With lead singer Amayo preaching ‘deep unconditional love’ throughout the night, Antibalas performed to a sold out crowd on the second night of their 20th anniversary run at Brooklyn Bowl this past Saturday.
The fusion of African and Cuban music that Antibalas has brought to audiences for two decades is one that is rich in history and message, bringing the influence and sounds of Fela Kuti to a new generation. For nearly two hours, the 12-piece band and special guests took to the stage, creating a rich, full sound that moved the captive and diverse audience. Here’s to at least two more decades of Antibalas!
It was an unremarkable day on the calendar and a fairly unremarkable day outside, but inside the doors of Anthology in Rochester big things were happening. Buffalo’s Aqueous, who’ve called Rochester their second home since near their inception, were moving on from their frequent and beloved haunt Flour City Station. Like a hermit crab, they shed that shell and crawled the short distance down East Ave and nestled into the much larger Anthology. Remarkably, the band sold the venue out on their first visit.
Everything about the move was big, The crowd, the stage, the lights, the sound. The crab had long outgrown its shell and was just yearning for this expansion. In other words, Aqueous wasn’t overwhelmed by the shift. On the contrary, it allowed for a huge release long in the making. To celebrate the occasion, the band planned to even make the show bigger, by adding a third set. And not just any set, plopped right in the middle of two regular-sized Aqueous sets was a fully improvised second set.
It was a risky endeavor, but at worst a ho-hum jam set had the safety of being surrounded by two strong Aqueous sets. Ho-hum it wasn’t. The band found theme upon theme upon groove in five to ten minute segments pieced together seamlessly for a full 65 minutes. During that hour all in attendance were equals. No matter if this was someone’s first show or someone’s 100th, no one knew what was to come, band included.
The set had no lulls and little to no meandering. It was defined and refined jamming. It felt familiar, until it didn’t, until it did again, mixing and matching genres along the way. It was EDM, then, “Oh damn!” It got Dead-y, then deadly, Phishy then fizzy, went from metal to meta, Ska to “Gah!” PeAQ Aqueous. When the band revisits the recording of the set they could easily mine a few new songs from it.
The middle set was the highlight of the night, but of course there was plenty to love about sets one and three. “The Median” opener blasted the evening open with a soaring fiery jam. “Origami” got disco funky before a slow building theme peaked and exploded. “Good Enough” contained one of the more beautiful segments of the night, with a progression reminiscent of Jerry Garcia Band’s version of “Dear Prudence.” And “All In” and Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell” were a fun big rock combo to close out the third set in the wee hours of the morning.
Anthology still has that new venue smell and is ripe for the taking. Friday night, Aqueous put a stake in the ground. All that’s left to do is raise the flag. Their new Rochester home is well underway to being claimed.
Setlist: I: The Median, Kitty Chaser (Explosions) > Undone – The Sweater Song (Weezer) > Kitty Chaser (Explosions), Origami > Good Enough > Complex I, Warren in the Window II: Improv III: 20/20 > Aldehyde, Underlyer > Marty, All In > Run Like Hell (Pink Floyd) > All In E: Jam > Triangle
It’s that time of year again – sure there are a few dozen basketball games happening over the next few weeks, but its also time for NYS Music’s version of March Madness! In the past, we have looked at up and coming bands from around the state, for a friendly competition that introduces these rising artists to the NYS Music audience.
This year, we look to the past and present for our field of 64 famous New York musicians and artists from all corners of the Empire State. Frank Sinatra, Jay-Z, Paul Simon, Arlo Guthrie, Cab Calloway, Billy Joel, KISS, Anthrax, Neil Diamond and Lou Reed are all included, as well as more recent artists breaking through such as Sean Rowe and Aqueous.
This year’s field is also a great way to learn about some artists who hail from NY that you might not have known about. Yes, Lana Del Rey is from Lake Placid, Anthrax was formed in Queens, Rick James and Goo Goo Dolls call the Queen City of Buffalo home, Ra Ra Riot are Syracuse University graduates, and State Champs calls the Capital District home.
Voting for Round 1 is open until midnight on Wednesday, March 20. You can also vote on each bracket on Twitter, and we will combine all votes together ahead of Round 2, which starts on Thursday, March 21 at Noon.
On Saturday, March 16, Mike Gordon played to a capacity crowd at Asbury Lanes, a new Jersey Shore venue brought to you by The Bowery Presents. The Phish bassist’s solo outfit is not to be missed, with Craig Myers, Robert Walter, and John Kimock the band is fun and tight, exploring each song. But it’s the long time collaboration with Scott Murawski that makes these shows ebb and flow through a funky jammy sound that is a lot of fun. Mike Gordon will be out on his solo tour for the rest of the month of March and for any Phish fan it is a must see.
SET 1: Different World, Victim, Infinite > Jumping > Meat, Black Tambourine, Let’s Go
SET 2: Up And Down, Sughn Never Sets, Yarmouth Road, Marissa, Cities, Face
Chris Thile, taking a break from his day job as host of the radio show “Live From Here,” got the band back together for a spring tour with the Punch Brothers with a tour that started with a return to the State Theatre in Ithaca. A place that banjoist, Noam Pikelny deemed to be too trusting due to the fact that on their last visit, a stranger on their flight offered them a place to stay just a few minutes after meeting them.
The show was mostly a get-down-to-business affair, songs flowed effortlessly into each other and chatter was held to a minimum. Though some songs required further explanation, such as when they featured two different Tiki drink-themed instrumentals in the set. First the World War II drink “Three Dots and a Dash.” Later it was “Jungle Bird,” which Thile eloquently provided the recipe for. This then devolved into an argument with Pikelny over the meaning of “cheeky bit.” It was a comedy bit reminiscent of “Live From Here” and a welcome comedy break.
The show concluded with an encore played unplugged and front of stage. The crowd was whisper quiet and the acoustically-sound room carried “The Hops of Guldenberg” to the furthest reach without issue. Without prompt the crowd joined in for some hearty “Oh Boys” for the show closer. The trust was warranted.
Opener, Gabriel Kahane, played a short set of solo piano and guitar pieces. After the 2016 election, Kahane spent two weeks traveling by train with no phone or other modern technology, passing the time conversing with passengers in the dining cars, trying to understand and connect with people. He wrote an album’s worth of material about the experience and played some of it in his set, beautiful and meandering piano pieces. As about as stark a contrast as one could imagine, he sandwiched in a group of mini songs based on bizarre and comical tweets he read, with subjects like killer cats, Marie Kondo and Mr. Peanut.
Setlist: Movement and Location, My Oh My, All Ashore, Flippen, Boll Weavil, Alex, Angel of Doubt, Three Dots and a Dash, Just Look at This Mess, Jumbo, Another New World, Passepied, New York City, Julep, Jungle Bird, Skeleton Key Encore: The Hops of Guldenberg, Oh Boy
Andrew Hozier-Byrne is having a great week. His sophomore album, Wasteland, Baby, hit #1 on the US Billboard charts. He played Good Morning America and the Colbert Show before selling out Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo and the Palace Theatre in Albany. And to top it off he’s getting ready to celebrate his 29th birthday on St. Patrick’s Day.
From the moment Hozier came out onto the Palace stage, the crowd was clapping, singing and swooned into a mesmerized trance, hanging onto every word that came from Andrew’s lips. Great lighting added to the drama of the night and the long awaited debut of Hozier to the Capital region was well worth the wait.
In November 2019, Hozier released a new song entitled “Jackboot Jump”, following live performances of it on tour. This song, besides being a direct reference to George Orwell’s 1984 alludes to social demonstrations in Hong Kong, Russia and in America.
Alluding to upcoming songs, Hozier also performed a new song whilst on tour entitled “But the Wages” that refers to temperatures rising as well as riots all around the world, while wages remain the same.
“I have a strong aversion to anyone in a scene-y way. In certain parts of the world where people are blowing smoke, I’ve an absolute allergy to it. I just f**king hate it. I have a strong aversion to people trying to ingratiate themselves. I don’t want to be ingratiated upon in any way, shape or form. Scenes are to be avoided, I think.”
Setlist: Would That I, Dinner & Diatribes, Nina Cried Power, Jackie and Wilson, Someone New, NFWMB, Wasteland, Baby!, Shrike, To Be Alone, Nobody, Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue), Almost (Sweet Music), Movement, Take Me to Church. Encore: Cherry Wine, Work Song
Completing a stellar two night run at the historic Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros continue to shine, expanding the Grateful Dead’s legacy to new heights. Bob Weir is in top form, and is supported by two amazing musicians; Don Was on bass and Jay Lane on drums, each bringing their own style to the performance. Highlights included “Blackbird,” “Deal” and “Eyes of The World,” but it was the extremely intimate and emotional rendition of “Standing On The Moon,” that didn’t leave a dry eye in the building and rounded out an amazing two nights for the band and deadheads alike.
Set 1: Easy to Slip, Gonesville, Blackbird, K.C. Moan, Odessa, Hell in a Bucket, She Belongs to Me, Corrina, Deal
Set 2: Me and My Uncle, Cassidy, Truckin’, Fever, Ashes and Glass, Don’t Let Go, Eyes of the World, Standing on the Moon, Going Down the Road Feelin’ BadEncore: U.S. Blues
Weezer and The Pixies arrived in Albany on Thursday, March 14 with a full tank of gas and a show that will make you remember why you sang along to all these songs in college. Of course, Weezer is still cranking out new material, with The Black Album released earlier this month, and an album of covers in The Teal Album. Combine this with all the classic Weezer you could possibly ask for and impressive stage production that traces the evolution of the band, from the early days in the garage to the arena rock they unleashed tonight, and you have the makings of a fantastic performance from Rivers Cuomo and company.
Kicking off the set with a barbershop quartet version of “Buddy Holly” in front of the draped stage, “My Name is Jonas” started the set proper with a Happy Days themed high school stage setup revealed. Pinkerton’s “Pink Triangle” followed for a taste of early Weezer to please the eager crowd of Gen-X-ers. The first of five covers, Weezer’s take on “Africa” by Toto, might be the only time you sing this 80s hit with thousands of others, without a hint of shame. During the intro for “The Sweater Song,” the stage morphed into a garage setup, which served well for the next sequence of songs: “Pork and Beans” (featuring a VHS tape recording of early Weezer antics), The Turtles “Happy Together” with a segment of Green Day’s “Longview” seamlessly worked in, the apropos “In the Garage,” “Buddy Holly” and the debut of The Black Album’s “High as a Kite.”
As the stage underwent its final transformation, Rivers Cuomo hopped in a boat-on-wheels that brought him to the opposite end of the arena, where he serenaded the crowd with acoustic versions of “El Scorcho” and “No Scrubs.” As he was wheeled back around the arena towards the stage, a darkened stage welcomed Cuomo back for Jane’s Addiction’s “Up the Beach” and sing-alongs of “Beverly Hills” and “Island in the Sun.” To close the set, a-ha’s “Take on Me,” “Perfect Situation” and “Hash Pipe” closed the set, the latter with flames shooting up around the stage. For the encore, Weezer gave a sampling of songs from mid 00’s ((“If You’re Wondering if I Want you to) I Want you to”), and the 90’s (“Surf Wax America” and “Say it Ain’t So”) for a career spanning performance of nearly two dozen songs over 90 minutes.
Weezer setlist: Buddy Holly*, My Name is Jonas, Pink Triangle, Africa, You Give Your Love to me Softly, Undone – The Sweater Song, Pork and Beans, Happy Together->Longview->Happy Together, In the Garage, Buddy Holly, High as a Kite, El Scorcho^, No Scrubs^, Up the Beach, Beverly Hills, Island in the Sun, Take on Me, Perfect Situation, Hash Pipe
Encore: (If You’re Wondering if I want you to) I want you to, Surf Wax America, Say it Ain’t So
*Barbershop quartet version ^Rivers solo acoustic
UK rockers Basement kicked off the night with a short set of generic rock anthems with a stark 90s influence. The band, particularly animated lead singer Andrew Fisher, all had great energy to start the night but the sound fell flat on a limited crowd, still making their way into the Times Union Center.
Pixies followed with Paz Lenchantin subbing for Kim Deal and her voice and presence were well suited for a band well into their fourth decade. Guitarist Joey Santiago nailed riffs throughout the 22 song set with Black Francis leading the way. The Pixies brought out deep cuts as well as familiar songs (thanks in part to ad placements) including “Gigantic,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven” and the classic “Where is my Mind?” At times it felt like Pixies would be better suited to a setting like The Palace, or even The Egg. They made a great pairing with Weezer, but an intimate evening with Pixies would be a true treat for fans who grew up on this incredibly influential group.
Pixies setlist: Gouge Away, Vamos, Crackity Jones, Gigantic, Wave of Mutilation, Death Horizon, Here Comes Your Man, Tame, Rock Music, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Classic Masher, No. 13 Baby, Caribou, Planet of Sound, Hey, Broken Face, Bone Machine, Cactus, Debaser, In the Witching Hour, Something Against You, Where is My Mind?
Bass player ‘Ray’ Beatty is very straightforward when talking about his band Lullwater: “we’re a really loud rock band.” Add their love for Seattle grunge (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden) and a “take no prisoners” rock ‘n roll stage presence – you get the DNA make up of this 4 piece band from Athens, Georgia.
Together for 10 years, Lullwater is comprised of John Strickland on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Roy ‘Ray’ Beatty on bass and vocals, Joseph Wilson on drums and vocals; and newest member, as of two years ago, Daniel Binnie on lead guitar. I sat down with Ray and Daniel before their set at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The band was finishing up a month long, five band tour, with headliners Sevendust. It was a cold, but sunny afternoon with plenty of snow on the ground as we sat inside the band’s tour van and got down to business.
John Strickland
Mickey Deneher: You’re on month long tour with Sevendust, what’s that been feeling like?
Roy ‘Ray’ Beatty: It’s great. It’s an awesome tour to be on. It’s not just Sevendust. We have Tremonti, Cane Hill, and we got Kirra. Every band on this tour is really awesome. Not to discredit any of the bands we have been on tour with before, but as far as from start to finish, this tour lineup is just totally stacked. Almost every show has been sold out. Crowds have been really rockin’ and we get to watch the machine that is Sevendust. Not just the band, but the crew and everything. Seeing an operation on that level is inspiring. It’s like, oh; that is where we aim to be with our professionality, it’s great.
They’re like hanging out with us, allowing us to hang out with them. Sort of taking us under their wing a tiny bit. It’s a great experience all around. It’s inspiring. It’s very inspiring. You can see how bands that do this for a long time find and maintain success. Manage to do that through hard work.
Lullwater at The Chance Theatre.
With the tour winding down, the band was preparing for the release of their 3rd and most adventurous studio album, Voodoo. A recording the band calls “a bigger, more intricate and layered, digitally-recorded sound.“ Recorded in New Orleans, the band engaged Jacob Hermann (Anthrax, Machine Head, Amaranthe) to take the reigns as producer. Recorded over a year ago, the band worked hard on the required business details so it would hit the market with full impact.
2019 released ‘Voodoo’ album art.
MD: The new album is coming out, that has to be an exciting thing.
RRB: It is exciting.
MD: You’ve done a couple of studio recordings and some live stuff. Did you go in with songs written and ready, or did you just go in and feel it and make it happen?
RRB: We had the majority of the songs written. But we went in and took the first week of our studio time just looking back at all of our songs; arranging things and changing things. So it’s like we re-wrote the whole album. But we had a lot in. Like 70 to 80% kind of like rough framework were there.
But Jacob, he came in and cracked the whip a little more and made us buckle down more then we have in the past. Made us be more reflective and honest about things that we were trying to make and were the things that we wanted really suiting the song that we wanted.
Roy “Ray” Beatty – Lullwater
Joseph Wilson
MD: You say we looked back, you had them ready, but let me make sure they were there?
RRB: Well, we did maybe a month or two of just practice in our basement leading up to it. Of us, just writing all these songs and playing them. But neither of our producers were able to be there with us. So when we went down to the studio we wanted to get them in on the vibe and also get their input and just make sure everything was the best that it could be. ‘Cause we’ve done albums. Like the previous album, we really didn’t write almost anything before we went in. And that was cool too. But we just really wanted to make this one stand out.
MD: Jacob Hermann?
RRB: Jacob (reiterated with a Swedish accent)
MD: He had some great creds coming in. How was it working with him?
RRB: It was great. It was a little daunting. It was a big step up. Not to say that our other producer, Justin, isn’t also great to work with, and he is. But he kind of goes along with our vibe and we are all very collaborative. But Jacob, he came in and cracked the whip a little more and made us buckle down more then we have in the past. Made us be more reflective and honest about things that we were trying to make and were the things that we wanted really suiting the song that we wanted.
Daniel Binnie: He was extremely critical.
MD: But that’s good.
RRB: It was good.
DB: In a good way.
MD: His name is on there also. It’s a collaboration.
RRB: It is. I think people probably don’t realize, that people that don’t make music, or don’t record their music with producers; don’t realize how much of an impact that those producers have on the album; the sounds that are happening, how the sounds all fit together, a lot of the arraignments and stuff. Your always like “Hey Justin,” “Hey Jacob,” “does it sound good?” “Does it suck or not?” When I personally go into the studio I try to, you know I have all these ideas that we have and I want things to be a certain way, but unless I absolutely am worried something’s going to not turn out good, I try to just give up worrying about anything. Saying the power to veto a sound or to confirm ‘does this sound good,’ is in the producer’s control.
Roy “Ray” Beatty
MD: You (as a band) present it, you play it, you created it, but you need that extra set of ears to help you.
RRB: You defiantly do. If you don’t all do that, it gets to be a to many cooks in the kitchen kind of scenario with everyone saying, “NO, we got to do this riff,” ‘That didn’t quite work, we have to redo it.” It’s like CHAOS. In order to serve the final product, you have to remove yourself a little from it.
MD: The song “Empty Chambers” a first release. Talk a little about it.
RRB: It’s just a loud rock song. Actually, that was the first one we started writing for the album, I think. I was traveling and I had my guitar in my car and I knew that we had our studio session booked and I was kind of freak’n out because nobody had been sending in riffs. ‘Cause usually, the way our writing process works is, other people are coming up with some of the riffs and I‘ll try to arrange them and we’ll all try to arrange them and write. We write together. But for this one, I was just in my hotel drinking and I was like; man, we need songs. So I just wrote that first riff and we just kind of came together and made a song out of it.
Daniel Binnie
You can take kind of what you want from the lyrics. John (Strickland, lead vocals and rhythm guitar) doesn’t like to be super direct with explaining his lyrics in interviews, so I kind of respect that. But you listen to it; you can kind of hear what it’s all about.
Daniel Binnie: I wrote the rhythm for the chorus. Don’t for get me (laughing!)
RRB: Binnie did write the chorus of “Empty Chamber.” Totally wrote that. We took that from a song he made. So it really came together.
MD: What was it that drew you down to NOLA (to record)?
RRB: Jacob had worked in that studio and he said that was the place to go, so we said ok, we trust you.
MD: New Orleans is such a music place.
RRB: It is a music place.
MD: The vibe is a NOLA vibe. Did any of that seep in a little?
RRB: The album is called Voodoo. We where there for Halloween. (Laughing) It definitely influenced the album. It seeps through. You be able to hear it in the final product.
Lullwater
DB: Musically of course, we got some horns and strings and stuff from local musicians on the album. So you got that. As far as the vibe of the town, there is a lot of pain and suffering on that album.
RRB: There is. I feel that like that is the theme of the album overall, everything falling apart and then getting back together.
The band hit the stage at The Chance Theater to a very appreciative and packed house. With 2019 in front of them, Lullwater will be releasing an acoustic EP, containing songs from their last two albums, in late spring or summer. The band is now finalizing tour dates for the rest of the year, so look for Lullwater out on the road in support of their latest release.
Brooklyn’s Bad Luck has announced a brand new EP Drug Phase to be released on March 29 via Take This To Heart Records, and has released the infectious new single “Sheep Song.” Listen below and on all platforms here.
Bad Luck. started out as a Long Island solo project before the band came together in Florida in 2014, when they released Cold Bones and Noise in Your Head the following year. These two compact yet abrasive pop-punk releases placed nostalgia and neuroses on the same plane. “Sheep Song” showcases the dynamics that made 2014 “Cold Bones” LP from Bad Luck an underground hit. The whole song is a chorus that will have you singing ba-ba-ba in under 3 minutes.
Anchored by brothers Dominick and Joe Fox and colored in by a rotating cast of touring friends, Bad Luck.’ssecond wind offers the same great pop hooks chased with hard-hitting backdrops that originally captured crowds’ hearts. Having since returned to their home base and their homegrown mentality, Bad Luck. is looking to add to their short but sweet legacy and score a longer winning streak. They embark on a four-show tour later this month.
