Pink Talking Fish literally brought the circus to the Capitol Theatre with Greg Ormont from Pigeons Playing Ping Pong stepping in as The Ringmaster. There was talk of circus performers and antics happening during the show, but what occurred can be described as nothing short of a spectacle!
Scrambled Greg was the perfect fit for the role of ringmaster. He stepped up whole heartedly and was silly, incredibly enthusiastic and hilarious. It appeared that he was having the best time out of anyone in the theatre. Greg sat in on guitar for a couple of songs, doing vocals on “Icculus” and even manning a trampoline during “You Enjoy Myself.”
Pink Talking Fish burned down the house with an incredible musical performance featuring amazing takes on Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and songs off Phish’s Junta including “Y.E.M,” “Divided Sky,” “David Bowie,” “Fluffhead” “Fame,” “Foam,” “Dinner and a Movie,” “The Great Gig in the Sky,” “Brain Damage” and so much more. There was even a memorable sit from Ben ‘Junta’ Hunter, the first manager of Phish.
The Big Apple Circus featured an eclectic group on incredibly talented performers featuring clowns, aerialists, and a woman who could hoop ten-thousand hula hoops. The circus kept the show incredibly visually stimulating while PTF kept the jams going all night long.
Seems that this display is a notch up for PTF. Undoubtedly, this show took an immense amount of preparation and coordination by everyone involved from lighting designer to clown. They’ve showed that with a lot of dedication, with the power of music, and a little help from your friends incredible spectacles can be created.
“The circus is the place for me with bears and clowns and noise. I love the shiny music that descends from overhead”.
Pink Talking Fish: Junta Circus ft Greg Ormont 2/23/19
Set 1: Fee > Once in a Lifetime, You Enjoy Myself > Learning to Fly > You Enjoy Myself, Free Four, Esther, Life During Wartime, Golgi Apparatus
Set 2: Foam, Have a Cigar, Dinner and a Movie, Cities > Divided Sky > The Great Gig in the Sky > Divided Sky > David Bowie > Fame > David Bowie, This Must Be The Place > Fluffhead > Contact, Union Federal, Brain Damage > Sanity > Brain Damage > Eclipse > Icculus
The Great South Bay Music Festival is one of Long Island’s longest running music and arts festivals and have just released their lineup. Long Island’s own Taking Back Sunday kicks off the festival with Glassjaw returning as well. These two bands will be joined by ten other artists on two different stages.
Supporting are Scranton rockers, The Menzingers, and ex-My Chemical Romance and Leathermouth guitarist Frank Iero with his new band, frank iero & the future violents.
Headlining Friday is genre hopping reggae rockers, Slightly Stoopid, along with Sublime with Rome, SOJA and Common Kings.
Saturday and Sunday fest lineup announcements are upcoming, promising to serve up more classic and contemporary rock, roots, jam and Americana. This should be coming in the next week or so.
Celebrating its 13th. Anniversary, the four-day Great South Bay Music Festival runs from July 18, through July 21, and will feature a lineup of over 65 performers on four stages, in classic and contemporary rock, punk, indie, jam-band, reggae, and funk genres. The fest will boast multiple craft beer and wine tents, an artisan and craft market, and food court offering a diverse gourmet menu of funky and healthy fare.
Tickets for Taking Back Sunday, Glassjaw, The Menzingers and frank iero & the future violents are on sale to now.Ticket price includes all concerts and entertainment. Food & beverages not included. Children ten and under are free, except for the Sunday children’s concert
Festival Times
Thursday, July 18: Doors are at 3:30 p.m until 10 p.m.
Friday, July 19: Doors are at 4:00 p.m., until 11 p.m.
Saturday, July 20: Doors are at 1:00 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Sunday July 21: 11:00 a.m. doors for Great South Bay’s annual Kids Concert
Sunday Regular Fest Ticket holders: 1:30 doors until 10 p.m.
Two separate shows were originally slated to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock during the same weekend of Aug. 16-18, one of those events, in Bethel, is now being scaled back.
The Poughkeepsie Journal has reported that INVNT, the branding and live storytelling agency slated to help produce the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival, celebrating Woodstock’s 50th anniversary, has pulled out of the event with a statement released on Feb. 18, just weeks, if not days away from an artist lineup for the show.
INVNT stated about the departure that it: “will now comprise three separate events over three days and forms part of the venue’s Season of Song & Celebration commemorations, a year-long schedule of exhibits, programs and events.”
INVNT was partnering with Bethel Woods and Live Nation to produce the weekend long festival. The re-imagined celebration will now stretch throughout the 50th anniversary summer instead of concentrating solely on the weekend festival that had been in direct competition with Woodstock 50, the Michael Lang-produced event that same weekend at Watkins Glen International Speedway 90 miles west of Bethel.
The second announced artist appearing at the performing arts center will be Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band with Arlo Guthrie and the Edgar Winter Band. They will join another rock legend in Carlos Santana, who is touring sheds this summer with the Doobie Brothers. Santana announced his appearance last month.
INVNT CEO Scott Cullather, released this statement about the event: “INVNT will not be involved in the new format and we wish Bethel Woods and Live Nation, as well as the organizers of the other 50th anniversary celebrations taking place around the world, the very best.”
Original Woodstock producer and co-founder Michael Lang will hold his own anniversary show the same weekend as the Bethel woods event in Watkins Glen. Lang stated that he has over 40 artist booked for his event, but has yet to announce any artists.
With The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical making its way to Schenectady, NY on Friday February 22 and Saturday the 23, James Hayden Rodriguez took time out of his busy schedule to talk about the performance. Rodriguez was very excited to be touring again as one of the four original cast members from when the show debuted in 2017 Off-Broadway. With a wonderful attitude and a humble down-to-earth personality, the conversation was fluid with a few laughs. To Rodriguez, acting in a show like this or any musical is second nature and something he always knew he was meant to do.
NYS Music was able to speak to James Hayden Rodriguez via phone on February 14 as he was just reaching his next stop of tour in D.C, before the cast and crew make their way to Proctors in Schenectady. Rodriguez plays Luke and Others in The Lightning Thief.
Headshot via jameshaydenrodriguez.com
Shannon Marie Palmo: In the musical you are said to play Luke and others. What are the other characters you play aside from just Luke?
James Hayden Rodriguez: My main two characters that I play are Luke and Ares, who is the god of War, who ends up being one of Percy’s biggest villain in the show.
SMP: I read that you guys used the book as your bible, how do you articulate the books on stage? How does that fuse with who you are as an actor, and the freedom that comes with being an actor?
JHR: With Luke specifically, I really have a lot of freedom to just use a lot of my own personal experience. We are all children of Greek Gods, but we are also still human and we have human qualities so we are able to use our personal experience to create these characters which is pretty cool. We have a lot of freedom.
SMP: What do you think are the disadvantages or advantages? What do you like/dislike about doing the tour verse being at one venue in NYC?
JHR: I don’t think there are disadvantages, I think it’s very exciting for us to be just doing the show again at all and the fact that we are able to bring it to all of our fans who were unable to see it in NYC because our fanbase is really massive and its spread and not just in the United States. We are even surprised by coming to these cities and selling out houses and the kids in the audience have read the books and seen the movies and know these characters. They are just really excited that we are bringing it to them. The great thing about the movie is that it has reached a lot of people, so we have a lot of people who are coming to see the show because they have seen the movie. We have the young book fans, but also the people who are new to theatre. They saw this really awesome film so they want to check out how we put this on the stage.
SMP: What is the balance between stage production between dialogue, there’s fighting scenes and it’s also a musical. So how would you say that balances out because some musicals are non-stop music with very little dialogue.
JHR: There’s definitely a lot of dialogue, and Percy is thrown into this world where he is learning this completely new universe to him. He is also dealing with the fact that his mother was just killed by this monster that he didn’t know existed. But when he gets to these really emotional parts in the story, it turns into these big rock numbers, which is really cool. I think we have a good balance from music to dialogue. There’s definitely a lot of scene work which helps us develop the characters and tell the story.
SMP: What is something that goes through your mind when you’re on stage performing whether it’s an actual performance or rehearsal?
JHR: I try to be as present in the story as I can and actively listening to everything on stage. I can’t concern myself too much with who’s in the audience because then it will throw you out of the world and the more you can focus on what is actually happening on the stage the better the performance will be. I don’t like to know if there’s press, or family, or casting directors in the audience.
SMP: With a show being about Greek Mythology, what’s it like being thrusted into such a world as Percy Jackson trying to portray that world on stage because like you said, you guys don’t have CGI as the movie did.
JHR: Yeah, it definitely allows us to be more creative with how we tell the story and that’s what has always been so exciting about theatre in the fist place, and why I got into theatre. You have to use your imagination to tell stories like this and we have been doing this with puppetry, which is cool this time around. We have a puppet team who has really elevated our storytelling. They are scary when revealed. People in the audience scream when they come out.
Rodriguez in The Lightning Thief. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.
SMP: So, what’s it like playing an antagonist like Luke or a character like Luke. When I saw the movie, and who Luke really was, I was completely shocked – without giving too much away.
JHR: (Laughs) Ares is more of the antagonist of this story. I don’t like to think of Luke as the antagonist because he starts out in the show with really good intentions and he’s just really misunderstood. He’s just dealing with his own insecurities and resentment issues because of the relationship with his dad. He’s a teenager as well and coming of age and learning all these new things and starting to have to make choices for himself. And Luke ends up going down a darker path than the rest of the characters. He doesn’t start off this way so you really get to see his journey from being a really good kid to more of a bad kid. I don’t think Luke is an antagonist, I just think he’s trying to make his own path.
SMP: How do you keep up with the physical demands of the show?
JHR: All of us are pretty good at making sure we are going to the gym, doing physical warm ups and stretching so we are not hurting ourselves in the show because the fights are pretty intense.
SMP: Did you guys have to go through fighting boot camp to train?
JHR: Oh yeah, we have a really great fight choreographer who has helped us through our process, and I’m also the fight captain in the show. I take the fights a little more seriously, making sure everyone is safe and doing what they are supposed to do because our choreographer was only here for rehearsals, he doesn’t travel with us.
Located at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Arrington, Virginia, Infinity Downs and Oak Ridge Farm will once again be the venue for LOCKN‘ in 2019, the four-day camping festival.
Created in 2013 and now an annual event, LOCKN’ is promised to be one of the summer’s most exciting experiences.
Starting on Aug. 22 and finishing up on Aug. 25, several unique headline collaborations are scheduled for the event, beginning with the Trey Anastasio Band featuring Derek Trucks on Aug. 23, Tedeschi Trucks Band featuring Trey Anastasio on Aug. 24, and concluding with Bob Weir & Wolf Bros featuring Susan Tedeschi on Aug. 25.
In addition to daytime performances, the festival has added a more intimate touch this year: a rare performance by Soulive as well as sets by Circles Around The Sun and Galactic in the intimate Garcia’s Forest setting. These performances will be taking place in the evening following early shows by Fruition, The Lil Smokies, and Town Mountain.
Peter Shapiro, co-founder of the festival, hinted at his excitement for the artists yet to be revealed. He said, “By announcing the full lineup now we wanted to give fans a good idea of what to expect, but there’s definitely a surprise or two still coming.”
LOCKN’ is offering a Three-Day Weekend Pass in addition to the traditional Four-Day Festival Pass. This option gives fans with tighter schedules the opportunity to enjoy all the bands performing at the festival for a lower price. Single-Day Passes are also available.
Tickets are available now through the LOCKN’ website.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Gary Clark Jr.
Khruangbin
Chris Robinson Brotherhood,
Andy Frasco & The U.N.
Jerry Party
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23
Trey Anastasio Band Feat. Derek Trucks
The Revivalists
Old Crow Medicine Show
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Melvin Seals & JGB
Moonalice w/The Chambers Brothers
Greg Humphrey’s Electric Trio
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
Tedeschi Trucks Band Feat. Trey Anastasio
Vulfpeck
Oteil & Friends feat. Bob Weir, Devon Allman, Duane Betts and more
Twiddle
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Allman Betts Band
Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles
Liz Cooper & The Stampede
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25
Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. Feat. Susan Tedeschi
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
moe.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones
Steel Pulse
Nahko and Medicine For The People
Soul Rebels Brass Band
Deva Mahal
Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel
GARCIA’S FOREST: EARLY SHOWS
Fruition
The Lil Smokies
Town Mountain
GARCIA’S FOREST: LATE SHOWS
Circles Around The Sun
Galactic
Soulive
SVIP LOUNGE
Bob Weir & Wolf Bros.
David Shaw (The Revivalists)
Mihali (Twiddle)
Hudson Valley acoustic septet, Upstate, released their sophomore album, Healing on Friday. Ahead of the release, the band performed at New York’s City Winery. Check out video from that performance below.
Upstate evolved out of Upstate Rubdown. They employ a blend of jazz, folk, R&B, gospel and rock with gorgeous three-part harmonies and unorthodox instrumentation to produce a unique sound.
The band is currently on tour with several New York dates lined up. The album is currently available on most streaming services.
Upstate Tour:
Feb. 8 – Higher Ground – South Burlington, VT
Feb. 9 – Space
Ballroom – Hamden, CT
Feb. 10 – City Winery
– Boston, MA
Feb. 11 – City Winery – New York City, NY
Feb. 13 – Thin Man Brewery – Buffalo, NY
Feb. 14 – The Haunt – Ithaca, NY
Feb. 15 – The Colony – Woodstock, NY
Feb. 16 – Flour City Station – Rochester, NY
Feb. 20 – Magic Rat
Live Music – Fort Collins, CO
Feb. 21 – Cervantes’
Masterpiece Ballroom & Cervantes’ Other Side – Denver, CO
Feb. 23 –
WinterWonderGrass – CO – Steamboat Springs, CO
Feb. 24 –
WinterWonderGrass – CO – Steamboat Springs, CO
Feb. 27 – WTVP – Peoria,
IL
Feb. 28 – Martyrs’ – Chicago,
IL
March 1 – The Refectory Restaurant and Bistro – Columbus, OH
March 2 – Riverdog
Retreat – Wakeman, OH
March 3 – Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA
March 7 – Weinberg
Center for the Arts – Frederick, MD
March 8 – Richmond Music Hall – Richmond, VA
March 9 – PURPLE
FIDDLE – Thomas, WV
March 10 – The Grove – Fayetteville, WV
March 12 – Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA
March 14 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
March 16 – Free Range Brewing – Charlotte, NC
March 29 – WinterWonderGrass – CA -Olympic Valley, CA
Syracuse punk band Bridge Under Fire is doing the unorthodox. They are releasing four new songs from their new EP through four different record labels. NYS Music is premiering the L.R.S. Records single, “Self-Unemployed.” Check it out below.
Bridge Under Fire is a Syracuse-based punk/hardcore band with a discography that includes two full-length albums, two EPs, a split 7″ single and several compilation contributions. The new untitled EP has been released in four parts across four labels and through four different media outlets.
Band leader and L.R.S. Records owner, Mark Turley, described the project this way:
After releasing our last full length in 2017, the band was discussing other options than just writing more songs to be an EP or album. We decided to write singles rather than songs that fit together content-wise onto an album. The results were interesting and different than what weâve done so far. Through L.R.S. we had these relationships with the other labels and thought this would be a different way to release our music.
Mark Turley
To celebrate the release of the new music, Bridge Under Fire will host a show at Spark Contemporary Art Space in Syracuse on Feb. 22. Also on the bill that night is Sympathy Band, Talk Wrong and Dimladia. For more information on this show, visit promoter After Dark Presents’ website. To check out more of Bridge Under Fire’s work, visit their Bandcamp page here.
Turley also hosts a weekly podcast called Long Range Sarcasm (L.R.S.) with Nick Oliver. It is available on iTunes and Google Podcasts. The podcast features news and music from the L.R.S. stable of artists as well as other Central New York musicians.
Bridge Under Fire’s brand new single, “Self-Unemployed” is available below as a NYS Music exclusive release. Check it out.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is holding a poster contest in honor of Woodstock Festival’s 50th, Golden Anniversary. The press release describes this as not just another “festival poster” design.
Bethel Woods is looking for students, amateurs, and professionals to design posters that not only celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, but also captures their mission to inspire passion and purpose.
The concept they are trying to capture is expressing progress in the world through creativity, self-actualization, love, and understanding for the next 50 years to come.
Winners of the poster contest will be displayed throughout the Vibrations event series produced by Bethel Woods. Winners will also receive a cash prize of $2,500 but will also be given $1,500 in travel and lodging to visit Bethel Woods on June 5 to participate in the Power of the Poster event during Vibrations.
The judges of the contest are two well known poster artists, with renowned Broadway poster artist Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo joining original Woodstock poster designer David Edward Byrd. Submissions can be entered starting Feb. 6 until March 14.
The staff of NYS Music is always on the lookout for music by New York State-based bands. We are excited to introduce our new Spotify playlist which feature music from some of the state’s biggest artists, as well as many up-and-coming local acts that you should be listening to.
We are constantly adding to the Spotify playlist and are welcoming submissions via our Submission Form. We are only considering submissions made by, or for, NYS-based artists and musicians.
This year’s festival features a wide array of styles, ranging from the traditional Bonnaroo fare to pop and hip hop artists.
The 18th annual event kicks off June 13 with the Grand Ole Opry, which features Saba, Space Jesus, All Them Witches, The Nude Party, and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. The festival ends June 16 with Carlile, Cardi B, the Lumineers and Phish performing two sets.
Tickets will be released at noon Central Time on Thursday, Jan. 10 through the Bonnaroo website. In addition to four-day general admission, VIP and Platinum level tickets, Bonnaroo now offers a layaway plan for those wishing to purchase general admission tickets, with plans starting at $47.
