Filip Zalewski, Author at NYS Music 2024

Sunshine Daydream: Peach at The Beach Rocks Atlantic City

The Peach Music Festival just had their first “Peach at the Beach” at the Showboat Resort in Atlantic City. Although it was not at the usual Montage Mountain venue, this venue also had a waterpark, reminiscent of the festival people have grown to love, with familiar faces and favorite jams filling the air.

The waterpark sets were mainly DJs including DJ Logic, aside from Dogs in a Pile, who played a funky set for all of the waterpark attendants. The Dogs are quickly solidifying their place within the jam band scene. This set included a masterful “Ship of Fools” and even a cover of Phish’s “Tube.”

The main stage opened up with some reggae vibes from Mykal Rose of Black Uhuru. This featured a different, palette cleansing sound, which was quite different from the other music, yet lively and exciting.

Next up for Peach at the Beach was Karina Rykman who played some tracks off her new album Joyride. The set was filled with high peaks, bass bombs, and lots of jams.

Trouble No More played “Eat a Peach”, a great nod to the Allman Brothers roots of this festival. Highlights included “Blue Sky,” “Melissa,” and “Mountain Jam.” Taz’s guitar playing as a frontman just continuing toi get better with age.

Dogs in a Pile took the stage with a memorable set, putting the crowd into party mode. The set included their hit “Trunk Run” which references Atlantic City within the song, encoring with a face melting “Fire.”

After a longer break than expected, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead took the stage at 9:30 as opposed to 9 and played one long set as opposed to the advertised two. This proved to be rather disappointing but the band played an absolutely stellar set filled with genre-bending experimentation and mind-blowing peaks.

JRAD opened up with “Scarlet Begonias,” a Deadhead favorite, but this group makes it clear that they are much more than a Grateful Dead cover band, pushing the music to new heights and making their unique sound prominent. The set also included a masterful “Estimated Prophet” and a jammed out “Playing in the Band”. They finished with “Uncle John’s Band.”

July 15, 2024

Dancing in the Beach: JRAD at The Stone Pony 5/17/24

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) paid homage to their Jersey roots with an unbelievable spectacle of a show at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The show included Stuart Bogie sitting in on many songs, notably during “Eyes of the World.”

The first set started off with a classic Bluesy Dead song “Good Morning School Girl”. The set included an extensive “Fire on the Mountain” and a beautiful “Eyes of the World”. The band ended the set with one of my absolute favorite renditions of “Dancing In the Strets”.

It was so good JRAD started the second set at Stone Pony with the same jam. The “Music Never Stopped” that followed was equally as groovy and kept the vibe going.

What followed was a beautiful medley of Deadhead favorites including “Help on the Way”, “St Stephen”, “The Wheel”, and even “Uncle John’s Band” done in pristine JRAD fashion.

Most of the band is from New Jersey, the show is in the Jersey shore, so proper homage was paid with a double Bruce Springsteen encore. This band was truly born to run!

JRAD – Stone Pony – May 17, 2024

Set 1: Good Morning School Girl, Touch of Grey, Silvio, Fire on The Mountain, Eyes of the World, Dancing in the Street

Set 2: Dancing in the Street, The Music Never Stopped, Help on the Way, Slipknot!, St.Stephen

Althea, The Wheel, He’s Gone, Uncle John’s Band

Encore: Rosalita, Born to Run

May 25, 2024

In Focus: Pink Talking Fish & One Eyed Jack at The Wellmont Theater

Jam band powerhouse Pink Talking Fish bring their variety filled show to the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey on April 26. One Eyed Jack opened up the show with a funky set.

The band brings together a really fun medley of different bands. They started off their set with a Talking Heads cover “Life During Wartime”. The first set was Talking Heads heavy including “This Must Be the Place” & “Cities,” but that could technically be considered a cover of a Phish cover given the tempo. The first set also featured a playful “McGrupp” and a booming “Have a Cigar.”

Second set, what’s the band going to do? Play the whole instrumental part of “Reba”, yes! “Simple”? Yup! “Squirming Coil”!? Okay! The second set was Phish heavy with some Talking Heads covers like “Psycho Killer” and a memorable Floyd “Mother” cover. The band wrapped up the night with “La Grange”.

Pink Talking Fish – The Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ – April 26, 2024

Set 1: Life During Wartime, Cars Trucks Buses, Have a Cigar, Cities, Mcgrupp, Run Like Hell, This Must Be the Place

Set 2: Once in a Lifetime, Reba, Mother, Psycho Killer, Simple, Astronomy Domine, What a Day That Was, The Squirming Coil, Nobody Home, La Grange

May 11, 2024

Lotus Boogies Down Hard with Friends at The Capitol Theatre

Lotus brought along Blendmode to open up their Capitol Theatre show on Saturday, April 6, along with Eli Winderman from Dopapod & Jonathon Grusauskas of lespecial.

Blendmode really go the night going with their unique, bass heavy, danceable groove.

Lotus played a special show featuring guitar dueling between Tim Palmieiri & Johnny from lespecial. Winderman fit in well adding his unique synth sound to the Lotus soundscape. The set was filled with groovy jams and some face melting solos. The second set included a memorable Radiohead cover, “Airbag.”

Lotus – Capitol Theatre, Port Chester – April 6, 2024

Set 1: Middle Road, Expired Slang, Tar Pits, Marquee Moon, Debris, Shimmer and Out

Set 2: Opus, Reed, It’s All Clear to Me Now, Flower Sermon, Airbag, Wax

April 13, 2024

Step In to The Sphezer: Warming up For the Sphere with Uncle Ebenezer & Walrus at The Williams Center

Uncle Ebenezer played an incredible set of Phish jams including an unforgettable “Tweezer” featuring a saxophone player. Walrus opened up the night with their psychedelic interpretation of The Beatles, most notably a fully mind melting “Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds”.

The Williams Center is a phenomenal venue in Rutherford, NJ. It is an old theatre renovated into a truly happening venue featuring hidden gems like a record store with some incredible selections.

Uncle Ebenezer opened up the night with my personal favorite Phish song “Golgi Apparatus”. This got the crowd going and ready to dance to “Gotta Jibboo” which followed. The set was filled with Phan favorites like “No Me in No Men’s Land”, “Fluffhead”, “The Lizards”, and even included vocal heavy songs like “My Mind’s Got a Mind of It’s Own” and “Tela”. The epic “Tweezer” with a sax player was truly legendary.

They ended their set with a funky, spacey “2001”. The encore include “Cavern”, “Lonesome Cowboy Bill”, and the return of the sax for an explosive “Tweezer Reprise.”

Setlist: Golgi Apparatus, Gotta Jibboo, Stash, My Mind’s Got a Mind of Its Own, Tweezer, The Lizards, Tela, No Men in No Man’s Land, Split Open and Melt, Fluffhead, 2001

Encore: Cavern, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, Tweezer Reprise

April 10, 2024

Look Inside Dopapod’s Trapper Keeper at The Williams Center

Funky, jam band powerhouse Dopapod stopped in The Williams Center in Rutherford, NJ on Thursday, March 28. The Jungle Jazz Initiative opened up the night, offering a groovy and entertaining set, fitting in well with Dopapod’s sound.

Dopapod’s first set was only 4 songs, which was full of jams and featured a good representation of their career with newer and older songs. It started out with a danceable “Live In the Dream” followed by a Dopapod classic “Turnin’ Knobs” which featured the electronic, synth heavy peaks. Another catchy classic closed up the set, “Braindead”. The chorus is still ringing in my head.

The band opened up the second set with a very distinguishable “Trapper Keeper”. This was followed by an unexpected “No Quarter” played with ferocity. The rest of the set included newer and older songs that flowed together incredibly well. And suddenly a Dead cover appeared, Dopapod’s homage “Smertha” was played to close up the set.

The band encored with “Landmines”. Dopapod’s sound is unique and is distinguishable in a scene that can at times be homogenous. Their unique style provides a refreshing experience and will continue to gather fans.

Dopapod – The Williams Center for the Arts, Rutherford, NJ – Thursday, March 28, 2024

Set 1: Live in The Dream, Turninâ Knobs, Man or Machine, Braindead
Set 2: Trapper Keeper, No Quarter, Ebb and Flow, My Elephant Vs. Your Elephant, Peter Banning, Sonic, 2 Somebodies, We Are Not Alone, Shmertha
Encore: Landmines

April 1, 2024

Phil Lesh & The Q Cover Just a Little More Ground: Deep Cuts & Darkstars at The Cap

Phil Lesh, the legendary bassist of The Grateful Dead, held his annual birthday run at the historical Capitol Theatre for five nights, two of them with “The Q,” made up of Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco, and John Molo.

The night began with “The Wheel” chorus and “Night of 1000 Stars.” The first set included “New Speedway Boogie” and classic “China > Rider” that featured Haynes & Herring trading guitar solos. Having two incredibly prolific guitar players with their own prominent style trading the role of lead guitar was very entertaining.

The second set featured deeper cuts and Deadhead favorites like “Unbroken Chain” and “Dark Star.” The second set also included the funky “Shakedown Street” and ended with “Into The Mystic” – a Van Morrison cover. The band brought the show full circle by encoring with “The Wheel.”

Phil Lesh is a legend and blessing to The Grateful Dead scene – seeing him and The Q play on stage, now celebrating his 84th birthday is nothing short of inspiring. Not fade away!

Setlist: Night of 100 Stars, New Speedway Boogie, New Potato Caboose, Bird Song, China Cat Sunflower, I Know You Rider

Set 2: Dear Mr. Fantasy, Shakedown Street, Unbroken Chain, Dark Star, The Lo Spark of High Heeled Boys, Passenger, Into The Mystic

Encore: The Wheel

March 8, 2024

Best Thing to Do on Leap Day: Circles Around The Sun & Mikaela Davis at The Stone Pony

Funky west coast powerhouse Circles Around the Sun (CATS) are bringing their magic to the East Coast and more, along with Mikaela Davis and Southern Star. The group stopped in at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park on February 29, quickly becoming the best thing to have happened on a this leap day.

The night started off with Mikaela Davis and Southern Star which was incredibly ambient, funky, and unique. The harp mixed in with intricate guitar and ultimately a saxophone provided a very unique sound. Their set included a nod to the good ol’ Grateful Dead with a “Here Comes Sunshine” cover.

Seeing CATS with Mikaela Davis sitting in at Peach Festival in July 2023, I knew we were in for a quite a treat. There’s something mesmerizing and attention demanding about the harp. It may be how difficult it looks to play, or how rarely a typical person may encounter one, especially in a live rock band setting.

Circles Around The Sun played a classic set with old and new song starting off with “Away Team.” Their set included “Money’s No Option” and ended with “Babyman.” Then Mikaela joined them on stage for three songs ending with “Language“, which is the title track of their newest record.

Circles Around the Sun is known well in the jam band community particularly for the tragedy in losing their founding member, the great Neal Casal. CATS is a band who prove to be unique, funky, and ground breaking in the absence of Casal, with guitarist John Lee Shanon fitting in well, unafraid to experiment, getting weird with guitar solos, truly showing off his unique musicianship. The space funk grooves of this band paired with the epic sounding harp playing of Mikaela Davis is truly a force to behold.

Circles Around the Sun – Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ – Thursday, February 29, 2024 – Leap Day

Setlist: Away Team, Landline Memories, Immovable Object, Moneyâs No Option, Halicarnassus, Babyman
Encore: After Sunrise*, Gloaming Way*, Language*
* with Mikaela Davis

March 4, 2024

Author: Filip Zalewski