NYS Music 20​19

Tag: Skyloft

  • In Focus: Marshall Tucker Band Keeps Southern Rock Alive At The Skyloft

    The Marshall Tucker Band was ‘born’ in Spartanburg, S.C. when Doug Gray teamed up with Tommy and Toy Caldwell, Paul T. Riddle, George McCorkle, and Jerry Eubanks. The name “Marshall Tucker” came from a piano tuner whose name was found on a key ring in their old rehearsal space. In 1973 Marshall Tucker Band opened for The Allman Brothers Band, and the following year, they began to headline their own shows.

    Marcus James Henderson – Multi-instrumentalist

    The SkyLoft in Albany, NY Crossgates Mall, was almost at full capacity on Saturday night, November 2, 2019. The crowd cheered as Doug Gray, the only original member of The Marshall Tucker Band, took center stage.
    At 71, and fronting the band since 1972, he still held his own.

    Gray almost took on the part of an orchestra conductor, when he wasn’t belting out a crowd favorite. He would share the moments with the highly talented band members, who proved their musical chops, which included a 13-minute version of the bands’ well-received hit, “Can’t You See.”

    “This is one song that’s played eight million times on the radio,” Gray told the crowd. “I want you to sing it with us.” And they did. Gray handed the microphone to two fans in the front row, and they sang a few bars. He then tossed his tambourine into the audience, and the crowd cheered again. You can see the appreciation in Gray’s eyes. The moment, it seemed, to say thank you for all the support over so many years. Truly, this must be what it is all about.

    With many southern rock bands, such as The Allman Brothers not performing any longer, and Lynyrd Skynyrd on their last tour, The Marshall Tucker Band kept the genre going. Today, the band members have all changed, with the exception of Gray. B.B. Borden is on drums, Tony Black, bass and vocals, Marcus James Henderson, commands keyboard, saxophone, flute, and vocals. Chris Hicks and Rick Willis shred the guitar and vocals.

    Fans become part of the show as Gray hands over the mic

    Similar to many of the crooners still touring of his generation, Gray did not sing on every song, he stuck to the classics and let the younger crew take charge, and take charge they did. Each band member had at least one showcase of their talent, with Henderson and his multi-instrumentals taking much of the spotlight. Chris Hicks wailed on guitar and vocals, sounding strong. After “Take The Highway,” Borden did an amazingly-energetic drum solo, which caused standing fans to inch closer into the magic. Recent American Idol finalist, Madison VanDenburg, made a brief visit to take the stage, and tambourine. The generation gap was evident, as she didn’t know the song as Gray tried to prompt her.

    If you are able to see this show, you owe it to yourself to do so. One can only hope the hard work and extended tour will help keep this genre alive for many more generations.

    Chris Hicks

    One of the few bands of this generation still doing an extended tour. You can find many upcoming shows on the band’s website

    Setlist: “Running like the Wind”, This Old Cowboy”, “Hillbilly Band”, “Take the Highway”, “Blue Ridge”, “Fire on the Mountain”, “24 Hours”, “Midnight Promises”, ” I’ll Be Loving You”, “Can’t you See”.

  • Keller Williams’ Extensive Fall Tour Will Bring Him to Albany & Syracuse

    With his autumnal tour schedule this year, Keller Williams will be making two fall stops in Upstate NY with shows in Albany at Skyloft on October 24 and Syracuse at the Westcott Theater on October 25. Williams is an artist who defies categorization. With his dynamic and unpredictable live performances, he has developed a reputation for his genre-defying work and creativity.

    Williams is constantly evolving as an artist, with 24 studio releases and countless eclectic side projects. After just releasing his latest studio album Add on May 31, Williams is set to come out with his 25th studio release SPEED on November 22. SPEED will feature his bluegrass outfit Keller and the Keels, comprised of Keller on vocals along with progressive flatpicker Larry Keel and bassist Jenny Keel. The record will be their reinterpretation of popular songs with their psychedelic, Appalachian bluegrass style, including Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn,” Weezer‘s “Island In The Sun,” and many more. This will be the group’s third collaboration together, following their 2006 release GRASS and the all-covers album THIEF, released in 2012.  

    Williams inhabits an equal parts entrancing and perplexing center of a Venn diagram that includes…bluegrass, jamgrass, musical humorism, satire, and instrumental prowess that combines flatpicking sensibility with Phil Keaggy-style ingenuity.

    Justin Hiltner – The Bluegrass Situation

    Check out fall tour dates below, for more information and tickets, go to Keller William’s website.

    Keller Williams 2019 Fall Tour Dates

    October 11 – Eureka Springs, AR – Hillberry “The Harvest Moon Festival” *

    October 12 – Live Oak, FL – Sewanee Roots Festival *

    October 17 – Columbus, OH – Woodlands Tavern

    October 24 – Albany, NY – Skyloft

    October 25 – Syracuse, NY – Westcott Theater

    October 26 – Holyoke, MA – Gateway City Arts

    November 1 – New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s *

    November 2 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony

    November 7 – Edmonds, WA – Edmonds Center for the Arts #

    November 8 – Bremerton, WA – Admiral Theatre #

    November 9 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom #

    November 10 – Bend, OR – Tower Theatre #

    November 15 – South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground Ballroom

    November 16 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

    November 22 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf

    November 23 – Denver, CO – The Ogden Theater @

    December 5 – Brevard, NC – 185 King Street

    December 6 – Carrboro, NC – The Arts Center

    December 27 – Savannah, GA – Southbound Brewing

    December 28 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West

    * with Keller & The Keels

    ^ with Grateful Grass ft. The Infamous Stringdusters and Oteil Burbridge

    # featuring Keller Williams’ Pettygrass

    @ with Grateful Grass, Keller & The Keels, Love Canon

  • In Focus: Here Come the Mummies lay the funk down at Skyloft

    Their identities may be under wraps but Here Come the Mummies are the high power funk band you didn’t know you needed in your life. Playing to a crowd at Albany’s Skyloft, most didn’t know what to expect but found themselves moving to the consistently energizing funk.

    This 11-piece group is anonymous, supposedly cursed after deflowering a great Pharaoh’s daughter, or perhaps they are reincarnated Grammy-Winning studio musicians. Either way, the performance from a Mummies show is second to none and more visits to the Empire State are in order.

    Here Come The Mummies

    Over the course of their two hour set full of originals, many with suggestive lyrics, had the audience cracking up while they’re getting down. “Pants,” “Shag Carpet” and “Freak Flag” all had their own elements of kink and double entendre, while “Bring that (Bootie) Down” and “Ra Ra Ra” filled in with big band funk that is a rare find these days.

    The attentive ear could even catch riffs of Wreckx-N-Effect “Rump Shaker” that beckoned for the crowd to get down. An encore of “Dirty Minds” summed up the band’s style in both sound and lyrics, and kept the audience waiting for more. Here Come the Mummies will surely rise again in the Capital District.

    photos by Conor McMahon

    Here Come The Mummies
    Here Come The Mummies
    Here Come The Mummies
    Here Come The Mummies
    skyloft
    Here Come The Mummies
    Here Come The Mummies
    Here Come The Mummies

  • Saves The Day Cures Emo Hearts at SkyLoft

    Saves the Day made an appearance at SkyLoft in Albany on Sunday August, 11. Not only did they deliver a high energy filled performance, but also took the crowd through the last two decades of their amazing musical journey.

    The set list immediately caused heads to bob and feet to groove with the unforgettable guitar-riff filled song “Anywhere With You.” Saves The day continued to classics such as “Say You’ll Never Leave,”  “The Last Lie I Told You” and “Freakish.”

    But it was the songs that were performed from “All-Star Me” to “Suzuki” from their latest album, 9, that audience to relive the bands journey.

    All in all, the set list was solid and left the crowd screaming “ENCORE” by the end. Saves the Day not only saved the summer with their performance, but they also saved many emo hearts.

    Setlist: Anywhere With You, Bones, You Vandal, A Drag, Say You’ll Never Leave, The Last Lie I Told, Nightingale, Do You Know What I Love the Most?, Jukebox Breakdown; Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots; Firefly, When It Isn’t Like It Should Be, Freakish, Houses and Billboards, Suzuki, Eulogy, Kaleidoscope, Z, In Reverie, All-Star Me, Cars & Calories, Three Miles Down; Sell My Old Clothes, I’m Off to Heaven.

    Setlist Provided by Setlist.fm

  • RATT Rocks the Skyloft

    RATT’s In Your Direction Tour made its eighth stop of the 17-show tour at the dazzling new Skyloft in Albany, NY on Friday, July 5 and did not disappoint. Rumors were swirling, claiming the show might be canceled due to poor ticket sales, but there was no evidence of that. The Skyloft, the new venue at Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY was packed with cheering fans. The volume was loud, and the vibe was energetic.

    The crowd was pumped when the first notes of the opening song “In Your Direction” rang out. Without a break, the band then went into and wailed on “Wanted Man.” The show came to a close with the wildly anticipated “Round and Round.” See the complete setlist below.

    Stephen Pearcy of RATT

    Perhaps the band is falling into place with the new members, now that they have played half of their tour. Things will only get better so check their website for upcoming shows and cities.

    https://www.therattpack.com/


    Setlist: In Your Direction, Wanted Man, Dangerous But Worth the Risk, You Think You’re Tough, Walkin’ the Dog, Way Cool Jr., I’m Insane, Lack of Communication, Lay it Down, You’re In Love, Lovin’ You’s a Dirty Job, Slip of the Lip, Nobody Rides for Free, Body Talk, Back for More, and closed out with the fans wildly anticipated Round and Round


    Ratt consists of lead vocalist Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and “new breed” members — drummer Pete Holmes (Black ‘N Blue), and guitarists Jordan Ziff (Razer) and Chris Sanders (Britny Fox, Knight Fury)

    Chris Sanders
    Jordan Ziff
    Stephen Pearcy

    Juan Croucier

    Pete Homes
    Pete Homes

  • Into the Mystic brings music of Van Morrison to Skyloft

    Into the Mystic – six musicians from the Burlington, Vermont area plus a ringer guitarist from neighboring New Hampshire – paid tribute to the artistry of Van Morrison at Skyloft in Crossgates Mall on Saturday May 18.

    For nearly two hours the septet ranged through the early years of Morrison’s catalog, focusing mostly on his heralded seventies period. With Avery Cooper contributing on sax (plus some lovely flute on “Tupelo Honey”) and Gordon Clark on trombone, Into the Mystic resembles a stripped-down version of Morrison’s 1973 Caledonia Soul Orchestra.

    The Caledonia ensemble featured a string section as well as horns, but Into the Mystic was content to embellish every song (except “Bulbs”) with peppy horn arrangements. They certainly did justice to such early hits as “Wild Night,” “Domino” and “Caravan,” but the charts were even more intriguing when ITM explored less familiar eighties compositions, such as “Dweller on the Threshold,” “Cleaning Windows” and “Tore Down a la Rimbaud.”

    Justin Panigutti, on vocals and rhythm guitar, had perhaps the toughest job of anyone in the septet, emulating Morrison’s gruff vocals, his penchant for wordless exclamations and exhortations, and even occasionally Van’s patented leg kick and arm thrust.

    Into the Mystic
    The Alchemystics

    Panigutti’s love for Van’s music was evident – in fact, it was clear that the entire band enjoyed their work. Guitarist Daniel Rahilly didn’t have much room to show off, but on “Kingdom Hall” he unleashed a pithy stinging solo with a studied nonchalance that evoked Robbie Robertson.

    Setlist: Wavelength, Kingdom Hall, And It Stoned Me, Warm Love, Dweller on the Threshold, Glad Tidings, Wild Night, Domino, Cleaning Windows, I’ve Been Working, Tupelo Honey, Sweet Thing, Tore Down a la Rimbaud, Satisfied, Bulbs, Into the Mystic, St. Dominic’s Preview, Caravan