford and Robinson’s previous individual side projects, any fans expecting an evening of Black Crowes covers were left empty-handed on this night, which emphasized that this was indeed a new sound and a new direction.
One element from the past that did remain evident was the effortless interplay between Ford and Robinson. It can be argued that the two of them were the equal of any guitar duo of the nineties. Though they had separated for a number of reasons, and hadn’t played together for over a decade, their decision to reunite in The Magpie Salutehas found that their old magic still exists. That connection was never more evident than during “For the Wind.” This is a sweeping song that begins with a light melodic line from Robinson, and builds to a muscular crescendo with Pipien keeping the bottom end on his familiar blue Fender jazz bass while the guitars soar and seem to draw from each other. As Robinson has stated, “Marc Ford and I have this thing and it’s something you can’t put your finger on and understand, but he and I just go to these places when we play together. The older I get, the more I realize how important that is.”
Hogg, Robinson, and Ford each took turns on lead vocals, with Pipien adding backing vocals and harmonies. Most of the evening’s one hour and forty minute set was from The Magpie Salute’s upcoming release, High Water I, available August 10 via Eagle Rock, Mascot Label Group, and Sony Japan. Pre-orders are available here. The band will continue to tour in support of the album, with scheduled U.S. dates through September.
The Magpie Salute Setlist: Mary the Gypsy, Comin’ Home*, Walk On Water, I Remember, Take It All, Shalimar Dreams, All Shook Up ^, Hot Burrito #2~, Open Up, Hand In Hand, You Found Me, Goin’ Down South, For the Wind, Devil’s In the Details, I Don’t Hear the Sound of You, Colorblind, Can You See, High Water, Send Me An Omen
Phish just began their 2018 Summer Tour with a pair of shows at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys in Stateline, Nevada. Unlike most tours, if you can’t get tickets it doesn’t mean you can’t see Phish perform because they are live webcasting parts of their tour.
Photo courtesy of Phish’s website.
Phish is a jam band quartet from Vermont whose tours are widely anticipated by its large fan base. Not all of their performances will be live streamed but the ones that are can be viewed via LivePhish.com. The live webcast tour begins with the band’s upcoming run at The Gorge in George, Washington, July 20 – 22. The rest of the live cast performance dates can be found below.
A discounted “I Saw It Again” Summer Webcast Pass bundle is available for pre-order now here. In addition, an option for a The Gorge three-night pass can be purchased via LivePhish.com as well as single night passes for the individual webcasts. For more information visit their website.
Webcast tour dates:
July 20 – 22 – The Gorge – George, WA
July 27 – 28 – The Forum – Inglewood, CA
Aug. 3 – 5 – Verizon Amphitheatre – Alpharetta, GA
Aug. 11 – 12 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD
Aug. 17 – 19 – Curveball festival – Watkins Glen, NY
Aug. 31 – Sept. 2 – Labor Day Weekend run at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, CO
Not ones to rest on their laurels, Intrepid Travelers are following up their successful Solstice Festival with the second leg of their summer tour. IT heads out to Ohio and Michigan next week, then double back to New York, hitting Jamestown, Geneva and Buffalo. Summer tour rounds out with performances at Night Lights Music Festival in Sherman on Aug. 23 and Beau Fleuve Music Festival in Buffalo on Aug. 26.
Intrepid Travelers Summer Tour 2018 Leg II:
July 25 – Woodlands Tavern – Columbus, OH **Ween Preparty & Afterparty
July 26 – The Knickerbocker – Grand Rapids, MI
July 28 – George’s – Canton, OH Aug. 3 – Mojo’s – Jamestown, NY
Aug. 4 – FLX – Geneva, NY
Aug. 7 – Larkin Square – Buffalo, NY
Aug. 23 – Night Lights Music Festival – Sherman, NY
Aug. 26 – Beau Fleuve Music Festival – Buffalo, NY
Brooklyn’s Sister Sparrow has announced the release of the new album GOLD. The album arrives at all music retailers and streaming services via Thirty Tigers on Friday, Oct. 12th.
Photo courtesy of Sister Sparrow’s website.
The album’s first single, “Ghost,” is set to release Friday, Aug. 3. In addition to this, Sister Sparrow will also be celebrating the new LP with a major U.S. tour, joined as always by her extraordinary brass-fueled combo, the Dirty Birds.
GOLD is produced and co-written in collaboration with Carter Matschullat (Chef’Special, Secret Weapons) at Brooklyn’s DØØM Studio. The LP takes the classic Dirty Birds sound and turns it into something altogether new, a soul-blasted contemporary pop approach supremely suited for Kincheloe’s immense voice.
“The GOLD Tour” begins August 30 in Athens, then travels the country through early December. The tour will include a performance with Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats on Sept. 15 at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine. Additional dates will be unveiled soon.
For more information please visit Sister Sparrow’s website.
The GOLD Tour:
Aug. 30 – Athens Summer Concert Series – Athens, NY
Aug. 31 – Levitt Pavilion Steelstacks – Bethlehem, PA
Sept. 1 – Blues, Views And BBQ – Westport, CT
Sept. 14 – Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival – Fredericton, NB
Sept. 15 – Thompson’s Point (w/ Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats) – Portland, ME
Sept. 16 – Grand Point North Festival – Burlington, VT Sept. 21 – Westcott Theater – Syracuse, NY Sept. 22 – Borderland Music and Arts Festival – East Aurora, NY
Oct. 31 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
Nov. 1 – Founders Brewing Co.Grand – Rapids, MI
Nov. 2 – Otus Supply – Parliament Room- Ferndale, MI
Nov. 3 – Mr. Small’s Theatre – Millvale, PA
Nov. 8 – Infinity Music Hall Hartford – Hartford, CT
Nov. 9 – Theatre Of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA Nov. 10 – Swyer Theatre, Empire Center At The Egg – Albany, NY
Nov. 15 – Brighton Music Hall – Allston, MA
Nov. 29 – 9:30 Club – Washington DC
Dec. 1 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
Dec. 5 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
Dec. 6 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
Tedeschi Trucks Tuesday is the new unofficial title of the Wheels of Soul Tour, as every NY performance has fallen on this humble day of the week. July 10 ushered Tedeschi Trucks Band along with support from Drive-By Truckers and The Marcus King Band to the foothills of Canandaigua wine country. At CMAC guests can purchase full bottles of wine which the attendant will unceremoniously dump into the biggest plastic to-go cup imaginable. It’s nearly impossible to resist a $16 bottle of blackberry “merlot” until you realize it’s only 6% alcohol and tastes like sugar water with a fruity afterthought.
Never again.
This regrettable beverage purchase was the only minor downfall of the night. Having never attended CMAC or a TTB show before, eager anticipation permeated the atmosphere. TTB’s wide appeal drew a charming audience of young and old faces. The bands mirrored this age spectrum, as Marcus King himself is newer to the scene at only 22. Yet his band was a fitting choice to open the night, as they eased fans in with their blues rock style garnished with King’s distinctive howling vocals for a heavier sound. He invited Derek Trucks to the stage for a tune which would be reciprocated later when TTB performed.
Drive-By Truckers offered more pop rock inclinations with a lighter demeanor. Nothing about their set particularly stood out, but it flowed nicely overall. Once TTB took the stage, the crowd erupted in cheers, electrifying the air with excitement. Their music is what love sounds like. It’s nearly impossible to describe without being cheesy. It massages the ears and makes the heart flutter. Susan Tedeschi’s voice and Derek Truck’s guitar playing are the perfect marriage. Susan took a moment to address the crowd exclaiming, “It’s been really special. We actually paddle boarded on your lake yesterday.” Imagine splashing around in Canandaigua Lake and seeing Susan Tedeschi the queen herself paddling past. Play it cool though.
The only noticeable hiccup in their set came from the sax player when he went a little too avant garde during his complicated solo, making it too hectic to enjoy. But towards the end of the set the entire horn section rallied with the rest of the band conjuring an intensely energetic dance experience that temporarily transported the crowd to the jazzy streets of New Orleans.
Tedeschi Trucks Band hemorrhages emotion through delicate instrumentation, momentum building solos and gripping lyrics. The unwavering strength in Susan Tedeschi’s voice could stand alone as something to see live, but the supergroup she is a part of does justice to every band member to create a musical experience that leaves the crowd in awe.
Stay tuned for a review from their July 17 performance at Artpark in Lewiston!
Setlist: Keep on Growing, Laugh about it, Just as Strange, Don’t Know What it Means, Shame, Midnight in Harlem, Down in the Flood, Show Me, Let Me Get By, Going Going Gone, Rockin’ in the Free World
As the masses are prepping their festival checklists for August in the gorges of Western NY, Phish announced that their own JEMP Records will reveal the first vinyl release of Slip Stitch and Pass exclusively at this summer’s Curveball Festival.
As noted by Phish Dry Goods, the exclusive, festival-ready release will be “pressed on two-color splatter (blue and purple), foil numbered LPs.” A celebratory, limited edition Drew Millard screen print will also be tossed in for purchasers during the August 17-19 weekend in the woods. Slip Stitch and Pass is Phish’s second live album and is compromised of highlights from their March 1, 1997 performance at the Markthalle in Hamburg. Originally, it was released on October 28, 1997.
For collectors immediately alarmed by the issue of safely protecting a vinyl in the dead summer heat, the JEMP Record store will provide an air conditioned merch-check so the records can Cool it Down all Curveball weekend long. Be sure to check out the vinyl listening station, where festival goers can get an all senses, in-person feel for the album. Alongside the new LP will be pressings of Billy Breathes, A Live One, The White Tape, Junta, Lawn Boy, Rift, A Picture of Nectar and a variety of side projects.
If you have to skip out on Phish’s 11th festival and wait for your next show during Fall tour, a non-colored Slip Stitch and Pass vinyl will be available later in the year on Phish Dry Goods.
Calliope Musicals are hitting the road for their Stray Cats Tour and their first two stops are in Rochester on July 25 and Syracuse on July 26 at Funk ‘n Waffles locations.
Photo courtesy of Calliope Musicals website.
Calliope Musicals has a pop-rockesque vibe and can captivate an audience. The band is from Austin, TX and is made up of six members. Carrie Fussell on lead vocals and guitar, Craig Finkelstein on vibraphone and vocals, Josh Bickley on drums and vocals, Andrew Vizzone on bass and vocals, Jerry Sparkman on confetti cat, and Joe Cannariato on lead guitar and vocals.
For their Rochester show, they are joined by special guest Stationary Escape Pod and the show starts at 8:00 p.m. and is an 18 and up show with a $7 cover.
For their Syracuse show, they are joined by special guest Pet Cheetah. The show starts at 9:00 p.m. and is also an 18 and up show with a cover of $5 in advance or $7 at the door. Tickets for both shows can be purchased in advance through TicketWeb.
The collective will also perform in New York City at Bowery Electric on July 27.
For more information on Calliope Musicals be sure to check out their website.
Hochstein School of Music and Dance continues its tradition of afternoon concerts this summer. This summer’s lineup includes music by Watkins & The Rapiers, Hanna & The Blue Hearts, Mambo Kings, Hypnotic Clambake, Crooked North Duo, and Genesee Johnny.
The free performances are held at Granite Mills Park in the High Falls District at noon on Thursdays through August 16. Food is available to purchase from a variety of vendors. Visit the Hochstein School of Music and Dance website for more information.
2018 Hochstein at High Falls:
July 12 – Watkins & the Rapiers
July 19 – Hanna & the Blue Hearts
July 26 – Mambo Kings
August 2 – Hypnotic Clambake
August 9 – Crooked North Duo
August 16 – Genesee Johnny
