NYS Music 20​19

Tag: anthology

  • NYS Music City Guide: The Flower City, Rochester

    Moving on to our next destination in line to be highlighted in City Guides, we are continuing west to Rochester, aka The Flower City, where music is alive and well in oh so many different ways. You name a genre and Rochester is sure to have a lively presence awaiting you. Contributing to this melting pot of musical variety includes the “hottest music school in America,” The Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, a rich presence of summer music festivals, local cafes eager to host smaller sets, and the city’s rich legacy of talented musicians such as Metropolitan Opera star Renée Fleming, and bass baritone vocalist William Warfield. It’s an eclectic scene that promises something for every and any kind of music lover.

    Rochester

    Arenas / Larger Venues

    Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial – This large indoor arena, constructed in 1955 as the Rochester Community War Memorial, to this day hosts some of the biggest sporting and entertainment events that come through the city. While the large venue has a variety of events, heavily concentrating on sports, bigger music acts utilize the space when they come through on their tours. Most recently, The Millennium Tour, featuring R&B group, B2K and Mario performed there. Make sure to keep an eye on the arena’s calendar for big upcoming events.

    Main Street Armory – This active entertainment hotspot has remained central to the music scene of Rochester for a long time. It began as a military facility hosting center and grew into a hub for sporting events, paintball and, of course, concerts. Holding 6,500 attendees, this venue has hosted a multitude of genres and has upcoming shows to reflect its diversity of sound as well. To name a few highlights off the venue’s calendar, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie will be coming in May with PnB Rock, Lil Baby in June, and Buckcherry with WARPAINT in July.

    Theaters

    Kodak Center Theater – The Kodak Center is more than just a music venue, as it additionally holds conference and alternative event spaces, as well as a Visitor’s Center. However, the main pull to the center, located just minutes from downtown Rochester, is their main stage, the Kodak Center Theater. The room holds 1,968 attendees in comfortable seating and has produced a variety of shows in the past from comedy to dance shows to children’s camp events to full-on concerts. Some highlights from their calendar for upcoming events include Gary Allen, who will be performing later this week, Derek Hough Live and The Temptations & The Four Tops.

    Eastman Theatre – The Eastman Theatre of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester is located in downtown Rochester and is home to multiple state of the art theaters and venues. Within the facilities are Kilbourn Hall, the ornate and acoustically pure Venetian Renaissance styled theatre that holds 400+ guests, Hatch Recital Hall – the modernly-styled, newest addition to the building that holds an intimate 200+ audience, and a handful of other different rehearsal rooms. The gem of this facility, however, is the extravagant Kodak Hall which opened in 1922 and since then has been a driving force of fine arts in Rochester. It holds 3,352 people and commonly holds a high-quality schedule of musical performances.

    Clubs

    Sensation Nightclub – Sensation Nightclub claims to be the premiere nightclub experience in Rochester, inspired by the founders’ opinion of the lack of a proper nightlife experience within the city. In addition to presenting a luxurious experience with table bookings, bottle service, and top-notch accommodations, Sensation books high-quality, nationally-touring DJ acts for their late nights. If you are looking for a fun night out accompanied by some electronic music, Sensation is the place to go!

    SKYWAY – By day, SKYWAY is better known as Cafe SOL, but at night, the place transforms into a unique and visionary clubbing experience. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, SKYWAY Lounge captivates guests through their “musical collage of seamlessly woven beats” that is comprised of every imaginable genre including Balearic lounge, Caribbean rhythm, soul, disco, pop, hip-hop, and deep house. Bottle service and private event booking is available, but regardless, a good time and good music is always guaranteed. For your next big night out, check out their calendar.

    Vertex – Another notorious and long-standing club in Rochester happens to be the club Vertex. For over 20 years now, this goth club has continue to operate, while seeing multiple changes in locations, it still continues to bring great music for this scene within the city. Operating on the usual schedule of Thursdays with DJ Noname, Fridays with Silver Crash, and Saturdays with DJ Darkwave, the standard set still packs the house. Throw their Facebook page a like and a follow to stay up to date on their events.

    Flour City Station – Flour City Station is a different breed of club, aside from the usual EDM sets at most. For a late night fix of all categories and genres ranging from DMB and The Grateful Dead cover bands, 90’s throwback parties, to ska, funk, and beyond, the Station is the place to go. Don’t miss out on the stacked upcoming events.

    Venues

    Anthology – An undeniable personality within the Rochester music scene, Anthology is a re-invented multi-level auto warehouse in the East End of the city. It holds about 1,000 people, providing enough space for a large scale audience for local acts and an intimate audience for nationally touring acts, which the venue finds a solid balance between. The facility is beautifully remodeled and has been known to host memorable shows, so keep an eye an out to catch one of your favorite artists there.

    Montage Music Hall – Montage Music Hall is a small but mighty, long-standing staple in Rochester’s music scene. This 400-capacity venue has been kicking for over 20 years and has never failed to promote an overwhelming variety of genres. Some past notable acts that have played the venue include The Arkells, Max Creek, Melvin Seals, and Attila, and their calendar is set to include many more dynamic acts to come for the summer and beyond.

    Bug Jar – It is safe to say that there is always something going on at the Bug Jar. Whether it be a comedy show, trivia night, DJ set, or live band set, their calendar is packed full, 7 days a week. It is a local favorite and a can’t miss when addressing the city’s musical landscape.

    Festivals

    Rochester Summer Soul Festival – Set to take place on Friday August 23 and Saturday, August 24, Rochester’s Summer Soul Music Festival is an event that will serve to highlight the bright array of musical talent in Rochester coupled with a great family environment and local food vendors. It will be held at Frontier Field and the lineup is set to be announced soon.

    Rochester International Jazz Festival – Right in the heart of Rochester is one of the world’s leading jazz festivals that has been going strong since 2002. Hosted by M&T Bank and spanning a whole nine days, this celebration of music features over 1,500 artists yearly with over 320 shows that take place in over 20 venues around the city. It is a small citywide takeover that lights the city up with good vibes and good music. If you catch yourself in Rochester between June 21 and June 29, you’re sure to be in for a good time. Be sure to check out the lineup.

    The Gateways Music Festival – In association with Eastman School of Music, from August 6 until the 11th, The Gateways Music Festival will be gracing Rochester once again with over 50 performances throughout the area. The festival aims to be a resource for classical musicians of African descent and will feature more than 125 musicians from their ever-growing database of now 700 musicians. The tickets are cheap, but the organization will be accepting donations to support their ongoing cause. For more information click here.

    Party in the Park – For the 22nd consecutive year, the City of Rochester presents Party in the Park every Thursday from June 6 until August 8. The weekly event transforms Martin Luther King Jr. Park into a treasure trove of local vendors, incredible food, and awesome musicians. Check out the website for more details and this summer’s lineup.

    Hidden Gems

    Lovin’ Cup – Lovin’ Cup has become Rochester’s one-stop-shop for all the city’s coffee, food, bar and entertainment needs. From breakfast, lunch, dinner, to drinks, Lovin’ Cup has got you covered. Upcoming on their calendar for live music includes The Klick, Hey Mavis, Hanna and the Blue Hearts, and plenty of Open Mic Nights and Salsa Nights to get involved in.

    Record Archive – For over 40 years, this record store has been providing Rochester with quality music on vinyl. Beyond it’s primary purpose, Record Archive has two live stages within the store with which they host their own events. A favorite place for locals and a popular attraction for tourists, the Record Archive keeps people coming back with their wide array of records and stellar live events.

    Sofar Sounds Rochester – Something that adds an interesting dynamic to local music scenes and does it incredible job of highlighting local musicians in intimate and unusual venues is Sofar Sounds, and Rochester is fortunate enough to have this active organization in their area. If you’ve ever wanted to see acoustic sets in a neighbor’s home, an office building, or a rooftop, Sofar Sounds is one to watch for your next favorite small concert experience.

    If you’re looking for a place to get away and lose yourself in music, Rochester holds a promising array for lovers of any genre. This guide is only the tipping point of all the endless possibilities and incredible musical experiences awaiting in this city.

  • Rubblebucket with a Bang in Rochester

    For a band, that by normal band-conventions shouldn’t even exist, Rubblebucket is stronger and as vibrant as ever. Leaders and remaining original members, Kalmia Travers and Alex Toth, have both climbed personal hurdles over the last couple of years, including the end of their romantic relationship. Instead of breaking up the band, they shuffled up the other members and put out a new album, Sun Chaser, last summer. Still in heavy support of their new release, they played through the entire record at their tour opener in Rochester, albeit in a modified order.

    A proper review of Rubblebucket’s show might be a dense word-cloud of adjectives and verbs, all punctuated with exclamation points. The stage was a constant blur of action and color. Their past antics were like a low budget Flaming Lips or Of Montreal, but here it was more reminiscent of the Talking Heads and David Byrne. Less party, more art. White fabric screens were hit with splashes of light, orange and green, red and blue, purple and magenta. Band members turned into psychedelic dancing silhouettes when they went behind the screens.

    The crowd was engaged 110% from note one, moving and grooving with every beat, singing along with every lyric. When prompted to help out with the chorus of “Annihilation Song,” they needed no instruction,  already acting as the collective backing chorus. Crowd and band merged at the inevitable march of the horns, including new trumpet player Sean Smith, down the length of the venue and again at the post-encore acoustic session in the back by the bar. Kal heaped praise on the Rochester audience frequently, even calling out a trio of front row fans with matching rainbows, who gifted her with a rainbow boa.

    The new rhythm section was a crack trio of New York City musicians (Ryan Dugre on guitar, Noga Shefi on bass, Jeremy Gustin on drums) who were more than up for the task, but mostly stayed in the background. As a bit of a palette cleanser after the set, they emerged on stage first for the encore, showing off their wares more overtly with a few minutes banging deep grooves.

    The night began with Alex Toth who mixed his live guitar and trumpet playing with effects pedals and pre-recorded material including beats, cellos, backing vocals in a preview of what is sure to be a very good album out in May.

    Mikaela Davis then showcased her harp-led pop-folk from her superb 2018 album Delivery, adding in a few new songs which mostly featured her playing keys. Her band was joined by Maybird’s Kurt Johnson on pedal steel and guitar throughout the entire hometown set. Davis, who sat in with Bob Weir in Syracuse last November, added a beautiful cover of “Brokedown Palace” to close out her night on stage. Davis will rejoin Rubblebucket midway through their tour, which will wind it’s way back to Upstate New York with a show at the Westcott Theatre on April 25.

     

     

  • Aqueous Goes Big in Rochester

    It was an unremarkable day on the calendar and a fairly unremarkable day outside, but inside the doors of Anthology in Rochester big things were happening. Buffalo’s Aqueous, who’ve called Rochester their second home since near their inception, were moving on from their frequent and beloved haunt Flour City Station. Like a hermit crab, they shed that shell and crawled the short distance down East Ave and nestled into the much larger Anthology. Remarkably, the band sold the venue out on their first visit.

    Everything about the move was big, The crowd, the stage, the lights, the sound. The crab had long outgrown its shell and was just yearning for this expansion. In other words, Aqueous wasn’t overwhelmed by the shift. On the contrary, it allowed for a huge release long in the making. To celebrate the occasion, the band planned to even make the show bigger, by adding a third set. And not just any set, plopped right in the middle of two regular-sized Aqueous sets was a fully improvised second set.

    It was a risky endeavor, but at worst a ho-hum jam set had the safety of being surrounded by two strong Aqueous sets. Ho-hum it wasn’t. The band found theme upon theme upon groove in five to ten minute segments pieced together seamlessly for a full 65 minutes. During that hour all in attendance were equals. No matter if this was someone’s first show or someone’s 100th, no one knew what was to come, band included.

    The set had no lulls and little to no meandering. It was defined and refined jamming. It felt familiar, until it didn’t, until it did again, mixing and matching genres along the way. It was EDM, then, “Oh damn!” It got Dead-y, then deadly, Phishy then fizzy, went from metal to meta, Ska to “Gah!” PeAQ Aqueous. When the band revisits the recording of the set they could easily mine a few new songs from it.

    The middle set was the highlight of the night, but of course there was plenty to love about sets one and three. “The Median” opener blasted the evening open with a soaring fiery jam. “Origami” got disco funky before a slow building theme peaked and exploded. “Good Enough” contained one of the more beautiful segments of the night, with a progression reminiscent of Jerry Garcia Band’s version of “Dear Prudence.” And “All In” and Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell” were a fun big rock combo to close out the third set in the wee hours of the morning.

    Anthology still has that new venue smell and is ripe for the taking. Friday night, Aqueous put a stake in the ground. All that’s left to do is raise the flag. Their new Rochester home is well underway to being claimed.

    Setlist:
    I: The Median, Kitty Chaser (Explosions) > Undone – The Sweater Song (Weezer) > Kitty Chaser (Explosions), Origami > Good Enough > Complex I, Warren in the Window
    II: Improv
    III: 20/20 > Aldehyde, Underlyer > Marty, All In > Run Like Hell (Pink Floyd) > All In
    E: Jam > Triangle

  • Lettuce Reels in While Ghost-Note Unleashes at Anthology

    When my friend first played me a burned copy of Lettuce’s Crush, when I lived in South Florida a couple years ago, I was instantly swept up in the bright, triumphant horns and contagious grooves. It was a new band to me but the music perfectly illustrated a part of my spirit that couldn’t be put into words, something I’d felt for a long time before hearing it played out in song.

    After that initial introduction, my commutes to work for weeks on end involved flying north on 95 in my perpetually overheating 2001 Ford Focus, routinely passed by luxury cars with a death wish, yet feeling my own kind of rich. I might as well have been driving a souped up getaway car fleeing from the authorities after a successful bank heist with Lettuce as my soundtrack.

    Having never seen them live, the January 10 show at Anthology couldn’t be missed. Though I’d largely over-saturated my ears with their sound, as is often the tragic irony for music lovers, I’d hoped a live show would rekindle an old flame and help me appreciate the band in a new way.

    Lettuce played through a bunch of new material, their steady, conquering sound invoking a sense of power in the listener. They were incredibly tight and well-rehearsed, but almost to a fault. Their performance lacked expression, crowd interaction and all the things that separate listening to the album versus going to a live show for the experience. I never felt connected to them.

    While it was a bit of a let down for me, when I looked around the room, my eyes were met by a sea of bobbing heads and contemplative smiles. It certainly wasn’t a bad show, just not what I was hoping for. Being the first night of their Vibe Up tour, maybe they’re still finding their momentum. Who’s to say.

    While Lettuce’s set was polished and serious, the opener, Ghost-Note, danced with creativity, spewing offbeat, avant garde solos, keeping the crowd guessing through their set. Embellishing their songs with humor, drummer Nate Werth pointedly flipped off the crowd midway through “Funk You Muthafunka.”

    Ghost-Note was also playing the first night of their Smack ‘Em tour, supporting their 2018 album Swagism, which is awesome. Taking way more chances on stage, they did get a bit muddy at times, with so many musicians trying to fill pockets. But their set was a nice contrast from Lettuce.

    The Vibe Up tour will see Lettuce dance down the east coast before heading out west for the last few shows. Ghost-Note will follow a somewhat similar trajectory, opening for Lettuce for the first handful of shows before splitting off.

    Lettuce Setlist: 4th Dimension, Blaze, Your Royal Highness, Purple Cabbage, Ready to Live, Silverdome, N’Dugu, Sam Huff’s Flying Ragin’ Machine, Madison Square

    Encore: Sounds Like a Party to Me

    lettuce jesus coomes
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