NYS Music 20​19

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  • Hearing Aide: Within Shadows ‘Face to Face’

    Within Shadows burst onto the Canadian metal scene a couple years ago, garnering a following with their relatable lyrics, emotionally-charged vocals and instrumental innovation. This summer, they released a few remastered songs from their 2017 album, Mind = Enemy, and launched their latest collection of work, Face to Face. 

    Within Shadows started as the solo project of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sean Farias. He’s worked with a handful of musicians over the years. On this album, Farias worked with Derek Petricka on writing, recording, engineering and producing the album. The album also features collaborations with Oshie Bichar (Beartooth, City Lights), Lucas Mann (Rings of Saturn) and Joe Farias (Intruder X). 

    Face to Face at its core is metal catharsis. The music contained herein is a conduit for channeling primal pain and political angst. From the anguish of “My Sorrow” and the agony of “Betray” to the politically charged anthems “Uprising” and “Our Revolution,” the music provides a space for purging emotions. They are personal but also strike a resounding chord within the listener. Intense and brooding, Within Shadows does not merely ride out the storm, they charge into it headfirst.  

    There’s a little something for everyone on Face to Face, as the 13 tracks adeptly flow through various styles including hardcore, metalcore, hard rock, and djent. The album has a broad appeal, speaking to those who spent their formative years hanging out at the metal stages at Warped Tour as well as those of us who grew up on Black Sabbath and Metallica. 

    Key Tracks: My Sorrow, Betray, Our Revolution

  • Runaway Gin to bring “Evil Phish” to The Knitting Factory this December

    On the heels of their first 3-song second set at a Hurricane Dorian Afterparty in Charleston, SC, Runaway Gin – a Tribute to Phish has announced the “Ophishal YEMSG Preparty” along with Facebook groups Phish Chicks and Phish Tour 2014. The event will feature two sets of “Evil Phish” starting at 8:30pm on Thursday, December 26th at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY.

    The band recently released an HD Video of “Tube” from their March 30th show in Richmond, VA.

    Runaway Gin 2019 Fall/Winter Tour:

    Saturday, September 7th: Charleston Pour House

    Friday, September 13th: the State Theatre – Greenville, NC^

    Saturday, September 14th, the Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC

    Friday, October 11th: the Glass House – Lynchburg, VA

    Saturday, October 12th: the Lincoln Theatre – Raleigh, NC

    Thursday, October 17h: Victory North – Savannah, GA

    Friday, October 18th: Capri Theatre – Montgomery, AL

    Saturday, October 19th: Zydeco – Birmingham, AL

    Friday, November 1st: Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC^

    Saturday, November 2nd: the Broadberry – Richmond, VA^

    Friday-Saturday, November 8th: the Woodlands Festival – Charleston, SC

    Thursday, November 14th: 1904 Music Hall – Jacksonville, FL

    Friday, November 15th: the Orpheum – Tampa, FL* 

    Saturday, November 16th: Revolution Live – Ft. Lauderdale, FL* (with Pink Talking Fish)

    Friday, November 29th: the NorVa – Norfolk, VA

    Friday, December 6th: Charleston Pour House – Charleston, SC+ (Just the covers Phish afterparty)

    Thursday, December 26th: the Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY

    Saturday, February 1st: Cervantes – Denver, CO

  • Lake Street Dive Plans Four New York Stops in October

    Lake Street Dive will conclude their extensive 2019 US tour in October in support of its critically acclaimed 2018 album, Free Yourself Up. The band will perform in Brooklyn in support of the Avett Brothers on Oct. 5, then head north to Albany for a solo performance at the Palace Theatre on Oct. 6. They swing back to the Empire State in mid-October with stops in Buffalo on Oct. 18 and Geneva on Oct.19.

    Free Yourself Up was released last year on Nonesuch Records to critical and popular acclaim, spending a remarkable seven and a half months on the non-commercial radio charts and an equally rare eighteen weeks on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart. The record debuted at No. 4 on the Top Album Chart and No. 8 in the Billboard Top 200 Chart, and the lead single “Good Kisser” was in the Top 5 at Americana radio for more than a month.

    Lake Street Dive Tour Dates

    Oct. 2 – Lebanon Opera House – Lebanon, NH (Sold Out)

    Oct. 4 – DCU Center – Worcester, MA^

    Oct. 5 – Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY^

    Oct. 6 – The Palace Theatre – Albany, NY

    Oct. 8 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT

    Oct.10 – Harvester Performance Center – Rocky Mount, VA

    Oct. 11-12 – The National – Richmond, VA

    Oct. 13 – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater – Wilmington, NC (Sold Out)

    Oct. 15 – Sunoco Performance Theater, Whitaker Center – Harrisburg, PA

    Oct. 17 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON (Sold Out)

    Oct. 18 – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY

    Oct. 19 – Smith Opera House – Geneva, NY

    ^ in support of The Avett Brothers

  • Three Heads Brewing Local Series Goes National with John Medeski’s Mad Skillet

    Since opening, Three Heads Brewing has been a bit of a temple for Rochester local music. It could be argued that no venue in town has supported the scene better. The centerpiece has been the Rochester Residency, which is rounding the turn on its second year of giving a local musician carte blanche every Thursday for a full month. So it came as a surprise when on the second Thursday of September, John Medeski’s Mad Skillet was listed to play its stage. But it was true, and truth be told, it was awesome.

    Mad Skillet was born in 2015 at a New Orleans Jazz Fest jam session, but released their debut album and toured together for the first time in 2018. Medeski is joined by Will Bernard on guitar, Kirk Joseph on sousaphone and Terrance Higgins (who was replaced on this night by the talented Joe Dyson) on drums.

    Musically, they explored the American landscape of sound. Medeski’s East Coast avant-garde meets Bernard’s West Coast jazz groove meets Joseph and Dyson’s deep-South NOLA brass. It’s more of a melting pot than a skillet to be honest. Covers of Eddie Harris’ “1974 Blues” and MMW’s “Wiggly’s Way” mixed well with their originals like “Tuna in a Can,” featuring a wild drum and guitar jam and the rocking “Little Miss Piggy” which spun out into a long reggae groove. They also traveled the spaceways with their version of Sun Ra’s “Golden Lady” and dashes of alien sounds thrown in throughout the night.

    Medeski’s B3 stood like a museum piece, its back encased in glass exposing its intricate innards. The music was the art, however. And like all great works, there was no wrong way to enjoy and find meaning in it. You could mindlessly lose yourself in the groove or pick it apart piece by piece, figuring how it all fits together. You could move your body to a sweaty mass or stand motionless, absorbing the mastery being laid down. As individual musicians tearing through a solo or as a singular group of four creating a swell of sound, Mad Skillet never disappointed.

    As it turns out, it was a Thursday night and this was technically a part of the Rochester Residency, or a bit of a preview of what’s to come next month. October’s resident is Kyle Vock, bassist for The Mighty High and Dry, The Rita Collective and probably about half of all the great tribute shows that have gone down at Three Heads and elsewhere over the past two years. Instead of showcasing himself, he will be curating a month of shows from some great nationally touring acts. Starting October 3 with the can’t-miss talent of guitarist William Tyler, followed by Levon’s talented singer-songwriter daughter Amy Helm on the 10th, and Futurebirds, a great indie rock band out of Athens, GA on the 17th. After displaying his excellent taste in music, Vock will close out his month with a couple of shows of his own, bringing The Rita Collective on the 24th and paying tribute to The Doors’ Strange Days on Halloween. Is it October yet?!

  • Marco Benevento’s Slick New Album ‘Let It Slide’ Drops

    Marco Benevento who hails from New Jersey and now calls Woodstock home, could be described as a jack-of-all-trades, playing in jazz groups, the premier Grateful Dead cover band and touring with members of Phish and numerous other projects. With Let It Slide we get a true taste of the genius of Benevento’s tastes, influences and abilities with tight arrangements and gorgeous songwriting.

    Photos: Matt Long

    After his first album Invisibile Baby was nominated for the prestigious Independent Music Awards’ Best Jazz Album, it is interesting to see how far this Berklee School Of Music has delved into the indie and jam band scene, covering artists such as My Morning Jacket and The Knife on his second record. Much of this was self-produced, so now with Let It Slide, Benevento has an incredible treasure trove of experience and influences. Combined with the incredible producer Leon Michels, also from Upstate NY, this record flows together impeccably. Benevento claims, “This record has a really nice mix of what Leon does at his Diamond Mine Studio and what I do at Fred Short Studios. The final call on everything was always Leon’s though, because I trusted him completely. I’d never put my music in someone else’s hands before. I’d been hesitant to work with outside producers in the past, but the experience of making this record ended up being so freeing and exciting! I loved every single minute.”

    The new record showcases Benevento’s ability to slide in and out of genres. At one moment he can catch you with the seemingly endless hooks and beautiful layers of the title track and then move to an atmospheric love song like “Solid Gold,” celebrating the joys of living in the moment, a notion often lost in this day of technology and dating services.

    One of the most beautiful tunes on the record is the John Lennon-esque “Lorraine,” co-written by Simone Felice. Benevento says of his songwriting, “I started as an instrumentalist so I tend to write the music first and come to the words after. Often I don’t know what the song is about at first and then I see my own personal philosophies subconsciously bubbling up throughout.”

    Another favorite of this reviewer is the very catchy and groovy “Send It On A Rocket” that almost sounds like a Beck tune from Mutations. Fans both new and old can be thankful that this new record really hits an incredible stride and works as an entire piece of art. The maturity of the songwriting showcases Benevento’s more than 20 years long career of creativity. Upstate, NY is truly lucky to have such a talent, so be sure to catch him on the road with his own band, JRAD or “The Duo” with Joe Russo. Let It Slide is another incredible installment on the continuous journey of an amazing player and poet.

    Let It Slide comes out September 20 and can be pre-ordered on vinyl, cassette and CDs currently HERE. The record is under Beneveto’s own label, Royal Potato Family. The official album release party is October 12 with support from Mikaela Davis at The Cohoes Music Hall.

    TRACK LIST:

    1. Let It Slide
    2. Solid Gold
    3. Baby Don’t Make Me Wait
    4. Gaffiano #1
    5. Say It’s All The Same
    6. Humanz
    7. Gaffiano #2
    8. Send It On A Rocket
    9. Lorraine
    10. Nature’s Change
    11. Oh Baby Can’t You See
    12. You Got Away
    13. Gaffiano #3

  • The Who Knock It Out Of The Park At Fenway

    A full 48-piece orchestra filled the Fenway Park stage on September 13 to back up and showcase a long list of Who tunes, many of which were from the band’s two great blockbuster albums –  Quadrophenia and Tommy. The latter helped coin the term “rock opera.” The Who celebrated its 50th anniversary in May of this year. This evening, they paid tribute to Eddie Money who died that day at age 70 after he had been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. The show was dedicated to Eddie

    One can only imagine this show must be the vision that Townshend had for these albums over four decades ago as the pieces that would push The Who beyond its previous pop-rock limitations and into an area far more radical, which features the 74-year-old artist windmill-strumming his six-string surrounded by violins, french horns, bassoon, and timpani.

    This huge 31-date tour has been labeled the “Moving On!” tour and promotes the band’s eponymous new album that has a release date in November of this year simply titled Who, its first since 2006. But this two-hour set was a celebration of the band’s past penchant for an over the top  performance, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for enduring fans to witness the songs performed as they were meant to be showcased. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey deserve much respect for constantly finding new ways to extend this final tour, allowing fans to continue to want to see them and not see the same old show.

    The thought of a full symphony orchestra and a rock band duking it out to be heard would be tough at even the most acoustically perfect venues. And Fenway Park is not known for the best acoustics, however, congratulations to the sound team on this one. The rock band was sharp and crystal clear, and conductor Keith Levenson’s orchestra cut through with precision rarely heard in situations like this.

    Jon Button, Zak Starkey, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend of the Who performs at Fenway Park in Boston on Friday, September 13, 2019

    As with a standard symphonic piece, the concert was sectioned into three movements: first, a Tommy-centered medley with the orchestra at full strength; then a cluster of early-career odds and ends without the symphonic outfit; and finally a Quadrophenia-focused segment that concluded as most Who shows have in recent memory, with the grandiose “Baba O’Riley.”The Tommy block ran through seven of the albums 24 tracks, from the elaborate “Overture” to “Sparks,” which allowed Townshend to shred with a blur of arms and fingers, proving at 74 that he is still one of rock’s most virtuosic guitar men. The favorites “Who Are You” and “Eminence Front” were also placed in this section and boomed raucously.

    Pete Townshend

    The orchestra left the stage after almost an hour of music and the core band — now merely a seven-piece — ran through a handful of “golden oldies, just like we are,” as Daltrey put it.
    Here fans heard an animated “I Can See For Miles” —the band’s only Top 10 single in the U.S. — and a folksy rendition of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” featuring only the duo of Daltrey and Townshend.

    A cellist and a violinist soon returned to the stage to add background to “Behind Blue Eyes,” a song whose exceeding vocal demands Daltrey continues to manage. At 75, Daltrey is among the most seasoned singers left performing at the arena level, and considering he underwent throat surgery earlier this decade his vocal abilities have held up amazingly well. He was unbeatable during the third act’s larger-than-life rendition of “Love, Reign O’er Me,” which began with a piano interlude and reached its peak during Daltrey’s wails. While the rest of the performance was exciting and bright, these moments brought on the emotions and made the fans feel goosebumps.

    Daltrey has suggested this tour could feasibly be the band’s last. “I’m just being realistic about going through the 75th year of my life,” he told Rolling Stone in January. If that were to happen, and The Who never get to showcase whatever new material is coming, this would be a fantastic send-off: tracks from its most respected projects, revamped by a magnificent orchestra and unleashed in a way that showcases one of the greatest bands to ever rock.September 13, 2019, Fenway Park, MassachusettsWith orchestra: “Overture”, “1921”, “Amazing Journey”, “Sparks”, “Pinball Wizard”, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, “Who Are You”, “Eminence Front”, “Imagine a Man”, “Hero Ground Zero”
    Without Orchestra: “Substitute”, “I Can See For Miles”, “You Better You Bet”, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”(acoustic), “Behind Blue Eyes” (with orchestra string section accompaniment)
    With orchestra: “Ball and Chain”, “The Real Me”, “I’m One”, “5:15”, “The Rock”, “Love, Reign O’er Me”, Baba O’Riley

     

  • Jason & The Rex release debut music video and single “Bullets are Flying”

    Brooklyn alternative hip-hop artist, Jason & The Rex recently released their debut single and accompanying music video for “Bullets Are Flying.” Inspired by emotion from the Parkland shootings, Jason unfurls a pensive, sometimes manic flow that expresses the convoluted public discourse surrounding the gun violence epidemic in the U.S. over vibrant horns, a melancholy piano lead, strange-sounding synths, and a reverb-washed chorus create a dense soundscape.

    Hoping to inspire activism within his art, Jason layered hidden meanings and messages with each aspect of both the video and the track. The dancers movements, the TV screens, sounds and atmospheric layers created from voice samples of common gun-violence soundbites are just a few examples of the extreme intuitiveness found in the creation of this video, conveying an emotive message of gun violence. 100% of proceeds from “Bullets Are Flying” will be donated to March For Our Lives.

    Hip-hop, future-funk, and dream-pop influences blend to create a densely layered lamentation of our nation’s gun violence crisis in “Bullets Are Flying.” Jason draws on his love for socially-conscious 90’s hip-hop artists like De La Soul and Common with the synth-heavy, lush soundscapes of psychedelic dream-pop artists like the Cocteau Twins, the Cranberries, and Tame Impala. The video is directed by Samantha Silver and produced by Tag Brum.

    “Bullets Are Flying” will appear on Jason’s forthcoming EP Synthesizer or Variations of: An Endemic Cycle, which will explore and expand the theme of living in the mass shooting generation.

  • John Leguizamo’s one-man play ‘Latin History for Morons’ returns to NYC

    Following its Tony-nominated hit Broadway run seen by tens of thousands, Tony Award winner John Leguizamo’s one-man play Latin History for Morons will return to New York for one night only at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, November 9.

    Latin History for Morons is inspired by the near total absence of Latinos from Leguizamo’s son’s American History books. Leguizamo embarks on an outrageously funny, frenzied search to find a Latin hero for his son’s school history project. From a mad recap of the Aztec empire to stories of unknown Latin patriots of the Revolutionary War and beyond, Leguizamo breaks down the 3,000 years between the Mayans and Pitbull into 110 irreverent and uncensored minutes above and beyond his unique style.

    Ben Brantley of The New York Times called the show a “surprisingly poignant one-man play that slyly poses sharp and timely questions of what culturally defines American identity and who, in the nationalistic age of Trump, has ‘the right’ to be here.”

    Latin History For Morons

    Latin History for Morons concluded its successful run on Broadway on February 25, 2018. The original 16-week engagement was extended an additional three weeks on opening night, November 15, 2017. The production was the first play of the 2017-2018 season to recoup its entire capitalization.

    This marks theatre’s most prolific modern Latino playwright, John Leguizamo’s sixth one-man venture onto the stage, following success on Broadway with Ghetto Klown (Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award), Freak (Drama Desk Award), Sexaholix…A Love Story (Tony nomination) and Off-Broadway with Mambo Mouth (Obie Award) and Spic-O-Rama (Drama Desk Award). 

    Directed by Tony Taccone (Wishful Drinking, Bridge & Tunnel), the Tony-nominated production of  Latin History for Morons is written and performed by Leguizamo, featuring scenic design by Rachel Hauck, lighting design by Alexander V. Nichols, and original music and sound design by Bray Poor. Latin History for Morons is produced by THE WOW Agency, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Public Theater.  

  • James Murphy and Friends to perform at The Kitchen’s new benefit concert series on September 25

    The Kitchen, one of New York City’s most forward-looking nonprofit spaces, will kick off a new benefit concert series on September 25 with DJ sets from James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem/DFA) and friends. The first floor theater will host Murphy, with doors opening at 8:30pm and the DJ sets running from 9pm-12am. More information on the upcoming concerts for the 2019-20 season will be announced soon.

    The Kitchen shows innovative work by emerging and established artists across disciplines, with programs ranging from dance, music, performance, and theater to video, film, and art, in addition to literary events, artists’ talks, and lecture series. Since its inception in 1971, The Kitchen has been a powerful force in shaping the cultural landscape of this country, and has helped launch the careers of many artists who have gone on to worldwide prominence.

  • American Roots music takes centerstage at Folkfaces Fest this October in Darien Center

    Folkfaces will hold their second annual music fest this October 3-6 at Cherry Hill Campground in Darien Center, NY. The four-day event boasts 42 local and touring acts from a plethora of different genres, with an emphasis on original American roots music. The festival will also include vendors, food, art, workshops, games, raffles, bonfires, late-night jams, camping, yoga, and more.

    folkfaces fest

    The festival kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 3 with early set-up and a pre-party featuring Pennsylvania bluegrassers, the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers. Friday through Sunday, music will start at noon and run until midnight or later. Headlined by Spoon Lady and the Tater Boys, these American roots musicians are a YouTube sensation and busking extraordinaires from Asheville, NC. Abby (Spoon Lady) met up with Folkfaces on their 2018 spring tour and became fast friends. She’ll bring her spoons and some friends (The Tater Boys) to play with, and also giving a Spoons workshop.

    Other notable acts on the festival bill include folk multi-instrumentalist Aaron Jonah Lewis, two sets by Adirondack freight train stringers The Blind Owl Band, NOLA buskers Yes Ma’am, delta blues-inspired slide guitarist Cristina Vane, down-home folk swingers Woody Pines, roots/Americana/old-time multi-instrumentalists Aaron Lipp & Bobby Henrie, and Finger Lakes-based bluegrassers Dirty Blanket. Not to mention, two sets from Folkfaces.

    For more information on Folkfaces Fest in Darien Center, visit the event’s website or Facebook event.