Fresh off the heels of another successful Camp Bisco comes the debut release from SPAGA, a new and exciting Philadelphia-based jazz trio that blends intricate soundscapes and piano-driven melodies with a sturdy rhythm section that’s more than open to improvisation. This new project is the brain child of Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner, whose delicate piano play fuels the self-titled release. Jason Fraticelli (upright bass) and Matt Scarano (drums) round out this latest addition to the burgeoning Philadelphia music scene, who recently performed at Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest.
Those expecting to hear songs similar in intensity and fashion to what the Disco Biscuits live catalog provides should look elsewhere, although there is a track (“Resurrection”) that fans will certainly recognize here. Instead, SPAGA offers a more relaxed and intimate musical environment that’s both technically proficient yet still malleable enough to explore new boundaries. The interplay between these three masters of their respective crafts on this record helps create moods that can range from brooding to blissful, sometimes within the same track. With seemingly only minimal post-production effects mixed in, this “mostly acoustic” album instead pays more attention to the organic nature and simplicity of a three-piece band that’s still able to produce a powerful and engaging sound.
A mix of styles begins the album as tenacious drum work and a foreboding bass line are joined by some ethereal piano-driven melodies, a practice common throughout. By the end, the opening track “Creed” develops a light and pleasant tone before slinking away with the return of the darker opening theme. “Marionette in the Snow,” which follows, may be the most enjoyable listen on SPAGA as it takes the listener on a true journey lasting near nine minutes. A joyous main theme gives way to some crispy drum and bass work, giving Fraticelli and Scarano a chance to take the reigns for a little and show off their chops. “Four Angels” produces an ambient and almost spooky soundscape at its outset before a comfortable groove is established, accentuated by more Magner-crafted melodies on the grand piano. And fans will surely recognize “Resurrection,” an instrumental take on the Disco Biscuits song that flows back and forth between two main thematic tempos, serving as almost a nod to the original and recently re-worked styles in which the song is played live.
The album may only have six tracks, but each is a unique and easy listen that touches on distinctive elements of jazz, rock and improv that certainly lends itself to a world of possibilities in a live setting. For now, the album, which will be released on Magner’s own label AM Records on July 26, will have to suffice. But the band does have tour dates planned for later this summer as seen below, including a date at New York City’s (Le) Poisson Rouge, serving as the next stage of this musical exploration that’s off to a very promising start. For more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming shows, visit the SPAGA official website.
Tour Dates
August 6 – Fort Collins, CO – Washington’s
August 7 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
August 8 – Steamboat Springs, CO – Old Town Pub
August 10 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Jazz Festival
August 10 – Telluride, CO – Sheridan Opera House
August 11 – Crested Butte, CO – Center for the Arts
September 6 – Ardmore, PA – The Ardmore Music Hall
September 7 – New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 21 – Slippery Rock, PA – Resonance Festival
It is a crowded field of rising bands out there, and one band from Norwalk, CT is setting themselves apart from the flock. Goose, a four piece indie-groove act today released their most recent single, “Time to Flee,” which features a distinctly Steely Dan sound coupled with inspired-by-real-life lyrics. Written by Peter Anspach (guitar/keys), “Time to Flee” follows the release of last month’s “All I Need,” the band’s first studio content in over three years.
Anspach says of the single: “‘Flee’ is about setting your soul free, especially when a leap of faith seems the most daunting. It is a lyrical self reflection, humorously encapsulating the mental disquietude of leaving lost love in the past.”
The single was recorded and mixed by Kenny Cash at Factory Underground in Norwalk, CT, and mastered by veteran engineer Emily Lazar with assistance by Chris Allgood at The Lodge in New York City. Catch the band on tour all Summer in a city near you. Dates can be found at goosetheband.com.
This past weekend the Levitate Music and Arts Festival held its seventh annual grassroots event in the beautiful small town of Marshfield, Massachusetts. With one of the top lineups of the 2019 Festival season which included Tedeschi Trucks Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Damian Marley, Joe Russoâs Almost Dead, Stick Figure, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Sublime with Rome, St Paul & The Broken Bones, and many other top acts in the jam and reggae music communities, it showed why it has become one of New Englandâs premier music festivals.
During my formative years, I would look to my father for insight, knowledge and direction, trying to absorb as much as humanly possible. When I caught Devon Allman (son of Gregg Allman) and Duane Betts (son of Dickey Betts) fronting the newly formed Allman Betts Band at the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut, I surmised that these sons of rock, had absorbed much too.
Already with established musical careers, the coalescing of their talents began in December 2017 at an event organized by Devon, honoring the music and memory of his late father. In 2018, Betts started opening for The Devon Allman project and joining Devon on stage for a few Allman tunes as part of the show. Realizing that something viable was in their midst, the two started writing together and the seeds of the Allman Betts Band were sown. Later that year, with songs penned, the pair headed to the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Their efforts resulted in the band’s debut album, Down to the River. Then, on March 27, 2019, fifty years and one day from the first time the Allman Brothers Band played together in Jacksonville Florida, the Allman Betts Band kicked off their inaugural tour at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl.
Devon Allman, Duane Betts
Walking in the intimate Wall Street Theatre, you felt the buzz, in anticipation of hearing this new band. JD Simo, (who sat in with the Allman Betts band for a song) opened the show. This three piece from Nashville cranked out a powerful set of rock and blues tunes, priming the pump for what was to come. Devon, Duane and band (Berry Duane Oakley – bass, vocals; Johnny Stachela – guitar, vocals; John Ginty – keyboards; R Scott Bryan – percussion, vocals; John Lum – drums) took the stage and did not hold back. A night filled with songs from Down to the River augmented with Allman Brothers tunes and a few covers thrown in for good measure. Throughout the night Duane and Johnny Stachela lit up the stage with blistering guitar solos. The rest of the band was right there with them flowing with every twist, turn, and bend. Mid set, Devon took center stage with his Linhof T-style electric guitar in hand, and led the band through a searing version of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Set audibles where being called and every song was like gasoline being poured on an open fire. Yeah, the Allman Betts band are for real.
The day before the show, I spoke with Duane Betts by phone from East Hampton, N.Y where the band was playing a sold out show at the Guild Hall. We started our conversation talking about the debut album, which had been released the prior week.
Mickey Deneher: Congrats on Down to the River Debuting #1 on the iTunes Rock chart. You guys have to be feeling really good about that.
Duane Betts: Yeah we’re really jazzed up about that. We put a lot of hard work into it and everybody did their job. The people came out and showed their support and interest. It made us feel really good. It’s something we look forward to building on.
You are basically capturing a moment of a band coming together and getting a live performance from one of the first times they ever played together and played that song.
Duane Betts
MD: I know that you and Devon were working with (songwriter) Stoll Vaughn for the album. Was there an even balance in the writing process or was it ‘hey I got an idea and I throw it out to you?’ How did you guys approach that?
DB: Some of the ideas were brought in. There’d be a little spark and then we’d go from there. There were a couple of things that we started from scratch together. It just depends on the tune. But it was all very collaborative. Certain people maybe contributed more in a lyrical sense to certain songs and less in the musical sense or vice versa. A lot of the tunes were: once you come up with a feeling, an idea, then all the songs kind of have to be part of a thread and tell the same story. Not that every song is talking about the same thing, but they fit together well and live together well.
The majority of it was written by myself and Devon and Stoll together. The three of us. There’s a cover on there, Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents.” There is a song written by a dear friend of mine that passed away (who) I was in a band with in my early twenties. His name is Chris Williams. He was the son of the great song writher Jerry Lynn Williams who wrote a lot of stuff for Clapton, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and people like that. He passed away in a car accident. But I love that song so I started playing that and we decided to use that song on the record. That’s “Autumn Breeze.” There was a song written by Cisco Adler (Down to the River), where Devon added a verse, and we worked that up. That covers the gamut.
Allman Betts Band
MD: Right out of the gate “All Night” (the first single) and “Shinin’”are straight away fun jam tunes. Then you get in to “Down to the River,” “Autumn Breeze,” “Southern Accents” and “Long Gone” – there’s a different groove to them. It’s awareness and personal insight.
DB: Yeah all those tunes just fit together. We had more tunes to choose from, but those are just the ones that ended on it and that live together. It’s always fun to write. We look forward to building on that body of work.
MD: You go into the studio, the songs were written. Did they evolve during the recording sessions or stay true to what you brought in?
DB: Some of these tunes we’d never played together. Last year as The Devon Allman Project with special guest Duane Betts, we had started playing a couple of them, maybe two or three of them. There were some that were brought in that we had never played and we worked them up in the studio. You play them a few times, start getting it good, and then you get a take, and there you have it. You’re basically listening to maybe the fifth or six time we’d ever played it. Now there are other tunes like “Autumn Breeze” we had played. “All Night” we had been playing. So some of it we had been playing and some of it we hadn’t played till we were in the studio.
“Down to the River ” Allman Betts Band album artwork
MD: Fresh stuff, experiencing it and making it happen. That’s got to be exciting – putting it together like that.
DB: Yeah. It’s a different experience. You are getting a kind of vulnerability that you wouldn’t get if you had worked it all out. You are basically capturing a moment of a band coming together and getting a live performance from one of the first times they ever played together and played that song. So that’s what unique about it. “Long Gone” is one of my personal favorites. It’s powerful and has a timeless kind of quality to it. It’s really cool and we look forward to getting it out there to more people and it’ll keep growing. Slow and steady wins the race.
MD: “Long Gone” is a great way to close out the album too.
DB: Yeah I think so. That was a good one. Good way to end.
MD: You recorded at Muscle Shoals, in one big room.
DB: Yeah that’s the way it is. The amps were isolated, the guitar amps were. Yeah we were all in a room. We could all basically see each other.
MD: What was that vibe like? It’s like the place to record.
DB: Yeah it was really cool. Really down home vibe. I really wanted it to come out good. Get good live performances. When you’re on stage and your not thinking about it and you don’t know you are being recorded it’s one thing, but when your in the studio and the drummer is around the corner, and you have head phones and all that stuff, you kind of wonder sometimes man I hope we can get a really good one. But we did really well. The vibe at the studio is everything. There’s all the records that have been recorded there. You’re in Alabama, you’re in a kind of semi-remote place in Alabama. It just kind of reeks of vibe, you know. It couldn’t be any more like down home and like real.
MD: And then you did it right after Thanksgiving, so you got to work off all that food that you ate. (Laughing)
DB: Yeah exactly. (Laughing)
There’s always jams man. We jam a ton. We are big on that. You just have to come see the show.
Duane Betts
MD: You guys are a new band. People always say about a new band they sound like this band or some name comes up. I’m sure people may have been thinking Allman Brothers 2.0 – Allman Brothers; the next generation. Influence is there, but I hear the band’s own voice coming through. Was that a conscious effort or was it a natural occurrence?
DB: We’re defiantly not trying to be the Allman Brothers, I can tell you that. There’re certain songs that require we approach it in a very musical manor. That’s just an obvious influence, because we want to approach it in a kind of elegant musical manor. Like “Autumn Breeze,” with twin guitars. Yeah there is defiantly an Allman Brothers influence there. But there are also other influences everywhere too. I think that the more stuff we do, the wider variety of influences you’ll hear. For this one, I hear Stones from the Mick Taylor era, Sticky Fingers, that style. I hear some Neil Young sounding stuff on “Long Gone.” There’s Derek and the Dominos, there’s other influences there. We have a ton of influences.
MD: And you have to draw from that. That is how you came up playing. You were influenced by those people.
DB: Yeah, that’s just what we come from. And the influence is there. There’s no doubt and we’re not trying to hide the influence.
Berry Duane Oakley, Devon Allman, John Lum, Duane Betts
MD: Lets talk about the tour. Three months in, how are those songs feeling live?
DB: We just started playing a few of them, because we didn’t want to play the whole record before the record was out. “Long Gone” has been amazing. We’ve been playing “All Night,” “Melodies are Memories,” and “Good Old Days.” We’ve been playing a few of them for quite a while and they have been feeling pretty good for a while now. We did “Southern Accents” last night. I don’t play on that, so I didn’t do it (laughing). Devon and Johnny and John Ginty did “Southern Accents” so that one was really cool. But “Long Gone” is really a stand out for all of us. We think that’s like a really poignant, serious tune that has some real credibility.
MD: And you guys have some great players talking about John and Johnny. Are you guys now indulging, some jams happening in the set these days?
DB: There’s always jams man. We jam a ton. We are big on that. You just have to come see the show.
MD: Allman Brothers songs are part of the set.
DB: A few.
MD: How do you pick them, what to play?
DB: The ones we enjoy playing, the ones that have a reaction. The combination of those two things. Just ones that aren’t obvious. We play a bunch of them. We’ll play enough. Were obviously not going to go out there and do half Allman Brothers. We’re not a tribute band. But we enjoy playing a few. We might do three or four. It just depends on the night. Sometimes we do a sit down acoustic thing and if we do that your going to hear some stuff that you won’t hear if we stand up all night. Just depends on the venue. There’s one or two you can pretty much guarantee hearing every night.
Duane Betts, Johnny Stachela
MD: I take for granted that you and Devon have known each other your entire lives. In the back of you mind do you think this band was inevitable? It was going to happen some time, some place?
DB: No. No. I don’t. I think (it was) just timing. We were doing some stuff, then that wasn’t happening. It just felt right to do it because it meant something. We didn’t agree to do the band when we agreed to go on tour together last summer (The Devon Allman Project with special guest Duane Betts). It was more for us to kind of just feel it out, put our toes in the water. It was a really good opportunity for me to promote my solo release as an opening act. Then I would sit in. At a certain point, we were like yeah. Then (thinking) maybe after we’re comfortable for a month or two, maybe we’ll sit down and write some tunes and just see what happens.
If it didn’t work out, if we weren’t really feeling it, we don’t have to do anything beyond that. But we did feel it. So that’s why there is a band. We really locked into a vision and an idea and agreed on everything. Then we built the band and we brought Stoll in to help organize and write with us. Once the ball got rolling it just felt really good. That’s why you go to the next phase, which is actually putting the band together and recording a record. But yeah, it wasn’t inevitable.
Before the show I attended, I met a man who brought his young son, five or six years old, with him to the show. This was his son’s first concert. He was so stoked that this was his first. It got me thinking of two other fathers, who I am certain, feel that same joy about their son’s rock ‘n roll dreams.
When I was very small, before I learn to talk. My father held my hand and his, And showed me how to walk. And sometimes I would cry, or sometimes I would fall, But always he was there for me, to help me thru it all
In My Father’s Footsteps – Terry Jacks
Devon Allman, Duane BettsJohn Ginty, Berry Duane Oakley, Duane Betts, John Lum, Johnny Stachela , R Scott BryonDevon AllmanJohnny Stachela , R Scott Bryan, Duane Betts, Devon Allman, John Lum, Berry Duane Oakley, John GintyDevon Allman, Johnny StachelaBerry Duane Oakley, Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Johnny Stachela, R Scott BryanDuane BettsDevon Allman, Duane BettsBerry Duane Oakley, Devon AllmanDevon Allman, JD Simo, Duane BettsBerry Duane Oakley, Devon AllmanJohn GintyBerry Duane Oakley, Devon Allman, Duane BettsDevon AllmanJohn Lum, Devon Allman, Duane Betts, Johnny Stachela, R Scott BryanDuane Betts
Two mid-week shows in Connecticut wrapped up Phish’s east coast portion of their summer tour, before heading west for three nights at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, and three nights at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO.
While at Mohegan Sun for their first ever shows at the venue, on Tuesday Phish brought back a cover of Apples in Stereo’s “Energy,” had fun with “Weekapaug Groove” in both sets, and took “Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1” for a long psychedelic spin. A “Foam” encore, the first ever, was heartily enjoyed by fans chasing it all tour. Wednesday night fans were treated to impressive versions of “Wingsuit” and “David Bowie” as well as more love for Ghosts of the Forest with “Ruby Waves” appearing twice in Set 2.
A unique encore involving “Kung” and “I Saw it Again” preceded “Slave to the Traffic” light, which bid farewell to the East coast for five or so months.
This show featured the first Energy since August 4, 2013 (226 shows) and the Phish debut of Wider. Trey and Mike teased A Love Supreme in Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1. Ghost contained an Under Pressure tease from Trey and a Weekapaug Groove jam with lyrics. Birds of a Feather featured The Birds samples from Page and Third Stone From the Sun teases from Trey.
The Peach Music Festival is returning to Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA for its 8th annual event at the end of the month, sporting a lineup that fans have been calling the best of the summer. Peach remains a favorite in many attendee’s hearts for its warm, friendly vibes and nonstop schedule of killer music. The festival begins on Thursday, July 25, shifting from last year’s earlier July 19 start date to the last weekend of the month.
The lineup features multiple Peach Stage sets from headlining acts that didn’t play last year’s event, including three sets from jamgrass outfit, The String Cheese Incident, two sets from Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio’s side project Trey Anastasio Band, as well as a set on Friday afternoon from Blues Traveler. A few acts have graduated from the Mushroom Stage to the Peach Stage, notably Aqueous, who are performing the opening set of the festival on Thursday afternoon, as well as Lotus, performing the late night set on Friday night. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong have gained a set from last year’s one main stage set, now performing both before and after String Cheese’s Thursday set.
Other sets to look out for on the Peach Stage include Billy Strings, a hot commodity on the bluegrass scene, at 5:30 on Thursday, moe. on Friday afternoon at 6pm, Lettuce on Saturday at 3:45pm, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead on Saturday at 12:00am. The Mushroom Stage features a plethora of impressive acts, kicking off on Friday with Andy Frasco & the U.N., a soulful rock band led by a party animal of a frontman, followed by Vulfpeck alum and virtuoso guitarist Cory Wong, as well as prog rockers Dopapod and BIG Something. Saturday’s lineup features soulful female vocalist Kat Wright, Tom Hamilton’s recent project Ghost Light, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, and Colorado funk group The Motet.
The other Stage features a ton of fantastic acts, and catching any one of them would be a good thing to do. Here are a few that you definitely shouldn’t miss though: On Friday, Joe Hertler & and the Rainbow Seekers at 2:30pm, Upstate at 4pm, Cycles at 10:30pm, Magic Beans at 12:30am. On Saturday, Goose at 4:45pm, Mungion at 10:30 pm, and Organ Freeman at 12:30am.
Peach Festival offers a range of amenities to assist in making attendees comfortable including potable water stations, ATMs, food vendors and medical tents, among other things. The Mushroom Stage is located within Montage Mountain’s very own water park, which includes a lazy river and wave pool that attendees can enjoy their favorite Mushroom sets from. Attendees also have access to the lodge, also located in the water park, that sells pizza and other hot food items for those that want to purchase.
Check out the schedule above or create your own personalized schedule through The Peach Music Festival app, which can remind you when your favorite bands are about to start and let you know of any important updates. Check back with NYS Music for more coverage of this year’s Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA
Shira Yevin, better known as Shiragirl, upset The Vans Warped Tour atop her pink tour bus in 2004, so much that the following year she was given her own SHIRAGIRL stage to curate the amazing female talent in the industry. Since, she has been drawing fans with her edge and overwhelming personality – full of energy. So infectious that she has shared the stage with Joan Jett, NOFX, and Rancid, whom she is currently working on her upcoming album with.
“I’m Stoked to be playing the Warped 25th Anniversary in AC. I lived in Brooklyn for a long time, but I am originally a Jersey Girl, little known fact, so it’s pretty cool to be here.
Shiragirl. Photograph by Lisa Johnson – Rock Photographer. All Rights Reserved.
I’ve played in a lot of awesome, fun Jersey shows and obviously all the Warped Tours over the years. In Jersey we would do a lot of basement shows and in New York it’s about the clubs. I love New York City, it’s my favorite city in the world.”
Shiragirl just released a new single on Tuesday, July 2, called “Nothing to Loose” off their upcoming EP, Andi Underground. Produced by Rancid’s Tim Armsrong, the album weaves a mysterious concept loosely inspired by Alison in Wonderland. “It’s a dystopian tail where black mirror meets the runaways,” said Shiragirl. The album was recorded at The Boat studio, mixed by Cameron Webb and mastered by Andrew Alekel. Shiragirl features co-performers Raine Palladino and Leanne Bowes.
Finally, Andi’s crew hacks the system and takes down the filter software, and all that it upholds: social control, apathy and compliance. Now the people are free to see reality how it really is, rise up, empower themselves, and most importantly, do as they please.
Depicting “Creepin” – Andi Underground (To Be Released July 19).
“Nothing To Loose” when Andi follows Rabbit down a dark hole to an underground world.
“This is the character Andi Underground,” as she pulled a pair of anime-esque stickers out of her bag and showed me. “It’s about this girl that runs away from home and falls into an underground world and decides she needs to save everyone. I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland. There’s a lot of different ways you can spin it; a lot of metaphors.”
The record is also inspired by our current political climate. “I feel that as much as we escape into TV and movies talking about futures, it is here already. Technology controls our lives, there’s a lot of things happening in the news where one could say we’re already in borderline dictatorship. There’s a lot of scary things happening so the record is an artistic way to make a statement about what I think, or dangers of the cultural norms that grow from being so technology based.”
“I think its hard in the social media day and age you have to put everything out there, you have to be on it – on it- on it. It’s hard to live in the moment with that, but constantly sharing content, music, videos and sharing, speaking to the fans and being connected to the fans. It is so cool to meet people after the show, just to feel like we made their day better is a great feeling.”
“It’s amazing to see how the tour has grown and affected so many people,” said Brooklyn’s Shiragirl. “To be apart of this is a huge honor – there are so many amazing bands. We are super stoked to be apart of the final chapter. Last year we were lucky enough to bring back the stage for the final full cross country tour. I just have nothing but great things to say about Kevin Lymann. I wanna be like him when I grow up.”
The sun was hot, quickly rolling into sets, swimming and hanging at the beach with friends. The pressure of squeezing so many good bands into a single Sunday of Vans Warped Tour grew daunting, but others vibed out. Nearly every band was packed – both Full Sail and Blackcraft stages shared adjoining beach and in the end, the mass of people merged as if they were one.
California’s Atreyu took Van’s “Off The Wall” mainstage at doors. Over the past 15 years the band, who has preserved a near original lineup, pulled out all the stops from favorites “Becoming The Bull” and their cover of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” with a metal twist, of course.
Guitarist Travis Miguel in his comfort zone. Photo by Chuck DeFilippo.
Guitarist, Travis Miguel, was hyped on the gig. “It’s not every day that you literally get to play on the beach. Usually when you’re at a big festival like this, nine times out of ten it’s in the middle of nowhere in some field. It’s nice to see the Atlantic Ocean from the stage.” This energy and consciousness allowed longtime brotherhood to shine though in the delivery of their material from intense oldies like “Blow” or the more cinematic “House Of Gold,” from their latest album, In Our Wake.
“Vans Warped Tour is pretty surreal; I remember my first Warped Tour was 1998 and Deftones played, CIV and Rancid. Incubus played on this little flatbed-truck-stage before anyone knew who they were. It was a long day, I remember getting sunburnt and the Deftones went on – everyone lost their minds in a dirt field in Orange County. It was gross, pulling dirt buggers out for two days and beign sunstruck… but with that being said I had the fucking time of my life,” said Miguel.
“I’ve gone to Warped Tours since then, but in 2005 we actually played and that was surreal because not long before that – I was the kid going to Warped Tour having the time of my life. To be asked to play the 25th Anniversary is cool because it is like bringing back old memories: seeing crew people, friends I haven’t seen in years, and you pick up right where you left off. It’s sensory overload because there’s so much going around: press, a half pipe out there, a human cannonball, music everywhere – it’s a fun day for sure.”
Travis Miguel, Atreyu.
“Now that I’m older, looking back, it’s safe to say that everybody in the band’s view is: we’re extremely lucky to be doing this. We don’t take it for granted. There’s a lot of bands we came up with back in the day that are long gone and the fact that we still get to do this, essentially the same five members for 15 years…I’m definitely proud of that.”
Atreyu embodies the morals of Warped, fans and crew alike. “We’ve all seen each other at our best and our worst. It’s very much a brotherly relationship between the five of us: we get on each others nerves just as much as actual brothers would, I’ve been in two of their weddings and we’ve been apart of each other’s big life moments. It’s definitely a family vibe,” said Miguuel.
Sunday kicked in, full force from the start, making it difficult to navigate through all the great bands playing. The beaches were packed – a sea of people relaxing or constantly shifting from stage to stage. Mid-afternoon highlights included Circa Survive frontman, Anthony Green, crowd-surfing his way from the mainstage into the Atlantic.
Punk-rockers, Keep Flying, dominated the Monster Energy stage early on in the day with their addictive horn lines and heart-racing tempos. The sextet blew up at last years Warped Tour, and if you didn’t know any better, you would think they had been there from the start. They controlled the crowd with showstopper “I Always Knew,” both visually and musically overstimulating. Not to mention the electrifying horn section, intricate harmony and energy from each member.
Keep Flying, dominating the Monster stage with furious drums, punk-horns and electricity.
The day carried on with Worcester, MA veterans, Four Year Strong. Contrasted by their laid back vibe and over-familiarity with Vans Warped Tour, the four piece pulled out all the stops. Opening with “Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die,” FYS set the bar with signature double-bass, dueling-guitar and dueling-vocal exchanges. The crowd was absolutely insane.
There was just too much to digest: Big D and the Kids Table, Dirty Heads, The Used and Bowling For Soup – but the day rolled on. The Skatalites changed the pace on The Blackcraft Stage with authentic reggae flare. As the sun set and punk-rockers grew tired, a solid crowd swayed for Kingston, Jamaica’s finest. Atlantic City was blessed by none other than “The Queen of Ska,” Doreen Shaffer, who soulfully harmonized with the band. Born in the 1940’s, Shaffer filled the crowd with a youthful energy, and soul.
Cusped between electronic, pop and rock genres, Andy Black turned heads for unfamiliar listeners, drawing them to the Monster Energy stage as they passed on the beach. His most explicit example, the album titled track “Ghost Of Ohio” fuses these elements into something obscure and refreshing. Fans of any taste can harmonize with his energy and showmanship.
Taking Back Sunday warmed up the main stage for Warped closers’ Blink-182 with driving tracks like “What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost,” while lead Adam Lazzara strut the entire length of the stage, twirling his microphone like a noose. Later in the evening, ska legends, Reel Big Fish, drew attention from the Full Sail stage as the crowd shifted angles to The Blackcraft stage for an epic RBF Set. Kicking of the set with “Asshole,” turning backstage into a skank-inspired dance party.
Vans Warped Tour did an amazing job attending to sparse incidents in the pits or those who needed medical attention. Surrounded in a mosh-pit or relaxing by the beach was one in the same, because everyone truly had each other’s backs. The mass of Vans Warped Tour cannot be defeated, as we all plead for another year.
Reel Big Fish skank-party as the sun set on the Atlantic.
Interviews with Atreyu, Matt Butler, Kaleido and Shiragirl spoke on behalf of the festival as a whole: its status, impact, family vibe and overall positivity. Regardless of why you were there, who you were with and who you saw, Vans Warped Tour’s 25th Anniversary Tour was the necessary cap to years past.
“It’s amazing to see how the tour has grown and affected so many people,” said Brooklyn’s Shiragirl. “To be apart of this is a huge honor – there are so many amazing bands. We are super stoked to be apart of the final chapter. Last year we were lucky enough to bring back the stage for the final full cross country tour. I just have nothing but great things to say about Kevin Lymann. I wanna be like him when I grow up.”
Stay Tuned for the full Post Warped Tour interview with Shiragirl.
Reminisce with highlights from the bands of Vans 25th Anniversary Warped Tour.
For those of us 25 or younger, Vans Warped Tour has spanned our entire existence – an accumulation of memories, music and friendships interlocked like puzzle pieces from across the country. Each individual has intertwined their story – that admits them into the Warped family. A place where most narratives overlap: growing up listening to pop-punk and rock or aspiring to be on the big stage, old attendees now take the main stage, influenced by the masses before them. Fans threw down, attacking their most inspirational bands with vigor in the pits, belting lyrics verbatim spewing with good vibes, and sand.
Last weekend marked the second final Vans Warped Tour for a 25th Anniversary bash, after curator, Kevin Lyman announced the ‘last’ run in 2018. The tour was on its East Coast stop in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a jam packed weekend of music on the beach. Nearly 60,000 people crowded the beach to send off the tour in natural rockstar fashion. Promptly at noon the boardwalk was lined for miles with distinctly Vans Warped veterans, band t-shirts and friends to see their favorite headliners from Blink-182, A Day To Remember, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, 311, CKY, Taking Back Sunday, Andrew W.K. and so much more.
The sun was blistering overhead Saturday afternoon as Manhattan’s own, Matt Butler took an early set on the Monster Energy Stage. The folky, singer-songwriter gave a refreshing outsider’s perspective that pushed Warped fans outside of their comfort zone. Butler has gathered the sounds and stories of the road, shaped in ‘Warped’ roots; he grew up playing in punk and rock bands at CBGB’s and Arleen’s on the lower East Side. “My Favorite bands in high school were Nirvana and Fugazi… my favorite album was Ten by Pearl Jam,” said Butler. “I got more into folk and songwriting because of a band called The Replacements and Bruce Springsteen [laughing]. That’s always the bridge – as we say that in Boardwalk Hall, very appropriate.”
Butler’s contrasting genres is something that stacks his arsenal, using it to his advantage. “Our presentation is so different than everybody else’s that it has its own draw. I played on Warped Tour all last summer solo – me and an acoustic guitar only. For the 25th anniversary show I wanted to bring a full band, but we were never going to try and compete with some of the other groups here, so we kept it as intentionally stripped down as possible… And I figure im the only harmonica player on the tour at the moment [laughs]. Ya Know.”
Manhattan’s Matt Butler, Chuck DeFilippo (NYS Music) and Tour Manager Mario Diurno
“I was drawn to music for as long as I can remember, but music seemed very difficult and inaccessible. As a kid I was pretty insecure and wanted to do things where I was confident I could do it well. I felt like it was this equation: 49% terrified and 51 % desperate, enough to where I have to try this. You have to risk being rejected and judged. That’s part of the plan, that it’s so scary. I think that whatever you’re scared of doing most, that’s probably what it is that you’re supposed to be doing – on an evolutionary level.”
His story is unique, capturing the heart of Vans Warped Tour evolution. As Butler is on the brink of studying music, learning jazz and notation, he taps into the vividness of creating something new. “I tell ya what man, anytime you make something new for yourself again you always remember how exciting it can be and why you live it.”
“I haven’t played with a band in a while, so playing here today I felt pretty pumped.” Backed by Astoria’s Holy Vulture siblings, Misia and Dante Vessio, the world drum and bass duo allowed Butler to become vulnerable to punk fans. This kick off was the start of a reunion; for Butler he was looking forward to seeing old friends, one playing drums for Tatiana DeMaria and another playing bass for Glassjaw. “It’s funny because the three of us actually played Warped together a couple years ago at Jones Beach. It’s an honor. It’s such an institution of a tour and Kevin is someone to idolize on some level, he’s just a great guy.”
Butler’s set featured numerous tracks recorded this past March, but not yet released including soon-to-be single, “Tell Lucy That I Love Her.” Butler wrote the tune inspired by a tour of state prisons, and at this point he has played around 200 jails in the past 16 months. The idea quickly boomed from a fan-funded endeavour to Butler securing his 501(c)(3) non-profit, to officially bring curated arts programs to jails and underserved institutions – a heart-wrenching inspiration and driver for his music. At certain times it can be as little as four people in a room where they collectively share stories, experiences and music. “It’s a way to see the country, I’ll tell you that. This new song (Lucy) comes from the perspective of someone incarcerated.”
“I can talk about the storytelling component forever. What we’ve done, and what I see it as – we just travel the country with an acoustic guitar telling stories. I think if you do that long enough and you’re open to it enough you can tap into collective consciousness and that’s where stories and songs get channeled from – and hopefully it resonates and connects with people.”
Bad Religion takes “Off The Wall” MainStage.
The day saw Less Than Jake, Travie McCoy, Bad Religion, CKY and many more. Fans crowded each stage, big or small and shifted with the tide between the well crafted set changes. Each band drew their most loyal fans in, while the tides washed curious listeners in, late into their sets. The day was hectic with freestyle motocross over head and an arching half-pipe backdropped by the Atlantic Ocean. Afternoon sets from Shiragirl and Kaleido, who NYS got to speak with, kept the anticipation high.
Kaleido 2019: Cody Morales, Christina Chriss, Joey Fava. Photo by Steve Sergent. Courtesy of NP!M PR and Marketing
As the day started to settle in, a dark cloud loomed over the beach. Detrioit rock band, Kaleido, anxiously awaited a pre-set storm as frontwoman Christina Chriss yearned for the stage. “We were one of the last bands that got to play Saturday due to weather and we were just freaking out. This big grey/black cloud was coming ever closer And I thought: this is gonna start right when we go on, like are you kidding me?” It didn’t.
“We’ve played random dates and cities on the warped tour since 2013,” said Chriss. “So it’s really, really, special to be apart of the 25th anniversary; Kevin just knocked it out of the park like he always does. This lineup is just insane. I have been jokingly saying: it’s woodstock for scene bands – straight up. It is s just fucking amazing, so were really honored to be apart of it. A bunch of bands that were huge influences of ours have a big hand in influencing all those things that you collect, and it comes out [in Kaleido’s music]. A lot of these bands are apart of that.”
Kaleido’s set was no different, a band that draws on so many diverse forms of art. They’re heavy pop, emotion and life wrapped into an ever-changing tube. Their newest single, “Pretending,” was released two weeks ago – a heavy-driving tune that you’ll be sure to throw down to, and swept fans at Warped. The rest of the EP will be out July 19 and is the truest, purest form of what Kaleido really is; Chriss affirmed.
“Inside of the kaleidoscope are a bunch of different pieces: the different colors, the different shapes – they all come together to make one beautiful image, that as you shift can change. I feel like I am that as a human with all of those influences and all of that music.
Christina Chriss, Kaleido
” I am a chameleon type of person. I like lots of different things. I’m not in just one lane,” intensley weaving her hand through the air, her palm set to kill. “So I take all of those things and internalize that, and then let it out the other way with the creativity of writing songs. All audio and video come together to create my art,” inflecting hints of passion through her midwest accent. “I am the human kaleidoscope.”
Front-woman Christin Chriss. Photo by Steve Sergent – Courtesy of NP!M PR and Marketing
Chriss touches on basic human emotions and songs that people easily relate to. Kaleido’s high energy shows become intense, as if the dawn of a storm, piercing fans like lightning. “I like to connect with people from the stage and enter their souls with my eyes. Come get some,” said Chriss as she broke into an evil-type laugh.
As the rain broke, lightning bridged the sky and boardwalk. What about A Day To Rember? What About 311? What about Wage War? Are They Gonna Play? I wanna wach ‘em! – Chriss thought aloud during our interview with excitement and color.
Jeremy McKinnon, A Day To Remember.
After a two hour delay the desolate beach grew new life as everyone recovered. It was a timid storm in the wake of Saturday’s headliner, A Day To Remember. The beach went dark with silhouettes spanning the entire boardwalk. ADTR showed no mercy kicking things off with “2nd Sucks.” Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, announced “Sticks & Bricks” was named from the security guards of the Vans Warped Tour, a song not originally printed on the setlit. Security had a signal alerting that the crowd was going to be insane, foreshadowing the moments to come as the band let loose into a storm warning.
A Day To Remember has a unique ability to contrast intense breakdowns with driving lyrics and melody, blending worlds of warped. The set list showed little rest as people toppled over each other and McKinnon enticed ‘crowd-surfing a crowd-surfer.’ Driving through “All I Want,” “I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?” and “The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle” bodies passed overhead and we were lost in this ocean of people, only to letup for the sentimental acoustic “If It Means A Lot To You.”
Suddenly a harmonious beach began to sway, with lighters overhead. Par for the course would be closer, “The Downfall Of Us All” – a fitting end to the day. New and old fans alike created a community in and outside of the pit. A Marshmello character emerged with a t-shirt cannon celebrating the band’s most recent single and collaboration with the EDM star. It was just nuts. In the short 40-minute set we left dripping sweat and covered in sand as nearly 60,000 people slowly evacuated the beach, yet again.
Slowing down for “If It Means A Lot To You,” fans lit the sky of Atlantic City beach for ADTR.
After 25 long years the famed Vans Warped Tour has decided to discontinue its summer tradition. But not without one last party! Three final festival dates announces in each section of the country, last weekend it was the east coasts turn and what better way than to close it out with a two-day party on the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey. An amazing lineup that included: Blink 182, Taking Back Sunday, Bad Religion, The Offspring, 311, The Used, A Day To Remember, and a lot more of Vans Warped Tour long list of alumni. Fans of the Pop Punk genre showed up in the thousands for one last time to get warped.
