For headliners Iron Maiden, this was the ‘World Piece’ tour, supporting fourth album Piece of Mind. Posters for this gig at Glens Falls Civic Center on August 23, 1983, labeled the show as “The British Metal Onslaught,” which made more sense in weeks preceding the show, when the bill had been Brits Iron Maiden and Saxon, with Fastway opening. By the time of this show, Saxon had left the tour, and while Iron Maiden are the quintessential British metal band, Fastway were half-British, half-Irish, and Coney Hatch were from Canada.
Opening band Coney Hatch were cool – they got a good reaction from the crowd, but outside of their native Canada they were not well-known, and this may have been their only visit to New York State.
Fastway were great – the song “Say What You Will” was all over the radio at this time. Their then-current first album rocked and of course the band featured guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke from Motorhead, drummer Jerry Shirley from Humble Pie, bassist Charlie McKracken from Rory Gallagher’s Irish trio TASTE, and then-teenaged Irish singer Dave King, who would go on years later (and still currently does) front Irish punk powerhouse Flogging Molly.
Fastway were excellent but Maiden were the kings that night. How can you argue with “Where Eagles Dare,” “Sanctuary” and “Wrathchild” as the first 3 songs? They were at their peak, playing like heroes and were greeted as such by the sold-out Glens Falls crowd.
Highlights included when a giant lobotomized version of Maiden mascot Eddie invaded the stage during “Iron Maiden,” and when Bruce Dickinson made a long speech dissing author Frank Herbert before “To Tame A Land.” The band had asked permission to title the song “Dune,” after Herbert’s sci-fi novel, but the author had said no, and Bruce, as reward, got the entire crowd to chant “Fuck Frank Herbert.” The band played a many Piece of Mind songs – an album which has aged pretty well, lo these almost 40 years since. The encore was then-hit “Run To The Hills,” and this was the last tour they played ‘Killers’-era classic “Drifter” (and the “eyo, eyo, eyo” sing-along), which ended the show.
Setlist: Intro/Where Eagles Dare, Sanctuary, Wrathchild, The Trooper, Revelations, Flight of Icarus, Die With Your Boots On, 22 Acacia Avenue, The Number of the Beast, To Tame a Land/solos, Phantom of the Opera, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Iron Maiden
After a long hiatus from live performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vermont jam quartet Twiddle returned to the stage this weekend for three socially distanced Drive-In shows. Taking place in Essex Junction, VT, the three sold-out shows were a welcome return to live performance for the band, with over 250 car passes sold for each night.
We can’t thank our fans enough for making our first live shows back such an incredible and safe experience. It felt amazing playing live again with the boys and having our brother Taz join us, elevating the band as he always does.
Mihali Savoulidis (Guitar, Vocals)
Twiddle kicked off a stellar weekend of music with a fantastic first set on Friday, August 14, during which the band seamlessly segued through their first set without a break between songs.
After sunset, the band took the stage for an improvisation-heavy three-song second set, featuring “Gatsby the Great,” “Doinkinbonk” and “Cabbage Face.” The show closed with fan-favorite sing-along “Orlando’s.”
Saturday presented material from various phases of the band’s 15-year career. Highlights from set one include “Zazu’s Flight” > “Bronze Fingers” > “Zazu’s Flight,” as well as a tender rendition of “The Machine,” featuring drummer Brook Jordan on vocals. Twiddle closed the first set with a raging rendition of “Every Soul,” with special guest 16-year-old guitar phenom Brandon “Taz” Niederauer.
Saturday’s second set was rife with deep jams and segues, including the introspective ballad “River Drift” sandwiched between “Dr. Remidi’s Melodium” and “Nicodemus Portulay.” Taz sat in on “Tom’s Song” during set two and returned for a “Comfortably Numb” encore, played for the first time in over nine years.
Wrapping up the weekend, Sunday’s first set showcased a healthy mix of Twiddle’s bluegrass influences and improvisational acumen, with twangy acoustic takes on “Hattibagen McRat” and “Fat Country Baby.”
Twiddle rounded out the weekend in Vermont with a trip down memory lane, with set two featuring throwback favorites “Invisible Ink” and “Tiberius,” before closing out the show with an epic “Beethoven and Greene.”
Night One – 8/14/2020 – Drive In – Essex Junction, VT
At noon on August 17, 1969, the crowd at Woodstock had dwindled slightly, but roughly 90% of attendees responded favorably to Hugh Romney (best known as Wavy Gravy) who woke the crowd up, saying:
Good morning! What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000. Now, it’s gonna be good food and we’re going to get it to you. It’s not just the Hog Farm, either. It’s everybody. We’re all feedin’ each other. We must be in heaven, man! There’s always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area.
Now there’s a guy up there – some hamburger guy – that had his stand burned down last night. But he’s still got a little stuff left, and for you people that still believe capitalism isn’t that weird, you might help him out and buy a couple hamburgers.
The Hog Farm then distributed plates of cold mush, while a hippie known as Muskrat, read the front page of the Sunday New York Times to “the hippest brunch this side of Fifth Avenue.”
The first two days of Woodstock had the appearances of a tremendous success, especially for fans and observers. The unsung heroes working the show were dealing with any issue that came to them – rain, mud, delays, making sure food and clean water were available, and keeping the show running.
Sunday though, there were the inevitable issues that arise from a three day music festival. Bathrooms were overflowing, and fans were taking to cornfields and the backyards of locals in Bethel to relieve themselves. There were emergency medical issues that needed to be addressed, but roads were blocked. Helicopters attempted to airlift those in the greatest need, but lack of fuel made it difficult to get them to the proper hospital. A helicopter at Grossinger’s was on site at Yasgur’s within 10 minutes of a call to handle a victim of alcohol poisoning.
Joe Cocker kicked the day off at 2pm with a career-defining performance. Woodstock promoter Artie Kornfeld is reported by Spitz to have ‘humped a motorcycle in time to “Delta Lady,” and wept uncontrollably into his arm.
This is just great! Outta sight! Oh man, look what we’ve done, look what we’ve done. This is forever
But the joy was shortlived. A huge storm barrelled towards the festival grounds, and stage was covered in tarps as Cocker and his band retreated. Having yelled into the microphone for everyone to get away from the towers, John Morris changed his tone and approached the rain differently, saying to the crowd, “If you think really hard enough, maybe we can stop this rain!” A chant of “No rain, No rain, No rain” started in the crowd and built up, to the point where even though the stage itself was sliding in the mud, but fans were dancing in the rain and playing in the mud, the iconic imagery associated with Woodstock still today.
While the storm blew through in 20 minutes, the stage that had slid six inches downhill was restrained so the show could continue. Max Yasgur, the landowner who hosted a few hundred thousand hippies that weekend, was asked by Mel Lawrence and Michael Lang to say a few words to the crowd. Eagerly, Yasgur, who reveled in how nice and police the kids were, took to the stage with encouragement from Lawrence and Lang. Master of Ceremonies Chip Monck introduced Yasgur to the crowd saying “This is the man whose farm we’re on – Mr. Max Yasgur.” Monck stepped back and let Yasgur addressed the crowd, saying:
I’m a farmer. I don’t know how to speak to twenty people at one time let alone a crowd like this. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place, but I think you people have proven something to the world – that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music. And I god bless you for it!
Music would restart around 5pm with Country Joe & the Fish (the only act to perform twice that weekend) and Ten Years Later followed at 8pm. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young left the stage at 6AM, and Sha Na Na followed. Jimi Hendrix would not take the stage until 8:30AM Monday morning, performing to only 30,000 who were determined to stick it out. The historic “Star Spangled Banner,” followed by “Taps,” would cement his place, and Woodstock’s, in music history.
Watch a performance from the nine artists who performed at Woodstock on August 17 and well into the morning of August 18, 1969
Joe Cocker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfLyK2DVVUU
Country Joe & The Fish
Ten Years After
Johnny Winter
Blood Sweat and Tears
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-azgwfnZu7c
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibfUfVpfAI
Sha Na Na
Jimi Hendrix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLy8eGtSYo
Watch performances from every Woodstock artist with our full playlist
Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band played The Long Island Community Hospital Amphitheater in Farmingville, Long Island, to a sold out crowd on Saturday, August 17, 2019. Although the members have changed throughout the years, 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of The All Starr Band. The current band consists of Steve Lukather (founding member of Toto), Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey), Colin Hay (Men At Work), Hamish Stuart (AWB), Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth Band) and Warren Ham.
The setlist was a combination of hits from the band members including Men At Work’s “Down Under” and Toto’s “Africa” plus some Beatle songs that Ringo Starr sang lead on including “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
Setlist: Matchbox, It Don’t Come Easy, What Goes On, Evil Ways, Rosanna, Pick Up the Pieces, Down Under Boys, Don’t Pass Me By, Yellow Submarine, Cut the Cake, Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen, You’re Sixteen, Anthem, Overkill, Africa, Work to Do, Oye como va, I Wanna Be Your Man, Who Can It Be Now?, Hold the Line, Photograph, Act Naturally, With a Little Help From My Friends
Friday left the crowd exhausted, but looking for more. A motionless field was peppered with life around 8AM, hippies making friends with neighbors as they awoke, ahead of the second day of Woodstock.
According to Robert Spitz’s Barefoot in Babylon, Director of Operations Mel Lawrence, would wake the crowd up with a rousing “GGOOOOOD MOOOR-NINGGG” followed by:
Sorry about that. Let’s try that one again. Good Morning. Thank You. Listen, last night was incredible, and we just wanted to let you know that everything’s okay. No hassles. We’re going to have another groovy day today and into the night and tomorrow.
I just need your help with one small favor. We’re going to pass out these bags now so that we can keep our home clean. We’ll hand them out to those of you on this side of the bowl, and I’d appreciate it if all of you over there will toss your junk in and pass the bag on until it gets over to the other side of the field. Some of the guys from the Peace Service Corps will pick them up over there and get rid of that stuff for tyou.
We’ve gotta keep this place liveable so we can prove to the rest of the world that we can make it to together in peace and comfort. And we’re gonna do it too.
Mel Lawrence, with intermittent cheers from a quickly awoken crowd.
A day of heavy-hitters would perform on Saturday, including The Who, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Santana among them.
Santana’s appearance has always been regarded as one of the highlights of the festival. According to Spitz, with 92′ heat and 97% humidity, the bowl had turned into a sauna, and emotions, fueled by boredom from early performances from Quill, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, and Keef Hartley Band, were heating up. Santana jolted the crowd to their feet, making his mark on the festival and providing an electrifying bridge to the rest of that day’s performers.
The Who would not perform until 3:30AM on Sunday, playing well into the morning. The set was famously interrupted by activist Abbie Hoffman who stormed the stage to say:
This festival is meaningless as long as John Sinclair’s rotting in prison!
Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock
Hoffman was dispatched from the stage by Pete Townshend, who used his guitar to escort Hoffman into the photographer’s pit.
Jefferson Airplane hit the stage at 8:30AM on Sunday, with a set that paralleed the exhausted corowd. Much of the audience was passed out even as the hits “Volunteers” and “Somebody to Love” rounded out the set. At 10AM on Sunday, the music would take a break, for a few hours.
Watch performances from 13 of the 14 artists who performed at Woodstock on August 15, 1969.
Quill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfH18WqJuY8
Country Joe McDonald
John B. Sebastian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnsB4Ck__OE
Keef Hartley Band
Allegedly, Hartleyâs manager demanded payment up front for the rights to record or film the band. Thus, they were never included in any Woodstock footage until 2019, when the full Woodstock set was released.
Even now, 51 years to the day, the performance by Grateful Dead at the legendary Woodstock Music Festival still leaves a mark. Although, for a variety of reasons, it’s a mark that the band and any eyewitnesses that evening may not wish to remember fondly. Weather, electrical and all the other ever-sprouting issues that arose during Woodstock all played factors that resulted in what many deem a less than memorable performance put forth by the Western newcomers that many had heard of but few had seen before.
Due to scheduling issues and incessant rain, the band’s set on August 16, 1969 had already been pushed back from Saturday late afternoon to a 10:30 pm start time. By then, rain and the resulting mud had conquered the Bethel, NY festival grounds. The giant throng of spectators splayed across the hillside were getting soaked and restless waiting for the next act to start. Up until this point, the Grateful Dead were still only a band “on the rise” that was very much new to an East Coast crowd, by and large.
The inauspicious start began when the band’s notoriously heavy gear caused the rotating stage that was being used to sink completely into the mud – something they had warned the event staff about beforehand. Phil Lesh’s bass monitor was somehow picking up the on-site helicopter’s radio signal. And the Dead’s sound technician, Owsley “Bear” Stanley, was making alterations to what he considered an inadequate in-house PA system. It resulted in him improperly grounding the stage equipment and giving new meaning to the term “electric rock.”
Band members recall feeling a “light tingle” whenever they would touch their instruments. This all culminated with a now famous story about guitarist Bob Weir being thrown across the stage, supposedly during the “Saint Stephen” that began the show.
It was raining toads when we played. The rain was part of our nightmare. The other part was our sound man, who decided that the ground situation on the stage was all wrong. It took him about two hours to change it, which held up the show. He finally got it set the way he wanted it, but every time I touched my instrument, I got a shock. The stage was wet, and the electricity was coming through me. I was conducting! Touching my guitar and the microphone was nearly fatal. There was a great big blue spark about the size of a baseball, and I got lifted off my feet and sent back eight or 10 feet to my amplifier.
~ Bob Weir, Rolling Stone interview
Audio recordings only contain the first two minutes of the opening number, likely a result of this mishap. Things immediately lighten up a little afterwards with “Mama Tried,” a Merle Haggard song that the Dead had started covering earlier that year.
The awkward start-and-stop rhythm of the show then rears its ugly head again thanks to another ten minutes of delay in order to deal with the sound setup. A “spirited” Ken Babbs from the Merry Pranksters takes to the MC role during this part of the show as he tries his best to entertain a crowd of hippies growing increasingly damp and restless. This also gives Country Joe McDonald the chance to pop up onstage and warn everyone about the “green acid” that was going around.
After all the sound issues are resolved, the band launches into a moody “Dark Star” that serves as one of the musical highlights of the night. The near 20-minute rendition stretches out and descends into near ambience before rounding back into form. It features wonderful fills and textures provided by early keys player Tom Constanten who seems to be turned up abnormally high in this recording.
Once the “Dark Star” burned out, the band trotted out another new number with “High Time” – a sentiment that was no doubt shared by many this evening. Garcia’s vocals come through aptly but this isn’t exactly a song to get a crowd up and dancing. The slow, drab composition seemed to be reflective of the current atmosphere.
The band seems to cut their losses and ends theit set with a “Turn On Your Lovelight” that stretches out to almost 40 minutes. However,it starts with even more mayhem thanks to another “spirited” individual who jumps on stage and exclaims to everyone about “seeing the sun rise over the lake” and a “third Coast.” All this while the band is quietly playing the instrumental open to the song underneath it all.
While it does seem to finally inject some life into the set, not even a Pigpen rap would be enough to save this show. The extensive jam meanders and shifts from pscychedelia to blues and back with little direction in between. It marked the end of a set that had high hopes at first but falls flat in its delivery thanks to the weather, sound issues, lucid ramblings from MCs and stage crashers alike, and one of the guitarists getting visibly electrocuted on stage.
Grateful Dead Woodstock Music Festival Bethel, NY 8/16/69 St. Stephen (cut), Mama Tried -> High Time (false start), Dark Star ->High Time, Turn On Your Love Light
The historic Woodstock Music and Art Festival took place 51 years ago this weekend in Bethel, NY in 1969. Billed as “an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music,” promoters Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld brought together an all-time classic lineup of artists that spanned genres and put an exclamation point on a decade of change.
Much has been written on the festival, and the (pre-COVID) thriving music festival scene in America owes a debt to the original Woodstock, adding a festival (and city name) to our collective lexicon and providing a template by which to measure all future music festivals.
With today marking the anniversary of the first day of Woodstock, revisit performances from the eight artists who took the stage, including Richie Havens, who hurriedly took to the stage when Sweetwater was held up arriving to the site by helicopter.
When asked by Lang to perform earlier than planned, Havens was initially resistant, thinking that he couldn’t get ready in time. With encouragement from John Morris, and learning that Tim Hardin was “scared shitless” to open the festival, Havens laughed and said,
What can I say? OK, give me a couple minutes to get ready and to round up the rest of the group. I’ll do it.
Richie Havens
The stage crew was alerted and at 5:01pm, and once sound was set, Morris strode to the stage and announced,
Well, it’s time for the music to begin. Let’s welcome, Mr. Richie Havens”
John Morris
And with that, the greatest music festival ever was off and running into the history books. Watch a performance from each of the eight artists who performed at Woodstock on August 15, 1969
Richie Havens
Sweetwater
Bert Sommer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-NPCq_Jd8
Tim Hardin
Ravi Shankar
Melanie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr2l9inAryQ
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
Watch performances from every Woodstock artist with our full playlist
On August 14, 1997, Phish performed for the second time at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Just one stop was left on Phish’s Summer Tour – The Great Went in Limestone, ME. And, as is bound to happen, some bozos and pranksters showed up in the parking lot before the show, leading to history being made and generations of jam bridged together.
photo via Kevin Shapiro
A fluid first set was chock full of jams, and an early “Fluffhead” was reportedly punctuated with a roller-coaster climbing to its peak just as “Fluffhead” was peaking. The first “Tela” since fall 1996 and a raging “Antelope” set closer are among the other highlights.
Fans reported seeing the famous Furthur bus in the parking lots that day, which had a Grateful Dead feel to them with Furthur Fest on tour that summer as well. Not many would expect Trey to bring out the head Prankster himself, Ken Kesey, later that night. Following an often overlooked segue out of “Harry Hood” in the second set, just as Anastasio started the narration part of “Col. Forbin’s Ascent,” their special guest came to the stage.
So here we are again, standing at the base of the mountain, and this is a very different and interesting time for Col. Forbin here. Col. Forbin realizes on this particular day, he is not going to find the great and knowledagble Icculus at all, but instead he is going to find (laughs) Ken, Uncle Sam, Bozo, E-Z-Kesey standing there.
Trey Anastasio, introducing Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, August 14, 1997
Out walked Kesey dressed as Uncle Sam, and the crowd erupted.
Ken Kesey with Phish
Kesey – author, LSD advocate, founder of the acid tests and a key figurehead of sixties counter-culture – took hold of the moment and in a rambling, hilarious and surreal art performance, referenced the loss of Jerry Garcia, the Bozos, and the Wizard of Oz. Kesey spoke and sang to the beat of his own drum:
My heart is sorely beset because from out amongst the tidbits of these vehicles moving through the nation we have lost an important part of us. For two years no one has seen high nor heard of the bozos. For two years the bozos have been missing. Where are the bozos? Well, what we heard was they were gonna try to make it hear to the Phish concert. We couldn’t catch them up at the Furthur Festival so we decided to come to the Phish concert.
Ken Kesey
Around the stage and audience were costumed Pranksters in key roles, making for one of the most infamous sit-ins in Phish history. Two years after Jerry Garcia’s death, Kesey had symbolically passed the torch to Phish
Kesey began a “Wizard of Oz” narration, mentioning that his brother in Oz usually handles finding the bozos. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” begins and out walks a helper, dress as the Scarecrow, to give a “Bozo Report.” At that moment, the band switched to an instrumental version of “If Only I Had a Brain”, ahead of The Scarecrow saying “We know they were at the Grateful Dead concert and the rumor was they went Phishing.”
The Tin Man followed, reporting that he has a ‘foolish heart,’ with Kesey and Fishman singing “Has anyone seen the Bozos?” Instead of the Cowardly Lion following next, Frankenstein walks out with his master, and naturally, Phish breaks into Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” with the volume a little lower for Kesey to continue his narration.
The Cowardly Lion was leading a paramilitary group in Northern Idaho and you brought me this? Wonderful!
Ken Kesey
Then, as Kesey and four other pranksters began to come up with lyrics for the Bozos, about 20 Bozo Clowns came running through the pavilion and found their way to the stage. Meanwhile, Kesey and the Pranksters continued to sing while Phish improvised over a funk groove. To close this collective hallucination, Kesey attempted a segue of his own:
I see a bird. Out comes a bird. Could that possible be Mockingbird? What kind of bird can it possibly be in the nest when the Pranksters sing? I know it. I see it. I hear it. It’s a Mockingbird.
Ken Kesey
Alas, as Kesey and the Pranksters exited the stage, Trey remarked “See what happens if you take too much acid? 30 years later…” much to the audience’s approval. Trey then declared that because “the funk was too deep,” and they couldn’t stop the funk, the typical “Fly Famous Mockingbird” that follows “Col. Forbin’s Ascent” was passed over for “Camel Walk,” an early funk-filled Phish song, and a rarity at the time. Tune into the show via Phishtracks, and don’t sleep on the set closing “Taste.” At Superball IX, Phish shared a pro-shot clip of the show, footage of which can be seen above.
Soundcheck: Buffalo Bill, The Old Home Place, Funky Bitch, Crosseyed and Painless
Set 1: Ya Mar, Funky Bitch > Fluffhead, Limb By Limb, Free, Cars Trucks Buses, Tela > Train Song > Billy Breathes, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture, Love Me, Sparkle > Harry Hood -> Jam > Colonel Forbin’s Ascent -> Merry Pranksters Jam[1] -> Camel Walk, Taste
Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Rocky Top
[1] Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
The second set featured a remarkable jam after Harry Hood ended and before Forbin’s began, as well as an appearance by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The Merry Pranksters Jam contained a Somewhere Over the Rainbow tease from Trey, an If I Only Had a Brain tease, a Spam Song quote, and a Frankenstein jam.
Ed. Note – this private, socially distanced event in Central New Jersey is an example of how small scale live music can be done safely, for now. The property owner shares his experience putting together a second private event for a small crowd of friends, featuring Dogs in a Pile and Black Dog.
People like to gather. It’s part of the human condition, ingrained in the very core of our existence as social animals. Not to minimize death, sickness, financial devastation and/or uncertainty, but being unable to check the boxes next to our social desires has been perhaps the hardest part of these last five pandemic ridden months. As such, along with our inability to congregate, we’ve also, for the most part, sacrificed live music, comedy, theater, et al. This isn’t a piece about the pandemic, but it does point to the creativity and passion that have inspired whatever few events have sprung up in recent history.
I’ll switch to the first person now as I acknowledge the fire that has been burning in my belly, sparked by love and passion for live music and all that surrounds it, that has been the catalyst for a series of music festivals in my backyard. As I mourned the loss of live events (and the tangential camaraderie that is livemusic’s partner in crime), my brain was firing synapses that unleashed a business acumen and creativity that I didn’t know I possessed. Music unites in a way that little — dare I say, nothing — else, can or does. Share a show with a new friend and on the basis of that shared experience, you’ve got a friend for life. I missed that, so I set out to create it on my own. Enter #Marckomitoville. And, for what it’s worth, a host of new friends.
This past Saturday was the second of three (or more??? — #mywifesasaint) such events, an unintentional double bill of canine goodness, with Dogs In a Pile and Black Dog, an up and coming jam band and a seasoned Led Zeppelin tribute act, respectively. In full confession mode, Black Dog was an easy hire as their lead singer and I teach in the same high school, I’ve seen them numerous times, and am intimately familiar with how accurately they honor the best catalog in rock and roll history. Dogs In A Pile, on the other hand, was hired sight unseen (note unheard???) based on a direct message recommendation delivered via Instagram with the uncanniest of timing. I listened to about fifteen seconds of their stuff before reaching out to ask if they’d like to play a party in my backyard. Just to round out a nice small world story, their booking manager and I hit off, he having graduated from the same high school where Black Dog’s lead singer and I both teach. I explained what I was trying to do with social distance gatherings and live music and he, in turn, promised that Dogs In A Pile would “vaporize my backyard.” ‘Nuff said. Contract signed.
TL;DR: Hiroshima.
Dogs In A Pile
The day finally arrived and, with a trailer full of equipment and a mini-entourage taboot, so did Dogs In A Pile. I have to say this right up front (while also reserving the right to come back and repeat it every few paragraphs), these are good humans. Every person associated with Dogs is utterly kind and professional to a fault; the band, the crew, their families and friends, these are A+ folks and I’m so grateful for the friendships that were born this past weekend. Their equipment was a force all its own and there were times I couldn’t believe I was in my own backyard and not the Stone Pony Summer Stage. That being said, they forgot their rug (comfort first) and were about to drive home and back to get it. Fear you not, marckomitoville provides, so as my wife and I were literally days from replacing our bedroom rug, we saved them the trip and all the day’s sets were played from the comfort of the shag that was under our bed literally just moments before.
This is a jam band, make no mistake about it, and let’s cut the bullshit right now if there are any negative connotations associated with that moniker. Jam bands improvise and listen to each other as they play, revamping their organized structures on the fly and adapting not just to each other but the crowd and its vibe. But just as obvious as their jam band status is the classical training and musical education of these (three of five, actually) Berklee schooled musicians, their propensity for jazz on display just as much as the other musical influences for whom we share a love. On a related topic, let’s recognize the good parenting that made the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead and Phish part of these kids’ musical DNA and enabled them to effortlessly dangle teases and covers throughout their set, a display that spoke volumes about the musical homes in which they were raised. Speaking of which, enjoying this show alongside a couple of their dads was pretty damn cool, the musical version of a soccer sideline full of proud parents.
Jimmy Law, lead guitar and vocals, is the front man that every band needs. A local wunderkind, he’s the face of the band and with damn good reason. Though humble to a fault, he’s got it and plays with the confidence of someone who knows it. While it’s hard to take your eyes off Jimmy, let that not detract from the rest of this highly talented quintet. Stage right from Jimmy is guitarist and singer Brian Murray, probably the first member of the band to be overlooked, even if the Phred (Languedoc replica) that he plays is hard to miss. I implore you to give this kid the attention he deserves — Bob Weir stood next to Jerry Garcia his whole life, no easy task I’m sure, but he did it with grace and humility and along the way became the best number two of all time (don’t get caught up in the loftiness of the metaphor, just take it for what it is).
Sam Lucid, bass and vocals, stands stage left. His bass is funk and jazz in turn, exactly what I’d expect from a guy who lists Jaco Pastorius among his biggest influences. Joe Babick, drums, himself a four-year veteran of the Count Basie program for gifted young musicians, is a seasoned performer playing live shows since he’s nine years old — the rhythm section of he and Sam is a force to be reckoned with. I’m a teacher and a father so, as you know, I have no favorites. With that being said, allow me to introduce Jeremy Kaplan, keyboards, playing a red Nord with his right hand and a Hammond XK-3 that’s a dead ringer for the B3 with his left. Enrolled at Berklee on a scholarship from the Piano Man himself, Jeremy blew my mind time and again and again and again. And again. And then some more. Jazz, funk, rock, he checks all the boxes, not to mention running the band’s sound while he plays. Bravo, sir!
Saving the best for last, the love that these kids (the oldest among them is twenty-two) have for each other and the music they play is tangible. Having had a chance to chat and hang and spend the day with them (and hoping they read this!), I’m reminded of a quote I just read from (Sir) Joe Russo, “Ninety-eight percent of being in a band is hanging out, not playing.” I hope they continue to love and accept each other and weather the storm that is this global pandemic, because people need to see them. To a man, they had as much fun playing for me as I did listening and dancing with them. If you know me, that’s saying a lot. I shared every ounce of myself with them and they gave it all right back and then some. All the love.
Perhaps taking a cue from the bestselling book How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dogs In A Pile opened their first set with a cover of Phish’s “Free.” Just as I was thinking that they certainly nailed the formula to win over a crowd of Phish loving Deadheads, a buddy shouted from the pool, “They had me at hello.” No truer words had been spoken and they applied equally to all in attendance, from my dog Charlie (who had two songs played in her honor) to my sixty-nine year-old mother who doesn’t even like music.
In a set that, for the most part, alternated original material with well chosen covers, “Look Johnny” gave us the first taste of the Dogs catalog. Having already put them in a jam band box myself, I was so impressed with the range showcased by their originals … jazzy intros to rock and roll songs within psychedelic frameworks and funky-ass rhythms. They move in and out of genres and structures with an ease that not only illustrates the cohesion of their unit, but creates its own synergy from the roots of their varied influences. They’re a jam band to be sure, although that classification limits the scope of what they truly offer.
As DIAP were perhaps still feeling out their audience’s collective appetite for their originals, the Rascal’s pop hit that became a Grateful Dead staple, “Good Lovin’” was a safe choice for the three-hole. Their interpretation of these songs does them great service and dancing to Dead tunes is a tried and true formula. However, even in the early going, I just found the band to take more chances and showcase more of their musicality with their original work.
As if reading my mind, a friend yelled, “More originals” from the pool at that very moment. As such, “Blues for Brian” with its seriously sexy bass lines and “I Can’t Wait For Tonight” followed. I do love the covers, too, though — they are, after all, the soundtrack to my life. So even as our collective yen for more originals deepened, I was thrilled with the jubilant “The Music Never Stopped” that followed. Two more originals, “Snow Day” and “Go Set” preceded the set closing cover of “Mr. Charlie”, the first of two songs with my dog’s name in the title. Coincidence??? I think not.
“Rinky Dink Rag” opened the second set, a Nord-heavy tune that really foresaw the keyboard mastery that Jeremy Kaplan put on display for the duration. The name of the song kind of tells exactly what it sounded like, maybe except for the fake sneezes, “Bless you, Brians”, and “Thank you, Jeremys” that showed the bands’ propensity for silliness. Endearing in the very best way, I couldn’t help but think of a young Page McConnell and his silly little VT quartet as Jeremy tickled the black and whites. An original-ish cover of “Boogie On Reggae Woman” that really let that Hammon XK-3 shine melded with a Charlie Brown jam called “Linus and Lucy” that had shadows of the Allman Brother’s “Jessica”.
Hot damn that was some fun stuff! “Thomas Duncan Part 2” followed with teases of both “Shakedown St.” and “Character Zero” before segueing into “Bugle On the Shelf”, another Dogs original, though I was really hoping for the prequel to Thomas Duncan, ya know, Part 1. {I have no clue if this really exists but it was funny when I thought it since I have no clue what their catalog looks like!} “Untitled Bathroom Break for Sam” gave a little more insight into the fun that these guys have just being on stage together just as it showed their ability to keep it light and loose while playing. “Craig & Pat” was the penultimate number before the band thanked my poor wife for letting them play at our house and dedicated the final song to my dog, both named, “Charlie”. It was her birthday party, after all, as turend five {I remember holding her in one hand} the previous day.
Seven songs and an untitled improv filled the ninety minute set, the band never once straying or losing a danceable beat. To that end, it’s worth noting that I danced 23,571 steps, the rough equivalent of between 11.134 – 12.221 miles depending on the stride length of a six-foot male. I think everyone present can attest to every one of those, just as I’m thankful for the Moon Mat™ that saved me from feeling each one as I write this two days later (I only feel a third of them).
I truly believe that in a few years time, those of us here will look back on this afternoon and laugh at the “remember when” of seeing this incredibly tight and talented band in my backyard. Prove me wrong.
Andrew Rich
Music and comedy are a match made in heaven. I first experienced this magical pairing with Yo La Tengo and their annual Eight Nights of Hannukah at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, so in that spirit, Andrew Rich was called upon to perform standup between sets. Truth be told, he called upon me but who’s counting? An idea born when a close friend jokingly asked if a big promoter like me (tongue in cheek, I hope) would give a comic a chance to perform, Andy Rich gave a great set with his first live performance in five months. Tres cool, well done, and thanks for the laughs.
Black Dog
I love watching musicians watch other musicians. There’s something about it that I can’t quite put my finger on but just makes me really happy. Watching Black Dog arrive and seeing them take in their younger canine predecessors was a sight to behold. With lines of joy etched into their faces, it was easy to see their appreciation for the younger generation of talent. Equally enjoyable was the reverse, as Dogs In A Pile all stuck around for the master class in Led Zeppelin that is Black Dog.
Enjoying a run of great success over the months leading up to the pandemic, Black Dog was arguably at the high point of a long and successful career, recently playing on hallowed stages from Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre to the Fillmore Philly. A veteran tribute band, their homage to Led Zeppelin is authentic and awe inspiring. Getting your live Zep fix is no easy task, especially now, and I’m blessed to call these guys friends, even more so to have had them crush my backyard. Rob Malave, with an uncanny ability to match Robert Plant’s pitch, sings and plays harmonica as the band’s front man.
A coworker of mine who teaches language arts in high school english, I’d love to sit in his class and see him dig into Beowulf. Dan Toto, guitarist, honors Jimmy Page with his play, his look, and his impressive guitar rack. Whoa. Jeff Mott, a la John Paul Jones, plays bass, keyboards, mandolin, and 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars. Ted Gori, drums, has the difficult task of rising to the challenge of Bonzo’s beats and fills, and he makes it look easy. Christ, he even had a gong which drew the occasional ire of his elbow. These are skilled and practiced musicians, channeling the skill and catalog of their musical heroes with aplomb.
Playing a setlist straight out of my dreams (no, really, I kind of wrote it with the help of a good friend), they gave us two hours of the very best. Picking up on cues from the crowd response to the previous Dogs, they knew they had the audience to take a few tunes deep and they really went for it with “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and “Lemon Song” being perhaps my two favorite tunes that they took the furthest. Black Dog really gave their all in addition to giving us a little bit of everything, from the keyboard songs to the acoustics and everything in between. The acoustic set was perfectly placed, the peaks and valleys expertly coordinated, and these pro’s pros took us on an almost two and a half hour ride through rock and roll’s finest playbook. Whoop.
As stated up front, music unites in a way like nothing else. I am truly humbled by the opportunity to have brought such good people together for an insanely fun (and safe!) time. Thanks for everything … dancing, singing, laughing, playing, eating, swimming, sharing in the joy, and reading these words. Thanks for being you! My heart is full.
Finally, for the woman who allows it all to happen, thank you, Diana! I love you. #mywifesasaint
44,942 steps. Whoop!
Dogs In A Pile
Set One: Free, Look Johnny*, Good Lovin’, Blues For Brian*, I Can’t Wait For Tonight*, The Music Never Stopped, Snow Day*, Go Set*, Mr. Charlie
Set Two: Rinky Dink Rag*, Boogie On Reggae Woman >Linus and Lucy, Thomas Duncan Part 2, Bugle On The Shelf, Untitled (bathroom break song for Sam), Craig & Pat, Charlie
Black Dog
Rock & Roll ->, Good Times, Wanton Song ->, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over the Hills and Far Away -> Gallows Pole -> Ramble On, Going to California, That’s The Way, Back Country, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Kashmir, Dazed & Confused, Immigrant Song, Lemon Song, The Ocean, Black Dog
Megaforce Records, of course, was the great east-coast underground metal label from the gods. Technically, Megaforce was a New Jersey label, not a New York label, but its founders, Johnny and Marsha Zazula, were New Yorkers, and later in the 80s when the label became associated with Atlantic Records, they became more New York-based. Like the UK’s Neat Records which defined the northern British metal scene in 1980-83 or Minneapolis’ TWIN/TONE or Seattle’s SUB POP later in the 80s, Megaforce was the label that defined the East Coast, North American (and beyond) underground/thrash scene.
In the early years, almost every release was flawless, you could buy the record based on the label alone: Metallica’s ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and ‘Ride The Lightning’, Raven’s ‘All For One’ and ‘Live At the Inferno’, Anthrax’s ‘Fistful of Metal’, Exciter’s ‘Violence & Force’, Overkill’s ‘Feel The Fire’, the great ‘From The Megavault’ compilation, and S.O.D.’s all-powerful ‘Speak English or Die’, just to name a few. Classic after classic after classic.
By 1988, when this gig happened, Megaforce had expanded well beyond the literal mom-and-pop operation that had organized gigs by bands like Anvil and Brooklyn’s Riot, brought Venom and Raven over from the UK for the first time, brought west-coasters Metallica out east and released the first Metallica records and first Raven records in the States. By now they were bigger-time, associated with major label Atlantic for most of their acts (except New Yorkers Anthrax, were on Megaforce-Island Records). I was doing a college radio show at WCDB up in Albany and we played piles of new and old Megaforce stuff and the Megaforce folks who serviced college radio were very cool gals. So this show – a Megaforce 5th Anniversary party with a bunch of bands – I had to go.
I remember I drove down to NYC in whatever crappy old car I was driving in ’88, and met my buddy Steve K, a Brooklyn-ite who did the radio show in Albany with me but had a summer job in Manhattan. I think we got food and drinks at some place Steve knew that would serve underage kids like us, and then found a parking spot and went to the Ritz – and saw Scott Ian from Anthrax walk by with his guitar case. A good start.
There were numerous bands – see the flyers attached. I think New York legend and KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, who’d just become a solo Megaforce act, was going to play but didn’t, which was fine with me. I love Ace, but it didn’t really fit in my mind what “Megaforce” was. The band all played short sets – either 3 or 5 songs, I think. I was hoping there’d be a surprise Metallica set or something, or maybe Raven or something, but it was not to be – the bands were as advertised, and S.O.D. was playing, which was unusual enough.
I don’t remember first band Prophet, but they were a bit more lightweight, commercial metal than the usual Mega-bands from what I recall about them, so we either missed or ignored them while getting beer. We managed to figure out how to get served, despite being underage – I’d just turned 20, Steve was younger – and blagged our way up to the balcony “V.I.P.” section. Beer was free up there, and you’d look around and see Danny Lilker from Nuclear Assault over here, Billy Milano from M.O.D./S.O.D. over there, Doug Pinnick from KING’s X walking by (I stopped him and told him how great their debut record was, he could not have been cooler), Rob “Wacko” Hunter who’d just left Raven at a table over there, and most memorably, Joey Ramone, hammered as the day is long, staggering by with a couple of punk rock chicks on each arm. I had to go over to Wacko and let him know I’d always considered Raven one of the great bands ever and he testily said “yeah … USED TO BE,” but was cool and shook my hand.
Anyway, the bands. Recollections are dim and general, as the ale was flowing, but I remember being blown away by King’s X. This was my first time seeing them, heavy rock with melodic vocal harmonies everywhere, I loved that debut ‘Out of the Silent Planet’ record, and they didn’t even slightly fit on this bill. I recall them opening with “King” and closing with “Visions” and playing one other song. Fantastic band, and one I’ve loved since.
West Coast thrashers Testament are a great live band, and I’d seen them play with Anthrax the summer before, but they sucked this night. I think they made it through not even two songs before having sound problems, having hissy fits onstage, knocking over their amps mid-song and stomping off. Lame.
M.O.D. played either before or after Testament (or maybe even after Overkill), were a big Megaforce push in the ’87-88 years, and were good, but I always thought they were a poor-man’s S.O.D. And the real thing was playing later.
New Jersey thrash kings Overkill ruled, maybe the band of the night. I think they played a couple songs from the then-current ‘Under The Influence’ album, but they definitely played “Rotten To The Core” from the first record, and the place went off – I was down in the pit by then.
Queens band Anthrax were a very big deal by 1988, so seeing them in a club already seemed unusual and special, even though they’d just graduated to the bigger halls less than a year before. They stuck mostly to the hits (“Indians”, “I’m The Man” I think), but I recall they played “Metal Thrashing Mad” from their debut Megaforce record, if I’m not mistaken, which brought down the house.
And then: S.O.D. By now everyone in the house (including me), and the band probably too, were well into their cups. I remember Billy, Danny, Scott and Charlie walking on stage, starting with “March of the SOD” and the place exploded into a giant pit, bodies flying everywhere – S.O.D. had only ever played a handful of late ’85 shows when that record came out, and this was the first-ever show after the ‘Speak English or Die’ album had graduated to legendary status. It was like the crossover Beatles had reformed. “United Forces” had the whole place roaring. It went too quick and the gig was over.
We made it back up to Albany alive somehow. I think I asked Steve to get us out of the city and I’d drive the rest of the way, passed out, and I dimly remember waking up and seeing him driving manically up I-87 with a giant cup of coffee, a Budgie mix-tape that was in my car cranked, and all the windows open. So I left him in charge and passed back out until we reached Albany – I think I had to work in the a.m. anyway. A mighty night. All hail Megaforce Records.
