The Sembrich in Bolton Landing has announced they have given the Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize to American tenor Michael Butler. The venue has also received an award from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network.
Michael Butler
The Sembrich features museum exhibitions and an annual summer festival with an exciting mix of world-class musicians, noted musical scholars, a free film series, and the opportunity to enjoy it all on the beautiful shores of Lake George. Listed on the National Historic Register, The Sembrich was once the teaching studio of Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich, one of the most famous musicians at the turn of the 20th century.
Visitors can discover her storied legacy, which includes over 400 performances at the Metropolitan Opera and faculty positions at both the Juilliard Graduate School and the Curtis Institute of Music. With a treasured museum, performance series, and over four wooded acres of nature paths to explore, The Sembrich is truly a unique cultural experience.
The Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize awarded to Michael Butler exemplifies the artistic legacy of Polish soprano Marcella Sembrich. The prize guarantees the selected singer a solo performance at The Sembrich, the famed singer’s former lakeside teaching studio in Bolton Landing on Lake George, during an upcoming season. The auditions were held on the weekend of October 12-13 at the Kosciuszko Foundation’s house in NYC.
Michael Butler hails from Washington, D.C. and is American lyric tenor. Of nearly 120 applicants, 34 singers were admitted to participate. Butler placed second in the overall competition and won the award for the best performance of a Polish work by a non-Polish entrant. The grand prize was awarded to Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuźma, and third prize was awarded to Canadian contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay.
Along with awarding a prize, The Sembrich has also received an award of their own. The 2024 Award for Excellence was given by The Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) for The Sembrich’s recent efforts to preserve Marcella Sembrich’s “Queen of the Night” costume. The museum staff attended the annual GHHN conference on Tuesday, October 15 to accept the award and present at an awardee poster session. The conference “Embracing Innovation,” was held at Manhattanville College in Purchase New York and was attended by museum professionals from across New York State.
GHHN is New York State’s ‘go-to’ service organization focusing on interpretation, collections care programming, and the conservation and preservation of objects in collecting institutions statewide. Its programming and professional development training programs, webinars, hands-on workshops, web-based resources, responsive technical assistance, and grant opportunities provide the tools so that historical societies, historic house museums, heritage centers, historic sites, archives, and libraries may better care for their own collections.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network’s Awards for Excellence program seeks to recognize and commend exceptional efforts among GHHN members. Awards are made to projects that exemplify creativity and professional vision resulting in a contribution to the preservation and interpretation of the historic scene, material culture, and diversity of the region.
The Sembrich Staff at the Awardee Poster Session
For more information on The Sembrich, Marcella Sembrich Memorial Performance Prize, and the GHHN, click here.
Chris Dave and Marcus King, joined by MonoNeon and Isaiah Sharkey, have announced a weeklong residency at the legendary Blue Note Jazz Club from Jan. 14-19.
Drummer and composer Chris Dave and American singer/songwriter Marcus King are set for a special, one-of-a-kind six-night run at Blue Note Jazz Club. The pair will be joined by MonoNeon on bass January 14-16 and virtuoso guitarist Isaiah Sharkey making a rare appearance on bass January 17-19. Shows at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. each night.
These special performances come on the heels of Marcus King’s new album Mood Swings, produced by Rick Rubin. In discussing the new record, GQ hails King as “a modern-day blues-rock god” while Rolling Stone notes that Rubin “helps him switch things up and bring out the soulful side of his sound.”
Houston native Chris Dave is a critically acclaimed drummer and veteran performer who has appeared with Robert Glasper, Adele, D’Angelo, The Winans, Kenny Garrett and many more. Dave most recently appeared on Keyond Harold’s Foreverland, out now via Concord Jazz.
Bassist MonoNeon has established a cult following, serving as Prince’s last bassist before his passing in 2016. MonoNeon’s new record Quilted Stereo is out now, with Bass Magazine noting that it “will captivate listeners with its dynamic blend of genres, ranging from jazz and funk to hip-hop and beyond.”
Virtuosic guitarist, singer/songwriter and producer Isaiah Sharkey started out as a child prodigy, playing local gigs in his hometown of Chicago at the age of 14. By age 16 he was touring with gospel singer Smokie Norful and soon after became one of D’Angelo’s core collaborators. Sharkey returns to the Blue Note taking a rare turn on the bass having performed alongside a long list of superstars including John Mayer, Paul Simon, Corrinne Bailey Rae and many more.
Learn more and purchase tickets to the Marcus King residency here.
Hank Azaria has announced an upcoming Bruce Springsteen tribute tour. Ahead of the upcoming national tour, Azaria will play the Brooklyn Bowl on Nov. 8, as well as Springsteen’s original stomping grounds, The Stone Pony Nov. 15 in Asbury Park.
As a lifelong Springsteen fan the project is a labor of love for Azaria. Perhaps best known for his decades of work on The Simpsons, Azaria has began a new and different undertaking as a voice actor. Azaria spent months creating an impression of Bruce’s distinctive speaking cadence and singing ‘voice’ to conceive the tribute show. As Azaria told Rolling Stone,“I think of it as a theatrical performance,” he says. “I’m staying in character as Bruce even though I’m telling stories about myself. It’s a performance piece, but I’m not a Bruce impersonator.”
At the debut public performance of Hank Azaria and the EZ Street Band, at Le Poisson Rouge, the sold out celebration of The Boss’ music was such a joyful experiance Azaria decided to take the show cross-country. Full details and routing for the tour will be announced soon. Azaria doesn’t simply sing Springsteen’s music, but also speaks on the impact it has had on Azaria’s personal life. “I’ve never worked harder preparing for any role than I did in perfecting a singing vocal impression of Bruce,” said Azaria.
The tribute performance itself is a joyful, full-tilt rock ’n roll event, and Azaria’s physicality and flair are a true homage to Bruce. Azaria channels many familiar components of Bruce Springsteen’s iconography: intimate, irreverent storytelling, connection to family, preternatural stamina, camaraderie with the band, and a palpable love for performing. Azaria has delivered a show we want to root for – invigorating, upbeat and ambitious.
Born and raised in the Capital Region, Mona Golub has been bringing live music to that very same community for 35 years, but her love of music started far before that.
Photo Credit: Capital Region Chamber
An affable, kind, and a candid speaker who gave thoughtful responses in this interview with NYS Music, Golub produces two concert series each year, one at Music Haven in the heart of Central Park for free each summer and another at two of Proctors Collaborative venues, the GE Theater in Schenectady and Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. Those two at Proctors are held in between summers during the year.
Each series presents national and international acts that bring music and culture from all over the world to the Capital Region. But she does a lot more than just choose the acts to perform. “I do everything from program the series to raise whatever funding is needed to produce it, to handling all of the artist-related elements, the contracting, the hotels, the hospitality, all of the audience facing comforts,” Golub says. “Creating the programs with biographical information, to food and beverages, hiring whatever crew staff are needed, recruiting volunteers if that’s in order as it is during the summer series. I figure out ways to develop the series further with additional elements of production or nuances that round out the experiences.” But, she says, choosing the people who perform is really at the heart of it all. “That’s the impetus for everything.”
To do this, she stays on top of which artists are touring where at all times. “I keep up on who’s doing what and when, through magazines like Songlines International, listening to various groups that are emerging from all over the world. The internet’s been wonderful because it’s given me access to be able to see them perform live and not just hear their music, so I know how they move. How they connect with a live audience. But I basically try and stay on top of tours that are being planned. Artists who are beginning to blossom who may not ever have played this region. I love introducing new artists that people haven’t heard 20 times. So I rely on my contacts in that respect. And the conversation is ongoing.
People say, ‘When do you start booking for next summer?’ I’m booking for ‘25, ‘26, and ‘27 now. Many international artists don’t tour every year. You kinda need to know if they’re planning a tour for 2026. What does that mean? When will that be? How does that fit into your schedule?” She adds, “I’ve been in the business for 35 years now, so I’m fairly well connected to the international music community, through agents, managers, and artists themselves.”
Photo Credit: Ann Hauprich
But it’s not easy to curate interesting selections of talented musicians when they’re constantly moving around from town to town and sometimes even country to country. “It’s almost like chasing folks down a rabbit hole on occasion,” Golub says, “Sometimes they’re well represented by an agent or manager who’s working on a tour. Sometimes you need to express interest for 5 years before somebody makes that tour and is able to come to your market. So again, it’s a lot of relationship building and conversations about who’s doing what and when. For a given season, I’m always looking to ensure that my series has a certain flow and a certain cadence from concert to concert. That there’s variety and uniqueness. An artist may fit into one season better than another. I’m not just gonna bring them in and program them into the series because the dates jive.”
Mona Golub has loved music since she was a child and she even performed through high school and college. “I enjoyed that. But I certainly realized even at that time, there were people in the world who were much more talented than me,” she explains. Even though performing wasn’t for her, she was still eager to find her place in the world of music. “[In college] I directed the swing band. I started directing theater, and musical productions with a full orchestra pit underneath the stage and the vocalist on the stage just to get some understanding of other perspectives.
“I wanted to keep music in my life, and I needed to figure out how I might do that. It was at that point I connected with a local band whose music I loved. I started producing shows with them and for them, then blossomed into some other things; a Friday after-work happy hour kind of concert series in a courtyard downtown, then a coffee house, and then a jazz club. And I loved producing the shows. I loved working with the artist. The band was called Begonia. They had just won the band of the year or favorite band of the region through Metroland Magazine, which was our music and arts weekly at the time. I was working at a grocery store with the drummer of the band and I said, ‘Where are you playing? I wanna come hear you live,’ and she said, ‘Oh, we don’t have a gig set up.’ And I thought you’ve got to be kidding. You just got this recognition. You should have a gig set up so everybody can come celebrate. So I planned that gig. And I loved the band until they retired. They were great.”
It was at this point that Golub finally found her niche. From that first gig, the ball began to roll. “I loved orchestrating all of the details that it took to set the stage for really wonderful talent to shine. And I realized that’s what appealed to me most, and that’s what drove me to notice that the old music cabin, which was a trailer stage in the park was most often empty, with nothing happening on it. This was back in the late eighties. And I went to the mayor and I said, ‘are you okay if I put together a series for the stage?’ and she said, ‘have at it.’ And that’s where it started.”
Since then, Golub has been producing concerts for 35 years.
“Most of what I do is because I’m driven to bring different kinds of music to the market, and to elevate regional artists in special guest slots so they can feed off of some of that wonderful energy that is exchanged. Whether in the park, or in the venues that I work in most regularly that draw a really appreciative and energetic crowd that loves to hear something really wonderful that may not be mainstream, but reflects artists who are at the top of their game.”
When asked if she had encountered any barriers because of gender, she answered “ For sure.” When she started, she says, there weren’t many women involved in the arts. “There was one club owner, who was like the queen bee of the downtown Albany scene. But other than that, I don’t remember seeing other women as there are today.”
But Golub kept her head down in those early days and stayed focused on learning the ropes. “I think at the time, I was more focused on what I needed to do to learn, to learn how to do it as I went along, learn by experience.” She tells of a prominent promoter who promised he would give her advice to help her when she was just starting out, but never did.”While I was waiting for him, I lived it. And so I harbor no resentment. I just kept moving forward, and lo and behold, I figured some things out.”
When asked if she thinks things have gotten better for women in music, she reflects on how much things have changed since she started in the late 1980s. “I’m speaking about a time that was nearly 40 years ago. So the world has changed, and women in many different professions have proven themselves ultra competent. I think promoters and managers of old were mostly men. Club owners were mostly men. Now at this point in time, I see art centers where I would say 80% of the art centers in the capital region are run by women. So a lot’s changed and I think it has everything to do with drive and interest and ability. Once given the chance whether male or female, people who are driven to do something get the opportunity to prove themselves. And I think that’s what’s happened here. There are ways to do things today that didn’t necessarily exist when I started in 1988. So I am excited to see those opportunities and excited to see women reaching for them and attaining them.”
When asked if she sees herself retiring anytime soon, Golub is reflective.
“You know, I’ve thought about it from a couple miles away. And I would love to find a protege with whom I could work for a handful of years, just to convey what I’ve learned from experience, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because I’ve experienced all three. And be able to watch someone else work this magic and figure out how they wanna fill these spaces going forward. Because everybody’s got their own creative bent. I would love to work with someone who could be committed, in maybe the same long term way that I have been to run with it and do their thing.”
When asked about her choice to keep the concerts free, her response shows the value she places on community. “I think [charging an entrance fee] would really destroy the feel of it. I’ve always believed that music and food are some of the best ways to celebrate, share culture with others. Being able to do that without any barriers to entry, being able to welcome in everyone who wants to be there, adds to the magic.”
”People are not standing around wondering ‘where did that person come from? What corner? What religion do they practice? How much money do they have in their pocket?’ They’re there because they’re interested in what’s on the stage, and that’s what it’s about.”
And for 35 years, that’s what it’s always been about. “I can’t imagine not doing it. It’s really become a very important part of my life. It fulfills me in a way that nothing else does. I think the opportunity to gather community to experience different cultures through music is magical.”
For now, Mona Golub’s not going anywhere. “I have a wish list of artists that never gets shorter. It gets longer.”
NY-based indie/alternative artists Amy Zou, Looi, and T. Shan are set to perform at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn on November 17.
All three featured artists create indie/alternative music and are based out of New York. Amy Zou is a singer-songwriter, musician, and producer based in Brooklyn. She spent her formative years playing classical piano and flute, before channeling her love for singing, reading, & writing into songwriting. Now, she crafts genre-bending songs, layering in sonic complexity with sometimes cerebral metaphors & fictional worlds into her lyrics. Her upcoming EP I’ve Been Looking For You captures an ambient, avant-pop-leaning sound sieved through an experiential lens of self-discovery. It is a classic hero’s journey turned inward – a search for adventure within the confines of your bedroom, half-remembered dreams, and in the place between decisions.
Raised between China and both coasts of the US, T. Shan’s music blends increasingly wide genre influences united by his biting, confessional lyrics. His music reflects the highs and lows of modern love, yet never loses sight of where he and his family came from.On his latest EP “Flowers & Spice,” released in 2023, T. Shan sought to explore a host of new sonic terrains, from indie rock ballads to house rap dance tracks, all while telling a love story from its blossoming to its post-mortem. Intimate and hectic, saccharine yet bitter, the record braids together reflections of diving headfirst into love while hesitant from the aches of past scars, numbing yourself amidst strobe lights and D&B, and coming to peace with the good and bad of a bygone affection.
Amy Zou
A singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and seasoned performer, Looi is working to release her debut EP — an intergenerational exploration of her Chinese-Malaysian heritage, which exists within the soundscapes of neo-soul, alt-indie, and r&b pop. Her cult following of listeners keeps up with her journey through enchanting performances of unreleased music, private demos, and select public releases. The November 17 show follows the release of her latest single, “Cherries.”
The show begins at 7:00 PM on Sunday November 17. The event is 21+ and tickets are currently at $22. The Sultan Room in Brooklyn is standing room only, with very limited seating available on a first come, first served basis. It is highly recommended arriving early to secure one of the few seats. Each of these artists plan to rock the house in their own unique ways, and the performances are ones you’ll not want to miss.
Looi
For more information on the upcoming show at The Sultan Room on Nov 17 featuring Amy Zou, Looi, and T.Shan, click here.
Acclaimed U.K. band, Stereophonics, will embark on their first tour in three years in Spring, 2025. They will hit the Brooklyn Paramount on Mar. 25 and have announced a new studio album planned for next year.
Stereophonic’s North American tour will kick off Mar. 21 at Théâtre Beanfield in Montreal and will conclude Apr. 11 in Mexico City. The tour will reach major cities across the continent such as, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and more.
The tour will see the band perform hits from their expansive catalogue including “Dakota,” “Have A Nice Day,” “Maybe Tomorrow,” “C’est La Vie,” “A Thousand Trees,” and more, along with songs from a new studio album coming in 2025.
In addition to the North American dates, Stereophonics will play some of the U.K. and Ireland’s biggest venues including Dublin’s St. Anne’s Park, Cork’s Virgin Media Park, London’s Finsbury Park, Huddersfield’s The John Smith’s Stadium, and Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park as part of Summer Sessions.
Frontman Kelly Jones notes, “Being on the road again with my best friends, playing all the hits of this band’s catalog, for people in 2025 makes me so excited, we should make a new album…oh wait…we already did that! See ya there for more good times….TUNE!!! TUNE!!! TUNE!!”
Stereophonics achievements include eight U.K. #1 albums, 12 U.K. Top 10 albums and 11 U.K. Top 10 singles, including the U.K. #1 single “Dakota.” The group have sold over 10 million albums, 1.5 billion global streams and five BRIT award nominations, with one BRIT award win. Their hits collection, Decade In The Sun, sold over 1.7 million copies in the U.K. alone and is certified Quintuple Platinum, while in 2022, on their last U.K. arena tour and Cardiff Stadium headline shows, they sold over 250,000 tickets.
Special guests for the tour will be announced soon. Tickets are available now. Learn more and purchase tickets here.
Stereophonics 2025 Tour Dates:
Mar. 21—Montreal, QC—Théâtre Beanfield Mar. 22—Toronto, ON—Massey Hall Mar. 23—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer Mar. 25—New York, NY—Brooklyn Paramount Mar. 26—Boston, MA—House of Blues Mar. 28—Washington, DC—Lincoln Theatre Mar. 29—Cleveland, OH—VENUE TBA Mar. 30—Chicago, IL—The Vic Theatre Apr. 2—Vancouver, BC—Vogue Theatre Apr. 3—Seattle, WA—Neptune Theatre Apr. 4—Portland, OR—McMenamins Crystal Ballroom Apr. 6—San Francisco, CA—The Regency Ballroom Apr. 8—Los Angeles, CA—The Wiltern Apr. 9—San Diego, CA—Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay Apr. 11—Mexico City, MX—Teatro Metropólitan
In the 1980s, Iron Maiden led the charge in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, guiding heavy metal music into a resurgence in popularity. A younger generation of hard rock fans embraced Iron Maiden and other NWOBHM bands that injected the intensity of punk rock into the more polished heavy metal sound of the 1970s.
As impactful as that new genre of music became in the 1980s, few bands survived beyond that era. Decades later, Iron Maiden still rules the heavy metal world. Forming in 1975 in London, England, Iron Maiden reached its widest mainstream appeal with a series of platinum albums and arena-headlining tours in the 1980s. Perhaps indicating another possible resurgence, the band’s 17th and most recent album, Senjutsu, recorded in 2019 and released in 2021, proved to be Iron Maiden’s highest-charting album in the United States.
Senjutsu (Japanese: 戦術, “Tactics”) was the band’s first album of new songs in six years. Despite fluctuating record sales, Iron Maiden’s tours have maintained high drawing power. Part of the success of the band’s tours in the 2000s was the return of vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith to the fold in 1999. Since their return, Iron Maiden stabilized as a sextet, with founder and bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray and Janick Gers, and drummer Nicko McBrain, who is touring despite suffering a stroke in January 2023.
The latter part of Iron Maiden’s The Legacy of the Beast World Tour in 2022 introduced audiences to three songs from Senjutsu, but the overall setlist was largely a retrospective repertoire. The current The Future Past World Tour, which began in Europe in 2023 and will end this December in South America, includes five songs from Senjutsu, five songs from 1986’s Somewhere in Time, and five other songs, mostly from the 1980s. Fan favorites like “Run for the Hills” were omitted on this tour.
At Barclay Center, as at other tour stops, the house music blasted at 8:50 p.m. with UFO’s “Doctor Doctor,” followed by Vangelis’ instrumental “End Titles” from the 1982 science fiction film BladeRunner. Indeed, the graphics of the stage setting soon referenced the futuristic cyberpunk style associated with that film. The center back of the stage showed two animated videos of Iron Maiden’s mascot, Eddie the Head, the cyborg version on the left and the samurai on the right. Within seconds, a center panel revealed an artistic rendition of a barren, dystopian-looking city street in Japan in the dark of night.
The musicians began the synthesized bass and guitar introduction of “Caught Somewhere in Time,” the opening track from the 1986 album, Somewhere in Time. The front line of Harris, Smith, Murray and Gers immediately made use of the entire stage, pacing everywhere as they played their instruments. Wearing dark goggles and an open calf-length coat, Dickinson ran onto the stage, spun his microphone stand high above him, and added to the high energy. The now-standing audience sang loudly to the repetitive one-line chorus.
Dickinson was remarkable on stage. The 66-year-old’s soaring, operatic-style vocals were remarkably strong and brilliantly clear, especially considering that he has survived bouts of cancer on his tongue, neck and throat. He also moved amazingly well, continuously leaping across the stage, thanks to a recent hip replacement and five and a half inches of titanium hammered into his femur. Iron Maiden’s three-guitar structure extended nearly every song to showcase the talents in the band. Flighty solos, harmonious twin and triple guitar leads, and even a few brief duels superbly filled out the songs. Several times, Dickinson took advantage of these interludes to walk offstage and change his wardrobe.
In addition to all the futuristic visuals that accompanied Iron Maiden’s music, a 10-foot-tall Eddie made three appearances. The creature’s first cameo was during the second song, “Stranger in a Strange Land.” Appearing as a cyborg, parts of his internal musculature were exposed and his eyes glowed bright under his cowboy hat. Eddie returned to the stage during “Heaven Can Wait” and engaged with Dickinson in a gun battle, illuminated by pyrotechnics. Eddie’s final cameo was during the song “Iron Maiden,” in which he appeared as a samurai, threatening Gers with a giant katana sword.
Iron Maiden concluded the main set with the song “Iron Maiden,” which was recorded when Paul Di’Anno was the lead singer. Di’Anno died this past October 21 at age 66. The cause of death has not been disclosed, but he suffered health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair. The band returned on stage for a three-song encore. The musicians and their fans maintained the same high level of energy for two hours. As the musicians took their final bows, a recording of the Monty Python song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” played through the arena’s speakers, finally reducing the temperature of the event.
Iron Maiden is far from finished. Although the band has no plans for recording new music between now and then, Iron Maiden this past September announced its next tour. The Run for Your Lives world tour will begin in May 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. The tour will celebrate Iron Maiden’s 50th anniversary with an elaborate stage show and a setlist comprised of selected songs exclusively from the band’s first nine albums, from 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear of the Dark. American dates have not yet been announced.
Iron Maiden – Barclays Center, Brooklyn – Saturday, November 2, 2024
Setlist: Caught Somewhere in Time, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Writing on the Wall, Days of Future Past, The Time Machine, The Prisoner, Death of the Celts, Can I Play with Madness, Heaven Can Wait, Alexander the Great, Fear of the Dark, Iron Maiden, Hell on Earth, The Trooper, Wasted Years
It has been just over a week since Phish played three shows in Albany, raising $4M from ticket and merchandise sales, as well as live stream fees, all to support the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Foundation and the recently opened facility in Ludlow, VT.
photo by Conor McMahon
The non-profit addiction recovery organization started by Trey Anastasio has set a $10M fundraising campaign goal to support the facility through capital improvements, future property acquisitions, increasing staff and ensure a scholarship fund that remains accessibly to anyone in need, regardless of their ability to pay.
“It’s hard to put into words how grateful we are to Phish and their fans for this generosity. But this isn’t about words–it’s about action. And because of these concerts, we will be able to help many more people take charge of their lives and to recover from addictions.”
Melanie Gulde, Program Director and co-founder of Divided Sky
Watch the video below for an overview of the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program featuring testimonials from Anastasio, Gulde, guests, alumni, and staff.
This type of fundraising haul is not atypical for Phish. In 2023, Phish performed two benefit concerts at SPAC, raising over $3.5M for flood recovery efforts in Vermont and Upstate New York and welcoming special guest Derek Trucks. There are also two Phish charities – the band’s Waterwheel Foundation and the fan-based Mockingbird Foundation – have both raised millions of dollars for local causes and charities since their inceptions in the late 1990s (Ed. note: I am on the Board of Directors of Mockingbird Foundation, supporting music education across the country.)
The hometown show feeling provided a unique buzz in the air to the pre and post-show festivities, for although Phish was here in 2018, the mid-week shows were marked by cold and rain, and aren’t the most memorable shows the band has played on South Pearl Street.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PofMFlw8MJI
The mellow anxiety of seeing so many people at the hometown venue fed into the buzz, a unique combination as a trio of shows were upon the crowd. Friday night’s show paid tribute to Phil Lesh, who passed away earlier that day, and the band brought out the jams early as well as throughout a huge second set.
Saturday night opened with “Possum,” just as the Saturday show in 2000 began, and a well rounded set highlighted by “Stash,” “Tube” and “Bathtub Gin” laid the groundwork for an action packed Set 2. From “Disease” onward, there was hardly a moment to breathe, let alone be distracted by Game 2 of the World Series, until late in the set during “Lonely Trip” where the unfortunate few who looked up at TVs near the bar had to suffer for the only letdown of the weekend. The “Dave’s Energy Guide” tease in Fuego (around the 9-minute mark) was just one highlight of this set, where deep improv driven by Page McConnell aided in keeping fans as dialed in as the band was.
By Sunday, where the banner hanging in the rafters would need to change from 16 to 19 shows, this friends and family affair started with shout-outs contained in the lyrics to “Heavy Things” and the newer “What’s Going Through Your Mind.” A bust-out of “Access Me” followed, along with spooky jams in “My Friend, My Friend” and an intense, never-ending jam in “Kill Devil Falls.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MguC2nYEK7U
For the five-song second set, “Everything’s Right” led the way for a 16-minute installment, followed by “Chalkdust Torture” going beyond the 23-minute mark, and “Mercury” – complete with a restructured intro – following suit. A breather from “Wading in the Velvet Sea” gave way to the original McConnell Vida Blue number, “Most Events Aren’t Planned” which has found a second life since appearing during Phish’s Baker’s Dozen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9w1K0pIncw
To close the run, you might have expected “Divided Sky” but that would mean Phish doing something predictable. Instead, a four song encore, punctuated by the opening “Gotta Jibboo” (shout out to Albany’s Jibboo Crew!), with “Waste,” “Bug” and “Character Zero” closing the run of three incredible and charitable concerts.
Now, for those who attended the shows, you knew the cause was charitable given the month of rumors preceding the announcement of the shows, but there were times when the local media might have otherwise not known. The initial news of the concert announcement was shared of course, but when Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple sent out his press release noting a total of four arrests from the concert weekend, this is where the local media in Albany (like WTEN) could have made a small effort to tie the charitable aspect of the shows to the minor number of arrests (with around 50,000 tickets sold, that’s a ridiculously small percent of attendees – if they even were – at 0.008%) or go a step further and compare these few arrests to other local concerts held at MVP Arena.
Running pat-on-the-back news makes sense for Sinclair-owned WRGB, but the disservice begins with ignoring the purpose behind these shows, which supports those most affected by opiate addiction, by eschewing the steps taken by the other 99% of attendees to these shows that supports the treatment center in Ludlow, VT.
Beyond that, three concerts in a row at MVP Arena are an economic boon to the city, with sold out hotels across the region, full restaurants and bars on Pearl Street, and Downtown Albany seeing a busy weekend of tax revenue coming into the region, much from out of state. These tax dollars from music tourism are a real thing that continue revitalization efforts in the local economies of music destinations like Albany; whether the local media wants to investigate this angle remains to be seen.
WNYT’s Zach Richter gave ample coverage to the shows with a focus on the Divided Sky Foundation, one that presents the cause as tied to the band through Anastasio’s recovery journey since his 2006 arrest in Whitehall brought him to sobriety. But when the arrests are shared in a Monday segment, no connection between the two is made.
The Times Union did not run the story on the arrests, instead opting for a brief review and gallery of the shows, a true look at the shows with a focus after the fact on the charity side of the shows. Why is the TU the outlier here, when all the information on the shows is readily available to anyone seeking the answer? But therein lies the rub – you have to want to seek out more than what is spoonfed to you. Otherwise, you’ll eat anything they feed you.
With $4M raised from the shows, I would challenge these outlets to find out what other bands and artists out there do anything similar, and focus on the benefits of these shows – in and out of the arena – rather than the few bad apples.
You can support the Divided Sky Foundation by picking up merch from the shows, or visit the website directly here
Less than two months to go until Phish celebrates their 16th New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden. Get more info here.
New York City-based indie singer-songwriter and star of Hulu’s Claim to Fame Season 3 Gracie Lou has released her second single, “September.”
Born in California, Gracie Lou Hyland grew up in a home utterly immersed in music. Her parents are both talented singer-songwriters who were once a part of New York unit Girlfriend, which cultivated a love for all things musical in Gracie Lou from an early age.
She spent her younger years performing alongside her parents in their worship band and on the stage with her local church choir, alongside a notable nearly decade-long career in competitive figure skating.
In 2017, Gracie joined the ranks of the Young American College of Performing Arts and spent time touring globally, sharing her passion for music education with countless cultures across the map. The pandemic provided a turning point and quite a bit of newfound downtime, which led Gracie to the guitar. Picking up the instrument on her own and a songwriting venture to boot, Gracie Lou discovered an online resonance with her music that allowed her musical career to begin to bloom.
Relocating to New York City in 2022 to assist her grandmother Gretchen Cryer with the musical “House On Fire,” Gracie took the stage for the first time as a solo singer-songwriter at Rockwood Music Hall in October of 2023.
In addition to her solo ventures, Gracie Lou can be found performing with vintage jazz trio The Satin Dollz, touring as a front and backing vocalist with The Chiclettes, and providing her voice on tour with the Oldies Circuit which notably hosts member Bobby Wilson, son of the legendary Jackie Wilson. Lou is also the co-founder of the “Girl Dinner” all-female cabaret and variety show that celebrates women in the arts.
She recently made a notable appearance on hit Hulu show Claim to Fame hosted by Kevin and Frankie Jonas in which the competitors are challenged with guessing each other’s celebrity relatives, Gracie’s being her uncle- the well-known actor, comedian, and filmmaker Jon Cryer. It was on Claim to Fame where Gracie dazzled television audiences with a performance of an original song.
Soon following was the release of Gracie Lou’s debut single, “to have & to hold.” Self-written, sung, and produced, the track set an exciting precedent for her solo career and capabilities. After the success of her first song officially released to the public, Gracie has returned with her newest track, “September.”
With twinkling piano, the distant hum of crickets, and warm strings, Gracie paints a glowing image of the last bits of warmth held in the month of September. Her utilizations of indie lyricism, jazz homeliness, and folk twang meld perfectly with her hopeful wonderings about what awaits her at the end of the month and how she hopes to change, even if it isn’t a fully formed image quite yet.
“I wrote this during the first month I moved to New York, when nothing in my life felt solid and the future was uncertain. I was tentatively hopeful.”
– Gracie Lou
Following the release of “September,” Gracie will be appearing for a special guest performance on November 20 at fellow musician Blair Lamb’s show at Sanger Hall in Queens. For more information on the show and ticket purchasing, visit Blair’s post about the evening here.
“September” by Gracie Lou is out now. To learn more about the track, watch an archive of her performances, and keep up to date with her latest musical ventures, visit her official website here.
Ethnomusicologist, performer, and educator Joseph Alpar is set to perform music of the Ottoman Middle East at Arthur Zankel Music Center in Saratoga Springs on November 16.
Alpar explores the intertwined histories of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Ottoman Empire through music at Skidmore College’s Arthur Zankel Music Center. Admission is free and open to the public. The central theme of the concert, “Aşk: Music, Love, and Mysticism in the Ottoman World,” is love in all its forms.
It will feature poignant songs of unrequited desire, lyrical wedding ballads about marital loyalty, bawdy tunes delighting in infidelity, driving Sufi and Jewish mystical songs about divine and earthly beloveds, and musical vignettes of everyday courtship, relationships, and separation.
The concert will tell an inspiring story of shared musical traditions and intense cultural collaboration between the peoples of the Ottoman world in several languages — Turkish, Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), Greek, and Arabic. Alpar will sing and perform on several Turkish and Greek instruments, joined by a stellar ensemble.
The event is sponsored by Skidmore’s Jacob Perlow Series, Office of Special Programs, and departments of Music, Environmental Studies and Sciences, Religious Studies, Political Science, and History. Funding is provided by endowments established by Jacob Perlow, an immigrant to the U.S. in the 1920s who was committed to furthering Jewish education, and by a bequest from Beatrice Perlman Troupin.
For more information on Joseph Alpar’s upcoming Nov 16 concert at Skidmore College’s Arthur Zankel Music Center and to purchase tickets, click here.
