On Saturday, November 19, Duke Amayo, former lead singer of Antibalas, returned to New York City after taking time at home in Nigeria. It was there that he performed at Felebration Festival over October 10-16, launching his career as “Amayo,” a name which means “If you don’t go, you never know.”
The free show at BAMcafé in Brooklyn featured Amayo’s new band, featuring some of the original Antibalas members, of which he was frontman for 23 years. In the course of bringing Afrobeat to a global audience, channeling Fela Kuti as he celebrates the genre of Afrobeat.
It was true when I first came to America at age 17, when I first joined Antibalas, when I departed the band, and now for my pilgrimage back home with some of the original Antibalas members and friends performing in Nigeria for the first time.
Amayo
Amayo is dedicated to his rich Nigerian heritage and martial arts teachings, merging Chinese and African rhythms. Amayo sings traditional Yoruba and Edo lyrics and is joined by a band featuring chekere, flute, violin, percussion, horn, and more, while also playing piano, electric keyboard, organ, and the gbedu spirit drum.
Kameron Marlowe’s first headlining tour, “We Were Cowboys” rolled into Horseheads, NY on Sunday, November 13th. The North Carolina native performed his second of three stops in NY on the tour. Opening the show was the Southern Tier’s very own Brian Hughes and Nashville singer/songwriter Wyatt McCubbin.
Kameron Marlowe, photo by Allison Marie.
Marlowes’ career kicked off in 2018 – a contestant on season 15 of The Voice. After being eliminated, he moved to Nashville where he independently released his first, now certified Gold single in 2019, Giving You Up, which surpassed 15 million streams in less than a year. He is signed with Columbia Nashville. Kameron’s debut single from Columbia was Burn Em All which is still climbing the country charts. His debut album, We Were Cowboys is available now.
Horsehead’s local rocker Brian Hughes opened the show and set the tone by performing some classic covers and originals. The singer/songwriter and talented musician also performs with the band Rust. Hughes recently released a solo album, I Surrender which can be found on all streaming platforms. His website can be found here.
Wyatt McCubbin, photo by Allison Marie
Southern Ohio/Nashville singer/songwriter Wyatt McCubbin was the second opening act which makes perfect sense as McCubbin co-wrote a handful of songs on Marlowe’s debut album, We Were Cowboys, such as “This Old Town,” “We Were Cowboys,” and “Does It Have To Be Over.” Writing hits for artists like Riley Green, Dustin Lynch, Cody Johnson, Tracey Lawrence and others, McCubbin is the next artist to follow!
Marlowes’ career is just taking off and with a show like at The L, he is sure to keep fans excited for more!
Kameron Marlowe, by Allison Marie
Setlist: Sober, This Old Town, Over Now, Steady Heart, Folsom, Tequila Talking, We Were Cowboys, Raise One Up, Save a Horse, Leaving To Me, Aint Enough Whiskey, Stay Here and Drink, Saying Goodbye, Money Aint Shit, Country Boys Prayer, Im Over You, Running Out on You, In Color, Fool Me Again, Trouble, Does It Have To Be Over, Girl On Fire, Giving You Up Encore: Burn Em All
For tour dates and more on Kameron Marlowe, visit his website here.
On Saturday, November 19, Goose and Trey Anastasio Band concluded their eight-show fall tour of the Northeast. The arena tour began in Portland, ME on November 9th, followed by performances in Lowell, MA, Uncasville, CT (at the Mohegan Sun Casino where Goose played their first arena show in February 2021), Glens Falls, Moon, PA, Fairfax, VA, and Syracuse. Endearingly referred to as “TABoose” over the past few months, the bands co-headlined the tour and sold out each of the nights, with each night of the run consisting of two 90+ minute sets of music opening with Goose and concluding the night with TAB, with various sit-ins throughout each of the bands’ performances.
Throughout the tour, both Peter Anspatch from Goose and Anastasio have expressed to the audience how grateful they were for the fall run and how much fun they have been having working, rehearsing, and chatting while on tour. Palpably so, fans have stated how much they’ve seen the tour has rubbed off on both the young indie-groove band and the veterans of the jam band scene.
Just after 7:30pm sharp, Goose took the stage, greeted with booming applause. The Connecticut-based five-piece began their set with “Flodown.” Referred to by fans as the “Flopener,” the jam’s introductory train-beat from drummer, Ben Atkind kicked the crowd into a barn dance style frenzy while guitarist, Rick Mitarotonda and keyboardist Anspach being to play around with space and chaos to pump the room’s energy to 11. As Goose’s skill and performance have evolved over the years, their older songs continue to grow and expand in composition. An example of this can be seen in the beginning of the “Flowdown” from the 2021 album, Shenanigans Nite Club. However the twisty angelic tones of the band’s 2022 Dripfield album could be heard in this performance tonight.
Goose continued the set with “Pancakes,” whose mysterious drum-beat and feedback are combined with fun audience participation clapping along with Peter Anspach. The punchy jam originating from Peter’s previous band, Great Blue, was filled with wailing overdrive from Rick while Anspach exercised his piano and organ playing skills. Rumblings from bassist Trevor Weekz provided subtle foreshadowing to the evil peaks and valleys at the end of the jam until the band’s speedy timing and turnaround at the end of the song.
To cool down the hot and bothered audience from the “Pancakes” jam, Goose provided a breezy rendition of their song “Turned Clouds,” a first time play on the tour. While the song’s back-end jam always provides fun vibes, the crowd was met with an extra flair from Trevor’s slap bass which built up intense tension and release to send the “Turned Clouds” sky high.
Next, the crowd at Santander Arena saw “Dripfield,” summoned by the usual entrancing synth from Peter, digital drumbeat kicked in by percussionist Jeff Arevalo, and mystifying beams of purple and green light from Andrew Goedde. The song’s eight-note trade-off between Rick and Peter on guitar pumped the energy through the crowd until the toms from Ben’s kit kicked in and sent the drip into an extremely primal sounding jam. Rick channeled the energy through his hollow body PRS sending commanding growls over the controlled chaos composed by the Connecticut quintet.
After this stunning performance, Peter took a moment to thank the fans, the 77-person crew working to get everything in place for the shows, and of course Trey for all the fun they have been having on the tour. With that, Peter welcomed Trey on to the stage and the group began the Vasudo original, “Rockdale.” Rick and Trey harmonized the opening notes of “Rockdale” in a style reminiscent of the Allman Brothers style. As the main jam began to take form both Rick and Trey dove into low frequency distortions creating a comfortable valley for the two to later shoot off. Rick began to wail as Trey filled the space with expression before the two wove through each other’s soloing in complimentary form. The rest of the band held down intense space and rhythm with Trevor Weeks holding it down on bass, Jeff and Ben shredding high hats and snares, and Anspach on organ.
With the energy up, the honking and hollering fans were then treated to a bustout of “Elmeg the Wise,” which this author would describe as peak Goose. The enchanting hymn, written by Mitarotonda, describes a being on a path searching for wisdom and inspiration. As the song punched into the jam, the band’s enchantment of the crowd quickly lit up.
To cap off the set, the band welcomed the TAB horns players, James Casey, Natalie Cressman, and Jennifer Hartswick to the stage shortly before Rick tore into the opening notes to the fan favorite, “Hot Tea.” In its studio debut on Dripfield, the classic jam was paired with horns for the first time. With seasoned trumpet, trombone, and saxophone players on stage, the crowd was in for a raging tea party and received nothing short of it.
Goose Setlist:: Flodown[1], Pancakes, Turned Clouds, Dripfield, Rockdale[2], Elmeg The Wise[2], Hot Tea[3][1] Flopener. [2] With Trey Anastasio on guitar. [3] With Trey Anastasio on guitar, James Casey on saxophone, Jennifer Hartswick on trumpet, and Natalie Cressman on trombone.
The Trey Anastasio Band graced the stage for the final time of the tour and was greeted by the sold out crowd with eruptions of warm applause and cheers. The love and reception of Trey in the arena felt like an entire crowd welcoming their rock star father to melt faces.
The set began with “Push on Til the Day,” whose bouncy rhythm kept Trey hopping and bopping around the quick and concise composition. Things cooled things down with “Love is What We Are,” a fun reggae half-time beat was adorably paired with percussionist Cyro Baptista playing a small bow and arrow to appear as a bearded, can-jingling Cupid.
To fire things up again the band erupted into “Mozambique” with a jazzy salsa style that kept the crowd moving as Trey ran back and forth across the stage. “Cayman Review” came next followed by an incredibly funky “Camel Walk.” Bassist Dezron Douglas kept everything locked in place as keyboardist Ray Paczkowski revved up his organ. Trey took this as a queue to glide through a solo which was met at the end with a palpably strong call and response jam between saxophonist James Casey and the rest of the band.
“Twist” had a fun jam paired with some high kicks and “woo’s” from Trey, who showed off a fair amount of his looping skills that he has grown partial to over the last couple of years. “No Man in No Man’s Land” kept the night moving with tight and concise horns and on-the-dime turnarounds. The jam concluded with a drum and space style solo from Cyro and drummer Russ Lawton.
“Life Beyond a Dream” captivated the crowd next with harmonic crescendos from the horn/vocal section. “Dark and Down” was a highlight of the TAB set with its intense vibe and composition. Trey’s soulful solo raised the hearts of the crowd and left the room speechless before its eruption of applause.
While waiting for Mitarotonda and Anspach to join the stage on guitar and keys, Cyro treated the crowd to a spacey jam consisting of Vargan playing and voice modulated poetry. Rick and Peter sat in for “Ghost” where the jam sent the crowd once again into overdrive. While waiting for Trey’s fried amp to be fixed, Peter shared some words that he heard from Trey at one of his first Phish shows. Anspach recounted that Trey asked the crowd, “Hey, any youngsters out there? This is a pretty good job!” With that Peter encouraged the young people of the crowd to pursue music if their passions lie there.
“Hey Stranger” and “Everything’s Right” brought joy and whimsy to the crowd as the night neared the end. For the last song of the set, the rest of Goose rejoined the stage for “First Tube,” where Dezron and Trevor wove through heavy basslines together and brought even more energy. A disco ball at the top of the stage canopy shone throughout the arena while the rhythm section turned around and played to the crowd behind the stage.
Both bands came to the stage for the encore and ripped into a beloved slow version of the Phish jam, “Llama,” whose final lyric, ‘Taboot’ was appropriately changed to ‘Taboose’ for the night. The slow and melodic “Show of Life” came next and as Trey ended the song and thanked all the band members and crew, Trey said, “We don’t want the party to end. So I say keep the fuckin’ party going!” With this, the group punched into “Party Time” which ended with a New Orleans-Style parade walk off guided by Cyro’s whistle and the TAB horns.
Trey will be back with Phish for their NYE run at Madison Square Garden over December 28-31. Goose is scheduled to play two nights at 1stBank Arena in Broomfield, CO for two nights of their Annual Goosemas show on December 16-17, with other scheduled Goose events at the Fox Theater in Boulder on December 18, two nights of New Years Eve at the Brady Music Center in Cincinnati, and five nights at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester from March 8-12.
Trey Anastasio Band Setlist: Push On ‘Til the Day, Love Is What We Are, Mozambique, Cayman Review, Camel Walk, Twist, No Men In No Man’s Land, A Life Beyond The Dream, …And Flew Away, Dark and Down, Ghost [1], Hey Stranger [1], Everything’s Right[1], First Tube [2]
Encore: Llama [3], Show of Life [4], Party Time [5]
[1] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar and Peter Anspach on keys. [2] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar, Peter Anspach on keys, Trevor Weekz on bass, and Jeff Arevalo and Ben Atkind on percussion. [3] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar, Peter Anspach on keys, and Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz on percussion; performed in an alternate arrangement. Final lyric changed to “Taboose.” [4] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar, Peter Anspach on keys, and Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz on percussion. [5] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar, Peter Anspach on keys and vocals, and Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz on percussion. Ended with the horns and everyone else on percussion playing as everyone walked off stage.
For the penultimate stop on Trey Anastasio Band and Goose’s fall tour, the two bands took over War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. Over two sets, both groups showed their comfort level in the arena setting and playing with each other that they have gained over the tour so far.
Goose began their set with “Slow Ready”, easing in with the sultry synth-drenched songs. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed a change in guitarist Rick Mitarotonda’s amp setup – instead of the Mesa Boogie Express 5:50 we are used to seeing behind him, last night in Syracuse he used a setup not unlike Trey’s classic Mesa Boogie III and a 2×12 wooden cabinet.
Ripping into “Jive I” next, the first of the Jive triptych to make an appearance this tour saw Mitarotonda and multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach trading licks over a hot intro jam ahead of a strong take on the song. “Jive Lee” offered just under ten minutes of solid improv, bassist Trevor Weekz laying down a foundation for Anspach and Mitarotonda to work over.
“Bob Don” came next – an apt performance possibly in honour of the release of EP Undecided yesterday, a surprise drop of four songs recorded during the Dripfield sessions in 2021. “Bob Don” is included on this release, though under the song’s original name “Undecided”. Last night’s version featured the extended outro jam beloved by fans – Anspach’s gentle piano and percussionist Jeff Arevalo’s contributions accentuate the laid-back groove.
A surprise performance of fan-favourite “Factory Fiction” continued the set – the song’s shortest gap ever at just three shows. After a dissonant jam that led to a blazing peak, Goose invited Trey on stage to help close out the set. Starting the sit-in with the highly anticipated “Madhuvan” (or Madhuvanastasio, as it has been called), Anastasio added perfectly to the song, throwing in little riffs and accents as Mitarotonda sang his way through.
Beginning the jam in a spacey motif, Anspach laid some vibraphone-infused piano down as the two guitarists explored the terrain. Starting up a descending progression on piano that the rest of the band quickly locked in to, Anastasio led the way through a major-key section as Mitarotonda joined in for some spot-on harmonization work. Insistent playing from drummer Ben Atkind gradually increased the pace and intensity as the peak drew closer. Locking in on some twin sustain action, the dual-guitar attack shredded the classic Goose jam vehicle to pieces before quieting down into some tension/release runs. Undeniably the improvisational highlight of the night
Bringing out TAB drummer Russ Lawton to help close the set, Goose brought out the catchy “Animal”. With one show remaining, the quintet has proved beyond a doubt that they are up to the arena-size sound.
Goose Setlist: Push On ‘Til the Day, Love Is What We Are, Mozambique, Cayman Review, Camel Walk, Twist, No Men in No Man’s Land, A Life Beyond The Dream, …And Flew Away, Dark And Down, Ghost[1], Hey Stranger[1], Everything’s Right[1], First Tube[2]
Encore: Llama[3], Show of Life[4], Party Time[4]
Coach’s Notes: [1] With Rick on guitar and Peter on keys. [2] With Rick on guitar, Peter on keys, Trevor on bass, and Spuds and Jeff on percussion. [3] Performed in a slow funk style. With Rick on guitar, Peter on keys, and Trevor, Spuds, and Jeff on percussion. [4] With Rick on guitar, Peter on keys, and Trevor, Spuds, and Jeff on percussion.
Before TAB began their set, Trey took a moment to note that percussionst Cyro Baptista would be absent from last night’s concert – an emergency health issue had popped up before showtime. Dedicating the opening “I Never Needed You Like This Before” to the absent percussionist, Trey immediately began stretching his legs improvisationally more than he has all tour with TAB.
The patience and more extended takes on songs continued through “Blaze On” and “Wolfman’s Brother”, seeing Trey leading jams yet also weaving melodies with keyboardist Ray Paczkowski.
“Blazing Down the Twisted Wire” from 2022’s Mercy offered an uptempo breather ahead of “Sand” – bassist Dezron Douglas digging into the song’s signature riff as Trey once again stretched the song slightly beyond its normal length. The peppy “Shine” came next before a deep and groovy “46 Days”. The Phish song saw the horn section departing the stage as Trey shredded over the moody groove. Paczkowski provided the perfect backdrop to the fretboard fireworks on organ and clav.
Numerous peaks later, Trey brought Mitarotonda and Anspach back on stage for an extended sit-in that began with the tour’s second “Mr. Completely”. Taking the first part of the jam to face off with Mitarotonda, Trey traded licks with the Goose guitarist before handing it off to Jen Hartswick on trumpet. Modulating into the typical solo section, trombonist Natalie “Chainsaw” Cressman stepped up next as we were treated to an extended solo where she and Trey faced off at centre stage. Anspach took a solo next, Paczkowski egging him on just like in Glens Falls earlier in the tour.
As the song drew to a close, Lawton and Douglas eased their way into the “Plasma” groove. Trey led the way on this jam, first on some eerie whammy pedal work and then switching on his various synth pedals for a more dissonant section. Paczkowski’s distorted organ perfectly suited the spacey and out-there jam, evolving in one of the most experimental TAB performances of the tour. The 10-piece band then delivered a hot “A Wave of Hope” to close the extended sit-in and set.
For the encore, Anspach and Mitarotonda returned to the stage for the tour’s first “Quantegy” and another blazing reading of “Money, Love and Change”, once more highlighting how locked in the two lead guitarists are to each other at this point in the tour.
With one more show left in TABoose tour, both bands are primed to deliver incredible performances in Reading, PA.
Set 1: I Never Needed You Like This Before, Blaze On, Wolfman’s Brother, Blazing Down the Twisted Wire, Sand, Shine, 46 Days, Mr. Completely [1] > Plasma[1] > A Wave of Hope[1]
Encore: Quantegy[1] > Money, Love and Change[1]
[1] Rick Mitarotonda on guitar and Peter Anspach on keys; setlist via Phish.net
The organization was formed in 2004, by educators and musicians who really, really have a passion for music. And they created it to preserve and celebrate Long Island’s musical heritage
Ernie Canadeo
Grand Opening
Joan Jett
The Hall of Fame will feature world-class displays and unique memorabilia that showcases Long Island’s rich and diverse musical and entertainment history. This past week Joan Jett’s classic Jaguar will be on display along with other donated memorabilia from Billy Joel, Twisted Sister, The Good Rats, Debbie Gibson, Blue Oyster Cult, and from the families and estates of Harry Chapin, Guy Lombardo, John Coltrand and so many more.
The Hall of Fame and Museum is open Wednesdays-Sundays from noon to 5pm. The first exhibit, created by world-renowned designer Kevin O’Callaghan, is titled “Long Island’s Legendary Club Scene – 1960’s-1980’s and is designed to be “a club crawl” through Long Island’s legendary 60’s, 70’s and 80’s club scene.
The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) is dedicated to preserve Long Island’s musical heritage for future generations. To date the organization has inducted more than 100 musicians and music industry executives and also offers educational programs, scholarships, and awards to Long Island Students and educators.
Besides supporting future musicians, Chairman Canadeo spoke to the healing power of music and how LIMEHOF will be partnering with one of their sponsors, Catholic Health Services:
We will be partnering on a program called Health and harmony next year, where we will be sending musicians and comedians and bold types of entertainers into senior centers into hospitals.
Ernie Canadeo
During the interview on The Long Island Sound podcast Erne and I both recognized the pent up need to reconnect with the community after the quarantine and Covid. There is great pride in being a Long Islander, and recognizing the wellspring of talent in the region. I invite you to review the List of over one hundred LIMEHOF Inductees over the past years, it’s quite remarkable.
Grand Opening in Stony Brook
Simon and Garfunkel (inducted 2008) and their song Homeward bound is so appropriate for the emotions surrounding this Grand Opening:
Home, where my thought’s escaping. Home, where my music’s playing. Home, where my love’s lie waiting, silently for me, silently for me.
Simon & Garfunkel
Everyone needs a place to call home. Now the musician and entertainment community with roots on Long Island have a place to call home in Stony Brook. With the rotation of new exhibits, the Hall of Fame is sure to attract musicians, students, educators and those headed homeward bound.
During this holiday season, let’s be generous with our joy, and let the music take us on a journey.
Each Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. you’ll find EQXposure on WEQX, featuring two hours of local music from up-and-coming artists. Tune into WEQX.com this Sunday night to hear new music from No More Death Stars.
WEQX has long been the preeminent independent station in the Capital Region of New York, broadcasting from Southern VT to an ever-expanding listening audience. NYS Music brings you a preview of artists to discover each week, just a taste of the talent waiting to be discovered by fans like you.
This week the new album .jpg by No More Death Stars will be played on EQXposure. The group comes out of Albany and is the creative brainchild of Kevin Cardinale, and a bunch of collaborators. They self-identify as a pop-punk collective, being compared to indie-punk contemporaries such as Jeff Rosenstock and AJJ.
The group reemerged this year to create their new album, which takes influence from Radiohead and Brian Wilson. It incorporates orchestral instrumentation composed by Cardinale and performed by newcomers Anthime Miller, Ben Burt, and Sam Mark.
The songs off the new album “Halloween 2008,” “Have you ever wondered if Osama Bin Laden has ever fallen in love?” and “Emotional Lint Roller” will be played on EQXposure.
The punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, created by Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione in 2001, held nothing back deep in the woods of Woodstock for a three night run at The Colony from November 10th to November 12th. The best way to experience this band is up close and personal, which made the Colony the perfect place for their first live performances since 2018 in the UK, as the venue held roughly 150 people from the floor to the balcony.
Palmer, now 46, still performs like she is 25 at the start of The Dresden Dolls’ birth. Her raw energy and flawed flawlessness that she puts into any one of her performances is something that cannot be explained through words, it’s something that needs to be experienced. Her vocals are unmatched with a mix of melodic sounds and scream-singing and her skills on the piano complement that so well. She is one of the most passionate artists out there and is a sight to behold. Her passion is so strong that it spills out from her voice into her piano and every single move she makes. She breathes a new breath into every single performance.
Viglione on the drums, back-up vocals, bass, electric and acoustic guitar complements that beautifully. He matches her energy and that brings every performance from a 10 to a 20. The things he can create, on the drums especially, is an artform all by itself. The two clad in cabaret styled clothes and mime-like face paint created an experience for the audience that is part rage, part beautiful storytelling, with a little bit of everything mixed in. Everything includes a cover of “Fight For Your Right” by The Beastie Boys where Amanda got up from her piano and took over the drums while Brian played guitar and guest bass player Manta joined in.
The performance overall was a mash up of high-energy rage-filled songs like “Girl Anachronism” and some lower-energy ballads. This included their song “Delilah” which was accompanied by a newer artist named Veronica Swift who’s vocals were out of this world. It was truly show-stopping.
The performance and the reaction of the audience breathed new air into The Dresden Dolls and if you’re lucky enough to score a ticket to any one of there other performances, GO. Long live the Punk Cabaret.
Setlist: Good Day, Sex Changes, Gravity, Bad Habit, Backstabber, Modern Moonlight, My Alcoholic Friends, Missed Me, Mrs. O, Astronaut, Delilah (with Veronica Swift), Gardener, Ultima, Fight For Your Right, Amsterdam, Mandy Goes To Med School, Coin Operated Boy, War Pigs, Half Jack, Girl Anachronism
Encore: Truce, Sing
Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione rocking out Colony. Photo by Samantha Rychlicki
On Tuesday, November 15, Black Star took the stage at Sony Hall in Times Square for a once in a lifetime performance, presented by Blue Note Entertainment Group and co-presented by podcast platform Luminary.
Black Star is Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey, the internationally recognized icons of rap, activism, and entertainment. This night, they performed songs from their iconic debut Mos Def & Talib KweliAre Black Star, as well as their new album No Fear Of Time, which was released after an extended hiatus of nearly 25 years. In addition to the Black Star originals, they both performed hits from their individual catalogs.
The Sony Hall show followed their SNL debut on Saturday, November 12th, where Black Star performed “So be it.”
The night of Saturday, November 12 was a bitter and cold, and at The Rapids Theater in Niagara Falls, The Thom Conde Project, Buffalo’s newest hard rock band, opening the night’s show. Next up, was Buffalo’s Red Letter, followed by Sirens & Sailors from Rochester taking the stage. And among the crowd was unreal anticipation for STEMM to the start their set. Even Rob Arnold, guitarist from the band Chimaira made the trip to see this show from Ohio.
By showtime, the building had filled up and it didn’t feel like a bitter cold night anymore. STEMM has been working for over a year to bring back their old vocalist TJ Frost to play their album Songs for the Incurable Heart in its entirety. TJ flew in from Boise, Idaho for two weeks of constant rehearsals – and let me tell you, it surely paid off. They started with original STEMM songs before TJ was brought out on stage. At this point, the entire vibe in the building was through the roof – it was hot, It was humid and it felt like a jungle inside the venue.
This is where things got fun. Having personally known the guys in STEMM for 25 years and shared the stage with them with my band countless times (before I traded in my gear and became a photographer.) When you add STEMM and TJ Frost – the roof was blown off the building by the crowd. There were multiple people crowd surfing including a 10 year old kid who was witnessed crowd surfing at least 5 different times, like it was his favorite theme park ride. When you think you’ve seen it all, you see a security guard crowd surf, and you know you’re at an amazing show, with all the incredible vibes at this point.
STEMM is Joe Cafarella- Vocals/Guitar; Danny Nelligan – Drums; Alex Scouten- Guitar; TJ Frost- Vocals; Louis Penque – Vocals; Fred Blackwell- Guitar, and Joe Scouten- Bass Guitar. With seven members on stage during STEMM’s set, including their original vocalist Louis Penque from the beginning of their days, to TJ Frost himself, both vocalists were boucing all over the building. On the speakers and on the security gate they were both reaching out as far as they could in the crowd just to give a fan a high five. This is personally the most amazing performance I have seen STEMM perform in more than 20 years. Yet the band is not done – they plan on one-upping this show in the future.
Not only has STEMM became a staple of the music scene in Niagara Falls for the past 25 years, their songs have been used by the UFC, including “Face the Pain” being the UFC’s main theme song from 2002-2018. The UFC has used 25 different STEMM songs as background music over their history. This is saying A LOT from a little band from a the second largest city in NYS, Niagara Falls, NY. And Recently heard at Buffalo Sabre’s and Buffalo Bills games; more STEMM songs.
STEMM – The Rapids Theater, Niagara Falls, NY – Saturday, November 12
Setlist: Wish, Dead Inside, House of Cards, Don’t Act Surprised, Inside, Casualty for Prayer, The Memory Remains, A Song for the Incurable Heart, Till I Die, MONSTER, Pandemic, Numb, On the Surface, 13 Years, Incomplete, Holding On, Between now and Forever, The day the Earth Stood Still, Face the Pain
Radio Woodstock 100.1 WDST has announced the next installment of the “Saturday Night Takeover” series on Saturday, Nov. 19, with Melissa Auf der Maur, who was the famed bassist of American bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Radio Woodstock, tagged as the New York Times’ “favorite thing about driving around the Hudson Valley,” has been the recipient of numerous national, regional, and local awards for its innovative programming. Radio Woodstock is one of the most influential rock music stations in the world and is unique for being both listener and advertiser-supported. It has been locally run and operated for over 40 years.
The DJs and programmers present the best emerging artists alongside the largest rock n’ roll library in the world. Radio Woodstock’s live events division has put on experimental live events and is most known for creating Mountain Jam and Taste of Country, which grew to become the largest music and camping festivals in the Northeast, together drawing over 100,000 attendees each year. Recently, the department has produced CannaStock, the first cannabis festival in the Hudson Valley.
Featured on the “Saturday Night Takeover” segment is Melissa Auf der Maur. She is a musician, photographer, curator, multidisciplinary event producer, and film producer. In 2010 she co-founded the multidisciplinary art venue Basilica Hudson in the Hudson Valley Region. She released two solo albums between 2004-2010.
You can tune into Radio Woodstock on Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. to hear Melissa Auf der Maur on the air here or via the iHeartRADIO app.
