After the Crossgates Mall crowd at Jupiter Hall in Albany dissipated, the dark metal corridors echoed with the growling sounds of screams from beyond.
The Chaos Collective, an upstate live entertainment group, and event manager Joe Vonschinzel, brought the areas darkest, loudest, most theatrical death and black metal bands together for what will, unfortunately, be one of the venue’s last shows.
As you walked to the closed doors and slowly opened them, you could see blue and white light pulsating from the stage. The screams and drums, mixed with wailing deep guitars, made one feel as though they were entering another world, another dimension. The bands put it all out there for the fans, and the fans loved every thunderous moment.
The metal lineup for the night at Jupiter Hall was: Vile Tyrant, Goatmass, Scavengers, Organ Harvest, Faced518. Jupiter Hall will have their last show next weekend, June 14, with Revenge, a non-make up Kiss tribute, Frank Palangi, The Hard Luck Souls, and Wasteland Junction.
Earlier this month, Fever Dolls released their third single, “Mrs. Carver.” Similar to their previous two releases, this song was accompanied by a thematically sound music video. However, it would be a disservice to simply call this visual component a music video, as its narration and storytelling resembles elements of a short film. Just like “Gennifer Flowers” and “Adline,” there are greater cinematic influences at play here that work together with the lyrics to ultimately enhance the listener’s experience.
NYS Music had the pleasure of asking Renn Mulloy and Evan Allis of Fever Dolls questions regarding their creative vision and how visual media has influenced their music.
Sammy Steiner: Who are some of your biggest musical influences? How have they influenced your work?
Evan & Renn: Our biggest influences are people that play no-frills, hook-driven pop music. We love Motown, new wave, and 70’s FM radio, and see ourselves in that tradition. We’re musical populists. We write choruses you can sing with your friends.
SS: What (or who) excites you within the realm of music right now?
E&R: RKS, Lizzo, Kacey Musgraves, Billie Eilish…people that transcend genres and think about their music as a fully immersive experience for their fans. That excites and inspires us. We’re noticing more bands that aren’t afraid to draw from pop music, write big choruses, or make the spectacle an equally important part of the live experience. We feel like there’s a better responsiveness to our type of band than there was a couple of years ago.
SS: Lyrically speaking – do you draw on influences from your personal lives or through the lives of others?
E&R: At first our songs were mostly autobiographical and confessional, but recently I’ve started writing more about made-up people. In general, I think I’m probably a better storyteller than a protagonist, and find that writing songs about fictional characters allows me to write about a wider array of subjects than when I was starting out and only writing about my own love life. Moreover, since we always wanted to be a theatrical band, it feels more in line with our vision to play ballads and story songs.
SS: Do you think the average person’s relationship with music has changed with the rise of visual storytelling? What role has the convergence of visual media had on your creative process and ability to tell a story?
E&R: It definitely seems that for a lot of people hearing a song by itself isn’t enough anymore. Why stimulate one sense when TV stimulates two! Even Spotify now incorporates video into the platforms of their top tier artists, with these slightly ridiculous 20 second loops of animation or video. For the record, this seems to be about as cool as the iTunes equalizer button, but the point is people are excited by the relationship between audio and visuals, and want more music that speaks to them in that way.
Speaking as a member of this generation, I think television is the greatest art form ever invented, and it invades every part of my life and thought process. I constantly find myself reducing complicated life situations to derivative story arcs, and the personalities of people in my life to those of their most similar TV character. It makes living easy. Even when I write songs, I find my brain responds to what I’m writing by concocting scenes from fictional movies that play out in my head over the melodies. For a long time this seemed crazy, but now we try to lean into these associations and embrace the ways in which our band’s music inspires images and non-musical stories for us. We feel like the output makes sense to our audience’s listening experience, and has been more authentic and reflective of the way people in our generation’s brains work.
SS: With an album on the way, what are your goals for the upcoming year?
E&R: We’re sitting on a ton of recorded material that we’d like to release in the next year. The hold up is that I’m not a very capable engineer — but I’m getting better at asking for help and relinquishing control. The goal for the upcoming year, beyond the album, would be to release most or all of what we’re recording right now. We’re especially excited about a collection of songs and videos we’re working on about different criminals throughout American history that we’re calling, Only When Its Dark Out.
Be sure to follow Fever Dolls onFacebook for updates regarding new music.
This past weekend, Randall’s Island played host to the 2019 Governors Ball Music Festival. The festival, in its ninth year, featured many of the hottest musical acts of today with performances by Tyler the Creator, Florence and The Machine, Nas, Lily Allen, Lil Wayne, The 1975 and many more of today’s most popular musical acts. An amazing first two days set the stage for a full final day of music, with the home town favorites The Strokes closing out the 2019 edition of the New York City music festival. But Mother Nature had other plans as impending inclement weather forced a delayed gate opening and, eventually, thunderstorms forced the cancelation of the rest of the day including The Strokes’ headlining set.
A full statement from festival organizers can be found here.
John Fogerty will be playing the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on Sunday, Aug. 18 with special guests Tedeschi Trucks Band and Grace Potter. The site of the original Woodstock Music & Arts Festival announced that the 50th anniversary of the famed festival will be celebrated with three separate events taking place August 16-18, with John Fogerty, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Grace Potter closing out the weekend. ‘My 50 Year Trip’ commemorates Fogerty’s time with Creedence Clearwater Revival and the evolutionary music created during 1969, recreating the Woodstock experience.
Tedeschi Trucks Band never fails to put on a phenomenal live performance with their outstanding musical chemistry. They have developed a distinguished reputation selling out multi-night runs at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Beacon Theatre, and Ryman Auditorium.
With her strong voice, Grace Potter captivates and moves her audiences. She has demonstrated her versatility performing with acts from Kenny Chesney to The Rolling Stones to Bob Weir.
Tickets for John Fogerty: My 50 Year Trip with Tedeschi Trucks Band and Grace Potter go on sale Friday June 7, for more information click here.
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!
The neon sign outside Montage Music Hall was a beacon in the night, drawing music lovers into the heart of Rochester for the first live performance by Losers Club on Friday, May 31. The project is new, but members are seasoned musicians who have been playing out in bands for years. The downtown venue was packed with their friends, family, and fans.
Losers Club debut performance – Photo by Corrine Cummings
Losers Club took to the stage. Cody Wagner took his place behind the drum kit. Andy Champion picked up his bass. Aidan Snyder and Nate Blasdell strapped on their guitars. Then, Blasdell took a spot center stage, in front of the mic. Blasdell has been in several bands (The Bunny The Bear, I Set My Friends On Fire), but this is his first time as front man. Blasdell thanked everyone for coming before delving into their set.
Bassist, Andy Champion – Photo by Corrine Cummings
Rocking rhythms and pop hooks paved the way for emotional lyrics, oozing with unapologetic honesty. Between songs, Blasdell told the crowd a little about how the band was conceived, during a snow day this past winter. The band members came together after knowing each other for years through the local music scene. He also talked about the origin of the band name, and how Losers Club is about embracing the feeling of not fitting in.
Guitarist, Aidan Snyder. Photo by Corrine Cummings
The set was full of original songs, but they threw in one cover. Mid-set they got the crowd singing along to a rocking rendition of Lil Uzi Vert’s “All My Friends Are Dead.” Losers Club came out of the gate strong for their first show. It’s clear this new band is one to watch.
Opening for Losers Club was indie pop band So Last Year. The five piece powerhouse gave an energetic performance. The set included sing-along faves from their albums In The Light Of Summer and It’s Later Than You Think. They’ve since been writing and recording for their next release, and on this night they played the soon-to-be-released song “Already Gone.”
So Last Year building steam, for an energetic set – Corinne Cummings
Over Memorial Day weekend the city of Boston hosted the 10th Boston Calling Music Festival, located on Harvard University’s amazing campus. The Harvard athletic complex is beautiful and gave some luxury to the festival experience, where each stage was constructed on the Astro turf fields. There was a three-stage setup with the two main stages next to each other, separated by a replica Green Monster that read: “You Are Our People” across the top.
Each day was filled with great acts and music fans with a great energy. Here are some of the best things we saw during this festival weekend:
Brandi Carlile
She greeted her audience, “Hello Rock n Roll People.” She plugged in and was off, on one the best sets of the weekend. Highlights included opening song, “Hold Out Your Hand,” which every fan in attendance was singing word for word. Amazing covers of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” followed. Brandi and her band put on one of the most special sets.
Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals
From the moment his drum set rose from the bottom of the stage, .Paak and his band brought funk and soul to the main stage the second night with their amazing songs and musicianship. Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals are one of the top live music acts doing it right now; it’s amazing to see the growth and following that has already surrounded theses musicians. The highlight of the set was the guest appearance by Lil Nas X, and the duet of “Old Town Road”
Travis Scott
Music festival performances are special, you want to see and artist give their all and hold nothing back – that’s where Travis Scott delivers. His live show was top notch, out-of-control fun. The stage was adorned with a fifty-foot teddy bear, timely pyro technics, and amazing visuals and lights that covered everything on the stage. His stage presences and hype helped make this performance one for the Boston Calling history books.
Tame Impala
Kevin Parker informed the audience that he recently fell off a roof during a photo shoot and was taking lots of pain meds. That being said, it had little to no effect on Tame Impala’s headlining set Saturday night. The sets was like a slow burning fire, slowly progressing until an explosion. It was the bands hit song, “Elephant.” Confetti, smoke and lasers took over the crowd, as this song flipped everyone from a calm somber mood, to 150 MPH hauling down the highway. Impala knows how to entertain a festival crowd, period, allowing them to deliver one of the best sets of the weekend.
Twenty-One Pilots
Prior to this festival there was a lot of hype about Twenty One Pilots being a headliner. The magic of live music, proof you can’t judge a book by its cover surpassed the hype, tenfold. This was more than just a set of music it was a full stage show, opening with a knight igniting a car on stage to start the set, confetti and fire, and a cinematic storytelling element.
Over all, the 10th edition of Boston Calling Music Festival was a success. Music fans were treated to an amazing weekend with clear weather and one of the most eclectic lineups for the 2019 festival season. Great food and that ‘home team comradery’ within the heart of Boston, made this year’s festival one to remember. We are looking forward to what comes next for this premier music festival.
It rained, it scorched, a few artists had to cancel due to travel issues, but that did not stop Summer Camp from being an absolute blast! A festival full of ups and downs but mostly a lot of awesome, jaw-dropping moments of improvisation and collaboration, beauty, artistry, community, and fun.
Summer Camp, what a line up! Many sets of Umphrey’s Mcgee, moe., plus Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Lotus, STS9, Gramatik, Space Jesus, Papadosio, and so so many more! Unfortunately not all major acts performed due to various issues, some weather related – Space Jesus, Govinda, Blackstar, & Rebelution were some of the acts that were unable to perform.
moe. in full bubble mode.
The pre party did not look so promising on Wednesday night. In a nearby arcade bar in Peoria, just twenty minutes outside the festival, the sky was black and the lighting fierce. Tornado warnings broke up the chill vibe of the bar as it interrupted old hits like “Electric Feel” by MGMT.
But alas the rain stopped, as it always does. The sun came out and the patrons lined up at the entrance. God bless the express lane for media and the friendly folk who pointed out that media does not have to wait over an hour in the sun just to have their items inspected.
Umphrey’s McGee at the Sunshine stage. We’ll miss you, Jefferson Waful. (UM lighting designer to retire from touring at end of year).
Jay Blakesburg was directing the video team and filming patrons as they entered. The pre party featured some amazing acts like STS9, EOTO, Keller Williams, & Spafford, plus late night by Umphrey’s & Here Come The Mummies. Now that’s how you kick off a festival!
Spafford played an incredible “All In” as well as “The Reprise” amongst their shred-filled set. Umphrey’s Mcgee played some strong first sets including songs like “Andy’s Last Beer” and “Syncopated Strangers.” STS9’s ‘Axe The Cables’ set was filled with groove including a masterful “Mischief of a Sleepwalker” > “New Dawn New Day” > “Mischief of a Sleepwalker .”
Taz sits in with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong at the Moonshine Stage.
Friday started off with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer. Now this kid can shred. “Fire on the Mountain” > “BlackBird” was phenomenal, heart touching, and ever so appropriate. Keller Williams’ Pettygrass with the Hillbenders was cancelled due to some lighting, a storm was coming that never came. Music is back on! moe., Exmag, Spafford, Karl Denson, Here Come The Mummies, Ghost Light (Tommy Hamilton still has the tape on his guitar from Shpongle Live Red Rocks!) and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong were all happy to oblige.
Since Rebelution was cancelled, moe. & Pigeons Playing Ping Pong put together a set. At first it was moe. with Jeremy Schon, but what happened next was really impressive. While playing the same song (“Cissy Strut” by The Meters), members of moe. on stage switched with the Pigeons guys backstage, switching bands while maintaining the same jam ! Crazy impressive. Other songs played included “Get Back” by The Beatles, “Deal”, and “Sympathy For The Devil” by The Rolling Stones.
Aqueous at the Moonshine Stage.
Umphrey’s McGee performed Anchor Drops in its entirety during their evening set, filled with virtuoso shredding and improvisation.
Some heavy hitting bass music on Friday by Zeds Dead, Tokimonsta, Flux Pavilion was followed by Ryan Stasik’s side project Doom Flamingo at the Campfire Stage who are definitely an act worth seeing.
Mihali sits in with Big Gigantic at the Sunshine Stage.
Saturday looked very promising, especially during the epic Big Gigantic set with an unexpected sit in by Mihali of Twiddle. But alas, during Umphrey’s set, the rain came in and washed it all away, along with several sets including those of Space Jesus & Manic Focus.
Saturday also featured amazing performances by Chromeo Live, Cory Wong of Vulfpeck, Blues Traveler with a sit in Mihali of Twiddle and a separate one from Al Schnier of moe. , Andy Frasco with a sit in from Gumby himself! (by sit in what is meant is that Andy invited someone in a Gumby suit from the crowd to dance on stage as he shoved mushrooms in the costume’s mouth and finished Gumby off with his band members with an implied circle jerk).
Cory Wong at the Moonshine Stage.
So spirits were a little low Saturday night in the rain. Some major acts had gotten cancelled and the rain was not letting up. But indoor stages were still on! lespecial saved the day. Space Jesus did not get to play but he was rocking out to lespecial for the entirety of the set front row. With a little support from ‘his uncle,’ Luke Bemand and the lespecial boys crushed the late night Saturday set including the lespecial heavy hitter “Fruit Wolf Dance.” All those folks who may have been somewhere else were now packed and raging lespecial. Their tight, hard rock, danceable groove was perfect for this night. What better Primus song to play after a torrential rain storm… My name is mud!
lespecial at The Soulshine Tent.
Sunday funday. Never miss a Sunday show right? Chris Robinson Brotherhood was in the house, Oteil & Friends, Eric Krasno, Papadosio, The Werks, Ben Harper… the jam was strong with this day.
Aqueous put on a particularly solid set to kick off the day featuring a live debut of “APunk” by Vampire Weekend. Umphrey’s, bringing the heat after having one of their Saturday night sets rained out, included “Whitehouse Road” by Tyler Childers with a special sit in from Arlo McKinley and Allie Kral from Yonder Mountain String Band. Umphrey’s McGee closed up their set with “Outshined” by Soundgarden.
Neal Casal, Weedie Braimah, and Oteil Burbridge of Oteil & Friends at The Moonshine Stage.
Oteil & Krasno in the VIP Lounge was beautiful, featuring masterful renditions of Dead songs such as “Help On The Way.” Oteil & Friends featured Jeff Chimenti, Krasno, Neal Casal, Weedie Braimah, John Kimock, and Alfreda Gerald. Now that was a set filled with such tight, progressive jams. It really flowed, had a direction, and was sonically impressive.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood put on an incredible set with songs like “Rare Birds” and “Venus In Chrome” was played with precision and whole lot of energy.
Chris Robinson Brotherhood at the Sunshine Stage.
moe. busted out some live debut covers including “Rebell Yell” & “Turning Japanese.” This set featured masterful, psychedelic stage lighting complete with UV reacting bubbles!
“Loving Cup” by The Rolling Stones was played at least twice that day by different bands, so that should tell you what kind of Sunday it was. A fun one. It was a Sunday Funday! Ben Harper & The Innocent Nocturnals proved to be intimate, full of masterful blues, and virtuoso musicianship including a Buddy Miles cover, “Them Changes.”
Ben Harper & The Innocent Nocturnals at the Sunshine Stage.
Lotus played a particularly awesome set, including a particularly groovey “Eats The light.” It flowed very well and people danced from the very first note until the end of the encore. Lotus is a nice happy medium between jam and electronica, where they can satisfy musical preferences of different tastes with the same song. Someone who loves to hear someone play guitar can appreciate their guitar playing, but someone who just wants to dance to a catchy beat can also do so at Lotus.
Summer Camp had some heavy hitting bass music to close out the festival featuring Gramatik, Squnto, & Borgore. Borgore dropped old classic dance songs that everyone knew like “Sandstorm.”
Mike Rempel of Lotus at the Sunshine Stage.
Overall, Summer Camp was a success! Thousands of strangers gathered to celebrate freedom, music, and art. Summer Camp is a magical place full of amazing people, incredible music, inspiring art, and a thriving community that is held together by the love of music.
On a beautiful Memorial Day, Ray Brothers BBQ kicked off their fourth season of live music with a concert featuring The Lightkeepers, paris_monster and Chris Eves & The New Normal. “The 4th Annual Backyard BBQ” was a benefit show with ticket sales going to 4 Animal Adoption agencies in the area.
The Lightkeepers hit the stage first with classic rock covers and original tunes from their new SAMMY-nominated album Poor Man’s Blues. Lead singer Jes Sheldon has an incredible energy and charm that captures the audience and certainly sparks the band. The Lightkeepers ripped through their set and left a smoking crater on the stage.
Luckily for the huge crowd that came, that crater was filled shortly afterwards by the duo paris_monster. It is difficult to categorize their music, but in a very good way. You have not seen anything like these two, and the sound they put out is mesmerizing. With a driving bass line and synth fills, Geoff Kraly fits perfectly with singer, keys player and drummer Josh Dion. Their incredible set ended with Chris Eves (high school friend of Geoff) joining the duo on guitar for the final two songs, trading solos throughout. It’s no wonder Turkauz picked these guys to open for them on their West Coast tour. paris_monster has also been touring heavily, not only throughout the United States but Europe as well.
paris_monster
As the sun began to set, Chris Eves & The New Normal began the final set of the night. Chris and his band tore into some covers ranging from The Grateful Dead to Michael Jackson. The band also debuted several new songs from an album that will be released shortly. Everyone was grooving and swaying as the music filled the rolling hills of Central New York. It’s a wonder the beautiful amphitheater is still standing after all of these rocking sets! The audience definitely got their money’s worth with these three incredible bands, delicious BBQ Nachos, tacos, half chickens and pork, not to mention puppies and cats to pet and adopt. If you have never been or are a regular to this outdoor venue, it is a summer must. Colin and Tucker Ray have cultivated another great line up this season along with a wonderful atmosphere for live music. You can check out the rest of the line up and get tickets to The Yard Amphitheater at Ray Brother’s BBQ HERE as well as Instagram and Facebook.
Since its inception back in 2009 Albany based punk band, The Slaughterhouse Chorus, have been taking no prisoners with their aggressive, in-your-face musical style. With the release of their fourth record, …In The Name Of Progress, the band has penned its swan song and will be disbanding later this year. After ten years of touring and recording original material, the members of The Slaughterhouse Chorus, which is comprised of Chris Jordan (vocals and guitar), Jay Bonafide (guitar), Bob Watson (bass and vocals) and Mark McKenna (drums), have always steered through the rocky waters of the music industry with honesty and integrity. Initially formed from the ashes of local long-running punk/ska band, Public Access, the band has always had a “do it yourself” mentality that is a hallmark to their popularity and longevity.
The Slaughterhouse Chorus’ latest effort is a stripped down production that was captured at vocalist Chris Jordan’s rural Rensselear County cabin. Each of the five tracks on …In The Name Of Progress were recorded as a live performance by the band and recorded by producer, Ryan Slowey. The EP is being released by local artist collaborative label, Built4BBQ’s, that the band helped co-found. Their first release since 2014, …In the Name of Progress will be available on 12″ vinyl and digital download.
The EP starts off strong with the fast tempo punk number “Greenplates.” Fast guitars and booming vocals by Jordan set the testosterone fueled tone for the record. With lyrics that drip with irony and disillusionment, Jordan lyrically recounts a life of toil and hard work with nothing to show for it but poverty and frustration.
The Second track off of …In The Name Of Progress, entitled “Hambone,” brings a taste of country flavor to an otherwise irreverent punk number. The tune lyrically depicts a gloriously raucous road trip to Nashville where a fresh start in life awaits… if they can just get there in one piece. The track features guitar work straight out of the Grand Ole Opry from Jay Bonafide, who deftly picks away like Roy Clark coming down off of a three day bender. “Hambone” is a fun track to listen to and features backup vocals by Built4BBQ’s fellow label-mates, John “Henry’s Rifle” Pipino and Dan Wilson (of Kimono Dragons and the Rechorduroys), adding a bit of flavor to the number.
Luckily fans of The Slaughterhouse Chorus still have a few chances seeing the local punk favorites live before they hang it up for good. They perform next at their final record release party at Albany’s Hollow Bar & Kitchen on Friday, May 31 at 8PM. They will be accompanied by musical friends Turf ‘n’ Turf, The Death Vacation, and Kimono Dragons. The Slaughterhouse Chorus will play a few more shows this year before taking their final bow sometime this fall, including the sixth annual Built4BBQ Star Spangled Bonanza July 3 at the Hangar on the Hudson, and the Divine Vibes music festival at the Beer Diviner Brewery July 19-21.
