|
Northeast
Regional Report
|
||
|
Edited by Tony Oliveira
|
||
|
From
the Editor:
Hello all,
Well, if you're reading this I guess that you survived the mighty
millennium apocalypse that was supposed to plunge us into eternal
darkness .what a disappointment, this was worse than the Batman
movies. I swear, if I have to wait another thousand years for such
a big disappointment, I'm going plunge us myself or maybe not. This
month's section is rather light on the content. I have suspect many
of you are still holed up in bomb shelters and just haven't gotten
a chance to send anything in, or more likely you are still recovering
from it all. I know I am. After a couple of contemplative nights
of local music, I have been pondering adding a local section- more
on that in the months to come, for now, everyone I hope everyone
enjoyed the holiday season and are well rested for another great
year of music.
Until next month, REVIEW B&P OFFER: (Analog or CD-R)
Just a reminder, I will pick one review each month with the winner
receiving a B&P offer from my dat (analog tapes) or from my CD-R
list (which is currently quite small, but growing), so let's keep
them coming! I won't necessarily pick the most well written review;
in fact, the winner will be somewhat random! Reviewers, please check
this section to see if you have won. This month's winner is easy,
since there is only one submission. Congrats! to Tim O'neil and
get in touch with me for details of the offer. -Tony
NEWS FROM NOWHERE
FREE SHOW?
Does the idea of possibly writing a review or flyering for free
admission interest you? Help the scene, the bands and help yourself
in the process, read on.
Info courtesy of Aaron (of Grizzly Magic Entertainment):
Wednesday is Jam Band Insanity at the Living Room in Providence
RI. The nation's best jam, jazz, groove, funk bands you're gonna
find anywhere. if you haven't been yet you missed fat mama and ulu
get on stage together and give new meaning to the word jazz. you
missed smokin grass come down off the stage for a post set unplugged
jam. you also missed amazing sets from the big wu, the recipe, dexter
grove, native, jive talkin robots, rane, alula, uncle sammy, another
planet, miracle orchestra, arthur dent foundation, jack straw....and
the music never stops.
1/19 Fat Mama w/ Psychedelic Breakfast Grizzly Magic Entertainment is looking for people to flier around
Rhode Island and also to write reviews of the shows for Jambands.com,
both for free admission. email grizzajj@aol.com
for more details or go to http://grizzlymagic.virtualave.net.
INFO: DRUMMING ABOUT YOU January 15th D.A.Y. family drum circle at the Nathaniel Greene
Community Center, Guilford CT, Time TBA. FREE. 203-458-8532
January 16th D.A.Y. family drum circle at Capt. Isaac Paine Elem.
School, Foster RI, 2:00pm. 401-397-6527 (Foster Foundation for the
Arts)
January 25th Class "Introduction to African Drumming" at the Boston
Center for Adult Education, Boston MA 7:00pm 617-267-4430.
~ISO/LOOKING FOR: (Attention aspiring musicians)
WORTH MENTIONING
A couple of weeks ago, January 5th to be exact, I had the pleasure
of checking out my first Miracle Orchestra/ Slip show at the Lizard
Lounge in Cambridge, MA. It was quite a treat. I've seen both of
these bands play together on numerous occasions so I knew what to
expect, but this was a bit different. Most of those shows involved
various combinations of the musicians playing each others songs,
usually the MO sitting in with the Slip. On this night, however,
it was both bands on stage at all times and they weren't really
playing anything, or at least nothing that I could recognize- with
the exception of a Michael Jackson song, "Don't Stop Till You Get
Enough" (also known as "Keep Up The Forces"), easily the best version
I have ever heard of this song live or otherwise. The place turned
into an instant dance party. It was cool. As for what they played
the rest of the night, basically, it seemed as if one or more band
members would start a theme of some kind and then they would all
run with it. Free form jazz if you like. Interesting music and a
nice break from the normal jam band recipe that occupies much of
my listening time. These bands do play together fairly often, so
keep your eyes (and ears) open for more of these shows in the future.
I don't think you will be disappointed and I can say with certainty,
that you will find hearing it more interesting it than reading about
it.
-Tony
GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
I pretty much accept anything as far as reviews go, as long as
they pertain to jambands- really, this is a very broad category,
and I give a lot of leeway on this too. Of course, I reserve the
right to not use anything or to edit them as I see fit. You will
get full credit for reviews and I generally take a hands-off approach
to editing, meaning I don't want to change the feel of your review,
after all, YOU were there, not me. Some important things to keep
in mind. Deadline! Our deadline is the 5th of the month. This may
change in the future, but for now, that is it. You can still send
me your review if you miss the deadline; I "may" be able to get
it in, if not; it will be used in the next issue. Please run "Spell-Check"
before submitting your reviews. Also, if you are referring to song
titles, please put them in "quotations". When e-mailing them in,
it's best to just put them in the body of the e-mail or mail them
as .txt. If you send something else there may be a chance that I
won't be able to open it because of software incompatibilities.
The best way to get a feel for what the reviews are like is by reading
past ones. Remember you don't have to be a journalist or professional
writer, you just had to be at the show. If you have any specific
questions, you can always scroll on up to the top of this page and
just send me an e-mail. I promise to be gentle. I guess that's it
for now. Looking forward to getting some new reviews and reviewers
in the coming months.
-Tony
p.s. I've added reviewer's e-mail addresses, so feel free to contact
them if you like their reviews or even if you don't, feedback is
always welcome.
REVIEW: The Slip Setlist:
Techno Weirdness> Kid Nikki, Nellie Jean, Co-op City, Crazy Heels,
Hey Worrier, Don't Foil The Mohel, ?(7), Cumulus, Joe Higley, Trane-ing,
Dogs on Bikes, When Cloudy Hushes Moon
As I've been on somewhat of a Slip kick of late, I finally decided
to make the one hour trip south to see them in their "other" home
state. They've played Providence countless times since, I believe,
both Brad and Andrew are from Rhode Island, but since they tend
to play the Boston area so often, I've never felt the need to take
the trek down I-95 to see them. Boy, am I glad I did. I'm very sure
it won't be the last time I do this either. I was kind of curious
what a Slip show in Providence would be like, especially at Lupo's.
They tend to play to venues/bars in the Boston area that are close
to capacity and Lupo's is much bigger than most of these bars, so
I figured there would be more room to get down in. I was right.
I've seen a decent number of shows at Lupo's and a lot of them have
also been kind of crowded, but not on this night. I wouldn't say
the crowd was sparse, but it was definitely not crowded either,
just right if you ask me. After sitting through the opening band
( a steel drum band), I was pretty excited to have the Slip take
the stage as was most of the enthusiastic crowd. It really did feel
like a home town show with nice vibe to boot.
The start of the show almost caught me off guard as Andrew started
playing this drum beat, I think they call them break beats? not
unlike what many of the bands like sector 9, and Lake Trout are
doing these days, the drums and bass thing. In fact, much of the
opener, "Kid Nikki", was Andrew and Marc playing this type of intro
with Brad just adding some ambient noise/effects on the keys. It
was really cool if you ask me, and like I mentioned not unlike the
sound Lake Trout has at times. This went on for a few minutes and
then they took this jam in a bit of a different direction for a
while until "Kid Nikki" came in and they played a nice rendition
of this tune. The whole thing clocked in at about 25 minutes and
was a great way to start off the show. Next up was "Nellie Jean",
which had a nice slow building intro by Brad before it took off
for another nice version. "Co-Op City" followed and I'm not really
all familiar with this one. I liked the version I heard, but don't
have much to compare it to. The next song, "Crazy Heels" got the
crowd going. This song kind of has an meandering groove, the kind
that makes you want to clap along. I've always hated "the Clap",
but for some strange reason, the Slip is the only band I don't mind
it at, probably because it's not the same old clap as the one I
dread. During the song they even did a nice little "Santa Claus
is Coming to Town" tease, cool and it fit in nicely since it was
December after all. The first song of the night with lyrics, "Hey
Worrier", would soon follow. This song has a nice feel to it. For
some reason it reminds me of the songs I grew up with on the AM
dial (my parents were never cared to buy a car with a decent stereo).
I'm not sure who whistles during this song, but it's a nice touch.
At this point in the show, I realized the hour drive was already
worth it. Even more so when I heard the opening notes of "Don't
Foil the Mohel". This song features an excellent bass groove by
Marc and some very interesting drumming by Andrew. With the rhythm
of the song in good hands, Brad is allowed to just throw in some
spacey/ambient kind of guitar licks. This song also features some
type of "scratching" for lack of a better term. It sounds like a
DJ scratching or the mouth sounds that rappers are able to make.
Since I tend to have my eyes closed during the most joy filled jams,
I can only guess that one of them is indeed making these sounds
with their mouths?, but it's just a guess. After a bit of chatter,
they slow it down a bit for the intro to 7? (not sure of the title
of this one). The intro has some middle eastern sounding (in tone,
not style) guitar work from Brad- very slow, until the song kicks
in and the rest of the band joins in with Brad tearing it up like
only he can. Now don't take this last comment as no one is capable
of tearing it up like him, but I've always considered him to have
a playing style that is refreshingly different than most guitarists
on the scene. Quite hard to verbalize, but rather easy to see and
hear in his playing. I guess the only way you may fully understand
what I'm blabbering about is to see them, so do so if you haven't.
After another tempo shift, the song hits wraps up and they segue?
into "Cumulus" or at least that's what I think happens. I'm still
not completely comfortable with the Slip in regards to setlists,
segues and the rest of that taper geek jargon ;) Another song with
lyrics, "Joe Higley" got the crowd rocking. This song sounds a bit
less jazzy then most Slip tunes. Sounds like the Slip with a twist
of dixie land- the south that is. Nice version of Train-ing ensued
and then one of my favorites, "Dog's on Bikes" closed out the show.
A fine 15 min version that had me on cloud 9! Of course, there was
an encore and this evening it was a mellow song, "When Cloudy Hushes
Moon" that wrapped it all up. All in all, one of the best Slip shows
I have seen. In fact, I liked it so much that I decided to take
in a 5th of the month at the Wetlands a few weeks later. I know
the new year just started but I can definitely see a lot more Slip
in my future J
Fyi: The Slip will be playing the Middle East in Cambridge, MA
on the 28th of January.see you there! Check http://www.theslip.com
for more of their schedule.
REVIEW: Max Creek By Tim O'neil
Set 1: Cruel World--> After Midnight--> Dark Water, Mama Are You
Ready, Can't Let Go (DEBUT), Fading Away (DEBUT), Pissed Off, The
20th Century Is Almost Over (DEBUT), Lawyers, Guns And Money-->
New Year's countdown jam, Auld Lang Syne, Once In A Lifetime-->
Back Porch Boogie Blues
Set 2: Jam--> Said And Done, Emerald Eyes--> Blood Red Roses-->
Louisiana Sun--> drums, space--> Season Of The Witch--> Loser, July,
You're A Woman, Hard To Handle--> Something Is Forming
Encore Bertha
The afternoon starts off as we head south on Route 84 heading
for Hartford Ct. The sky was an awesome orange, pink and purple
as we rolled down 84 at 4:30 pm witnessing the last sunset of 1999.
As we pulled into the hotel we noticed a large crowd milling about
the hotel. There were people everywhere. I knew the show was going
to rock just from the vibe at the hotel.
Me and my girlfriend check into our room and unload our gear into
room 152. We kick back and watch a little football, have a few beers
and eat some pizza then get ready to head over to the expo center.
As 10 O'clock draws near we head out.
We get into the expo center compliments of Scott Murawski as we
found our name on the guest list. Thanks Scott. We noticed the expo
center was set up allot larger than the Halloween show they had
a few months earlier. The stage looked awesome. There was allot
of decorations dotting the ceiling and the sides of the stage. It
had a very New Years Eve feel about it. We bought a few beer tickets
and decided to walk around. We said hello to our friends and at
10:45 the band came on.
They wasted no time as they launched into "Cruel World". Scott's
heavy riffs and John's Bass lines were romping and I could tell
that everybody was going to have a fun night. After Midnight set
the mood for the rest of the night. They jammed into "Lawyers Guns
and Money" right before midnight then did the New Years Countdown.
They all put their instruments down and the lights came on. They
just left the white lights shining on the crowd and it was a very
surreal feeling. People hugging and kissing and toasts being made.
It was unbelievable. They next went into the Talking Heads-"Once
in a Lifetime". SAME AS IT EVER WAS. Very appropriate song I thought.
It was so fun to hear the "Lawyers, Guns & Money" into Same as it
ever was.!
We sat down during set break to regain some dancing energy. The
band comes out and kicks it into-"Said and Done". The second set
run of -"Season Of The Witch"-->"Loser", "July","You're A Woman",
"Hard To Handle"--> "Something Is Forming" was awesome. We didn't
stop dancing for the whole time. We got down. This was the highlight
of the show for me. It was pure musical bliss. Around AM or so Scott
wishes me a Happy Birthday through the microphone, which was so
cool, I thought. The night was becoming a Huge Party at this point.
The show winds down and we run into Scott and he asks us to come
hang out backstage. We enter the back room and we stood around and
drank some more beers and met some new and cool people. I couldn't
have asked for a better Birthday party. We rolled out around 4am
and walk back to our hotel room and eventually pass out. I'll tell
you that the 11 O'clock check out time comes real quick when you
go to bed at 5:30 am.
Smoking show from start to finish. Thanks everybody for the sweet
time and great job! everybody who put the event together. You guys
did an awesome job with security, the vendors, the stage setup and
the sound, all was top notch.
NEW ENGLAND SHOW CALENDAR
Note: Remember, if anyone wants to add dates, but you were too
late to make our issue deadline, you can still enter them manually
in the Show Database on the homepage. http://www.jambase.com.
It should also be noted that this comprehensive calendar is compiled
mainly by a friend of mine, one Armand Turcotte, if you find it
handy be sure to let him know how much you appreciate it, .his e-mail
is below. You can also sign-up to receive this as monthly e-mail,
take advantage of that. You don't want to miss any good music.
Happy New Year ! Hope you enjoyed a grate holiday season ! We
were lucky enough to travel south and share an excellent week with
many fun friends ... now that we're back, it's time to get out there
and catch some local live music - enjoy ! :) - arm
here's the latest New England Shows listing. if you don't want
to receive further listings send email to: armand.turcotte@bigfoot.com
and ask to be removed from the NEshows list
Some other cool music links:
Gamelan Productions http://gamelanproductions.com let me know about any cool bands, shows, or other fun stuff !
***** Make sure you call before you head to the show ! *****
New England tour dates: sa 1-15 Entrain Grand Copa, Randolph MA 781-986-2672 other tour dates, festivals, and fun stuff
Tibet House Benefit Concert http://www.phish.com/news2.html sa
2-05 Carnegie Hall, NYC 212-247-7800 Trey Anastasio, Philip Glass,
Angelique Kidjo, Virginia Rodrigues, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright,
more
|
||