Dead and Company ushered in the summer concert season at SPAC on Tuesday, June 18 with their bluesy, jazzy jam sessions that lasted late into the warm evening. Check out the setlist and photo gallery below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMeieLIBVfE
Set 1: Feel Like a Stranger>Hell in a Bucket>Alabama Getaway, When I Paint My Masterpiece>It Must Have Been the Roses>Cumberland Blues>Cassidy>US Blues
Set 2: Here Comes Sunshine>Shakedown Street>Wharf Rat>Playing in the Band>Uncle John’s Band>DrumsSpace>Viola Lee Blues>Dear Prudence>Casey Jones
While thinking about all the phrases across the American songbook which define moments or places recurring through time, perhaps one which quickly comes to mind is “summer in the city.” The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In The City” is an ode to their hometown, inspired by New York City. Appearing in 1966’s Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful, the song eventually became synonymous with the excitement and liveliness of a bustling metropolis pulled between blistering days and cool nights of summer.
“Summer In The City” chronicles the range of highs and lows that come with living in New York City during the summer. Using the dogged heat of the day and the cool night breeze as scenes for each verse, John Sebastian shares a vignette of how the city and its people transform as the evenings set in.
During the day the heat is oppressive, reducing walking to a lethargic shuffle, with “people looking half dead.” Sebastian sings about the dense humidity accosting the back of people’s necks, and the sun baking the sidewalk until it can light a matchstick. Everything transforms as the evening rolls in; life becomes about going out, meeting someone and dancing the night away. People who start in the afternoon heat as panting dogs, become “cool cats,” looking for somebody to hang with. Much like the repeating nature of the song’s lyrics and chorus, summer in the city is a cycle, perpetuated by people’s desire to survive the day, only to take the night.
The Lovin’ Spoonful is: lead vocalist John Sebastian, guitarist Zal Yanovsky, bassist Steve Boone and drummer Joe Butler, with pianist Artie Schroek joining on “Summer In The City.” Sebastian and Yanovsky founded the band after years of being a part of the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene, crossing paths with the likes of Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, who would later form The Mamas and the Papas. Many of their first songs played and recorded were representative of Sebastian’s origins in a jug-band folk style. It wasn’t until 1965’s single, “Do You Believe in Magic,” that the band began exploring a more popular, broad sound.
The band’s heyday was from 1965 to 1966, culminating with Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful, which was a deliberate attempt to experiment with various sounds and techniques. The following years were met with personnel changes within the band and the production team. Guitarist Yanovsky left the band largely due to a marijuana bust in the late ’60s as well as creative differences with the songwriting direction. Following a couple of records after 1967, Sebastian began a solo career, effectively causing the end of the band. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, bringing all four original members together before Yanovsky’s death in 2002.
“Summer In The City” climbed to number one on the Billboard chart during a time when folk music filled the still cigarette-stained air of bars and cafes, and traversed a majority of pop airwaves across the country. Though presented as a shorter, popular folk song, the circular and repeating nature of the lyrics positions the song as a jam, or even a mantra. “Summer in the City” is more than a season out of the year, it’s a state of being, represented by surviving the trials of the day in order to let loose at night.
“Summer in the City” lyrics
Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
But at night it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat, it’ll be all right
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
Cool town, evening in the city Dressing so fine and looking so pretty Cool cat, looking for a kitty Gonna look in every corner of the city Till I’m wheezing like a bus stop Running up the stairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop
But at night it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat, it’ll be all right
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
But at night it’s a different world Go out and find a girl Come on, come on and dance all night Despite the heat, it’ll be all right
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity That the days can’t be like the nights In the summer, in the city In the summer, in the city
Hello readers, I have finally made it back safely from my trip into the paranormal carnival that lives every year on the farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Yes my friends I am of course referring to the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, now a larger than life gathering of existence and culture from around the world. I first attended Bonnaroo many moons ago, as a wide-eyed teenager, and it has been an absolute pleasure to return under the NYS Music banner to report back to you on all my findings there. I arrived of course with some foggy memory of what life on the farm was like, but no blurry recollection from years ago could prepare me for my trip through the wormhole and into the fertile cradle of vivacity that is Bonnaroo. Allow me to spin you a yarn of my discoveries as I breathed in all that this country’s largest camping festival had to offer. After all, Bonnaroo is indeed the beautiful mecca of discovery. Come with me as I gaze back at my wonderful weekend.
Photo by Rob Roane
In its seventeenth consecutive installment Bonnaroo hosted a wide array of artists across its numerous official stages and instalments, but it hosted so much more than music. I will of course spotlight some of the incredible sound I absorbed from the stages, and I will also describe some of the additional color qualities that really cement this festival in greatness. Firstly, it is important to establish here too that Bonnaroo is a fierce beast of an endurance test. For four days and nights I sought out to hear old favorites, discover new ones, and bask in the glow in the diversity of the festival, and I did just that. Let’s start with my arrival on the farm.
Thursday
Arriving at a festival is always a special feeling. Those familiar with it know that the Thursday night energy can be something fierce. Patrons are fueled by an anticipation that has been building for months. The evening comes quickly, as Thursday is the only real day in which travelers are not encumbered by heat or other tiring forces that set in once the weekend really gets rolling. As I arrived on the farm, I was immediately reminded how different this place was than anywhere else on earth. I cannot state this enough friends: arrival at Bonnaroo is absolutely electric. As soon as my size 12 touched the hallowed grounds, I was infected with the vibe. Electric neon jumped from every avenue. Sound took over. This year’s festival saw 80,000 patrons make land, the most the site has had on it in some time, and the party was indeed completely sold out. Due to traffic, I arrived slightly delayed, but to my delight, Thursday’s Grand Ole’ Opry set was broadcast on the AM radio. I listened to the sound of Nashville as I set up camp, curated by the great Old Crow Medicine Show. While the reception was a little fuzzy, it came through clearly enough to remind me that while Bonnaroo is the true melting pot of the festival circuit, it is embedded in its Tennessee roots, as it should be. I moved quickly at camp, and finally departed for “Centeroo,” the central hub of the festival and venue area. The Nude Party, a twang rock operation from Boone, NC already had the Thursday party in full swing at “That Tent.” This sextet of rockabilly troubadours delivered a sound that I can only describe as very full, and present. They’re a mountain party in a pressure cooker that is just waiting to break out. The packed house crowd ate their energy up and delivered it back to the stage in a to and fro dance. It was good to be back.
I trekked onto “This Tent” to get my first taste of
indulgence in new discovery of the weekend.
Being from NC myself, I was plenty familiar with The Nude Party, but the
next group I saw came under several recommendations preceding the festival. The Comet Is Coming is a progressive
jazz psych funk trio all the way from London. This trident of a unit comprised
of drums, sax, and keys assured the crowd that the comet was for sure coming.
Their party consisted of an ongoing flow of rhythm in continues breaks and time
changes that saw each member take lead while the others followed. Their little
game of follow the leader always culminated a massive crescendo of interplay,
which saw each member bursting at the seams with tempo. The jams always came to
a boil, leaving the crowd in frenzy after each and every take. With no real
soloist element amongst the trio, this was a true sound build band. Completely
unrelenting high energy, my first time with The Comet Is Coming was a microcosm
for everything that is great about this festival. I discovered my first new
favorite band of the weekend, I was filled with intrigue and inspiration, and I
left fulfilled, but certainly still hungry for more. The night was still young.
Back across the causeway my eyes darted from one luminescent structure to
another. This gathering had a heartbeat, the pulse of which is unmatched. I
followed my feet to the Magic City
Hippies, a new age digital indie funk operation from the majestic city of
Miami.
The Magic City Hippies are a true Bonnaroovian outlet. They lace some familiar samples over breaks and supplement them with catchy guitar riffs all while interacting with the crowd, which continued to grow under the loving cloak of “That Tent.” They’re all fun, all the time, the way a Thursday night at the farm should be. Let me tip my cap to the way this lineup was curated and slotted. Those behind the scheduling at Bonnaroo are absolute masters. As the electro funk party simmered, I got a chance to catch up with the Magic City Hippies and talk about how much it meant to be at Bonnaroo, amongst such great company.
Photo by Rob Roane
NYS Music: Can you guys talk
a little about what it means to bring your block party vibe from Miami all the
way to the big stage here at Bonnaroo?
Magic City Hippies: Ah man,
you know, we know we’re here for a reason, to deliver what we love to deliver
and that’s music. We come from Miami, a city rich of course with Latino culture
so we knew early on that if we were going to make music that it had to make
people move. To come here to the big stage, I was cheesing a little bit up
there. We used to play sweaty house parties on a Friday night, the ones where
it would just be us and twenty people in a room with the fog machine is on way
too long and just sweating it out with our friends. The Bonnaroo Beacon called
us an alt-pop-party starter band and that’s kind of what we are. We’re blessed
to be here.
Thursday night ‘Roo is the party starter, and the Magic City
Hippies were right in place. The party was far from over though.
Before Space Jesus
descended on the mass to hit the crowd with the first real dose of bass, I
stopped in the Snake & Jakes’s Christmas Club Barn to take in the Kasvot Växt dance party. The Christmas
Club Barn is exactly what it sounds like- a blinking beacon of Christmas
decorations complete with a full service bar and DJ booth. This is what Bonnaroo
is about, random themed destination installations in which patrons can simply
immerse themselves in surrealism, a theme that would reappear throughout the
weekend. Strangely, little to no Kasvot Växt, a fictional Scandinavian rock
band created by Phish was actually played during this set. Nevertheless, my
eyes still gaped wide with stimulation from this interactive candy cane land.
Photo by Rob Roane
Space Jesus, a New York native, took the throne on “The
Other,” Bonnaroo’s third largest stage. This stage once was a tent, but the
cover has long since been removed to form a fully operational stage used mostly
for bass music throughout the weekend. Space Jesus wasted no time getting right
down to it, as the thump from the woofers got deeper and deeper. I could see
immediately that this type of stuff is what many of the patrons craved and was
what they came for. This is a snapshot of how Bonnaroo has changed in the years
since I once frequented the farm. Not in a bad way though, the bass hawks are
devout fans, will follow an artist like Space Jesus wherever he goes, and help
establish the diversity in genre that allows for this festivals long term
continuance and success. It was nice to see the mostly college aged crowd head
banging in unison to the deep melodic womp of Space Jesus. This man came to get
down (he came to get down), and being that there were no seats (nor would they
be needed), the kids jumped around.
The clock now lingered past two in the morning as I sauntered back to camp, so filled with excitement and purpose. I had finally come home; after all it was this festival that sparked my real love for live music and the culture that surrounds it. One foot back onto the already beaten path leading into the massive campgrounds and another creature of the surreal approached me. A GIANT VW Beetle-like motorist comes cruising down the road, two stories tall, laden with go-go dancers and sewn in all kinds of light, this mechanized creature of the night is apparently a staple of the roadways at the festival, and made its first pass through the hordes. Conceived in some kind of post apocalyptic Mad Max comic book acid trip, this stuff happens only at Bonnaroo my friends, only at Bonnaroo.
Friday
I awoke Friday morning under what Bonnaroovians know to be very mild conditions. A place known for its unbearable heat, most of the weekend’s temperatures hovered in the mid seventies, a blessing for all those in attendance. While we did have to brave the heat and subsequent dust bowl circumstances would come later in the weekend, Friday proved to be quite pleasant. The first full day of the festival was now underway, I got my first chance to really hone in on what makes Bonnaroo standalone: diversity. In the prior night’s darkness and absolute loony-bin madness it was hard to make out the exact complexions of those sharing the crowd around me. In Friday’s daylight I was able to make a first real glance at this feature. I took in some fantastic acts on Friday, including the first dose of the weekend’s main headliner Phish, but first let me comment on the array of color at the farm in the form of its main attraction: the people.
Photo by Rob Roane
On my morning walkabout I was immediately reminded and attracted to the real feature of Bonnaroo 2019. Bonnaroo is a culture sponge, a tapestry of different walks of life all sewn together under like-mindedness in music and community. There were so many different kinds of people at this festival. Bonnaroo really delivers in this regard. The population at the farm is a far more accurate depiction of the real world than an outsider would imagine. People of all races, genders, and ethnicities are strewn about at every nook and cranny of the grounds. It is beautiful. The diversity in the genres of the bands on the stages finally reflects the diversity of the crowd. Bonnaroo has evolved over time from its jam band central roots, to the diverse cultural quilt that it is now. Congrats to you Bonnaroo, and to you Bonnaroovians, for you are the true testament of the magic and greatness that lives at the farm. Now let’s see some music.
Photo by Rob Roane
My first parlay at the “Which Stage,” Bonnaroo’s effective second stage, came with Nahko & Medicine for the People. Nahko brings this justice rich, earthy sound that is meant to inspire change and celebrate the planet. Nahko moved through his big poppers “Budding Trees” and “Black as Night” before I moved on to pop through Catfish and The Bottlemen, and a little of Parquet Courts. The former radiated this wild alt 90’s British rock, while the ladder boomed with New York flavor. Paul Vile (Jelloman) slung Jello shots into the crowd as Parquet Courts moved seamlessly through their post-punk catalogue. The New York sound was alive with Parquet Courts.
My first trip to the famed “What Stage,” the granddaddy of the Bonnaroo stages, I came for The Avett Brothers, a personal favorite at the festival, second only to the foursome from Vermont slated later in the evening. The Avetts smoothly laid into their set with “Vanity,” before turning the knobs to eleven with a nicely placed “Satan Pulls the Strings.” They queued up crowd pleasers “Ain’t No Man,” and “I Wish I Was,” before finishing strong on “Kick Drum Heart” and “No Hard Feelings.” It was great to see these North Carolina boys get their due yet again on arguably the biggest stage in the country. The sun began to sink low as the Avetts concluded, and I turned around backwards to face the mass and drink in this magnanimous movement.
Photo by Rob Roane
I caught a handful of the GRiZ set before heading back to revamp for the evening, for it was an evening of Phish my friends. GRiZ is simply put: awesome. Not only was this one of the only sets of the weekend which saw a real melding of the ages in the crowd, it was of course full steam from the jump off to the time I departed. GRiZ bridges the gap between today’s jamtronica and yesterday’s mastery of horns and musicianship. The crowd at the “Which Stage” was a complete arsenal for GRiZ, and to this point in the weekend it was the biggest crowd I encountered. This is demonstrative of GRiZ’s appeal, and it’s no accident he was chosen to host the G.O.A.T. Superjam later in the night. More about that shortly, first, let’s talk a little Phish.
Phish returned to Manchester for their third romp on the farm, once again to deliver three sets in total. First, their late slot to face plant the crowd into rock. While many devout Phish fans bemoaned them for returning to ‘Roo to deliver presumably what they refer to as “a festival set,” not standard of a regular Phish show. One that does not involve lots of improv or creativity in the set list. A set that serves a purpose, to expose newer, younger fans to their music, while not going too far out and not getting so weird that the crowd is turned off in the same stroke. Well a big ole poo-poo to those fans, because guess what: Phish came on stage at Bonnaroo and tapped up a complete barnburner from start to finish. This was no average “festival set” people, this was a statement that the boys from Vermont were here, and they were not messing around. Yes, the crowd was notably younger than an average Phish show, but that’s a great thing. That ensures the longevity of the music.
Photo by Rob Roane
I took in the set with Twitter’s Lil’ Nug, a young girl who has ascended to Phish fame after trolling the band a few months before, having no idea who they were, or why they were headlining Bonnaroo. A ripping “Carini”-> “Down With Disease” -> “Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.” took the opening stanza. The band moved nicely right along through “Everything’s Right” before truly introducing the farm to what space smelled like with “Mercury” -> “Tweezer” -> “2001”-> “Steam.” Welcome to the land of milk and honey my friends, Phish had arrived at Bonnaroo. Lil Nug got down, I got down, and we all got down. Find a complete set list at the bottom of this recap.
Bonnaroo boasts the largest genre web of any festival of its kind. There is nothing more exemplary of this GRiZ’s G.O.A.T.: A Music Legends SuperJam. The jam featured artists from all over the spectrum coming together for one late night exclamation point that pays homage to music legends of the past, without whom events like Bonnaroo with remain only figments of grandiose imagination. This year’s jam featured GRiZ bringing one all star after another, including Nahko, Rubblebucket, Sunsquabi, members of Walk The Moon, members of Trey Anastasio Band, and so many more. This ridiculous collection of talent did justice to those that came before them. Climaxes included “So What’Cha Want” (Beastie Boys), “Right Place Wrong Time” (Dr. John), “Respect” (Aretha Franklin), “1999” (Prince), “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The Beatles), and a litany of other stellar renditions of fabulous canon classics. Find the complete set list below.
Of the Superjam, GRiZ said:
“The major point of this thing is to play a bunch of rad music and continue to re-tell stories of the great people who played music in the past.” He went on specifically to comment on Dr. John, who had passed on the week before.
“The definition of
funk music, which he carved out a large piece of, gave way to re-inventing
music however you feel. You don’t need to put things in a bo or follow any
rules or worry about what your heart feels about the music- you can just let it
go.”
Knees quaking, mind melting, I moseyed through Girl Talk for a second before hiking back into the jungle party that lay outside the walls of Centeroo. I was happy to see Girl Talk playing old mixes, reminiscent of when I discovered the blend DJ years before. Exiting a superb Friday night, I was reminded that like New York, Bonnaroo does not sleep.
Phish setlist: Carini -> Down with Disease -> Say it to Me S.A.N.T.O.S., Everything’s Right -> Mercury -> Tweezer -> Also Sprach Zarathustra -> Steam, Martian Monster, More -> Harry Hood -> Character Zero
E: Possum -> Tweezer Reprise
G.O.A.T.: A Music Legends Super Jam with GRiZ set list:
Miserlou (Dick Dale) (Core Band), So What’Cha Want (Beastie Boys) (GRANT INTRO), Right Place Wrong Time (Dr. John) (Core Band), Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley) (Nahko, Nattali Rize), This Land Is Your Land (Sharon Jones) (Deva Mahal), Piece of My Heart (Janis Joplin) (Jennifer Hartswick), Valarie (Amy Winehouse) (Jennifer Hartswick), Respect (Aretha Franklin) (Chrishira Perrier), 1999 (Prince) (K. Flay, Chrishira Perrier), Mary Jane (Rick James) (Chrishira Perrier), DANG! (Mac Miller) (PROBCAUSE, Chrishira Perrier), Grinding All My Love (Nipsy Hussle) (PROBCAUSE), Lithium (Nirvana) (K. Flay), What I Got (Sublime) (GRiZ, MUZZY BEARR), Blackhole Sun (Soundgarden) (Linsay Ell), While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles) (Linsay Ell), Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) (HOBO JOHNSON, RKS BASS & DRUMS), Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) (SAM MELO, Jennifer Hartswick, Linsay Ell), Wake Me Up (Avicii) (NOAH KAHAN, Music City Mystique Drumline), Drumline Interlude (Music City Mystique Drumline), We Will Rock You (Queen) (Walk The Moon, Music City Mystique Drumline), Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie) (Walk The Moon, Rubblebucket), Let’s Dance (David Bowie) (Rubblebucket, BLACKSTAR BAND), Life On Mars? (David Bowie) (Rubblebucket) (BLACKSTAR BAND), Freedom! ‘90” (George Michael) (Deva Mahal, MUZZY BEARR, Chrishira Perrier).
*Song (Original Artist) (Lead Performer)
Stay tuned for Part 2 of NYS Music’s Bonnaroo coverage!
Chenango Blues Association has announced a music-filled summer for Norwich with a summer concert series and the Chenango Blues Festival. The free concert series will run every Thursday at East Side Park from July 11 – Aug. 29, and the 27th annual Chenango Blues Festival will take place August 16-17.
Highlights of the Chenango Blues Music Festival lineup include four time winner of the Blues Music Award for Entertainer of the Year, Tab Benoit, and 2019 Contemporary Female Artist of the Year, Danielle Nicole. Benoit plucks on your heartstrings with each strum of his guitar, you can feel the passion he puts into his music. Nicole’s strong and sultry voice with her distinctive bass work feeds your soul. The lineup also features Downchild Blues Band, Johnny Sansone, Joe Louis Walker Trio, and much more. Check out the full lineup below. Tickets are on sale now, check out the festival website for more information.
Woodstock may be returning to Central New York at Vernon Downs for the 50 year anniversary of the iconic music and arts festival. Scheduled to be held Aug. 16-18, some of the previously announced headliners for the event include Jay-Z, The Raconteurs, The Killers, Miley Cyrus, John Fogerty and Dead & Company.
The festival would still be held on the originally planned weekend of Aug. 16-18, only now possibly at Vernon Downs Casino Hotel in Vernon, a small town located along the New York State Thruway between Syracuse and Rome. There would most likely be no camping and the performances would run from until 11:00 p.m. each day.
After Watkins Glen International Speedway pulled out as host of Woodstock 50 on June 10, organizer Michael Lang vowed the festival would still be happening and that they were in discussions with other venues. It now appears that Vernon Downs was one of those venues.
Michael Lang is no stranger to the Central New York area. Woodstock ’99 was held at the decommissioned Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome. The festival drew upwards of 200,000 people that year and was marred by riots and sexual assaults that brought the festival to a fiery conclusion.
The harness racing track located on site has a past of hosting larger concert events, the latest being Aug. 29, 2012 when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band visited during the Wrecking Ball Tour. Track owners at the time suggested that they could comfortably host 30,000 people for the Boss’s show at their venue, a sharp decline from the 100,000 attendees Lang had originally anticipated for his event at Watkins Glen this year.
The track has also hosted Phish, the HORDE tour, the Other Ones (one of many Grateful Dead offshoots) and several versions of the regional radio festival, K-Rockathon.
Even with a lack of on-site camping, attendees would still have several lodging options in the area. The nearby Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona has several hotels and an RV park. Other local options for lodging include two state parks at Verona Beach and Delta Lake, along with several private campgrounds and hotels in nearby Utica, Rome and Syracuse.
Ticketing information was unavailable at press time but would be contingent upon organizers acquiring final permits from the town. The lack of camping would preclude the need for a mass gathering permit from New York State.
NYS Music will have more information as it becomes available.
Editor’s note: This article has been edited to reflect a different number of attendees at Woodstock ’99.
This morning online ticket mecca, CashorTrade, launched a Trader’s Protection™ program which provides 100% assurance – and insurance. Now, all #Embracetheface users including Gold Members have a full proof money-back guarantee on all tickets sold on the site. Not to mention, tickets are already being sold at prices “set to disrupt the secondary ticketing industry.”
CashorTrade is a rapidly-growing hub, sucking music fans into a “Face Value Movement,” unavoidably changing how we experience the concert experience. Co-Founder, Brando Rich praises his community for holding out for a one-to-one ticket exchange with likeminded fans.
Not only is CashorTrade generating a love of music and community, but it cuts the competition by a landslide – disrupting a $15 billion industry, taking on ticket giants such as Stubhub and SeatGeek. For Gold Members ($24/yr), Trader’s Protection matches Paypal’s 3% rate, which approximates CashorTrade’s credit card processing costs. Any free member pays 10% of each transaction. In comparison, secondary ticket platforms charge an average of 28%-45% on top of an already-inflated price
Fun Phact:In the summer of 2017, the website supplied over 50,000 tickets to fans at face value throughout Phish’s “Baker’s Dozen” shows, amounting to nearly 25% of all the seats at Madison Square Garden during the 13-night run.
Below The Moss Forgotten: Phish in the Pacific Northwest was a three-day pop-up museum exhibit presented by The Phishsonian Institute and PhanArt, recently held in the Horizon Lounge at Oregon State University’s Memorial Union. Held during the inaugural Phish Studies Conference, the exhibit represented shows from the band’s PNW debut in Ashland in 1991 to the band’s recent run at the Gorge in 2018.
Presented by Alex Grosby of the Phishsonian and Pete Mason of PhanArt, immense thanks is owed to the Oregon State School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, OSU Theatre, and the Benton County Historical Society for their strong support and all of the conference attendees for their kind words and enthusiasm for this inaugural project.
Private collectors and numerous artists contributed works to this vision to bring it to life. The exhibit made the Memorial Union a welcoming environment for scholarship and added a level of experience to the event. We hope to continue to present Phish exhibits in the near future. You can revisit the exhibit by viewing the slideshow below.
Check out more photos from the Phish Studies Conference by Derek Finholt and visit Phish.net for an in depth recap of the conference by Jnan A. Blau.
Brooklyn indie rock duo comprised of twin brothers Tim and Dan have recently launched the EP Two Songs under the name The Reflections. The release features the songs “Union Sq.” and “Beachy Preachy,” a pair of tunes steeped in contemporary NYC indie aesthetic, yet bearing overtones of classic 90’s alternative.
The brothers have been making music together for years, performing under the name Middle Infield. The re-branding occurred in conjunction with dropping the new songs.
“We changed our band name to The Reflections because we wanted a band name that represented ‘us’ more-so,” Tim told NYS Music. “With my twin and I, it’s always been a situation where the sum is greater than the individual parts; where people are more drawn to our collective energy by simply us being together… And when people meet us, they sometimes just see the same person ‘twice’. So our band name highlights this phenomenon, but once you get deeper we’re obviously quite different people.”
“Union Sq.” and “Beachy Peachy” were mixed by Hunter Davidsohn (Frankie Cosmos) and Mike Ditrio respectively, and mastered by Paul Gold (Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, and LCD Soundsystem).
Two Songs is just the beginning. The Reflections plan to record and release more songs this year. Follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates and events.
Siimba Selassie, formerly known as Siimba Liives Long, recently debuted the music video for his latest single, “Bes’mam.” Directed by Nick Von Gremp, the same director behind Selassie’s critically acclaimed videos “Bad for the Soul,’ ft. Kamau, “Bes’mam” provides a stripped back window into the world of Selassie. “Bes’mam’s” simplistic aesthetic allows Selassie’s quizzical and mesmerizing bars to be the focal point of the three-minute video.
For the uninitiated, Siimba Selassie is a Brooklyn-based musician born in New York, and raised in a myriad of places from Ethiopia and Washington DC to New Jersey. “Bes’mam” follows Selassie’s recent critically acclaimed single “Patiently” with his group Splash Brothers that includes Allan Kingdom, Topaz Jones, Kamau, and brother Haile Supreme.
His debut music video, “Cocaine Biimbie,” featured the emcee return to his Ethiopian roots to play quite literally with lions and eat fire. This cut from Siimba’s 2017 project “Zemenay’s Gemiinii,”awarded Siimba critical praise from tastemakers including NPR, Noisey, FADER, Complex, DJ Booth, Hot New Hip Hop,and more. Selassie, an artist described by NPR as “sportive yet serious, playing equal parts esoteric and quizzical,” will be gearing up for the release of new sonic series VIICES coming June 2019.
Colorado Springs mother, musician and trauma therapist, Xanthe Alexis, pierces the heart with emotion and unmistakable conviction. She is otherworldly; transcending mind, body, music and soul. Alexis remained on the Top 20 Alternative Folk Charts for six months, and Top 200 for the entire folk genre. Her spiritual workings are proven through a deep connection with the world around her, confronting realities of society through song.
Today, June 17, Alexis will begin her Artist Residency at Mothership – a space for international artists across multiple disciplines to live and hone their craft. Their mission: to support and promote artists through collaborative opportunities; build sustainable artists networks; and help retain creative forces in New York. Alexis will bask in the Greenpoint-neighborhood of Brooklyn through Wednesday June 26. She will perform an intimate Stage One, Rockwood Music Hall matinee at 3 pm, on Sunday, June 23.
At first listen to Xanthe Alexis’s 2016 debut-album, Time of War, nothing crosses your mind. In this blank slate, you involuntary start to breathe deeply into meditation, with finger-style guitar. Alexis’ breath (accompanied by Colorado local, Curtis Boucher) slowly restores your soul, filling you as you inhale – and hold. “Hey Love,” is just the beginning of the 10-track, fan-funded release that weaves-raw throughout your body, giving you that one-on-one feeling with Xanthe. A self-release so soft and filled with intimacy, it articulates a chaotic world with grace.
Her Mothership residency is special for threefold: Xanthe admits, Time of War was mostly first takes, recorded in six hours; She has recorded, but not yet finalized a second album; and already has four tunes in mind that will bloom towards a third release – hopefully to be influenced by the wonders of Mothership, Brooklyn, working artists and the inner workings of Xanthe’s Muse.
“With the last album, I had a lot – a lot – to say about mental illness. I don’t say it directly. I say it poetically. I think people get what I am talking about; and we need to talk about in our culture,” said Xanthe. “As A kid I was always sup-er sensitive, and emotional. I found music was the safe place for all of that. When you hear a powerful vocalist and all of that emotion, it is accepted in that arena. I was drawn it.”
There was this force, that transposed our phone conversation. We were connected by more than just music, and had oddly-specific parallels in our spiritual lives. “That otherness is what we weave throughout the music. It is close to all of us, and some of us are more aware of it,” said Xanthe, soothingly. “These strands of conscious explain to a whole other forum,” perhaps in more ways than we know.
Strangely enough, Xanthe feels zen-ed out in New York, a therapeutic calmness juxtaposed to the city. ”I’m going to live there [Mothership] for a few days with painters, poets and dancers. That is where everybody comes to work and live.”
For her upcoming album, Xanthe thought: I’m gonna put something out that is radio friendly that I still feel stayed the course of musical expression that I wanted to capture. But It’s been a long road. It will be interesting to see how this weeks experiences shape her final production of album two, as the lines between her professional world and musical pursuit disappear.
“It wasnt until recently that my patients knew about my other life,” turning her words plafully. “ I had a music program for middle aged school children. It was totally like School Of Rock; Kids would come together with no experience and become a total band. They would write all their own music and I would teach them chords – the language of music. I’d teach them: the chords are like a painters pallet.” Xanthe would play them a C and ask, “what doesn’t this sound like.” And they would talk about it.
“What does a D sound like: Oh, Its bright. What does an Em sound like: It’s dark and sounds a little angry. All of a sudden we would have this shared language through emotion. Kids are like sponges, they don’t have all that insecurity and fear yet, so they would just do it, ya know. They are at that age where they are coming out of their innocence, and they need to know that is alright.”
By combining life’s passion with professional life, those surrounding Xanthe realize “I Practice what I preach. They realize, this is a brave chick.”
A note from Xanthe: “If you want to be pleasantly spooked-out and hear your heart break a little bit and maybe then soar a little bit, [giggling] Come see me at Rockwood Music Hall, Sunday, June 23 at 3 pm.”
