- Published on
Howdy y’all! Last week I was remiss in my duties. A very important show flew under my radar. Even though I knew about it and had been looking forward to it for weeks, I forgot to recommend it in this column. The show in question was Python Soup at The Bearsville Theater. A supergroup of sorts, Python Soup is nonetheless a showcase for the percussive talents of drummer Simon Phillips. That said, I would be doubly remiss if I didn’t say that the great Don Byron was mind blowing on clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophone, and Scott Petito anchored the entire shebang beautifully on stand up and electric bass. David Spinozza threw in some tasty licks on guitar, and Pete Levin layered the music with lovely keyboard work. But, for me, as a drummer, and even for the non-drummers in attendance, it was mostly about the unbelievable stick work of Phillips! The man is simply and definitely one of the greatest drummers in the world today!
Simon Phillips first came to my attention as the drummer on the great “801 Live” album, recorded with Brian Eno and Phil Manzanara. The album opens with a cover of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which they abbreviated to “TNK”. It is an almost entirely different song, although still very recognizable. The beat that Phillips laid down for this song is truly remarkable, and I never get tired of listening to it! That opening track opened my eyes to the talents of Simon Phillips and put him on the map as one of the premier top level drummers in the world! Take a listen to it. It’s amazing, and stands with The Beatles version as an equal!
I didn’t know at the time, but this was Phillips first credited appearance on record. I was probably familiar with his name as a session musician, so didn’t realize that this was actually his debut! And what a debut it was! After that, Phillips went on to play with a who’s who of A list musicians, including all of Pete Townsend’s solo work, Jeff Beck, The Who, David Gilmour, and many others. When Toto drummer, Jeff Porcaro, died suddenly as the band was preparing to go on tour, Phillips was the only drummer they considered to replace Porcaro, and went so far as to say that if Simon couldn’t do it, they would not tour!
So, I stood right behind the drums and hung on every note! Phillips’ playing is so inventive, creative, complex, and powerful, that my attention was riveted for the entire evening! I loved to watch as Phillips easily switched between leading with his right hand and his left, not an easy feat for a drummer, and one that very few drummers can do successfully! And what a sweet man! This was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time, and certainly the most musical. The only thing that compared, recently, was The Grandmothers of Invention, who I also heartily recommend!
Simon Phillips, drummer extraordinaire! Don Byron, master of eclectic horns! Scott Petito, rock solid anchor! David Spinozza, (who by the way, has recorded with John Lennon AND Paul McCartney, AND Paul Simon, AND Dr. John, and, and, and… just about everyone), tasty fretmaster! And Pete Levin, fillin’ in the space on keys! Like I said, a supergroup! Catch ‘em if you can! Python Soup!
Then Friday rolled around, and it was time for my own band, The Cheating Hearts, to play some alt-erd Country and Rock & Roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston. They came, we played, we rocked, and a splendid time was had by all! Any venues desiring this style of music, we’re available! Contact me at Reservoir Music.
I just surfed over to The Rolling Stones website to give a listen to their new single, “Doom and Gloom”, and I have to say, it’s probably the best thing they’ve done in a dog’s age! The song is a rockin’ riff machine that references images from their best work in the 60’s and 70’s! While there, I also found out that a new documentary is about to be released. Titled “Crossfire Hurricane”, it chronicles the first 50 years of the band’s career. The trailer is on the website, and it looked really cool! Look for it soon at your neighborhood theaters. And in more Stones’ news, The Museum of Modern Art is planning a 50 year Stones’ retrospective that will run from November 15th through December 2nd, featuring all of the well known Stones’ cinematic endeavors, but also some lesser known and rarely seen films like 1965’s “Charlie is my Darling” and 1969’s “The Stones in the Park”, featuring footage from their live Hyde park concert that year! The website is a great resource and all of the details about this and everything else Rolling Stones are to be found there. Stop by for a visit and check out the new single. www.rollingstones.com.
By the time this column appears, I will have done my third appearance on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show, broadcast over 91.3, WIOX FM, and also online at www.wioxradio.org. This is really turning into a fun gig for me, and I hope you’ll tune in, log on, or stream it to your phone, Ipod, or whatever you’ve got. It’s every other Monday at around 8:30 PM. Next show will be October 29.
Well, I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. Let’s get to the live music picks.
Wednesday, October 17 – We start the week, not exactly with a bang, but not quite a wimper either, although you may feel like wimpering if ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON get their hands on you during their show at Hammerstein Ballroom! It’s a well worn cliché, but I’ll bet ol’ Oscar is spinning six feet under, with these two playing in his house! On a blusier note, guitarslingers JOHNNY WINTER and DEBBIE DAVIES are at BB King’s. Both shows in Manhattan.
Thursday, October 18 – WYCLEF JEAN at City Winery, and NEW ORDER at Roseland Ballroom, Manhattan.
Friday, October 19 – She’s mysterious. She’s talented. She’s beautiful. She’s FIONA APPLE, and her new album, “The Idler Wheel…” has received excellent reviews. I’ve been looking forward to this for months. At The Palace Theater, Albany, and my Pick of the Week!
Also upstate, JOHNNY WINTER at The Towne Crier in Pauling, and the original Brooklyn Cowboy, RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOTT, rides into The Rosendale Café, where my second Pick of the Week will reside! Ramblin’ Jack’s getting’ old and he’s a legend. Catch him while you can!
In Manhattan, CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH conclude their four day run at The Beacon Theater, Saturday actually. Tonight’s show is the third of four. And the always amazing PRIMUS are at Hammerstein Ballroom!
Saturday, October 20 – I don’t love THE SMITHEREENS, but I do like them, and I like a lot of their songs a lot! They’re kind of a great band, and for Woodstock, this is a great show, and my third Pick of the Week! With the great surf band, Purple Knif opening. Get there on time! And if you couldn’t make it to RAMBLIN’ JACK at The Rosendale Café because you were up in Albany at Fiona Apple, well, you’ve got another chance tonight at The Ritz Theater lobby in Newburgh.
Sunday, October 21 – Pre-pubescent guitarist, JONNY LANG, has grown up, and he’s now a real live bluesman! At BB King’s with old school fabulous soul singer, RYAN SHAW, who’s more interesting to me than Lang, although both will be great, so don’t be late!
There was an ego driven band ten or fifteen years ago called THE DARKNESS, that people liked to make fun of at the time. However, as a contrarian, I thought they were pretty good, if you didn’t take them too seriously. At Terminal 5. Both tonight’s shows are in Manhattan.
Monday, October 22 – ALANIS MORISSETTE has also grown up, and I always thought her hit song, “You Oughta Know” was great! She HAS sold over 60 million records, so she must be doing something right! She could be playing The Garden or The Beacon, but she’s playing the relatively intimate Terminal 5 in Manhattan, as a gift to her fans.
Tuesday, October 23 – I haven’t heard any of CAT POWER’s music, but I find her very intriguing! She’s recorded with Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Marianne Faithfull, and members of Sonic Youth. She also did an album of soul music in Memphis, which gets my immediate respect! And most interesting of all, she wrote all of the songs for her 1998 release, “Moon Pix”, in one night after having a nightmare while alone in an isolated South Carolina farmhouse! The thought gives me chills! Southern Gothic indeed!
BUDDY GUY is riding high and should be in top form for his show at BB King’s in Manhattan! And Alt-Country band OLD 97’s are at Webster Hall in Manhattan with lead singer and frontman, RHETT MILLER, who I believe is a local resident, opening solo for his band!
Wednesday, October 24 – OLD 97’s and RHETT MILLER reprise their show from Webster Hall at The Music Hall of Williamsburgh in Brooklyn.
Thursday, October 25 – Two great shows tonight to close out the week, or to start the new week, if you prefer. At The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, San Francisco band, MOONALICE, will be jamming until late, with PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CHROMATICS opening. Moonalice is on the cutting edge of modern music technology, streaming every single concert live on the web. They also often tour with poster artists and poster art shows, and tonight will be no exception! The band will bring an original San Francisco Fillmore poster art show with them to Bearsville, and they also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was a roadie for The Grateful Dead, and Jerry Garcia’s personal guy, for several decades, basically throughout The Dead’s entire career! I believe Steve will have some cool stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again after, oh, about 20 years! Seems like yesterday! Oh yeah, and the musicians have been culled from the cream of SF players, and include Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver, Hot Tuna, Jerry Garcia, Rod Stewart), Barry Sless (David Nelson Band, Phil and Friends, Kingfish, Rowan Brothers), and John Molo (Phil and Friends, John Fogerty, Bruce Hornsby)! www.moonaliceband.com. Might as well make this the last Pick of the Week!
And down in Brooklyn, new local resident, JESSY CAROLINA, and her band, THE HOT MESS, will be at the new premier beer garden, Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Williamsburgh, which I’ve heard is a great place. Jessy and her boys are all about old time music. You won’t hear no Rock & Roll tonight folks, but it will rock, and it will be great! If you’re in the city, go!
Wow! This is shaping up to be an awesome week! Take advantage of it and go hear some live music!
Simon Phillips first came to my attention as the drummer on the great “801 Live” album, recorded with Brian Eno and Phil Manzanara. The album opens with a cover of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which they abbreviated to “TNK”. It is an almost entirely different song, although still very recognizable. The beat that Phillips laid down for this song is truly remarkable, and I never get tired of listening to it! That opening track opened my eyes to the talents of Simon Phillips and put him on the map as one of the premier top level drummers in the world! Take a listen to it. It’s amazing, and stands with The Beatles version as an equal!
I didn’t know at the time, but this was Phillips first credited appearance on record. I was probably familiar with his name as a session musician, so didn’t realize that this was actually his debut! And what a debut it was! After that, Phillips went on to play with a who’s who of A list musicians, including all of Pete Townsend’s solo work, Jeff Beck, The Who, David Gilmour, and many others. When Toto drummer, Jeff Porcaro, died suddenly as the band was preparing to go on tour, Phillips was the only drummer they considered to replace Porcaro, and went so far as to say that if Simon couldn’t do it, they would not tour!
So, I stood right behind the drums and hung on every note! Phillips’ playing is so inventive, creative, complex, and powerful, that my attention was riveted for the entire evening! I loved to watch as Phillips easily switched between leading with his right hand and his left, not an easy feat for a drummer, and one that very few drummers can do successfully! And what a sweet man! This was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time, and certainly the most musical. The only thing that compared, recently, was The Grandmothers of Invention, who I also heartily recommend!
Simon Phillips, drummer extraordinaire! Don Byron, master of eclectic horns! Scott Petito, rock solid anchor! David Spinozza, (who by the way, has recorded with John Lennon AND Paul McCartney, AND Paul Simon, AND Dr. John, and, and, and… just about everyone), tasty fretmaster! And Pete Levin, fillin’ in the space on keys! Like I said, a supergroup! Catch ‘em if you can! Python Soup!
Then Friday rolled around, and it was time for my own band, The Cheating Hearts, to play some alt-erd Country and Rock & Roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston. They came, we played, we rocked, and a splendid time was had by all! Any venues desiring this style of music, we’re available! Contact me at Reservoir Music.
I just surfed over to The Rolling Stones website to give a listen to their new single, “Doom and Gloom”, and I have to say, it’s probably the best thing they’ve done in a dog’s age! The song is a rockin’ riff machine that references images from their best work in the 60’s and 70’s! While there, I also found out that a new documentary is about to be released. Titled “Crossfire Hurricane”, it chronicles the first 50 years of the band’s career. The trailer is on the website, and it looked really cool! Look for it soon at your neighborhood theaters. And in more Stones’ news, The Museum of Modern Art is planning a 50 year Stones’ retrospective that will run from November 15th through December 2nd, featuring all of the well known Stones’ cinematic endeavors, but also some lesser known and rarely seen films like 1965’s “Charlie is my Darling” and 1969’s “The Stones in the Park”, featuring footage from their live Hyde park concert that year! The website is a great resource and all of the details about this and everything else Rolling Stones are to be found there. Stop by for a visit and check out the new single. www.rollingstones.com.
By the time this column appears, I will have done my third appearance on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show, broadcast over 91.3, WIOX FM, and also online at www.wioxradio.org. This is really turning into a fun gig for me, and I hope you’ll tune in, log on, or stream it to your phone, Ipod, or whatever you’ve got. It’s every other Monday at around 8:30 PM. Next show will be October 29.
Well, I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. Let’s get to the live music picks.
Wednesday, October 17 – We start the week, not exactly with a bang, but not quite a wimper either, although you may feel like wimpering if ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON get their hands on you during their show at Hammerstein Ballroom! It’s a well worn cliché, but I’ll bet ol’ Oscar is spinning six feet under, with these two playing in his house! On a blusier note, guitarslingers JOHNNY WINTER and DEBBIE DAVIES are at BB King’s. Both shows in Manhattan.
Thursday, October 18 – WYCLEF JEAN at City Winery, and NEW ORDER at Roseland Ballroom, Manhattan.
Friday, October 19 – She’s mysterious. She’s talented. She’s beautiful. She’s FIONA APPLE, and her new album, “The Idler Wheel…” has received excellent reviews. I’ve been looking forward to this for months. At The Palace Theater, Albany, and my Pick of the Week!
Also upstate, JOHNNY WINTER at The Towne Crier in Pauling, and the original Brooklyn Cowboy, RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOTT, rides into The Rosendale Café, where my second Pick of the Week will reside! Ramblin’ Jack’s getting’ old and he’s a legend. Catch him while you can!
In Manhattan, CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH conclude their four day run at The Beacon Theater, Saturday actually. Tonight’s show is the third of four. And the always amazing PRIMUS are at Hammerstein Ballroom!
Saturday, October 20 – I don’t love THE SMITHEREENS, but I do like them, and I like a lot of their songs a lot! They’re kind of a great band, and for Woodstock, this is a great show, and my third Pick of the Week! With the great surf band, Purple Knif opening. Get there on time! And if you couldn’t make it to RAMBLIN’ JACK at The Rosendale Café because you were up in Albany at Fiona Apple, well, you’ve got another chance tonight at The Ritz Theater lobby in Newburgh.
Sunday, October 21 – Pre-pubescent guitarist, JONNY LANG, has grown up, and he’s now a real live bluesman! At BB King’s with old school fabulous soul singer, RYAN SHAW, who’s more interesting to me than Lang, although both will be great, so don’t be late!
There was an ego driven band ten or fifteen years ago called THE DARKNESS, that people liked to make fun of at the time. However, as a contrarian, I thought they were pretty good, if you didn’t take them too seriously. At Terminal 5. Both tonight’s shows are in Manhattan.
Monday, October 22 – ALANIS MORISSETTE has also grown up, and I always thought her hit song, “You Oughta Know” was great! She HAS sold over 60 million records, so she must be doing something right! She could be playing The Garden or The Beacon, but she’s playing the relatively intimate Terminal 5 in Manhattan, as a gift to her fans.
Tuesday, October 23 – I haven’t heard any of CAT POWER’s music, but I find her very intriguing! She’s recorded with Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Marianne Faithfull, and members of Sonic Youth. She also did an album of soul music in Memphis, which gets my immediate respect! And most interesting of all, she wrote all of the songs for her 1998 release, “Moon Pix”, in one night after having a nightmare while alone in an isolated South Carolina farmhouse! The thought gives me chills! Southern Gothic indeed!
BUDDY GUY is riding high and should be in top form for his show at BB King’s in Manhattan! And Alt-Country band OLD 97’s are at Webster Hall in Manhattan with lead singer and frontman, RHETT MILLER, who I believe is a local resident, opening solo for his band!
Wednesday, October 24 – OLD 97’s and RHETT MILLER reprise their show from Webster Hall at The Music Hall of Williamsburgh in Brooklyn.
Thursday, October 25 – Two great shows tonight to close out the week, or to start the new week, if you prefer. At The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, San Francisco band, MOONALICE, will be jamming until late, with PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CHROMATICS opening. Moonalice is on the cutting edge of modern music technology, streaming every single concert live on the web. They also often tour with poster artists and poster art shows, and tonight will be no exception! The band will bring an original San Francisco Fillmore poster art show with them to Bearsville, and they also tour with Big Steve Parish, who was a roadie for The Grateful Dead, and Jerry Garcia’s personal guy, for several decades, basically throughout The Dead’s entire career! I believe Steve will have some cool stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again after, oh, about 20 years! Seems like yesterday! Oh yeah, and the musicians have been culled from the cream of SF players, and include Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver, Hot Tuna, Jerry Garcia, Rod Stewart), Barry Sless (David Nelson Band, Phil and Friends, Kingfish, Rowan Brothers), and John Molo (Phil and Friends, John Fogerty, Bruce Hornsby)! www.moonaliceband.com. Might as well make this the last Pick of the Week!
And down in Brooklyn, new local resident, JESSY CAROLINA, and her band, THE HOT MESS, will be at the new premier beer garden, Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Williamsburgh, which I’ve heard is a great place. Jessy and her boys are all about old time music. You won’t hear no Rock & Roll tonight folks, but it will rock, and it will be great! If you’re in the city, go!
Wow! This is shaping up to be an awesome week! Take advantage of it and go hear some live music!
- Published on
Greetings! What a week it’s been! It started last Sunday with Steve Earle at The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, then the Love For Levon concert, Wednesday, at the IZOD Center, and just managed to make it to Blackberry Smoke at Irving Plaza, before collapsing in a heap at 8 o’clock in the morning yesterday! I think I need another day to recover!
All of these shows were just fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable! Steve Earle proved, once again, that he is a fully developed, well rounded artist, a renaissance man really! He does everything, he plays everything, and he’s done just about every style of music there is, even hip hop, at his first Bearsville Theater show a few years ago! Steve’s done rock and roll, bluegrass, and country, but at The Bardavon last week, he showcased his singer/ songwriter skills, just standing up and delivering one great song after the next, in a very simple, yet captivating style. Almost all of your favorites were there – “City of Immigrants”, “Guitar Town”, “Copperhead Road”, “Devil’s Right Hand”, “My Old Friend The Blues”, and so many more. He is the penultimate singer/songwriter, and singer/ songwriters everywhere should take note of this man to see how it’s done! My thanks to Lucy Edgcomb and Chris Silva at The Bardavon for their gracious hospitality in making this show possible.
Two quick days to recover, then down to the IZOD Center for the highlight of the week, the Love for Levon concert. This was such a special event! I wish you all could have been there. The vibe was pure love, and Levon’s spirit was everywhere! With all the huge stars in attendance, all egos were subjugated to the vibe, which really was love for Levon. Was there ever a more loved man on this planet than Levon? I doubt it! Here are some of the highlights. And check out the exclusive backstage photographs below!
John Prine delivered an amazing “When I Paint my Masterpiece” in his own inimitable style. When he left the stage, Garth Hudson grabbed John and shook his hand, and you couldn’t help notice that Garth and Prine seem like kindred spirits and two of a kind, two weird geniuses who appreciate each others artistry!
Then Jakob Dylan took the stage for a rockin’ “Ain’t Got a Home”, with the great Kenny Aronoff providing an unfailing backbeat on drums, later to be joined by Steve Jordan, the drummer of choice for Keith Richards! Kenny Aronoff AND Steve Jordan, playing together on one stage? Drum heaven! And it was very touching to see Jakob show up for Levon.
Larry Campbell introduced Lucinda Williams as “the very soulful Lucinda Williams”, and, boy, was she! Then Grace Potter turned a slow and haunting “I Shall Be Released” into a tour de force, showing off her powerful voice and Hammond organ skills. Grace is one of the best artists out there, and probably destined for super stardom. She is just amazing!
Garth reprised his “Chest Fever” intro on the Hammond, albeit a shorter version than the twenty minute intros he used to do with The Band, but that is something Garth has not done in recent memory!
Then the audience was privileged to hear Eric Church, who has one of the great Southern voices, kind of like Levon himself! Eric was a new discovery for me, and a most welcome one at that! I will definitely be checking him out, and you should too!
Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph were up next for “Up on Cripple Creek”. Joe’s incredible solo showed everyone why The Eagles snatched him up when they did!
Then it was Midnight Ramble veterans and huge Levon fans, My Morning Jacket, who’d already done a tribute to Levon at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. They opened with “Ophelia”, then right into “It Makes No Difference”, with a wailing sax solo from The Levon Helm Band’s Erik Lawrence, and finally closing their set with “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” with Roger Waters and G.E. Smith on guitar!
The finale, as always, was “The Weight”, with everyone up on the stage to take turns singing the verses. Garth was on piano, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, and Larry Campbell on acoustic guitars, Warren Haynes, Jorma, John Mayer, Joe Walsh, G.E. Smith, and members of My Morning Jacket on electric guitars, Don Was and Byron Isaacs on stand up and electric bass, Kenny Aronoff and Justin from The Levon Helm band on drums, Steve Jordan on tambourine, solos by Garth and Robert Randolph, The Levon Helm Band’s horn section, verses of the song alternately sung by Amy Helm, Mavis Staples, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, Dierks Bentley, and Eric Church, and Lucinda Williams, Grace Potter, Teresa Williams, Ray LaMontagne, Marc Cohen, Patty Griffin, Alan Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, John Prine, David Bromberg, and Bruce Hornsby on background vocals! Wow!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great job The members of The Levon Helm Band did as the house band backing up everybody, and Larry Campbell and Don Was, who served as co-musical directors. Don also played stand up bass for most of the night, and what a night it was! If you weren’t there, you missed a great night to remember and cherish forever!
I saw cameras filming the whole night, so there may be a DVD in the works! For now, you can see a clip of the finale at www.levonhelm.com. I’m hoping to get a complete set list for the show, and if I do, I will post it with the blog, Tuesday night, on reservoirmusic.com, brooklyncowboys.com, and hvmusic.com. (Still waiting for the set list).
With the last bit of energy I had, I drove to the city Friday night to see my favorite new band, Blackberry Smoke, and they did not disappoint. High energy Southern Rock n Roll is what these guys do, and they rocked the house! Judging by the enthusiasm and size of the audience, in New York City of all places, not to mention the playing and songwriting skills of this young band, I predict huge success for Blackberry Smoke! Check out their song, “I Can Feel a Good One Comin’ On”. Instant classic and radio hit! My thanks to David McTiernan from Shore Fire Media for arranging our credentials for this show. I felt a good one comin’ on, and I was absolutely right!
Before we get to this week’s live music picks, I want to hip you to an unbelievable annual free festival that happens in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park every year about this time. It’s called the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and you can check out this year’s line up here – www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco venture capitalist, Warren Hellman, the festival has been held every year for the past twelve years. It is a completely free festival! There are no tickets, and the line up is about the best I’ve ever seen anywhere! There are no sponsors, no advertisements, and the entire event is subsidized by Hellman, who has endowed the event to continue without sponsorship for at least fifteen years past his death. Major corporations have repeatedly offered to underwrite this thing, but Hellman has always refused, preferring to keep it entirely free and non-commercial! This event draws more people than the entire population of San Francisco! Over a million people were expected to show up this year! This is something worth traveling to. Plan your vacations now for the first weekend in October, 2013!
And now, for this week’s live music picks.
Thursday, October 11 – THE GO GO’S reunite for a show at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square.
Friday, October 12 – CHARLES BRADLEY, an old school soul singer who was just recently discovered by the folks at Daptone Records at the age of 61, will be appearing at The Bearsville Theater, along with a screening of the documentary film that was recently released about him. You should really visit www.bearsvilletheater.com for more about this fine young singer. It’s an amazing story! This is part of the WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL, which takes place all weekend at various venues around town. More info at
www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.
My own band, THE CHEATING HEARTS, will be layin’ down some alt-ered country and rock n roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston, starting around 9PM. The band features Jimmy Eppard, just James, Chuck Cornelis, and yours truly. Hope to see you there.
Saturday, October 13 – Upstate, it’s SLAM ALLEN, James Cotton’s former guitarist and vocalist, at The Rosendale Café. In the city, it’s PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At the Hammerstein Ballroom.
Sunday, October 14 – CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA at The Iridium in Manhattan. Cindy is Lenny Kravitz’s drummer and is married to Carlos Santana, so she’s got the pedigree. Definitely worth checking out!
Tuesday, October 16 – CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH start a four day run at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan. The second date this week is Wednesday, October 17, and the engagement concludes with two more shows next week. And the mysterious, beautiful, and ultra talented, FIONA APPLE starts her invasion of New York with a show at Manhattan’s Terminal 5. She’ll be at The Palace Theater in Albany next week.
Wednesday, October 17 – For all you death metal fans out there, ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON are at The Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan tonight.
I just want to leave you with this year’s nominees for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can find them at www.rollingstone.com, and for the first time ever, fans will be able to vote for their choices on the Rolling Stone website. Check it and see.
Have a great week.
All of these shows were just fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable! Steve Earle proved, once again, that he is a fully developed, well rounded artist, a renaissance man really! He does everything, he plays everything, and he’s done just about every style of music there is, even hip hop, at his first Bearsville Theater show a few years ago! Steve’s done rock and roll, bluegrass, and country, but at The Bardavon last week, he showcased his singer/ songwriter skills, just standing up and delivering one great song after the next, in a very simple, yet captivating style. Almost all of your favorites were there – “City of Immigrants”, “Guitar Town”, “Copperhead Road”, “Devil’s Right Hand”, “My Old Friend The Blues”, and so many more. He is the penultimate singer/songwriter, and singer/ songwriters everywhere should take note of this man to see how it’s done! My thanks to Lucy Edgcomb and Chris Silva at The Bardavon for their gracious hospitality in making this show possible.
Two quick days to recover, then down to the IZOD Center for the highlight of the week, the Love for Levon concert. This was such a special event! I wish you all could have been there. The vibe was pure love, and Levon’s spirit was everywhere! With all the huge stars in attendance, all egos were subjugated to the vibe, which really was love for Levon. Was there ever a more loved man on this planet than Levon? I doubt it! Here are some of the highlights. And check out the exclusive backstage photographs below!
John Prine delivered an amazing “When I Paint my Masterpiece” in his own inimitable style. When he left the stage, Garth Hudson grabbed John and shook his hand, and you couldn’t help notice that Garth and Prine seem like kindred spirits and two of a kind, two weird geniuses who appreciate each others artistry!
Then Jakob Dylan took the stage for a rockin’ “Ain’t Got a Home”, with the great Kenny Aronoff providing an unfailing backbeat on drums, later to be joined by Steve Jordan, the drummer of choice for Keith Richards! Kenny Aronoff AND Steve Jordan, playing together on one stage? Drum heaven! And it was very touching to see Jakob show up for Levon.
Larry Campbell introduced Lucinda Williams as “the very soulful Lucinda Williams”, and, boy, was she! Then Grace Potter turned a slow and haunting “I Shall Be Released” into a tour de force, showing off her powerful voice and Hammond organ skills. Grace is one of the best artists out there, and probably destined for super stardom. She is just amazing!
Garth reprised his “Chest Fever” intro on the Hammond, albeit a shorter version than the twenty minute intros he used to do with The Band, but that is something Garth has not done in recent memory!
Then the audience was privileged to hear Eric Church, who has one of the great Southern voices, kind of like Levon himself! Eric was a new discovery for me, and a most welcome one at that! I will definitely be checking him out, and you should too!
Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph were up next for “Up on Cripple Creek”. Joe’s incredible solo showed everyone why The Eagles snatched him up when they did!
Then it was Midnight Ramble veterans and huge Levon fans, My Morning Jacket, who’d already done a tribute to Levon at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. They opened with “Ophelia”, then right into “It Makes No Difference”, with a wailing sax solo from The Levon Helm Band’s Erik Lawrence, and finally closing their set with “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” with Roger Waters and G.E. Smith on guitar!
The finale, as always, was “The Weight”, with everyone up on the stage to take turns singing the verses. Garth was on piano, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, and Larry Campbell on acoustic guitars, Warren Haynes, Jorma, John Mayer, Joe Walsh, G.E. Smith, and members of My Morning Jacket on electric guitars, Don Was and Byron Isaacs on stand up and electric bass, Kenny Aronoff and Justin from The Levon Helm band on drums, Steve Jordan on tambourine, solos by Garth and Robert Randolph, The Levon Helm Band’s horn section, verses of the song alternately sung by Amy Helm, Mavis Staples, Gregg Allman, Roger Waters, Dierks Bentley, and Eric Church, and Lucinda Williams, Grace Potter, Teresa Williams, Ray LaMontagne, Marc Cohen, Patty Griffin, Alan Toussaint, Jakob Dylan, John Prine, David Bromberg, and Bruce Hornsby on background vocals! Wow!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great job The members of The Levon Helm Band did as the house band backing up everybody, and Larry Campbell and Don Was, who served as co-musical directors. Don also played stand up bass for most of the night, and what a night it was! If you weren’t there, you missed a great night to remember and cherish forever!
I saw cameras filming the whole night, so there may be a DVD in the works! For now, you can see a clip of the finale at www.levonhelm.com. I’m hoping to get a complete set list for the show, and if I do, I will post it with the blog, Tuesday night, on reservoirmusic.com, brooklyncowboys.com, and hvmusic.com. (Still waiting for the set list).
With the last bit of energy I had, I drove to the city Friday night to see my favorite new band, Blackberry Smoke, and they did not disappoint. High energy Southern Rock n Roll is what these guys do, and they rocked the house! Judging by the enthusiasm and size of the audience, in New York City of all places, not to mention the playing and songwriting skills of this young band, I predict huge success for Blackberry Smoke! Check out their song, “I Can Feel a Good One Comin’ On”. Instant classic and radio hit! My thanks to David McTiernan from Shore Fire Media for arranging our credentials for this show. I felt a good one comin’ on, and I was absolutely right!
Before we get to this week’s live music picks, I want to hip you to an unbelievable annual free festival that happens in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park every year about this time. It’s called the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and you can check out this year’s line up here – www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco venture capitalist, Warren Hellman, the festival has been held every year for the past twelve years. It is a completely free festival! There are no tickets, and the line up is about the best I’ve ever seen anywhere! There are no sponsors, no advertisements, and the entire event is subsidized by Hellman, who has endowed the event to continue without sponsorship for at least fifteen years past his death. Major corporations have repeatedly offered to underwrite this thing, but Hellman has always refused, preferring to keep it entirely free and non-commercial! This event draws more people than the entire population of San Francisco! Over a million people were expected to show up this year! This is something worth traveling to. Plan your vacations now for the first weekend in October, 2013!
And now, for this week’s live music picks.
Thursday, October 11 – THE GO GO’S reunite for a show at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square.
Friday, October 12 – CHARLES BRADLEY, an old school soul singer who was just recently discovered by the folks at Daptone Records at the age of 61, will be appearing at The Bearsville Theater, along with a screening of the documentary film that was recently released about him. You should really visit www.bearsvilletheater.com for more about this fine young singer. It’s an amazing story! This is part of the WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL, which takes place all weekend at various venues around town. More info at
www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.
My own band, THE CHEATING HEARTS, will be layin’ down some alt-ered country and rock n roll at Keegan Ales in Kingston, starting around 9PM. The band features Jimmy Eppard, just James, Chuck Cornelis, and yours truly. Hope to see you there.
Saturday, October 13 – Upstate, it’s SLAM ALLEN, James Cotton’s former guitarist and vocalist, at The Rosendale Café. In the city, it’s PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At the Hammerstein Ballroom.
Sunday, October 14 – CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA at The Iridium in Manhattan. Cindy is Lenny Kravitz’s drummer and is married to Carlos Santana, so she’s got the pedigree. Definitely worth checking out!
Tuesday, October 16 – CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH start a four day run at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan. The second date this week is Wednesday, October 17, and the engagement concludes with two more shows next week. And the mysterious, beautiful, and ultra talented, FIONA APPLE starts her invasion of New York with a show at Manhattan’s Terminal 5. She’ll be at The Palace Theater in Albany next week.
Wednesday, October 17 – For all you death metal fans out there, ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON are at The Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan tonight.
I just want to leave you with this year’s nominees for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can find them at www.rollingstone.com, and for the first time ever, fans will be able to vote for their choices on the Rolling Stone website. Check it and see.
Have a great week.
- Published on
Garth Hudson
Levon's cake
Multi-instrumentalist and musical director Larry Campbell
Jakob Dylan and musical director, Don Was
Jakob Dylan
Roger Waters
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Walsh
John Hiatt
Drummer extraordinaire, Kenny Aronoff
My Morning Jacket
Ray LaMontagne
Saxophone player, Erik Lawrence, from The Levon Helm Band
All Photographs by Dianne Rinaldi
- Published on
Greetings! Certain events have conspired to prevent me from writing a complete column this week in time for my deadline at The Townsman. However, I may update for the web versions, which are posted every Wednesday at www.reservoirmusiccenter.com, www.hvmusic.com, and www.brooklyncowboys.com. No promises, but if I have the time, and inspiration strikes, then I will.
So, because of said events, let’s go straight to the live music picks.
Wednesday, October 3 – The biggest show of the week, or maybe the year, decade, century, is LOVE FOR LEVON, at the IZOD Center at The Meadowlands, New Jersey! Who’s NOT on this show? Roger Waters, Bruce Hornsby, Lucinda Williams, Larry Campbell and the rest of Levon’s band, oh, just go to www.loveforlevon.com and you can get the skinny straight from the source. This show could mean the difference in the fate of The Barn’s ownership and what goes on there, i.e whether or not Midnight Rambles continue for our enjoyment, so, if you can, go! The Barn should be declared a National Historic Place and make what’s been going on there for the past 10 years permanent!
Also tonight, another huge show, in a totally different vein, JAY-Z opens the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, where his basketball team will play next season. I know you think you hate Hip Hop and Rap, but I guarantee you I could sit down and play you a couple of hours of Hip Hop and Rap that you would dig, and Jay-Z is one of the most musically sophisticated Rap artists out there. I consider him to be the Frank Sinatra of the genre, and I don’t make that comparison lightly!
Also, up in Albany, the hilarious, cutting edge, satire of MARGARET CHO will have The Egg rockin’ with laughter.
Thursday, October 4 – Up and coming ALABAMA SHAKES, who’s lead singer, Brittany Howard, has been compared to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin, are at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
Friday, October 5 – This week’s Pick of the Week is my new favorite band, BLACKBERRY SMOKE, at Irving Plaza in Manhattan. Blackberry Smoke is a swirling mix of Southern Rock, Country, top notch songwriting, correct Rock & Roll imagery, and fantastic musicianship. I could listen to these guys anytime, and you should too! I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced, and lemme tell ya, I can feel a good one comin’ on! Blackberry Smoke, the best new band of the year, so far! Check ‘em out!
Also in the city tonight, THE RAVEONETTES at Webster Hall, awesome 80’s rockin’ R&B band WHITE TRASH at Bowery Electric, LEFTOVER SALMON at The Bowery Ballroom, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Great shows all, and highly recommended! Not a clunker among ‘em!
Up in the Hudson Valley, the dazzling JONNY MONSTER BAND returns to The Bearsville Theater, and today is the first day of the O+ FESTIVAL in Kingston, which continues through the weekend. More info at www.opositivefestival.org.
Saturday, October 6 – JOHN LENNON BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE at Bearsville Theater.
www.bearsvilletheater.com. Downstate, 80’s anti-hero, ADAM ANT, at Best Buy Theater, FAB FAUX AT The Beacon, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.
Sunday, October 7 – I almost made JOHNNY HALLYDAY at The Beacon Theater my second Pick of the Week, just because he’s a legend in France and has never toured here. This is his first American performance ever! And this guy is like Elvis in France. If I was anywhere near this show, I would go just out of curiosity, if nothing else, and who knows, he just might rock your socks off!
Tuesday, October 9 – Again, I almost made PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a Pick of the week. I mean, this is Johnny Rotten’s band and they haven’t toured in around 20 years, so if for no other reason, this is worth checking out for the spectacle of it all. I know I wanna go!
Gotta run to Steve Earle at The Bardavon now. See ya next week! Have a great one!
So, because of said events, let’s go straight to the live music picks.
Wednesday, October 3 – The biggest show of the week, or maybe the year, decade, century, is LOVE FOR LEVON, at the IZOD Center at The Meadowlands, New Jersey! Who’s NOT on this show? Roger Waters, Bruce Hornsby, Lucinda Williams, Larry Campbell and the rest of Levon’s band, oh, just go to www.loveforlevon.com and you can get the skinny straight from the source. This show could mean the difference in the fate of The Barn’s ownership and what goes on there, i.e whether or not Midnight Rambles continue for our enjoyment, so, if you can, go! The Barn should be declared a National Historic Place and make what’s been going on there for the past 10 years permanent!
Also tonight, another huge show, in a totally different vein, JAY-Z opens the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, where his basketball team will play next season. I know you think you hate Hip Hop and Rap, but I guarantee you I could sit down and play you a couple of hours of Hip Hop and Rap that you would dig, and Jay-Z is one of the most musically sophisticated Rap artists out there. I consider him to be the Frank Sinatra of the genre, and I don’t make that comparison lightly!
Also, up in Albany, the hilarious, cutting edge, satire of MARGARET CHO will have The Egg rockin’ with laughter.
Thursday, October 4 – Up and coming ALABAMA SHAKES, who’s lead singer, Brittany Howard, has been compared to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin, are at Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
Friday, October 5 – This week’s Pick of the Week is my new favorite band, BLACKBERRY SMOKE, at Irving Plaza in Manhattan. Blackberry Smoke is a swirling mix of Southern Rock, Country, top notch songwriting, correct Rock & Roll imagery, and fantastic musicianship. I could listen to these guys anytime, and you should too! I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced, and lemme tell ya, I can feel a good one comin’ on! Blackberry Smoke, the best new band of the year, so far! Check ‘em out!
Also in the city tonight, THE RAVEONETTES at Webster Hall, awesome 80’s rockin’ R&B band WHITE TRASH at Bowery Electric, LEFTOVER SALMON at The Bowery Ballroom, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Great shows all, and highly recommended! Not a clunker among ‘em!
Up in the Hudson Valley, the dazzling JONNY MONSTER BAND returns to The Bearsville Theater, and today is the first day of the O+ FESTIVAL in Kingston, which continues through the weekend. More info at www.opositivefestival.org.
Saturday, October 6 – JOHN LENNON BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE at Bearsville Theater.
www.bearsvilletheater.com. Downstate, 80’s anti-hero, ADAM ANT, at Best Buy Theater, FAB FAUX AT The Beacon, and LOS STRAITJACKETS at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.
Sunday, October 7 – I almost made JOHNNY HALLYDAY at The Beacon Theater my second Pick of the Week, just because he’s a legend in France and has never toured here. This is his first American performance ever! And this guy is like Elvis in France. If I was anywhere near this show, I would go just out of curiosity, if nothing else, and who knows, he just might rock your socks off!
Tuesday, October 9 – Again, I almost made PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. At The Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a Pick of the week. I mean, this is Johnny Rotten’s band and they haven’t toured in around 20 years, so if for no other reason, this is worth checking out for the spectacle of it all. I know I wanna go!
Gotta run to Steve Earle at The Bardavon now. See ya next week! Have a great one!
- Published on
Greetings! Well, it’s been a pretty uneventful week for me. I tried to go to the Rosendale Zombie Festival, but we got rained out, so I spent the night eating chili with my friend Jeff. Didn’t make it to any of the shows I recommended, but I hope to make up for it this week and next. We’ve got some great music coming your way!
But first, one of the 35 friends who told me they’d give or send me the Keith Richards autobiography, “Life”, finally did, and I just finished reading it. It’s a fabulous, fast, addicting (no pun intended), read, and I heartily recommend it! I discovered that Keith and I share some of his strange idiosyncrasies. Such as “only eating when I feel like it” and “quite solitary eating habits at odd hours”. LOL. There are some others, but I can’t tell you about them because they’re all illegal. JUST KIDDING! Some jokes at Keith’s expense are hard to resist! There were some other quirky traits we share, but I can’t remember them. Anyway, once you get past his childhood, it’s hard to put it down! It’s in paperback now, so you can probably buy it on the internet for 2 cents. LOL.
I did my first guest spot on John Madeo’s “Little Delaware Jam” radio show, and I think it went very well. John kept me on for a half hour, and I could have gone another half hour. For now, I’ll be on every other Monday night, but John has been asked to go to a weekly show. Call or email him at the station and tell him he should do it! The show is broadcast on WIOX, 91.3 FM and www.wioxradio.org. The next one will be October 1.
The Love for Levon benefit is coming up at the end of the week, on October 3. The line up is too extensive to list in detail and always subject to new additions, so if you want more information, go to www.loveforlevon.com.
And now for this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, September 26 – DAVID BYRNE, the force behind Talking Heads, concludes a two day engagement at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan.
Thursday, September 27 – DAVID GRAY makes his first appearance at the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
Friday, September 28 – My first Pick of the Week arrives in the form of LARRY CAMPBELL AND TERESA WILLIAMS at The Bearsville Theater. Larry, as everybody knows, has been Levon’s musical director, multi-instrumentalist, co-producer, and friend, for many years. Before that, he served the same function for Bob Dylan (minus the friend part). During his stint with Levon, he also found the time to tour with Phil Lesh, and E Street Band member, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen’s wife. And produced CD’s for Jorma, Hot Tuna, and 3 GRAMMY winners for Levon! And that just scratches the surface of Larry’s long, brilliant, musical career! Teresa is also a Levon Band, and Phil and Friends band member, a wonderful, powerful singer, and Larry’s wife. Adding icing on this cake is the opening act, MIKE AND RUTHY, another married couple who make beautiful music together! See you there!
However, if you can’t make it, there is another amazing show tonight. RORY BLOCK, pulls into the extremely intimate Rosendale Café tonight. Ms. Block is a 5 time WC Handy award winner in the Traditional Blues Female Artist category, and a 3 time winner in the Acoustic Blues Album of the Year category. She is widely regarded as the top female interpreter and authority on traditional Country Blues worldwide! This is also gonna be an amazing show!
Further north, Big Easy guitarslinger, LANGHORNE SLIM, is at Club Helsinki in Hudson. In Manhattan, the highly recommended NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL STARS are at Irving Plaza, and something billed as “PATTI SMITH, ANDY WARHOL” is at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at 1000 Fifth Avenue. That’s gonna be a neat trick, if Andy shows up! Tickets are $218, so I suppose it’s gonna be a ritzy affair!
Saturday, September 29 – At The Andes Hotel tonight, ESQUELA and WHITEY MORGAN AND THE 78’S hold court! Esquela is a band put together by Chico Finn, who throws the best party of the year, Livestock, on his spread in Bovina. Guest appearances have been made with members of The Georgia Satellites and others. Whitey Morgan and The 78’s recorded their CD at Levon Helm Studios with Larry Campbell producing! That right there tells you something about this band! This’s gonna be a goodun! This is an afternoon gig that starts at 2 o’clock. RORY BLOCK makes another area appearance in the lobby of The Ritz Theater in Newburgh, roots rockers, THE BODEANS, ride into The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, and STEVE EARLE is at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. In the city, JACK WHITE of The White Stripes is at Radio City Music Hall, DAVID BYRNE is at Williamsburgh Park, original British punk band, THE VIBRATORS are at Bowery Electric, and there’s an insane line up in Central Park tonight – NEIL YOUNG, FOO FIGHTERS, THE BLACK KEYS, and BAND OF HORSES. These bands need no introduction! Will Neil jam with Foo Fighters? Go and find out! This has to be my second Pick of the Week! Tickets range from free to $390!
Sunday, September 30 – The only show in town tonight is STEVE EARLE at The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, but this ain’t a default show! First of all, The Bardavon is a beautiful, centuries old building, that has the best sound around. There’s a reason Bob Dylan rented the place to rehearse for a week, twice! And Steve is always one of the year’s best shows, so that all kind of makes it a no brainer!
Wednesday, October 3 – Tonight the LOVE FOR LEVON benefit is at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ! More information about the star studded line up can be found at www.loveforlevon.com. They just added ROGER WATERS!
In Brooklyn, JAY-Z opens the brand new Barclay Center. Jay is one of the more sophisticated and musical rappers, this is his house, and he’s gonna rock it!
And upstate, the hilarious Margaret Cho is at The Egg.
Thursday, October 4 – Up and coming new band, THE ALABAMA SHAKES, make their first Manhattan appearance at Terminal 5.
That’s it. Have a great week!
But first, one of the 35 friends who told me they’d give or send me the Keith Richards autobiography, “Life”, finally did, and I just finished reading it. It’s a fabulous, fast, addicting (no pun intended), read, and I heartily recommend it! I discovered that Keith and I share some of his strange idiosyncrasies. Such as “only eating when I feel like it” and “quite solitary eating habits at odd hours”. LOL. There are some others, but I can’t tell you about them because they’re all illegal. JUST KIDDING! Some jokes at Keith’s expense are hard to resist! There were some other quirky traits we share, but I can’t remember them. Anyway, once you get past his childhood, it’s hard to put it down! It’s in paperback now, so you can probably buy it on the internet for 2 cents. LOL.
I did my first guest spot on John Madeo’s “Little Delaware Jam” radio show, and I think it went very well. John kept me on for a half hour, and I could have gone another half hour. For now, I’ll be on every other Monday night, but John has been asked to go to a weekly show. Call or email him at the station and tell him he should do it! The show is broadcast on WIOX, 91.3 FM and www.wioxradio.org. The next one will be October 1.
The Love for Levon benefit is coming up at the end of the week, on October 3. The line up is too extensive to list in detail and always subject to new additions, so if you want more information, go to www.loveforlevon.com.
And now for this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, September 26 – DAVID BYRNE, the force behind Talking Heads, concludes a two day engagement at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan.
Thursday, September 27 – DAVID GRAY makes his first appearance at the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
Friday, September 28 – My first Pick of the Week arrives in the form of LARRY CAMPBELL AND TERESA WILLIAMS at The Bearsville Theater. Larry, as everybody knows, has been Levon’s musical director, multi-instrumentalist, co-producer, and friend, for many years. Before that, he served the same function for Bob Dylan (minus the friend part). During his stint with Levon, he also found the time to tour with Phil Lesh, and E Street Band member, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen’s wife. And produced CD’s for Jorma, Hot Tuna, and 3 GRAMMY winners for Levon! And that just scratches the surface of Larry’s long, brilliant, musical career! Teresa is also a Levon Band, and Phil and Friends band member, a wonderful, powerful singer, and Larry’s wife. Adding icing on this cake is the opening act, MIKE AND RUTHY, another married couple who make beautiful music together! See you there!
However, if you can’t make it, there is another amazing show tonight. RORY BLOCK, pulls into the extremely intimate Rosendale Café tonight. Ms. Block is a 5 time WC Handy award winner in the Traditional Blues Female Artist category, and a 3 time winner in the Acoustic Blues Album of the Year category. She is widely regarded as the top female interpreter and authority on traditional Country Blues worldwide! This is also gonna be an amazing show!
Further north, Big Easy guitarslinger, LANGHORNE SLIM, is at Club Helsinki in Hudson. In Manhattan, the highly recommended NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL STARS are at Irving Plaza, and something billed as “PATTI SMITH, ANDY WARHOL” is at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at 1000 Fifth Avenue. That’s gonna be a neat trick, if Andy shows up! Tickets are $218, so I suppose it’s gonna be a ritzy affair!
Saturday, September 29 – At The Andes Hotel tonight, ESQUELA and WHITEY MORGAN AND THE 78’S hold court! Esquela is a band put together by Chico Finn, who throws the best party of the year, Livestock, on his spread in Bovina. Guest appearances have been made with members of The Georgia Satellites and others. Whitey Morgan and The 78’s recorded their CD at Levon Helm Studios with Larry Campbell producing! That right there tells you something about this band! This’s gonna be a goodun! This is an afternoon gig that starts at 2 o’clock. RORY BLOCK makes another area appearance in the lobby of The Ritz Theater in Newburgh, roots rockers, THE BODEANS, ride into The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, and STEVE EARLE is at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. In the city, JACK WHITE of The White Stripes is at Radio City Music Hall, DAVID BYRNE is at Williamsburgh Park, original British punk band, THE VIBRATORS are at Bowery Electric, and there’s an insane line up in Central Park tonight – NEIL YOUNG, FOO FIGHTERS, THE BLACK KEYS, and BAND OF HORSES. These bands need no introduction! Will Neil jam with Foo Fighters? Go and find out! This has to be my second Pick of the Week! Tickets range from free to $390!
Sunday, September 30 – The only show in town tonight is STEVE EARLE at The Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, but this ain’t a default show! First of all, The Bardavon is a beautiful, centuries old building, that has the best sound around. There’s a reason Bob Dylan rented the place to rehearse for a week, twice! And Steve is always one of the year’s best shows, so that all kind of makes it a no brainer!
Wednesday, October 3 – Tonight the LOVE FOR LEVON benefit is at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ! More information about the star studded line up can be found at www.loveforlevon.com. They just added ROGER WATERS!
In Brooklyn, JAY-Z opens the brand new Barclay Center. Jay is one of the more sophisticated and musical rappers, this is his house, and he’s gonna rock it!
And upstate, the hilarious Margaret Cho is at The Egg.
Thursday, October 4 – Up and coming new band, THE ALABAMA SHAKES, make their first Manhattan appearance at Terminal 5.
That’s it. Have a great week!
- Published on
Above L to R: Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria, Claudio emerging from Hell to play UPAC, Joey Eppard and Chris Gartmann of 3. All photographs by C3 Photography, Catharina Christiana
- Published on
Greetings! The incredible live music continues! Last week, on Wednesday, I went to see Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitteroff at The Bearsville Theater. It was good, but it was a typical, sleepy, acoustic Jorma show. I left as soon as it ended. I’ll wait for electric Hot Tuna to play The Beacon in November.
Then Thursday, it was UPAC for 3, and Coheed and Cambria, both of which feature the sons of my favorite local guitarist, Jimmy Eppard. 3 opened the show, and they were amazing! Weaving intricate rhythms and notes, they cast a spell for the audience! I wanted to get a drink, but I didn’t want to miss a note!
Guitarists Joey Eppard and Billy Riker led the band through a series of genre mixing songs while the amazing rock solid rhythm section of drummer Chris Gartmann and bassist Danny Grimsland demonstrated how it’s done! This is a band of stars, and as good as Joey and Billy are, and they are very good, for me, the real stars of the show were Chris and Danny! These two are a world class rhythm section, and both are destined to be included in the ranks of the greats! In fact, the entire band probably will be after this tour with Coheed and Cambria is over. They’ll finish it up having been seen by twenty thousand plus paying customers, who I predict will all become fans. Their new album and this tour should take 3 to the next level!
Then C&C took over, and it was obvious who the crowd came to see! The excitement level rose, the crowd got more dense, and the dancing got more intense. The band wound their way through a set of high quality hard rock and metal tunes, reminding me very much of bands I used to listen to in the 80’s – Kix, Ratt, Skid Row, even Savatage, Warrant, and Def Leppard. The audience loved it, but for me, as good as Coheed and Cambria were, 3 were the big winners for the night!
Friday, I rested, but Saturday, I was back at it, stopping by The Bearsville Theater to check out The Kane Brothers Blues Band, a group of very accomplished musicians who have just gotten back together after a 30 year hiatus, and lemme tell ya, they sound like they never left! Playing standard blues fare, The Kane Brothers convert it to a high intensity rock/blues hybrid that had everyone dancing. This is a great band! Drummer Jonathan Kane is one of the best around, driving the band at an incredible pace. Lead guitarist Josh Colow reeled off one rockin’ solo after the next, and lead singer and harp player, Anthony Kane competently led them through the set, warming up to his task as the night got later. This band is off the charts and highly recommended! Next time they come around, they’ll be the Pick of the Week, and for me personally, must see TV!
Leaving The Kane Brothers show, regrettably, after the first set, I raced over to BSP in Kingston, where Pitchfork Militia and The Five Points Band were holding court. Five Points rocked through their set of Adams Family rock n roll, and then the great Pitchfork Militia took the stage. Now, regular readers of this column know these guys are my favorite area band, and they did not disappoint tonight! Ripping through a set of prime PM cuts, they kept most of the audience on their feet with a smile on their faces. Peter Head is a vastly underrated guitarist, and their rhythm section is CRAZY! If you like rockin’, great songs, have a sense of humor, and like to dance, Pitchfork Militia is the band for you!
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll have already done my first segment on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and www.wioxradio.org, but I haven’t done it yet, so I can’t tell you how it went, but it’ll be better if you listen to it. John’s a great guy and this is gonna be a lot of fun, plus, he plays The Brooklyn Cowboys and has promised to end each show with a BC track! At the moment, the show is every other Monday at 8PM, but John has been asked to do it every week. My segment starts about 8:30. The next show is scheduled for October 1st.
There’s a TON of live music this week, so I’d better get to it!
Wednesday, September 19 – The great LEON RUSSELL returns to The Bearsville Theater with THE CONNOR KENNEDY BAND opening, so get there early! Let’s hope Leon does some of his own music at this show. And the great J. GEILS BAND plays the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, the great BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN starts a 3 day run at MetLife, formerly Giants, Stadium, and the great OFFSPRING slide into Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
Thursday, September 20 – The fun continues with ALO at The Bearsville Theater, TEDESCHI TRUCKS at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, and PATTERSON HOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN RUMBLERS (he of Drive By Truckers fame), at Club Helsinki in Hudson.
Friday, September 21 – TEDESCHI TRUCKS and SPRINGSTEEN continue their respective three day runs at the respective venues, over in New Jersey, KISS and MOTLEY CRUE will have The PNC Arena bouncing, and around Woodstock JIMMY VIVINO PRESENTS THE BAND SONGS at Levon Helm Studios, and BIG JOE FITZ will be raising money in a BENEFIT FOR THE ROSENDALE THEATER, a worthy cause for sure.
Saturday, September 22 – Put this day on your calendar, because there’s something for everyone! THE BOSS and TEDESCHI TRUCKS both finish their 3 day engagements, the COHEED AND CAMBRIA/ 3 tour comes to The Egg in Albany, JOE JACKSON is at Town Hall in Manhattan, THE ROSENDALE ZOMBIE FEST with PITCHFORK MILITIA and other bands at Willow Kiln Park should be fun, CONNOR KENNEDY BAND plays Unison in New Paltz, I think for the first time, great new band THE SHEEPDOGS are at The Brooklyn Bowl, Americana behind-the-scenes genius HUGH POOL rides into Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan, and guitar virtuoso ERIC JOHNSON plays The Egg in Albany with a star powered rhythm section consisting of WILL LEE and ANTON FIG, both of late night TV fame. This is my Pick of the Week! Oh, and it’s not a misprint. There are two shows at The Egg tonight. (You did know they have two theaters there, right?)
Sunday, September 23 – Even on a Sunday there’s something great happening! Two amazing shows tonight, actually. The immortal LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY (no relation. LOL), who was one of the most important figures in the rise of Reggae music, producing most of the early Wailers records, as well as tracks for The Upsetters, Junior Murvin, The Heptones, Max Romeo, and many more, is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn! Perry has GRAMMYs and was included in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest artists of All Time”. In later years, he worked with The Beastie Boys and his recent live shows have been called “phenomenal” and “show no sign of his advanced age”. He’s 70! He has guests like Keith Richards, Moby, and George Clinton on his albums, so you never know who might show up.
It seems like Brooklyn is the place to be tonight, because at The Bell House, they’re having the star studded BROOKLYN BLUEGRASS BASH with some of the biggest names in Bluegrass! Chris Thile and Michael Daves, Tony Trischka, Andy Statman, and The Calamity Janes.
Monday, Septemeber 24 – Even on a Monday, we have two great shows! THE DIRT FARMER BAND, which is essentially The Levon Helm Band without the horns, is at The Iridium, and jazz greats CHICK COREA and GARY BURTON reunite for some shows at The Blue Note. Both shows in Manhattan.
Tuesday, September 25 – DAVID BYRNE of Talking Heads starts a two day run at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, which obviously continues Wednesday.
Thursday, September 27 – The week closes out with DAVID GRAY at The Capitol Theatre.
Whew! I’m exhausted just writing about all the stuff going on this week. I hope I have some energy left to actually go to some of this stuff! Ah well, duty calls!
Have a great week!
Then Thursday, it was UPAC for 3, and Coheed and Cambria, both of which feature the sons of my favorite local guitarist, Jimmy Eppard. 3 opened the show, and they were amazing! Weaving intricate rhythms and notes, they cast a spell for the audience! I wanted to get a drink, but I didn’t want to miss a note!
Guitarists Joey Eppard and Billy Riker led the band through a series of genre mixing songs while the amazing rock solid rhythm section of drummer Chris Gartmann and bassist Danny Grimsland demonstrated how it’s done! This is a band of stars, and as good as Joey and Billy are, and they are very good, for me, the real stars of the show were Chris and Danny! These two are a world class rhythm section, and both are destined to be included in the ranks of the greats! In fact, the entire band probably will be after this tour with Coheed and Cambria is over. They’ll finish it up having been seen by twenty thousand plus paying customers, who I predict will all become fans. Their new album and this tour should take 3 to the next level!
Then C&C took over, and it was obvious who the crowd came to see! The excitement level rose, the crowd got more dense, and the dancing got more intense. The band wound their way through a set of high quality hard rock and metal tunes, reminding me very much of bands I used to listen to in the 80’s – Kix, Ratt, Skid Row, even Savatage, Warrant, and Def Leppard. The audience loved it, but for me, as good as Coheed and Cambria were, 3 were the big winners for the night!
Friday, I rested, but Saturday, I was back at it, stopping by The Bearsville Theater to check out The Kane Brothers Blues Band, a group of very accomplished musicians who have just gotten back together after a 30 year hiatus, and lemme tell ya, they sound like they never left! Playing standard blues fare, The Kane Brothers convert it to a high intensity rock/blues hybrid that had everyone dancing. This is a great band! Drummer Jonathan Kane is one of the best around, driving the band at an incredible pace. Lead guitarist Josh Colow reeled off one rockin’ solo after the next, and lead singer and harp player, Anthony Kane competently led them through the set, warming up to his task as the night got later. This band is off the charts and highly recommended! Next time they come around, they’ll be the Pick of the Week, and for me personally, must see TV!
Leaving The Kane Brothers show, regrettably, after the first set, I raced over to BSP in Kingston, where Pitchfork Militia and The Five Points Band were holding court. Five Points rocked through their set of Adams Family rock n roll, and then the great Pitchfork Militia took the stage. Now, regular readers of this column know these guys are my favorite area band, and they did not disappoint tonight! Ripping through a set of prime PM cuts, they kept most of the audience on their feet with a smile on their faces. Peter Head is a vastly underrated guitarist, and their rhythm section is CRAZY! If you like rockin’, great songs, have a sense of humor, and like to dance, Pitchfork Militia is the band for you!
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll have already done my first segment on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and www.wioxradio.org, but I haven’t done it yet, so I can’t tell you how it went, but it’ll be better if you listen to it. John’s a great guy and this is gonna be a lot of fun, plus, he plays The Brooklyn Cowboys and has promised to end each show with a BC track! At the moment, the show is every other Monday at 8PM, but John has been asked to do it every week. My segment starts about 8:30. The next show is scheduled for October 1st.
There’s a TON of live music this week, so I’d better get to it!
Wednesday, September 19 – The great LEON RUSSELL returns to The Bearsville Theater with THE CONNOR KENNEDY BAND opening, so get there early! Let’s hope Leon does some of his own music at this show. And the great J. GEILS BAND plays the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, the great BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN starts a 3 day run at MetLife, formerly Giants, Stadium, and the great OFFSPRING slide into Terminal 5 in Manhattan.
Thursday, September 20 – The fun continues with ALO at The Bearsville Theater, TEDESCHI TRUCKS at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, and PATTERSON HOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN RUMBLERS (he of Drive By Truckers fame), at Club Helsinki in Hudson.
Friday, September 21 – TEDESCHI TRUCKS and SPRINGSTEEN continue their respective three day runs at the respective venues, over in New Jersey, KISS and MOTLEY CRUE will have The PNC Arena bouncing, and around Woodstock JIMMY VIVINO PRESENTS THE BAND SONGS at Levon Helm Studios, and BIG JOE FITZ will be raising money in a BENEFIT FOR THE ROSENDALE THEATER, a worthy cause for sure.
Saturday, September 22 – Put this day on your calendar, because there’s something for everyone! THE BOSS and TEDESCHI TRUCKS both finish their 3 day engagements, the COHEED AND CAMBRIA/ 3 tour comes to The Egg in Albany, JOE JACKSON is at Town Hall in Manhattan, THE ROSENDALE ZOMBIE FEST with PITCHFORK MILITIA and other bands at Willow Kiln Park should be fun, CONNOR KENNEDY BAND plays Unison in New Paltz, I think for the first time, great new band THE SHEEPDOGS are at The Brooklyn Bowl, Americana behind-the-scenes genius HUGH POOL rides into Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan, and guitar virtuoso ERIC JOHNSON plays The Egg in Albany with a star powered rhythm section consisting of WILL LEE and ANTON FIG, both of late night TV fame. This is my Pick of the Week! Oh, and it’s not a misprint. There are two shows at The Egg tonight. (You did know they have two theaters there, right?)
Sunday, September 23 – Even on a Sunday there’s something great happening! Two amazing shows tonight, actually. The immortal LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY (no relation. LOL), who was one of the most important figures in the rise of Reggae music, producing most of the early Wailers records, as well as tracks for The Upsetters, Junior Murvin, The Heptones, Max Romeo, and many more, is at The Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn! Perry has GRAMMYs and was included in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest artists of All Time”. In later years, he worked with The Beastie Boys and his recent live shows have been called “phenomenal” and “show no sign of his advanced age”. He’s 70! He has guests like Keith Richards, Moby, and George Clinton on his albums, so you never know who might show up.
It seems like Brooklyn is the place to be tonight, because at The Bell House, they’re having the star studded BROOKLYN BLUEGRASS BASH with some of the biggest names in Bluegrass! Chris Thile and Michael Daves, Tony Trischka, Andy Statman, and The Calamity Janes.
Monday, Septemeber 24 – Even on a Monday, we have two great shows! THE DIRT FARMER BAND, which is essentially The Levon Helm Band without the horns, is at The Iridium, and jazz greats CHICK COREA and GARY BURTON reunite for some shows at The Blue Note. Both shows in Manhattan.
Tuesday, September 25 – DAVID BYRNE of Talking Heads starts a two day run at The Beacon Theater in Manhattan, which obviously continues Wednesday.
Thursday, September 27 – The week closes out with DAVID GRAY at The Capitol Theatre.
Whew! I’m exhausted just writing about all the stuff going on this week. I hope I have some energy left to actually go to some of this stuff! Ah well, duty calls!
Have a great week!
- Published on
Rock Star Emeritus and Guitarist Extraordinaire, Steve Vai, at The Egg in Albany, NY, 9-9-12. Photograph by Dianne Rinaldi
Steve Vai and his electric harpist with her strap-on, The Egg, Albany, NY, 9-9-12. Photograph by Dianne Rinaldi
Steve Vai is such a rock star! Just look at these pictures and tell me this guy ain’t a rock star! I just got back from Steve’s show at The Egg, and what a show it was! The audience was wall to wall guitar geeks, and once again, Vai showed why he is worshipped by them! He really is one of the best guitar players out there! Steve Vai could walk on the stage with any band in the world and they’d be thrilled to have him! And you couldn’t yank him off the stage with a crane tonight! The encore was an hour, and the show didn’t end until after 11. Vai did everything! Electric, acoustic, band, solo. His virtuosity was on display all night long! From the minute he walked on, it was so refreshing to hear loud, rockin’ music, and that’s what he did for most of the night. The audience loved it and so did I! And The Egg is just about the best venue around for live music. There ain’t a bad seat in the house! My thanks to Ted Etoll at The Egg and Ryan Romenesko with the Vai tour for making it possible!
In last week’s column, I mentioned that we had a great week for music coming up, and boy, did we! It really started last Friday with The Duke McVinnie Band, who blew a roomful of people away at The Glenford Church. Then Sunday night with Bob Dylan at Bethel Woods, both of which I already wrote about last week. Then rolling into the new week with Mickey Hart at Bearsville, who was great, on Wednesday night, Duke McVinnie wowing them again at Bearsville Friday night, Bob Weir at Bearsville Saturday night, and Steve Vai tonight. Some week, eh? No wonder I’m tired! And there’s no let up next week. We’ve got Jorma, Leon Russell, Coheed and Cambria, The Offspring, J Geils, ZZ Top, Nick Lowe, and more coming this week. I can feel a good one comin’ on! My thanks to Gary Chetkopf and Drew Frankel at WDST for arranging admission into the Bearsville Theater shows last week.
The Rolling Stones are releasing a special compilation to honor their 50th anniversary. The title is “Grrr”, which for some reason, I find very amusing!
Well, as I said, I’m toast, so let’s get to this week’s live music picks so I can get some sleep.
Wednesday, September 12 – Well, we got JORMA KAUKONEN at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, ZZ TOP at The Beacon Theater, in Manhattan, and THE OFFSPRING at The Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie. I’d call that a pretty impressive start to the week! In addition, Dwight Yoakum’s guitarist and producer, PETE ANDERSON, is at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, and Americana singer/songwriter, SLAID CLEAVES is at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan. Whatta day!
Thursday, September 13 – Two bands with local roots play a double bill at UPAC in Kingston. COHEED AND CAMBRIA and opening act, 3, both with somebody named Eppard in the band, will rock your Thursday, if you let ‘em!
Friday, September 14 – Former Mott The Hoople vocalist, IAN HUNTER, who at one time attracted the best looking women in Rock & Roll to his audience, will rock The Highline Ballroom. Local luminaries, JOHN SEBASTIAN AND JIMMY VIVINO, will display their chops at City Winery, and THE ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD, with a Neville, an Allman, and a Wooten in tow, will be Southern Rockin’ Sullivan Hall. All shows tonight are in Manhattan.
Saturday, September 15 – Upstate in Woodstock, THE KANE BROTHERS BLUES BAND rolls into The Bearsville Theater. They have a long, extensive resume that you should take a look at on the theater’s website, www.bearsvilletheater.com. I’ve got a feeling that this will be a good ‘un. Downstate, we’ve got the former ParliamentarianFunkadelicmentThang AND Talking Head, BERNIE WORRELL, with his orchestra, at Joe’s Pub in the city.
Sunday, September 16 – Aahhh! Rest up. It’s this week’s day off!
Monday, September 17 – WORLD PARTY, a band that had a few really good songs in the 80’s, are at City Winery, one of the last real Country singers, DALE WATSON, is at Hill Country Barbecue, and PATTERSON HOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN RUMBLERS (he of Drive By Truckers and son of legendary Muscle Shoals bassist, David Hood) stop by The Bowery Ballroom, all in Manhattan.
Tuesday, September 18 – There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight! SLASH is at The Hammerstein Ballroom, ROBERT CRAY is at BB King’s, STEPHEN MARLEY is at Irving Plaza, and DEKE DICKERSON makes an appearance at The Rodeo Bar, all in Manhattan, and upstate, NICK LOWE is at The Egg in Albany.
Wednesday, September 19 – The great Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, LEON RUSSELL, returns to The Bearsville Theater and THE J. GEILS BAND, who should be in the Hall of Fame, are at the newly re-opened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Downstate, THE OFFSPRING pull into Terminal 5 in the city.
Thursday, September 20 – Tonight we’ve got two shows with bands I’m not really into, but both come strongly recommended by people whose opinions I respect, so I’m giving both of them a rewrite. TEDESCHI TRUCKS take over The Beacon Theater in Manhattan and ALO return to The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.
Have a great week!
In last week’s column, I mentioned that we had a great week for music coming up, and boy, did we! It really started last Friday with The Duke McVinnie Band, who blew a roomful of people away at The Glenford Church. Then Sunday night with Bob Dylan at Bethel Woods, both of which I already wrote about last week. Then rolling into the new week with Mickey Hart at Bearsville, who was great, on Wednesday night, Duke McVinnie wowing them again at Bearsville Friday night, Bob Weir at Bearsville Saturday night, and Steve Vai tonight. Some week, eh? No wonder I’m tired! And there’s no let up next week. We’ve got Jorma, Leon Russell, Coheed and Cambria, The Offspring, J Geils, ZZ Top, Nick Lowe, and more coming this week. I can feel a good one comin’ on! My thanks to Gary Chetkopf and Drew Frankel at WDST for arranging admission into the Bearsville Theater shows last week.
The Rolling Stones are releasing a special compilation to honor their 50th anniversary. The title is “Grrr”, which for some reason, I find very amusing!
Well, as I said, I’m toast, so let’s get to this week’s live music picks so I can get some sleep.
Wednesday, September 12 – Well, we got JORMA KAUKONEN at The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, ZZ TOP at The Beacon Theater, in Manhattan, and THE OFFSPRING at The Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie. I’d call that a pretty impressive start to the week! In addition, Dwight Yoakum’s guitarist and producer, PETE ANDERSON, is at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, and Americana singer/songwriter, SLAID CLEAVES is at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan. Whatta day!
Thursday, September 13 – Two bands with local roots play a double bill at UPAC in Kingston. COHEED AND CAMBRIA and opening act, 3, both with somebody named Eppard in the band, will rock your Thursday, if you let ‘em!
Friday, September 14 – Former Mott The Hoople vocalist, IAN HUNTER, who at one time attracted the best looking women in Rock & Roll to his audience, will rock The Highline Ballroom. Local luminaries, JOHN SEBASTIAN AND JIMMY VIVINO, will display their chops at City Winery, and THE ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD, with a Neville, an Allman, and a Wooten in tow, will be Southern Rockin’ Sullivan Hall. All shows tonight are in Manhattan.
Saturday, September 15 – Upstate in Woodstock, THE KANE BROTHERS BLUES BAND rolls into The Bearsville Theater. They have a long, extensive resume that you should take a look at on the theater’s website, www.bearsvilletheater.com. I’ve got a feeling that this will be a good ‘un. Downstate, we’ve got the former ParliamentarianFunkadelicmentThang AND Talking Head, BERNIE WORRELL, with his orchestra, at Joe’s Pub in the city.
Sunday, September 16 – Aahhh! Rest up. It’s this week’s day off!
Monday, September 17 – WORLD PARTY, a band that had a few really good songs in the 80’s, are at City Winery, one of the last real Country singers, DALE WATSON, is at Hill Country Barbecue, and PATTERSON HOOD AND THE DOWNTOWN RUMBLERS (he of Drive By Truckers and son of legendary Muscle Shoals bassist, David Hood) stop by The Bowery Ballroom, all in Manhattan.
Tuesday, September 18 – There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight! SLASH is at The Hammerstein Ballroom, ROBERT CRAY is at BB King’s, STEPHEN MARLEY is at Irving Plaza, and DEKE DICKERSON makes an appearance at The Rodeo Bar, all in Manhattan, and upstate, NICK LOWE is at The Egg in Albany.
Wednesday, September 19 – The great Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, LEON RUSSELL, returns to The Bearsville Theater and THE J. GEILS BAND, who should be in the Hall of Fame, are at the newly re-opened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Downstate, THE OFFSPRING pull into Terminal 5 in the city.
Thursday, September 20 – Tonight we’ve got two shows with bands I’m not really into, but both come strongly recommended by people whose opinions I respect, so I’m giving both of them a rewrite. TEDESCHI TRUCKS take over The Beacon Theater in Manhattan and ALO return to The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.
Have a great week!
- Published on
Hi! Hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a busy week and right now, I’m getting ready to go see Bob Dylan at Bethel Woods, so this week’s is gonna be an abbreviated column. We’ll do the live music picks and I do have one bit of very cool news, which I’ll get to first.
Starting September 17th, I will be a regular guest on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show, which is broadcast every other Monday night at 8 PM on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and on the web at www.wioxradio.org. Basically, what John and I will be doing, is bringing this column to the airwaves. We’ll talk about the latest news from the music world and then discuss upcoming live shows. We might even play some music! It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it with much anticipation. I hope y’all will tune in.
So that’s it for now. I gotta go see Bob, so let’s get right to this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, September 5 – Tonight is an easy choice, but don’t expect the rest of the week to be like tonight. There’s a lot going on this week. Tonight, if you’re in the city, you gotta go see THE VERNON REID TRIO at The Iridium. Vernon was the guitar player, founder, and principal songwriter in the two time GRAMMY winning, platinum selling band, Living Color (Cult of Personality), amongst a long list of impressive “A” list credits, not the least of which is that The Rolling Stones wanted to sign him to a record deal! And in Woodstock, The Grateful Dead’s, MICKEY HART, will bring some sort of percussion driven ensemble into The Bearsville Theater.
Thursday, September 6 – My old pals, THE NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, will be riding in to BB King’s. My other pal, Federico Pereda, who almost single handedly carries the torch for Rock n Roll in Chile, his native country, will be making a very special appearance with his band, DINAMITA, at Bowery Electric. And my childhood musical heroes, THE YARDBIRDS, will be at City Winery. All shows tonight in Manhattan.
Friday, September 7 – This is an awesome week for music! Look what we’ve had in just the first two days, and we haven’t even gotten to the weekend yet! With all this great music happening this week, you may be surprised that my Pick of the Week is a band you may never have heard of. A band who probably will never be famous. They’re called THE DUKE MCVINNIE BAND, and they are the most interesting, original, exciting, new band I’ve seen in a long while, maybe ever! Two vintage guitars, two old tube amps, an electric cello, Manuel Quintana on drums and percussion, they drive the rhythm in a haunting mix of Latin, Rock, Jazz, and a few other genres that I can’t quite put my finger on! They’re fascinating and you won’t want to miss a note! And BTW, no cover! Come out and support these guys. They’re amazing! Way down yonder in NYC, BOB MOULD, formerly of the very influential punk band, Husker Du, and the writer of the music that is used as the theme for The Daily Show, is at Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn. Later tonight, Bob will be D.J.ing at The Highline Ballroom with his partner RICHARD MOREL, under the name THE BLOWOFF. And at The Gramercy Theater is something billed as METAL MASTERS 4, and what it is, is various members of Anthrax and Slayer, teamed up with Phil Anselmo of Pantera, and Billy Sheehan of David Lee Roth and Mr. Big, in an all star hard rock and heavy metal extravaganza! I don’t even really like Anthrax or Slayer, but this is gonna rock, and hard! And at the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, BOB WEIR and THE ROOTS team up for a benefit for HeadCount.
Saturday, September 8 – Big happenings today. There’s a BENEFIT FOR THE WOODSTOCK GOOD NEIGHBOR FOOD PANTRY, which is a good and worthy cause, at Andy Lee Field on Rock City Road, and the line up is amazing! LARRY CAMPBELL, TERESA WILLIAMS, JERRY MAROTTA, JIM WEIDER, HAPPY TRAUM, JAY UNGAR AND MOLLY MASON, MARC BLACK, MICHAEL ESPOSITO, THE DHARMA BUMS, RENNIE CANTINE, and more with possible surprise guests! Reservoir Music will be closed today as I will be acting as stage manager for this event. Later tonight, BOB WEIR brings his solo acoustic act into The Bearsville Theater. This show is sold out, so good luck getting tickets. And in The Bronx, MADONNA brings her over the top circus to Yankee Stadium. Now, I’m not a huge Madonna fan, but she’s got more than a few good songs, and you have to respect what she’s accomplished. Plus, if you have a good seat, you’ll get to walk on the field at Yankee Stadium!
Sunday, September 9 – The great STEVE VAI will be at The Egg in Albany, and guess what? Second Pick of the Week!
Monday, September 10 – It’s your day off. No shows today.
Tuesday, September 11 – I’m almost not counting this, because almost nobody will get in, but BOB DYLAN is playing a special show at the tiny Café Wha tonight! Good luck getting a ticket, if they exist. For those of you in the real world, Dwight Yokam’s guitarist and producer, PETE ANDERSON, will be twangin’ away at Hill Country Barbecue, STEVE VAI is at Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and THE BRECKER BROTHERS REUNION starts a six night run at The Blue Note in The Village. Now, this is big! The Brecker Brothers Band consisted of the cream of the cream of New York studio musicians in a jazz funk fusion rock stew that tasted mighty good in the 1970’s! Michael Brecker passed away in 1982, but his brother, Randy Becker is still with us, and as far as I know, this is the band’s first reunion since then, so this is huge!
Wednesday, September 12 – Great shows everywhere tonight! In the city, the immortal ZZ TOP return to The Beacon Theater! These guys are always great, especially when you least expect it! And the Americana singer/songwriter, SLAID CLEAVES is at Hill Country Barbecue. Upstate, JORMA KAUKONEN makes a very rare and special appearance at The Bearsville Theater, and the vastly underrated punk band, THE OFFSPRING is at The Mid-Hudson Civic Center. These guys write intelligent, hook laden, rockin’ hit songs! Why are they so under appreciated?
Thursday, September 13 – COHEED AND CAMBRIA rock into UPAC in Kingston with opening act, 3. Both these bands have local ties, and they should rock it up pretty good.
BTW, I wrote the second half of this column after I returned from the Bob Dylan show at Bethel Woods, so here’s my mini-review: His voice is shot! He should retire and let people beg him to play for million dollar pay checks. Overall, the concert was enjoyable, but some songs were pretty terrible. For those of you who don’t know, Dylan never plays a song the same way twice, and often has no set arrangement. From what I understand, he just starts playing and the musicians are supposed to follow him. That said, there’s bound to be some clunkers, and there were, but there was also some real good stuff, but his voice is S-H-O-T, shot! And it ain’t comin’ back! But I do wish him the best and I love his work.
Have a great week!
Starting September 17th, I will be a regular guest on John Madeo’s Little Delaware Jamboree radio show, which is broadcast every other Monday night at 8 PM on WIOX, 91.3 FM, and on the web at www.wioxradio.org. Basically, what John and I will be doing, is bringing this column to the airwaves. We’ll talk about the latest news from the music world and then discuss upcoming live shows. We might even play some music! It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it with much anticipation. I hope y’all will tune in.
So that’s it for now. I gotta go see Bob, so let’s get right to this week’s live music picks.
Wednesday, September 5 – Tonight is an easy choice, but don’t expect the rest of the week to be like tonight. There’s a lot going on this week. Tonight, if you’re in the city, you gotta go see THE VERNON REID TRIO at The Iridium. Vernon was the guitar player, founder, and principal songwriter in the two time GRAMMY winning, platinum selling band, Living Color (Cult of Personality), amongst a long list of impressive “A” list credits, not the least of which is that The Rolling Stones wanted to sign him to a record deal! And in Woodstock, The Grateful Dead’s, MICKEY HART, will bring some sort of percussion driven ensemble into The Bearsville Theater.
Thursday, September 6 – My old pals, THE NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, will be riding in to BB King’s. My other pal, Federico Pereda, who almost single handedly carries the torch for Rock n Roll in Chile, his native country, will be making a very special appearance with his band, DINAMITA, at Bowery Electric. And my childhood musical heroes, THE YARDBIRDS, will be at City Winery. All shows tonight in Manhattan.
Friday, September 7 – This is an awesome week for music! Look what we’ve had in just the first two days, and we haven’t even gotten to the weekend yet! With all this great music happening this week, you may be surprised that my Pick of the Week is a band you may never have heard of. A band who probably will never be famous. They’re called THE DUKE MCVINNIE BAND, and they are the most interesting, original, exciting, new band I’ve seen in a long while, maybe ever! Two vintage guitars, two old tube amps, an electric cello, Manuel Quintana on drums and percussion, they drive the rhythm in a haunting mix of Latin, Rock, Jazz, and a few other genres that I can’t quite put my finger on! They’re fascinating and you won’t want to miss a note! And BTW, no cover! Come out and support these guys. They’re amazing! Way down yonder in NYC, BOB MOULD, formerly of the very influential punk band, Husker Du, and the writer of the music that is used as the theme for The Daily Show, is at Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn. Later tonight, Bob will be D.J.ing at The Highline Ballroom with his partner RICHARD MOREL, under the name THE BLOWOFF. And at The Gramercy Theater is something billed as METAL MASTERS 4, and what it is, is various members of Anthrax and Slayer, teamed up with Phil Anselmo of Pantera, and Billy Sheehan of David Lee Roth and Mr. Big, in an all star hard rock and heavy metal extravaganza! I don’t even really like Anthrax or Slayer, but this is gonna rock, and hard! And at the newly reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, BOB WEIR and THE ROOTS team up for a benefit for HeadCount.
Saturday, September 8 – Big happenings today. There’s a BENEFIT FOR THE WOODSTOCK GOOD NEIGHBOR FOOD PANTRY, which is a good and worthy cause, at Andy Lee Field on Rock City Road, and the line up is amazing! LARRY CAMPBELL, TERESA WILLIAMS, JERRY MAROTTA, JIM WEIDER, HAPPY TRAUM, JAY UNGAR AND MOLLY MASON, MARC BLACK, MICHAEL ESPOSITO, THE DHARMA BUMS, RENNIE CANTINE, and more with possible surprise guests! Reservoir Music will be closed today as I will be acting as stage manager for this event. Later tonight, BOB WEIR brings his solo acoustic act into The Bearsville Theater. This show is sold out, so good luck getting tickets. And in The Bronx, MADONNA brings her over the top circus to Yankee Stadium. Now, I’m not a huge Madonna fan, but she’s got more than a few good songs, and you have to respect what she’s accomplished. Plus, if you have a good seat, you’ll get to walk on the field at Yankee Stadium!
Sunday, September 9 – The great STEVE VAI will be at The Egg in Albany, and guess what? Second Pick of the Week!
Monday, September 10 – It’s your day off. No shows today.
Tuesday, September 11 – I’m almost not counting this, because almost nobody will get in, but BOB DYLAN is playing a special show at the tiny Café Wha tonight! Good luck getting a ticket, if they exist. For those of you in the real world, Dwight Yokam’s guitarist and producer, PETE ANDERSON, will be twangin’ away at Hill Country Barbecue, STEVE VAI is at Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and THE BRECKER BROTHERS REUNION starts a six night run at The Blue Note in The Village. Now, this is big! The Brecker Brothers Band consisted of the cream of the cream of New York studio musicians in a jazz funk fusion rock stew that tasted mighty good in the 1970’s! Michael Brecker passed away in 1982, but his brother, Randy Becker is still with us, and as far as I know, this is the band’s first reunion since then, so this is huge!
Wednesday, September 12 – Great shows everywhere tonight! In the city, the immortal ZZ TOP return to The Beacon Theater! These guys are always great, especially when you least expect it! And the Americana singer/songwriter, SLAID CLEAVES is at Hill Country Barbecue. Upstate, JORMA KAUKONEN makes a very rare and special appearance at The Bearsville Theater, and the vastly underrated punk band, THE OFFSPRING is at The Mid-Hudson Civic Center. These guys write intelligent, hook laden, rockin’ hit songs! Why are they so under appreciated?
Thursday, September 13 – COHEED AND CAMBRIA rock into UPAC in Kingston with opening act, 3. Both these bands have local ties, and they should rock it up pretty good.
BTW, I wrote the second half of this column after I returned from the Bob Dylan show at Bethel Woods, so here’s my mini-review: His voice is shot! He should retire and let people beg him to play for million dollar pay checks. Overall, the concert was enjoyable, but some songs were pretty terrible. For those of you who don’t know, Dylan never plays a song the same way twice, and often has no set arrangement. From what I understand, he just starts playing and the musicians are supposed to follow him. That said, there’s bound to be some clunkers, and there were, but there was also some real good stuff, but his voice is S-H-O-T, shot! And it ain’t comin’ back! But I do wish him the best and I love his work.
Have a great week!
- Published on
Scott Weiland and guitarist Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots at Bethel woods, 8/22/12. Photos by C3 Photography, Catharina Christiana.