Dysfunktone is a four piece jam rock band from Long Island, comprised of Rob Meza (guitar/vocals), Brandon Hanna (guitar/keyboards/vocals), David Wolfsohn (bass/vocals), and Dakota Henry (drums). The group released their first studio effort in 2017 with EP, Illegitimate Business, a mix of funk, rock, soul and rap, that gave the world its first look into the band’s sound. Last month Dysfunktone put out their first full length record, Collective Perspective, which expands on their melting pot sound and gives the world a detailed look at what the group is capable of.
Collective Perspective features a fairly consistent vibe throughout the album, creating this dreamy, sonic landscape that each track seems to relate back to. The music flows, yet is progressive and funky, and lyrical themes deal with different aspects of life that the majority of listeners can relate to.
“Dementia,” is a highlight of the album, with lyrics coming from the perspective of a person dealing with the confusing headspace of dementia, such as: “swim in memories, but always drown, my thoughts are nowhere to be found, my world is upside down.” The musicianship on the track is impressive, melding reggae vibes of the verses with the swirling, psychedelic sounds of the chorus and funky interstitial sections, all crescendoed by a blazing guitar solo that drops the tune into its instrumental counterpart, “Reflection Collection.”
Another highlight is “Hourglass,” which is part of a larger suite of songs that flow into each other, preceded by “Clouded” and “Mirror.” The track features just a handful of verses, and is instrumental for the majority of the song, but the lyrics leave the listener inspired to take hold of their life and make themselves who they want to be. The instrumental section flies through several different musical styles and the tension builds with each shift, with just the last minute of the track bouncing from progressive riff rock to a middle eastern sound and into a heavy metal breakdown -exemplifying that melting pot sound, mentioned before.
The aforementioned “Clouded” is a song worth checking out, melding its laid back, yet dark lyrics with its funky instrumental sections, featuring the best solo on the album.
Collective Perspective as an album is a good representation of Dysfunktone’s sound, merging several different genres together to create an album that takes the listener on a musical journey, though it could improve on one thing. Some of the songs sound a little too similar musically during the lyrical sections, all sharing that flowy sound mentioned earlier, which helps keep the vibe of the album consistent, but leaves the listener kind of tired of that sound by the end of the album. That being said, the album as a whole works well, and the musicianship on tracks like “Toasty” and “Feelin’ Time” is really impressive. The album is definitely worth listening to if you’re a fan of jam rock. Catch Dysfunktone at Art Jam 2019 in Whitingham, VT from September 6-8 and purchase Collective Perspective on the group’s Bandcamp here.
The Peach Music Fest returned to Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA for its eighth year over July 24-27, 2019 and from the buzz of the crowd it seems that this year was the best yet. Everywhere you turned there was good people and good music, all thanks to the incredibly stacked lineup the festival runners put together. The weather was nearly perfect, aside from a storm on Sunday night that cut some of the first Phil and Friends set short, but fans raged on and powered through it. All of the main stage sets were livestreamed by nugs.net, all of those streams can be found here.
Thursday was kicked off by Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous, playing the main Peach Stage for their first time and opening up the weekend with their upbeat tune “Random Company,” which set the mood for the rest of the weekend. The group played a set of all originals, omitting their usual cover placed somewhere in the set, and blew the tent off the Peach Stage with stellar versions of “Kitty Chaser (Explosions)” and “Skyway,” as well as some new tunes like “Going Nowhere” and “Be The Same.” Aqueous was followed by Billy Strings, a hot new act on the bluegrass scene that mixes a classic bluegrass sound with psychedelic rock and improvisation. Strings and Co. (Jarrod Walker, Billy Winning, and Royal Masat) kicked off the set with “Dust in a Baggie,” a tale of spending the next years of your life in prison for some dust in a baggie. The group performed extended versions of “All Fall Down” and “Meet Me at the Creek,” showing off a bit of their jamming chops to Peach’s jam friendly crowd, and were met with warm reception, creating a lot of new fans by the end of their set.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong followed with their first set of the night, graduating from one main stage set last year to two sets this year, one of them being of the late night variety. During Pigeons’ first set, the group stuck with mostly old school tunes, aside from the recently debuted “Water,” played for the first time at their festival Domefest. The group brought Billy Strings out for a heated version of “Burning up my Time” and sandwiched an inverted “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads in the middle of another aquatic song, “Poseidon.” Between Pigeons’ two sets, the String Cheese Incident performed their first of the three sets of the weekend. The group performed an impressive set, featuring a 30-minute segment of “Shine” > “Sirens” that had a mini jam on the theme from The Office before transitioning fully into “Sirens,” as well as an extended version of “45th of November,” a song keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth wrote with Grateful Dead collaborator and Jerry Garcia songwriter Robert Hunter. A highlight was Herbie Hancock’s classic “Chameleon” sandwiched in the middle of a tale of mushrooms and mystery, “Miss Brown’s Teahouse.” For Pigeons’ second set, the group mixed old and new with segments such as “Somethin’ For Ya” > “Distant Times” surrounded by “Upfunk” > “Drums” > “Upfunk” and “Horizon.” A dance driven version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” really got the crowd moving and during the set closing “Ocean Blows” the bliss was tangible in the air.
Friday was kicked off by Andy Franco & the U.N. on the Mushroom Stage, a much talked about set of the weekend and for good reason as the man himself was feeling good about his Peach set. Among his usual stage banter, he instructed the crowd to “skullf*ck the wave pool” as a seemingly inspirational message about grabbing hold of life. Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers performed on the Live for Live Music Stage, bringing their upbeat tunes and positive outlook on life to Montage Mountain’s smallest stage. While Cory Wong funked up the water park, Upstate was on the Live for Live Music Stage, sharing their beautiful vocal harmonies and Americana tales with the patrons of Peach. Despite the 90+ degree weather, the three lead singers of the band, Allison Olender, Mary Kenney, and Melanie Glenn, rocked powerful jumpsuits that displayed their badassery both as people and on the mics. The group’s set was a mix of new and old, including “No Slack” off the group’s first record A Remedy.
Blues Traveler performed on the Peach Stage before moe., continuing the show set up of the groups’ co-headlining All Roads Runaround tour that’s happening right now. The group performed their usual hits “Run-Around” and “Hook,” while pulling out an interesting Radiohead cover, “Creep,” followed by “Accelerated Nation” (written about PA’s own I-81) and a version of “But Anyway,” before bringing out Chuck Garvey of moe. for a song. moe. opened their set strong with “Seat of my Pants,” a song that quite literally flies by the seat of its pants in how quickly it jumps from section to section and genre to genre. Following SOMP came “Sensory Deprivation Bank” with a no huddle segue into “Along for the Ride.” “Bearsong” came next, giving the moe.rons in the crowd flashbacks to the Saranac bears flying through the air during this song at past Saranac Brewery runs. “Bearsong” drop segued into “LL3,” a recently penned Rob Derhak tune about the train he’d take to his chemotherapy treatments. Later on in the set, the group performed an emotionally hefty “Kyle’s Song” > “Silver Sun” segment that was the highlight of the set jam-wise. Both songs took time to breathe, especially “Silver Sun” which always lends itself to notable jams.
Over on the Mushroom Stage, Dopapod returned to Peach for their third show since ending their hiatus this past April. The group has played Peach Fest numerous times over the years, including a special Dopapod Orchestra performance in 2017 that featured the Turkuaz horns and Kung Fu’s Adrian Tramontano on percussion. Highlights of their set include a water park-shaking rendition of “Freight Train,” the debut of bassist Chuck Jones’ party anthem “23 Forever,” which had to be restarted due to some sound issues, a segment of “Turnin’ Knobs” > “8 Years Ended” that took the crowd on an interesting journey, and a set ending “FABA” that was the ending note for the group’s sunset performance. BIG Something took the Mushroom Stage next, opening their set with the appropriate “Waves,” and playing a few other water-related tunes throughout the set, including the funky, electronic “Megalodon” and “The Flood.” Following a hefty “Song For Us” > “Tumbleweed,” the group debuted a new tune called “Dangerous” which was a heavy, riff and synth driven ride. Towards the end of the set, the band brought Andy Frasco out to conduct them in a version of their tune “My Volcano” that ended up being the longest jam of the set.
Over on the Peach Stage, the String Cheese Incident performed a full two-set show with the second set being the highlight of the night for most fans. During the group’s first set, they brought out the Infamous Stringdusters’ Andy Hall on dobro for “My One and Only” and “Lonesome Fiddle Blues,” and guitarist Scott Sharrard of the Gregg Allman Band for “Outside and Inside” > “Southbound,” with both sit-ins blowing the crowd out of their seats. The second set didn’t feature any sit-ins, but “Song in my Head” > “Beautiful” and “Let’s Go Outside” > “Land’s End” > “Glory Chords” > “Southbound” were both segments that left fans with their jaws on the floor. Closing out the Peach Stage was Lotus in the late night slot. Lotus got a two hour set and kept the crowd moving in the night with their groovy tunes and dance-focused improv. Highlights of the set included “Wooly Mammoth,” “MacGuffin” featuring Eli Winderman of Dopapod and Octave Cat, “Bellwether” > “Spaghetti” > “Bellwether,” and the set closing “Umbilical Moonrise.” Of all the late night sets, Lotus was one of the most fun and people bounced between the pavilion and the Live for Live Music Stage where the Magic Beans were playing their late night. The Beans threw a real party, playing to a decently sized crowd, most likely gained after their two-set late night party last year. The entire set was pretty good, with the highlights being a cover of Sturgill Simpson’s “Long White Line” and a set closing “Mission” > “Here On Out.”
Star Kitchen kicked off Saturday on the Peach Stage, bringing out guitarist Jeremy Schon of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong to make the set extra funky. This was the group’s first time playing the Peach Music Festival and they were well received by the crowd as their funk stylings got everyone up and moving for the start of the day. Over on the Mushroom Stage, Ghost Light returned to the Peach for their second year, as guitarist Raina Mullen celebrated her 26th birthday. The group opened the set with Mullen’s own anthem “Diamond Eyes,” before masterfully working their way into “Streets of Brooklyn” and “Synth Driver.” The highlight of the set was the closing segment of “Old Fashioned” > Radiohead’s “Black Star” > “Simple Gift Of Man” > the ending of “Best Kept Secret,” in which guitarist Tom Hamilton took the lead and broke into his signature effects-driven guitar scratching. Lettuce took the Peach Stage for a mid afternoon set, opening with the jazzy “Larimar” before jumping into the soulful “Krewe.” The whole pavilion was up and moving for the entire set, as the beats coming from bassist Jesus Coomes and drummer Adam Deitch were too good not to dance to. The set also featured an especially stellar version of “Phyllis,” a hip hop-infused cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule The World,” and a tight rendition of “Purple Cabbage.”
Goose debuted at the festival on the Live for Live Music Stage, having been heavily requested by fans during the festival’s survey after last year. The band had a lot of hype following their name the entire weekend, with many attendees sporting Goose merch and moustaches. Goose opened the set with “Madhuvan” and took it off to the races, before playing two recently released singles “Time to Flee” and a slow version of “All I Need.” The set included the band’s versions of “Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo” by the Grateful Dead and “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby. They closed the set with “Hot Tea” and had the whole L4LM Stage area packed to the brim, which is a rare thing to see at Peach. Greensky Bluegrass performed on the Peach Stage before the big act of the night, Trey Anastasio Band, paying tribute to the Allman Brothers with a cover of “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” as well as some standards including “Living Over,” “Leap Year,” and “Demons.”
Trey Anastasio Band took the stage for a full two sets of music following Greensky, pulling from all aspects of Trey’s musical career as TAB sets usually do. The group opened with “Set Your Soul Free,” part of a suite of songs that have to do with the guitarist’s “Soul Planet” concept. Following SYSF came some Trey classics, “Alive Again,” “Cayman Review” and “Money, Love and Change.” The group also played numerous Phish songs that have been part of the TAB repertoire for a while, including “Gotta Jibboo,” “Sand,” and “First Tube,” which were all jammed out in their usual fashion. Second set highlights include “Mozambique,” “Rise/Come Together,” and “A Life Beyond a Dream.”
During Trey’s second set, Chicago progressive rock band Mungion took the Live for Live Music Stage for their second ever Peach set, gathering a pretty good sized crowd for playing at the same time as Trey. The group opened their set with the always odd “Myrtle,” letting the song breathe and expand as they explored the jam section. Mungion brought a handful of new tunes with them including a new character, “Fludias Wozalenbill,” as well as “Better Half” and “Hideaway,” where they brought out Dopapod guitarist Rob Compa for the tune which led to he and guitarist Justin Reckamp having a prodigious guitar battle. The group closed the set with the anthemic and jazzy “Beneath the Shallows,” a fan-favorite composition from the group’s first record Scary Blankets.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out the night on the Peach Stage, featuring two drummers that weren’t Joe Russo, as the namesake of the band had just had a baby with his wife a few days prior. (Congrats Joe!) In his place were his drum tech, 19 year old Evan Roque, and Ben Porowsky, who is in BOYFRIENDS with Russo. The pair did an impressive job taking on Russo’s difficult role while also paying homage to the Dead’s two drummer setup. The setlist was filled to the brim with Dead classics, opening with the disco-infused “Shakedown Street,” before taking the crowd out west for a rowdy “Me and My Uncle” and “Eyes of the World.” Guitarist Tom Hamilton led the group in an emotional take on “Althea” before breaking into the madness of “Drums” > “The Other One” > “Viola Lee Blues,” which was the highlight of the set. JRAD closed out the show with an “I Know You Rider,” sans “China Cat,” and encored with the classic singalong “Not Fade Away.”
Sunday’s music mainly took place on the Peach Stage, with a lineup of heavy hitters of both veteran and new acts. The inaugural Guitar Pull set was among the many highlights of the day, bringing together some of the jam scene’s favorite guitar players together for a set of mind blowing guitar mashups. From a relaxed version of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” led by Steve Kimock and joined by Rob Compa, to Umphrey’s McGee’s “Booth Love” led by Jake Cinninger and joined by Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, to Stanley Jordan leading an inspiring cover of Hendrix’s “Red House,” this set satisfied the guitar nerds in the audience with matchups they could never dream of. Marcus King Band followed the Guitar Pull, bringing their new age blues sound fueled by the guitar stylings of the 25 year old prodigy. King’s set was soulful, performing songs straight from his heart including emotional versions of “Goodbye Carolina” and “8 a.m.” off of the group’s recent release Carolina Confessions, as well as songs showcasing the group’s signature gritty blues, including “Fraudulent Waffle,” “Plant Your Corn Early,” and “What’s Right.”
Following King came a duo acoustic set from music legends Warren Haynes and Grace Potter. The set was comprised of mostly covers, aside from a few originals by each artist, including Haynes’ “Is It Me or You” and Gov’t Mule’s “Captured” and Potter’s “Stars” and “Shout it Out,” a new song performed for the first time at this duo set. Surrounding the duo’s original music included Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman,” Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and Joan Baez’s “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” all performed with the entirety of each artist’s heart and soul fully invested into the music. Phil Lesh & Friends closed out the main stage with two sets, the roster included Elliot Peck on vocals, Holly Bowling on keys, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and Grahame Lesh on guitar, and John Molo on drums. The sets featured many classic Grateful Dead songs and a handful of covers led by various members of the band, including a Lesh-led “Broken Arrow,” and “Sunshine of Your Love” and “All Along the Watchtower” led by Haynes. The group performed stellar versions of Dead classics, especially “Bird Song,” “St. Stephen” and “Morning Dew.” The first set got cut slightly short due to inclement weather on the mountain, but the band and crowd powered through it and Grahame Lesh led the group in “Playing in the Band” to open the second set.
Check out the photo gallery below for a look into what the Peach Music Festival was like this year. This weekend was full of great music and rarely ever had a lull in things to do. Spirits were high and the weather was great until the yearly rain on Sunday night. Peach is an event not to miss, so make it a point to go next year! Check back with NYSMusic for future coverage of the Peach.
The Peach Music Festival is returning to Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA for its 8th annual event at the end of the month, sporting a lineup that fans have been calling the best of the summer. Peach remains a favorite in many attendee’s hearts for its warm, friendly vibes and nonstop schedule of killer music. The festival begins on Thursday, July 25, shifting from last year’s earlier July 19 start date to the last weekend of the month.
The lineup features multiple Peach Stage sets from headlining acts that didn’t play last year’s event, including three sets from jamgrass outfit, The String Cheese Incident, two sets from Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio’s side project Trey Anastasio Band, as well as a set on Friday afternoon from Blues Traveler. A few acts have graduated from the Mushroom Stage to the Peach Stage, notably Aqueous, who are performing the opening set of the festival on Thursday afternoon, as well as Lotus, performing the late night set on Friday night. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong have gained a set from last year’s one main stage set, now performing both before and after String Cheese’s Thursday set.
Other sets to look out for on the Peach Stage include Billy Strings, a hot commodity on the bluegrass scene, at 5:30 on Thursday, moe. on Friday afternoon at 6pm, Lettuce on Saturday at 3:45pm, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on Saturday at 12:00am. The Mushroom Stage features a plethora of impressive acts, kicking off on Friday with Andy Frasco & the U.N., a soulful rock band led by a party animal of a frontman, followed by Vulfpeck alum and virtuoso guitarist Cory Wong, as well as prog rockers Dopapod and BIG Something. Saturday’s lineup features soulful female vocalist Kat Wright, Tom Hamilton’s recent project Ghost Light, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, and Colorado funk group The Motet.
The other Stage features a ton of fantastic acts, and catching any one of them would be a good thing to do. Here are a few that you definitely shouldn’t miss though: On Friday, Joe Hertler & and the Rainbow Seekers at 2:30pm, Upstate at 4pm, Cycles at 10:30pm, Magic Beans at 12:30am. On Saturday, Goose at 4:45pm, Mungion at 10:30 pm, and Organ Freeman at 12:30am.
Peach Festival offers a range of amenities to assist in making attendees comfortable including potable water stations, ATMs, food vendors and medical tents, among other things. The Mushroom Stage is located within Montage Mountain’s very own water park, which includes a lazy river and wave pool that attendees can enjoy their favorite Mushroom sets from. Attendees also have access to the lodge, also located in the water park, that sells pizza and other hot food items for those that want to purchase.
Check out the schedule above or create your own personalized schedule through The Peach Music Festival app, which can remind you when your favorite bands are about to start and let you know of any important updates. Check back with NYS Music for more coverage of this year’s Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA
This upcoming weekend, from Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 9, the 9th annual Disc Jam Music Festival will once again take place at Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown, NY. The festival is a melting pot of art, music, and disc golf, cooking up relaxed vibes and nonstop good music until 3 in the morning every day. Disc Jam’s dual main stage setup makes catching the next set as easy as can be, only having to shift a couple feet left or right to move to the next stage.
Thursday’s music kicks off on the Tent Stage with Space Junk is Forever, a jazz fusion duo out of Boston, MA that recently formed and recorded their debut album. The Tent Stage has sets going on all day, every day for the whole weekend. Other notable bands on Thursday to check out are Eggy, Of Clocks and Clouds, and Circles Around the Sun’s late night set. On the dual main stages, Dopapod bassist Chuck Jones and drummer Neal Evans’ side project Mom and Dad kicks off the action on Main Stage A (Live For Live Music Stage), followed by Litz and two sets of Aqueous. Main Stage B (Grassroots Stage) features the Connecticut-based group One Time Weekend, Horizon Wireless, Dynohunter, and the musical lovechild of Primus and Nine Inch Nails, lespecial.
Friday’s music starts a little earlier, with Wurliday and Funk Dawgz Brass Band opening up the Main Stages B and A, respectively. Following Wurliday, old school prog rockers The Breakfast will be melting faces, before West End Blend feeds everyone’s souls with the sweet, soothing voice of Erica T. Bryan and the no nonsense funk band behind her. The live electronic band Sunsquabi brings their 3-piece grooves to Stage B, with Ripe closing the stage out with an hour and a half long set. Over on Stage A, The Elovaters follows the Funky Dawgz; the Boston-based group will be bringing laid back vibes to the fest with their reggae sound and fresh new tunes from their recent release Defy Gravity. lespecial plays their second set of the weekend after the Elovaters, followed by saxophone duo Moon Hooch, and closed out by the recently returned prog rockers Dopapod, for their second performance of the year. On the tent stage, performances to keep an eye on are Muscle Tough, Formula 5 for one of their last ever performances, Catullus, and Consider the Source.
Saturday’s lineup kicks off with Audiodacity on the Main Stage B, followed by Paris Monster and Sam Kinninger Band. Root Shock opens up the Main Stage A, followed by Tweed, with Kung Fu chopping up funk grooves for an hour and a half after that. The four big performances on Saturday are Ghost Light, Papadosio, John K’s West Philly Fadeaway, and Lotus ft. Jon “Barber” Gutwillig. Ghost Light is Philly legend Tom Hamilton’s new project, featuring keyboardist Holly Bowling, drummer Scotty Zwang, guitarist Raina Mullen, and recent addition, bassist Dan Africano. The band blends indie-esque songwriting with intricate, weaving setlists and gets deep into improv during their live shows. Papadosio is a jamtronica band from Asheville, NC that uses a lot of electronic aspects in their music. Their shows seem to put out a very strong vibe, through the combination of the music and lights, of just being present in the moment, and experiencing the music as it happens.
John K’s West Philly Fadeaway hasn’t happened before, so there’s not much that can be said about it, other than the fact that it’s the OG Disco Biscuits with John K playing Dead tunes, which should be incredible. Then, finally, closing out the main sets of the night, is Lotus w/ Barber. Fans didn’t and still don’t know what to expect when this was announced, but from what bassist Jesse Miller has said, expect songs where the guitar is relatively clean so they can experiment with the effects. It should also be noted that Barber has played a number of shows with drummer Mike Greenfield and has stated that he’s a fan of Greenfield’s technique and textures, so there’s already a musical bond formed with arguably the most important part of the music. The Tent Stage on Saturday is chock full of awesome bands, though you’re gonna want to check out Timbre Coup, returning to the stage for the second time this year, Strange Machines, Space Bacon, and Chachuba, as well as the Doom Flamingo and CIA & Friends late night sets which will presumably feature some of drummer Allen Aucoin’s Disco Biscuits counterparts.
Sunday is a little lighter than the two days preceding it, with music ending at 8 p.m. instead of 3 a.m. Boston’s Dewpoint opens up Main Stage A, followed by Cape Cod jams rockers The New Motif, and Snarky Puppy side project Ghost Note, featuring MonoNeon and Nate Werth. Closing out Stage A is Pink Talking Fish, a cover act blending Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish together, who also recently gained a new guitarist, Cal Kehoe. Over on Stage B, Eastbound Jesus will open up the stage, followed by Disco Biscuits drummer Allen Aucoin’s solo project Dr. Fameus. Closing the B Stage out is Star Kitchen, Disco Biscuit bassist Marc Brownstein’s new funk side project that features guitarist Danny Meyer. The Tent Stage lineup for Sunday is all heavy hitters, with Baltimore’s Band Of Tomorrow, Upstate NY’s Space Carnival for their first show back since the hiatus, Brooklyn’s Escaper, and the Capital Region’s hard rockers Wild Adriatic all prominently featured. It would be worth it to check all of those bands out.
For the attendees that purchased a VIP ticket, the VIP lounge will be hosting several special solo piano sets, including Ben Carrey of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits, Jonathan Grusauskas of lespecial, and Ryan Dempsey of Twiddle. VIP ticket holders will also receive an exclusive merch package that includes pins, cups, prints and shirts, access to a complimentary craft beer garden, and access to a VIP camping area that includes bathrooms and showers.
For any FAQs or tickets, head over to the festival website. Check in with NYSMusic on Instagram durign the weekend for updates from the festival, and stay tuned next week for full coverage and a photo gallery from the weekend!
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong threw their 10th annual Domefest this year at its new location, Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, WV. Previously held in Bedford, PA, the fest moved to the new site to allow for an expansion in size and attendees. As people arrived Thursday afternoon, they knew they were in for a treat as Marvin’s scenic wide open views showcased West Virginia’s natural beauty.
Thursday kicked off with Chalk Dinosaur on the main stage, a fun, dancey, electronic group that provided an entertaining start to the music. Following the prehistoric groovers came Cycles, a jammy power rock trio from Denver, CO that knows how to explore new territory and shred the audience’s faces off in the same jam. Cycles crushed their set, gaining new fans and satisfying returning fans alike. Next came another Colorado group, The Magic Beans, who seem to be a favorite among Pigeons’ crowd, and for good reason, performing their first set of the weekend. The highlight of the Beans’ set was by far the segment of “Mission” segued into “Dr. Bubbleman,” featuring some exemplary type 2 jamming that was backed up by lighting designer Tim Farquhuar’s impressive work.
Closing out the main “Gallery Society” stage, came Pigeons Playing Ping Pong for their first set of the weekend. Thursday’s theme was “Domecoming Weekend,” so the band was dressed in matching sparkly gold jackets and snazzy white pants. The group played a number of their biggest songs including “Melting Lights,” “Scwanthem,” and “Something for Ya,” and debuted a cover of Metallica’s legendary “Enter Sandman,” led by drummer Alex Petropulos on vocals. For an encore, the band wished guitarist Jeremy Schon a happy birthday and performed their song “Su Casa” with John Denver’s “Country Roads” sandwiched in the middle of the tune, an homage to the festival’s new home in West Virginia.
In between all of these sets, Asheville-based funk band The Fritz performed tweener sets at the festival’s smaller stage, the “Bamboo Eater” stage, which was immediately to the right of the main stage, making it extremely easy for attendees to move between both. The Fritz absolutely killed it during all of the sets, bringing fun and funky covers of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” (dedicated to Ben Carrey from Pigeons) and Michael Jackson’s dance hit “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” to the ears of the ‘domies’ that stuck around for their sets. These guys are definitely a band to keep an eye on, every member just exudes talent and creativity, and frontman Jamar Woods has dance moves that are just as impressive as his keyboard skills.
There was a bit of rain from Thursday into Friday, but that didn’t break the domies’ spirits, as more and more people started embracing the mud and walking around barefoot. Friday was opened up by Mateo Monk (or White Wolf) on the main stage, performing a really spiritual solo looping set that ended with a song that repeated the line “music is my prayer.” Following Mateo came Deaf Scene, a heavy post rock band that seemed out of place at the festival, but absolutely crushed their set and had members of the Flock on the rail head banging by the end of their set. Bassist Eric Courtney performed the entire set in his boxers, and remained in that state for a good chunk of the day. West End Blend came next, an 8-piece funk band from Connecticut that bares a resemblance to Turkuaz. Lead singer and de facto front woman Erica T. Bryan soothed the souls of the crowd with her spectacular voice, backed up by a tight, get-shit-done rhythm section and horns.
Chicago prog rockers Mungion followed soon after, bringing the heat with spectacular versions of their songs “Quemaste tu Cabello,” “Nuthead,” and “Beneath the Shallows,” as well as a jammed out “Myrtle” that featured Aqueous’ Mike Gantzer on guitar. The group also performed Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain” with their original song “Return to Sender” sandwiched in the middle of it. Mungion’s first set of the weekend was fantastic and got the crowd rowdy and ready for Aqueous, the Buffalo-based groove rock band that has been steadily gaining popularity across the country over the past few years. The group opened their set with fan-favorite “Origami,” debuted a new song called “Be The Same,” which featured drummer Rob Houk on supporting vocals, and brought out West End Blend’s horn section for a performance of the album version of “Weight of the Word.” The set also contained a bustout of Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” featuring Justin Reckamp of Mungion on guitar and Michael Bafundo of West End Blend on trumpet, which made the crowd go wild and had nearly everyone singing along.
Closing out the main stage per usual was Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, this time with two sets and following the theme of “Magic Kingdome.” The band was dressed in matching Mickey Mouse outfits of red pants, suspenders and black t-shirts. Both sets were jam-packed with Disney tunes, from Pocahontas’ “Colors of the Wind,” Lion King’s “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King,” and a medley of tunes from The Jungle Book, including the classic “Bear Necessities.” The group also encored with an original debut of a song called “Water,” adding to an ongoing list of songs that frontman Greg Ormont has written about cups. Highlights of the sets include the back half of the first set, which featured the West End Blend horns, the “Henrietta” second set opener, and the sandwich of “Poseidon” > “A Whole New World” > “Magic Carpet Ride” > “Abracadabra” > “Poseidon.”
Friday’s “Bamboo Eater” stage lineup featured the Dirty Grass Players, who showcased an impressive version of “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad,” a number famously covered by the Grateful Dead; Schwa, Pigeons bassist Ben Carrey’s electronic side project that featured live bass and guitar as well as looping jams; and Fletcher’s Grove, the only band from West Virginia on the lineup, who brought their Appalachian rock sound and turned a few heads with their cover of “Shakedown Street” before Aqueous’ set. The real treat of the smaller stage was the Magic Beans’ second set of the weekend, a late night set that was originally only supposed to last until 3:30, but due to a lightning-induced set break, lasted until 5 in the morning instead. The group performed a 2-part “Lazer Lady” (only because of the lightning) as well as stellar versions of a bunch of Casino Cabaret tunes, including “Here On Out,” “Hanky Panky,” and “Mr. Scientist.”
Saturday’s weather was sunny and hot, not harboring a single drop of rain the entire day and officially cementing the best weather in Domefest history. Virginia’s Kendall Street Company opened the main stage, offering a mix of folksy rock tunes, acoustic driven ballads, and a portion of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” Swimmer took the stage next, with the Burlington jam quartet landing their spaceship of funky electronic jams right smack in the middle of Marvin’s muddy, hay-covered concert bowl. The group then made way for Funk You, a progressive funk band from Georgia that’s led by soulful singer and frontman Gavin Hamilton who laid down melodies that made some people stop in their tracks and turn to the stage. Funk You was a really fun act to watch and listen to, staying true to the “progressive funk” genre they classify themselves as with driving, intricate funk grooves. Next up were Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, a band of musicians so in touch with their third eye that it made audience members want to give up everything and start following the rainbow. The Rainbow Seekers had one of the most entertaining stage presences, with members dancing around the stage while playing each song, bright colored outfits, a giant inflatable rainbow, and visibly having a good time being on stage together playing music. These guys are definitely a band to see live if you’ve never seen them before, their groovy, almost Motown-like sound, is sure to sooth whatever is ailing you.
Following Joe Hertler were Aqueous for their second headlining set of the weekend, a little earlier than their set the previous night which made perfect timing for the sun to set right as their music started. The group performed a slightly different set than usual, with the majority of the setlist broken up into 2 big segments of “Strange Times” > “Marty” > “Timmy’s Blades” > “Say It Again” and “Split the Difference” > “Rocko’s Modern Life Theme” > “Rugrats Theme” > “Random Company,” a truly career spanning setlist, as well as a reprisal of some covers from their Nickelodeon-themed Halloween show last October. Following those two segments, the group debuted a cover of “Walking on the Moon” by Empire of the Sun that featured drummer Rob Houk on lead vocals, which doesn’t happen very often. Houk crushed his vocals and was praised by the crowd with cheers of “Let Rob sing!” which fans have been asking for since the last time Houk led a cover. The group closed their set with their classic “Dave’s Song,” which featured a tease of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” before playing the rare ending of “Dave’s” and closing out the set.
Pigeons came next, performing their last two sets of the weekend. Saturday’s theme was “Dome for the Holidays,” so the band was adorned in various holiday-themed outfits, including Ormont who wore a Hanukkah sweater and giant hat that said “Mazel Tov” across it. Both sets featured holiday songs of course, including the classic Bar Mitzvah song “Hava Nagila” and a mashup of the “Dreidel” song and “Jingle Bells,” as well as a show-closing “Auld Lang Syne.” Surrounding these covers were some stellar segments of “Julia” > “Beanstalk” > “Julia,” “Lightning” > “Moonwalk” > “E-Funk”, and “Zydeko” > “Sir Real” > “Dreidel Bells” > “Zydeko,” showcasing the group’s affinity and proclivity for long segued segments. Closing out the mainstage for the weekend was the much anticipated “Domefest All-Stars” set, featuring musicians from Aqueous, Mungion, Goose, Puremotion, Pigeons, Litz, and Funk You among others. The set mainly consisted of standards like Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” from his infamous synth funk Headhunters album, and a version of The Meters’ “Cissy Strut” that featured Justin Reckamp, Sean Carolan, and Matt Kellen of Mungion, Peter Anspach from Goose, Mike Gantzer from Aqueous, Jeremy Schon from Pigeons and the Funk You horns. The set also featured performances of classic songs such as the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World,” featuring all of the Pigeons besides Petropulos as well as Litz’ own Austin Litz on keys and Aqueous’ Rob Houk on drums, and Prince’s party anthem “1999” with Ormont trading verses a la the original version with Funk You’s Gavin Hamilton (who breathed a whole new life into the song with his soulful voice) and their saxophone player. The All-Stars closed off around 6 in the morning, just as the sun and temperature started rising for the dawn of a new day.
Over on the “Bamboo Eater” stage, Connecticut-based folk rock band Goose performed 3 tweener sets and absolutely lit the small stage on fire. Opening their first set with The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping Paper” to fit the “Dome for the Holidays” theme, the group performed exemplary versions of “Time to Flee,” “Tumble,” “Jive Lee,” “Yeti,” and “Hot Tea,” as well as unique takes on The Who’s “Eminence Front” and the Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless.” Goose had the crowd moving and grooving during all 3 of their sets and definitely gained a lot of new fans throughout; check these guys out if you haven’t yet. The last band on the side stage was Mungion, back for their second set of the weekend. The group opened with a heavy hitting “Chatterbox” > “SteveO’s Waffle” > “Justice” by Jimmy Herring, followed by a version of “Herbert” that blew the minds of everyone in the audience with its complex composition and exploratory prog jam. The band closed out their set with a mashup of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and Primus’ “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” that worked so well it was almost like the original artists planned it.
The tenth annual Domefest was a shining example of what small festivals should be. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong know what their audience wants and they delivered beyond expectations. Hopefully the fest will return to Marvin’s Mountaintop next year, as the grounds provided the perfect setting for Domefest’s family vibes and tight-knit feeling. All of the bands that performed did so with energy and purpose and were met by love and respect from the Flock, which is a beautiful thing to experience at festivals. If you missed this year’s Dome, make it a point to make it out next year. You won’t regret it.
Check out our photographer Matt Shotwell’s photo gallery below for a look into how beautiful of an experience Dome really was.
This past Saturday, Dopapod returned from their hiatus at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. Fans flocked from all over the country for the show, which should say something about how anticipated this day has been over the last year. The weather was perfect, spirits inside the Cap were high, and fans were ready to rage. Dopapod was nearly back.
The show started just as any Dopapod show starts: lighting designer, Luke Stratton, playing mysterious-sounding keys from the front of house to set the mood. As the lights came up and the band walked out onstage, the entire crowd erupted in applause. Keyboardist, Eli Winderman, sat down and got right into it, starting into the opening riff of the quintessential “Vol 3 #86,” which had the entire crowd freaking-out from the first note. Right off the bat, the band was very visibly happy to be back onstage playing this music together and they were absolutely locked in with each other. (Stream Matt Moricle’s recording below or download here)
After playing through the main composition of “Vol. 3 #86,” Winderman took the helm with his Moog and the band was off into uncharted territory. The jam in “Vol 3” was very patient and allowed for Winderman and guitarist, Rob Compa, to explore different melodic ideas before locking in on a driving, synth groove that led the group into a mini peak, before dropping back into the “Vol 3” ending, hard. Bassist, Chuck Jones, immediately started into the heavy intro riff of “Nuggy Jawson,” an instrumental that’s very riff-centric and progressive. Following “Nuggy Jawson” came “Mucho,” the mysterious funky jam that provides an optimistic outlook on life. The crowd was getting down and singing along to every word, including the chorus, which is completely in Spanish. Winderman led the group on his Moog. The jam was fairly short and the band sang the last round of lyrics before having some fun with the clapping part, as the song ended.
Compa finally broke the silence and addressed the crowd with a “Welcome back!,” before starting the opening notes of “French Bowling,” a jazzy tune that features a lot of intense melodic lines. “Bowling” would fit perfectly in a spy movie, the vibe is almost Pink Panther-esque in the way it slinks around and leaves the listener wondering where it’s going next. At this point in the show, the entire theater was grooving and cheering at nearly every section change.
The jam in “Bowling” was dark and mystifying, led by Compa with a remarkable solo weaving through each chord change expertly. The group crushed the dubby outro of the song and used the energy to transition into the heavy rocker, “Braindead.” It didn’t feature a jam, but “Braindead” allowed room to breathe, making for an experimental, but tight version of the song. The slower “My Elephant vs. Your Elephant,” was a testament to Winderman’s ability to draw the sweetest melodies out of his synth. The composed section was tight and led the band into a groovy, bouncy jam led by Winderman on his Moog and organ. The jam never reached a peak.
To close out the set, the band dusted off fan-favorite “Trapper Keeper,” with Jones introducing the song as such. “Trapper Keeper” was one of the highlights, featuring the most exploratory jam that tapped into the use of space and ambience to create a wonderfully mystical atmosphere. Towards the end of the jam, Compa took an absolutely beautiful slide solo that seemed to be him pouring out emotions built up over the hiatus. After a powerful ending, the band left the stage and the fans were speechless. In-house set-break entertainment was provided as Stratton projected the movie Shrek the Third onto the walls of the theater.
To kick off the second set, the group broke into their recently released “Numbers Need Humans,” a funkier tune that’s never been played live before. The song translated to the live setting easily and the band was obviously enjoying it. Following “Numbers” came “FABA,” which is arguably the group’s greatest song. The crowd was ecstatic from the opening melody. “FABA” was another one of the night’s highlights; it was absolutely perfect front to back and by the looks on the members’ faces, they thought so as well. The jam explored a bit different territory, with the band locking in on a funk groove before getting into this rising, atmospheric groove that built up perfectly into the crescendo of the jam.
Winderman wasted no time post-“FABA” and started right into “Onionhead,” which was an excellent follow up to the 17 minutes of goodness that preceded it. The intro was extended and stripped down, before the band dropped heavily into the recorded intro and started into the song’s driving, bass groove. Winderman led the jam on piano, working around the grooves that Jones and Evans were laying down. Before starting the next song, Jones addressed the crowd saying: “Luke gets paid way more to light this song,” as the band broke into “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” by the Smashing Pumpkins, who Stratton has been working for during the hiatus. Apparently the group tricked him by putting a Dopapod song in this spot on the setlist, so Stratton had to light the song on the fly.
Winderman started the opening of “Superbowl,” laying down heavy synth bass notes that literally shook the venue. The jam in “Superbowl” was sweet and succinct, not going far outside the realms of the song. The upbeat “Roid Rage” came next, a fusion-esque tune that quickly got into a jam, which featured an incredibly impressive metal section before Compa took the helm and soloed masterfully through the quick changes. Up next was “Plaese Haalp,” off of the group’s 2017 release Megagem, played uptempo which gave it a funkier feel. “Haalp” didn’t feature a jam section, but featured yet another impressive guitar solo from Compa. Evans started into the groove of “Cloud World.” The song’s jazzy sound served as a nice follow up to “Haalp”’s harder rock sound. The jam section in “Cloud World” was very spacey and had elements of reggae, before the band started rising the groove back into the ending of the song.
Winderman thanked the crowd and introduced his and Compa’s parents, telling the crowd that they decided to play a song they were going to save for the VIP set: “Never Odd or Even,” the secret track off of the 2014 album of the same name. This was the live debut of the song, and it was a very emotional moment for a lot of lifelong fans. There were some heavy emotions flowing out of this performance, and it was the most beautiful part of the show. To close out the second set, the group kicked off “Bubble Brain,” another fan favorite and one of the band’s best compositions. The jam section of “Bubble Brain” carried some of the emotion from the previous song “NOOE,” as Winderman led the charge with an emotional organ solo that was a shining example of why he’s one of the best organ users on the scene right now.
The band took a very quick encore break before returning to the stage, and Jones started introducing the members of the band, asking if “you wanna hear ‘Trapper Keeper’ again? Absolutely not! Shame on you!” Winderman opened with the synth notes of “Freight Train Filled With Dynamite,” a powerhouse of a song that sounds like a freight train barreling down the tracks. Freight Train’s jam section had an overall jamtronica sound, with collaborative electronic grooves. The band masterfully transitioned back into the head of the tune.
This show was incredible. Dopapod was locked in with one another, the jams were fresh and explored really interesting territory and the setlist was phenomenal front to back. Luke Stratton also put on one of the most astounding light shows the crowd had ever seen, seemingly never repeating a single move. It’s hard to put into words the emotions the band conveyed musically, but one thing is very clear: all four of them really enjoyed performing that show and are happy to be back.
Dopapod, April 27, 2019 – The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY
Set 1: Vol. 3 #86 > Nuggy Jawson, Mucho, French Bowling (1) > Braindead, My Elephant vs. Your Elephant, Trapper Keeper
Set 2: Numbers Need Humans, FABA, Onionhead, Bullet With Butterfly Wings (2,3), Super Bowl, Roid Rage, Plaese Haalp, Cloud World, Never Odd Or Even (2) > Bubble Brain
This upcoming Saturday, April 27, Northeast rockers Dopapod are returning to the stage at the Capitol Theatre after a nearly 16 month hiatus. The show will be the band’s first at the prestigious theater, making their comeback that much more special. The following Sunday afternoon, a VIP storyteller set (including brunch) will take place at the Cap’s smaller venue, Garcia’s, which should make for an extremely special experience for the small group of fans that got tickets.
For those unfamiliar with the band, Dopapod is a progressive rock group that formed at Berklee College of Music in 2008 and started touring consistently in 2010. From 2010 to 2017, the band gained traction nationally by touring, performing at least 100 (usually more) shows a year. The group announced in September of 2017 that they’d be taking a year off to focus on themselves and relieve the stress pent up from 7 straight years of touring nonstop, which was thankfully understood by the fans.
2018 saw very little in the Dopapod realm; they put out a video for “Mucho,” Rob and Eli did a couple of “OG Dopapod” gigs with Turkuaz’ Mikey Carubba, and the members sat in with each other’s side projects from time to time. But, after a year of patiently waiting, fans got an announcement: Dopapod is coming back, and at the Capitol Theatre nonetheless! The return of Dopapod is finally here. That should get you up to speed!
The group has also announced a new album due out May 25 entitled Emit Time, which is a palindrome just like the band’s previous album titles. Two singles have already been released on all streaming platforms and YouTube, “Numbers Need Humans” and “Test of Time.” The album is said to contain material both old and new, some of it being left over from the sessions for the pre-hiatus release MEGAGEM. The band recorded 2 albums worth of material but ultimately decided against a double album since they were focusing on vinyl, saving half of the tracks for future use.
The comeback show this Saturday and VIP set on Sunday should be an amazing experience for everyone going. Dopapod is an extremely talented band that will hopefully continue playing music in the future. Check back with NYSMusic for coverage of both the show and the VIP set!
On a cold Friday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to Albany’s Palace Theatre for its seemingly annual performance at the venue. The show sold out months in advance and the theatre filled quickly as Grateful Dead fans across the northeast flocked to New York’s capital for a tribute to their favorite live act.
To open up the first set, the group started into a jam that slowly but surely built itself into “Cassidy.” During the intro jam, guitarist Tom Hamilton made good use of his recently acquired De Pinto guitar, manipulating its onboard overdrive effect and an octave pedal, creating a sort of fuzzy overtone, and bassist Dave Dreiwitz took the helm for a bit before the group finally dropped into the main composition. The group jammed in and out of the verses and choruses of the song before leading it into a very spacey jam that employed the use of patience as the group started into the traditional tune “Jack a Roe.” Keyboardist Marco Benevento teased the theme to Pink Panther heavily during the intro jam, adding a mysterious vibe to the music as the group worked its way into the main composition. After weaving in and out of the lyrics of “Jack a Roe,” the group wasted no time transitioning into “Box of Rain,” dropping into the Phil Lesh staple with nearly the entire audience singing along with its somber lyrics. At some point amidst the segue from “Jack a Roe” into “Box of Rain,” Hamilton broke one of his guitar’s strings and was forced to change it mid-transition to “The Other One” which led to an interesting musical conversation between Benevento and guitarist Scott Metzger.
The intro to “The Other One” was super spacious and ambient and primal feeling, and once Hamilton gave the “all clear” on his string, the group worked as a unit to build up an interesting jazzy groove, keeping that groove going under the first verse before a breathtaking drop into the chorus. Following the chorus, the group got back into the jazzy insanity that was happening during the intro, until drummer Joe Russo quickly brought the groove into “Drums,” keeping the general feeling of “The Other One” going, but adding some really impressive polyrhythms over the top of it. “Drums” was short-lived as Russo signaled to Benevento to start playing, leading to a rare Benevento/Russo reunion in the middle of the jam. The duo did their thing and quickly brought the jam back into “The Other One,” bringing the band back in for a drop into another verse/chorus just as intense and astounding as the initial drop that began the song. “The Other One” ended fairly abruptly, and the group drop-segued into the Dead’s disco classic “Shakedown Street,” much to the approval of the crowd. This version of “Shakedown” had a swagger to it, with Russo putting a bit of a swing to the groove and the rest of the band putting a little more oomph into the funk aspect of the tune. The jam following leading out of Shakedown took all the energy the band had built up during first set and transformed it into one glorious peak led by the whole band to close out the set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eRqJlt00jU
To kick off the second set, the group started into Bob Weir’s “Black Throated Wind,” a slower tune that was somewhat of a rarity in the Dead’s concert repertoire for the better part of their career. The group played through the song’s many verses with a rather somber feeling as Metzger belted out the lyrics and brought the song into a very rewarding peak that acted as a burst of the emotional energy the song had built. Suddenly, the jam dropped into the familiar chord progression of “Bertha,” only to be jammed on for a brief minute before faking out the crowd and dropping into the whimsical “Dupree’s Diamond Blues.” Hamilton lead the group through a fairly standard version of the song and closed it out with a soaring solo that began the transition into “Playin’ in the Band.” The intro jam was very patient and spacey, featuring Benevento experimenting on his Rhodes piano a bit before the group steadily rose the groove into the main tempo of “Playin’,” extending the intro of the song before Metzger broke into the lyrics. The jam immediately got spacey and dissonant with Hamilton and Benevento heavily making use of their delay pedals before Russo started bringing the “Playin’” groove back into his drumming. The group worked its way into a mini peak before dropping into one last round of choruses to finish out the song and begin the transition into “So Many Roads,” the first and only repeat from last year’s Palace show.
Benevento swiveled over to his Hammond organ to lead the band into the emotional Robert Hunter-penned tale, and Hamilton jumped back on the vocals, delivering an impressive performance of the song’s heartfelt lyrics. Following another big emotional peak, the group brought the song into a laidback reggae-ish groove that acted as the launching off point for the live staple “Estimated Prophet,” but not before heavily teasing the opening chord melody of “Crazy Fingers.” “Estimated” brought the energy up immensely after the emotional ride of “So Many Roads” and Metzger really tapped into his grittier side of his voice for the verses, which added a really cool element to the sound of this version. The jam sort of teetered its way around another spacey groove before dropping into the energetic “St. Stephen” which made the crowd roar. The group ripped through most of the lyrics and started building a super uptempo groove that burst back into “Bertha,” resolving the fakeout from the beginning of the set and leaving “St. Stephen” unfinished. “Bertha” was very fast paced, continuing the energy from “St. Stephen” and amidst the jam on the song’s main progression, the band’s tech replaced Russo’s snare drum, much to the amusement of Hamilton and Russo. Before the famous “test me, test me” section, the group got super quiet and let the tension build up before finally hitting on the chord when Hamilton sang the lyric out. The group closed out the set after one last chorus before leaving for encore break.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqhsFjsJsBk
Before the band came out for the encore, Benevento walked onstage and sat down at his grand piano to take a solo that eventually worked its way to the main melody of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” The full band walked out as he started into the chord progression and he took the lead on vocals for the only time that night for a very spirited version of the famous Dead cover.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead delivered yet another stellar performance at the palace theatre, filled with some really impressive versions of Grateful Dead classics, namely “The Other One” and “So Many Roads.” Hopefully the group continues this tradition and returns to the venue in March of 2020. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of the evening.
Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Palace Theatre, Albany, NY – March 1, 2019
Set One: Cassidy > Jack A Roe! > Box Of Rain+ > The Other One -> Drums -> The Other One Reprise @ > Shakedown St #
Set Two: Jam -> Black Throated Wind -> Bertha Jam ## -> Dupree’s Diamond Blues $-> Playing In The Band -> So Many Roads % -> Estimated Prophet > St Stephen ^ -> Bertha &
Encore: Marco Solo -> Werewolves Of London *
! – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-02-15 War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, TN, a gap of 43 shows + – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-02-17 The Pageant, St Louis, MO, a gap of 42 shows @ – With a Duo Jam, first Almost Dead version of “Other One Reprise” # – With a “Love Supreme” (John Coletrane) Tease (TH) and a Jam that included elements of “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” (Michael Jackson) and “Serpintine Fire” (Earth Wind & Fire) ## – First Time Played in this manner by Almost Dead $ – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018–03-08 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 39 shows % – With a “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan) Tease (TH) Tommy actually quoted the Guns N Roses version. Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-03-16 The Palace Theatre, a gap of 35 shows Albany, NY ^ – Unfinished & – With a “Reveille” (Traditional) Tease (SM) and a “Rock And Roll” (Led Zeppelin) Tease (JR) * – With a “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Tease (MB)
In the midst of a polar vortex, fans of Umphrey’s McGee fought through the frigid cold to see the band take to the historic Palace Theatre stage in Albany. This is the group’s fourth performance at the Palace over the past five years, seemingly solidifying it as a staple tour stop in the northeast. Opening up the night, they had Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, featuring John Kimock and Scott Metzger.
photo by Dave Decrescente
The first set kicked off with the heavy rocker “Domino Theory,” off 2011’s Death by Stereo, setting the mood for the night with its driving metal sound. Following a type 1 jam, the group played “Got Your Milk (Right Here),” another rocking tune that hadn’t been played since the group’s Red Rocks run. Robert Walter joined the group for “Whistle Kids” from Umphrey’s recent 2018 release it’s not us. Walter took over keyboardist Joel Cummins’ Fender Rhodes for the song and led the group through the ensuing jam with Cummins by his side on the Hammond organ, raising the somewhat downtempo feel of the song into a short, but sweet prog jam. “The Linear” followed, continuing that progginess and going into the first real jam of the set, heavily featuring guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger working with each other to create atmosphere and bring the song into “White Man’s Moccasins,” a jazzy tune that let Cinninger show off his chops a bit.
photo by Dave Decrescente
“Resolution” came next, raising the tempo immensely with its uplifting sound, and leading the group into a full band tease of The Beatles’ classic “Norwegian Wood.” The jam in “Resolution” was very spacey and electronic, creating a similar feel to what they did with “The Linear” earlier in the set but adding in the electronic drum kit from drummer Kris Meyers. Myers and percussionist Andy Farag took a mini drum jam before the group brought “Resolution” into “Upward,” a bluesy ballad by Bayliss that took the energy from “Resolution” and transformed it into the peak of the segment. To close out the set, Bayliss welcomed moe. drummer Vinnie Amico to the stage for a cover of ZZ Top’s “Cheap Sunglasses,” a classic by the Texas hard rock trio.
photo by Dave Decrescente
The second set was the highlight of the night, starting off with the prog metal masterpiece “Miss Tinkle’s Overture,” which really shows how all 6 members are a well oiled machine when they need to get down and technical. “Miss Tinkle’s” led the group into a dub reggae-esque jam once they had played through the composed sections before Cinninger brought the jam back into a metal sound for the “peak” of the jam. “Walletsworth” followed, continuing the heavy sound from “Miss Tinkle’s,” but not featuring any real jam besides Cummins taking a piano solo before the last chorus. “Waiting Room” kept the heaviness going, with its driving bassline and anthemic lyrics really getting the crowd raging for its brief performance.
photo by Dave Decrescente
To kick off the best segment of the set, the band started into the familiar opening chords of “1348,” which is always a welcome sound at an Umphrey’s show. The jam in “1348” was really interesting, the group mixed a dance sound with funky guitar riffing and really kept the groove driving until they suddenly broke into “Eat,” which was just heavy guitar riffage front to back. “Maybe Someday” came next, riding the wave of heaviness from “1348” > “Eat” and launching into a heavy metal jam that wove in and out of the composed sections of the song. Ending out the set was “The Floor” back into “1348,” completing the song from earlier in the set. “The Floor” is an incredible song to see live, it’s very dramatic and Middle Eastern-sounding at points, but also brings forth some of the group’s heaviest breakdowns.
This version of the song didn’t feature any jamming, but was a super tight version of the song and provided the perfect launchpad for dropping back into “1348.” The second half of “1348” was a culmination of all the energy they’d been building up throughout the second set, exploding into one last super heavy runaround of the main riff before ending the set. For the encore, the group sandwiched “Soul Food I” between two halves of “Puppet String.” The group seamlessly dropped out of the composed section of “Puppet String” into “Soul Food I,” performed the song, and then bassist Ryan Stasik dropped back into the “Puppet String” bassline and the rest of the band followed suit.
Umphrey’s McGee performed a heater of a show on Friday night in Albany, check out the photo gallery below for a taste of what the night looked like. Check back with NYS Music for coverage of the Dookie aftershow.
