After taking a year off in early 2021 during the (still ongoing) pandemic, the annual Wintercourse will return to Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Saturday, January 8, 2022.
Wintercourse 2022 boasts a lineup including Brooklyn bands Teddy Midnight, Jam the Radar, Bonus Level (featuring members of Cousin Earth), and headlined by Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, featuring Scales, a world renowned steel pan player who melds fusion, progressive and rock music on steel pans.
Bonus Level will perform a set of video game jams, featuring members of Cousin Earth, the original hosts of Wintercourse. Synth-driven trio Teddy Midnight will bring in tunes perfect to set the tone for a night of dancing, with newcomers Jam the Radar kicking off the night.
Past Wintercourse events have featured acts such as Bella’s Bartok, Funky Dawgz Brass Band, The Reformed Whores, Space Bacon, Chromatropic, Teddy Midnight, The Matty Carl Project, Mercury Landing, Stevie and The Lion and many others. Read a take from the 8th annual Wintercourse in 2019:
After a short break, the night’s hosts “Cousin Earth” quickly set up and opened their Wintercourse set with the Queen staple “Bohemian Rhapsody,” highlighting newest member Melissa Goscinski’s beautiful falsetto, much to the delight of everyone in the room. With their unique ukulele arrangements and stage antics, Cousin Earth provided a set full of surprises.
“When The Dinosaurs Come Back From Outer Space” saw the appearance of a dancing dinosaur in the crowd before they launched everyone back into the stratosphere with the dance track “Super Fun Laser Beams.” The funky “Alive,” from the recently released album Human Music, paved the way for former vocalist Tara Lawton to come out and rejoin the group on Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady.”
Tickets are available on the Knitting Factory website, or you can Venmo cousinearth@gmail.com for NO-FEE digital tickets in advance.
Puddles Pity Party performed this past Sunday, December 12 for a few hundred engaged fans at The Egg in Albany. You may be familiar with Puddles from his over 800,000 subscriber Youtube Channel, his appearance on America’s Got Talent, or his performances with Post Modern Jukebox. For the uninitiated, Puddles appears as a large and somber clown and sings reimagined covers with his bellowing voice of gold.
Puddles may be a sad clown, but his performance was filled with humor, irony, and a positive outlook on life. The singing clown put his own spin on a number of hits including Billie Eilish’s “When the Party’s Over,” Lorde’s “Royals” and REM’s “Everybody Hurts.” These covers were often accompanied by videos and act outs that gave new meaning to the lyrics. Musician and comedian, Dave Hill, also joined Puddles on stage throughout the night after opening the show.
Puddles and Co. were full of energy and made themselves at home in The Egg. The stage slowly became littered with tissues, glitter, picture frames, and clothes as the show progressed. Puddles Pity Party found themselves running from the mess and into the crowd throughout the night as they sang and soloed with the audience. At one point, Puddles moved from fan to fan while he took their phones, and recorded himself singing before handing the phones off to anyone but their rightful owners. The crowd jumped to their feet at the end of the show to applaud what was a fun and original night of covers.
You can see Puddles Pity Party live at his final New York State show on Dec. 16 at the Tarrytown Music Hall,and you can view all of Puddles’ tour dates on his website.
Buffalo’s Aqueous has announced dates for their Spring Tour 2022, including shows at the new Brooklyn Made and Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs.
Aqueous will wrap up 2021 with a show at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, with Eggy joining them to close out the year. They’ll venture to New York City for their debut at Brooklyn Made on January 29. After a pair of shows in Colorado in March, the band returns east for a show in Pittsburgh on April 1, Cleveland on April 2, then Saratoga Springs on April 8. The final announced show will be in Chicago on April 23, with one festival date – Great South Bay Music Festival over July 7-10, 2022
Aqueous Spring Tour 2022 tickets are now on sale at AqueousBand.com
After a four year hiatus, Jack White has announced the first dates of The Supply Chain Issues Tour with shows in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Finally back to headlining shows, White will begin the tour with two special Fear Of The Dawn album release shows April 8-9, 2022 at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre and arrive in New York on April 21 with a show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Fear Of the Dawn arrives via Third Man Records on April 8, 2022, and Entering Heaven Alive will follow on July 22, 2022 which will be celebrated on this very tour. But if you can’t wait that long Fear Of The Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive are available for pre-order on vinyl and CD now. But wait, there’s more.
Album art for Fear Of The Dawn
Along with the standard black vinyl version of Fear Of the Dawn, five limited edition vinyl variants have been announced and are also available for pre-order. The variants include a midnight blue vinyl version with a screen printed jacket available to Third Man Records Vault Members in the Vault Novelties store, astronomical blue vinyl at select independent record stores, moon glow white vinyl at Target, and a split moon glow white & astronomical blue LP with an 11”x11” screen printed poster and Third Man Records compilation CD at Rough Trade Records. You can also find an exclusive slip mat available with the album only at Urban Outfitters. Details on digital pre-orders for both albums and vinyl variants for Entering Heaven Alive will be announced at a later date.
Album art for Entering Heaven Alive
If you’re a Third Man Records Vault Members, feel free to take advantage of the first presale tickets beginning Monday, December 13 at 10am local time. Additionally, olny Citi card members, those holding the official card of Jack White and The Supply Chain Issues Tour, will have access to presale tickets for US shows beginning Tuesday, December 14 at 10am local time until Thursday, December 16 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. Fans can also register for a Thursday, December 16 presale by saving “Taking Me Back” HERE. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10am local time on Friday, December 17. A limited number of VIP packages will be available for each show. Check ticket listings for more details and information.
Jack White “The Supply Chain Issues” 2022 World Tour
April 08 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Theatre
April 09 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Theatre
April 10 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
April 12 – Chicago, IL – Credit Union 1 Arena
April 13 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center
April 14 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center
April 16 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
April 17 – Boston, MA – Agganis Arena
April 19 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
April 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
April 23 – Portsmouth, VA – Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion
April 24 – North Charleston, SC – High Water Festival *
April 26 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
April 27 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
April 28 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
April 30 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
May 01 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
May 23 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
May 24 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
May 25 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
May 27 – El Paso, TX – El Paso County Coliseum
May 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Federal Theatre
May 29 – Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan
May 31 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
June 01 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
June 03 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
June 04 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 06 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
June 07 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum
June 08 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
June 10 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
June 11 – Broomfield, CO – 1STBANK Center
June 27 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
June 28 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
June 30 – Cologne, Germany – Palladium
July 01 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
July 02 – Leipzig, Germany – Haus Auensee
July 04 – Berlin, Germany – Verti Music Hall
July 07 – Lyon, France – Le Radiant
July 10 – Madrid, Spain – Mad Cool Festival *
July 14 – Zurich, Switzerland – Samsung Hall
July 15 – Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
July 16 – Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
July 18 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
July 19 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
July 20 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
August 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory
August 16 – Milwaukee, WI – UWM Panther Arena
August 17 – Indianapolis, IN – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
August 19 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
August 21 – Lewiston, NY – Artpark
August 23 – Portland, ME – Cross Insurance Arena
August 24 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion
August 25 – Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
August 27 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheater
August 28 – St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park
A stellar post punk triple bill hit the Lower East Side’s Bowery Ballroom on Friday, December 10th featuring Preoccupations, METZ and FACS. The tour is actually a co-headline with Metz and Preoccupations switching each night with FACS providing the support. The tour hit Bushwick’s Elsewhere on Thursday night with METZ as the headliner, and Preoccupations took the late slot on Friday at Bowery.
FACS at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Support for the shows on the tour came from the Chicago based band FACS. The band boasts a robust rhythm section with the driving drums and bass being front and center and psychedelic and dark guitar tones filling the void. FACS have three LPs under their belts since making their debut in 2018. Void Moments was released during the pandemic in 2020 and their third record, Present Tense was released earlier this year; both of which are seeing their live debut on this tour.
FACS at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Canadian punk vets METZ took the stage next, in full support of their excellent 2020 LP Atlas Vending. Vocalist Alex Edkins spoke to the crowd between songs, explaining how weird it felt to finally be able to play the record live more than a year after it’s original release. The band played the first 5 tracks of the new album to start their set, with a couple more towards the end. Atlas Vending is METZ at their peak, and fans at Bower Ballroom on Friday were thrilled to finally experience it live.
METZ at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
Closing out the show on Friday was fellow Canadian band Preoccupations who are still touring strong behind their 2018 LP New Material. Preoccupations have been playing this record live for a while now, but this time around tracks such as “Antidote” were given a whole new live arrangement. A couple of new, unfamiliar songs were played during the set, indicating a new record may be on the way soon although nothing has been announced just yet.
Preoccupations at Bowery Ballroom, 12/10/2021. Photo by Buscar Photo
The tour continues this week with shows in Columbus and Chicago, before two hometown shows at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. Preoccupations, METZ, and FACS complimented each other so well at Bowery Ballroom and all have exciting new material either just out or on the horizon. It is certainly a show not to be missed.
moe. welcomed an array of special guests to their Capitol Theatre shows last weekend in honor of their guitarist Chuck Garvey who was recently hospitalized due to a stroke. Special guests on Friday included Scott Metzger, Aron Magner, Warren Haynes, Shannon Lynch, & Emma Derhak (daughter of moe.’s very own bassist Rob).
Metzger sat in for the first three songs which included an “Annihilation Blues” opener and “Stranger Than Fiction.” Aron Magner then tagged in for the remainder of the show. The first set ended with an emotional “Bring You Down.”
Spirits were high and lots of love was expressed for both Chuck and the band all weekend. The special guests provided an incredibly lively dynamic to some classic moe. material like Warren Haynes sitting in on a second set “Opium” and a super charged set-ending “Recreational Chemistry” as well as some beloved classic covers like Pink Floyd’s “Time” & Led Zepelin’s “Immigrant Song” which both served as the first night’s encore.
Saturday night saw Strangefolk’s Reid Genauer sit in for the first two songs, including “Akimbo” which featured Chuck’s nephew also on guitar. Nate Wilson manned keys for almost the entire night, lending his prowess to first set songs like “Captain America” and “Moth.” The second set was highlighted by Schleigho’s Suke Cerulo who amazed on guitar.
An intense “The Pit” and the classic Chuck song “Four” were just some of the gems from this set. But perhaps the best thing seen all weekend were video images of a rehabilitating Chuck himself playing guitar that were streamed on the walls of the Cap, indeed giving hope for the new year.
moe. ~ The Capitol Theatre ~ Port Chester, NY ~ 12/10/21
I: Annihilation Blues*, Stranger Than Fiction*, Dangerous Game*^%, Deep This Time^%, Blue Christmas^%&, Where Does The Time Go?^%, Bring You Down^
{Entire show without Chuck. #Chuckside * w/ Scott Metzger ^ w/ Aron Magner % w/ Shannon Lynch & w/ Emma Derhak $ w/ Warren Haynes
moe. ~ The Capitol Theatre ~ Port Chester, NY ~ 12/11/21
I: All Roads Lead To Home*^, Akimbo*^&, Big World^ > Ricky Marten^ > Captain America^, Zed Naught Z^&, LL3^ > Moth^%
II: Blue Jeans Pizza^$, New Hope For The New Year$, Tubing The River Styx^$ > The Pit^$ > Silver Sun^$, White Lightning Turpentine^$, Four^$ > Spine Of A Dog^$#
E: Okayalright^$#
* w/ Reid Genauer ^ w/ Nate Wilson & w/ John Carlo Pecheone % w/ Kirin Rogers $ w/ Suke Cerulo # w/ Emma Derhak
Dave Hanlon brought his power jazz trio to the 443 Social Club & Lounge on Friday, December 3rd with Ron France on bass and Ed Vivenzio on keys in tow. The trio delivered a Blue Note style-esque performance of their take on classic funk jazz compositions. Twenty seven pieces were on the set list to be exact. All performed with the same on the spot fervor that all good jazz is created in.
The group put their spin on greats by Thelonius Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan and a rock block of Joe Sample cuts. The trio did a classic two set & encore performance for the candle lit table crowd at 443. Without a doubt the 443 is Syracuse’s most intimate room for those looking to really listen to the notes coming off the bandstand. Dave Hanlon shared the 2005 and 2015 SAMMY awards with Phish drummer and Syracuse native Jon Fishman.
Fishman was inducted as a lifetime achievement award recipient in 2015 and he naturally introduced Dave Hanlon into the Hall of Fame at The Dinosaur BBQ & Eastwood’s Palace Theater in 2005. A 13 year old Fishman once took lessons from Hanlon. Jon brought the sheet music Hanlon gave him at their first lesson to the induction ceremony. “Can you believe that? I flipped out.” Dave Hanlon still has various projects he dabbles with as we approach the end of this year. He took some time to talk with NYS music at Syracuse’s Blue Note style room, the 443, for a chat.
Matthew Romano: Steve Gadd spoke of the Ridgecrest Inn in Rochester where he could watch legendary drummers perform up close. With the same as my proximity to you on the bandstand at 443 tonight. What were some memories of live music you attended in New York State that you can remember as an influence that started to instill a groove in you?
Dave Hanlon: Mahavishnu Orchestra & Ravi Shankar at Syracuse University quad. Billy Cobham on drums absolutely blew me away in 1972. Wait not the quad… it was SkyTop field on SU Campus.
MR: What about on the gigging side and educationally?
DH: My first kit was from Stagnitta music and I used a trash can for the snare drum. I took a couple lessons at Stagnitta music but it was at Auburn Community College with Dick Howard were I took my first lessons. From there I went to Detroit to finish college and started playing out in bands. Not studying music, just gigging. Back to Syracuse I was part of a big regional band called DOVE. It was a great rock and roll experience. After that ended I went to New York City to study at the percussion center with Norman Grossman. There I met Jim Chapin for a few lessons. Chapin is notable for his independence jazz drumming book. So that combination was a huge influence. I’d take the train to New York for class during the day and then to Buddy Rich’s club at night. I’d sit and watch him play with his six piece band. Next I went to Los Angeles. It was big as I did a clinic with Louie Bellson who originated the double bass drums. At 28, I did a show at the Los Angeles Percussion school as a guest, not a student. I performed with him in front of 250 other drummers. It was the highest pressure situation I’ve ever found myself in but a dream come true.
When I came back to Syracuse I formed my first solo funky five piece jazz band. In 1976 we got a 13 month residency at the “Spirit of 35” on Carrier Circle where Joeys is now. It helped really give us time to hone our skills balls out ya know? All instrumental. We even had Edgar Winter come sit and play a whole set with us after a show he had in Syracuse. The promoters brought him to hear us. It was well before cell phones and the word still got out so it went to the standing room only in 15 minutes. It was definitely the most memorable moment there.
In 1977 I joined the band CRAC and their original album All For You was re released in 2020 by King Underground Record Company out of England on Vinyl. From there I recorded with Duke Jupiter out of Rochester on two of their albums on Mercury Records. Duke Jupiter made its way in to Rochester music hall of fame in 2014. In the 1980’s I formed the first cookbook band which was all instrumental that had a year long residency at the Lost Horizon. Ava Andrews joined me on vocals for the next version of the cook book and she remained an original member with me for 34 years. Funky Jazz Band formed in 2016 as fresh five instrumental. The trio out of it works well for a lot of other style rooms. Diana Jacobs Band out of Auburn I collaborated with in 2018 that has a full horn section, we just released “Love Each Other, Love Our World” the day after Thanksgiving this year. The CD just made its way to Soundgarden with streaming options available soon.
MR: What great studio sessions have you recorded on?
DH: I love being a part of Studio Jams with producer Tom Emmi in Philadelphia. The concept is to get different musicians together completely unprepared, roll the tape and see what they come up with. We might pick a song from another artist and put our own stamp on it. It’s educational and entertaining. I’ve done 15 of them. They do it all over the country. I was able to do Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man at Sub Cat Studios in Syracuse that got over 2 million views and counting. Everyone donates their time to simply give back to the music. It’s a really beautiful thing. He arranged a series for fallen artists titled “Lest We Forget” as well so that their musical groove can live on.
MR: What is your angle over time on dealing with the composition & improvisation world that we dabble in daily. Those moments that can’t be recreated concept ya know?
DH: The creative process is key especially for jazz musicians who are supposed to be free to create. The preparations for studio jams are like night and day. You just go for it and you don’t even know it’s coming. You’re in the moment. But Lest we forget that also takes a lot of preparation because you got to know that tune the best you can on behalf of that fallen artist. Always different, you know what I mean?
DH: The trio and five piece funky jazz band are also examples. There’s the head, bridge and the solo section of the tune. For the most part for consistency you want to stay in the groove for the song but when solo times open up your creative freedom kicks in. Staying in the context of the song can help you work on your creativity. One of things drummers have at their command, I’f they have that command… is dynamics. We don’t have that many notes to deal with. Dynamics give us a much greater vocabulary. My approach to music is to become the best as I can be in my sense of dynamics within the context of music and the song. It creates tremendous tension and release. When you go to a concert there’s dynamics that people don’t realize they respond to.
When there’s a solo section and the whole band just brings it down from this really loud piece to almost silence. Whats the response? The audience loves it. The effect musically is very powerful
Dave Hanlon
MR: It is powerful. That Jon Fishman Radio City show I sent you from October has a moment like that during “In Rounds”. You’ve got this five piece playing a song for the first time in their third ever live set in Rockefeller. Everyone’s bouncing off ideas. Ya know? 27 minutes into it the funky groove turns to air on Radio City’s great proscenium arch, before falling back to bring it home.
DH: Yea that was a beautiful concert. That’s the beauty of when musicians are listening really to each other and not themselves. That won’t happen otherwise. I wasn’t aware of that percussionist. He was excellent. That was my first time seeing Jon perform with a percussionist and they played off each other remarkably well.
MR:Steve Gadd played with Cyro Baptista on Paul Simon’s Rhythm of the Saints and was unfamiliar with Phish. I’ve seen Jon perform live with percussionist Gionavvi Hidalgo for a cover of Little Feats Waiting for Columbus album on Halloween in Atlantic City. He has a great live version of Surrender to Air from the Academy in New York City with Oteil Burbridge and Sun Ra Orkestra
DH: It was great to be able to reunite with him at Studio jams of all places after 37 years in August of 2015. We spent the afternoon while he had time in between shows in Philadelphia. We just did five songs off the cuff with three other guys. Its Your Thing (Isley Brothers),Hottentot (MMW with Scofield), Freeway Jam (Jeff Beck), Ode to Billy Joe (Bobby Gentry) and Cantaloupe Woman (Grant Green). Yea we had those lessons but this was our first time playing together. It was just like being with an old friend. It was really cool. Jon’s a down home guy, there’s no air to him. He’s just a cat that wants to play. He also happens to be in one of the most popular bands in the world.
It was great to see Fish at a Charlie Bertini’s Apple Jazz Band gig. I played at Little York Pavilion in Preble, New York. That ensemble played the Southern tier for thirty years.
Dave Hanlon
Dave Hanlon Trio (Ron France-bass & Ed Vivenzio- keys) The 443 Social Club and Lounge, December 3 2021
Set 1: Cold Duck (Eddie Harris & Les McCann), Ruby (Ray Charles), Chain Reaction (Diana Ross), Fe Fi Fo (Wayne Shorter), 7 Steps/ Song Father ( Miles Davis), Carmel (Joe Sample), Randy Uptown, Round Midnite (Thelonius Monk), Sermonized (Joe Sample), Blue Bossa (Joe Henderson), Human Nature (Micheal Jackson), A Child is Born (Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Orchestra), Spain (Chick Corea)
Set 2: Maputo (Bob James & David Sanborn), Ricky Don’t Lose that Number (Steely Dan), Hippies on the corner (Joe Sample), Bottswanna Bossa (David Benoit), Aja (Steely Dan with Steve Gadd), Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock), Christmastime is here (Vince Guaraldi), Spellbound (Joe Sample), Girl From Ipanema (Stan Getz and Joeao GIlberto), Jellybeans & Chocolate (David Benoit), Pointciena (Ahmad Jamal), If you want me to stay (Sly Stone), Sudden Samba (Neil Larsen)
A New Year’s Eve celebration has been announced at Universal Preservation Hall and will be featuring Zachary James and Laurie Rogers. The festive concert will take place at 7PM on December 31, 2021 and is presented by Opera Saratoga and Proctors Collaborative. The concert will feature a variety of popular, Broadway, and classical favorites. It will also culminate in Opera Saratoga’s much anticipated announcement of its 2022 Summer Festival Programming.
Zachary James is well known to local audiences for his remarkable portrayal of the title role in Opera Saratoga’s production of Man of La Mancha this past summer on the SPAC Amphitheater Stage. He also starred on Broadway as Lurch in The Addams Family and has also appeared in South Pacific and Coram Boy. His Off-Broadway credits include The Most Happy Fella, Irma La Douce, Sweeney Todd, and The Pirates of Penzance. His work on the opera stage includes the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Teatro Real, Opera Philadelphia, LA Opera, Opera Queensland, Arizona Opera, Virginia Opera, Nashville Opera, Anchorage Opera, Central City Opera, and more. Zachary has recorded multiple solo albums including his most recent Christmas release, Wonder and Joy.
Laurie Rogers who has been the Opera Saratoga’s Head of Music Staff and Director of the company’s Young Artist Program for the past ten years will be performing alongside Zachary James on piano. Laurie has served as Associate Conductor with LA Opera and has prepared productions for San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera, American Lyric Theater, Wolf Trap Opera, Utah Opera, Arizona Opera, and Washington National Opera, among many others. In addition to her role at Opera Saratoga, she currently serves as the Music Director for Opera at The Peabody Institute, and conducts and concertizes nationally.
Philip Morris who is the CEO of Proctors Collaborative spoke on the upcoming event saying, “We are the Proctors Collaborative because we love to partner with our neighbor cultural organizations. This is a great way to open the New Year and restart what we hope will be an ever-expanding relationship with Opera Saratoga,”
Tickets are available online at www.operasaratoga.org or www.universalpreservationhall.org. Tickets are free, but seating is limited, and advance reservations are highly recommended. All attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 to enter UPH and must remain masked at all times in the venue.
For more information on the New Year’s Eve celebration featuring Zachary James and Laurie Rogers visit Opera Saratoga’s websiteor Universal Preservation Hall’s website.
Rolling Stone’s “new folk-rock heroes” Mt Joy stopped in Buffalo for their Fall 2021 tour on December 6.
Photo Credit: Maddie McCafferty
Amy Allen opened up the show at Asbury Hall with eloquent vocals paired with her emo song writing skills. Her past work writing alongside Harry Styles, Halsey, and more has built her reputation, but her additional ability to captivate the crowd stood out greatly. She performed a couple of her hits such as “Tom Brady,” and “A Woman’s World.” Allen and her guitarist Griffin were the perfect duo for creating the appropriate ambience before Mt. Joy took the stage.
Photo Credit: Maddie McCafferty
From the back of the pit to the sides of the balcony had so many people pumped for Mt. Joy. Even Buffalo Bills fans came out during game day to see the folklore legends. The energy for the Bills transcended across the band members and the crowd while chants spread through the venue. Mt. Joy consists of members Matt Quinn (singer/guitarist), Sam Cooper (guitarist), Michael Byrnes (bassist), Sotiris Eliopoulos (drummer), and Jackie Miclau (keyboardist).
The group got together for their iconic sophomore album Rearrange Us which gave them major breakthroughs and achieved new records. Their new work had high expectations following their 2018 masterpiece, but it did not disappoint. Crowd favorites proved to be “Acrobats,” “Let Loose,” and “Strangers.” These newer works brought a sense of psychedelic reflection to Quinn’s poetic words.
Photo Credit: Maddie McCafferty
Mt. Joy still goes back to their folk-stomp roots though with singles “Sheep,” and “Jenny Jenkins.” These classics create an atmosphere that is particularly resonate with the youth in an age of chasing one’s dreams while simultaneously adjusting to the turbulence of getting older. Of course, this group finished off the night with their #1 hit on the AAA Radio Charts, “Silver Lining.”
Photo Credit: Maddie McCafferty
Make sure to check out upcoming shows at Asbury Hall at Babeville Buffalo. Tig Notaro takes over the venue on January 15 and Brian Fallon performs on January 16.
Setlist: Acrobats, Strangers, I’m Your Wreck, Let Loose, Phenomenon, Sheep, Jenny Jenkins, Lemon Tree, Cardinal, Astrovan, Mt. Joy, Every Holiday, Evergreen, Julia
Billie Eilish returned to Saturday Night Live, this time as both host and musical guest. She previously played the stage in September 2019, where she performed her breakout hit, “Bad Guy.” Last night’s hosting debut makes her the first SNL host to be born in the 21st century.
The episode’s cold open featured a briefing about the Omicron variant from Anthony Fauci, played by Kate McKinnon. Cecily Strong and Chloe Fineman also appeared as Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Lauren Boebert, both armed with assault rifles. When Fauci tried to find common ground between the divided members of Congress, Taylor-Greene cocked her gun and said “We can all agree that the Fox News Christmas tree arsonist must be executed.”
During her opening monologue, Billie Eilish revealed that her mother dissuaded her from pursuing acting while encouraging her brother FINNEAS. The singer-producer sibling duo’s mother then appeared onstage, wearing a shirt that said “Finneas’ Mom.” Eilish also poked fun at her past wardrobe of baggy clothes, saying it was to hide secretly being two children on each other’s shoulders in order to get into R-rated movies.
Eilish appeared in the next sketch, where Miley Cyrus had a surprise cameo. She played herself posing for Punkie Johnson’s Christmas card, who insulted her music but threatened to call her racist if she declined a photo. As for Eilish, she played a grown-up high school bully who continued to taunt her victims through annual Christmas cards. Other sketches showed Eilish as a Christmas lounge singer, a TikToking nurse and a concierge at a lackluster hotel.
Eilish’s first song of the night was “Happier Than Ever,” the hit single off her album of the same name. Beginning as a 50s traditional pop song not unlike Julie London’s “Cry Me a River,” it builds into a cathartic rock release. The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and saw nominations for both Song and Record of the Year at the 2022 Grammys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdeJ8v0z64w
While “Happier Than Ever” gleefully burns all bridges with its subject, the night’s second song, “Male Fantasy,” expresses some regrets. In the chorus, Eilish admits she still has feelings for him and can’t fully hate him. Both songs are back to back at the end of the album, ending it on a surprisingly hopeful note.
