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Wow, are we in the middle of a Winter slump! Not that it’s been that hard to find some good live music to check out, but the overall amount of choices have declined massively! Well, things will pick up in March. Until then, hunker down, bundle up, and wait for the guitars and drums to thaw out. It’s only another month or two until Spring!
Fortunately for those of us in the Hudson Valley, the folks at The Bearsville Theater have stepped up their game in recent months, and they’re not letting any grass grow under their feet just because it’s cold outside! Two weeks ago, they had The Wailers and NRBQ in one week, and this week, it continues with THE DUKE MCVINNIE BAND on Friday, February 1, and THE BAND 3 on Saturday, February 2!
I’ve written about both of these bands in past columns. Duke McVinnie Band was my Pick of the Week in my column of 9/4/12 for their last show at The Bearsville Theater on September 7, and I reviewed 3’s show at UPAC in my September 23rd column. Trust me, faithful and loyal readers, these two show are where you wanna be this weekend! Google both bands for more information.
Now of course, if you should happen to be in Manhattan before the weekend, and maybe you’re looking for something to do, Americana darling, KATHLEEN EDWARDS is at City Winery on Wednesday and Thursday, January 30 and 31st.
And next week, after you’ve recovered from your weekend at The Bearsville Theater, GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS are at The Egg in Albany on Wednesday, February 6.
So that’s it for this week! What we lose in quantity, we make up in quality, with four great shows this week. Have a good one!
Fortunately for those of us in the Hudson Valley, the folks at The Bearsville Theater have stepped up their game in recent months, and they’re not letting any grass grow under their feet just because it’s cold outside! Two weeks ago, they had The Wailers and NRBQ in one week, and this week, it continues with THE DUKE MCVINNIE BAND on Friday, February 1, and THE BAND 3 on Saturday, February 2!
I’ve written about both of these bands in past columns. Duke McVinnie Band was my Pick of the Week in my column of 9/4/12 for their last show at The Bearsville Theater on September 7, and I reviewed 3’s show at UPAC in my September 23rd column. Trust me, faithful and loyal readers, these two show are where you wanna be this weekend! Google both bands for more information.
Now of course, if you should happen to be in Manhattan before the weekend, and maybe you’re looking for something to do, Americana darling, KATHLEEN EDWARDS is at City Winery on Wednesday and Thursday, January 30 and 31st.
And next week, after you’ve recovered from your weekend at The Bearsville Theater, GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS are at The Egg in Albany on Wednesday, February 6.
So that’s it for this week! What we lose in quantity, we make up in quality, with four great shows this week. Have a good one!
- Published on
Greetings loyal and faithful readers! Welcome to a new year, and a new year of this column! Today marks the beginning of the third year that I’ve been writing this, and judging from the responses of people I meet, you seem to be enjoying it. Thanks for stickin’ around!
I’ve had a month off, and I’m still kind of burnt out from the holidays, so this week will be brief. Mainly, I wanna tell you about a band whose live shows I’ve been recommending since they started, Blue Chicken!
I’ve been recommending them because I know the musicians involved, and I know the high level they play at, but I had not been able to personally make it to one of their shows until about a month ago, at The Bearsville Theater, and let me tell you, they’re better than expected, and expectations were high! Blue Chicken are simply superb! They are easily one of the best bands in the Hudson Valley, and beyond!
Here’s the deal – almost everyone in this band plays in the Levon Helm Band! Okay? Now you understand? The only member who’s not from Levon’s band, is Sid Maginnis, the superb guitarist from David Letterman’s Late Show band, and Sid and Jimmy Weider, Levon’s Telecaster Master, seem to spur each other on to greater and greater heights! They play off each other beautifully, forming the core that this band is built around!
The rhythm section of drummer Tony Leone and bassist Byron Isaacs can only be called impressive and first rate! Tony never got a chance to show off his chops in his limited appearances with Levon. In this band, he gets to show what he can do, and he’s reeeaaaaallly good! And Byron, who usually played doghouse bass with Levon, gets to plug in an electric and rock out with these guys, and he looked like he was having a grand old time!
Add in multi-instrumentalist and horn player, Clark Gayton, and you have got a band, my friends!
I strongly suggest that you catch these guys anytime you can!
And now, let me strongly suggest some other shows!
It’s January, the holidays are over, and everything, including the music scene, slows down for a couple of months. This week, I’ve only got a few upstate shows to recommend, partially because, like I said, it’s winter, and partially because the website that I get my NYC info from, has decided to give me info about St. Louis instead of New York! Nothing against St. Lou, it’s just a little far, so here’s what we’ve got!
Thursday, January 17 – The legendary WAILERS skank on in to The Bearsville Theater tonight. If you dig Reggae, or just the best of anything, this is your show! I know they’re all dead, but The Original Wailers were just about the tip top of Reggae music, like, ever!
Friday, January 18 – BLUE FOOD at The Bearsville Theater. Lots of good musicians funkin’ it up! All your friends will be there, and it’ll be fun, so go!
Sunday, January 20 – NRBQ, Bearsville Theater. Quirky little Rock & Roll band that’s been around for a while, who’re basically worshipped by other musicians! If you wanna find out why, go!
That’s it for now folks! Sorry there’s no NYC shows in here this week. Maybe by next week my sources will have gotten it together! Happy New Year everyone!
I’ve had a month off, and I’m still kind of burnt out from the holidays, so this week will be brief. Mainly, I wanna tell you about a band whose live shows I’ve been recommending since they started, Blue Chicken!
I’ve been recommending them because I know the musicians involved, and I know the high level they play at, but I had not been able to personally make it to one of their shows until about a month ago, at The Bearsville Theater, and let me tell you, they’re better than expected, and expectations were high! Blue Chicken are simply superb! They are easily one of the best bands in the Hudson Valley, and beyond!
Here’s the deal – almost everyone in this band plays in the Levon Helm Band! Okay? Now you understand? The only member who’s not from Levon’s band, is Sid Maginnis, the superb guitarist from David Letterman’s Late Show band, and Sid and Jimmy Weider, Levon’s Telecaster Master, seem to spur each other on to greater and greater heights! They play off each other beautifully, forming the core that this band is built around!
The rhythm section of drummer Tony Leone and bassist Byron Isaacs can only be called impressive and first rate! Tony never got a chance to show off his chops in his limited appearances with Levon. In this band, he gets to show what he can do, and he’s reeeaaaaallly good! And Byron, who usually played doghouse bass with Levon, gets to plug in an electric and rock out with these guys, and he looked like he was having a grand old time!
Add in multi-instrumentalist and horn player, Clark Gayton, and you have got a band, my friends!
I strongly suggest that you catch these guys anytime you can!
And now, let me strongly suggest some other shows!
It’s January, the holidays are over, and everything, including the music scene, slows down for a couple of months. This week, I’ve only got a few upstate shows to recommend, partially because, like I said, it’s winter, and partially because the website that I get my NYC info from, has decided to give me info about St. Louis instead of New York! Nothing against St. Lou, it’s just a little far, so here’s what we’ve got!
Thursday, January 17 – The legendary WAILERS skank on in to The Bearsville Theater tonight. If you dig Reggae, or just the best of anything, this is your show! I know they’re all dead, but The Original Wailers were just about the tip top of Reggae music, like, ever!
Friday, January 18 – BLUE FOOD at The Bearsville Theater. Lots of good musicians funkin’ it up! All your friends will be there, and it’ll be fun, so go!
Sunday, January 20 – NRBQ, Bearsville Theater. Quirky little Rock & Roll band that’s been around for a while, who’re basically worshipped by other musicians! If you wanna find out why, go!
That’s it for now folks! Sorry there’s no NYC shows in here this week. Maybe by next week my sources will have gotten it together! Happy New Year everyone!
- Published on
The Rolling Stones invasion of New York has begun! With their show at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center last Saturday, the British rockers fired the first salvo across the bow of the Big Apple, and it was rocked! It continues this week with their just announced appearance at the 12-12-12 Concert, and two shows at The Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday and Saturday. One can only hope that there will be more to their 50th anniversary tour than 3 shows in New York and 2 in London!
In other Stones’ news, their new documentary, “Crossfire Hurricane”, which has been shown on HBO and in limited theatrical release, is set to be released on DVD in January. The film covers the entire 50 years, and has footage of all former and current members, much of it previously unseen! All reports say it is amazing! Quite a few of my friends watched it 3 times in one day!
And, the other Bad Boys of Rock, Led Zeppelin, have apparently moved into proper society, with their recent Kennedy Center Honors! Go take a look at the picture of Jimmy, Robert, and John Paul, sitting next to The President and First Lady in their tuxes and ribbons and read the story. It’s really cool! http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-gets-all-star-tribute-at-kennedy-center-honors-20121203?link=mostpopular5. Also honored were Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, and ballerina Natalia Makarova.
Finally, Fleetwood Mac have announced plans for a Spring tour. Shows scheduled for this area are Madison Square Garden on April 8, Mohegan Sun on April 20, and Prudential Center on April 24.
Now to the live music picks!
Wednesday, December 12 – Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the biggest concert of the century (so far) is taking place at Madison Square Garden tonight! The 12-12-12 CONCERT FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF with SPRINGSTEEN, MCCARTNEY, THE WHO, DAVE GROHL, EDDIE VEDDER, ROGER WATERS, BILLIE JOEL, JON BON JOVI, ALICIA KEYS, KANYE WEST, and the just added ROLLING STONES, is one of the most impressive rosters of any one day show ever! The Stones rarely do these kinds of benefits as a group! In the past, even if Mick and Keith were both doing it, they’d be more likely to do it separately, as they did at Live Aid. This dwarfs everything, and thus, it is my first Pick of the Week!
If you haven’t taken out a second mortgage on your house to pay for tickets to 12-12-12, and you still wanna do something tonight, try the really cool Rap/Reggae/ RnB concert at The Barclay Center that I told you about last week, with UB40, MAXI PRIEST, and SHAGGY!
Thursday, December 13 – There’s a few things going on tonight BESIDES my second Pick of the Week, THE ROLLING STONES at The Prudential Center in Newark! Some of these things are also Picks of the Week, like THE RASCALS reunion at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, which starts tonight and continues Friday and Saturday! Some of them were Picks of the Week last week, but with so much going on this week, only got an honorable mention this week, like LUCKY PETERSON’S TWO DAY TEXAS BARBECUE BIRTHDAY BASH at The Falcon in Marlboro, but this should be an awesome show! And if you come hungry, an even better show! Lucky Peterson is an extremely important major artist who should be much better known, and THE JONNY MONSTER BAND is the opening act tonight, so you know the house will be rockin’! Peterson has won a French Grammy and been nominated for a WC Handy award! His mindblowing resume can, and should, be read here, at
http://www.liveatthefalcon.com/#PetersonOne. Wrapping up the night in a more low key manner, BILL KIRCHEN, Master of the Telecaster, and former guitar player and writer of many of the best songs for one of the most underrated bands ever, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, will be at The Rodeo Bar in Manhattan, where admission is almost always free!
Friday, December 14 – The music continues with the second night of THE RASCALS and the second night of LUCKY PETERSON, tonight with MOJO MYLES MANCUSO opening, but also tonight, BOBBY KEYS AND THE LONG SUFFERING BASTARDS are at The Brooklyn Bowl, RONNIE SPECTOR’S BEST CHRISTMAS PARTY EVER is at BB King’s, the hilarious and rockin’ JACK GRACE BAND is at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and WINTER SOLSTICE 2012 WITH HAPPY TRAUM AND FRIENDS will be at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. This year, Happy’s friends are JOHN SEBASTIAN, LARRY CAMPBELL, TERESA WILLIAMS, AMY HELM, and BYRON ISAACS! Basically, most of The Levon Helm Band, with Sebastian and Happy! Should be a barn burner! This is a benefit for The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. BTW, Bobby Keys is the sax player for The Rolling Stones! He’s been on every album and tour since 1972, and he’s on the current tour! He’s played every legendary sax solo on every Stone’s track since that time, with the exception of “Waiting on a Friend”! He also played the sax solo on Dion’s “The Wanderer” and toured with Buddy Holly, amongst a long list of accomplishments! Oh yeah, and The Stones ARE in town. I wonder…
Saturday, December 15 – Well, THE STONES will be wrapping it up, for now, at The Pru Center in Newark. Of course, a Pick of the Week! RASCALS also wrap up their run at The Capitol Theatre, also a Pick of the Week. And up in Woodstock, the PRE CHRISTMAS PARTY DOWN NIGHT with BLUE CHICKEN IS AT The Bearsville Theater. Blue Chicken is led by JIM WEIDER, another Master of the Telecaster, and the band is again made up of Levon Helm Band members, of which Weider is also a member! SID MAGINNIS, guitar player from The Late Show Band, is billed as a second guitarist, and I heard a rumor that JIMMY VIVINO will also be in attendance! I don’t know if that means there will be 3 guitarists, or that Maginnis canceled, but either way, this’ll be a good un! So good we might even make it a Pick of the Week! I said might!
Sunday, December 16 – I don’t often recommend Rap or Hip Hop shows, but this guy, RICK ROSS, has a lifestyle that is so over the top, the he bears checking out! Rolling Stone did a crazy article on him a few months ago, that you can probably still read on Rolling Stone dot com. At Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan.
Tuesday, December 18 – The Master of whatever it is he does, LEONARD COHEN, will probably sell out Madison Square Garden tonight! This guy has a lot of very intense fans! Almost a huge cult following, and not undeserved! Some of his stuff is just unreal, and it’s all good, if you’re in the mood for it.
Thursday, December 20 – It’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s THE END OF THE WORLD PARTY at The Bearsville Theater with the Hudson Valley’s leading Reggae band, THE BIG TAKEOVER. You gotta go to this! Who wants to be alone at the end of the world?
Have a great week, and if the world really does end on December 21, next week’s column will still be online at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, www.brooklyncowboys.com, and www.hvmusic.com, if, I said if, there’s still an internet! LOL.
And if the world doesn’t end, don’t forget to listen to me on the radio, every other Monday night at approximately 8:30PM, on 91.1, WIOX FM, and www.wioxradio.org. Next show will be December 24. I think. It’s Christmas Eve and I don’t know if the show will be on, but it might be, and if not, the next one after that will be January 7, 2013.
Adios amigos!
In other Stones’ news, their new documentary, “Crossfire Hurricane”, which has been shown on HBO and in limited theatrical release, is set to be released on DVD in January. The film covers the entire 50 years, and has footage of all former and current members, much of it previously unseen! All reports say it is amazing! Quite a few of my friends watched it 3 times in one day!
And, the other Bad Boys of Rock, Led Zeppelin, have apparently moved into proper society, with their recent Kennedy Center Honors! Go take a look at the picture of Jimmy, Robert, and John Paul, sitting next to The President and First Lady in their tuxes and ribbons and read the story. It’s really cool! http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-gets-all-star-tribute-at-kennedy-center-honors-20121203?link=mostpopular5. Also honored were Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, and ballerina Natalia Makarova.
Finally, Fleetwood Mac have announced plans for a Spring tour. Shows scheduled for this area are Madison Square Garden on April 8, Mohegan Sun on April 20, and Prudential Center on April 24.
Now to the live music picks!
Wednesday, December 12 – Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the biggest concert of the century (so far) is taking place at Madison Square Garden tonight! The 12-12-12 CONCERT FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF with SPRINGSTEEN, MCCARTNEY, THE WHO, DAVE GROHL, EDDIE VEDDER, ROGER WATERS, BILLIE JOEL, JON BON JOVI, ALICIA KEYS, KANYE WEST, and the just added ROLLING STONES, is one of the most impressive rosters of any one day show ever! The Stones rarely do these kinds of benefits as a group! In the past, even if Mick and Keith were both doing it, they’d be more likely to do it separately, as they did at Live Aid. This dwarfs everything, and thus, it is my first Pick of the Week!
If you haven’t taken out a second mortgage on your house to pay for tickets to 12-12-12, and you still wanna do something tonight, try the really cool Rap/Reggae/ RnB concert at The Barclay Center that I told you about last week, with UB40, MAXI PRIEST, and SHAGGY!
Thursday, December 13 – There’s a few things going on tonight BESIDES my second Pick of the Week, THE ROLLING STONES at The Prudential Center in Newark! Some of these things are also Picks of the Week, like THE RASCALS reunion at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, which starts tonight and continues Friday and Saturday! Some of them were Picks of the Week last week, but with so much going on this week, only got an honorable mention this week, like LUCKY PETERSON’S TWO DAY TEXAS BARBECUE BIRTHDAY BASH at The Falcon in Marlboro, but this should be an awesome show! And if you come hungry, an even better show! Lucky Peterson is an extremely important major artist who should be much better known, and THE JONNY MONSTER BAND is the opening act tonight, so you know the house will be rockin’! Peterson has won a French Grammy and been nominated for a WC Handy award! His mindblowing resume can, and should, be read here, at
http://www.liveatthefalcon.com/#PetersonOne. Wrapping up the night in a more low key manner, BILL KIRCHEN, Master of the Telecaster, and former guitar player and writer of many of the best songs for one of the most underrated bands ever, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, will be at The Rodeo Bar in Manhattan, where admission is almost always free!
Friday, December 14 – The music continues with the second night of THE RASCALS and the second night of LUCKY PETERSON, tonight with MOJO MYLES MANCUSO opening, but also tonight, BOBBY KEYS AND THE LONG SUFFERING BASTARDS are at The Brooklyn Bowl, RONNIE SPECTOR’S BEST CHRISTMAS PARTY EVER is at BB King’s, the hilarious and rockin’ JACK GRACE BAND is at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and WINTER SOLSTICE 2012 WITH HAPPY TRAUM AND FRIENDS will be at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. This year, Happy’s friends are JOHN SEBASTIAN, LARRY CAMPBELL, TERESA WILLIAMS, AMY HELM, and BYRON ISAACS! Basically, most of The Levon Helm Band, with Sebastian and Happy! Should be a barn burner! This is a benefit for The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. BTW, Bobby Keys is the sax player for The Rolling Stones! He’s been on every album and tour since 1972, and he’s on the current tour! He’s played every legendary sax solo on every Stone’s track since that time, with the exception of “Waiting on a Friend”! He also played the sax solo on Dion’s “The Wanderer” and toured with Buddy Holly, amongst a long list of accomplishments! Oh yeah, and The Stones ARE in town. I wonder…
Saturday, December 15 – Well, THE STONES will be wrapping it up, for now, at The Pru Center in Newark. Of course, a Pick of the Week! RASCALS also wrap up their run at The Capitol Theatre, also a Pick of the Week. And up in Woodstock, the PRE CHRISTMAS PARTY DOWN NIGHT with BLUE CHICKEN IS AT The Bearsville Theater. Blue Chicken is led by JIM WEIDER, another Master of the Telecaster, and the band is again made up of Levon Helm Band members, of which Weider is also a member! SID MAGINNIS, guitar player from The Late Show Band, is billed as a second guitarist, and I heard a rumor that JIMMY VIVINO will also be in attendance! I don’t know if that means there will be 3 guitarists, or that Maginnis canceled, but either way, this’ll be a good un! So good we might even make it a Pick of the Week! I said might!
Sunday, December 16 – I don’t often recommend Rap or Hip Hop shows, but this guy, RICK ROSS, has a lifestyle that is so over the top, the he bears checking out! Rolling Stone did a crazy article on him a few months ago, that you can probably still read on Rolling Stone dot com. At Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan.
Tuesday, December 18 – The Master of whatever it is he does, LEONARD COHEN, will probably sell out Madison Square Garden tonight! This guy has a lot of very intense fans! Almost a huge cult following, and not undeserved! Some of his stuff is just unreal, and it’s all good, if you’re in the mood for it.
Thursday, December 20 – It’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s THE END OF THE WORLD PARTY at The Bearsville Theater with the Hudson Valley’s leading Reggae band, THE BIG TAKEOVER. You gotta go to this! Who wants to be alone at the end of the world?
Have a great week, and if the world really does end on December 21, next week’s column will still be online at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, www.brooklyncowboys.com, and www.hvmusic.com, if, I said if, there’s still an internet! LOL.
And if the world doesn’t end, don’t forget to listen to me on the radio, every other Monday night at approximately 8:30PM, on 91.1, WIOX FM, and www.wioxradio.org. Next show will be December 24. I think. It’s Christmas Eve and I don’t know if the show will be on, but it might be, and if not, the next one after that will be January 7, 2013.
Adios amigos!
- Published on
Photos by C3 Photography Catharina Christiana
- Published on
I can’t believe it! It’s only 2 AM and I’m exhausted already, so we’re gonna basically go right to the live picks, but before we do, I just wanna say, The Supersuckers were good, but I’ve seen them better, and John Waters, as promised, was hilarious! If you like edgy comedy, John’s your man! Every minute was thoroughly enjoyable!
And now to the picks.
Wednesday, December 5 – THE WHO at Madison Square Garden and LUCINDA WILLIAMS at The Beacon Theater with STEVE EARLE, SHAWN COLVIN, SHELBY LYNNE, and AMOS LEE. Two smaller, but no less in musical stature, shows tonight are the great guitarist, ARLEN ROTH at The Iridium, and the great singer and songwriter, BILLY JOE SHAVER, at Hill Country Barbecue, both in Manhattan.
Thursday, December 6 – THE WHO at The Pru! The Prudential Center in Newark, that is! TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS celebrate Toots’ 70th birthday at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and CHAD SMITH’S BOMBASTIC MEATBALLS are at The Iridium. Chad Smith is the drummer for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but what is a bombastic meatball?
Friday, December 7 – Big show at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock – STEVE KIMOCK with P-Funk founding member and Talking Heads member BERNIE WORRELL! Pick of he Week! Also country blues genius, RORY BLOCK at The Towne Crier in Pauling.
Saturday, December 8 – The night we’ve all been waiting for – THE ROLLING STONES at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn! If you can’t snag a ticket, console yourself with TROMBONE SHORTY AND ORLEANS AVENUE at Terminal 5 in Manhattan! Regular readers of this column know how I feel about Trombone Shorty, so this has to be a Pick of the Week! And if you’re upstate, check out THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE at The Bearsville Theater for a bit of nostalgia.
Saturday, December 9 – The only game in town tonight is DARLENE LOVE at BB King’s in Manhattan.
Sunday, December 10 – SMASHING PUMPKINS at The Barclay Center!
Monday, December 11 – Great line up of the rockin’THE DEL LORDS, Americana songbird, LAURA CANTRELL, Country satirist, TAMMY FAYE STARLITE, who has to be seen to be believed, and four more bands! At The Rock Shop in Brooklyn.
Tuesday, December 12 – Fabulous Rap/Reggae/ RnB concert at The Barclay Center with UB40, MAXI PRIEST, and SHAGGY, but the big show tonight is The 12-12-12 CONCERT FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF with SPRINGSTEEN, MCCARTNEY, THE WHO, DAVE GROHL, EDDIE VEDDER, ROGER WATERS, BILLIE JOEL, JON BON JOVI, ALICIA KEYS, and KANYE WEST, with more artists to be added! We really can’t let this one go by without making it a Pick of the Week!
Wednesday, December 13 – Huge night for music! THE ROLLING STONES play their first show at The Pru Center (with the second show scheduled for next week, on December 15th), THE RASCALS start a three day run at The Capitol Theatre(continuing on the 14th and 15th), and, for my last Pick of the Week, we have LUCKY PETERSON’S TWO DAY TEXAS BARBECUE BASH with THE JONNY MONSTER BAND opening! This will be great!
What a week! Of course, The Stones and The Who are picks of the week, but then, everybody knows that! What you might not know is that the Lucinda, Billy Joe Shaver, and Toots’ shows will be pretty damn great too! And I’m pretty darn sure you don’t know that The Del Lords’ show at The Rock Shop will be awesome! All of the above get an honorable mention. You can’t go wrong with any of them! Or any of the other shows this week! This is one of the strongest weeks for music in recent memory! Enjoy it!
Good night, and have a great week!
And now to the picks.
Wednesday, December 5 – THE WHO at Madison Square Garden and LUCINDA WILLIAMS at The Beacon Theater with STEVE EARLE, SHAWN COLVIN, SHELBY LYNNE, and AMOS LEE. Two smaller, but no less in musical stature, shows tonight are the great guitarist, ARLEN ROTH at The Iridium, and the great singer and songwriter, BILLY JOE SHAVER, at Hill Country Barbecue, both in Manhattan.
Thursday, December 6 – THE WHO at The Pru! The Prudential Center in Newark, that is! TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS celebrate Toots’ 70th birthday at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and CHAD SMITH’S BOMBASTIC MEATBALLS are at The Iridium. Chad Smith is the drummer for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but what is a bombastic meatball?
Friday, December 7 – Big show at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock – STEVE KIMOCK with P-Funk founding member and Talking Heads member BERNIE WORRELL! Pick of he Week! Also country blues genius, RORY BLOCK at The Towne Crier in Pauling.
Saturday, December 8 – The night we’ve all been waiting for – THE ROLLING STONES at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn! If you can’t snag a ticket, console yourself with TROMBONE SHORTY AND ORLEANS AVENUE at Terminal 5 in Manhattan! Regular readers of this column know how I feel about Trombone Shorty, so this has to be a Pick of the Week! And if you’re upstate, check out THE WOODSTOCK EXPERIENCE at The Bearsville Theater for a bit of nostalgia.
Saturday, December 9 – The only game in town tonight is DARLENE LOVE at BB King’s in Manhattan.
Sunday, December 10 – SMASHING PUMPKINS at The Barclay Center!
Monday, December 11 – Great line up of the rockin’THE DEL LORDS, Americana songbird, LAURA CANTRELL, Country satirist, TAMMY FAYE STARLITE, who has to be seen to be believed, and four more bands! At The Rock Shop in Brooklyn.
Tuesday, December 12 – Fabulous Rap/Reggae/ RnB concert at The Barclay Center with UB40, MAXI PRIEST, and SHAGGY, but the big show tonight is The 12-12-12 CONCERT FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF with SPRINGSTEEN, MCCARTNEY, THE WHO, DAVE GROHL, EDDIE VEDDER, ROGER WATERS, BILLIE JOEL, JON BON JOVI, ALICIA KEYS, and KANYE WEST, with more artists to be added! We really can’t let this one go by without making it a Pick of the Week!
Wednesday, December 13 – Huge night for music! THE ROLLING STONES play their first show at The Pru Center (with the second show scheduled for next week, on December 15th), THE RASCALS start a three day run at The Capitol Theatre(continuing on the 14th and 15th), and, for my last Pick of the Week, we have LUCKY PETERSON’S TWO DAY TEXAS BARBECUE BASH with THE JONNY MONSTER BAND opening! This will be great!
What a week! Of course, The Stones and The Who are picks of the week, but then, everybody knows that! What you might not know is that the Lucinda, Billy Joe Shaver, and Toots’ shows will be pretty damn great too! And I’m pretty darn sure you don’t know that The Del Lords’ show at The Rock Shop will be awesome! All of the above get an honorable mention. You can’t go wrong with any of them! Or any of the other shows this week! This is one of the strongest weeks for music in recent memory! Enjoy it!
Good night, and have a great week!
- Published on
Photo by C3 Photography Catharina Christiana
- Published on
There’s already video of tonight’s Rolling Stones concert on You Tube! If you go there, you can see video of The Stones doing “Honky Tonk Women” with Bill Wyman, and “I’m Going Down” with Jeff Beck. There may be more by the time you read this!
During my two week break from writing this column, I have been super busy. I saw two Phil Lesh shows in Manhattan, two great shows with my friends, Dinamita, my new favorite band, The Blues Project and the Paul Butterfield Tribute at The Bearsville Theater, The Cheating Hearts played in Manhattan for the first time on a bill with Norah Jones, and I just came from the Graham Parker and The Rumour show at The Bardavon. Whew! I’m exhausted! LOL.
The first night of Phil Lesh didn’t really speak to me. Maybe I wasn’t listening. But the second night spoke right to my heart and soul, especially the second set, when they went from “Wharf Rat” into “Death Don’t Have no Mercy” into “Viola Lee Blues” to end the set. Then they came back and did “Saint Stephen” into “Satisfaction” for the encore! It was just like a good old Grateful Dead show! BTW, if you’d like to listen to soundboard tapes of any of the recent Northeast Phil Lesh shows, they’re all available for free streaming on Taper Rob’s Ustream channel. Google him!
The Paul Butterfield Tribute at The Bearsville Theater was great, especially the songs Jimmy Eppard sang. Butter’s music really lends itself to Jimmy’s voice. “Love Disease” was a highlight! And The Blues Project were awesome! They just sat there and played their asses off! It wasn’t an exciting rock and roll show, but they held me rapt with just the music! Those guys can still play!
My band, The Cheating Hearts, played a Levon Helm benefit at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan last Monday. We followed a little country and rock and roll trio that Norah Jones put together with Catherine Popper (bass payer for Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Jack White, and Ryan Adams), called Puss n Boots (and they WERE all wearing boots). After they played, Norah hung around and danced for our entire set, and when we finished, she told our lead vocalist, Just James, that we were “awesome”!
And the Graham Parker and The Rumour reunion! They did a bunch of my favorite GP songs, (even though I was sad not to hear “Heat Treatment”, “You Can’t be too Strong”, and especially “Stick to Me”), and the classic sound was all there – the swirling Hammond riffs and vocal harmonies from keyboardist, Bob Andrews, the alternating lead guitars of Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont, the firmly in the pocket rhythm section of drummer Steven Goulding and bassist Andrew Bodnar, and, of course, The Man himself, Graham Parker, who brought the songs, and looked and sounded great!
If you never saw them, GP and The Rumour were one of the most rockinest bands ever in their day, and sure, a lot of the set was a little light on rockin’ tonight, but when they opened up with “Fools Gold”, they had me! And the rest of the audience! And they sounded as great as ever! Highlights were “Local Girls”, “Protection”, and my personal favorite Graham Parker song ever, “Hotel Chambermaid”, which I was so happy they did, as it is a bit obscure! They encored with “Soul Shoes”, and everyone went out into the night with a smile on their face! My thanks to Chris Silva and Lucy Edgcomb at The Bardavon for their hospitality.
In other news, The Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival is finally coming to New York! Madison Square Garden, April 12 and 13! Booked as of now are Albert Lee, Alan Holdsworth, The Allman Brothers Band, BB King, Booker T, Brad Paisley, Buddy Guy, Doyle Bramhall II (who’s been Clapton’s lead guitarist for many years), Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck, Jimmy Vaughn, John Mayer, John Scofield, Jonny Lang, Keith Urban, Los Lobos, Robbie Robertson, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Sonny Landreth, Vince Gill (who might be the best player on the list), and others. More info at www.crossroadsguitarfestival.com and www.ericclapton.com.
And now for this week’s live music picks!
Wednesday, November 28 – Rocker alert! Rocker alert! My favorite current band, THE SUPERSUCKERS, are playing tonight at Valentine’s in Albany! This is this week’s number one Pick of the Week! If you like Rock and Roll, and you’re anywhere near Albany tonight, you owe it to yourself to go to this show!Git yer rocks off baby!
THE MOODY BLUES are at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and New Orleans royalty, AARON NEVILLE, performs at The Brooklyn Bowl. Aaron is fresh off a new record of his favorite doo wop songs that he recorded with Keith Richards and Don Was!
Friday, November 30 – Pioneering LA punk band, X, is at Irving Plaza in Manhattan, with THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, for the first of two nights.
Saturday, December 1 – X and THE REVEREND HEAT are back at Irving Plaza, HOT TUNA is back at The Beacon Theater for their annual shows, THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND IS BACK AT The Bearsville Theater for their annual Christmas show, and my next Pick of the Week is at The Bardavon Opera House, and it’s not even a musical act! It’s the film director and writer, JOHN WATERS, who has been touring the country with a spoken word act, but it’s not really an act! It’s just John Waters being himself and telling stories, and let me tell you, he is a very funny man! I saw this on HBO and it was hilarious!
Sunday, December 2 – TEDESHI TRUCKS BAND at The Palace Theater in Albany.
Monday, December 3 – The great NEIL YOUNG brings his best band ever, CRAZY HORSE, into The Barclay Center in Brooklyn, and this has to be my next Pick of the Week!
Wednesday, December 5 – THE WHO at Madison Square Garden and LUCINDA WILLIAMS at The Beacon Theater. Both of these shows have to be Picks of the Week!
Thursday, December 6 – THE WHO at The Prudential Center in Newark and TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS celebrate Toots’ 70th birthday at The Capitol Theater. Both of these shows are strongly recommended, but fall just short of Pick of the Week status. Five is enough, anyway!
Don’t forget, next week kicks off with the first of three Rolling Stones shows in our area, and if that wasn’t enough, the great Trombone Shorty will be at Terminal 5 in Manhattan with his amazing band, Orleans Avenue, on the same night The Stones are in Brooklyn! Both will definitely be Picks of the Week, so mark your calendars!
Have a great week!
During my two week break from writing this column, I have been super busy. I saw two Phil Lesh shows in Manhattan, two great shows with my friends, Dinamita, my new favorite band, The Blues Project and the Paul Butterfield Tribute at The Bearsville Theater, The Cheating Hearts played in Manhattan for the first time on a bill with Norah Jones, and I just came from the Graham Parker and The Rumour show at The Bardavon. Whew! I’m exhausted! LOL.
The first night of Phil Lesh didn’t really speak to me. Maybe I wasn’t listening. But the second night spoke right to my heart and soul, especially the second set, when they went from “Wharf Rat” into “Death Don’t Have no Mercy” into “Viola Lee Blues” to end the set. Then they came back and did “Saint Stephen” into “Satisfaction” for the encore! It was just like a good old Grateful Dead show! BTW, if you’d like to listen to soundboard tapes of any of the recent Northeast Phil Lesh shows, they’re all available for free streaming on Taper Rob’s Ustream channel. Google him!
The Paul Butterfield Tribute at The Bearsville Theater was great, especially the songs Jimmy Eppard sang. Butter’s music really lends itself to Jimmy’s voice. “Love Disease” was a highlight! And The Blues Project were awesome! They just sat there and played their asses off! It wasn’t an exciting rock and roll show, but they held me rapt with just the music! Those guys can still play!
My band, The Cheating Hearts, played a Levon Helm benefit at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan last Monday. We followed a little country and rock and roll trio that Norah Jones put together with Catherine Popper (bass payer for Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Jack White, and Ryan Adams), called Puss n Boots (and they WERE all wearing boots). After they played, Norah hung around and danced for our entire set, and when we finished, she told our lead vocalist, Just James, that we were “awesome”!
And the Graham Parker and The Rumour reunion! They did a bunch of my favorite GP songs, (even though I was sad not to hear “Heat Treatment”, “You Can’t be too Strong”, and especially “Stick to Me”), and the classic sound was all there – the swirling Hammond riffs and vocal harmonies from keyboardist, Bob Andrews, the alternating lead guitars of Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont, the firmly in the pocket rhythm section of drummer Steven Goulding and bassist Andrew Bodnar, and, of course, The Man himself, Graham Parker, who brought the songs, and looked and sounded great!
If you never saw them, GP and The Rumour were one of the most rockinest bands ever in their day, and sure, a lot of the set was a little light on rockin’ tonight, but when they opened up with “Fools Gold”, they had me! And the rest of the audience! And they sounded as great as ever! Highlights were “Local Girls”, “Protection”, and my personal favorite Graham Parker song ever, “Hotel Chambermaid”, which I was so happy they did, as it is a bit obscure! They encored with “Soul Shoes”, and everyone went out into the night with a smile on their face! My thanks to Chris Silva and Lucy Edgcomb at The Bardavon for their hospitality.
In other news, The Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival is finally coming to New York! Madison Square Garden, April 12 and 13! Booked as of now are Albert Lee, Alan Holdsworth, The Allman Brothers Band, BB King, Booker T, Brad Paisley, Buddy Guy, Doyle Bramhall II (who’s been Clapton’s lead guitarist for many years), Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck, Jimmy Vaughn, John Mayer, John Scofield, Jonny Lang, Keith Urban, Los Lobos, Robbie Robertson, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Sonny Landreth, Vince Gill (who might be the best player on the list), and others. More info at www.crossroadsguitarfestival.com and www.ericclapton.com.
And now for this week’s live music picks!
Wednesday, November 28 – Rocker alert! Rocker alert! My favorite current band, THE SUPERSUCKERS, are playing tonight at Valentine’s in Albany! This is this week’s number one Pick of the Week! If you like Rock and Roll, and you’re anywhere near Albany tonight, you owe it to yourself to go to this show!Git yer rocks off baby!
THE MOODY BLUES are at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, and New Orleans royalty, AARON NEVILLE, performs at The Brooklyn Bowl. Aaron is fresh off a new record of his favorite doo wop songs that he recorded with Keith Richards and Don Was!
Friday, November 30 – Pioneering LA punk band, X, is at Irving Plaza in Manhattan, with THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, for the first of two nights.
Saturday, December 1 – X and THE REVEREND HEAT are back at Irving Plaza, HOT TUNA is back at The Beacon Theater for their annual shows, THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND IS BACK AT The Bearsville Theater for their annual Christmas show, and my next Pick of the Week is at The Bardavon Opera House, and it’s not even a musical act! It’s the film director and writer, JOHN WATERS, who has been touring the country with a spoken word act, but it’s not really an act! It’s just John Waters being himself and telling stories, and let me tell you, he is a very funny man! I saw this on HBO and it was hilarious!
Sunday, December 2 – TEDESHI TRUCKS BAND at The Palace Theater in Albany.
Monday, December 3 – The great NEIL YOUNG brings his best band ever, CRAZY HORSE, into The Barclay Center in Brooklyn, and this has to be my next Pick of the Week!
Wednesday, December 5 – THE WHO at Madison Square Garden and LUCINDA WILLIAMS at The Beacon Theater. Both of these shows have to be Picks of the Week!
Thursday, December 6 – THE WHO at The Prudential Center in Newark and TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS celebrate Toots’ 70th birthday at The Capitol Theater. Both of these shows are strongly recommended, but fall just short of Pick of the Week status. Five is enough, anyway!
Don’t forget, next week kicks off with the first of three Rolling Stones shows in our area, and if that wasn’t enough, the great Trombone Shorty will be at Terminal 5 in Manhattan with his amazing band, Orleans Avenue, on the same night The Stones are in Brooklyn! Both will definitely be Picks of the Week, so mark your calendars!
Have a great week!
- Published on
Greetings loyal readers! I hope everyone made it through Hurricane Sandy without any major damage or losses. How many more American cities will have to be underwater before we decide to do something about our energy deathwish junky mentality? Anyone with a drop of foresight saw this coming a half century ago, but I guess we just hadn’t squeezed the last dollar out of the last drop of oil yet, so nothing could be done, right?
Remember in Superman comics, when he was a babe in a basket on his home planet of Krypton, before he came to Earth and got super? Remember the origin story? His father, a leading scientist, warned that Krypton was going to be torn apart by internal stress, in other words, earthquakes and tsunamis. Politicians laughed at him! As a young child, I thought this was unrealistic, because if a leading scientist had such a dire warning about the fate of a planet, surely he would be believed, right? Guess not! We are definitely living on the Bizarro World (look it up)! Ah well, 12/21/12 is right around the corner. It’ll be interesting to see if anything happens.
And now back to our regularly scheduled program!
This week’s live music picks are as follows.
Wednesday, November 7 – Big things are going on tonight! PHIL LESH’s invasion of the East Coast begins tonight at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. The first of three nights at this venue, the tour continues Sunday night with three nights at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, and finishes with four nights at the historic, newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, next week. It’s hard to top that, but I believe ROKY ERICKSON at The Bell House in Brooklyn does! At least for rarity of appearance! Roky was the main man for the legendary Texas Psychedelic band, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, and before returning to the music world a few years ago, spent a longer career in and out of mental institutions. The last time I saw him, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top sat in! That’s what I’m tryin’ ta tell ya. The man’s a legend in Texas, and anywhere else where they know good music! And up in Hudson at Club Helsinki, 80’s punk-dance band, HUMAN SEXUAL RESPONSE, rolls through!
Thursday, November 8 – Well, it seems like the only show in town tonight is the second night of PHIL LESH’s three at The Wellmont, so get thee over there!
Friday, November 9 – Phil winds it up at The Wellmont, but more importantly, TEA LEAF GREEN, a band who I’ve only heard a few songs from, but some of those songs are absolutely stunning, stop by The Brooklyn Bowl for the first of a two night run. These guys are really good, really different, and you should really check them out! In Manhattan, LITTLE FEAT and LEON RUSSELL co-headline at Hammerstein Ballroom, and upstate, OZ NOY, ANTON FIG, and WILL LEE are at The Falcon in Marlborough. More info at www.liveatthefalcon.com.
Saturday, November 10 - ROBERT RANDOLPH AND HIS FAMILY BAND bring their magic to The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock for another great WDST produced show. They’re on some run over there! Check the schedule at www.bearsvilletheater .com.
Sunday, November 11 – PHIL LESH begins a three night engagement at Roseland Ballroom, and the Bluegrass legends known as DR. RALPH STANLEY AND HIS CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS are at City Winery, both in Manhattan, and guitar virtuoso, KAKI KING, makes a rare NYC appearance at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn.
Monday, November 12 – PHIL LESH continues at Roseland, MADONNA is at Madison Square Garden, and LIVING COLOR celebrates what would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 70th birthday at City Winery.
Tuesday, November 13 – PHIL LESH closes out his run at Roseland and KAKI KING stops by Le Poisson Rouge, both in Manhattan.
Wednesday, November 14 – THE WHO make their first appearance at Barclay Center in Brooklyn.
Thursday, November 15 – PHIL LESH starts a four day run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and The Museum of Modern Art begins a two week retrospective of THE ROLLING STONES in cinema, with showings of some really rare Stones movies. This runs through December 2. More info at www.rollingstones.com.
Stay warm, stay dry, and stay rockin’! Have a great week!
Remember in Superman comics, when he was a babe in a basket on his home planet of Krypton, before he came to Earth and got super? Remember the origin story? His father, a leading scientist, warned that Krypton was going to be torn apart by internal stress, in other words, earthquakes and tsunamis. Politicians laughed at him! As a young child, I thought this was unrealistic, because if a leading scientist had such a dire warning about the fate of a planet, surely he would be believed, right? Guess not! We are definitely living on the Bizarro World (look it up)! Ah well, 12/21/12 is right around the corner. It’ll be interesting to see if anything happens.
And now back to our regularly scheduled program!
This week’s live music picks are as follows.
Wednesday, November 7 – Big things are going on tonight! PHIL LESH’s invasion of the East Coast begins tonight at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. The first of three nights at this venue, the tour continues Sunday night with three nights at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, and finishes with four nights at the historic, newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, next week. It’s hard to top that, but I believe ROKY ERICKSON at The Bell House in Brooklyn does! At least for rarity of appearance! Roky was the main man for the legendary Texas Psychedelic band, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, and before returning to the music world a few years ago, spent a longer career in and out of mental institutions. The last time I saw him, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top sat in! That’s what I’m tryin’ ta tell ya. The man’s a legend in Texas, and anywhere else where they know good music! And up in Hudson at Club Helsinki, 80’s punk-dance band, HUMAN SEXUAL RESPONSE, rolls through!
Thursday, November 8 – Well, it seems like the only show in town tonight is the second night of PHIL LESH’s three at The Wellmont, so get thee over there!
Friday, November 9 – Phil winds it up at The Wellmont, but more importantly, TEA LEAF GREEN, a band who I’ve only heard a few songs from, but some of those songs are absolutely stunning, stop by The Brooklyn Bowl for the first of a two night run. These guys are really good, really different, and you should really check them out! In Manhattan, LITTLE FEAT and LEON RUSSELL co-headline at Hammerstein Ballroom, and upstate, OZ NOY, ANTON FIG, and WILL LEE are at The Falcon in Marlborough. More info at www.liveatthefalcon.com.
Saturday, November 10 - ROBERT RANDOLPH AND HIS FAMILY BAND bring their magic to The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock for another great WDST produced show. They’re on some run over there! Check the schedule at www.bearsvilletheater .com.
Sunday, November 11 – PHIL LESH begins a three night engagement at Roseland Ballroom, and the Bluegrass legends known as DR. RALPH STANLEY AND HIS CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS are at City Winery, both in Manhattan, and guitar virtuoso, KAKI KING, makes a rare NYC appearance at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn.
Monday, November 12 – PHIL LESH continues at Roseland, MADONNA is at Madison Square Garden, and LIVING COLOR celebrates what would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 70th birthday at City Winery.
Tuesday, November 13 – PHIL LESH closes out his run at Roseland and KAKI KING stops by Le Poisson Rouge, both in Manhattan.
Wednesday, November 14 – THE WHO make their first appearance at Barclay Center in Brooklyn.
Thursday, November 15 – PHIL LESH starts a four day run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester and The Museum of Modern Art begins a two week retrospective of THE ROLLING STONES in cinema, with showings of some really rare Stones movies. This runs through December 2. More info at www.rollingstones.com.
Stay warm, stay dry, and stay rockin’! Have a great week!
- Published on
There’s a hurricane comin’ on, my son’s visiting from California, and they cancelled tonight’s Social Distortion show at The Chance, so we’re gonna go straight to this week’s live music picks.
Halloween, Wednesday, October 31 – It seems like everyone did their Halloween partying over this past weekend, so the day, itself, may be a bit of a letdown. Then again, maybe not! THE CONNOR KENNEDY BAND will be at The Bearsville Theater performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band, and, in the city, JACKIE GREENE is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Americana Roots Rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, is at The Bowery Ballroom, and the big show tonight is SMASHING PUMPKINS at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn.
Thursday, November 1 – The choices are slim tonight. Upstate, we’ve got DOCTOR JOHN and THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and downstate, TOM TOM CLUB at The Brooklyn Bowl.
Friday, November 2 – Again, upstate, JACKIE GREENE returns to The Bearsville Theater, and downstate, CHRIS ISAAK is at The Beacon Theater.
Saturday, November 3 – All shows tonight are in the city. Former Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard whiz, BERNIE WORRELL and his orchestra are at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, Former J. Geils Band frontman, PETER WOLF starts a two day run at City Winery, and #1 Itunes Reggae chart topper, J. BOOG, is at BB King’s. My son produced and engineered J. Boog’s chart topper, so if any of my friends are reading this, meet me down there.
Sunday, November 4 – PETER WOLF concludes his engagement at City Winery, and upstate, The BANJO SUMMIT is at The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, featuring arguably the top three banjo players in the world, BELA FLECK, TONY TRISHKA, and BILL KEITH. This really has to be a Pick of the Week!
Monday, November 5 – New Orleans R n B and Funk royalty, IVAN NEVILLE brings his DUMPSTAPHUNK to The Highline Ballroom, along with highly regarded Big Easy guitarist, ANDERS OSBORNE.
Wednesday, November 7 – The second Pick of the Week is former Thirteenth Floor Elevators frontman, and noted mental patient, ROKY ERICKSON, who will be at The Bell House in Brooklyn, and PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS begin their invasion of the East Coast with three nights at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, concluding on November 9.
Have a great week, and please don’t forget to tune in to The Little Delaware Jamboree on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and on the web at www.wioxradio.org, every other Monday evening at 8:30 for my radio version of this column. The next show will be November 12.
Halloween, Wednesday, October 31 – It seems like everyone did their Halloween partying over this past weekend, so the day, itself, may be a bit of a letdown. Then again, maybe not! THE CONNOR KENNEDY BAND will be at The Bearsville Theater performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band, and, in the city, JACKIE GREENE is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Americana Roots Rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, is at The Bowery Ballroom, and the big show tonight is SMASHING PUMPKINS at The Barclay Center in Brooklyn.
Thursday, November 1 – The choices are slim tonight. Upstate, we’ve got DOCTOR JOHN and THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and downstate, TOM TOM CLUB at The Brooklyn Bowl.
Friday, November 2 – Again, upstate, JACKIE GREENE returns to The Bearsville Theater, and downstate, CHRIS ISAAK is at The Beacon Theater.
Saturday, November 3 – All shows tonight are in the city. Former Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard whiz, BERNIE WORRELL and his orchestra are at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, Former J. Geils Band frontman, PETER WOLF starts a two day run at City Winery, and #1 Itunes Reggae chart topper, J. BOOG, is at BB King’s. My son produced and engineered J. Boog’s chart topper, so if any of my friends are reading this, meet me down there.
Sunday, November 4 – PETER WOLF concludes his engagement at City Winery, and upstate, The BANJO SUMMIT is at The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, featuring arguably the top three banjo players in the world, BELA FLECK, TONY TRISHKA, and BILL KEITH. This really has to be a Pick of the Week!
Monday, November 5 – New Orleans R n B and Funk royalty, IVAN NEVILLE brings his DUMPSTAPHUNK to The Highline Ballroom, along with highly regarded Big Easy guitarist, ANDERS OSBORNE.
Wednesday, November 7 – The second Pick of the Week is former Thirteenth Floor Elevators frontman, and noted mental patient, ROKY ERICKSON, who will be at The Bell House in Brooklyn, and PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS begin their invasion of the East Coast with three nights at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, concluding on November 9.
Have a great week, and please don’t forget to tune in to The Little Delaware Jamboree on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and on the web at www.wioxradio.org, every other Monday evening at 8:30 for my radio version of this column. The next show will be November 12.
- Published on
It was just a little over a year ago that I wrote the obituary for my friend, Eugene Geary, the most rockin’ guitarist I ever played with, who I wrote a couple of albums worth of songs with, and who passed away last October 11th. We were friends since we were kids, and there is no replacement for him as a guitar player, friend, and musical partner.
Shortly after “Huge” passed on, a friend gave me a CD of the last songs we wrote and recorded together, one of which won a certificate of achievement in the Billboard Song Contest. The CD never left my car player, and, in fact, it’s still there, because my car burned up last April. I managed to save the CD player with discs intact, but I hadn’t gotten around to taking it apart yet to remove the discs, so, when another friend gave me a new copy, I was very happy to relive it again. As I drove around listening over and over, I realized that the anniversary of his death was upon us, and started thinking about the way we wrote and recorded those songs. Most of the songs we wrote together started with lyrics that I wrote, which Huge then wrote music for. For these last few, we changed the way we worked.
The initial spark came from my friend for these songs. He had the germ of the idea, and then we adopted the method Mick Jagger and Keith Richard used when they wrote together. Huge played the riff over and over, while grunting and making primordial noises in the back of his throat. I stood with pen and paper and translated these sounds into English, just like Mick used to do with Keith. For every record I ever made, my operating slogan was always, “If it’s good enough for The Stones, it’s good enough for us”, which is why every track we ever recorded was done live in the studio, with everyone playing in the same room at the same time.
The Stones’ method worked for us. We came up with the best material and recordings we had ever done! The new disc has now been in my new car player for a few weeks. I’ve listened to it about a hundred times or more, and certain realizations and memories have surfaced that have come to mean a lot to me.
The first thing I found interesting, is how the words, most of which I wrote, now seem to be Eugene’s words that are speaking to me from beyond this world. It’s amazing to me that lyrics I wrote fifteen years ago, are now what I believe Huge would be saying to me today, if he could speak, and maybe he is! They are just perfectly applicable to the changes that have occurred in my life in the past 7 years, as advice from The Huge! It’s funny how that stuff works. Things turn around and become something other than what they started out as.
The other thing that I began remembering, as I listened, was our method for recording drums and guitars, which was, I was in charge of his guitar sound, and he was in charge of my drum sound! We would never tell each other what to play, but more like suggest a tone, a style, or a feel, for the other to latch onto. I might tell him to make it sound like Keith, or he might tell me to play on my floor tom instead of the ride cymbal, and then we would both do it! And then in the mixdown, he would do my drums, and I would do his guitar, of course, with help from the other, but essentially, we were in charge of each other’s sound!
Remembering this was very touching to me, because it reminded me of how much we trusted each other musically, enough to control the other’s sound, and never have to worry about it. It’s just a cool way to work, that we didn’t plan. It just evolved and turned out that way naturally, and now the lyrics have done the same thing, in a sense.
I never get tired of listening to these songs, and hearing to them now is a great way to honor and remember my friend, which I will probably keep doing all month and beyond, as a way to commemorate his life!
I’d like to end my remembrance of Eugene with a little story. When The Stones, (both of our favorite band for many years), were on The Voodoo Lounge Tour, I had kind of gone off The Stones, who weren’t really making the most vital music of their careers at that point. I was going to skip the whole tour, but the day before the last show at Giants Stadium, somebody gave me two tenth row tickets, so, of course, I went.
It was threatening to rain that night, so, since it was an outdoor show, I brought a small umbrella with me, and it did rain, torrentially! However, I was able to keep dry with my bumbershoot. I didn’t know, at the time, whether the music was really hot that night, or it was just so much fun watching The Stones get totally drenched, while I stayed dry as a bone, but they sounded awesome!
Now Huge had already seen the show, and he told me it sucked, and we argued about this for months, until I read an interview with Keith Richards, where he talked about the tour, saying that the entire tour was horrible, except, for one night in New York, when it rained!!! Stop! You’re both right!
RIP Huge. I’ll see you on the other side.
Now for this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, October 24 – BUDDY GUY, now an elder statesman of The Blues, and at the peak of his career, stops by BB King’s in Manhattan. This is gonna be great, and I wish I could be there, but I probably won’t be able to make it, and as I write this, I am remembering that it was Huge who turned me back onto Buddy Guy at the same time we recorded the previously mentioned songs, just as Buddy was coming out with some of the best material he had ever done!
Also tonight, Americana darlings, THE OLD 97’S are at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with Old 97s’ front man, RHETT MILLER, as the opening act. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, open for myself!
Thursday, October 25 – The only games in town tonight are, if you’re in the city, new Hudson Valley resident, JESSY CAROLINA AND THE HOT MESS at The Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Brooklyn. And if you’re up around Woodstock, you gotta go see MOONALICE at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. As I mentioned last week, these guys stream every show live and create a poster in the San Francisco style for every show they do. They also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was Jerry Garcia’s main guy for 27 years, and should have some cool stories to tell. And the musicians, Pete Sears, Barry Sless, and John Molo, are the cream of the crop of San Francisco musicians, veterans of Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby and The Range, Hot Tuna, David Nelson Band, John Fogerty, and many others. I guess we’re going to have to make this the Pick of the Week! There may be others.
Friday, October 26 – Tonight we’ve got TREY ANASTASIO at The Beacon Theater, former Grateful Dead vocalist, DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX, at The Iridium, THE JACK GRACE BAND at The Rodeo Bar, and the former Jerry Garcia Band, now known as JGB, starting a two day run at The Brooklyn Bowl, but the main event tonight is SOCIAL DISTORTION, one of my top two bands working today, at Roseland Ballroom, which is my second Pick of the Week. All of tonight’s shows are in the city.
Saturday, October 27 – JGB finishes their turn at The Brooklyn Bowl, the inimitable and always creative GRACE JONES is at Roseland, THE GENIUS OF JOHN COLTRANE at Jazz at Lincoln Center, all in the city, and up in the Hudson Valley, former (and hopefully future) Phil and Friends guitarist, JACKIE GREENE is at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and THE WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL LUTHIER’S SHOWCASE kicks off a two day weekend at The Bearsville Theater.
Sunday, October 28 – MOONALICE brings their show to The Brooklyn Bowl, BLUE OYSTER CULT to Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and SOCIAL DISTORTION venture upstate to The Chance, and we’ll make this one a Pick of the Week too.
Not much going on Monday and Tuesday. I guess everybody will be working on their costumes for Halloween.
And on Halloween, which falls on a Wednesday this year, your choices are JACKIE GREENE at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Alt-Country rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, at the Bowery Ballroom, and CONNOR KENNEDY BAND at The Bearsville Theater, performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band. Should be a good party!
Wrapping up the week are DOCTOR JOHN with THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and former Talking Heads’ members, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth, with their band, TOM TOM CLUB, at The Brooklyn Bowl. These guys are good, so let’s end the week by making this the third Pick of the Week!
I hope you’re enjoying these lovely Autumn days we’ve been experiencing. Have a great week!
Shortly after “Huge” passed on, a friend gave me a CD of the last songs we wrote and recorded together, one of which won a certificate of achievement in the Billboard Song Contest. The CD never left my car player, and, in fact, it’s still there, because my car burned up last April. I managed to save the CD player with discs intact, but I hadn’t gotten around to taking it apart yet to remove the discs, so, when another friend gave me a new copy, I was very happy to relive it again. As I drove around listening over and over, I realized that the anniversary of his death was upon us, and started thinking about the way we wrote and recorded those songs. Most of the songs we wrote together started with lyrics that I wrote, which Huge then wrote music for. For these last few, we changed the way we worked.
The initial spark came from my friend for these songs. He had the germ of the idea, and then we adopted the method Mick Jagger and Keith Richard used when they wrote together. Huge played the riff over and over, while grunting and making primordial noises in the back of his throat. I stood with pen and paper and translated these sounds into English, just like Mick used to do with Keith. For every record I ever made, my operating slogan was always, “If it’s good enough for The Stones, it’s good enough for us”, which is why every track we ever recorded was done live in the studio, with everyone playing in the same room at the same time.
The Stones’ method worked for us. We came up with the best material and recordings we had ever done! The new disc has now been in my new car player for a few weeks. I’ve listened to it about a hundred times or more, and certain realizations and memories have surfaced that have come to mean a lot to me.
The first thing I found interesting, is how the words, most of which I wrote, now seem to be Eugene’s words that are speaking to me from beyond this world. It’s amazing to me that lyrics I wrote fifteen years ago, are now what I believe Huge would be saying to me today, if he could speak, and maybe he is! They are just perfectly applicable to the changes that have occurred in my life in the past 7 years, as advice from The Huge! It’s funny how that stuff works. Things turn around and become something other than what they started out as.
The other thing that I began remembering, as I listened, was our method for recording drums and guitars, which was, I was in charge of his guitar sound, and he was in charge of my drum sound! We would never tell each other what to play, but more like suggest a tone, a style, or a feel, for the other to latch onto. I might tell him to make it sound like Keith, or he might tell me to play on my floor tom instead of the ride cymbal, and then we would both do it! And then in the mixdown, he would do my drums, and I would do his guitar, of course, with help from the other, but essentially, we were in charge of each other’s sound!
Remembering this was very touching to me, because it reminded me of how much we trusted each other musically, enough to control the other’s sound, and never have to worry about it. It’s just a cool way to work, that we didn’t plan. It just evolved and turned out that way naturally, and now the lyrics have done the same thing, in a sense.
I never get tired of listening to these songs, and hearing to them now is a great way to honor and remember my friend, which I will probably keep doing all month and beyond, as a way to commemorate his life!
I’d like to end my remembrance of Eugene with a little story. When The Stones, (both of our favorite band for many years), were on The Voodoo Lounge Tour, I had kind of gone off The Stones, who weren’t really making the most vital music of their careers at that point. I was going to skip the whole tour, but the day before the last show at Giants Stadium, somebody gave me two tenth row tickets, so, of course, I went.
It was threatening to rain that night, so, since it was an outdoor show, I brought a small umbrella with me, and it did rain, torrentially! However, I was able to keep dry with my bumbershoot. I didn’t know, at the time, whether the music was really hot that night, or it was just so much fun watching The Stones get totally drenched, while I stayed dry as a bone, but they sounded awesome!
Now Huge had already seen the show, and he told me it sucked, and we argued about this for months, until I read an interview with Keith Richards, where he talked about the tour, saying that the entire tour was horrible, except, for one night in New York, when it rained!!! Stop! You’re both right!
RIP Huge. I’ll see you on the other side.
Now for this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, October 24 – BUDDY GUY, now an elder statesman of The Blues, and at the peak of his career, stops by BB King’s in Manhattan. This is gonna be great, and I wish I could be there, but I probably won’t be able to make it, and as I write this, I am remembering that it was Huge who turned me back onto Buddy Guy at the same time we recorded the previously mentioned songs, just as Buddy was coming out with some of the best material he had ever done!
Also tonight, Americana darlings, THE OLD 97’S are at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with Old 97s’ front man, RHETT MILLER, as the opening act. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, open for myself!
Thursday, October 25 – The only games in town tonight are, if you’re in the city, new Hudson Valley resident, JESSY CAROLINA AND THE HOT MESS at The Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Brooklyn. And if you’re up around Woodstock, you gotta go see MOONALICE at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. As I mentioned last week, these guys stream every show live and create a poster in the San Francisco style for every show they do. They also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was Jerry Garcia’s main guy for 27 years, and should have some cool stories to tell. And the musicians, Pete Sears, Barry Sless, and John Molo, are the cream of the crop of San Francisco musicians, veterans of Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby and The Range, Hot Tuna, David Nelson Band, John Fogerty, and many others. I guess we’re going to have to make this the Pick of the Week! There may be others.
Friday, October 26 – Tonight we’ve got TREY ANASTASIO at The Beacon Theater, former Grateful Dead vocalist, DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX, at The Iridium, THE JACK GRACE BAND at The Rodeo Bar, and the former Jerry Garcia Band, now known as JGB, starting a two day run at The Brooklyn Bowl, but the main event tonight is SOCIAL DISTORTION, one of my top two bands working today, at Roseland Ballroom, which is my second Pick of the Week. All of tonight’s shows are in the city.
Saturday, October 27 – JGB finishes their turn at The Brooklyn Bowl, the inimitable and always creative GRACE JONES is at Roseland, THE GENIUS OF JOHN COLTRANE at Jazz at Lincoln Center, all in the city, and up in the Hudson Valley, former (and hopefully future) Phil and Friends guitarist, JACKIE GREENE is at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and THE WOODSTOCK INVITATIONAL LUTHIER’S SHOWCASE kicks off a two day weekend at The Bearsville Theater.
Sunday, October 28 – MOONALICE brings their show to The Brooklyn Bowl, BLUE OYSTER CULT to Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and SOCIAL DISTORTION venture upstate to The Chance, and we’ll make this one a Pick of the Week too.
Not much going on Monday and Tuesday. I guess everybody will be working on their costumes for Halloween.
And on Halloween, which falls on a Wednesday this year, your choices are JACKIE GREENE at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Alt-Country rockers, RECKLESS KELLY, at the Bowery Ballroom, and CONNOR KENNEDY BAND at The Bearsville Theater, performing the music of The Allman Brothers Band. Should be a good party!
Wrapping up the week are DOCTOR JOHN with THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at The Palace Theater in Albany, and former Talking Heads’ members, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth, with their band, TOM TOM CLUB, at The Brooklyn Bowl. These guys are good, so let’s end the week by making this the third Pick of the Week!
I hope you’re enjoying these lovely Autumn days we’ve been experiencing. Have a great week!