Twiddle held its 4th annual Tumble Down Festival in Burlington, VT at Waterfront Park this past weekend. The beautiful park, right on Lake Champlain, hosted Twiddle for five sets along with: The Kitchen Dwellers, Stephen Marley, Turkuaz, Ghost Light, Jaden Carlson Band, Owl and Crow, The Big Sip, Nina’s Brew and The Jauntee. The festival, a family reunion for Twiddle fans, brought all ages together to celebrate music. The festival also brought fans and partners together to raise money for the White Light Foundation, a non-profit that raises money to help spread love, healing and kindness.
Twiddle kicked off the festival with a special acoustic set with fan favorites including “Hatties Jam” and “When it Rains It Pours,” and a special sit in by David Grippo. Their second and third sets closed out the first night and included a prerecorded message from “Colonel Norco,” which helped set the tone for two packed sets, and a special sit in by Todd Stoops. The second set included a new verse to “Jamflowman” that brought his tale home and an additional sit in by David Grippo on the beautiful, “Lost in the Cold.”
Acoustic Set: Glycerine Medley, Earth Mama, Five, Wildfire, Fat Country Baby, Hattiebagan Mcrat, Hattie’s Jam-> When it Rains it Pours Set 2: Enter, Orlando’s, Amydst the Myst, Doinkinbonk, Grandpa Fox -> Apples -> Mamunes the Faun -> Every Soul Set 3: Jamflowman -> Subconscious Prelude -> Nicodemus Portulay -> Milk, Lost in the Cold
Encore: River Drift
The second day started with a bit of deja vu as The Big Sip had their set shortened by a weather evacuation, that thankfully didn’t last too long, or turn into anything more than threatening clouds and some high winds. The Kitchen Dwellers began their set as masses of fans were still in line to re-enter the festival, music to the ears of those eager to get back to the party. They also welcomed members of Cabinet to sit in for a few songs, much to the audience’s enjoyment.
Nina’s Brew, a trio from Burlington, played with a sound influenced by blues, soul, rock and R&B. They’re currently working on their first studio album and are anticipating a fall release.
Turkuaz, the nine piece funk juggernaut from Brooklyn, NY, played as the sun was setting over the water. Their brightly colored outfits seemed to glow in the “golden hour” of light, and highlighted their energy.
Twiddle’s final two sets to close out the fantastic weekend contained many treats for fans. The origin of “Ricky Snickle” and an additional verse, another message from “Colonel Norco,” and a new verse to “Frankenfoote.” There were also many sit-ins over the final two sets. Jayden Carlson, The Kitchen Dwellers, Zach Nugent and Todd Stoops all helped Twiddle close out the festival.
Set 4: Ricky Snickle Origin, Ricky Snickle, Syncopated Healing, Machine, Visions of Mohr, Latin Tang, Beethoven and Green Set 5: Polluted Beauty, Gatsby the Great -> Pond -> Zazu’s Flight -> Pond -> Grandpa Fox, Be There Encore: Frankenfoote Origin -> Frankenfoote
The Peach Music Fest returned to Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA for its eighth year over July 24-27, 2019 and from the buzz of the crowd it seems that this year was the best yet. Everywhere you turned there was good people and good music, all thanks to the incredibly stacked lineup the festival runners put together. The weather was nearly perfect, aside from a storm on Sunday night that cut some of the first Phil and Friends set short, but fans raged on and powered through it. All of the main stage sets were livestreamed by nugs.net, all of those streams can be found here.
Thursday was kicked off by Buffalo groove rockers Aqueous, playing the main Peach Stage for their first time and opening up the weekend with their upbeat tune “Random Company,” which set the mood for the rest of the weekend. The group played a set of all originals, omitting their usual cover placed somewhere in the set, and blew the tent off the Peach Stage with stellar versions of “Kitty Chaser (Explosions)” and “Skyway,” as well as some new tunes like “Going Nowhere” and “Be The Same.” Aqueous was followed by Billy Strings, a hot new act on the bluegrass scene that mixes a classic bluegrass sound with psychedelic rock and improvisation. Strings and Co. (Jarrod Walker, Billy Winning, and Royal Masat) kicked off the set with “Dust in a Baggie,” a tale of spending the next years of your life in prison for some dust in a baggie. The group performed extended versions of “All Fall Down” and “Meet Me at the Creek,” showing off a bit of their jamming chops to Peach’s jam friendly crowd, and were met with warm reception, creating a lot of new fans by the end of their set.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong followed with their first set of the night, graduating from one main stage set last year to two sets this year, one of them being of the late night variety. During Pigeons’ first set, the group stuck with mostly old school tunes, aside from the recently debuted “Water,” played for the first time at their festival Domefest. The group brought Billy Strings out for a heated version of “Burning up my Time” and sandwiched an inverted “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads in the middle of another aquatic song, “Poseidon.” Between Pigeons’ two sets, the String Cheese Incident performed their first of the three sets of the weekend. The group performed an impressive set, featuring a 30-minute segment of “Shine” > “Sirens” that had a mini jam on the theme from The Office before transitioning fully into “Sirens,” as well as an extended version of “45th of November,” a song keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth wrote with Grateful Dead collaborator and Jerry Garcia songwriter Robert Hunter. A highlight was Herbie Hancock’s classic “Chameleon” sandwiched in the middle of a tale of mushrooms and mystery, “Miss Brown’s Teahouse.” For Pigeons’ second set, the group mixed old and new with segments such as “Somethin’ For Ya” > “Distant Times” surrounded by “Upfunk” > “Drums” > “Upfunk” and “Horizon.” A dance driven version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” really got the crowd moving and during the set closing “Ocean Blows” the bliss was tangible in the air.
Friday was kicked off by Andy Franco & the U.N. on the Mushroom Stage, a much talked about set of the weekend and for good reason as the man himself was feeling good about his Peach set. Among his usual stage banter, he instructed the crowd to “skullf*ck the wave pool” as a seemingly inspirational message about grabbing hold of life. Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers performed on the Live for Live Music Stage, bringing their upbeat tunes and positive outlook on life to Montage Mountain’s smallest stage. While Cory Wong funked up the water park, Upstate was on the Live for Live Music Stage, sharing their beautiful vocal harmonies and Americana tales with the patrons of Peach. Despite the 90+ degree weather, the three lead singers of the band, Allison Olender, Mary Kenney, and Melanie Glenn, rocked powerful jumpsuits that displayed their badassery both as people and on the mics. The group’s set was a mix of new and old, including “No Slack” off the group’s first record A Remedy.
Blues Traveler performed on the Peach Stage before moe., continuing the show set up of the groups’ co-headlining All Roads Runaround tour that’s happening right now. The group performed their usual hits “Run-Around” and “Hook,” while pulling out an interesting Radiohead cover, “Creep,” followed by “Accelerated Nation” (written about PA’s own I-81) and a version of “But Anyway,” before bringing out Chuck Garvey of moe. for a song. moe. opened their set strong with “Seat of my Pants,” a song that quite literally flies by the seat of its pants in how quickly it jumps from section to section and genre to genre. Following SOMP came “Sensory Deprivation Bank” with a no huddle segue into “Along for the Ride.” “Bearsong” came next, giving the moe.rons in the crowd flashbacks to the Saranac bears flying through the air during this song at past Saranac Brewery runs. “Bearsong” drop segued into “LL3,” a recently penned Rob Derhak tune about the train he’d take to his chemotherapy treatments. Later on in the set, the group performed an emotionally hefty “Kyle’s Song” > “Silver Sun” segment that was the highlight of the set jam-wise. Both songs took time to breathe, especially “Silver Sun” which always lends itself to notable jams.
Over on the Mushroom Stage, Dopapod returned to Peach for their third show since ending their hiatus this past April. The group has played Peach Fest numerous times over the years, including a special Dopapod Orchestra performance in 2017 that featured the Turkuaz horns and Kung Fu’s Adrian Tramontano on percussion. Highlights of their set include a water park-shaking rendition of “Freight Train,” the debut of bassist Chuck Jones’ party anthem “23 Forever,” which had to be restarted due to some sound issues, a segment of “Turnin’ Knobs” > “8 Years Ended” that took the crowd on an interesting journey, and a set ending “FABA” that was the ending note for the group’s sunset performance. BIG Something took the Mushroom Stage next, opening their set with the appropriate “Waves,” and playing a few other water-related tunes throughout the set, including the funky, electronic “Megalodon” and “The Flood.” Following a hefty “Song For Us” > “Tumbleweed,” the group debuted a new tune called “Dangerous” which was a heavy, riff and synth driven ride. Towards the end of the set, the band brought Andy Frasco out to conduct them in a version of their tune “My Volcano” that ended up being the longest jam of the set.
Over on the Peach Stage, the String Cheese Incident performed a full two-set show with the second set being the highlight of the night for most fans. During the group’s first set, they brought out the Infamous Stringdusters’ Andy Hall on dobro for “My One and Only” and “Lonesome Fiddle Blues,” and guitarist Scott Sharrard of the Gregg Allman Band for “Outside and Inside” > “Southbound,” with both sit-ins blowing the crowd out of their seats. The second set didn’t feature any sit-ins, but “Song in my Head” > “Beautiful” and “Let’s Go Outside” > “Land’s End” > “Glory Chords” > “Southbound” were both segments that left fans with their jaws on the floor. Closing out the Peach Stage was Lotus in the late night slot. Lotus got a two hour set and kept the crowd moving in the night with their groovy tunes and dance-focused improv. Highlights of the set included “Wooly Mammoth,” “MacGuffin” featuring Eli Winderman of Dopapod and Octave Cat, “Bellwether” > “Spaghetti” > “Bellwether,” and the set closing “Umbilical Moonrise.” Of all the late night sets, Lotus was one of the most fun and people bounced between the pavilion and the Live for Live Music Stage where the Magic Beans were playing their late night. The Beans threw a real party, playing to a decently sized crowd, most likely gained after their two-set late night party last year. The entire set was pretty good, with the highlights being a cover of Sturgill Simpson’s “Long White Line” and a set closing “Mission” > “Here On Out.”
Star Kitchen kicked off Saturday on the Peach Stage, bringing out guitarist Jeremy Schon of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong to make the set extra funky. This was the group’s first time playing the Peach Music Festival and they were well received by the crowd as their funk stylings got everyone up and moving for the start of the day. Over on the Mushroom Stage, Ghost Light returned to the Peach for their second year, as guitarist Raina Mullen celebrated her 26th birthday. The group opened the set with Mullen’s own anthem “Diamond Eyes,” before masterfully working their way into “Streets of Brooklyn” and “Synth Driver.” The highlight of the set was the closing segment of “Old Fashioned” > Radiohead’s “Black Star” > “Simple Gift Of Man” > the ending of “Best Kept Secret,” in which guitarist Tom Hamilton took the lead and broke into his signature effects-driven guitar scratching. Lettuce took the Peach Stage for a mid afternoon set, opening with the jazzy “Larimar” before jumping into the soulful “Krewe.” The whole pavilion was up and moving for the entire set, as the beats coming from bassist Jesus Coomes and drummer Adam Deitch were too good not to dance to. The set also featured an especially stellar version of “Phyllis,” a hip hop-infused cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule The World,” and a tight rendition of “Purple Cabbage.”
Goose debuted at the festival on the Live for Live Music Stage, having been heavily requested by fans during the festival’s survey after last year. The band had a lot of hype following their name the entire weekend, with many attendees sporting Goose merch and moustaches. Goose opened the set with “Madhuvan” and took it off to the races, before playing two recently released singles “Time to Flee” and a slow version of “All I Need.” The set included the band’s versions of “Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo” by the Grateful Dead and “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby. They closed the set with “Hot Tea” and had the whole L4LM Stage area packed to the brim, which is a rare thing to see at Peach. Greensky Bluegrass performed on the Peach Stage before the big act of the night, Trey Anastasio Band, paying tribute to the Allman Brothers with a cover of “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” as well as some standards including “Living Over,” “Leap Year,” and “Demons.”
Trey Anastasio Band took the stage for a full two sets of music following Greensky, pulling from all aspects of Trey’s musical career as TAB sets usually do. The group opened with “Set Your Soul Free,” part of a suite of songs that have to do with the guitarist’s “Soul Planet” concept. Following SYSF came some Trey classics, “Alive Again,” “Cayman Review” and “Money, Love and Change.” The group also played numerous Phish songs that have been part of the TAB repertoire for a while, including “Gotta Jibboo,” “Sand,” and “First Tube,” which were all jammed out in their usual fashion. Second set highlights include “Mozambique,” “Rise/Come Together,” and “A Life Beyond a Dream.”
During Trey’s second set, Chicago progressive rock band Mungion took the Live for Live Music Stage for their second ever Peach set, gathering a pretty good sized crowd for playing at the same time as Trey. The group opened their set with the always odd “Myrtle,” letting the song breathe and expand as they explored the jam section. Mungion brought a handful of new tunes with them including a new character, “Fludias Wozalenbill,” as well as “Better Half” and “Hideaway,” where they brought out Dopapod guitarist Rob Compa for the tune which led to he and guitarist Justin Reckamp having a prodigious guitar battle. The group closed the set with the anthemic and jazzy “Beneath the Shallows,” a fan-favorite composition from the group’s first record Scary Blankets.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead closed out the night on the Peach Stage, featuring two drummers that weren’t Joe Russo, as the namesake of the band had just had a baby with his wife a few days prior. (Congrats Joe!) In his place were his drum tech, 19 year old Evan Roque, and Ben Porowsky, who is in BOYFRIENDS with Russo. The pair did an impressive job taking on Russo’s difficult role while also paying homage to the Dead’s two drummer setup. The setlist was filled to the brim with Dead classics, opening with the disco-infused “Shakedown Street,” before taking the crowd out west for a rowdy “Me and My Uncle” and “Eyes of the World.” Guitarist Tom Hamilton led the group in an emotional take on “Althea” before breaking into the madness of “Drums” > “The Other One” > “Viola Lee Blues,” which was the highlight of the set. JRAD closed out the show with an “I Know You Rider,” sans “China Cat,” and encored with the classic singalong “Not Fade Away.”
Sunday’s music mainly took place on the Peach Stage, with a lineup of heavy hitters of both veteran and new acts. The inaugural Guitar Pull set was among the many highlights of the day, bringing together some of the jam scene’s favorite guitar players together for a set of mind blowing guitar mashups. From a relaxed version of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” led by Steve Kimock and joined by Rob Compa, to Umphrey’s McGee’s “Booth Love” led by Jake Cinninger and joined by Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, to Stanley Jordan leading an inspiring cover of Hendrix’s “Red House,” this set satisfied the guitar nerds in the audience with matchups they could never dream of. Marcus King Band followed the Guitar Pull, bringing their new age blues sound fueled by the guitar stylings of the 25 year old prodigy. King’s set was soulful, performing songs straight from his heart including emotional versions of “Goodbye Carolina” and “8 a.m.” off of the group’s recent release Carolina Confessions, as well as songs showcasing the group’s signature gritty blues, including “Fraudulent Waffle,” “Plant Your Corn Early,” and “What’s Right.”
Following King came a duo acoustic set from music legends Warren Haynes and Grace Potter. The set was comprised of mostly covers, aside from a few originals by each artist, including Haynes’ “Is It Me or You” and Gov’t Mule’s “Captured” and Potter’s “Stars” and “Shout it Out,” a new song performed for the first time at this duo set. Surrounding the duo’s original music included Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman,” Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and Joan Baez’s “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” all performed with the entirety of each artist’s heart and soul fully invested into the music. Phil Lesh & Friends closed out the main stage with two sets, the roster included Elliot Peck on vocals, Holly Bowling on keys, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, and Grahame Lesh on guitar, and John Molo on drums. The sets featured many classic Grateful Dead songs and a handful of covers led by various members of the band, including a Lesh-led “Broken Arrow,” and “Sunshine of Your Love” and “All Along the Watchtower” led by Haynes. The group performed stellar versions of Dead classics, especially “Bird Song,” “St. Stephen” and “Morning Dew.” The first set got cut slightly short due to inclement weather on the mountain, but the band and crowd powered through it and Grahame Lesh led the group in “Playing in the Band” to open the second set.
Check out the photo gallery below for a look into what the Peach Music Festival was like this year. This weekend was full of great music and rarely ever had a lull in things to do. Spirits were high and the weather was great until the yearly rain on Sunday night. Peach is an event not to miss, so make it a point to go next year! Check back with NYSMusic for future coverage of the Peach.
This upcoming weekend, from Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 9, the 9th annual Disc Jam Music Festival will once again take place at Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown, NY. The festival is a melting pot of art, music, and disc golf, cooking up relaxed vibes and nonstop good music until 3 in the morning every day. Disc Jam’s dual main stage setup makes catching the next set as easy as can be, only having to shift a couple feet left or right to move to the next stage.
Thursday’s music kicks off on the Tent Stage with Space Junk is Forever, a jazz fusion duo out of Boston, MA that recently formed and recorded their debut album. The Tent Stage has sets going on all day, every day for the whole weekend. Other notable bands on Thursday to check out are Eggy, Of Clocks and Clouds, and Circles Around the Sun’s late night set. On the dual main stages, Dopapod bassist Chuck Jones and drummer Neal Evans’ side project Mom and Dad kicks off the action on Main Stage A (Live For Live Music Stage), followed by Litz and two sets of Aqueous. Main Stage B (Grassroots Stage) features the Connecticut-based group One Time Weekend, Horizon Wireless, Dynohunter, and the musical lovechild of Primus and Nine Inch Nails, lespecial.
Friday’s music starts a little earlier, with Wurliday and Funk Dawgz Brass Band opening up the Main Stages B and A, respectively. Following Wurliday, old school prog rockers The Breakfast will be melting faces, before West End Blend feeds everyone’s souls with the sweet, soothing voice of Erica T. Bryan and the no nonsense funk band behind her. The live electronic band Sunsquabi brings their 3-piece grooves to Stage B, with Ripe closing the stage out with an hour and a half long set. Over on Stage A, The Elovaters follows the Funky Dawgz; the Boston-based group will be bringing laid back vibes to the fest with their reggae sound and fresh new tunes from their recent release Defy Gravity. lespecial plays their second set of the weekend after the Elovaters, followed by saxophone duo Moon Hooch, and closed out by the recently returned prog rockers Dopapod, for their second performance of the year. On the tent stage, performances to keep an eye on are Muscle Tough, Formula 5 for one of their last ever performances, Catullus, and Consider the Source.
Saturday’s lineup kicks off with Audiodacity on the Main Stage B, followed by Paris Monster and Sam Kinninger Band. Root Shock opens up the Main Stage A, followed by Tweed, with Kung Fu chopping up funk grooves for an hour and a half after that. The four big performances on Saturday are Ghost Light, Papadosio, John K’s West Philly Fadeaway, and Lotus ft. Jon “Barber” Gutwillig. Ghost Light is Philly legend Tom Hamilton’s new project, featuring keyboardist Holly Bowling, drummer Scotty Zwang, guitarist Raina Mullen, and recent addition, bassist Dan Africano. The band blends indie-esque songwriting with intricate, weaving setlists and gets deep into improv during their live shows. Papadosio is a jamtronica band from Asheville, NC that uses a lot of electronic aspects in their music. Their shows seem to put out a very strong vibe, through the combination of the music and lights, of just being present in the moment, and experiencing the music as it happens.
John K’s West Philly Fadeaway hasn’t happened before, so there’s not much that can be said about it, other than the fact that it’s the OG Disco Biscuits with John K playing Dead tunes, which should be incredible. Then, finally, closing out the main sets of the night, is Lotus w/ Barber. Fans didn’t and still don’t know what to expect when this was announced, but from what bassist Jesse Miller has said, expect songs where the guitar is relatively clean so they can experiment with the effects. It should also be noted that Barber has played a number of shows with drummer Mike Greenfield and has stated that he’s a fan of Greenfield’s technique and textures, so there’s already a musical bond formed with arguably the most important part of the music. The Tent Stage on Saturday is chock full of awesome bands, though you’re gonna want to check out Timbre Coup, returning to the stage for the second time this year, Strange Machines, Space Bacon, and Chachuba, as well as the Doom Flamingo and CIA & Friends late night sets which will presumably feature some of drummer Allen Aucoin’s Disco Biscuits counterparts.
Sunday is a little lighter than the two days preceding it, with music ending at 8 p.m. instead of 3 a.m. Boston’s Dewpoint opens up Main Stage A, followed by Cape Cod jams rockers The New Motif, and Snarky Puppy side project Ghost Note, featuring MonoNeon and Nate Werth. Closing out Stage A is Pink Talking Fish, a cover act blending Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish together, who also recently gained a new guitarist, Cal Kehoe. Over on Stage B, Eastbound Jesus will open up the stage, followed by Disco Biscuits drummer Allen Aucoin’s solo project Dr. Fameus. Closing the B Stage out is Star Kitchen, Disco Biscuit bassist Marc Brownstein’s new funk side project that features guitarist Danny Meyer. The Tent Stage lineup for Sunday is all heavy hitters, with Baltimore’s Band Of Tomorrow, Upstate NY’s Space Carnival for their first show back since the hiatus, Brooklyn’s Escaper, and the Capital Region’s hard rockers Wild Adriatic all prominently featured. It would be worth it to check all of those bands out.
For the attendees that purchased a VIP ticket, the VIP lounge will be hosting several special solo piano sets, including Ben Carrey of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits, Jonathan Grusauskas of lespecial, and Ryan Dempsey of Twiddle. VIP ticket holders will also receive an exclusive merch package that includes pins, cups, prints and shirts, access to a complimentary craft beer garden, and access to a VIP camping area that includes bathrooms and showers.
For any FAQs or tickets, head over to the festival website. Check in with NYSMusic on Instagram durign the weekend for updates from the festival, and stay tuned next week for full coverage and a photo gallery from the weekend!
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong threw their 10th annual Domefest this year at its new location, Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, WV. Previously held in Bedford, PA, the fest moved to the new site to allow for an expansion in size and attendees. As people arrived Thursday afternoon, they knew they were in for a treat as Marvin’s scenic wide open views showcased West Virginia’s natural beauty.
Thursday kicked off with Chalk Dinosaur on the main stage, a fun, dancey, electronic group that provided an entertaining start to the music. Following the prehistoric groovers came Cycles, a jammy power rock trio from Denver, CO that knows how to explore new territory and shred the audience’s faces off in the same jam. Cycles crushed their set, gaining new fans and satisfying returning fans alike. Next came another Colorado group, The Magic Beans, who seem to be a favorite among Pigeons’ crowd, and for good reason, performing their first set of the weekend. The highlight of the Beans’ set was by far the segment of “Mission” segued into “Dr. Bubbleman,” featuring some exemplary type 2 jamming that was backed up by lighting designer Tim Farquhuar’s impressive work.
Closing out the main “Gallery Society” stage, came Pigeons Playing Ping Pong for their first set of the weekend. Thursday’s theme was “Domecoming Weekend,” so the band was dressed in matching sparkly gold jackets and snazzy white pants. The group played a number of their biggest songs including “Melting Lights,” “Scwanthem,” and “Something for Ya,” and debuted a cover of Metallica’s legendary “Enter Sandman,” led by drummer Alex Petropulos on vocals. For an encore, the band wished guitarist Jeremy Schon a happy birthday and performed their song “Su Casa” with John Denver’s “Country Roads” sandwiched in the middle of the tune, an homage to the festival’s new home in West Virginia.
In between all of these sets, Asheville-based funk band The Fritz performed tweener sets at the festival’s smaller stage, the “Bamboo Eater” stage, which was immediately to the right of the main stage, making it extremely easy for attendees to move between both. The Fritz absolutely killed it during all of the sets, bringing fun and funky covers of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” (dedicated to Ben Carrey from Pigeons) and Michael Jackson’s dance hit “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” to the ears of the ‘domies’ that stuck around for their sets. These guys are definitely a band to keep an eye on, every member just exudes talent and creativity, and frontman Jamar Woods has dance moves that are just as impressive as his keyboard skills.
There was a bit of rain from Thursday into Friday, but that didn’t break the domies’ spirits, as more and more people started embracing the mud and walking around barefoot. Friday was opened up by Mateo Monk (or White Wolf) on the main stage, performing a really spiritual solo looping set that ended with a song that repeated the line “music is my prayer.” Following Mateo came Deaf Scene, a heavy post rock band that seemed out of place at the festival, but absolutely crushed their set and had members of the Flock on the rail head banging by the end of their set. Bassist Eric Courtney performed the entire set in his boxers, and remained in that state for a good chunk of the day. West End Blend came next, an 8-piece funk band from Connecticut that bares a resemblance to Turkuaz. Lead singer and de facto front woman Erica T. Bryan soothed the souls of the crowd with her spectacular voice, backed up by a tight, get-shit-done rhythm section and horns.
Chicago prog rockers Mungion followed soon after, bringing the heat with spectacular versions of their songs “Quemaste tu Cabello,” “Nuthead,” and “Beneath the Shallows,” as well as a jammed out “Myrtle” that featured Aqueous’ Mike Gantzer on guitar. The group also performed Led Zeppelin’s “Fool in the Rain” with their original song “Return to Sender” sandwiched in the middle of it. Mungion’s first set of the weekend was fantastic and got the crowd rowdy and ready for Aqueous, the Buffalo-based groove rock band that has been steadily gaining popularity across the country over the past few years. The group opened their set with fan-favorite “Origami,” debuted a new song called “Be The Same,” which featured drummer Rob Houk on supporting vocals, and brought out West End Blend’s horn section for a performance of the album version of “Weight of the Word.” The set also contained a bustout of Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” featuring Justin Reckamp of Mungion on guitar and Michael Bafundo of West End Blend on trumpet, which made the crowd go wild and had nearly everyone singing along.
Closing out the main stage per usual was Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, this time with two sets and following the theme of “Magic Kingdome.” The band was dressed in matching Mickey Mouse outfits of red pants, suspenders and black t-shirts. Both sets were jam-packed with Disney tunes, from Pocahontas’ “Colors of the Wind,” Lion King’s “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King,” and a medley of tunes from The Jungle Book, including the classic “Bear Necessities.” The group also encored with an original debut of a song called “Water,” adding to an ongoing list of songs that frontman Greg Ormont has written about cups. Highlights of the sets include the back half of the first set, which featured the West End Blend horns, the “Henrietta” second set opener, and the sandwich of “Poseidon” > “A Whole New World” > “Magic Carpet Ride” > “Abracadabra” > “Poseidon.”
Friday’s “Bamboo Eater” stage lineup featured the Dirty Grass Players, who showcased an impressive version of “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad,” a number famously covered by the Grateful Dead; Schwa, Pigeons bassist Ben Carrey’s electronic side project that featured live bass and guitar as well as looping jams; and Fletcher’s Grove, the only band from West Virginia on the lineup, who brought their Appalachian rock sound and turned a few heads with their cover of “Shakedown Street” before Aqueous’ set. The real treat of the smaller stage was the Magic Beans’ second set of the weekend, a late night set that was originally only supposed to last until 3:30, but due to a lightning-induced set break, lasted until 5 in the morning instead. The group performed a 2-part “Lazer Lady” (only because of the lightning) as well as stellar versions of a bunch of Casino Cabaret tunes, including “Here On Out,” “Hanky Panky,” and “Mr. Scientist.”
Saturday’s weather was sunny and hot, not harboring a single drop of rain the entire day and officially cementing the best weather in Domefest history. Virginia’s Kendall Street Company opened the main stage, offering a mix of folksy rock tunes, acoustic driven ballads, and a portion of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” Swimmer took the stage next, with the Burlington jam quartet landing their spaceship of funky electronic jams right smack in the middle of Marvin’s muddy, hay-covered concert bowl. The group then made way for Funk You, a progressive funk band from Georgia that’s led by soulful singer and frontman Gavin Hamilton who laid down melodies that made some people stop in their tracks and turn to the stage. Funk You was a really fun act to watch and listen to, staying true to the “progressive funk” genre they classify themselves as with driving, intricate funk grooves. Next up were Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, a band of musicians so in touch with their third eye that it made audience members want to give up everything and start following the rainbow. The Rainbow Seekers had one of the most entertaining stage presences, with members dancing around the stage while playing each song, bright colored outfits, a giant inflatable rainbow, and visibly having a good time being on stage together playing music. These guys are definitely a band to see live if you’ve never seen them before, their groovy, almost Motown-like sound, is sure to sooth whatever is ailing you.
Following Joe Hertler were Aqueous for their second headlining set of the weekend, a little earlier than their set the previous night which made perfect timing for the sun to set right as their music started. The group performed a slightly different set than usual, with the majority of the setlist broken up into 2 big segments of “Strange Times” > “Marty” > “Timmy’s Blades” > “Say It Again” and “Split the Difference” > “Rocko’s Modern Life Theme” > “Rugrats Theme” > “Random Company,” a truly career spanning setlist, as well as a reprisal of some covers from their Nickelodeon-themed Halloween show last October. Following those two segments, the group debuted a cover of “Walking on the Moon” by Empire of the Sun that featured drummer Rob Houk on lead vocals, which doesn’t happen very often. Houk crushed his vocals and was praised by the crowd with cheers of “Let Rob sing!” which fans have been asking for since the last time Houk led a cover. The group closed their set with their classic “Dave’s Song,” which featured a tease of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” before playing the rare ending of “Dave’s” and closing out the set.
Pigeons came next, performing their last two sets of the weekend. Saturday’s theme was “Dome for the Holidays,” so the band was adorned in various holiday-themed outfits, including Ormont who wore a Hanukkah sweater and giant hat that said “Mazel Tov” across it. Both sets featured holiday songs of course, including the classic Bar Mitzvah song “Hava Nagila” and a mashup of the “Dreidel” song and “Jingle Bells,” as well as a show-closing “Auld Lang Syne.” Surrounding these covers were some stellar segments of “Julia” > “Beanstalk” > “Julia,” “Lightning” > “Moonwalk” > “E-Funk”, and “Zydeko” > “Sir Real” > “Dreidel Bells” > “Zydeko,” showcasing the group’s affinity and proclivity for long segued segments. Closing out the mainstage for the weekend was the much anticipated “Domefest All-Stars” set, featuring musicians from Aqueous, Mungion, Goose, Puremotion, Pigeons, Litz, and Funk You among others. The set mainly consisted of standards like Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” from his infamous synth funk Headhunters album, and a version of The Meters’ “Cissy Strut” that featured Justin Reckamp, Sean Carolan, and Matt Kellen of Mungion, Peter Anspach from Goose, Mike Gantzer from Aqueous, Jeremy Schon from Pigeons and the Funk You horns. The set also featured performances of classic songs such as the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes of the World,” featuring all of the Pigeons besides Petropulos as well as Litz’ own Austin Litz on keys and Aqueous’ Rob Houk on drums, and Prince’s party anthem “1999” with Ormont trading verses a la the original version with Funk You’s Gavin Hamilton (who breathed a whole new life into the song with his soulful voice) and their saxophone player. The All-Stars closed off around 6 in the morning, just as the sun and temperature started rising for the dawn of a new day.
Over on the “Bamboo Eater” stage, Connecticut-based folk rock band Goose performed 3 tweener sets and absolutely lit the small stage on fire. Opening their first set with The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping Paper” to fit the “Dome for the Holidays” theme, the group performed exemplary versions of “Time to Flee,” “Tumble,” “Jive Lee,” “Yeti,” and “Hot Tea,” as well as unique takes on The Who’s “Eminence Front” and the Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless.” Goose had the crowd moving and grooving during all 3 of their sets and definitely gained a lot of new fans throughout; check these guys out if you haven’t yet. The last band on the side stage was Mungion, back for their second set of the weekend. The group opened with a heavy hitting “Chatterbox” > “SteveO’s Waffle” > “Justice” by Jimmy Herring, followed by a version of “Herbert” that blew the minds of everyone in the audience with its complex composition and exploratory prog jam. The band closed out their set with a mashup of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and Primus’ “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” that worked so well it was almost like the original artists planned it.
The tenth annual Domefest was a shining example of what small festivals should be. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong know what their audience wants and they delivered beyond expectations. Hopefully the fest will return to Marvin’s Mountaintop next year, as the grounds provided the perfect setting for Domefest’s family vibes and tight-knit feeling. All of the bands that performed did so with energy and purpose and were met by love and respect from the Flock, which is a beautiful thing to experience at festivals. If you missed this year’s Dome, make it a point to make it out next year. You won’t regret it.
Check out our photographer Matt Shotwell’s photo gallery below for a look into how beautiful of an experience Dome really was.
We’ve made it to Round 3 of NYS Music’s March Madness, a Sweet 16 of artists who call New York home or got their start in the Empire State. We have 16 incredible artists and some tough matchups coming up.
There’s B.O.C. vs D.M.C., Jigga vs Aqueous in a battle of Bed-Stuy and Buffalo, Joan Baez (who narrowly beat out KISS by one vote) taking on Beastie Boys, and two of the biggest names to come out of New York, Neil Diamond vs Lou Reed.
Voting for the Sweet 16 is open until midnight on Wednesday, March 27. You can also vote on each bracket on Twitter, and we will combine all votes together ahead of the Elite 8, which starts on Thursday, March 28 at Noon.
It’s that time of year again – sure there are a few dozen basketball games happening over the next few weeks, but its also time for the 2019 NYS Music’s version of March Madness! In the past, we have looked at up and coming bands from around the state, for a friendly competition that introduces these rising artists to the NYS Music audience.
This year, we look to the past and present for our field of 64 famous New York musicians and artists from all corners of the Empire State. Frank Sinatra, Jay-Z, Paul Simon, Arlo Guthrie, Cab Calloway, Billy Joel, KISS, Anthrax, Neil Diamond and Lou Reed are all included, as well as more recent artists breaking through such as Sean Rowe and Aqueous.
Voting for Round 2 is open until midnight on Sunday, March 24. You can also vote on each bracket on Twitter, and we will combine all votes together ahead of Round 3, which starts on Monday, March 25 at Noon.
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
It’s that time of year again – sure there are a few dozen basketball games happening over the next few weeks, but its also time for NYS Music’s version of March Madness! In the past, we have looked at up and coming bands from around the state, for a friendly competition that introduces these rising artists to the NYS Music audience.
This year, we look to the past and present for our field of 64 famous New York musicians and artists from all corners of the Empire State. Frank Sinatra, Jay-Z, Paul Simon, Arlo Guthrie, Cab Calloway, Billy Joel, KISS, Anthrax, Neil Diamond and Lou Reed are all included, as well as more recent artists breaking through such as Sean Rowe and Aqueous.
This year’s field is also a great way to learn about some artists who hail from NY that you might not have known about. Yes, Lana Del Rey is from Lake Placid, Anthrax was formed in Queens, Rick James and Goo Goo Dolls call the Queen City of Buffalo home, Ra Ra Riot are Syracuse University graduates, and State Champs calls the Capital District home.
Voting for Round 1 is open until midnight on Wednesday, March 20. You can also vote on each bracket on Twitter, and we will combine all votes together ahead of Round 2, which starts on Thursday, March 21 at Noon.
Night two of the five night Colorado run took place at a hip little venue in Avon, located in the Vail Valley. Agave, a traditional Mexican restaurant by day – live music venue by night, hosted Aqueous and BIG Something for an intimate show. The welcoming vibe continued with a crowd of Colorado residents and again, familiar faces from back East. Agave filled up while the band completed soundcheck; the excitement from fans was palpable. Situated on a cozy corner stage, Buffalo’s groove-rockers were ready to get the crowd moving.
Holding true to their “cant stop, won’t stop” mantra, it was only fitting that the set opener was “Strange Times,” from the 2012 album Willy is 40, which segued beautifully into a highly anticipated “The Median.” Next up was an exceptionally fun bust-out of the Gary Numan song “Cars,” played only one other time 467 shows ago on 7/28/14. The set concluded with a soaring, extended “Kitty Chaser (Explosions).”
After the set concluded and Aqueous load out was complete, the opportunity arose to sit with Evan McPhaden (Bass/Synth) for a conversation about touring, songwriting and his roots as a musician. The exchange started, Evan spoke about how it felt to be back in Colorado and being on tour with North Carolina’s BIG Something. Very happy to be back in CO, Evan said he’s been excited to be playing new venues and sharing the tour with BIG Something. Stating that a perk of a co-headlining tour allows time to enjoy the show as well as perform. Delving a bit into his involvement in the creative side of things, it was uncovered that Evan contributes heavily to the songwriting process. On Color Wheel, he wrote “Weight of the Word,” the music for “Split The Difference” and “Mandela Effect,” which was a NYS Staff voted Best Album of 2018. When asked about McPhaden’s hand in songwriting, he humbly downplayed his efforts even though he is known as a gifted writer and composer.
Evan began playing music at a young age. Encouraged by his father, whom played bass, Evan picked up the guitar to join in on jams with his dad. He gave it his all, but one day he picked up a bass guitar and he said it just “felt right.” As far as bass-lines go, McPhaden pulls out some low end grooves that provide the heartbeat for both melodies and jams that Aqueous is known for. Giving credit to his rhythmic partner-in-crime Rob Houk, Evan explained that since Rob joined the band he feels much more confidence and flow when performing, and this is certainly apparent on Color Wheel.
The conversation with Evan concluded with some real love for the AQuantainces. Evan shared his appreciation and respect for their fans, stating that watching a fan sing “every single word to every single song” was incredibly moving. Looking forward to the next stop on the tour, the band prepares for more travel through the mountains and more adventures at new venues. Next stop, Winter Park at Ullrs Tavern. These shows will be available on Nugs.net for streaming with a subscription. Full set list for the Agave set can be found below. Tour dates for the Aqueous/BIG Something tour can be found here.
February 14, 2019 Agave, Avon, CO
Set one:Strange Times > The Median, Say it Again > Cars1 > Kitty Chaser (Explosions)
Animas City Theater in Durango, CO, a venue nestled in La Plata County, is where Buffalo’s Aqueous kicked off their five night Colorado run. Co-headlining a 20-date tour with BIG Something, Aqueous has once again proven that they are a fundamental force in the Colorado music scene. The 270 capacity venue filled up quickly with Colorado residents and familiar faces, that made the trek from the East Coast in support of their favorite band.
Aqueous opened the Durango set with “Second Sight,” a fan-favorite from the Element Pt. I (Live 2017) album. Next the band broke out “Mosquito Valley Pt. 1,” right into a high energy “Numbers and Facts.” Aqueous then reached into their cover song archive and busted out The Band’s “Ophelia,” last time played 92 shows ago on 12/9/17. The set ended with some of the most loved songs in their catalog, “Don’t Do It,” “Weight of the Word” and “Uncle Phil’s Parachute.”
After the show I had the opportunity to chat with David Loss (Guitar/Keys/Vocals), discussing the Aqueous fan-base, band-mates, growth and gratitude. Excited to be back in Colorado, Loss expressed sincere appreciation for the support the band receives from their Colorado based fans. Aqueous is cultivating a steadfast group of supporters across the nation, noted for their familial vibe. Upon my mention of the loyal fan-base otherwise known as AQuaintances, Dave lit up and stated, “I love them, they really are the best.”
Dave Loss is gaining notoriety as one of the most skilled, actively touring guitarists in the industry. Technical and composed, Dave’s guitar tone is unmistakable, evoking sentiments that keep the crowds returning show after show. Recently sponsored by PRS Guitars, Loss and his guitar-wielding counterpart, Mike Gantzer, have an undeniable bond on stage and often come together as one. Balanced, intense and emotive, the partnership of Loss and Gantzer brings about a show experience that has catapulted Aqueous to the front lines in their genre. When discussing what it’s like playing with Gantzer, Dave explained that the two are growing and maturing their sound with every show and that he really loves the non-competitiveness of their musical relationship.
While Aqueous has often acknowledged the influence of jam-veterans moe., both musically, personally and in a business sense, Dave Loss talked with me a bit about some of his other favorite music to listen to. Radiohead takes one of the top spots in his mind and the extreme differences in artistic styling from album to album is what he enjoys most about the band.
At the conclusion of our chat, Dave again reiterated how lucky he feels to be a part of this band, having the incredible crew, the loyal fan-base and the brotherly bond with his band mates. The future is bright for Aqueous and they are certainly poised for incredible success.
The Colorado run rolls on tonight with a Valentine’s Day show at Agave in the town of Avon. The shows will be uploaded for streaming on Nugs.net with a subscription. Tour dates for the rest of the Aqueous & BIG Something tour can be found here.
Official Setlist– Animas City Theater- Durango, CO 2/13/19
Second Sight, Mosquito Valley One>Numbers and Facts, Ophelia* >Don’t Do It, Weight of the World, Uncle Phil’s Parachute
* The Band cover (last time played): 12/9/17 (92 shows)
After the set concluded and Aqueous load out was complete, the opportunity arose to sit with Evan McPhaden (Bass/Synth) for a conversation about touring, songwriting and his roots as a musician. The exchange started, Evan spoke about how it felt to be back in Colorado and being on tour with North Carolina’s BIG Something. Very happy to be back in CO, Evan said he’s been excited to be playing new venues and sharing the tour with BIG Something. Stating that a perk of a co-headlining tour allows time to enjoy the show as well as perform. Delving a bit into his involvement in the creative side of things, it was uncovered that Evan contributes heavily to the songwriting process. On 
