Dead & Company are hitting the (golden) road once more with a final tour scheduled for Summer 2023. The dates have just been released and tickets are now on sale at the band’s website. The tour begins on Friday, May 19 in Los Angeles for what is being billed as the band’s last official tour since forming in 2015.
Highlights for this final go-round include two shows at Wrigley Field in Chicago (Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10), performances at SPAC (Saturday, June 17 and Sunday, June 18) and Citi Field in NYC (Wednesday, June 21 and Thursday, June 22), and The Gorge in George, WA (Friday, July 7 and Saturday, July 8). The tour also features the band’s first ever three-night run at one of their favorite venues, Folsom Field in Boulder, CO. A full listing of the 2023 tour dates can be found below.
Guests who prefer an enhanced experience for this memorable Dead & Company tour can purchase a variety of VIP and Travel Packages. Packages include seamless venue access, early GA entry, pre-show lounge with food and a cash bar, exclusive merchandise, or travel packages for multi-night runs in various cities. Packages from 100X Hospitality will go on sale October 12th at noon local venue time. For full details, click HERE.
Dead & Company Summer Tour 2023
05-19 Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum 05-20 Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum 05-23 Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion 05-26 Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion 05-28 Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre 05-30 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion 06-01 Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek 06-03 Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live 06-05 Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake 06-07 St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater 06-09 Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field 06-10 Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field 06-13 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center 06-15 Philadelphia, PA – Citizen’s Bank Park 06-17 Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center 06-18 Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center 06-21 Queens, NY – Citi Field 06-22 Queens, NY – Citi Field 06-25 Boston, MA – Fenway Park 06-27 Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center 07-01 Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 07-02 Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 07-03 Boulder, CO – Folsom Field 07-07 George, WA – The Gorge 07-08 George, WA – The Gorge 07-14 San Francisco, CA – Oracle Park 07-15 San Fransisco, CA – Oracle Park
One of the best Grateful Dead tribute/cover bands out there today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) has announced they’ll celebrate 10 years with a performance where it all began, at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on January 26. They’ll follow up that intimate show with a three-night weekend at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester January 27-29.
The band first performed on January 26, 2013, with a lineup of drummer Joe Russo, Ween’s bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, guitarist and vocalist Scott Metzger, and guitarist and vocalist Tom Hamilton. Part of Freaks Ball XIII, JRAD was pulled together after the Dean Ween Group pulled out, leading to Russo bringing together four musicians he had played with over the years, leading to the formation of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Later that year, they played The Capitol Theatre on December 27, 2013, their second ever show.
JRAD have made their presence known from coast-to-coast, with shows at Red Rocks, festivals across the country, and regular appearances throughout New York State.
Tickets for JRAD’s 10th anniversary shows go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 7 at 10 a.m. ET. Presales takes place on Thursday with details available here.
On Monday October 3rd, Tedeschi Trucks Band played their landmark 50th show at The Beacon Theatre with Hot Tuna opening as a special surprise guest. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady also joined the band later in the evening for a performance of Janis Joplin’s “Turtle Blues” as well as Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”
There was speculation online by fans earlier in the week as to who the “special guest” was going to be. It remained a well kept secret until the moment it was announced at the start of the show. The crowd erupted as Hot Tuna made their way to the stage as the unannounced opening act for Tedeschi and Trucks. They played an acoustic nine song set filled with covers as well as some original Tuna songs.
The first two songs of their set, “Don’t You Leave Me Here (Dime For Beer)” and “Hesitation Blues” were featured on their debut self-titled live album from 1970. That was followed by Reverend Gary Davis’s “Let Us Get Together Right Down Here” and a Richard M. Jones cover of “Trouble in Mind.” Other songs included a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Good Shepherd” and “Day to Day Out the Window Blues” before ending their set with Jesse Fuller’s “San Francisco Bay Blues.”
Tedeschi Trucks took the stage around 8:45 and started their set with “Don’t Let Me Slide” from their 2011 debut album Revelator. This also happens to be the first song they ever played at The Beacon Theatre when they performed their first show there in 2011. The second song of their set was “All That I Need” from the band’s second album Made Up Mind released in 2013. They continued with “Laugh About It” and “Signs” before digging into their I Am the Moon: I. Crescent set.
I Am the Moon is the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s newest project. It is a series of four new albums along with four corresponding films made during the Covid lockdown. They have been working the albums into their shows during this current Beacon run. Thursday’s show featured I Am the Moon: III. The Fall while Friday’s show included I Am the Moon: IV. Farewell. Saturday’s crowd got to hear I Am the Moon: II. Ascension saving I Am the Moon: I. Crescent for their 50th Beacon show on Monday night.
Mike Mattison sang lead vocals on “Fall In” which then led into the title track of the project. After that was “Circles ‘Round the Sun” featuring Kebbi Williams on saxophone. For the final song of the album, “Pasaquan” most of the band left the stage leaving just Derek, keyboardist Gabe Dixon, bassist Brandon Boone and the two drummers Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady for this captivating twenty two minute rendition of the song.
Another highlight of the show was a cover of “Keep On Growing” by Derek and the Dominos. It was only fitting that an Allman Brothers song be included in this special Beacon show. Derek and Susan absolutely killed it on a “Whipping Post” before leaving the stage to a standing ovation. The encore featured two songs from I Am the Moon IV. Farewell, “Another Day” and “Soul Sweet Song.” The band then honored Leon Russell ending the show with a cover of “Space Captain” from Matthew Moore.
There are still a few more Beacon shows left. After that, they are doing shows in Denmark, Norway and the UK. You can see the rest of their upcoming tour dates here.
Setlist: Don’t Let Me Slide, All That I Need, Laugh About It, Signs, High Times, Hear My Dear, Fall In, I Am the Moon, Circles ‘Round the Sun, Pasaquan, Turtle Blues, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Made Up Mind, Keep on Growing, The Storm, Whipping Post, Another Day, Soul Sweet Song, Space Captain
Chris Mazuera, a regular in the “Lofi Beats To Study To,” Spotify playlist, is getting a little less late-night cram and a little more late-night kickback in his newest single, “Roots.” Mazuera released four singles in advance of his upcoming album Let’s Take A Trip, with “Roots” as the closer on that album.
“I wanted to close out the album in a strong way,” Mazuera said. “So I mixed as many of my influences as I could in this track: rock, jazz, hip-hop, psychedelic, blues, classical.”
Chris Mazuera calls the sound on the upcoming album a more coherent mixture of all his influences from across genres, and he’s proud that the sound is more identifiable with himself as an artist. It’s uplifting, energetic, and has a funky bassline. The song comes in just over two minutes, but it’s the kind of song you could hit repeat on a couple of times.
What sets “Roots” apart from his past hits like “First Snow” and “Abundance,” is his departure from comfortable repetitive and symmetrical rhythms and harmonies to more ambitious beat switches and guitar solos. Mazeura said this is a call back to his “roots” in New York City when he first moved to the city from Miami and would busk in Grand Central Station, playing blues solos for hours and hours.
Since moving to NYC he has familiarized himself with the industry through partnerships with local hip-hop and lo-fi producers. In 2018 he released his first album Monstera, since he’s released over seven albums and EPs, composed of both solo projects and collaborations, in addition to several singles.
“Roots” is streaming across platforms now and you can pre-save the album, which is coming out on Dec. 2 here.
Phish has announced their New Year’s plans and, once again, they will be celebrating with a four-show run at Madison Square Garden. Shows are scheduled from Wednesday, December 28 through Saturday, December 31. After last year’s shows were postponed due to a surge of Covid cases, this will be the first New Year’s run for Phish at MSG since 2019. Overall, this will mark the 13th time that the band has celebrated with a show on New Year’s Eve at the Garden.
A ticket request period for this latest Phish MSG run is currently underway at tickets.phish.com (ending Monday, October 3 at noon ET). Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, October 7 at noon ET.
While the year 1977 typically, and justifiably, gets a lot of the attention in Grateful Dead lore, the previous year has its fair share of gems too. With the Godchaux tandem now firmly entrenched and the return of Mickey Hart, the band was approaching the peak of its collective power in 1976. A slew of new live material that was unleashed the year before and earlier this summer was proof of this. Today marks the anniversary of the fourth ever appearance in Rochester for the Grateful Dead, last playing here in 1973. A rowdy Upstate New York crowd greeted the Dead for this performance at the War Memorial (now known as Blue Cross Arena) – one that’s filled with a distinct blend of classic songs and some fresher material still relatively new in the live setting.
Tonight’s performance gets a true “rock n’ roll” opener thanks to a lively cover of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” that has the Rochester crowd clapping along in time. A couple of impressive guitar licks early on from Jerry Garcia show he’s adequately warmed up and Bob Weir executes the vocals to perfection. Instead of pushing the pace even further, after some brief technical delay the Dead move over to the slow lane for “They Love Each Other.” They still manage to find their way into a nice early groove though, aided by another Garcia solo and some delicate piano work from Keith Godchaux.
After some more extensive post-song tuning, the band then does a slow build towards the intro of what turns out to be an emphatic “El Paso” with Weir once again manning the vocals. This gives way to another first set staple in “Deal” that gets some harmonious assistance from Donna Jean Godchaux on the chorus. She also adds some delightful harmonies to the emotional “Looks Like Rain” that follows and features another organic, slow build of communal energy.
The Dead keep in a similar mode for the slow, near plodding, tempo of “Row Jimmy” that comes next and elicits a few more emotionally-charged guitar solos from Garcia as well as supplemental dulcet tones from Donna Jean on vocals. Once completed, Weir implores the crowd to take place in “America’s Favorite Game: Take A Step Back” to prevent those in the front few rows on the floor of the War Memorial from getting further squished. This seems to call for another cover song and the choice is made for “It’s All Over Now,” a song popularized by The Rolling Stones more than a decade ago.
The first set staples then roll on, this time with “Loser,” another Garcia-dominated number. The soulful, introspective lyrics are matched by a guitar solo that has the Rochester crowd in mass, loud approval. Once completed, the Dead then introduce Rochester to the most recent of their traditional song pairings. This time, it’s the relatively new “Lazy Lightning” and “Supplication.” With both songs making their live debut just months earlier in 1976 at shows in Portland OR, this was undoubtedly the first time this sequence was able to experienced for some East Coast Dead Heads. “Supplication” hasn’t even been given lyrics yet and is played as a sturdy instrumental that the Rochester crowd eats up.
The opening set comes to an end with an interesting pairing of songs. First, it’s a rather unusual late set placement for “Brown Eyed Women” that has some early vocal flubs from Garcia on the intro but then wastes no time rounding into form with the crowd once again lending on-time audible support through applause. “The Music Never Stopped,” another newer song that just came into its own this year which features more vocal interplay between Weir and Donna Jean, then closes the book on the first set.
The second one opens with another relatively fresh tune, this time it’s the Garcia and Robert Hunter composition “Might As Well,” another song that made its live debut just months earlier. It’s supported by another bouncy guitar solo and gets a welcomed reception from the crowd. Afterwards, the recognizable drum beat that begins “Samson and Delilah” ensues and the Dead are off and running with another newer song that’s still finding its footing in a live setting. Weir nails the Biblical lyrics and Garcia provides more than enough support with some fiery guitar licks with bassist Phil Lesh competently holding down the bottom end.
After another band “huddle,” a drawn out intro to “Help On The Way” ensues with the band almost seemingly throwing in a “Music Never Stopped” tease for good measure before fully diving into “Help.” It feels like a slightly quicker version that’s played a little faster than it’s traditional styling yet, nevertheless, still flows seamlessly right into its traditional running mate in “Slipknot!” with no issues. This latter half of the pairing quickly devolves into a free-flowing, improvisational jam with Garcia and Lesh once again leading the way. This yields some of the more intensive and psychedelic jamming of the evening, a perfect springboard into the “Drums” section which soon follows.
After essentially putting the cart (“Space”) before the horse (“Drums”), the Dead jump right back into a high-octane, free wheeling jam that winds its way perfectly into the beginning of a thunderous “The Other One” that shows the band at their improvisational best.
After reaching a climax, the Dead slow things down considerably with “Wharf Rat” which gets another warm reception from the Rochester crowd. Garcia leads the band through this ballad-esque number with typical aplomb and his signature vocal stylings. In a bit of a twist, once completed they actually go back and play a definitive “Slipknot!” reprise for a few minutes, returning to the main theme and a smooth segue into “Franklin’s Tower” that, along with “Help On The Way,” completes a holy trinity of Grateful Dead songs. The band, and Garcia in particular, take their time with this crowd favorite and it results in 17-plus minutes of euphoric musical composition that the War Memorial crowd eagerly soaks up.
The Dead then bookend tonight’s show in Rochester with another Chuck Berry cover, this time “Around and Around,” sung by Weir in his typical increasingly rambunctious fashion. A “U.S. Blues” that doesn’t seem to have made the recording then wraps up tonight’s Rochester show. The band would continue their Upstate New York travels and play a gig the following night at a different War Memorial, this one in Syracuse.
View this and other Grateful Dead shows from across the years in New York State with our interactive map below
Grateful Dead Community War Memorial Auditorium – Rochester, NY 9/27/76
Set 1: Promised Land, They Love Each Other, El Paso, Deal, Looks Like Rain, Row Jimmy, It’s All Over Now, Loser, Lazy Lightning-> Supplication, Brown Eyed Women, The Music Never Stopped
Set 2: Might As Well, Samson & Delilah, Help On The Way-> Slipknot!-> Drums-> The Other One-> Wharf Rat-> Slipknot!-> Franklin’s Tower-> Around & Around
Joan Osborne has been known for her powerful vocals and genre-crossing dimensionality since she first broke into the industry in the ‘90s. Already acclaimed with seven Grammy nominations, Joan Osborne is to receive the 2022 John Lennon Real Love Award at Symphony Space, NYC on Saturday, October 8 as part of the annual John Lennon Tribute concert.
This will make Osborne the eighth recipient of the John Lennon Real Love Award, whose previous honorees include Patti Smith, Natalie Merchant and Ani DiFranco. The award is presented by Theatre Within, the non-profit that has been hosting the John Lennon Tribute since 1981. Osborne has performed in the Tribute ten times since 2009, more than any other artist in the Tribute’s history.
The John Lennon Tribute is the only ongoing concert series dedicated to John Lennon sanctioned by Yoko Ono. “For many years Joan Osborne’s beautiful voice has touched our hearts and brought us joy. I am in great admiration of Joan’s support of charities that provide health care for women, assistance for children affected by war, and so many others,” Ono said on Osborne’s nomination for the award.
Joining the legendary vocalist at Symphony Space will be Martin Sexton, Catherine Russel, Willie Nile, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, David Broza and Rich Pagano, with more artists to be announced. The program promises some Beatles tribute songs from Rubber Soul and Revolver.
Part of the proceeds from the John Lennon Tribute will be used to support Theatre Within’s John Lennon Real Love project, a free songwriting program the organization brings to public elementary schools.
Tickets are available at LennonTribute.org. John Lennon and Beatles fans are invited to join “Friends of the Annual John Lennon Tribute” at LennonTribute.org/join-friends, where a limited number of VIP packages are available.
Playing for over 4 million fans since 1988, The Australian Pink Floyd Show showed Rochester why they are the ultimate Pink Floyd tribute band after performing at the Kodak Theatre on September 21. Right down to the light show and lasers, Australian Pink Floyd, as they are sometimes called, got toes tapping and heads rocking right out of the gate.
Immediately, fans were transported back in time with remarkable renditions of classics like “Obscured By Clouds,” “Time,” “Money” and of course, “Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2.”
Hailing from Adelaide, group consists of Luc Ledy-Lepine (guitar), David Domminney-Fowler(guitar/vocals) Steve Mac (guitar/vocal), Jason Sawford (keyboard), Paul Bonney (drums), Ricky Howard(bass/vocals), Mike Kidson (sax), and the amazing Chris Barnes on vocals. Backup singers are Lorelei McBroom, Emily Lynn, and Lara Smiles.
On an overcast and at times rainy Sunday, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) was home to more than a concert, but instead the day long Outlaw Music Festival, with Particle Kid, Brittney Spencer, Larkin Poe, Billy Strings, The Avett Brothers and the legendary Willie Nelson.
The Outlaw Village, located towards the back of SPAC’s renovated concession area, featured a variety of vendors like you’d see at a festival or your nearest Shakedown Street. A packed crowd was lively and excited to see the new (Particle Kid, Brittney Spencer), the rising star (Billy Strings), Americana (Larkin Poe, Avett Brothers) and the old (Willie Nelson, closing in on 9 decades).
Billy Strings simply stole the show, and it seemed that the crowd was mainly there for the rising Nashville star (via Michigan). In fact, it could easily be argued that Billy Strings should have played just prior to Willie Nelson, flipping slots with Avett Brothers. Granted, Avett Brothers have been around for over 20 years, but the energy and draw of Billy Strings far outweighs the Americana of the Avetts. Having Billy and his high power set precede Avetts left the latter’s set feeling like something was lacking, and the speed was lower tempo and inconsistent by comparison.
When you factor in that the gracious Billy Strings thanked Willie, not just from the microphone, but in the setlist as well – spelling out THANK YOU WILLIE over the course of 14 songs in a 75Minute set. Highlights from the set included covers of Pearl Jam’s “In Hiding” and Bill Monroe’s “Uncle Pen.”
Billy Strings Setlist: Turmoil and Tinfoil, Hollow Heart, Away From the Mire, Nothing’s Working, Know It All, Y’all Come, Old Mexico, Uncle Pen, West Dakota Rose, If Your Hair’s Too Long (There’s Sin in Your Heart), Love and Regret, Libby Phillips Rag, In Hiding, Everything’s the Same
The 89 year old Willie Nelson followed Avett Brothers with four band mates tore through a set that the audience waited patiently for, kicking things off with his classic “Whiskey River.” Bringing out grandson Micah Nelson (Particle Kid) for “Everything is Bullshit,” ” Halfway to Heaven” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” plus a few other tunes was an excellent touch; the set brought to mind Farm Aid in 2013 at SPAC, where Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real performed a short set and later joined his pater familias.
To close out Outlaw Music Festival at SPAC, Willie invited all the days performers to the stage for “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” and a finale of Mac Davis’ “It’s Hard to Be Humble.”
New York-based band Melt played their first ever international show in Toronto at Adelaide Hall on Thursday, September 15, dropping a powerful performance that showcased each of the seven band members’ talents in a perfectly locked-in way.
Opening their 10-song set with “Waves” off their 2021 EP West Side Highway, the group played with dynamics from the start, a powerful opening section leading into a beautiful quiet area that featured lead vocalist Veronica Stewart-Frommer sitting down at the front of the stage and crooning to the audience.
Shy” came next, a 2020 single, featured beautiful melodic guitar lines from guitarist Marlo Shankweiler and staccato horn stabs from the saxophone/trumpet duo of Nick Sare and Evan Lane.
One of the best-kept secrets of Melt was revealed to be keyboardist Eric Gabriel and his incredible vocals – taking the lead on West Side Highway cut “Hours”, his gentle tones contrasted perfectly with Stewart-Frommer’s powerful harmonies.
At this point in the show, I was becoming increasingly honed in on the rhythm section of bassist Lucas Saur and drummer Andres Valbuena, whose rock-solid grooves were a perfect foundation to all of the music. Saur in particular (as I’ll mention again later) absolutely blew me away with some gorgeous melodic solos.
“Inside”, a single from Melt’s early days, started with a gentle intro on electric piano but quickly built to a frenzy, Stewart-Frommer unleashing vocal power and Shankweiler delivering an absolutely SEARING guitar solo in a style that blends classic rock favourites with clear Trey Anastasio influence.
The next track, “Brown Eyes”, was the first true slow song of the night, and acted as a perfect breather and let Sare shine on a fantastic saxophone solo.
Stewart-Frommer took a second before the next song to announce that Melt is recording their debut album on the road this fall, incorporating segments from some concerts into the recording.
A slightly mysterious vibe began “Walk to Midnight”, a song that just calls to mind a classic pop song. Shankweiler and Stewart-Frommer gave another stellar performance here, both whipping the crowd into a frenzy once again. The next unreleased song, titled “The Door” began with an extended and VERY psychedelic guitar/bass duet. As the jam band fan I am, I would have loved to see it extended for 5-10 more minutes, but the song absolutely killed and I eagerly await its translation to the studio when it (hopefully) is on the upcoming LP.
Now let’s talk about “Fade Into You”.
Melt’s latest single, just released today, began with strong guitar melodies and is another instant-classic Melt tune, but the real treat came in the middle with the performance of the band’s instrumental jam vehicle “Duh-Duh”. I honestly couldn’t tell you when the transition happened, but suddenly punchy horn melodies and an absolutely DOMINATING groove developed as Shankweiler took yet ANOTHER incredible solo. The rest of the band then dropped to the floor as Valbuena lit up the stage with a thrashing solo section, his stoic drum-face breaking briefly to express his glee. Bassist Saur then jumped up for a shot in the spotlight and built upon the drums with an expressive solo of his own. With some cool delayed-guitar lines thrown overtop by Shankweiler and Gabriel’s use of a Supertramp-like sound in the closing part of the song, the sandwich of “Fade Into You” -> “Duh Duh” -> “Fade Into You” was absolutely my highlight of the night.
As the band introduced a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” (featuring opening act Joel McLeod on vocals) to close out the main set, I was a little bit apprehensive about a ballad closer. However, the septet struck into their unique arrangement of the song, a driving, powerful take on the classic tune with a guitar line chunky and reminiscent of the Home Depot theme song (in the best way).
The encore began with a performance of “Communion”, an unreleased ballad in the form of a beautiful duet between Gabriel and Stewart-Frommer, the former’s gentle keyboard playing on full display.
A powerful cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” with more incredibly powerful vocals continued the encore before Melt’s first-ever release, “Sour Candy” closed out the night on a high note.
Melt is on tour this fall across the USA – do NOT miss them if they are playing near you! A sound built on a tight band with audible influences across the musical spectrum, each member contributes to the overall sound that fills every corner of the venue with its exuberant energy. I eagerly look forward to seeing what heights Melt will reach in the coming years!
Melt next plays in New York on October 20 at Webster Hall.
originally posted on https://ryanstorm.substack.com/p/show-review-melt-91522
