February of 2018 happened to be the warmest February on record in New York State, and part of the reason was probably due to the Tedeschi Trucks Band two sold out shows at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on the 20th and 21st. I was at the first show and, as usual, the band was on fire during their impressive set just shy of 20 songs, opening with a tight version of “Do I Look Worried” from the 2013 album Made Up Mind.
Much like Derek’s former band The Allman Brothers, TTB gets right down to business with very little talk directed to the audience, if any. Susan is an absolute powerhouse. She proved this once again during the epic “Until You Remember” from the 2011 album Revelator. The first set had a few covers such as Neil Young’s “Alabama” and Charles Segar’s “Key to the Highway.”
The set closed with an amazing “Idle Wind” jam from the group’s second album Made Up Mind. The second set started with “Statesboro Blues” which is actually a Blind Willie McTell song that was made famous by The Allman Brothers Band. The rest of the second set was very blues heavy and included some great covers like “Goin Down Slow” by St. Louis Jimmy Oden and “How Blue Can You Get” by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in which Susan played lead guitar and thanked their late friend B.B. King at the conclusion. The second set ended with a gospel song written by Bill Taylor called “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.”
The encore started with a fantastic cover of “You Don’t Know How It Feels” by Tom Petty who had passed away suddenly just 3 months earlier. The show ended with a extraordinary version of “Laugh About It.” During the chorus, Susan said, “Put your hands up for those kids,” referring to the tragedy at Parkland High School in Florida.
TTB was scheduled to tour in 2020, but due to Covid19, The Wheels of Soul Tour has been rescheduled to start in the summer of 2021. Starting on February 18th, the band is presenting a six-episode series of home performances called Fireside Sessions available on nugs.net. For more info visit the band’s website.
Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Capitol Theatre, February 20, 2018
Set 1: Do I Look Worried, Just as Strange, Until You Remember, Key To The Highway (Charles Segar cover), Don’t Miss Me (The Derek Trucks Band cover), Alabama (Neil Young cover), Talking About, Idle Wind
Set 2: Statesboro Blues (Blind Willie McTell cover), Part of Me, It’s So Heavy, Let Me Get By, Right On Time, Goin Down Slow (St. Louis Jimmy Oden cover), Made Up Mind, How Blue Can You Get (Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers cover), I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free (Bill Taylor cover)
Encore: You Don’t Know How It Feels (Tom Petty cover), Laugh About It
On Wednesday, February 17, 1988, 33 years ago tonight, the ‘headbangingest band in L.A.’, Armored Saint, played a gig at Saratoga Winners in Latham, NY. At the time, the band were touring their great third record, ‘Raising Fear’, on Chrysalis Records. Saint had been to the Albany area before – opening for Metallica and WASP in early 1985 in Scotia in support of first album ‘March of the Saint’, and again in mid-1986, a headline show at the short-lived JB’s Theater, promoting second record ‘Delirious Nomad’, so this gig was packed with enthusiastic headbangers.
Metroland advert
The opening act was Albany-area heavies M-16, and the years have dimmed my memory of their set – but I remember them getting a good reaction, not much else.
Bassist Joey Vera – photo by Mark Kurtzner
Saint hit the Saratoga Winners stage with the blazing title track of the then-new record, “Raising Fear,” followed by the anthemic first-album classic “March of the Saint,” the chorus roared along with by those in attendance. The band played a long set, incorporating older songs like “Can U Deliver,” “Nervous Man” and set-closer “Long Before I Die.” A particular highlight was the creeping, epic tale of nuclear annihilation, “Aftermath,” from Delirious Nomad. Drummer Gonzo and late, great guitarist Dave Prichard also had solo spots, both killer musicians. These days the band rarely play songs from ‘Raising Fear’, but that night they did a fair number of tracks from it, including vampire tale “Human Vulture,” “Out on a Limb,” their cover of Lynyrd Syknyrd’s “Saturday Night Special,” “Book of Blood,” and the rampaging “Chemical Euphoria,” the most enduring and the one most oft-played over the years. The first encore was “Frozen Will/Legacy” from that record – Setlist FM, if you believe “internet truths,” says this was the only known time they played that song live, ever, but maybe it was the only time it was bootlegged. Either way, great song.
Guitarist Dave Prichard – photo by Mark Kurtzner
The show finished with the band raging through a cover of Black Sabbath’s first-album classic “N.I.B.,” and the band’s high-speed, neck-snapping traditional show-closer, the mighty “Mad House.” A roaring, headbanging night – luckily, the whole thing was filmed by a fan in the audience, and is available online, and the energetic vibe from both band and crowd bleeds through, even via the rough footage available.
The video caused some drama after the show. My buddy Mark (who took the great photos accompanying this retrospective) and I had set up an interview with singer John Bush for post-concert – I think for my WCDB college radio show – and when we were about to go back, the road manager, a guy named Zach, gave us a major ration about the video. Apparently, someone had seen a friend of ours videoing it, saw us talking, and insisted that we turn over the video before the interview commenced. Of course, it wasn’t our video, we didn’t have it, people tape stuff, that’s life – plus, said bootlegger had left, so what were we supposed to do? Road Manager guy didn’t want to hear it and continued to give us grief. This lasted for a while. I can’t recall how it resolved, but I think someone from the band told him to chill out, and we got a really good interview with John and some of the other guys – I remember we got a really funny, cool WCDB station ID from drummer Gonzo and guitarist Dave Prichard which was used on-air and WCDB for years afterwards. Road manager aside, Saint were/are some great guys.
Singer John Bush – photo by Mark Kurtzner
The ironic part of the “road manager giving us crap” story is that, via the tape-trading scene, Saint eventually got a copy of the video, and used the bootleg video recording of “Raising Fear” from this show as part of the ‘Trip Through Red Times’ video/DVD which was released as a tribute to the mighty AS guitarist Dave Prichard after he sadly passed away from leukemia just two years later – what a great guitarist this guy was, and he’s been gone 31 years this month. A sad loss. All hail Dave, and all hail Armored Saint.
Setlist: Raising Fear, March of the Saint, Human Vulture, Nervous Man, Out on a Limb (Last known live performance), Aftermath, Book of Blood, Chemical Euphoria, Can U Deliver, Gonzo Sandoval’s Drum Solo, Can U Deliver (reprise), Dave Prichard’s Guitar Solo, Saturday Night Special (Lynyrd Skynrd cover), Long Before I Die
Encore: Frozen Will / Legacy (Only known live performance) , N. I. B. (Black Sabbath cover – Last known performance), Mad House
What is it about Upstate New York Winter’s that make great music artists bring their multi-colored California concepts here to heat things up? Forty-one years ago today, Jerry Garcia Band came to be an act for the Lake Ontario sound at Laker Hall on SUNY Oswego campus February 17, 1980.
A then 37-year old Garcia had his second touring band outside the Grateful Dead since collaborating with Howard Wales on hooteroll?. His four piece ensemble consisted of John Kahn on Bass, David Ozzie Ahlers on Keyboards, and Johnny De Fonseca on drums. The band set up atop the cold brick Route 104 venue on the hill, overlooking Lake Ontario, for three hours of music played to around 2,000 people.
They certainly let Jerry’s influences play out in the performance with covers of Allen Toussaint, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Cliff, J.J Cale, The Beatles, and his own material with the Grateful Dead. Like a typical New York Winter, Syracuse Deadhead Vinny Randazzo remembers the drive to the Oswego show as “covered in snow and sound.” The group immediately stretches out for fifteen minutes to start the show on Toussaint’s “I’ll Take A Melody” to let you know “I understand why the old fisherman, sails along, someday he’ll be gone.” Perhaps it was a quick nod to the windy docks of the Great Lake that sat next to all. There’s some devil out there that’s for sure, which launched them into “Friend of the Devil,” a friend Jerry normally plays with. Just three days after Valentine’s Day and three songs into the performance, love for the faithful is shown on “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” The band then casts a line out to the crowd at shore, for a muddy version of “Catfish John.”
Jerry Garcia, Laker Hall, SUNY Oswego
The Grateful Dead anthem “Deal” comes up next, with Jerry reminding you of tours past: “ If I told you all that went down, it would burn off both of your ears!” There is a 4th Street in Oswego, and Jerry covers the waterside corner during his take on Dylan’s “Positively 4th St” singing, ” You see me on the street, you always act surprised, you say “How are you?,” “Good Luck” But you don’t mean it.”
They close the set with a rockabilly tribute to Elvis for “That’s Alright Mama.” Yea, that first set was more than alright for all in attendance… “any way you do.”
Lake Ontario Winter Melody: “The Sky was Grey with a Spec of Blue, Peek through a Hole in the Clouds, The Sun was Screaming “Hey You!”
After the set break, Elvis had not left the building. The quartet kicked off with the King’s version of “Money Honey,” that got everyone in GA hound-dogging back on the floor. During the set break the crowd certainly felt like they had been “Sitting Here in Limbo,” which is what the band dropped next. David Ozzie Ahlers brings you to Jimmy Cliff’s islands with a two part keyboard solo. Jerry reflects on an American working day for the the next track “Later in the evening when the sun is sinking low, all day I’ve Been waiting for the Whistle to Blow” on “Let It Rock.” Garcia lights up his delta licks on this Chuck Berry classic.
Up next is one of the greatest live improvisational segue ways in rock and roll history. On the famous tape you might recognize the “After Midnight —> Eleanor Rigby Jam—>After Midnight” jam that was only played in the beginning of that decade. This is one of Senor Garcia’s sweetest unplanned moments to be captured.
1980 Eleanor Rigby Jam in to After Midnight at Oswego
Jerry takes another stab at Dylan’s seasonal lyrics “Now the wintertime is coming, the windows are filled with frost, I went to tell everybody but I could not get across, well, I wanna be your lover baby, I don’t want to be your Boss” for “It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” Jerry’s Tiger guitar Quartet immediately melt the ice with the last song for “The Harder They Come.” “The Harder they Fall, One and All” to bring back the island vibe beats to close out the evening.
Jerry Garcia Band 1980 winter tour rolled through New York State from Oswego to The Palace Theater in Albany, The Landmark Theater in Syracuse, The Calderone Theater in Hempstead and SUNY Stonybrook. They came back to Laker Hall under new personnel one last time on December 11, 1983 with Melvin Seals. Jerry Garcia kept a solo band outside of The Grateful Dead for the next 15 years with Melvin Seals How Sweet It Is: Melvin Seals at The Westcott Theater who carries the JGB touring torch to this day.
In a 1981 interview someone asked Jerry Garcia “What are the virtues playing with your own band compared to the Grateful Dead?” Garcia responded “Its a real resonate consonance experience, its like harmonious, every bodies musical taste is similar to my own, ya know?, and our concept of what music should be, were an accord, so my band is playing the kind of music that I think of the way music is constructed , in terms of the roles and the instruments, The Grateful Dead is interesting because everyone has a different concept of what music is about, which creates a lot of friction and tension to it”
Jerry Garcia Band, February 17 1980, Laker Hall, Oswego, NY
Set 1: I’ll Take A Melody, Friend Of The Devil, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) Catfish John, Deal, Positively 4th Street That’s All Right, Mama
Set 2: Money Honey, Sitting Here In Limbo, Let It Rock, After Midnight > Eleanor Rigby Jam > After Midnight, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, The Harder They Come
On Friday, February 7, 1964, Beatlemania arrived in the United States, as John, Paul, George and Ringo touched down on Pan Am Flight 101 at JFK Airport in Queens. More than 3,000 screaming fans greeted the mod suit wearing Beatles on the tarmac, leading to a few injuries among the crowd.
AP photo
In Anthology, Paul McCartney shared his thoughts as the plane approached New York.
There were millions of kids at the airport, which nobody had expected. We heard about it in mid-air. There were journalists on the plane, and the pilot had rang ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.’ We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.’
At nearly 1:30 p.m., the plane taxied to the terminal and the aircraft door opened. Cheers and screams rang out from the crowd. The NY Daily News reported a 17-year-old June Clayton of Brooklyn saying “They’re so cute. And Ringo’s the cutest. Look at them comb their hair!”
In addition to the huge crowd carrying signs and placards, the press numbered 200, reporters, photographers and cameramen among them.
How did so many people arrive at JFK Airport on this Friday afternoon? It seems Seltaeb, who handled The Beatles’ merchandising in the States, offered a promotion that promised every one who showed up at the airport would receive a t-shirt and a dollar, or $8.40 in 2021 dollars. The idea was crafted by Nicky Byrne of Seltaeb, with direction from Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Byrne made a deal with radio stations WMCA and 1010 WINS to promote the offer, but Capitol Records had a promotion of their own, arranging for posters and car stickers that read “The Beatles are Coming” being spread out across New York City. When fans called Capitol Records, receptionists would answer the phone, “Capitol Records, The Beatles are coming.” Between radio, print and offers of a free shirt and money, fans flocked to JFK to give the boys from Liverpool a proper welcome.
Murray the K, DJ at 1010 WINS, announced The Beatles’ flight number and time of arrival over the air, which was spread by larger stations WMCA and WABC, helping to build anticipation.
The band then held a press conference inside Kennedy Airport where they met Murray the K, and were asked by the press pool to say their names, as the were individually not well known to the press.
The playful press conference was nothing more than a slapstick routine for the foursome, mildly frustrating the straight-laced press. Just as the crowd was dissipating, Paul grabbed the microphone to say “We have a message.” As reporters got ready to take notes and photographers jockeyed for position, Paul would say, “Our message is: buy more Beatles records!”
The Fab Four would leave the airport in four separate limousines, with Cynthia Lennon accompanying John and the others riding solo. Epstein and others needed to hail a taxi to get into Manhattan. A play-by-play could be heard on the radio by McCartney, which culminated in a crowd of fans and reporters swarming the band at the Plaza Hotel, where the band was giving a 10-room suite on the 12th floor with a Central Park view.
In the days that followed, The Beatles would make music history in New York City and Washington, D.C. On Sunday, February 9 at 8pm, Ed Sullivan welcomed the band to his stage for five songs: “All My Loving,” Meredith Willson’s “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” 73 million tuned in to watch The Ed Sullivan Show that night, roughly two-fifths of the population in America at that time. This would be the largest television audience at the time, according to Nielsen.
On February 11 at the Washington Coliseum, The Beatles performed their first American concert, with 8,000 lucky fans in attendance. They returned to the Big Apple the next day for performances at Carnegie Hall on the 12th and 13th, each of which were attended by 2,000.
From New York, The Beatles flew to Miami, making a second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 16, broadcast from the Napoleon Ballroom at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, bringing in another huge audience of 70 million viewers. Returning to England via Heathrow Airport on February 22, the band was met by 10,000 fans, leaving the beginnings of Beatlemania in their wake back in America.
It was January 29, 1990 in Central New York and, yes, it was snowing. Fans who attended the Phish show that night at The (original) Haunt in Ithaca did so battling a blizzard and poor roads, which caused the band to arrive late, quickly set up and, after a live soundcheck, got the show on the road.
Phish has played sporadically in the Fingerlakes Region of New York throughout their career, most notably and recently, Superball IX, Magnaball and shows in Canandaigua at CMAC. Their early years in the college town of Ithaca proved to be formative, bringing the band to town multiple times between 1988-1992 before graduating to larger venues like Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center (now CMAC).
The Haunt in Ithaca c.1990 (photo is not from the 1/29/90 Phish show)
From Phish’s bar years, this is an early era show that captures the band when they played to their early fans, many seeing the Burlington group for the first time. After a three-night run in May 1988, Phish would return to The Haunt in Ithaca for a show on January 29, 1990, with a loud and rowdy 18-and-over audience.
The partial tape of the show starts in the middle of “The Lizards” and continues through a “Harpua” and “Fire” encore, a setlist that is culled together thanks to David Schanker’s and Todd Ahrens’ audience recording. Thus, there is no known first set for this show.
You can hear the audience from this show quite distinctly, elated when each song ends, and fans screaming out requests despite the band being barely six years old. You may even catch drunks screaming into the mic, which was set up on the bar. One patron this night can be heard saying “Nothing like this has ever been done at The Haunt, unbelieveable man!” Quite the frozen-in-time seal of approval.
Recording aside, this is a smoking show musically, particularly for the “Weekapaug Groove” and a “Harpua” that has a tough to discern narration but full of “Purple Haze” teases. That said, you’ll get a fair idea of what it was like to see Phish at the original Haunt in Ithaca.
Dan Smalls, Ithaca-area promoter and head of DSP Shows was at the January 29, 1990 show and shared his recollections with NYS Music:
It was about as classic a Phish set as you get from the very early days. I always loved how they chose popular and also odd songs to cover, teases in jams and the like. That was a part of who they are today and was a huge bit of fun at the festivals we produced where they would learn a song backstage between sets.
My recollection is also vague but the room was solidly crowded in this era (unlike 1988 when we had a handful for those first few shows) and the band was on the cusp of the next step at this point. I remember that the band was playing The Haunt at least once a semester and often 3-4 times a year in these days. It’s where I got to know them and these shows were always fun because Fish’s parents would come down from where they lived outside Syracuse.
Phish would go on to play The Haunt another four times in 1990, then move up to the State Theatre of Ithaca for two shows in 1991. They returned the next year to perform at Cornell University campus in November 1992, the last shows for the band in the city.
On January 25, 2018, Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, played BB King Blues Club in NYC shortly before the venue permanently closed its doors. Despite his late arrival, DMX managed to put on a great show and win back the restless crowd that waited hours for him to arrive.
The crowd went crazy when he finally came out, but many were skeptical if he was going to be able to perform due to his recent issues with substance abuse. DMX proved everyone wrong who doubted him as he started his set with the hard hitting “We Right Here.” He sounded like he did in ’98, the year his first album, It’s Dark and Hell is Hotcame out.
He went on to perform more classics like “Who We Be,” “Ruff Ryders Anthem,” “Where the Hood At,” “Get At Me Dog,” “Party Up” and “Slippin.” Throughout the night he cracked jokes and showed his appreciation to the crowd. He ended the show like he always does, with a prayer.
The hour long set left fans wanting more. Hopefully there will be new music from DMX in the future for the club. B.B. King Blues Club NYC closed it doors for the final time after 18 years on April 29, 2018. So far the venue has not announced any plans to reopen.
A killer double-bill of Soundgarden and Voivod took place 31 years ago today on January 25, 1990 at The Chance in Poughkeepsie. Actually, it was a triple-bill, a band called The Big F opened, but there was some pretty intense fog. We got there just in time for Soundgarden and missed the openers.
In early 1990, Soundgarden was promoting their 1989 major-label debut, Louder Than Love; the one before it, Ultramega OK, had also been released that year. I’d first heard their single, “Flower,” when I was DJing at WCDB and it was awesome. I picked up anything I could find or taped the stuff.
Soundgarden c. 1990
This show was with Jason Everman on bass, who gave Soundgarden a more metal edge live. Everman had lots of headbanging, jumping around and flying hair, which you didn’t get with his mellow-predecessor Hiro, nor his (permanent) replacement, Ben Sheperd, who would come into the band in Summer 1990. Everman’s story is really interesting – he was the second guitarist in Nirvana around the time of Bleach, but only played live with them, and left long before Nevermind and widespread fame. He then joined his second legendary Seattle band, Soundgarden, in 1989 and played with them as bassist on most of the Louder Than Love tour [he’s also on the Louder Than Live video and promo CD, and some b-sides].
Everman was dismissed from Soundgarden a few months after this show, after that he played with a cool NJ band called Mind Funk, appearing on their 1992 Dropped record, again as guitarist. After that, he joined the service and I believe became a Navy SEAL or Special Forces and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq for many years. There’s a great New York Times magazine article about him which you can find online – the guy who was in Nirvana and Soundgarden before they became huge rock stars, and then became a Navy SEAL.
Anyways, Soundgarden. They were incredible. They played some older songs like opener “Flower” and closed with “Beyond The Wheel” from Ultramega OK. They played a whole bunch of Louder Than Love stuff in between, plus a cover of Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom,” totally kicked ass. Chris Cornell was in a quiet mood, there was little talk to the crowd, just flying hair, big down-tuned riffs and crushing heaviness. Soundgarden was amazing in those days. I saw them three times on this tour; this was the first.
It seems odd now that Quebec metallers Voivod headlined, but in early 1990 they were the bigger band – this was well before the Seattle explosion and alt-rock boom, long before “Black Hole Sun” and mainstream Soundgarden success. VV were promoting their Nothingface album at the time, easily my favorite Voivod record ever and one which has aged well. An incredible record, and they played most of it for today’s flashback, in 1990. I love their older, early Venom-ish stuff too, but they really didn’t play much of the older stuff at this gig – amazing show, amazing band. Soundgarden, as incredible as they were, did not blow Voivod away – a killer couple of bands, each as mighty as the other, a great diverse pairing. All hail Voivod and Soundgarden.
Soundgarden setlist: Flower, Hands All Over, Gun, Loud Love, Get on the Snake, Big Dumb Sex, Full on Kevin’s Mom, I Awake, Big Bottom, Beyond the Wheel
Voivod setlist: The Unknown Knows, Nothingface, Tribal Convictions, X-Ray Mirror, Tornado, Pre-Ignition, Missing Sequences, Brain Scan, Into My Hypercube, Astronomy Domine, Inner Combustion, Ravenous Medicine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKpt_HSa24w
Original review by John Moore from BUZZ Magazine. Republished with permission.
On January 22, 1972 Jerry Garcia performed at Setnor Auditorium on Syracuse University campus with his first live touring band outside of the Grateful Dead. He teamed up with American Beauty collaborator Howard Wales who wrote the composition to the album Hooteroll? The all instrumental LP which Garcia participated with a various cast on is reminiscent of Miles Davis record Bitches Brew. Abdul Mati Klarwein who did the cover album art for Bitches Brew also sketched Hooteroll?.
Jerry Garcia once stated that “Howard did more for my ears than anybody I ever played with because he was so extended and so different.” As for the brief January 1972 tour in which Garcia, Wales and co. performed a handful of Northeast dates, in support of Hooteroll?, Wales remembers, “Jerry played some of the best blues I ever heard him play on that tour. The Hooteroll? tour that was basically a blur, though. We had two hours of sleep a night and by the time we got finished we were ready to be delivered to the emergency room.”
The touring band that took the stage in Syracuse that night was made up of Jerry Garcia on guitar, Howard Wales on keyboards, Jerry Love on drums, Jimmy Vincent guitar, Roger Troy (aka Jellyroll) on bass and vocals. The 700 person capacity music hall on top of SU Hill houses a 3,823-pipe Holtkamp Organ below a 70-foot-high open timber roof and stained glass windows. The show consisted of a 22 song set list that was mostly heavy improvisational acid jazz-rock fusion and does not have any live vocals till almost 30 minutes into the performance. With original jam tracks like “Space Funk” it could be said that they helped coin the category.
The entire performance weaves throughout galaxies on a cold January night with the Hooteroll? track “A Trip to What Next” One can only imagine the steamy visual illusions this music created off the stained glass windows inside Setnor that night. Unlike Jerry’s live playing with the Grateful Dead in which he led the pack, in the beginning of 72 it was Wales who was calling the plays. Fifty minutes into the performance is Garcia’s only words to the crowd where he introduces the band and takes a seat to see what unfolds with everybody else. After his quick ten minute set break Garcia returns to play his Wales acclaimed “best blues” on “Sweet Cocaine.”
This Dinosaur BBQ blues ballad was One of Four songs that featured any vocals by Jellyroll, “when your downtown and left all alone, i need some rest woman, lord when i come home, i can’t get nobody, lord to sooth my soul, well i feel like a dog that’s lost his bone” After another 30 minute journey down the improvisational tunnel led by Wales on Hammond B3 organ the ensemble encores with “Gypsy Women.”
A week later the band made their way down the Thruway to the University of Buffalo for a performance on January 29, 1972. Very limited material exists of their work, Wales recently found the Buffalo tape and observed “It was a great tour because none of it was rehearsed. Some people are surprised when they hear that but we were capable of being out of the box. The way people get that way is because they’re jammers. Jammers have no fear.” Drummer Joe Russo had no panic over the years assembling musicians for their tribute to Hooteroll?
The Rose, Jules R Dot, and Stanford S Dot Sentor. School of Music, Syracuse University
His third time was last January 12 at Brooklyn Bowl for the 2020 NYC Winter Jazz Fest where Russo led an all-star cast tribute to the composition. Joe Russo Presents Hooteroll? + Plus! at Winter Jazz Fest; The Bogie Band Debut. After a long strange trip of 77 years, Howard Wales just passed away on December 7, 2020. His iconic keyboard sound can be heard on The Grateful Dead’s signature studio version of “Truckin‘.” “There was a point in which he was going to join the Dead, but Howard was to out there for them”
Listen to the Studio Recording of Hooteroll? below.
On Sunday, January 19, 2014, Jay-Z played a sold out show at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island during his Magna Carter world tour. “The last time I was in this building I brought Michael Jackson to the stage,” he said. “I know that show will be a hard one to top, but we’re going to try tonight.” Jay looked at home while he took the audience on a 27 song journey of his musical career, covering almost all of his studio 12 albums. He also had a four piece band which included DJ/producer Timbaland.
The Magna Carter tour was Jay-Z’s first headlining tour in almost four years. Initially Jay was supposed to go on tour with Justin Timberlake in support of Timberlake’s come back to music and new album The 20/20 Experience. However, on July 24, 2013 Jay-Z released his twelfth studio album Magna Carter Holy Grail and on July 26, 2013 the tour was announced. The tour started in Europe, but due to its overwhelming success, a second leg of the tour was announced on September 13, 2013 to take place in North America. Based on Pollstar reports, the tour earned $48.9 million from 52 shows from 2013 to 2014.
Jay-Z – Magna Carter Tour
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, Long Island – January 19, 2014
Setlist: You Don’t Know, Crown, On to the Next One, Holy Grail, Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit, Beach is Better, 99 Problems, Picasso Baby, Can I Live, No Church in the Wild, Somewhere in America, Big Pimpin’, Timbaland Interlude, Can I Get A Nigga What, Nigga Who, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, I Just Wanna Love You, Niggas in Paris, Tom Ford, Public Service Announcement, Clique, Run This Town.
Encore: Who Gon Stop Me, Empire State of Mind, Izzo, Hard Knock Life, Young Forever.
Many bands have found it difficult to find ways to connect with fans in new and interesting ways during the COVID-19 pandemic but the alt-rock band PVRIS has found a way to do with it’s live performances of it’s albums in their entirety. They took to the virtual stage to perform AWKOHAWNOH on January 9, 2021 in its entirety for the first time including performing two songs off the album that had never been performed live before broadcasting live from Arizona.
PVRIS is an alternative rock band from Lowell, Massachusetts. The band formed back in 2012 under the name to Paris and eventually changed it to PVRIS for legal reasons. They got their big start in Warped Tour’s battle of the bands finalists in 2013 and have since grown into the the band that’s known today.
Before this virtual concert I personally have seen PVRIS perform twice in person and once virtually for their previous album White Noise. Every time they have killed it. As a big fan of listening to full albums in their entirety the bands decision to perform all of their albums in their live was extremely exciting and intriguing for me and the performances have lived up to the hype.
AWKOHAWNOH, also known as ‘All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell’ is PVRIS second album and was originally released on August 25, 2017 and included 10 tracks. The live-stream series is being presented by Pillar which is the platform that is hosting the series. PVRIS is selling tickets either for $15 for a one time ticket or a monthly subscription for $10 a month which gives special insights and allows the viewer to re-watch the live-streams. They are also selling merchandise specialize for each album and meet and greets with the band for each show. A part of the proceeds from the AWKOHAWNOH live-stream went to The Ally Coalition to benefit mutual aid organizations in the US.
The performance featured original members Lyndsey Gunnulfsen or more commonly known as Lynn Gunn and Brain McDonald and newcomer Denny Agosto Vega. Lynn Gunn is the powerhouse behind the band and is it’s lead singer, guitarist and is also known for playing keys, bass and being the main writer behind the bands discography. Brain McDonald is the bassist and is also known for his photography as well as his guitar and keys skills. Denny Agosto Vega has been standing in as the drummer and also performed with the band during their live version of their White Noise album back in November of 2020. The noticeably missing member was EX-guitarist Alex Babinski who parted ways with the band earlier this year after Sexual Misconduct Allegations were made against him and the band made a statement saying he would no longer be associated with the band.
The show was supposed to start at 8PM EST but as people waited on the stream to start as 8PM came and went. The anticipation grew in the group chat that accompanied the stream. Music videos from PVRIS’ newest album Use Me played and then eventually everything went dark. The stage appeared with a floor full of fog and iridescent lights. Lynn Gunn on Keys, Brain McDonald on Bass, and Denny Agosto Vega on drums opened with “Heaven, the first song on AWKOHAWNOH. It opened with Lynn’s Voice and keys for the first half of the first verse and then the rest of the band came in. Although it was just streaming onto my TV it felt just as strong of an entrance at any live show I have been to and brought the same adrenaline and excitement.
Throughout the album Lynn Gunn and Brain McDonald continually switched playing bass and guitar taking turns and highlighting their musical abilities. With Alex Babinski no longer playing lead Brian McDonald filled in that position for some of the songs which was different than the last stream. On the White Noise live stream Brian McDonald stuck to bass the entire time as well as playing on the keys occasionally with Lynn Gunn playing keys and guitar. Most of the lead guitar parts were pre recorded in the last live stream though so having a fuller live sound was great during this performance.
One of my favorite moments was when they performed “No Mercy” which is a fan favorite and Lynn Gunn introduced the song saying, “We got a one-way ticket to shred-ville, this is your captain speaking.” The band were really in their element with this song and just having a good time jumping around and playing and dancing together. Denny Agosto Vega was even standing while playing drums and Lynn Shredded on the guitar like her life depended on it.
Another one I really enjoyed was when Lynn Gunn performed “Separate” stripped with just her vocals and keys. Coming after all the hyper-ness of “No Mercy” it was the perfect way to follow up a song that would be hard to follow with another upbeat song. It slows everything down and brings the focus back to Lynn Gunn’s unique and powerful lyrics.
Maybe one of the biggest high points of the show was when they performed “Walk Alone” and “Nola 1” for the first time ever. Both songs have been heavily anticipated by the PVRIS fandom known as the CVLT. Both songs lived up to the hype of being performed live for the first time. “Walk Alone” was one of my favorite’s off the album so hearing it live was a dream come true. “Nola 1” closing out the show was perfectly fitting somehow being one of the most widely anticipated songs to be performed live to wrap up a great night. After the show the band came and “sniffed” everyone watching in their goofy joking way of trying to connect to the audience and said to stay safe and that they loved them. It was a great way to spend a night during COVID-19.
The last album Use Me’s live stream performance is yet to be announced but when it is will also be available to stream on Pillar. For more information visit PVRIS website or their Pillar page.
