Photography by Timothy Reidy.
Sirsy / Jon Wager @ Schoharie Crossing, 8/31/2024
Jukebox – Music News Cuts – 9/13
Jukebox.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
The 2024 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival will be taking place at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco from October 4th to October 6th. Tey have a spectacular lineup, which is as follows:
Sleater Kinney, Mavis Staples, Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris, Yo La Tengo, Jessica Pratt, Cunningham Bird, Cat Power, Glen Hansard, Devandra Banhart, Ibibio Sound Machine, Levitation Room, Greensky Bluegrass, and others.
It won’t just be straight performances. It will include collaborations and songwriting circles.
Get there if you can.
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand is unleashing their first new album in six years. The album is called The Human Fear, and they’ve released a single from it called “Audacious.” They’ve also announced a number of tour dates in Europe for 2025.
The album deals with the title word, “fear” and how to overcome it. They’ve brought in a new drummer, Audrey Tait. Alex Kapranos, in talking about the album, said, , “Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear — fear reminds you that you’re alive.”
He added to that: , “I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz [fear] can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So, here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.”
Touring Bands
It is fall, and while summer is seen as the high time of band touring, it’s not a live music desert in the fall. Music site BrooklynVegan rounded up touring news from a number of national acts, and we will present them here:
WILCO
“The shows FKA ‘Winterlude’ are getting out of Chicago,” Wilco write, announcing some December live dates. “Wind down the year with Wilco in Austin, Tulsa and St. Paul. For a special evening (or two, or three) with the band ft. no opener & no repeats.” Dates are here.
wilco december shows
JACK WHITE
Jack White began a short Northeast run in Jersey City on Monday, and play CT tonight and Cambridge, MA on Tuesday before jetting off to the UK for a trio of shows this weekend.
SOCCER MOMMY
Soccer Mommy will release her new album Evergreen soon and she’s announced a tour with support from L’Rain, Tomberlin, and Hana Vu.
MEW
Mew are calling it quits but will play some farewell shows.
REFUSED / QUICKSAND
Swedish punks Refused have also announced they’re breaking up (again), but not before a tour with Quicksand.
KNOCKED LOOSE / DANNY BROWN
Knocked Loose are going on a headlining tour with The Garden, Drain, and Militarie Gun this fall. That run has gotten even more exciting with the addition of Danny Brown on a few shows.
KYLESA
Kylesa recently announced that they’ll be reuniting in 2025, beginning at Roadburn and followed by “a limited number of special shows” that celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary. Today, they’ve announced their first North American reunion appearance.
DREAM THEATER
Having reunited with original drummer Mike Portnoy last year, Dream Theater have announced they’ll celebrate their 40th anniversary on the road in North America in 2025.
BIG EARS 2025
Knoxville, TN’s Big Ears festival announced its 2025 lineup, which includes ANOHNI and the Johnsons, Waxahatchee, Yo La Tengo, Sun Ra Arkestra, Jessica Pratt, Lankum, Explosions in the Sky, Tindersticks, Beak>, and more.
SQUEEZE / BOY GEORGE
Squeeze and Boy George are in the home stretch of their co-headlining tour, which hits NYC later this month for a show at SummerStage in Central Park on September 17. See all remaining dates here.
PHISH
Phish have announced three Albany shows that benefit the Divided Sky Residential Recovery Program and its newly opened facility in Ludlow, Vermont.
ANGEL DU$T (DATES WITH SAY ANYTHING, SPEED, MORE)
Angel Du$t are on tour this fall with Speed, including a Brooklyn show at Elsewhere on September 24. They’ve also got shows later in the fall with Say Anything, plus a headlining Long Island show at Amityville Music Hall on November 11 with Family Dinner, Private Mind, and Heavy Hex. All dates are here.
angel dust amityville
PAUL MASVIDAL (OF CYNIC AND DEATH)
Cynic’s Paul Masvidal is playing some solo shows on the East Coast this month. The official description reads: “Forget the shred. Experience Paul Masvidal, the visionary co-founder of Cynic and a pivotal member of Death, as he blasts your senses with isochronic tones and raw, ambient acoustic heart songs, all while wearing his otherworldly mask. Expect tracks from Cynic’s deeper cuts to Aeon Spoke and Mythical Human Vessel.” Tickets and dates are HERE.
LOU KOLLER BENEFIT
Sick Of It All vocalist Lou Koller was diagnosed with esophageal cancer that extends into his stomach earlier this summer, and he’s currently undergoing chemotherapy to combat it. To help raise funds for his treatment, the hardcore community is coming to his aid with an NYC benefit show in November.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Lucinda Williams is currently on tour, including dates with with Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, as well as special “Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets” show with “stories, songs, & visuals.” She’s just announced more tour dates, including a couple in the NYC area.
HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, happens October 4-6, and the lineup includes Patti Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Glen Hansard, Jessica Pratt, Buddy Miller, Yo La Tengo, Emmylou Harris, and more.
JOAN SHELLEY
Folk singer Joan Shelley will play a couple NYC-area shows in support of her new EP.
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
Godspeed You! have added a second NYC show to their tour.
JULIO TORRES
The creator of Los Espookys, Problemista and Fantasmas will be taking his new standup show, Color Theories, on the road this fall.
JUDGE JOHN HODGMAN
Actor and comedian John Hodgman is taking his podcast “Judge John Hodgman” on the road, and dates include a NYC show at City Winery on Wednesday, September 11.
judge john hodgman
GIRL IN RED
Norwegian artist girl in red will be heading to the US in late fall for the I Have to See You Again tour, with dates kicking off in Dallas on 11/23 and wrapping up in Mesa, AZ in 12/14. There’s a NYC-area show at Monclair’s The Wellmont Theater on 12/1.
New Christmas – The Weird Side of the Internet
New Christmas – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.
Man, the world is whacky. Spirit Halloween started swooping into stores in what, August? We’re past Halloween right now, and it isn’t barely the high noon of September. I see the autumn cinnamon broomstick in the pharmacy, and apple cider and pumpkin spice coffee are now staples at our local Stewarts shops. This is the time when people have an eye to the holidays and businesses have an eye to everybody’s wallet.
But in one country, Christmas will come early. By decree. Let’s go to Venezuela, a nation whose politics makes ours look pretty humdrum. I’m not covering the politics. Don’t care; I had to turn down seconds of our own slop. But I will say that when President Maduro was facing a sharpened eye over the election, he declared that Christmas would come early for the South American country – on October 1st.
Can you imagine just being able to do that and people don’t laugh in your face? I’m sure a lot of Venezuelans are laughing in his face. But some are earnestly wondering if they’re going to get the Christmas bonus.
I declare that Thanksgiving is going to take place the same day that the Superbowl is on television, that way people will have a badass meal to go with the game. What else, what else, what else… how about we put Valentines Day in August, so couples in love can wear far less clothing? Mother’s Day will officially be in July, because that’s when mom was born.
This is fun. I guess I going to go down to Venezuela and have some election hijinx, screw with the calendar a bit.
To be fair, Jesus wasn’t born in December. He wasn’t born in October either, but that’s beside the point.
One parting declaration: I declare tax day to be on February 30th.
Safety Meeting – Interview – Thanks for Asking!
Safety Meeting – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.
We ran into Kirth Rector from the band Safety Meeting. This is what he had to say.
RRX: Like songs, every artist has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?
KR: Our first show was definitely not our best show. It was at a very seedy bar in Troy. We all decided that taking mushrooms before hand was a good idea (it was not). Tripping out while playing music to a bunch of uninterested biker dudes was a bad vibe. Pretty sure someone got shot at the bar a few days later & now it’s been closed ever since.
RRX: We have to play somewhere, and sometimes those places have more going for them than a stage and a power outlet. What is a memorable place you played, and bonus points if it’s not a well-known place.
KR: Gugs in Glens Falls was one of the best hole in the wall music venues we’ve ever played. It was in the middle of no where but somehow always had a good crowd. The owner/bartender was a fan of ours so we basically became the house band for a while & the owner couldn’t help but try & get you as plastered as possible. Miss that spot!
RRX: Sometimes you gotta go on the road. Miles can build up, and it can stretch the comfort level of any travelling act. What do you bring on a road trip, or tour? What will you forget to bring?
KR: If we have a case of beer, some weed & a pack of cards we can occupy ourselves pretty well. We’ve probably played this one card game “Palace” over a million times & it never gets old. We’re most likely forget to bring our toothbrushes which is pretty disgusting.
RRX: I know when pitching it helps to tell someone it’s “this meets that.” So let’s try that with you. If you had to give me two bands that meet each other in your sound, what are those bands? More than two bands?
KR: I like to think we’re a perfect blend between The Black Lips & Natural Child. Maybe with a little Pavement thrown in. I’m a sucker for finding new bands I like and going “let make a song that songs like them”
RRX: Would you rather have one of your songs blow up and make you a one-hit wonder and household name, or would you rather have all your songs be solidly received, but no chart-climbers? (You have to pick one or the other here.)
KR: Something about being a one hit wonder seems cool to me. I would love to be “the band” that had “that song”. Usually one hit wonders other music isn’t even that bad it’s just the one song is sooo good. I’d take that all day.
RRX: What historical era would you like to visit if the sole purpose was to put together a Battle of the Bands? How would you set it up?
KR: I would go with the 2000s just to see some of those bands live in their primes Plus it would be funny to watch The Strokes battle Nickelback. It would have to be called “Woodstock 2004” or something. Hopefully it would go just as poorly as ‘99.
Filter @ Empower FCU Amphitheater, 9/4/2024
The “Freaks on Parade” World Tour made a stop in Syracuse on September 4, with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, and Filter.
Photography by Rachael Skinner.
Read the review of the show here …
Ministry @ Empower FCU Amphitheater, 9/4/2024
The “Freaks on Parade” World Tour made a stop in Syracuse on September 4, with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, and Filter.
Photography by Rachael Skinner.
Read the review of the show here …
Alice Cooper @ Empower FCU Amphitheater, 9/4/2024
The “Freaks on Parade” World Tour stopped in Syracuse on September 4, with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, and Filter.
Photography by Rachael Skinner.
Read the review of the show here …
Rob Zombie @ Empower FCU Amphitheater, 9/4/2024
The “Freaks on Parade” World Tour stopped in Syracuse on September 4, with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, and Filter.
Photography by Rachael Skinner.
REVIEW: “Freaks on Parade” @ Empower FCU Amphitheater, 9/4/2024
Words by Jesse Skinner. Photography by Rachael Skinner
On Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, renowned filmmaker, actor, singer, and songwriter Rob Zombie, alongside “The Godfather of Shock Rock,” Alice Cooper, showcased their Freaks on Parade Tour at the Empower FCU Amphitheater in Syracuse, New York. Joining them for this extraordinary celebration of oddities were Ministry from Chicago, Illinois, and Filter from Cleveland, Ohio.
Filter kicked off the night with an electrifying performance that had the audience buzzing with excitement. As the opening notes of “Head Like a Hole” by Nine Inch Nails filled the air, the stage was shrouded in smoke, setting the perfect atmosphere. The band delivered a string of hits, with lead singer Richard Patrick captivating the crowd with favorites like “Take a Picture” and “Hey Man Nice Shot.” Patrick, who has roots in the early days of Nine Inch Nails, showcased a powerful and concentrated presence, flawlessly executing each song and keeping the energy high.
As soon as Ministry took the stage, it was clear that the freak-show had arrived. Both guitarists with their flying V-Guitars ignited the atmosphere with an electrifying energy. Al Jourgensen, the mastermind behind Ministry and a trailblazer in heavy industrial music, commanded the night as the parade marshal. He mesmerized the audience with psychedelic visuals and robotic, monotone voice samples that perfectly matched the songs’ themes. Flaunting his massive M guitar, he contributed some impressive leads. The set featured their new track B.D.E, alongside beloved classics like Jesus Built My Hotrod, N.W.O, and Stigmata.
Renowned as the Godfather of Shock Rock, Alice Cooper proved once again why he proudly claims the title of the “King of Halloween.” He burst onto the stage with an electrifying performance that captivated the audience from the get-go. With a theatrical flair reminiscent of a heavy metal Broadway show, Cooper effortlessly commanded attention, even incorporating his wife into the thrilling spectacle. Boasting three talented guitarists, including the fan-favorite Nita Strauss, who not only shreds but also energizes the crowd, Cooper’s band is nothing short of phenomenal. They breathe new life into classic hits, making them sound like freshly remastered tracks infused with a modern guitar twist. Alice Cooper’s live performance is an absolute must-see. With his rallying cry of “Make America Creepy Again,” he seemed to be gearing up for the spookiest day of the year—Election Day. As one of the few acts from the 1970s still delivering performances that rival their heyday, Alice Cooper stands as a national treasure deserving of our utmost protection
Rob Zombie, celebrated for his contributions to legendary horror films like House of a 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, and his unique interpretation of the Halloween films, is also a talented singer, songwriter, and producer. He took to the stage with massive production screens displaying eerie, satanic visuals, moving about like a ghoulish hippie go-go dancer, as if he had just emerged from a coffin. The Grand Marshal of the evening, alongside his band of
the undead, darted around the stage with the frenetic energy of lifeless beings suddenly revived by a surge of adrenaline. In a playful moment, Zombie even plucked a young fan from the audience, humorously announcing to his mother that he was now part of the circus. He performed all his greatest hits, including some classic tracks from his groove metal 90’s band White Zombie. Rob Zombie wrapped up the night with the same electrifying energy he had right from the start which left the audience buzzing as if they had just awakened from a wild and euphoric nightmare.
Look for galleries of each of the bands here soon.
REVIEW: Deep Purple / Yes @ SPAC, 9/4/2024
Words and Photos by Timothy Reidy.
The opening intro for Yes was a classical piece but one not known to me. Yes themselves opened with their newest song of the evening, “Machine Messiah,” and it might have been the longest. The group was Steve Howe on the left side with Geoff Downes, Jon Davison, Jay Schellen, and Billy Sherwood from left to right. “Machine Messiah” had a quiet vocal at the start. Geoff got some Kaleidoscope organ going, Jon was on the bongos and Billy was starting to warm up to the song. Steve was hot-dogging it on the solo and was the main focus for the night. On this number, I did miss Chris Squire in the middle vocal sections. During the concert, there was lots of Roger Dean art in the background on a large screen. Jon was also playing guitar during “Machine Messiah.”
Steve gave a callout to Saratoga, and the next number was “I’ve Seen All Good People. Steve Howe with a mandolin, followed by Jon and Billy with good harmony. We got some V signs for peace. The sound was muddy for this tune and was also muddy for the next act. The song had a light ending.
“Yours Is No Disgrace” had some good organ by Geoff, and Jay woohing it up on the drums. It also featured some stereo wah in the concert hall by Steve Howe; afterward he followed it up with fine picking and soloing towards the end of the song.
Steve Howe took over the stage for an acoustic break with “The Clap.” It took a while for the crowd to clap to that number.
“Going for the One” was an all-slide guitar number for Steve. Sadly, you could not hear the vocals from the others well on this number. The bass was getting better with Billy and Steve was sliding along with his slide guitar.
There was another shout-out to Saratoga before “Siberian Khatru.” Billy was poorly lit at the start of the song but did get brighter later on this number. There was a good river chorus followed by mellow chanting and good guitar licks from Steve, even more so in the latter parts. This song was given a standing ovation.
Yes started the encore with “Roundabout,” with Jon walking around. Some standees, but not a lot of dancing from the crowd. Da Da Da. “Starship Trooper” was the final song, with light singing from Jon. Steve seemed to get drowned out at times early but came back with some good solo picking throughout the early and middle sections. This song was best sung along to. The crowd started clapping to the last section, “Wurm.” On stage during “Wurm,” Steve and Jon were on either side of the stage with Billy in the center. It turned out to be the best “Wurm” I ever heard, and made this a special show and Yes a special band.
Deep Purple came out and stayed mostly a five-piece through my time watching the band. The stage had a bigger screen, which was made by a low-rise keyboard, and the drums on the stage floor. There were good cameras placed to see the drums and the organ. “Highway Star” got the crowd to remain standing. The sound did start off muddy with lots of reverb in the hall. The guitarist dominated the show with him playing modern guitars. The lead singer came on and off stage.
The next song “A Bit on the Side” had good lighting on stage. The vocals came out muted but were sung strongly. The crowd began to sit. The next song was a dark number with a punchy guitar solo.
The next song had a bass solo afterward, with a crying organ that meandered. The singer brought out a gong. Then it went to a jam session with some smashing drums.
“Into the Fire” brought out some more classic rock. Then. after calling it a beautiful evening, the lead guitarist Simon McBride took over the stage for a guitar solo which started out speedy, then slower, then went a little metal. The band came back on with a soft solo and the organ section. The singer was shaking while belting out the number and finished with a psychedelic organ solo.
The next song “Uncommon Man” was dedicated to Jon Lord, followed by “Lazy Sod.” The next number was an old song about a guy who could not put up a tent on a wet Sunday morning. It started out with an organ solo and had good storytelling about drinking red wine. It went into some swing blues and the singer laid down some harmonica. The crowd went on their feet.
My last song reviewed was a wayback song, “When a Blind Man Cries,” a ballad. I think they tried to play some of their newer songs, and sadly I had to get ready to exit. Both bands made for an interesting night of rock.