Setbreak.com - Concert Reviews

Hit the HIGH notes

iriedoc — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 16:36:01 -0700

Another HOT time at High Sierra this year! As always, a highlight of the summer with plenty of bluegrass, fiddles, banjos, mandolins and this year some phat beats thrown in! The police presence, such a downer last year, was not existent. So, everyone was pretty loose and enjoying themselves. Here are some highlights in top ten form.

1. Leftover Salmon reunion. The boys are back! I did not see the main stage show on sunday, but the after hours late night show was something to see. Darol Anger sat in on the fiddle for the first set and everyone looked to be having a great time. Complete with parade of salmon and Krispy Kreme donuts(?) The second set featured some other guests like Jefferson Hamer (Great american taxi) and others.

2. Bassnectar. DJ. Lorrin brought his unique style to high sierra for a late night set that went until dawn. I love the addition of electronic music to the festival and the format of having a performance based show of DJ's with live rappers and beat boxers is the wave of the future for electronica (I think). He also played a free show at the Vaudville tent with about 50 partiers on stage which also rocked but was too short. Zilla with Micheal travis of SCI on drums opened and rocked the house for the late nite set.

New Mastersounds: SF

admin — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:09:35 -0700

New Mastersounds: SF - New Mastersounds Having a tough time getting through this first hump day post High Sierra? Have no fear for the good times roll on! Come on down to 12 Galaxies on Friday the 13 for the Official High Sierra After Party with the New Mastersounds and special guests Vinyl.
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To A Tee: Dark Star Orchestra Keeps to its Roots

nickhaig — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:12:30 -0700

The evening of February 17th, 1973 in St. Paul, Minnesota was a cold one. One could argue that the Grateful Dead warmed things up a bit, though, as the temperature jumped almost 30 degrees while they were there, and went up 10 more the day they left town (see climate link below). The Dead were touring the Midwest that winter, hitting St. Paul between stops in Madison and Chicago, before they headed out East for the month of March.

That magical night 34 years ago was recently recreated in the other of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Minneapolis. Thanks to the jet stream, seasonal climatic conditions, and the music of the Dark Star Orchestra, a similar winter heat wave blew through town again.

The Dark Star Orchestra (DSO) is not just another tribute band that plays the music of their favorite band. They recreate actual historic Grateful Dead set lists in the style of the band from that particular era. If the Dead had two drummers during a gig, then DSO will come with two drummers. This is very different than the genre many bands fall under- the cover band. Cover bands play the songs of popular bands and keep crowds happy by playing favorites, often upon request. Cover bands have been around for as long as there has been music worth repeating. Tribute bands are another story- it is another level of devotion, if you ask me.

Lisa Mackey, DSO’s female vocalist, turned in a masterful performance as the Grateful Dead icon, Donna Godchaux. After listening to the original Dead show from that night in 1973 (link below), I would have to say that Lisa actually outperformed her counterpart! The band consists of a corps of musicians, with special guests filling in specific niches to complete the re-creation. Just like the Grateful Dead was, DSO is a fluid machine that takes on new and returning members to create a family of devoted and talented musicians.

The beautiful thing about the DSO is how much you don’t know going into the gig. The band never lets on to what show they are playing, if they are indeed playing a gig. They are known to choose their own set lists from time to time- I suppose to keep their keen fans on their toes. While I surely recognized all of the songs I heard that night, it was more of a fond recollection, not a honed diagnosis. I had no idea whether it was the sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties. I really didn’t care- the music was tight, perhaps more technically acute than the Grateful Dead themselves on that particular night. It seemed that Bob Weir was a little off his game, but Rob Eaton, DSO’s rhythm guitarist and vocalist, didn’t miss a beat all night.

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Ringing in the New Year with the Duo and the Slip

kikimartini — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:48:23 -0800

Benevento/Russo Duo perform "9 x 9" at the Chameleon Club 12.30.06:

It will come as news to nobody that there were a plethora of options available for New Years festivities on the East Coast this year. While the most enticing options almost always involve travel of some kind, I was lucky enough to find musical pleasures close to the Big Apple. However, my game plan involved turning a blind eye to the shenanigans in Atlantic City, and whether I could actually resist ringing in the New Year with the red-headed felon was a decision that many (including myself) wondered whether I could stick to. But stick I did, and I was rewarded with the warmest NYE run in recent memory.

The 29th began with a yummy double-header at Mo Pitkins of two sets of Honky-Tonk Allstars, Larune and Basement Band. Kamara Thomas bravely opened the Larune set with a solo acoustic debut of another of her signature panoramic song-writing journeys, and the band then joined her for favorites like "My Kentucky" and "I Just Don't Get It", the latter of which Jeff Malinowsky hilariously (and correctly) dubbed "Best song ever!". He thereafter took the stage with his Basement Band-mates, and delivered some wonderful a capella and acoustic numbers, including a lovely "Wagon Wheel". From Mo Pitkins, we hightailed it to the Knit to catch Rana's set, performing as a trio in the Tap Bar, and whilst the front row featured some distracting glow-ring e-tivity, Scott Metzger once again demonstrated his solid chops on guitar.

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Your House Band

Harry Potter — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:25:28 -0800

The House Democratic Leadership & The House Democratic Caucus For a Celebration Concert Honoring Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Special Musical Performances by
Tony Bennett
Carole King
Wyclef Jean
&
Your House Band Featuring
Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Bruce Hornsby, Warren Haynes, Mike Gordon, and Special Guests With Special Appearances by Amy Brenneman Richard Gere
National Building Museum, Washington DC
Thursday January 4th, 2007

Elijah Lawrence:
God Bless America

Richard Gere spoke

Your House Band:
Shakedown Street ->
Trucking
End Of The Innocence

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BLUES FALLIN' DOWN LIKE RAIN - Review from the Vault (1/18/06)

admin — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 13:44:49 -0800

Setbreak.com Concert Review

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CMJ Music Marathon Highlights: Land Of Talk

kikimartini — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:44:56 -0800

The trio of northerly Indie-Rockers known as Land of Talk blew into New York City like a Canadian cold front last week for the CMJ Music Marathon, and then proceded to heat things up at venues all over the Lower East Side. Their sound simultaneously conjures archival rock like The Pretenders but yet feels as current as the sounds coming out of the Broken Social Scene camp.

The trio offered up a special never-before-attempted-or-rehearsed acoustic performance at White Rabbit on the afternoon of November 2nd, and although the set was as short as any other you may have caught at CMJ this year ('don't blink or you'll miss it' style), Land of Talk sounded as natural acoustic as they do on larger stages.

While the band expressed some uncertainty as to what the drum kit might consist of in this space, the absence of a bass drum was hardly noticeable because of the solid jazz-chops of drummer Bucky Wheaton. Elizabeth Powell's ethereal voice was particularly well-suited to the space, and besides his spot-on harmonies, you may notice in the clip that multi-talented bass player Chris McCarron somehow manages to sneak in some ironic punchlines on the bass.

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10,000 Lakes Festival ’06 – A Trip Worth the While

nickhaig — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:34:32 -0700

The fourth annual 10,000 Lakes Festival (10KLF) kicked off on a recent mild Wednesday evening at the Soo Pass Ranch of Detroit Lakes, MN. The four-day bonanza of music and entertainment has matured into a full-fledged mainstay on the summer tour circuit for headliners and up-and-coming regional acts alike. While cars rolled in all day and night into Thursday morning, visitors set up their temporary homes, and neighborhoods, with extensive attention to detail evident from the picnic tables, screened porches, tiki torches, hammocks, and other simple pleasures they brought from home. Just about everyone that night met a stranger with no other connection to them than the fact that they had parked next to each other just hours earlier: that, and a shared enthusiasm for a smorgasbord of music played hard and honest.

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Earl Greyhound Rocks

kikimartini — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:20:42 -0700

Don't believe everything you've read. But if you happened upon a recent copy of 'The New Yorker' that suggested that Earl Greyhound just might be the second coming of Led Zeppelin, you probably wouldn't believe it until you witnessed the trio live. The hype this band is generating isn't unfounded: this is rock n' roll in its truest form.

The multi-talented duo of Kamara Thomas and Matt Whyte are certainly easy on the eyes up there, and now that they've joined forces with drummer Ricc Sheridan, the Earl Greyhound unit now seems complete and ready to dominate the rock scene here in New York.

It speaks volumes about the drawing power of a band to say that on a recent night at Tonic, it was well past 1 a.m. and the band had yet to begin, but the room grew more packed as the night slipped away and people eagerly awaited the buzzed-about band. Despite the fact that the monstrous sound that these three produce would perhaps be more suited to arena-rock stages than this intimate room on the Lower East Side, the crowd happily lapped up every loud note.

They began the set with two new tunes, including the stellar "The Ghost and The Witness" where Thomas trades up her bass for a Fender Rhodes. Both new songs show potential for the album which will follow up their critically-acclaimed current release, Soft Targets. There are indeed moments onstage which channel mighty Zepp, like the face-melting solo in "Monkey" but Earl Greyhound has crafted their own gritty sound, with searing guitar riffs from Whyte and a thunderous energy from Sheridan. That's not to say it's all hard rock riffs, because the trio have their share of undeniably catchy tunes like "Like A Doggy".

A don't be deceived by the presence of a lady on the bass: while her vocals occasionally add a soothing touch (as they do to introduce "Yeah, I Love You", they will just as quickly turn into an unfathomably fierce banshee wail that will knock your socks off. And she was recently featured in Bass Player magazine, to boot.

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Jojo on The Side

mike — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:22:57 -0700

Jojo on The Side - Widespread Panic keyboardist John "Jojo" Hermann will perform a solo gig tomorrow night in Franklin, Tennessee. To be more precise, this will be a duo gig as he will be joined by guitarist Bill Elder who previously joined Hermann in JoJo's Mardi Gras Band. No word as to what catalog of material they will dip into (although the smart money is on at least a few Professor Longhair covers). Hermann and Elder will appear at the Pond in Franklin, with doors at 8 and music at 9. [Relix News]

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