Tag: Palace Theatre

Best of NYS Music 2019: Best Music Towns

New York is a vast state with pockets of local scenes throughout. While a “scene” these days isn’t what it was in the ’80s or ’90s where bands of similar genres created scenes out of necessity, the music scenes of the 21st century are, more or less, regions where live music is simply a way of life. Some regions are even cross-pollinating. So while we aren’t seeing strictly area scenes, live music is no less prevalent around the state.

We polled our staff looking for the best music towns across the state and this year, our state’s capital came out on top. The Albany area’s diverse scene includes small venues such as Parish Public House, The Hollow Bar + Kitchen and The Low Beat, mid-size venues that include The Egg, Cohoes Music Hall and the Palace Theatre along with the storied Times Union Center.

The Times Union Center, then known as Knickerbocker Arena, was christened on January 30, 1990, by none other than Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Other big-name acts that have performed at Kickerbocker/Pepsi Arena/Times Union Center over the years include the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion and Phish.

The Palace Theatre opened in 1931 as a movie and vaudeville house and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. This not-for-profit building has also hosted the Stones and Springsteen and has been the New Year’s Eve home for moe. and Twiddle.

When it comes to smaller venues, Albany has plenty to choose from, attracting national and international acts that are on the rise. The Hollow Bar + Kitchen has served as host for numerous Capital District acts as well as up-and-coming national acts such as White Denim and Barns Courtney.

Add all these venues to the varied acts in the local scene and you have a diverse music community that draws from influences from all over.

Glass Pony, Wild Adriatic, Hartley’s Encore and Annie in the Water are spearheading the next wave of jambands not just in the Albany area but across the state and beyond. And while the term “jamband” may bring a certain style to mind, these bands are all unique in sound, all based in rock, but drawing from disparate influences.

Eddie Hotaling of Glass Pony

When you look at Albany’s music history, venues such as Valentine’s come to mind. moe., the Ominous Seapods, God Street Wine and others of the third wave of jambands got their feet wet in and around the Albany scene.

In the late ’70s, the comedic rock band Blotto burst onto the Albany scene. Comprised of members with names like Sergeant Blotto, Broadway Blotto, Lee Harvey Blotto, Bowtie Blotto and Cheese Blotto, the band received significant play on MTV’s airwaves with the UAlbany student-shot video for “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard.”

In later years Sarge Blotto (real name Greg Haymes) became a writer for the Albany Times Union and later went on to found the Capital District website Nippertown, which champions the Albany area music and arts scene. Haymes died on April 10 of this year, leaving a large hole in the Albany music scene.

December 30, 2019
Dark Star Orchestra perform at The Palace this weekend, announce lineup for Dark Star Jubilee

Dark Star Jubilee will feature host and headliner Dark Star Orchestra for six sets over May 22-24, 2020. Held in Thornville, OH, Dark Star Jubilee has evolved into a celebration of the music of the Grateful Dead, as well as a reunion of performers in the broader Grateful Dead scene.

Announced acts for the festival include Oteil & Friends, Galactic (featuring Anjelika Jelly Joseph), Zero (featuring Steve Kimock, Gregg Anton, Pete Sears and Melvin Seals), The Infamous Stringdusters, Jorma Kaukonen, Keller Williams, Marco Benevento, Jeff Mattson & Friends and Holly Bowling. Also performing are Rumpke Mountain Boys, Mystic Bowie’s Talking Dreads, Dino English & The Progfusionals and Katie Henry Band.

Dark Star Orchestra will close out 2019 with two nights at The Palace Theatre in Albany over December 28-29 and head to The Wellmont in Montclair, NJ for two final nights. More info and tickets can be found here.

December 27, 2019
Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule Dazzle Albany

Gov’t Mule and Warren Haynes made a stop on their Bring On The Music fall tour on September 19 with a performance at Albany’s Palace Theatre. The name of the tour is a play on the band’s new concert film and corresponding live album, Bring On The Music – Live From The Capitol Theatre, which came out in June on CD, vinyl, DVD, and BluRay.

To see the Southern rock jam band Gov’t Mule live at this beautiful and historic Albany landmark was an amazing experience. The lighting was nothing short of perfection, which added greatly to the experience.

Photo by Stephanie J Bartik

Gov’t Mule is comprised of guitarist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis, and bassist Jorgen Carlsson. Haynes took the stage and commanded the crowd’s attention with his soulful vocals and guitar chops while wowing the eager fans with the first song, “Traveling Tune.” His talent is known throughout the music world and he is the inspiration of many guitar players. He was the guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band and put together Gov’t Mule with the late Allen Woody (bass) in 1994 as a side project.

There is a connection between Haynes and bass player Carlsson and Abts on drums that can be easily observed. Each band member became completely immersed in not just their individual instruments, but the songs themselves. With Haynes’ soulful voice and virtuosic solos with expansive guitar tones, Carlsson’s expert bass playing, Abts locking it in with insane drumming, and Danny Louis dazzling the crowd on keys, each tune was performed to perfection

Jorgen Carlsson on bass

With rock at its core, Gov’t Mule integrated a full range of musical styles including blues, jazz, soul and some funky rhythms. No one left the room disappointed. If given the chance to see this band first hand, you owe it to yourself to do so.

Check out the Gov’t Mules website for a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates, ticketing, and more information.

Set One: Traveling Tune (part 1), Mule, Pressure Under Fire, Time To Confess, Lay Your Burden Down, Inside Outside Woman Blues, Unring The Bell, Endless Parade, Revolution Come, Revolution Go

Set Two: Wandering Child, What is Hip?, (with Jerry Marotta, without Matt Abts), Freeway Jam, Child Of The Earth, Lively Up Yourself, Fool’s Moon, Thorazine Shuffle, Traveling Tune (part 2)

Encore: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

September 25, 2019
Lake Street Dive Plans Four New York Stops in October

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

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

Lake Street Dive Tour Dates

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

Oct. 4 – DCU Center – Worcester, MA^

Oct. 5 – Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY^

Oct. 6 – The Palace Theatre – Albany, NY

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 18 – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY

Oct. 19 – Smith Opera House – Geneva, NY

^ in support of The Avett Brothers

September 20, 2019
Griz Reigns as King of Palace Theatre in Albany

The Palace Theatre in Albany, NY played host to Griz and his Ride the Waves tour on Wednesday, May 8.

Openers, Dwilly and Yung Bae opened the night and got the adrenaline pumping early. The front rows were packed with a high energy, young crowd and they were soon ready for one of Colorado’s best.

The lights dimmed, and the bass began to rumble. Griz emerged and began to throw out some incredible lyrics, not usual for past tours. The show continued to bring out surprises including two different singers and two artists on trombone and trumpet.

The energy, production, and bass lines, were all at full capacity all night. You can catch this energy yourself as Griz continues his tour west and is a headliner at many festivals this summer.

May 16, 2019
Albany welcomes Trey Anastasio and his newest project, Ghosts of the Forest, with open arms

In a 2003 interview, Jon Fishman said “Look, Trey shits music.” He would know, having played with Trey since 1983 and observed his obsessive song-writing habits. Fishman joined Trey for the first time in a side project, the brand new Ghosts of the Forest, which debuted this month in Portland, ME. When Trey spoke during the encore at The Palace Theatre in Albany on Tuesday, April 9, he said he hoped to play music for 50 more years, and given Trey’s workload – writing Kazvot Vaxt and Ghosts of the Forest nearly back to back – and his increasingly positive outlook on life, that task is not out of reach.

This is Trey who is the unofficial celebrity spokesman for Light (now, with MORE brightness!). He’s been dropping notes of light in songs for a decade now, and with Ghosts of the Forest, we may have hit a new peak with Trey’s profoundly personal and positive lyrics. Trey spoke about Albany as being his second home, and close to those he loves in Burlington and New York City, and how excited he was to bring this new project to the Palace and a sold out ‘hometown’ crowd.

With a band consisting of Fishman on the kit (sans muumuu, he looks like your neighbor who side-gigs as a session drummer), a healthy Ray Paczkowski behind the keyboards, and Jennifer Hartswick and Celisse Henderson who provided gospel hued vocals that not only backed up Trey, but added a sonic layer to the group’s psychedelic rock. Saratoga Springs’ Tony Markellis took up bass duties, as he has in every side project Trey has had since 8 Foot Fluorescent Tubes debuted in 1998 at Higher Ground. Energy in the room was palpable, as many eschewed listening to the recordings of shows from earlier this month for a first-look experience that is otherwise hard to come by. Even the album won’t be released until April 12, making this a nearly-virgin experience for the majority of fans in attendance.

The production design by Abigail Holmes, who worked on Stop Making Sense and The Wall among many other shows, created a playground for her to color, using LED screens behind thin tapestries affixed with folded white paper in sweeping patterns. The symphony of light accented the music and was choreographed to each song of the night. During “The Green Truth,” a rainbow LED projection of Trey floated behind the band across the stage, while a stratified nighttime rainforest sky filled the stage during “Mint Siren Dream,” bringing the audience to Pandora for a brief moment.

Ghosts of the Forest can be translated as deep memories in our mind, and throughout the songs, themes of loss, love and decade-long friendship were present. Trey lost close friend Chris “CCott” Cottrell to cancer recently, and the experience led to a number of the songs performed by Ghosts of the Forest. Trey spoke to Rolling Stone about playing acoustic guitar while CCott was in his final stages, and would play as he went in and out of consciousness. “Drift While You’re Sleeping” draws from that, while having a mid-1970s psychedelic rock feel – think Derek and the Dominoes with space built in for Trey to stretch.

“Beneath a Sea of Stars Parts 1 & 2” was a fun Beatles-esque rocker, with a third part to close the set. “Stumble into Flight” had direct hints of Phish – “Pigtail” meets “Cool Amber and Mercury” with a dash of Steely Dan mixed in. “Ruby Waves” jumped out as a late 70s Neil Diamond show-stopper on steroids. A highlight among the night was “A Light Beyond the Dream,” with lights cascading as if entering a stained glass window and beaming on the congregation, combined with encouraging lyrics of not giving up hope.

This is prophetic Trey: upbeat, happy, and encouraging, dad-like at times but not playing dad-rock. Ghosts of the Forest is a culmination of Trey’s last decade of writing. Trey said he wants to play for another 50 years. This is just the beginning.

Setlist via livemusicblog.com

Trey Anastasio – Ghosts of the Forest – Palace Theatre, Albany, NY – April 9, 2019

Setlist: Piano intro, Ghosts of the Forest, Drift While You’re Sleeping, Friend, Sightless Escape, Halfway Home, If Again, In Long Lines, There’s a Path Above, About to Run, The Green Truth, Beneath a Sea of Stars Parts 1 & 2, Mint Siren Dream, Stumble Into Flight, Ruby Waves, Shadows Thrown By Fire, Wider, A Light Beyond The Dream, In This Bubble, Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 3 (blue)

Encore: Brief Time, Pieces in the Machine

April 10, 2019
Hozier transforms Palace Theatre into Church Wasteland, Baby

Andrew Hozier-Byrne is having a great week. His sophomore album, Wasteland, Baby, hit #1 on the US Billboard charts. He played Good Morning America and the Colbert Show before selling out Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo and the Palace Theatre in Albany. And to top it off he’s getting ready to celebrate his 29th birthday on St. Patrick’s Day.

From the moment Hozier came out onto the Palace stage, the crowd was clapping, singing and swooned into a mesmerized trance, hanging onto every word that came from Andrew’s lips. Great lighting added to the drama of the night and the long awaited debut of Hozier to the Capital region was well worth the wait.

In November 2019, Hozier released a new song entitled “Jackboot Jump”, following live performances of it on tour. This song, besides being a direct reference to George Orwell’s 1984 alludes to social demonstrations in Hong Kong, Russia and in America.

Alluding to upcoming songs, Hozier also performed a new song whilst on tour entitled “But the Wages” that refers to temperatures rising as well as riots all around the world, while wages remain the same.

“I have a strong aversion to anyone in a scene-y way. In certain parts of the world where people are blowing smoke, I’ve an absolute allergy to it. I just f**king hate it. I have a strong aversion to people trying to ingratiate themselves. I don’t want to be ingratiated upon in any way, shape or form. Scenes are to be avoided, I think.”
from an interview with the Irish Times

Setlist: Would That I, Dinner & Diatribes, Nina Cried Power, Jackie and Wilson, Someone New, NFWMB, Wasteland, Baby!, Shrike, To Be Alone, Nobody, Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue), Almost (Sweet Music), Movement, Take Me to Church. Encore: Cherry Wine, Work Song

March 17, 2019
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead Deliver Emotional Return Performance to Palace Theatre
On a cold Friday night, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead returned to Albany’s Palace Theatre for its seemingly annual performance at the venue. The show sold out months in advance and the theatre filled quickly as Grateful Dead fans across the northeast flocked to New York’s capital for a tribute to their favorite live act.

To open up the first set, the group started into a jam that slowly but surely built itself into “Cassidy.” During the intro jam, guitarist Tom Hamilton made good use of his recently acquired De Pinto guitar, manipulating its onboard overdrive effect and an octave pedal, creating a sort of fuzzy overtone, and bassist Dave Dreiwitz took the helm for a bit before the group finally dropped into the main composition. The group jammed in and out of the verses and choruses of the song before leading it into a very spacey jam that employed the use of patience as the group started into the traditional tune “Jack a Roe.” Keyboardist Marco Benevento teased the theme to Pink Panther heavily during the intro jam, adding a mysterious vibe to the music as the group worked its way into the main composition. After weaving in and out of the lyrics of “Jack a Roe,” the group wasted no time transitioning into “Box of Rain,” dropping into the Phil Lesh staple with nearly the entire audience singing along with its somber lyrics. At some point amidst the segue from “Jack a Roe” into “Box of Rain,” Hamilton broke one of his guitar’s strings and was forced to change it mid-transition to “The Other One” which led to an interesting musical conversation between Benevento and guitarist Scott Metzger.

The intro to “The Other One” was super spacious and ambient and primal feeling, and once Hamilton gave the “all clear” on his string, the group worked as a unit to build up an interesting jazzy groove, keeping that groove going under the first verse before a breathtaking drop into the chorus. Following the chorus, the group got back into the jazzy insanity that was happening during the intro, until drummer Joe Russo quickly brought the groove into “Drums,” keeping the general feeling of “The Other One” going, but adding some really impressive polyrhythms over the top of it. “Drums” was short-lived as Russo signaled to Benevento to start playing, leading to a rare Benevento/Russo reunion in the middle of the jam. The duo did their thing and quickly brought the jam back into “The Other One,” bringing the band back in for a drop into another verse/chorus just as intense and astounding as the initial drop that began the song. “The Other One” ended fairly abruptly, and the group drop-segued into the Dead’s disco classic “Shakedown Street,” much to the approval of the crowd. This version of “Shakedown” had a swagger to it, with Russo putting a bit of a swing to the groove and the rest of the band putting a little more oomph into the funk aspect of the tune. The jam following leading out of Shakedown took all the energy the band had built up during first set and transformed it into one glorious peak led by the whole band to close out the set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eRqJlt00jU

To kick off the second set, the group started into Bob Weir’s “Black Throated Wind,” a slower tune that was somewhat of a rarity in the Dead’s concert repertoire for the better part of their career. The group played through the song’s many verses with a rather somber feeling as Metzger belted out the lyrics and brought the song into a very rewarding peak that acted as a burst of the emotional energy the song had built. Suddenly, the jam dropped into the familiar chord progression of “Bertha,” only to be jammed on for a brief minute before faking out the crowd and dropping into the whimsical “Dupree’s Diamond Blues.” Hamilton lead the group through a fairly standard version of the song and closed it out with a soaring solo that began the transition into “Playin’ in the Band.” The intro jam was very patient and spacey, featuring Benevento experimenting on his Rhodes piano a bit before the group steadily rose the groove into the main tempo of “Playin’,” extending the intro of the song before Metzger broke into the lyrics. The jam immediately got spacey and dissonant with Hamilton and Benevento heavily making use of their delay pedals before Russo started bringing the “Playin’” groove back into his drumming. The group worked its way into a mini peak before dropping into one last round of choruses to finish out the song and begin the transition into “So Many Roads,” the first and only repeat from last year’s Palace show.

Benevento swiveled over to his Hammond organ to lead the band into the emotional Robert Hunter-penned tale, and Hamilton jumped back on the vocals, delivering an impressive performance of the song’s heartfelt lyrics. Following another big emotional peak, the group brought the song into a laidback reggae-ish groove that acted as the launching off point for the live staple “Estimated Prophet,” but not before heavily teasing the opening chord melody of “Crazy Fingers.” “Estimated” brought the energy up immensely after the emotional ride of “So Many Roads” and Metzger really tapped into his grittier side of his voice for the verses, which added a really cool element to the sound of this version. The jam sort of teetered its way around another spacey groove before dropping into the energetic “St. Stephen” which made the crowd roar. The group ripped through most of the lyrics and started building a super uptempo groove that burst back into “Bertha,” resolving the fakeout from the beginning of the set and leaving “St. Stephen” unfinished. “Bertha” was very fast paced, continuing the energy from “St. Stephen” and amidst the jam on the song’s main progression, the band’s tech replaced Russo’s snare drum, much to the amusement of Hamilton and Russo. Before the famous “test me, test me” section, the group got super quiet and let the tension build up before finally hitting on the chord when Hamilton sang the lyric out. The group closed out the set after one last chorus before leaving for encore break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqhsFjsJsBk

Before the band came out for the encore, Benevento walked onstage and sat down at his grand piano to take a solo that eventually worked its way to the main melody of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” The full band walked out as he started into the chord progression and he took the lead on vocals for the only time that night for a very spirited version of the famous Dead cover.

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead delivered yet another stellar performance at the palace theatre, filled with some really impressive versions of Grateful Dead classics, namely “The Other One” and “So Many Roads.” Hopefully the group continues this tradition and returns to the venue in March of 2020. Check out the photo gallery below for a taste of the evening.

Setlist: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Palace Theatre, Albany, NY – March 1, 2019

Set One: Cassidy > Jack A Roe! > Box Of Rain+ > The Other One -> Drums -> The Other One Reprise @ > Shakedown St #

Set Two: Jam -> Black Throated Wind -> Bertha Jam ## -> Dupree’s Diamond Blues $-> Playing In The Band -> So Many Roads % -> Estimated Prophet > St Stephen ^ -> Bertha &

Encore: Marco Solo -> Werewolves Of London *

! – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-02-15 War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, TN, a gap of 43 shows
+ – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-02-17 The Pageant, St Louis, MO, a gap of 42 shows
@ – With a Duo Jam, first Almost Dead version of “Other One Reprise”
# – With a “Love Supreme” (John Coletrane) Tease (TH) and a Jam that included elements of “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” (Michael Jackson) and “Serpintine Fire” (Earth Wind & Fire)
## – First Time Played in this manner by Almost Dead
$ – Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018–03-08 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, a gap of 39 shows
% – With a “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan) Tease (TH) Tommy actually quoted the Guns N Roses version. Not Played by Almost Dead Since 2018-03-16 The Palace Theatre, a gap of 35 shows Albany, NY
^ – Unfinished
& – With a “Reveille” (Traditional) Tease (SM) and a “Rock And Roll” (Led Zeppelin) Tease (JR)
* – With a “Sweet Home Alabama” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Tease (MB)
March 4, 2019
Umphrey’s McGee Heats Up Albany Fans Amidst Polar Vortex

In the midst of a polar vortex, fans of Umphrey’s McGee fought through the frigid cold to see the band take to the historic Palace Theatre stage in Albany. This is the group’s fourth performance at the Palace over the past five years, seemingly solidifying it as a staple tour stop in the northeast. Opening up the night, they had Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, featuring John Kimock and Scott Metzger.

photo by Dave Decrescente

The first set kicked off with the heavy rocker “Domino Theory,” off 2011’s Death by Stereo, setting the mood for the night with its driving metal sound. Following a type 1 jam, the group played “Got Your Milk (Right Here),” another rocking tune that hadn’t been played since the group’s Red Rocks run. Robert Walter joined the group for “Whistle Kids” from Umphrey’s recent 2018 release it’s not us. Walter took over keyboardist Joel Cummins’ Fender Rhodes for the song and led the group through the ensuing jam with Cummins by his side on the Hammond organ, raising the somewhat downtempo feel of the song into a short, but sweet prog jam. “The Linear” followed, continuing that progginess and going into the first real jam of the set, heavily featuring guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger working with each other to create atmosphere and bring the song into “White Man’s Moccasins,” a jazzy tune that let Cinninger show off his chops a bit.

photo by Dave Decrescente

“Resolution” came next, raising the tempo immensely with its uplifting sound, and leading the group into a full band tease of The Beatles’ classic “Norwegian Wood.” The jam in “Resolution” was very spacey and electronic, creating a similar feel to what they did with “The Linear” earlier in the set but adding in the electronic drum kit from drummer Kris Meyers. Myers and percussionist Andy Farag took a mini drum jam before the group brought “Resolution” into “Upward,” a bluesy ballad by Bayliss that took the energy from “Resolution” and transformed it into the peak of the segment. To close out the set, Bayliss welcomed moe. drummer Vinnie Amico to the stage for a cover of ZZ Top’s “Cheap Sunglasses,” a classic by the Texas hard rock trio.

photo by Dave Decrescente

The second set was the highlight of the night, starting off with the prog metal masterpiece “Miss Tinkle’s Overture,” which really shows how all 6 members are a well oiled machine when they need to get down and technical. “Miss Tinkle’s” led the group into a dub reggae-esque jam once they had played through the composed sections before Cinninger brought the jam back into a metal sound for the “peak” of the jam. “Walletsworth” followed, continuing the heavy sound from “Miss Tinkle’s,” but not featuring any real jam besides Cummins taking a piano solo before the last chorus. “Waiting Room” kept the heaviness going, with its driving bassline and anthemic lyrics really getting the crowd raging for its brief performance.

photo by Dave Decrescente

To kick off the best segment of the set, the band started into the familiar opening chords of “1348,” which is always a welcome sound at an Umphrey’s show. The jam in “1348” was really interesting, the group mixed a dance sound with funky guitar riffing and really kept the groove driving until they suddenly broke into “Eat,” which was just heavy guitar riffage front to back. “Maybe Someday” came next, riding the wave of heaviness from “1348” > “Eat” and launching into a heavy metal jam that wove in and out of the composed sections of the song. Ending out the set was “The Floor” back into “1348,” completing the song from earlier in the set. “The Floor” is an incredible song to see live, it’s very dramatic and Middle Eastern-sounding at points, but also brings forth some of the group’s heaviest breakdowns.

This version of the song didn’t feature any jamming, but was a super tight version of the song and provided the perfect launchpad for dropping back into “1348.” The second half of “1348” was a culmination of all the energy they’d been building up throughout the second set, exploding into one last super heavy runaround of the main riff before ending the set. For the encore, the group sandwiched “Soul Food I” between two halves of “Puppet String.” The group seamlessly dropped out of the composed section of “Puppet String” into “Soul Food I,” performed the song, and then bassist Ryan Stasik dropped back into the “Puppet String” bassline and the rest of the band followed suit.

Umphrey’s McGee performed a heater of a show on Friday night in Albany, check out the photo gallery below for a taste of what the night looked like. Check back with NYS Music for coverage of the Dookie aftershow.

February 6, 2019
Greensky Bluegrass shows fans the love at Winter Tour opener in Albany
For their Winter Tour opener in support of the upcoming album All For Money, Greensky Bluegrass found an enthusiastic welcoming crowd at The Palace Theatre in Albany on Thursday, January 10. Fan familiarity has grown greatly throughout New York in the past few years with two memorable shows at The Egg (the latter of which sold out), and now, a tremendous show at The Palace in Albany.

Circles Around the Sun performed a 45-minute opening set of instrumental Grateful-Dead-inspired compositions. The first few rows were packed-in with fans of Neal Casal’s Fare Thee Well project, which is finding tremendous response from fans in the live setting. The pairing with Greensky Bluegrass could not have been more perfect.

Amid a sea of bobbing heads, who were rapt with attention throughout the night, Greensky kicked off their first set of the tour with a quick jumpstart in “A Letter to Seymour” and “In Control,” off 2014’s If Sorrows Swim. “All for Money,” the title track of their latest release was an early highlight, featuring instrumental consonance that was coupled with exquisite vocal harmonies, and had room to jam built in.

“All 4” had an ebb and flow during the slow developing improv; one that grew to a remarkable peak before returning to a unified point. Greensky really shines when they unleash a jumble of jam inside their songs, always with an ear to bandmates and eventually finding their way home with applause to end the journey. It was followed by Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” to wrap up the first set.

Dobro-extraordinaire Anders Beck said, as the band returned to the stage shortly after 10pm, “You can tell it’s Set 2 because it’s after the first,” and with that Yogi-ism it started with “Old Barns” and “Murder of Crows.” The lights on this evening towered over the band, and illuminated the audience in a minimalist design that fit the stage and sound aptly.

Love was in the air on the back-to-back pairing of Jimmy Martin’s “Hit Parade of Love” and the ‘grassed up psychedelic reggae of Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved.” Happy Birthday wishes to Emily, from Beck, turned into Happy Birthday wishes to the entire audience over the course of the year. The show wrapped up with an encore of “Dustbowl Overtures” with a tip of the hat to NY in the vivid lyrics: “And the world’s whistle of a bullet going by / It’s a New York minute, New Mexico sky … It’s the volume of an image, it’s a vision in a song.” Closing the encore was the extended instrumental by the founder of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, in “Wheel Hoss.”

Greensky Bluegrass performs at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Saturday, January 12 and All For Money will be released on all platforms on Friday, January 18.

Setlist:

Set 1: A Letter to Seymour, In Control, All for Money, The Four > Bottle Dry, Into the Rafters, Like Reflections, Burn Them (1), Blood Sucking F(r)iends, All 4, Money for Nothing

Set 2: Old Barns (2), Murder of Crows, What You Need (3), Hit Parade of Love, Could You be Love (4), Radio Blues, Broken Highways, Run or Die, Windshield

Encore: Dustbowl Overtures > Wheel Hoss

(1) – w/ Keith Kinnear (tambourine)
(2) – New Barns arrangement
(3) – w/ Guido Batista (vibraslap)
(4) – Moma Dance tease
January 12, 2019

Built in Breakdance