Blues Traveler delivered a healthy dose of Four and a few covers at the Beacon Theater in New York City on Friday night. The band kicked off their Four Live Tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their seminal album Four. The audience was mostly full, and loving every nostalgic moment of hearing their favorite songs from the mid ’90s with the stunning architecture of the Beacon Theater serving as a backdrop.
The current line up in Blues Traveler is John Popper (singer/harmonica), Chan Kinchla (guitar), Brendan Hill (drums), Tad Kinchla (bass), and Ben Wilson (keyboards). This fall, the band is playing Four in its entirety to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the certified platinum album. They did just that and brought back many fun memories of this album.
The band sprinkled a few covers into the set, including a rocking “One Way Out” by the Allman Brothers and “West L.A. Fadeaway” by the Grateful Dead. They also played a memorable “Shout” by the Isley Brothers.
Setlist: Just Wait, One Way Out*, Crash Burn, Fallible, Look Around, Stand, Run Around, The Mountains Win Again, Freedom, West L.A. Fadeaway**, Just Wait (reprise), Price to Pay, Brother John, Shout***
Encore: 12 Swords, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Drum Solo, Hook
* Allman Brothers Cover
** Grateful Dead Cover
**Isley Brothers Cover
Catch Blues Traveler on their Four Live tour this fall, and celebrate 25 years of Four with them.
Upcoming Tour Dates
Tuesday, Nov. 5 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theatre
Wednesday, Nov. 6 Richmond, VA The National
Friday, Nov. 8 Louisville, KY Headliners
Saturday, Nov. 9 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Sunday, Nov. 10 Cedar Rapids, IA Paramount Theatre
Wednesday, Nov. 13 Grand Rapids, MI 20 Monroe Live
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.
“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 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.
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.
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.
The holidays are fast approaching, and if you’re not ready, a listen to Big Band Holidays II will surely get you looking forward to the final months of 2019. The sequel to the critically acclaimed 2015 release from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis features original arrangements of holiday classics, and are joined by an all-star assortment of guest vocalists, including Veronica Swift, Denzal Sinclaire, Catherine Russell, Audrey Shakir, and the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin.
There are familiar classics (“Cool Yule,” ft. Catherine Russell) and newer songs (“Rise Up Shepherd and Follow,” “(Everybody’s Waitin For) The Man with the Bag”), all kicked off by a brassy rendition of “It’s the most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
A solo piano rendition of “O Tannenbaum,” featuring the late, great, Aretha Franklin, has never before been released and serves as one of her final recorded performances. Her brief and passionate take on the classic was a surprise performance during the 2015 edition of Big Band Holidays.
A jazzed up “We Three Kings” featuring Denzal Sinclaire, and “What will Santa Claus Say? (When He finds Everybody Swingin’)” is fast moving with Carol Russell on energetic lead vocals. “Silver Bells” with flute and bass highlighted, and the smooth instrumental “Snowfall” nicely varying the tempo of the album.
The upbeat “Brazilian Sleigh Bells” has a Bossa Nova beat that speeds things up, making for one of the most energetic holiday songs you’ll encounter. “Silent Night” starts out heavier and bolder than familial versions, before soothing vocals from Sinclaire and Audrey Shakir, who trade verses before joining together in the final minutes.
Listen to the original album below, and enjoy the holidays this season with these fresh takes on classic songs.
Key Tracks: O Tannenbaum, Brazilian Sleigh Bells, Silent Night
San Fermin, an art-pop project from Brooklyn, have shared an acoustic cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit single “Run Away with Me.” Reinterpreted by bandleader Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin’s cover finds vocalists Claire Wellin and Karlie Bruce harmonizing for a warmly emotive take on the Emotion classic.
Regarding the acoustic rendition, Ellis Ludwig-Leone says, “Carly Rae’s version is a perfect party song, with that synth lead and four on the floor bass drum, so we went the other way with it. The lyrics are actually pretty intimate and lend themselves well to a quieter version. It was fun for us, as a band with eight members, to do something truly stripped down.”
“Run Away with Me” follows the October release of the group’s newest album The Cormorant I. Currently in the midst of their North American tour, San Fermin will continue with headlining dates across the U.S. and Canada before concluding with a hometown finale at New York’s Brooklyn Steel on December 6. Get ticketing information and details here.
San Fermin is the project of Brooklyn-based composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ellis Ludwig-Leone, who pairs lushly avant-garde arrangements with pop-minded melodies that are brought to life by his bandmates. Formed in 2012 – shortly after Ludwig-Leone completed a job assisting composer Nico Muhly – San Fermin made their debut with a self-titled 2013 release hailed by NPR as “one of the year’s most ambitious, evocative, and moving records.” With the 2015 release of Jackrabbit and 2017’s Belong, San Fermin garnered extensive critical acclaim, selling out shows worldwide and appearing at major festivals and opening for the likes St. Vincent, The National, Arctic Monkeys, alt-J and more. Having recently signing to Sony Music Masterworks, San Fermin usher in a new chapter with the release of The Cormorant I, the first of an eventual two-part project encompassing the scope of their new trajectory.
Ithaca, NY based progressive soul band, Noon Fifteen is set to release its epic prog-pop suite, At the Festival,Halloween weekend. Packing a punch in its 22 minute run-time, the album is a brilliantly-efficient storyteller.
The members here are key to its delivery, starting with Mandy Goldman on vocals, whose dynamic range and myriad styles power this piece. Rounding out Noon Fifteen are: Samuel B. Lupowitz (keyboards & vocals), Joe Massa (guitars), Harry Nichols (bass, percussion, & vocals), and Phil Shay (drums & vocals). Joining the band on this outing is Chris Ploss, not only on percussion and vocals, but he also recorded and mixed the album at Sunwood Recording in Trumansburg, NY.
At the Festival explores the mood of Hero, the protagonist of the piece, as he contemplates the state of his life – past and present. Wondering where the time has gone and trying to truly feel his emotions, Hero conversely numbs himself with liquor and pills. It is this internal struggle that underlies the entire mini-rock opera.
The alternate musical styles of At the Festival drive the narrative through the album. The band shines here moving effortlessly between pop soul sounds, prog rock riffs and sonically soaring movements. The free, yet vocally stunning “Wandering” showcases the beautiful harmonies this group can deliver, and simultaneously offers a small respite to Hero. As the story works to conclusion, it is apparent that Hero’s struggle is not over as he is battered by mourning and lost love in “Rock Bottom” and he defiantly disavows everyone in “My Ghost.”
Well-crafted and performed, At the Festival is a testament to Noon Fifteen’s willingness to explore and grow musically. This is an effort to be cheered.
Key Tracks: Time for Me, Rock Bottom, My Ghost
Join Noon Fifteen for their album release party at The Range in Ithaca on Saturday, November 2.
Albany, NY based band Glass Pony is dropping their debut self titled album today, November 2, on all streaming platforms. The seven-track album has head-bopping beats that make you want to get up and move. The four piece band made up of guitar, bass, and drums gets inspiration from everything in between the 60s and 90s, with influence from rock, punk, indie, and jam band genres, according to their bio.
The album starts with “Grover’s Mill 1938,” which is a groovy opener. With a runtime dropping in just under 9-minutes, it’s a long listen, but one worth listening to. Its usage of multi layered vocals has a somewhat ‘Pixies meets jam band’ feel to it, that keeps you entertained throughout.
If you aren’t into songs long songs, Glass Pony might not be the band for you; about half of their songs hit in the 8-10 minute mark and take their time to get in the groove with long intros and outros. Their second song on the album, “Swing That Maximus” has a full two-minute instrumental intro. With tempo changes up the wazoo throwing the listener from dance-y beats that make you want to get up and boogie, to slow sections you would barely move your body, they are definitely the type of band you can let loose to live or shamelessly-groove-to on your daily commute. Glass Pony brings you out of the mundane with some chaotic, yet systematic rhythms and beats that make Glass Pony one of a kind.
Shorter songs like, “Too Close To The Sun” (under 5 minutes), follow suit with their routine guitar riffs, solid beats and smooth tempo changes. Glass Pony is a band to keep an eye on, with this solid album in their arsenal.
Key Tracks: Stardust, Grover’s Mill 1983, Too Close To The Sun.
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
Goose lead a capacity crowd through a semi-pro Halloween party for the ages on Thursday, October 31 at Mercury Lounge. Up against the expectations of a sold out show (and $12 tickets were selling for over $100 on the resale market) as well as musical ghosts of bands like Phish, String Cheese Incident, and Umphrey’s McGee who have made Halloween the biggest musical holiday of the year, Goose treated the capacity crowd to a Halloween bash of the highest order.
Opening band Of Clocks and Clouds lead Joe Salgo promised that if he made it into the room, we wouldn’t be disappointed – a big understatement, as the band opened for Goose. Double guitar shredding, a fast-and-furious pocket groove and complementary heavy jams from the keys made this band hit hard. Their heavy metal costumes contributed to the uber-amplification as, the room began to swell as the Goose crowd filtered in. It was a truly great set that hopefully leads to bigger and better things for this awesome band.
Goose took the stage promptly at 11:30pm, uniformly clad as members of the Flint Tropics from Will Ferrel’s movie Semi-Pro for their Halloween costume. Jackie Moon’s “Love Me Sexy,” played and sung by Will Ferrell’s lead character in the movie, opened the set, with much more of the soundtrack on the horizon. Goose original “Hot Tea” followed with nearly twenty minutes of crushing jams. Peter Anspach on the keys would move back and forth all night between funky-ass jams on the keyboards and face-melting guitar work. A cover of the Brothers Johnson’s “Get Da Funk Out Ma’ Face,” also from the Semi-Pro soundtrack, began with Trevor Weekz’ bass-slapping intro before melting into the double guitar attack from Peter and co-lead vocalist Rick Mitarotonda.
A duo of originals, “Yeti” > “Wysteria Lane” showed exactly why this band, on an exponential rise, sold out the neighboring Bowery Ballroom for their just announced January 24, 2020 show mere minutes after the on sale. Back to their musical costume, they closed the hour long set with Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” and Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band’s “A Fifth of Beethoven.”
DJ Doey Joey kept the vibe going with great beats both before the set and during the break. The band returned after 20 minutes for a costume contest, and among the three finalists chosen by the band, Happy Gilmore’s caddie won in a landslide.
With an intro that sounded decidedly like Phish’s “Maze,” a cover of Barry White’s “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up” made a jam sandwich of Semi-Pro covers around original song “Jive 1,” joined on the back end by WAR’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and “Jive Lee.” Some major funky vibes coming from Peter’s keys, with Trevor’s heavy bass lines and Ben’s driving beats, the crowd was working a serious groove. Staying with a few more originals, “So Ready” and “White Lights” rocked the room some more as both Peter and Rick gave out high fives to the fans rocking out. Randy Newman’s “Short People” closed the main set before a faux-encore break, “We don’t really have to fake walk away and come back do we?” as it’s not really practical to leave the Mercury stage in a sold out room.
“A Fifth of Beethoven” (reprise) > “Also Sprach Zarathustra” were the icing on the 90-minute cake called the second set, and put an exclamation point on a wild and exclusive sold out party for 250 of Goose’s closest friends on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
This being an initial Goose experience, it is difficult to resist the temptation to make comparisons to other bands. Goose is a mix of Spafford and Goose’s avian kin, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong; fast and furious jams that stay tight and in the pocket, peaks upon peaks upons peaks until, finally, unable to ascend further, several more peaks, each one flavored with a unique and signature funk. The Bowery Ballroom in January simply can’t come soon enough.
Goose Semi-Pro Halloween Setlist
Set One: Love Me Sexy (WIll Ferrell as the fictional Jackie Moon; Semi-Pro), Hot Tea, Get Da Funk Out Ma’ Face (Brothers Johsnon; Semi-Pro), Yeti > Wysteria Lane, Lady Marmalade (Patti LaBelle; Semi-Pro), A Fifth of Beethoven (Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band; Semi-Pro)
Set Two: Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (Barry White; Semi-Pro), Jive I > Why Can’t We Be Friends (War; Semi-Pro) > Jive Lee, So Ready, White Lights, Short People (Randy Newman; Semi-Pro)
Encore: A Fifth of Beethoven Reprise > Also Sprach Zarathustra (Deodato; Semi-Pro)
After releasing singles “L.B.E.,” “Losing,” and “Insecure” earlier this year, Brooklyn based R&B singer Amare Symoné released her latest single “Ellipsis” on October 24. Utilizing her inseparable ties of Jazz and R&B, Symoné creates a modern fusion of the unique two genres. A dissonant sample loops throughout the track, as Amare’s vocals float throughout in her ever-confident delivery.
This sex-positive track finds Symoné sorting through her head wondering why they both just can’t read the signs. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, this song looks to fill in the blanks, or in other words the ‘Ellipsis’ of her own feelings.
Symoné, a California born and Brooklyn bred singer-songwriter, poet, activist, and womanist, graduated from Professional Performing Arts High School in NYC. A student at Columbia College working towards a Bachelor’s degree in music business, Amare is inspired and influenced by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Destiny’s Child, Etta James and Eryn Allen Kane.
One day prior to what would have been the 51st birthday Neal Casal, nine of the late artist‘s solo discography that were previously unavailable on digital music platforms have been released. These recordings, which can now be streamed and downloaded in their entirely, make complete Casal’s entire solo discography.
Recordings by Casal released today include Rain, Wind & Speed (1996), The Sun Rises Here (1997), Field Recordings (1997), Basement Dreams (1998), Black River Sides (w/ Kenny Roby, 1999), Anytime Tomorrow (2000), Ran On Pure Lightning (w/ Shannon McNally, 2002), No Wish To Reminisce (2006), and All Directions (2007). Listen on various platforms here.
Additionally, a rarely seen video for the song “Reason” from Casal’s 1998 album, The Sun Rises Here, has been made available, including a poignant ending segment with Neal and his father discussing his rock ‘n’ roll dreams.
Neal Casal—a guitarist, singer and songwriter—passed away on August 26. He was celebrated most recently for his work with Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Circles Around the Sun. Prior to his involvement in those projects, however, he recorded and toured prolifically as a solo artist. Though never reaching the wider success he found in the later stages of his career, he left behind a critically acclaimed body of work under his own name, including nine solo albums, two duo albums and a handful of compilations and retrospectives that intertwined elements of vintage rock, country and soul.
Plans are currently in the works for a series of physical reissues of Casal’s solo work in 2020, while the finishing touches are being added to his final recording sessions with Circles Around The Sun a week before his passing.
Neal Casal would have turned 51 on Saturday, November 2.
