NYS Music 20​19

Category: Photo Gallery

  • Michael Franti and Spearhead Deliver Positive Vibes to the Wellmont Theater

    The audience was told to hug a neighbor at least five times. Lyrics such as “They say that miracles are never ceasing / And every single soul needs a little release” were heard. This positive vibe radiated from Michael Franti and Spearhead, a hip hop-reggae-funk fusion band from California, as they performed at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ last week. The band also brought awareness to social issues and sparked authentic human interactions in the Garden State.

    Carl Young and Michael Franti

    The band members include Michael Franti (guitar, vocals), Carl Young (bass), Manas Itiene (Drums), J. Bowman (guitar), Mike Blankenship (keyboards), and an unidentified female vocalist.

    Gun violence statistics of every mass shooting in the USA scroll behind Michael Franti and Spearhead.

    The positive message and awareness to social issues stood out in a meaningful way. Franti’s recent song “The Flower,” a tribute to victims of gun violence, featured a video with survivors and scrolling gun violence statistics. Songs like “Just Work Hard And Be Nice To People” and “Good To Be Alive Today” brought a positive message mixed with short jams.

    Franti and an unidentified vocalist sing “Life Is Better With You”

    Strong musical skills were displayed during a flawless switch from Lionel Ritchie’s “All Night Long” to “Life Is Better With You.” The band was joined by an unidentified guest vocalist for this sequence, which included the original video of “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie on an LED screen behind the band.

    Franti was engaged with the entire audience, not just those in the front row. He sang two songs while on the floor, in the middle of the crowd. He also took a quick adventure to the balcony for a few verses. A myriad number of fans were brought on stage, including a couple who got engaged, and all the children on the floor during “Say Hey (I Love You).”

    The band has a couple of tour dates left in 2019 and will be on tour with Kenny Chesney in 2020. Head over to their tour page for more details.

  • In Focus: Marshall Tucker Band Keeps Southern Rock Alive At The Skyloft

    The Marshall Tucker Band was ‘born’ in Spartanburg, S.C. when Doug Gray teamed up with Tommy and Toy Caldwell, Paul T. Riddle, George McCorkle, and Jerry Eubanks. The name “Marshall Tucker” came from a piano tuner whose name was found on a key ring in their old rehearsal space. In 1973 Marshall Tucker Band opened for The Allman Brothers Band, and the following year, they began to headline their own shows.

    Marcus James Henderson – Multi-instrumentalist

    The SkyLoft in Albany, NY Crossgates Mall, was almost at full capacity on Saturday night, November 2, 2019. The crowd cheered as Doug Gray, the only original member of The Marshall Tucker Band, took center stage.
    At 71, and fronting the band since 1972, he still held his own.

    Gray almost took on the part of an orchestra conductor, when he wasn’t belting out a crowd favorite. He would share the moments with the highly talented band members, who proved their musical chops, which included a 13-minute version of the bands’ well-received hit, “Can’t You See.”

    “This is one song that’s played eight million times on the radio,” Gray told the crowd. “I want you to sing it with us.” And they did. Gray handed the microphone to two fans in the front row, and they sang a few bars. He then tossed his tambourine into the audience, and the crowd cheered again. You can see the appreciation in Gray’s eyes. The moment, it seemed, to say thank you for all the support over so many years. Truly, this must be what it is all about.

    With many southern rock bands, such as The Allman Brothers not performing any longer, and Lynyrd Skynyrd on their last tour, The Marshall Tucker Band kept the genre going. Today, the band members have all changed, with the exception of Gray. B.B. Borden is on drums, Tony Black, bass and vocals, Marcus James Henderson, commands keyboard, saxophone, flute, and vocals. Chris Hicks and Rick Willis shred the guitar and vocals.

    Fans become part of the show as Gray hands over the mic

    Similar to many of the crooners still touring of his generation, Gray did not sing on every song, he stuck to the classics and let the younger crew take charge, and take charge they did. Each band member had at least one showcase of their talent, with Henderson and his multi-instrumentals taking much of the spotlight. Chris Hicks wailed on guitar and vocals, sounding strong. After “Take The Highway,” Borden did an amazingly-energetic drum solo, which caused standing fans to inch closer into the magic. Recent American Idol finalist, Madison VanDenburg, made a brief visit to take the stage, and tambourine. The generation gap was evident, as she didn’t know the song as Gray tried to prompt her.

    If you are able to see this show, you owe it to yourself to do so. One can only hope the hard work and extended tour will help keep this genre alive for many more generations.

    Chris Hicks

    One of the few bands of this generation still doing an extended tour. You can find many upcoming shows on the band’s website

    Setlist: “Running like the Wind”, This Old Cowboy”, “Hillbilly Band”, “Take the Highway”, “Blue Ridge”, “Fire on the Mountain”, “24 Hours”, “Midnight Promises”, ” I’ll Be Loving You”, “Can’t you See”.

  • In Focus: Mihali at Pearl Street Pub

    Twiddle frontman Mihali Savoulidis performed to a near sold out crowd at Pearl Street Pub in Albany on Friday, November 1. A wide array of Twiddle songs, some new songs and a closing cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Lime in the Coconut.”

    Catch Twiddle November 29-30 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester for their annual Frendsgiving, with Aqueous opening both nights.

    Mihali setlist (via iTwiddle): New Song, Everysoul, Son’s Gonna Rise, Strongest of our Kind, Round Here, Stubborn Smile, New Song, Apples, Heart Song, Carved Lines, New Song, Mickey’s Medley (Orlando’s > RickiSnick > Nicodemus Portulay > Frankenfoote > Jamflowman > Carter Candlestick > Frankenfoote), Lost in the Clouds, Girl I Want to Lay you Down, Over Land & Sea, Hatties Jam > When it Rains it Poors, Lime in the Coconut

  • In Focus: Turkuaz Skates Into Buffalo

    The calendar may have turned to November but the Halloween spirit was strong in Buffalo with Turkuaz dressing up in celebration of our neighbors’ to the north national pastime, ice hockey! Sammi Garett and Shira Elias even dropped their gloves and staged a hockey fight that had to be broken up by referee Chris Brouwers to the delight of the packed crowd at the Town Ballroom.

    Setlist: Nightswimming, Doktor Jazz, Make You Famous, Heat Drop, If I Ever Fall Asleep, E.Y.E., Mister Man, Digitonium, Big Business > Murder Face, Take ‘Em Down, Every1’s A Winner > Superstatic, Better Get Ready > Lookin’ Tough, Feelin’ Good, Gogo Mr. Dodo, The Shape I’m In
    Encore: Monkey Fingers

  • Flatbush Zombies: A Halloween Special

    The Flatbush Zombies drew a huge costumed crowd that packed Brooklyn Steel on Halloween night. Erick Arc Elliott opened as a DJ, playing noise-music of a sort that jumped from soothing jazz to banging trap. This kicked off the chain of shenanigans that would precede the show.

    Meechy Darko emerged, in a bright yellow leather patched suit and heavy clown face paint, as the Joker to kick off the costume contest – the grand prize being $1000. They brought up ten selected members of the audience and let the rest of the crowd decide on who the winner was. The list of costumes at Flatbush Zombies included but was not limited to a Spiderman, Frozone, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They went down the line with hovering hand over heads and listened for the cheers. Then it was down to the final three: Frozone, Sally, and a masked killer. The crowd overwhelmingly hailed Frozone as king of the costume contest, who then proceeded to deliver a heartfelt acceptance speech before being abruptly kicked off stage by a raging Meechy.

    After a set change, another Joker entered the stage waving and boasting his wrestling championship belt. Zombie Juice was following, promising to relinquish him of it. A fierce fight ensued with all sorts of jump kicks and WWE slams. When the dust finally cleared, Zombie Juice stood victorious.

    Flatbush Zombies
    Flatbush Zombies

  • Pigeons Serve Up Talking Heads Cake in Times Square

    Simple ingredients, assembled one at a time, in careful order add up to more than the sum of their parts. In the kitchen: eggs, flour, water, sugar and heat become cake. Musicians are no different as guitar, drums, and bass join together to become a collective far greater than the sum of their parts. In musical costume, the creative behemoth known as Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, dressed as chefs for their performance of “Stop Making Cake,” sliced a mashup of originals, garnished with Cake and Talking Heads covers for night two on their Halloween run through Boston, New York, and Connecticut.

    Pigeons Talking Heads Cake

    “Macho Man” Andy Frasco & the UN, dressed as their favorite 80s wrestlers, got the crowd going early with a high energy opening set of fun covers and originals, along with a heavy dose of Andy and his shtick. He’s hard not to love, funny as hell, backed by great musicians with a singular desire to party and have a good time. He delivered. Some set highlights included covers of “Baker Street,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Bulls on Parade,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Killing in the Name,” and original “Change of Pace.” Music is just a a part of Andy’s show, as he came down from the stage several times to either smoke a joint with some folks up front, crowd surf, or, best yet, a crowd-surfing pillow fight on an air mattress with Ernie Chang, the UN’s saxophonist.

    Andy’s quote of the night, “I may not be as good at music as everybody else, you know, I’m not the best, but I like to have a good time.” It’s just this type of self-awareness that makes his shtick authentic and his show worth seeing. Bravo, sir.

    Pigeons Talking Heads Cake

    Pigeons Playing Ping Pong in matching chef jackets and hats took the stage shortly after 10:30; the adoring crowd received their “kitchen staff” eagerly: “Scrambled Byrne” Greg Ormont, “Frank Sinatra” Jeremy Schon, “Chef Gator” Alex Pretropolis, and “Baker Ben” Carrey. “Too Long” got the kitchen party going before the band added a few extra ingredients, The West End Blend(er) Horns, for “Burning Up My Time” > “Love You Madly” (Cake) > “Burning Up My Time.” Accompanied by Jeremy Schon’s dizzying solos and Greg Ormont’s chicken scratch guitar, the rhythm section of Ben Carrey on bass and Alex Petropolis on drums drove the crowd into a frenzy all night. Just to highlight that point, the first set drum solo featured Chef Gator playing not only his drum kit, but an assortment of mixing bowls – with a mix of spatulas, whisks, and wooden spoons. “Julia” sandwiched the first Talking Heads cover of the night with “Flowers” to close the 75-minute set. 

    Pigeons Talking Heads Cake

    After a moderate 20-minute break, PPPP returned with “Henrietta” to whip the crowd up some more. The next ingredient was a cover of “Burning Down the House,” which was a highlight cooked to perfection. Just like its first set counterpart, Ben was still way up in the mix, dropping consistent bone-rattling bass-bombs mixed with frenetic beats that kept the crowd moving. The West End Blend horns continued to be in and out, adding beautiful layers of trumpet and trombone solos to the Cake, served up by Pigeon, especially during the “Horizon” > “Sheep Go to Heaven” > “Horizons” combo that ended the set. “Ocean Flows” in the encore slot gave the crowd one more chance to boogie down after several moments of raucous applause.

    It’s always a pleasure to share increasingly bigger rooms with this band, as they continue to grow and please their adoring Flock. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has a unique creative edge that keeps their fans coming back time after time. Enjoy.

    Pigeons Talking Heads Cake

    Setlist via Phantasy Tour:

    Set 1: Too Long, Burning Up My Time*> Love You Madly (Cake)*> Burning Up My Time> Sunny Day> The Distance (Cake)*> Sunny Day, The Liquid*> The Great Curve (Talking Heads)*> Upfunk> Drums> Upfunk, Julia> Flowers (Talking Heads)*> Julia.

    Set 2: Henrietta, Naive Melody  (Talking Heads)*> Porcupine> Burning Down the House (Talking Heads)*> Porcupine*, Lightning*, Crosseyed and Painless >Horizon*> Sheep Go to Heaven (Cake)*> Horizon.

    Encore: Ocean Flows.

    *w/ West End Blend Horns

  • In Focus: The Breakfast celebrate the 80’s during Halloween return to Albany

    Billed as a ‘Fonghoulish Freakout at The Hollow,’ The Breakfast reunited for a rare show in their 20th anniversary year to celebrate Halloween with a variety of 80’s songs in tow. If you ever wanted to hear The Breakfast play “Don’t You Forget About Me” from The Breakfast Club, then you were in for a treat. “Let’s Dance,” “White Wedding” and Toto’s “Africa” were standouts among fan favorites, including originals “Hard Luck Harry” and “Honey Butter,” as well as jams on “Thriller” and “Axel F.”

    An encore of “Synergy” had Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” lyrics modified slightly as Tim Palmiere sang ‘You Can Call Me Albany,‘ to the delight of the crowd.

    Opening the night was Albany’s Wurliday, with frontman Justin Henricks dressed as John Lennon c. 1974, and aptly played “Come Together” as part of the band’s musical costume.

    The Breakfast is in Colorado this weekend for two shows at Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple, then play in late November in New Hampshire and Connecticut.

    Wurliday setlist: Mill House, Action Love, Come Together, Getting There, Clyde*, Kissin’ My Love, Float On, Give it Up, Who R U?, You’re on my mind, Take me There.

    *with Adrian Tramontano on drums

    The Breakfast setlist: The Power of Love > Drunk Monk Bar, Honey Butter > White Wedding, Phaddy Boom Baddy, Don’t You Forget About Me > Shotgun Butterfly, Hard Luck Harry > Take On Me > Hard Luck Harry, Beef Barley > Head Over Heels, Let’s Dance > Rufus > Frankly, Africa > The Chase, Buquebus.

    Encore: Synergy > You Can Call me Al(bany) > Synergy

    Check out photos from Zatchmo Lives Media below.

  • Voodoo Music And Arts Experience 2019

    This past weekend, October 25-27, saw the annual Voodoo Music and Arts Experience took place in the city of New Orleans. The festival, in its tenth edition, boasted a genre spanning lineup that included Guns N’ Roses, Beck, Post Malone, Brandi Carlile, The National, Interpol, Big Gigantic, and Young the Giant. The three-day weekend married the close of the 2019 festival season and featured some creepy crawly Halloween festivities.

    In what seemed to be a Voodoo tradition the first day was plagued by a great deal of rain, leaving the grounds of the beautiful City Park under water and a swampy mess. The dismal weather did not deter the voodoo faithful from kicking off the weekend festivities costumes and all. Sets from up and coming artist Hobo Johnson & The Love Makers, and the amazing Bishop Briggs paved the way for a rainy serenade from Brandi Carlile, and an absolute heater from Guns N’ Roses. The world-famous rockers treated a wet and rowdy crowd to a three-hour career spanning set culminating with a perfectly timed November Rain as the light mist turned back into a steady rain shower.

    As day two arrived so did the sunshine as if summer was peaking in one more time before the winter months took over, allowing festival attendees to dawn their best costumes. This was a full music day that included sets from Young the Giant, The National, and Bassnectar with the ever-talented Beck closing out day 2 with his unique dance party sound. He paid homage to hometown favorites The Meters with a soulful version of Cissy Strut showing just how much love so many musicians have for the city of New Orleans.

    The final day of the festival featured an array of new bands and artists that certainly should be on any music fan’s radar. Temples, a psych rock band from England, proved that British rock is still alive and thriving, blending multiple different styles to create a unique hard rock sound. Minnesota native Hippo Campus brought their billowy melodies and concisely written songs for an amazing afternoon performance on the main stage. The array of great music culminated with a powerful performance from Post Malone. The 24 year old rap star closed this amazing weekend with such stage presence and cockiness. Closing the festival with his hit song “Congratulations” exclaiming to the NOLA faithful “Live your life, live your dream, live your truth, be what you want to be, don’t ever let anyone fuckin’ stop you.” A perfect motto for the attitude that the gritty city of New Orleans exudes everyday.

  • In Focus: Aqueous and Lespecial storm Putnam Place

    One of the fall’s best tours made their way to Putnam Place on Saturday, October 26 for a night of PR&J (prog-rock and jams) with Aqueous and Lespecial, two bands that highlight the fantastic Northeast music scene, who are just starting out their 13 shows together, which run through November 10 in Louisville, KY.

    For Lespecial’s opening set, the Massachusetts power trio performed an industrial set of standards “Donut Ghost House I” and “Gallows Hill.” They dipped into their Primus playbook for “Too Many Puppies” and invited up Jaq from Burning Monk, a Rage Against the Machine tribute band out of Burlington, for “Know Your Enemy,” which had the crowd jumping up and down as if Morello and De La Rocha were on stage.

    For Aqueous, their two sets were a build over the night from prog-inspired tunes “20/20” and fan favorite “Warren in the Window” in the first set towards more dance-filled numbers including “Strange Times” and “Half In, Half Out” in the second set. A cover of the Raconteurs “Steady as She Goes” and a debut of Tame Impala’s “The Less I Know the Better” gave fans a taste of familiar and new tunes inspiring Aqueous. An encore of “Uncle Phil’s Parachute” found drummer Rob Houk working the drum pad for a venue filled get down.

    The bands next perform at The Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh on October 31, then The 8×10 in Baltimore on November 1, and Richmond Music Hall in Richmond, VA on November 2. Find more tour dates here and download the show from Nugs.net.

    Lespecial photos by Sean Bemand, Aqueous photos by Jim Gilbert.

    Lespecial Setlist: Improv > Donut Ghost House I , Gallows Hill , Fruit Wolf Dance, Too Many Puppies > Hello Skinny > Too Many Puppies+, New Fish, Know Your Enemy*, The Vessel, Tonberry^

    *Rage Against the Machine, with Jaq from Burning Monk 

    + Primus

    ^bad guy, Billie Eilish tease

    Aqueous Setlist:

    Set 1: 20/20, Warren in the Window (1), Realize Your Light, Steady As She Goes (2) > Weight of the Word, Going Nowhere

    Set 2: Strange Times (3), Mosquito Valley, Pt II, The Less I Know the Better (4), Half In, Half Out, They’re Calling For Ya > Kitty Chaser (Explosions) (5)

    Encore: Uncle Phil’s Parachute (6,7)

    1- Closer to the Heart (Rush) tease
    2- The Raconteurs
    3- Gordon’s Mule tease
    4- Tame Impala cover, debut
    5- Crepes the Sloth Jam
    6- Schism (Tool) tease
    7- Falling Away From Me (KoRn) tease

  • BRIC Jazz Fest Marathon Runs Through Brooklyn

    Louis Cole created a jazz-trance dance celebration in the Ballroom, while Tia Fuller brought a more traditional jazz approach with horns to the Stoop. These are just two of the artists from the third night of the 2019 BRIC JazzFest Marathon. This year’s festival led up to a three-day music marathon, with simultaneous performances over three stages, held at the BRIC House in downtown Brooklyn.

    Antonio Sanchez and his band

    Night three featured many jazz musicians from around the globe: Kassa Overall, Louis Cole, Antonio Sanchez, Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret, Claudia Acuña, Tia Fuller, and Boyfriends, featuring Joe Russo, Ben Perowsky, Josh Kaufman and Stuart Bogie.

    Tia Fuller

    Louis Cole was a one man jazz band, playing drums and synthesizer while looping his drum and bass heavy trance beats with pedals and a laptop. He also provided outstanding vocals and had a guest saxophone sit in during the encore.

    Louis Cole

    Boyfriends is an ambient rhythm exploration with Joe Russo (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) and Ben Perowsky (John Scofield, John Medeski) on drums and percussion, multi-instrumentalist and producer Josh Kaufman (The National, Bob Weir), and Stuart Bogie (Arcade Fire, Iron and Wine, Antibalas) on woodwinds/keyboards. Both Russo and Perowsky showed off their subtle yet incredible drum and percussion skills.

    Joe Russo

    This year’s JazzFest might be over, but BRIC puts on awesome jazz programming throughout the year at this delightful venue. Head on over to their website for details about future events.

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