Category: Genres

In Focus: Trey and Goose let Loose in Syracuse

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

photos by Brian Ferguson

November 20, 2022
Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes Announces December Holiday Concert

As the family-friendly holiday activities start rolling out, consider a live music event, like the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes’ holiday concert this December 3. The concert will showcase diverse vocalists and genres, as well as compositions created by international musicians. The OSFL will explore themes of healing and community; encapsulated in the season’s felicitous motto: “Together We Are Sound.”

To ensure the event includes all holidays in its festivity, the OSFL commissioned an Israeli-American composer, Avner Finberg, to write a medley of iconic Klezmer dances. His composition, Dances in Freygish, will put Hanukkah in the global spotlight, as the December 3 concert is its world premiere.

This concert also promises big band fun, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes will play a collection of 40s jazz favorites by Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and more.

The concert will take place in the Clemens Center Powers Theater at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $20-$50 for adults, $10 for college students with ID, and free for youth under 18 (if accompanied by a ticketed adult.)

November 20, 2022
This Week’s EQXposure Features No More Death Stars

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.

November 19, 2022
Hudson Valley Native Soul Blind Releases New Single “Feel It All Around”

Local to the Hudson Valley, Soul Blind released their newest alternative single “Feel It All Around” on November 11^th. “Stuck In A Loop” leans into the band’s ‘90s alternative influences, flowing through rich guitar tones into an intoxicating breakdown.

As you listen through tracks like “Ain’t Hard To Tell” and “System (Failing),” it’s easy to see the juxtaposition of the environment the band grew up in bleeding into how they approach music. The songs serve as a pair centered around people sucking the life out of you, as “Ain’t Hard To Tell” takes the viewpoint of watching a person change into someone unlikable, “System (Failing)” finds one progressing past the relationship.

The band explains how inner struggles serve as a recurring theme throughout the album, this particular track feeds into the paranoia of the mind. “Imagine the visual of being stuck in a loop inside one’s thoughts due to a mental lapse onset by a drug induced night, and not knowing how to escape” vocalist Cen comments on the song’s lyrical content. “The ‘view’ is this other, brighter side that you can put yourself in, but the ‘glue’ has you stuck in a loop until you can get yourself out.”

Soul Blind is Cen (vocals/bass), Justin Sarica (guitar), Finn Lovell (guitar), and Steve Hurley (drums).

Much of Feel It All Around was written in Soul Blind’s hometown of Hudson Valley, NY, which the band describes as “a place of beauty within hopelessness of its people, where you find the richness between the despair.”

Alternative rock band Soul Blind pushes the boundaries of their genre with a rich collage of sounds and emotionally charged lyrics. Formed back in 2018, the band hit their stride in 2021 with the release of their critically acclaimed Third Chain EP. They have been praised for lush, distorted riffs and divine, whirling vocals, the band build on those elements on their upcoming full-length album, Feel It All Around.

To listen to Soul Blind releases and Feel It All Around, click the link here.

November 19, 2022
Syracuse Jazz Festival Announces Fundraising Goals

The Syracuse Jazz Festival has announced they are currently searching for private and public sector funding to help fund the 2023 edition of the festival.

The Syracuse Jazz Festival is now in its 37 year and returned last year after a five-year-long hiatus due to financial issues. It is the nation’s 12 longest-running festival and the world’s 12 longest-running jazz festival. It was previously named “The Largest Free Jazz Festival In The Northeast”, winning 30 International, national and regional awards as the Best Music Festival.

Many legendary artists have performed at the festival, including Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Sonny Rollins. These performances gave the festival international acclaim.

The festival organizers are currently pursuing private and public sector funding to mount a 2023 edition of the festival in the amount of $650,000. According to festival founder and executive producer Frank Malfitano, “The cost of mounting a world class, non ticketed festival – one that remains free of charge
for area residents and visitors – has risen dramatically.” He also went on to say that artists’ fees have doubled and even tripled since the pandemic. In 2022, the festival got $400,000 in funding to bring it back.

This past year, with the help of Amazon, Onondaga County and the City, we achieved our primary goal of bringing the festival back, and we’re extremely proud of that collective accomplishment. We’re also proud of the fact that we were able to showcase many of our region’s finest jazz artists in 2022 at 20 different venues over 3 evenings, providing needed work opportunities for more than 100 Syracuse-based artists who had been negatively impacted by the pandemic. While we were successful in helping revitalize the region’s cultural and music scene by achieving those goals, we simultaneously fell a little short of securing needed and hoped for multi-year funding commitments for Jazz Fest. But, we’re hoping our success in 2022 will lead to even greater success in 2023.
Frank Malfitano

Malfitano concluded by saying that anyone interested in learning more about the 2023 Syracuse Jazz Fest Sponsorship can contact him here.

November 18, 2022
The Dresden Dolls Reunite for Three Explosive Nights at The Colony in Woodstock

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

November 18, 2022
Marco Benevento Announces 2023 Tour, Stops in Woodstock and Jersey City

While many found the sudden lockdown spurred by 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic depressing, isolating and fruitless, Marco Benevento found the time trapped in his Hudson Valley dilapidated home studio to be inspiring and invigorating. In that room, surrounded by outdated technology, malfunctioning drum kits and eclectic instruments, the Woodstock keyboardist found his latest album: Benevento. Benevento will be celebrating the album’s release with a tour across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest in March 2023.

The production of Benevento took place over many solo jam sessions, rife with experimentation and improvisation, things Benevento is no stranger to. Within the keyboard, Benevento finds and exploding breadth of sound and texture, and he wanders into the realm of psychedelic funk in his latest album, taking with him notes of rock, jazz and especially dance.

Benevento is pulling a two night stand in his home town of Woodstock at Levon Helm Studios in January, 2023. Tickets go on sale November 18 at 10 a.m. for the March leg of Marco Benevento’s tour. He’ll have a couple shows in the New York area, including on March 10 at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City. See the complete list of tour dates below; tickets here.

MARCO BENEVENTO Complete Tour Schedule

November 17 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg ^

November 18 – New Haven, CT – Space Ballroom ^

November 19 – Holyoke, MA – Race Street Live ^

December 29 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre *

January 13 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios

January 14 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios

March 10 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall

March 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts

March 12 – Baltimore, MD – 8×10

March 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe

March 14 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom

March 15 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

March 16 – Milwaukee, WI – The Back Room at Colectivo

March 17 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club

March 18 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon

^ w/ Ghost Funk Orchestra

* w/ Ghost Light

November 18, 2022
An Interview with Stigmata and Murderer’s Row Singer Bob Riley

Bob Riley is a singer extraordinaire, in more than one groundbreaking hardcore band, blazing a smoke strewn trail from Troycore to New York Hardcore. He’s fury and force, and a guy who sits down with his morning coffee and enjoys the peace of Motown with the waking dawn.

One of the enduring mysteries of music, all art really, is that the performer exists and the person exists, and if you didn’t know both of them, you might not guess one would inhabit the same flesh and bone of the other. Art gives people a chance to step out of the confines of who they are, who an orderly society needs them to be, and become who they need themselves to be, and in that transformation, a little magic escapes to the crowd.

RadioRadioX: Murderer’s Row is the name of your band. It’s a historical term, coming from a bad section of the tombs in New York City, and also a fearsome section of the 1927 Yankees lineup with Ruth and Gehrig. Was there a tie or a nod back to the history of the phrase, or is the idea of a Murderer’s Row just universal?

Bob Riley: No, Murderers Row is definitely a nod at the Ruth, Gehrig Yankees lineup of 1927. The original lineup of Murderers Row would get together every Sunday to rehearse and watch the Yankees game. We would play during commercials. I suggested the name knowing it had been used here and there in the past but seeing as how we are Yankee fan New Yorkers and live three hours from the stadium that we would use it. Bring it home back to NY!

RRX: Murderer’s Row, by all accounts, would be considered Troycore. There’s a lot of sentiment surrounding all things Troy, and Troycore has a deep vein. But what does it mean? Is it a situation of everybody living in Troy, so a geography, or is it a unique sound, like Muscle Shoals or Chicago blues?

BR: There has always , long before me, an us vs them attitude with Troy people. South Troy against the World is an old saying long before my dad and his friends were using it. It most certainly stems from Troy having so many factories back in the day. The “Collar City”, as we are nicknamed, was and still is very working class. Also, the “Home of Uncle Sam” Working people are tough and proud and that’s Troy in a nutshell. It’s only natural that angry proud music is made by Troy people. We labeled ourselves “Troycore” to say, “Hey, we are the outcasts of the outcasts, and we are proud of it!” There’s some old school people who believe that the original five Troy bands Cranial Abuse, Dead End, Final Terror, Direct Attack and Rude Awakening was Troycore and that’s it period it’s over. I don’t agree at all. I love that these newer kids in bands are flying the Troycore banner keeping it alive!

RRX: You been down the long road with hardcore and punk. Cranial Abuse, Stigmata, Murderer’s Row and more that I don’t know, more that maybe no one except the people in the room knew about. You’re in a good band then you’re in a good band; you’re in three, then maybe it’s you who got something. What’s the secret to having something?

BR: I’ve been involved in music my whole life at this point. I love what I do and it shows. People can sense that, especially a live audience. You can’t fake it. I’m so happy and very lucky I have people who want to make music with me. I’m so happy I have people buying our music and coming to see us play. Music has given me so much it has gotten me around the world many times. And I’ve met so many great people. I love what I do so maybe it’s just as simple as that!

RRX: Hardcore gets a bum rap among the pleasant folks in the PTAs and the Homeowners’ Associations. Because those people listen to hardcore too. Violence and aggression, but people in the scene, people deep in the scene, including, have a pretty laid-back mindset. Is hardcore cathartic? If so, why do you think that is?

BR: It’s easy to see outsiders see hardcore metal or punk as negative because sometimes, well, it is. It’s many different things to many different people. Hardcore gives you that platform to complain about your bad day that jerk who cut you off or that crappy 9 to 5 job or worse. For me it was to get my anger and negativity out. Yell it, scream it, pound it out as loud and as angry as possible into people’s faces. So yes, aggressive music can be very cathartic.

RRX: You bring a ton of energy to the stage when you’re on it. And that; I can’t imagine its always easy. Do you have to prepare yourself, punch yourself in the face in front of the mirror backstage? Punch someone else in the face backstage? (kidding.) How do you go beyond just bringing a melody to the stage to bring a strong feeling?

BR: Thank you for the compliment but nowadays I do a lot of pointing. I was more energetic was I was younger. Jumping off the stage into the crowd. Fell off the Saratoga Winners stage so many times. And bashing my head off the beam above the drum riser so hard I saw stars. As I’ve gotten older, I put together Murderers Row because I wasn’t so angry anymore and I could use my humor in my lyrics. I also wrote a song for my daughter called “My Little Molly”. If there’s violence in an Murderer Row’s song, and there is, I compare it to Three Stooges violence. Nowadays, I’d rather laugh than fight.

RRX: Everybody thinks of match-ups. But let’s go a little weird. Instead of wishing you had such and such a person on drums, let’s say you could have a nameless drummer that is a master of one kind of fill. Can you give us that? Not people, but specific talents. What specific instrument talents would you want in a dream team?

BR: That’s a good question because I’ve made music with a lot of amazing musicians over the years people who played in big named bands. Machinehead, Possessed, Danzig, Biohazard, Cromags and even Glen Campbell. I’m going to mention some names and only those living. If I was to put together a heavy rock kinda band dream team for myself Phil Rudd: drums, Harley Flanagan: bass, Tom Warrior: rhythm guitar, Michael Schenker: lead guitar.

RRX: Here’s where you answer the question I didn’t ask. Comments or remarks? Hype and promo? Educate, enlighten, emote – the floor is yours.

BR: Keep making music, live hard, love hard, work smart, make mistakes but learn from them! Have fun always all ways! Thank you, Liam, and Xperience!

This interview was originally published in The Xperience Monthly.

November 18, 2022
Goose Announce Five Shows in March at Capitol Theatre

Amid their current tour with Trey Anastasio Band, Goose has announced their first shows in six years at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and they’re going big for it. Over March 8-12, Goose will play 5 consecutive nights, adding to the band’s historic rise, and the extensive history of The Cap.

The only other time Goose played The Capitol Theatre was a single set on October 1, 2016. Here’s the setlist, via elgoose.net: Arcadia, Madhuvan, Jive I, Indian River, Creatures, Turned Clouds, So Ready, One More Saturday Night.

Presale tickets will be available starting Thursday, November 17 at 10am through 10pm using the password TUMBLE with general on-sale beginning Friday, November 18 at 10am. $1 of each ticket sale will support Backline, a mental health and wellness resource for the music industry.

Check out coverage of Goose with Trey Anastasio Band at Mohegan Sun and at Glens Falls this past week.

November 17, 2022
In Focus: Black Star at Sony Hall

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.

Photo by Dervon S. Dixon

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 Kweli Are 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.”

Photos by Dervon S. Dixon

November 17, 2022

Built in Breakdance