Formed in 1969, Little Feat, celebrating the 45th anniversary of ‘Waiting for Columbus’, played the stage at Point of the Bluff Vineyards in Hammondsport, NY September 26 and the eclectic crowd was ready to groove.
Although formed in LA in 1969, Little Feat plays a strong Southern rock vibe. A subtle mix of The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Marshall Tucker with a hint of Grateful Dead flow to your ears and get your head bopping and feet tapping.
Kenny Gradney of Little Feat playing in Hammondsport NY
While members have come and gone over the years, the band tours in 2022 with Bill Payne on Keyboards and Vocals; Sam Clayton on percussion and vocals; Fred Tackett on guitars and vocals; Kenny Gradney on the bass; Scott Sharrard doing guitars and Vocals; and Tony Leone banging the drums
Follow the band as they continue on with their commemorative tour Little Feat.
Little Feat at Point of The Bluff Vineyards
Setlist: Join the Band, Fat Man in the Bathtub, All That You Dream, Oh Atlanta, Old Folks Boogie, Time Loves a Hero, Day or Night, Mercenary Territory, Spanish Moon / Skin It Back, Dixie Chicken, Tripe Face Boogie, Willin’, Don’t Bogart That Joint, A Apolitical Blues, Sailin’ Shoes, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, Let It Roll
In celebration of 50 years of Billy Joel, the renowned concert film “Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium” will be released in theaters worldwide on October 5th and 9th. The legendary 1990 concert is one of the greatest concert films of all time. Originally shot in 16mm film, it has been re-mixed and re-edited in 4k with Dolby ATMOS audio.
The new version includes “Uptown Girl” along with behind the scenes footage not seen in the original release. The film initially premiered on basic cable’s Disney channel on March 17, 1991. It was also released on VHS later that year and nominated for a long form video Grammy Award.
Billy Joel at Sag Harbor Cinema 8.22.22
Last month Billy and his wife Alexis attended a preview of the film at the renovated Sag Harbor Cinema. Joel stepped up to help save the theater after it was destroyed in a village fire in 2016. The cinema stood there for more than 100 years and was the center of the downtown. It reopened in June of 2021 complete with state of the art projectors and sound systems.
Also in attendance were band members Dave Rosenthal, Tommy Byrnes, Crystal Taliefero and Mike DelGuidice. It was surreal for me to watch the film with the man himself sitting just a few feet away. The crowd in the 240 seat theater applauded after each song making it feel more like a live concert rather than a movie.
After the film concluded, there was a Q&A with director Jon Small and producers Steve Cohen and John Jackson. After a few questions from fans, Joel raised his hand to ask… “When do we get something to eat? I’m starving!.” As I left the theater another surreal moment happened when I saw Sir Paul McCartney entering the lobby with his wife Nancy to meet Billy.
Tickets to the October viewings of “Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium” can be purchased 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.
It was officially Fall, and unofficially, Fall weather had also arrived. But for Point of the Bluff Vineyards in Hammondsport, NY on the shore of Keuka Lake, there is still time left for outdoor music. So it was Saturday, September 24 when they invited Shakey Graves and The Ballroom Thieves to perform.
The show got started with some rapid fire questioning from The Ballroom Thieves’ Martin Earley, “You guys wanna party? Do you have your wine? Should we start?” And start they did, just as they do on their new album, with the gently rocking “Worldender,” which included some nifty alternating “oh”s from Earley and bassist Caitlin Peters, creating an acoustically derived digital-sounding effect. They followed with another one off of Clouds, the short and punchy “In the Morning.”
The Ballroom Thieves weren’t just sporting a new album though. Last summer founding member Devin Mauch left the band and this summer Peters and Earley got married. In fact, this show was only their second as husband and wife. The lineup was rounded out by drummer and keys player Kevin Kennedy O’Connell, from not-too-far-off Rome, NY.
The trio found lots of space to explore, mixing up their sound with regularity during their 45 minute set. “Pendulum” and “Bees” saw Peters switching to cello and O’Connell switching to keys for a couple of finger-picked folk beauties. O’Connell left the stage completely for a spell of duo tunes, a cover of Jackson Frank’s “Blues Run the Game,” and “Borderline,” accentuating the couple’s stellar harmonies as they lovingly gazed into each other’s eyes. Then they closed on a trio of grittier rocking with the bluesy “Fistfight” and punchy “Wolf.”
Shakey Graves entered the stage solo, already plucking out some notes on his guitar, holding a glass of wine wearing a dapper brown suit. He climbed up on a riser at the back of the stage and started banging out a rhythm with foot pedals on a cajon and cymbal, playing “Nobody’s Fool.” Before “Square One,” Graves explained how he always wished he could tour the country playing music, and it happened. But then he found that he was traveling too much so he wished he could just pause it for a bit, and unfortunately for the world, that happened too. He said he was sorry though. Then he wished he could drink wine at the top of a hill overlooking a lake and play a show, and poof here he was.
The rest of his quintet arrive on stage, in matching suits, for “The Donor Blues.” Graves added a lot of emphasis to his music, through hand motions and asides sprinkled throughout the set. When he sang, “I got my gall from the boys back east” he added, “That’s you…” pointing out to the crowd. In “Business Lunch” and “Ready Or Not” his hands kept busy acting out various lines.
Like The Ballroom Thieves, Graves kept the set moving with good variety. “Family and Genus” tied together with “Kids These Days” through a short burst of hectic rock, while the latter kept it up with some hard rocking energy behind solid drumming. But then Graves was alone on the stage again, sitting on the riser and picking out a long intro to “Was Here” followed by “Pansy Waltz.”
When the band came back, they were all taking shots from a small jar of brown liquor handed up from someone in the audience. The band crowded around one mic to sing and clap their way through “Unlucky Sin,” their appropriate we’re-under-a-tent “church moment.” And that zoomed up to the off-kilter “Counting Sheep” which burst into an extended anthemic two-guitar outro. On the show-closing “Dearly Departed” the crowd was encouraged to clap along, and eventually would take over the singing duties in full, lifting the tent in voice and making Graves’ dreams come true.
Ballroom Thieves Setlist: Worldender, In the Morning, Pendulum, Bees, Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank cover), Borderline, Fistfight, Anybody Else, Wolf
Shakey Graves Setlist: Nobody’s Fool, Square One, The Donor Blues, Business Lunch, Ready Or Not, Family and Genus > Kids These Days, Was Here, Pansy Waltz, Unlucky Sin, Counting Sheep, Century City, Dearly Departed E: Late July
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
Adam Sandler has range: he can play a hopeless romantic in “50 First Dates” then a hopeless addict in “Uncut Gems.” Adam Sandler’s upcoming US tour promises to expand that range even further with a blend of comedy and song.
The tour has 15 dates, two of which will be in New York, in Verona and Belmont Park. Sandler will then continue south to Florida, then through Georgia and North Carolina. Tickets went on sale September 16.
This tour follows the success of Sandlers 2022 film “HUSTLE,” and his 2018 comedy special “100% Fresh,” both of which premiered on Netflix.
Adam Sandler Live Tour Dates
October 21 – Allentown, PA – PPL Center
October 22 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena
October 23 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
October 25 – Verona, NY – Turning Stone Resort Casino Event Center
October 27 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
October 28 – Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
October 29 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
November 6 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
November 7 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena
November 9 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
November 10 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre
November 11 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
November 12 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
November 13 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena
November 14 – Savannah, GA – Enmarket Arena Savannah
The Capitol Theatre, affectionately known as “The Cap,” lies in the center of the Westchester County village of Port Chester. The historic venue constructed in 1926 has hosted thousands of legendary musical acts (The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd to name only a few), but never The National, until Friday, September 23rd.
Marquee | Photo by Michael Dinger
The National are winding down a 12-date tour of North America that commenced at the Moon River Music Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 10 and concluded at the inaugural Sound on Sound Festival on September 25. The Port Chester show was added to their tour schedule back in June as a special companion performance to their festival appearance at Seaside Park in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Matt Berninger | Photo by Michael Dinger
Supporting The National was Indigo Sparke, a singer-songwriter from Sydney, Australia named by her parents after the Duke Ellington song “Mood Indigo.” In the summer of last year, Sparke moved to the United States to work on her sophomore studio album, Hysteria, produced by The National’s very own Aaron Dessner. Performing for nearly 40 minutes, Sparke and her soaring vocals were accompanied by Jeremy Gustin (drums), Adam Brisbin (guitar), back-up singer Jackie West and later in her set, by Dessner himself.
Indigo Sparke | Photo by Michael DingerJeremy Gustin | Photo by Michael DingerAdam Brisbin | Photo by Michael Dinger
At the conclusion of Sparke’s set, a brief ceremony followed in celebration of The Cap’s 10-year anniversary of its reopening under Peter Shapiro’s ownership, one of the most successful independent concert promoters in the country. Shapiro’s $2 million plus in renovations has restored “the original rock palace,” with its 65-foot domed ceiling, to its former glory, featuring top of the line acoustics and a state-of-the-art lighting and projection system.
Peter Shapiro | Photo by Michael Dinger
With Port Chester Mayor Luis Marino on hand, September 23rd was also officially proclaimed “The Capitol Theatre Day,” commemorating what The Cap stands for: live music, community and spreading joy into the world through concerts. Shapiro addressed the 2,000-capacity sold out audience, “It ain’t easy to do this, but this is why we do it, for a night like tonight. We are going to do another 10 [years] and hopefully we’ll get The National back if you give it up for them.”
10-Year Commemoration | Photo by Michael Dinger
As Leonard Cohen’s “I Can’t Forget” played over the house PA, the quintet from Cincinnati, Ohio comprised of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner (guitar, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano), and brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums) took the stage to thunderous applause. Accompanied by Ben Lanz (trombone, synthesizers) and Kyle Resnick (trumpet, keyboards), The National’s opening number was “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” taken from 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me.
Aaron Dessner | Photo by Michael DingerMatt Berninger | Photo by Michael DingerBryce Dessner | Photo by Michael Dinger
The indie rock veterans who formed in Brooklyn in 1999 would go on to play for two solid hours, bestowing to their fans a 24-song set that would include a representative sampling of their impressive music catalog, including “Bloodbuzz Ohio” (High Violet, 2010), “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” (Sleep Well Beast, 2017) and “Light Years” (I Am Easy to Find, 2019). Berninger and his bandmates also treated us to four new songs, including “Moon Drop Light” which was written only the day before, “This Isn’t Helping,” “Tropic Morning News (Haversham)” and “Weird Goodbyes,” the lead single from their forthcoming album featuring their friend Bon Iver.
Matt Berninger and Indigo Sparke | Photo by Michael Dinger
Berninger exuded frontman charm throughout the entire evening, shining the spotlight back on Sparke as she reappeared onstage for “Rylan,” another offering from I Am Easy to Find. “Graceless,” from The National’s aforementioned sixth studio album Trouble Will Find Me, was proceeded by “Fake Empire” (Boxer, 2008), widely considered to be one of their best songs. A five song encore followed as Berninger, in typical fashion, thrilled fans as he left the stage during “Mr. November” (Alligator, 2005) and waded through the entire floor crowd, reappearing momentarily at the opposite end of the venue, before trekking back to the stage. The epic evening unfortunately came to a close at 11:15 pm, but not before a goosebump-inducing, crowd sing-along of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” a second contribution from High Violet.
The crowd sings along | Photo by Michael Dinger
The National Setlist: Don’t Swallow the Cap > I Should Live in Salt > Bloodbuzz Ohio > The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness > I Need My Girl > This Is the Last Time > Slow Show > This Isn’t Helping > Wasp Nest > Moon Drop Light > Conversation 16 > Tropic Morning News (Haversham) > Day I Die > Rylan (with Indigo Sparke) > Light Years > Pink Rabbits > England > Graceless > Fake Empire > Encore: Weird Goodbyes > Mr. November > Terrible Love > About Today > Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
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.
Madison Square Garden, “the world’s most famous arena,” is in talks of being moved by NYC Mayor Eric Adams amidst the ongoing Penn Station Redevelopment talks.
Mayor Eric Adams, photo by Getty Images for Concordia Summit
Adams has been working on the Penn Station project for a while, and the MTA has recently approved a $57 million contract for the renovation’s architectural and engineering designs. The plan would bring “light” to the nation’s largest transit hub. MTA CEO Janna Lieber said the money would be used for vertical circulation. “That’s stairs, escalators, and elevators to get people on and off the platforms,” he said.
Madison Square Garden has been talked about being moved for a while now. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to move the stadium closer to Manhattan’s westside but was shut down by opposition from James Dolan, CEO of the arena with a strong political force backing him, and the former, late state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
James Dolan, photo by Getty Images/Ethan Miller
Mayor Eric Adams spoke on Sept. 21 about considering talks of moving the arena again. He says Pennsylvania Plaza, the space surrounding Madison Square Garden, would be a perfect place with new housing stock. “I think that we can find the right balance between office and housing,” he said. “We have to build more housing. There’s a real need for housing in the city and particularly in areas that have access to transportation, good health care, good schools.”
The plan is backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul but has been criticized as a cash grab that will serve to benefit real estate developers and drain city finances. Dolan was involved in secret talks to possibly relocate the arena to Hudson Yards, but reportedly Hochul got involved and killed the plan, according to Crain’s.
The moving of the arena hasn’t been confirmed or denied but it seems to be in talks right now between city officials and James Dolan, CEO of MSG.
Presented by Hallmark, rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra has come to announce dates part of their highly awaited winter tour for 2022, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve – the Best of TSO & More. They are reviving a memorable holiday tradition, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve”, to bring to 60 cities in the U.S., starting Nov. 16 in Green Bay and Council Bluffs and finalizing with a show performed on Friday, Dec. 30.
Fan favorites will be featured as part of the rock opera show series, such as “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24”, “O’ Come All Ye Faithful”, “Christmas Canon” and more, along with an exciting second set involving more fan-favorites and classic pieces. The multi-generational holiday tradition will be celebrating their 25th anniversary this coming winter season.
Upcoming tour dates are below:
Nov 16 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center – 3:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Nov 16 – Council Bluffs, IA – Mid-America Center – 7:00 PM
Nov 17 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena – 7:00 PM
Nov 18 – Fort Wayne, IN – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – 7:00 PM
Nov 19 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center – 3:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Nov 19 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena – 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Nov 20 – Youngstown, OH – Covelli Centre – 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Nov 20 – Colorado Springs, CO – World Arena – 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Nov 22 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Arena – 3:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Nov 23 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena – 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
