On September 18, 1982, WAMC debuted “The Hudson River Sampler” on Saturday nights. Hosted by Wanda Fischer, the show featured folk and acoustic music from 8-10 PM. Now, after four decades, the show is still running, and with the same host.
To mark the occasion, on Saturday, October 8, The Linda – WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, will host a show to celebrate the occasion, featuring several prominent national and local folk music acts, including Anne Hills, Reggie Harris, Christine Lavin, Sawyer Fredericks, John Kirk and Trish Miller.
The Linda is pleased to welcome the artists who will be here on October 8. These performers present a cross section of the music Wanda plays every week. This will be a special night.
Peter Hughes, The Linda
With a background that goes back many years, Fischer has been involved in this type of music since her father introduced her to it as a child. She’s also been a singer herself, having appeared at coffeehouses in the Boston area in the 1960s and ‘70s and has recorded an album titled Singing Along with the Radio. She and her husband Bill relocated to the Capital District in 1979. She held full-time jobs in the region while doing “The Hudson River Sampler” on Saturdays until her retirement from full-time work in 2014. During lockdown from the pandemic, she did her show live from the WAMC studio.
Fischer has been a volunteer on several boards of directors in the region, including Old Songs, Caffe Lena and the Eighth Step. She’s also a volunteer reader for the Reading is Fun program in the Schenectady City Schools and has published a novel and several short stories. A competitive local tennis player, she’s served as the captain of a United States Tennis Association team since 1988.
Additionally, the show will be broadcast live during The “Hudson River Sampler’s” normal time slot of 8-10 PM on WAMC’s network and streaming on wamc.org.
Tickets for Wanda Fischer 40th Anniversary Live! Hudson River Sampler live at The Linda: WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio are $25 and on sale now through thelinda.org.
The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall will welcome Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn & Sarah Jarosz: Together in Concert, on February 22, 2023. Coming together for this special evening, this is one show you don’t want to miss.
A singular and enduring talent, Grammy winner Shawn Colvin’s songs like “Sunny Came Home” are slow-release works of craft and catharsis that become treasured, lifetime companions for their listeners.
After winning a Grammy for his soulful ballad “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters, combining the precision of a brilliant tunesmith with the passion of a great soul man.
Though just barely in her thirties, Texas native Sarah Jarosz has compiled a remarkable career, winning four Grammy Awards in both the Americana and Folk categories.
In partnership with Caffè Lena, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) announced the return of the “Caffè Lena @ SPAC” Concert Series, a free two-day festival happening on Oct. 1 and 2 from noon to 4 P.M.
The two-day festival will feature six bands that explore global and American folk music. The festival started in 2017, and it highlights the unique, ongoing collaboration between the arts center and the folk music venue. Sarah Craig, executive director of Caffè Lena, spoke about the diverse lineup in a statement.
This annual collaboration has found the sweet spot of area music fans. They love the setting and the line-up. They ask me about it all year, wanting to be sure they don’t miss it. Both SPAC and Caffè Lena have deep roots, and a taste for musical exploration. The festival line-up reflects that. We have Dreamers’ Circus from Denmark bridging the folk and classical worlds. We have Oshima Brothers bridging pop and folk. We have the righteous anthems of Crys Matthews and gorgeous harmonies of Hold On Honeys. There’s a brass band playing Eastern European tunes. It’s just a huge variety, like you might find on our stages year round.
Resonant Rogues are from Asheville, North Carolina, and have been winning over audiences with their genre-hopping tunes since 2013. Their original songs by Sparrow and Keith Josiah Smith speak to the heart with poetic lyrics and appeal to the ears with amazing musicianship and arrangement.
The Cocek! Brass Band has been led by led by Sam Dechenne since 2014 and is influenced by Eastern-European and New Orleans dance songs, Afrobeat, Klezmer, and elements of reggae and Western classical pieces.
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Ale Carr, and Nikolaj Busk came together to form Dreamers’ Circus in 2009 after an impromptu jam session in Copenhagen. The Scandinavian musicians have toured across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America with their inventive reimaginings of Nordic folk and traditional tunes.
Dreamers’ Circus.
Oct. 2 Lineup
Hold on Honeys from noon-1 P.M.
Hold on Honeys is composed of Emily Curro, Raya Malcolm, and Shannon Rafferty, which offers tight-knit harmonies to nourish the soul and invigorate the senses. They began singing together during the pandemic and began public performances in June 2021.
Cry Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. She is a powerful lyricist whose songs reflect her lived experiences of what she calls “the poster-child for intersectionality.”
The Oshima Brothers (Sean and Jamie Oshima) were raised in a musical family in rural Maine. They are known for their harmony-rich blend of contemporary folk and acoustic pop. The brothers have released two albums, one rooted in acoustic folk and the other more retro and metro.
Oshima Brothers.
Guests are welcome to bring in food, drink, blankets, and lawn chairs for the concerts. Food concessions will also be available. The concerts will take place rain or shine. Visit here for more details.
On this day in 2007, the first ever Farm Aid was held in New York State, with the annual benefit concert for farmers held on Randalls Island.
The official announcement came on June 11 with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp making the official announcement in New York City alongside then-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and farmers and food buyers at Union Square’s Greenmarket.
Mayor Bloomberg welcomed the Farm Aid co-founders, saying “The City strongly supports sustainable family farming through our Greenmarket program — which has nearly doubled its locations over the past five years — and it’s an honor to be hosting Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Farm Aid for their 2007 concert.”
Willie Nelson shared “Farm Aid is coming to New York because your enthusiasm for family farm food is keeping family farmers on the land. We are thankful to Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and the many activists here who are leading efforts so that every New Yorker has access to more food from family farms” while John Mellencamp said of the importance of the event, “Things change when we all take personal responsibility for our food and where it comes from. Farm Aid is a force for change that works hard to keep farmers on the land so that we’ll have good food on our tables.
Photo By Greg Allen/Shutterstock
Why did Farm Aid take so long to get to New York? Nearly the first two decades of Farm Aid (1985-2003) brought the festival to states whose economies are strongly based in agriculture – Texas, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, and South Carolina. In 2004 the festival moved to Washington State and headed east for New Jersey in 2006. Given the quintessential urban setting of New York City, bringing a festival promoting support for local farms and farmers doesn’t seem like the right fit at first, but five boroughs of 8 million people need to eat.
It took being invited to The Big Apple, per executive director Carolyn Mugar, by environmentalists, politicians, Mayor Bloomberg’s office as well as chefs, that finally brought Farm Aid to the Empire State. “Farmers are never going to survive if they don’t have as allies the people who want this good food,” Ms. Mugar told the New York Times. “New York has a huge density of eaters and a density of people who are doing excellent things. There are restaurants, farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture programs, even people who are growing food in the city and teaching people how to grow it.”
photo via @ceefar74
The lineup for the day included Farm Aid staples in New York, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, the latter of whom was joined by Merle Haggard. Also on the day long festival-style lineup were the Allman Brothers Band (along with Derek Trucks Band and Gregg Allman performing solo), Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Ray Price, Guster, Billy Joe Shaver, Tim Reynolds, Montgomery Gentry, Supersuckers, Pauline Reese, Danielle Evin, The Ditty Bops, Jimmy Sturr, Paula Nelson, 40 Points, and Jesse Lenat.
The day was hot and quite dusty, part of the unkept nature of Randalls Island (which was prone to flooding at the time) prior to more events being held on the grounds. Thus, there was straw/hay laid down to keep the dust to a minimum. Much has changed over the past 15 years, as Randalls Island has become a destination for concerts and music festivals, among them Governors Ball, Panorama and Electric Zoo.
photo via @ceefar74
Farm Aid 2007 was “A Homegrown Festival,” was the first major music event that served local, organic and family farm food at concessions stands around the venue. The Homegrown Village featured interactive exhibits to educate concert-goers on soil, water, energy, food and farmers. On the heels of the 2007 Farm Aid, the next year Homegrown.org was launched, creating an online community for those interested in growing, cooking, crafting, brewing, preserving, or making anything Homegrown.
The announcement for Farm Aid was momentus, being the first time the traveling single-day multi-band event would make its way to the Empire State.
Can you believe it?!?! Farm Aid in NYC! I have been working on a pun that references the movie “Babe: Pig in the City” but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. We are so pumped about Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival at Randal’s Island. 100% delicious family farm food, good tunes and a summer of events in a huge urban food and farm hub. On the DL, this show has been in the works for a few years and we are just thrilled that the time has come to bring Farm Aid into the lives of New Yorkers, to work with upstate farmers and urban growers and to show all of our concert growers that even after 22 years we have a few surprises up our sleeves!
The idea for Farm Aid originally grew out of a remark that Bob Dylan made at Live Aid in 1985. The Bard said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?” This inspired Willie Nelson to contact Neil Young and John Mellencamp, who was about to release Scarecrow, which includes a song about a farmer losing his land to a foreclosure.
Six weeks after those calls, the trio put together what became the first Farm Aid, on September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Ill. While they expected the event to be a one-off, the inspiration that came from raising money for family farmers to preserve their land and push for laws that support family farms over Big Ag.
Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001, and Margo Price joined in 2021. To date, Farm Aid has raised more than $64 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. A nonprofit organization, Farm Aid holds dear their mission to keep family farmers on their lands.
While the Randalls Island Farm Aid was the first held in New York State, it was only six years later that the event headed Upstate to Saratoga Springs with a performance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The day was highlighted with the unexpected arrival of Pete Seeger, who sang “This Land is Your Land” with the audience, in addition to some new lyrics referencing fracking. The 2022 edition of Farm Aid will take place on September 24 in Raleigh, NC at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
While there was no live broadcast of Farm Aid, video from the concert was available on-demand on September 19, 2007, via Farmaid.org. A good deal of video from the day exists, as seen below. Setlists via ConcertArchives.org
Montgomery Gentry setlist: Hillbilly Shoes, Daddy Won’t Sell the Farm, What Do Ya Think About That
photo via @ceefar74
Supersuckers setlist: Paid, Breaking Honey’s Heart, Roadworn and Weary
Warren Haynes setlist: Indian Sunset, Fallen Down, One, Soulshine
The Derek Trucks Band setlist: Soul Serenade, Sailing On, Key to the Highway
Guster setlist: The Captain, Manifest Destiny, Satellite, Amsterdam, Airport Song
Counting Crows setlist: Rain King, Thunder Road, Recovering the Satellites, Washington Square, A Murder of One, A Long December
Gregg Allman setlist: Midnight Rider, Melissa
Allman Brothers Band setlist: Trouble No More, Revival, Who’s Been Talking, Black Hearted Woman, Statesboro Blues, One Way Out
Billy Joe Shaver setlist: I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train, Live Forever, Try and Try Again
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds setlist: Lie in Our Graves, Gravedigger, Crush, The Maker, The Dreaming Tree, Ants Marching
Neil Young setlist: Human Highway, Silver and Gold, Beautiful Bluebird, Too Far Gone, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Heart of Gold, Homegrown, Four Strong Winds
John Mellencamp setlist: Troubled Land, Rain on the Scarecrow, If I Die Sudden, Paper in Fire, Our Country, To Washington, Small Town, Pink Houses
Willie Nelson setlist: One Day at a Time, Jackson, A Peaceful Solution, Whiskey River, Stormy Weather, I Saw the Light, Superman, You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore, I’ll Fly Away, On the Road Again
The 34th annual Byron Bay Bluesfest Festival’s initial lineup has been revealed. Featuring international artists for the first time since 2019’s pre-pandemic festival, the first lineup released features over 40 artists.
Set for April 6-10, Bluesfest will see some of the finest contemporary and legendary blues, roots, soul, rock, hip hop, r&b, world and americana artists take the stage. This will be the first original style Bluesfest since the world re-opened. Last year primarily featured Australian and New Zealand Artists. Among those making their way down under are Utica’s own and renowned blues guitarist, Joe Bonamassa, bluegrass music innovators Greensky Bluegrass and jam-band favorites, Southern Avenue.
Bluesfest 2022 daytime
What is Bluesfest All-About?
Bluesfest is held over five days at the Byron Events Farm each easter long weekend. Event facilities include seven performance stages, nine licensed bars and two undercover food courts. There are many independent food vendors, car parking for over 7,000 vehicles and camping for up to 6,500 people.
In the coming weeks, Bluesfest will release more of the line-up, along with artist performance dates so that both day-trippers and 3-day ticket holders can make an informed choice. There will also be further announcements on two special satellite events happening in Melbourne and Perth.
And more good news is that ticket prices, camping and VIP tickets remain the same as 2022’s prices. That’s despite the significant increase in cost of international flights and freight logistics, with artist fees also on the rise. Bluesfest will also invest in upgrading the VIP area in order to give its supporters the best experience possible. For the campers that seek a“class above” experience you can upgrade to the Rainbow Tipi accommodation this year.
Whilst there are still plenty of Aussie artists listed in this first and upcoming announcements it is wonderful to once again in 2023, after four long years be able to bring back some of the greatest Blues, Roots, Soul, Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, World and Americana artists (and so much more) back to our shores after so long. As well as, of course, the stars of tomorrow.
– Peter Noble, Festival Director
Tickets for Bluesfest are now available and can be purchased on their official website. While only the 5-day passes are on sale for now, Bluesfest also offers 3-day and single-day passes.
Darien Center will host Folkfaces Fest 6 from September 29th through October 2nd at Cherry Hill Campground, a perfect fall music festival in Western New York.
Folkfaces Fest is an emerging grassroots-style music festival hosted by Tyler Westcott & his band Folkfaces. Situated 40 minutes from Buffalo and less than an hour from Rochester, Folkfaces Fest welcomes a variety of bands and vendors with activities for kids of all ages.
The festival has three areas for performances – The Greystone Stage (main stage), The Gage Stage (side woods stage), and the Slyboots Tent (a large circus tent for performance, workshops, activities and more).
Folkfaces Fest curates unique national and regional acts mostly of the roots music or world music variety. Over the last half a decade the festival has hosted many notable performers including Grammy award winning co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops Dom Flemons “the American Songster,” champion fiddler & ragtime banjoist Aaron Jonah Lewis, Viral YouTube sensation Abby the Spoon Lady, folk hero Bruce Molsky, ragtime blues guitarist Andy Cohen, Kentucky Colonel and front man of the Legendary Shack Shakers – JD Wilkes, Texas one man band, Scott H. Biram, Innovative folk duo Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton, freak folk legend Baby Gramps, and many many others…
Food vendors will be on hand with healthy options as well as standard fair fare. Don’t miss art and craft vendors in the artist village, where there will be held the yearly film fest, square dance, art installations, a paint wall, mycology foray, & workshops with artists. This years theme has been announced as “Denim & Dogs” so dress up in your best Canadian Tuxedo and bring your pup to the fest.
The festival will be accepting donations of lightly worn winter coats, unopened packages of socks and underwear, canned good and non-perishables at the gate to benefit Friends of Night People!
In a slight change from years past, camping is now a separate fee. Once you purchase your festival pass, visit cherryhillcamp.com to book your campsite. While RVs sites and Cabins are sold out, plenty of tent sites remain.
Cherry Hill Camp is a well manicured campground with 50 campsites scattered through out its 63 acres. Each with their own picnic table and fire ring. A few unfurnished barebones cabins. A bathhouse with 6 flush toilets and two showers, laundry and vending machines. There are numerous spigots with potable water spread throughout the festival grounds. A camp store with all your camping supply needs, snacks, drinks and more. Cherry Hill Campground is located at 1516 Sumner Road, Darien Center NY 14040
Folkfaces Fest 6 is sponsored by Sportsmens Americana Music Foundation, Jack Rabbit, Rigidized Metals, The Big Easy In Buffalo, The Fretted Buffalo, Bernunzio’s Uptown Music, The Hotel Crittenden, Allentown Music, 42 North Brewing Company, ANIAH, Slyboots School of Music, Art & Dance, Lavender Haze Collective and Meier’s Creek Brewing.
The GottaGetGon Folk Music Festival is set to return to Saratoga Springs for the first time since 2019 this weekend from Friday, September 2 to Sunday, September 4.
GottaGetGon festival poster.
The festival, which since 1970 has been run as a public function of the Pickin’ & Singin’ Gatherin’, an Albany folk music club, is promoting the weekend as their 50th anniversary celebration, with the festival being put on ice during 2020 & 2021. It will feature concerts and a number of other festivities each day at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa.
Performers of the weekend include Saro Lynch-Thomason, a ballad singer, folklorist, illustrator, author and social activist from Asheville, NC, Alex Cumming, an English singer, accordionist, pianist and dance caller based in Vermont, Coracree, a folk four-piece that mixes various European and American styles, and the Piedmont Blūz, a husband-wife acoustic duo that specializes in country blues.
Other GottaGetGon festival events include a potluck dinner on Friday evening, a Saturday night family dance, musical workshops on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and an open mic event on Sunday.
Food will be provided at the festival, and information regarding tickets, camping and more can be found on the Pickin’ & Singin’ Gatherin’ website.
Michael Eck will celebrate his 40th Anniversary in live music with a special performance his “spiritual home” Caffe Lena, on Sunday, September 25th.
It was on Friday, October 1, 1982, that Michael Eck made his live musical debut, playing electric guitar with the hardcore punk band Deaf Zone in a Battle of the Bands at Bethlehem Central High School. The first they played was The Clash hit “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”
For four decades since, Eck, a self-described “Roots scholar and multi-instrumentalist,” has played in every band you never heard of in Albany and some you actually may have, like The Plague, Chefs of the Future, Stomplistics, Ramblin Jug Stompers, Lost Radio Rounders and Good Things. Additionally, as a singer/songwriter, player and producer, Eck has appeared on dozens of albums.
At his anniversary show on September 25, the veteran of “maximum solo acoustic gigs” in New York, New Orleans and Austin will offer self-written selections from across his career, including tunes culled from four albums (a number of which have been covered by regional artists) as well as a brace of new material (much of it never heard by a live audience), written “during the pandemic and following a stroke.”
Eck will be joined, on a select number of show-closing songs by his adult children, Lakota Ruby-Eck (guitar) and Lillierose Ruby-Eck (violin).
Importantly, the show will also be a release party for Eck’s fifth solo album, “Your Turn to Shine—New Songs, Live at WEXT.” Physical copies will be available at the event, with digital distribution to follow. The title bears witness to the fact that most of the dozen selections were played live for the first time, in any context, at public radio station WEXT.
Nostalgia, Hawaiian shirts, good vibrations and the sounds of Motown were abound in Saratoga Springs on Thursday August 18th, as legendary summer surf rock pioneers The Beach Boys and iconic Motor City hitmakers The Temptations belted out classic after classic at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Celebrating Sixty Years of The Sounds of Summer, the evening played out like a trip down memory lane, taking the mostly older audience back to a time when, on the surface, things just seemed simpler. Like a snapshot through American history, fans welcomed the chance to hear the songs that provided the soundtrack to so much of their lives.
The Beach Boys took fans at SPAC on a Surfin’ Safari on 8/18/22
From Hitsville USA to the Spa City, the evening kicked off with the Motown soul of The Temptations. Dressed in matching green suites, the dapper looking group was led by original member Otis Williams along with Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant and Jawan M. Jackson and also included a full orchestra as part of the backing band. With vocals ringing true and like a well-oiled machine, the tightly choregraphed set included fan favorites “Get Ready,” “I’ll be in Trouble, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” With the crowd fully engaged and singing along to almost every song, not only were fans having a good time, but it seemed like the members of The Temptations were too, exchanging smiles and high five handshakes that felt genuine and unchoreographed. After a medley of songs paying homage to other Motown greats of the era, The Temptations closed their set with a song everybody knows, their signature hit “My Girl.”
Otis Williams and The Temptations performing at SPAC 8/18/22 – Photo by Zak Radick
After a brief break to clear the stage, the fun-filled evening continued with an elaborate pre-produced video introduction that flashed images and soundbites of The Beach Boys storied career. With the group’s 60th anniversary of their first album, Surfin’ Safari, approaching in October – their impact on American culture through the decades cannot be overstated. Watching the montage of popular television shows and movies the band has been featured in – from Good Morning Vietnam, Cocktail, Look Who’s Talking, and the closing credits of Boogie Nights, to shows like Full House and Friends and their complicated association with the Fab Four, it’s clear not only does this band continue to have a wide-ranging generational appeal, but that their songs have indeed stood the test time.
Have Mercy: A career spanning video montage of The Beach Boys plays moments before showtime on 8/18/22
With a minimal stage setup that simply included some artificial palm trees and a jumbotron LED screen, original Beach Boy Mike Love and longtime member Bruce Johnston walked to the front of the stage and showed their love for the Saratoga crowd by blowing them kisses before launching into the first of many surf rock medleys, kicking the party off with a “Do It Again”>”Surfin’ Safari”>”Catch a Wave” trifecta. Bolstering their iconic sound with help from talented supporting musicians Tim Bonhomme, John Cowsill, Brian “Ike” Eichenberger, Christian Love, Randy Leago, Keith Hubacher and Scott Totten, this incarnation of The Beach Boys both looked and sounded great.
Working their way through all the fan favorites – the surfing songs like “Rockaway Beach,” “Surfin’ USA,” and ” Surfer Girl,” to the cruising anthems like “Little Deuce Coup,””409” and “Little Honda” it was clear The Beach Boys not only welcomed the nostalgia, but thrived in it. With their signature sun-drenched vocal harmonies for days, hearing songs like “Don’t Worry Baby,” “I Get Around, “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” felt truly special and provided some of the biggest ovations of the evening, but perhaps the loudest came on the heels of an emotional rendition of “God Only Knows,” a song many consider to be one of the greatest ever written.
After telling a short story about the time he ran into The Beatles in India, Mike Love would sing an original song called “Pisces Brothers”, before the band would string together another series of love songs (“Darlin,” Then I Kissed Her,” Help Me Rhonda”) that saw some of the elderly couples embrace in sentimental overload. Picking the tempo back up, possibly out of fear of being too mushy, “Dance, Dance Dance, ”Do You Wanna Dance?” and a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” came next, followed by everyone’s favorite a luau anthem ”Kokomo,” which had everyone on the SPAC lawn singing and smiling, making the final song of the set, “Good Vibrations,” very fitting. The Beach Boys would return to the stage for a two song encore, “Barbara Ann” and “Fun, Fun,Fun,” sending the audience home satisfied and happy.
After more then six decades of performing, both The Beach Boys and The Temptations have proven they still have what it takes to entertain at a high level and that there is still an audience hungry to see them. With an astounding catalog of songs that have become engrained in American culture and themes that remain universal – teenage love and angst, rebelling against authority, driving fast and having fun in the sun, hearing them played live can feel almost surreal at times. It didn’t seem to matter the original members of each group were few and few between, it was all about being there in the moment, singing the songs you grew up on, and rediscovering a piece of your own youth. A great night of ‘Greatest Hits,” have mercy on me for saying it, but even Jess and the Rippers would have found this show satisfying.
If you missed the stop in Saratoga Springs, don’t worry baby, New Yorkers still have a few more chances to catch the Sixty Years of The Sounds of Summer Tour. The Beach Boys and The Temptations play Bethel Woods on August 25th, the Chautauqua Amphitheater on August 26th, and swing by Wildwood, NJ on August 27th.
The Beach Boys | August 18, 2022 | Saratoga Springs, NY | SPAC
Setlist: Do It Again, Surfin’ Safari, Catch a Wave, Hawaii, Little Honda, Rockaway Beach, Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl, Don’t Worry Baby, Little Deuce Coupe, 409, Shut Down, I Get Around, Be True to Your School, Getcha Back, You’re So Good to Me, Darlin’, God Only Knows, Pisces Brothers, California Girls, Sloop John B, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Then I Kissed Here, Help Me, Rhonda, Do You Wanna Dance, Kokomo, Good Vibrations
Encore: Barbara Ann, Fun, Fun, Fun
The Temptations | August 18, 2022 | Saratoga Springs, NY | SPAC
Setlist: Get Ready, Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue), The Girl’s Alright With Me, Beauty is Only Skin Deep, I’ll Be In Trouble, The Way You Do The Things You Do, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today), I Wish It Would Rain, Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, I Can’t Get Next to You, Is It Gonna Be Yes or No, Get Up (I Feel like Being a Sex Machine / I Want to Take You Higher / Let’s Get It On, Treat Her Like a Lady / Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now, My Girl
From Phil Lesh to Courtney Barnett and everyone in between, by all measures it’s been the most successful summer yet for the new-ish big outdoor venue in central New York, Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards. The apples are starting to ripen, almost ready for picking, so the loud thumps of live music will have to make way for the low rumble of tractors. But there was time for one more big show to thrill the hungry ears of Syracuse and beyond, and alt-country heroes Wilco came to provide the fans with one last blowout to finish the season.
With an expansive concert field with great sight lines, sound that is crisp but not too loud, absurdly punctual start and finish times, friendly organized staff, quality reasonably priced food and their own line of fabulous ciders, Beak and Skiff is quite the comfortable place to take in some live music on a nice summer evening. Wilco fit well with the vibe and provided comforts of their own.
Touring behind their 2022 Cruel Country release, they promptly opened the show with the album’s first two tracks, “I Am My Mother” and the title track. The new songs blended together superbly with their more well-worn material. Being a double album, they had plenty of new material to pull from, but it seems like they’ve already plucked some live favorites. Later “Story To Tell” saw Nels Cline on a haunting lap steel, while “Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull” rolled along slowly before building behind Glenn Kotche’s brilliant drumming to a rollicking two-guitar workout.
Wilco served up more comfort for the ears with their oldies but goodies. The reliable bass groove laid down by John Stirratt on “Handshake Drugs” paved the way for a three-guitar assault behind more fantastic work from Kotche. “At Least That’s What You Said” was an unsurprisingly excellent rock out, like sitting with an old friend. The unadulterated shredding by Nels Cline on “Impossible Germany” slid into the ears with ease. “Jesus Etc.” said it best, “You can rely on me honey.”
The most surprising moment from the show came at a juncture of the old and new. “Via Chicago” was blasting along on it’s usual reliable path, Kotche thrilling with his typical drum freakouts. It all fizzled out into a nice slow developing segment snagged from a piece of “Many Worlds.” Pat Sansone and Cline’s guitars swirled around each other as it extended further and deeper, reaching a southern rock style fever pitch.
The encore saw further blending of old and new. “Falling Apart (Right Now)” a country romp featuring a detuning guitar solo from Sansone preceded “Box Full of Letters” off of their debut album, A.M. Tweedy sent the song out to the people who bought the early album. When that was met with a huge roar, he responded: “No way, I’d have nicer clothes if that was true.” The show ended though with more comfortable Wilco classics, “The Late Greats” and “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” with the crowd appropriately singing along, singing back to the band: “Got you and it’s all I need / I got you / I got you and I still believe / That you’re all that I’ll ever need.” The fans got what they came for, Wilco delivered a reliably stellar rock show like only they know how.
On the flip side, opener Kamikaze Palm Tree reveled in the uncomfortable. The art rock quartet is led by Cole Berliner on drums and vocals and Dylan Hadley on guitars, and were joined by bass and keys players. Experimental and avant-garde, the music took wild left turns and wasn’t for passive listening. Deadpan singing, unexpected rhythm shifts, slow languid moments bursting into grungy rock; it was difficult to keep up but once you got on board it was an exciting ride.
Their intent came into better focus the closer you got to the band. The visual aspects married with the audio output provided the full experience of Kamikaze Palm Tree as they played material off their brand new release Mint Chip. Hadley had heavy red eye makeup, wore a purple tux, and moved like an animatronic character in a haunted house, staring deeply into the crowd. Berliner’s singing, sometimes behind the kit, sometimes in front, was joined by dramatic motions and expressions. A nice discovery and rewarding listen for the open-minded listeners in the audience.
Wilco Setlist: I Am My Mother, Cruel Country, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Hints, Handshake Drugs, Story to Tell, Either Way, War On War, If I Ever Was a Child, Via Chicago / Many Worlds, Hummingbird, At Least That’s What You Said, Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull, Jesus Etc., Impossible Germany, Love Is Everywhere (Beware), California Stars, A Lifetime to Find, Heavy Metal Drummer, Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Encore: Falling Apart (Right Now), Box Full of Letters, The Late Greats, I Got You (At the End of the Century)
