Seth Yacovone At Nectar’s And Abbie Morin, Binger, And Paper Castles At The Precipice At Radio Bean July 31 2015

Words by Tim Lewis.

I barely slept Thursday night for no real reason, just kept waking up then drifting back. I was pretty tired all day at work and got out just after 6:30 then raced home then raced downtown and arrived around 7:15 for Abbie Morin’s 7pm show at The Precipice: A Vermont Music Festival but they were not open yet. I wandered downtown then it hit me, what music can you see just after 7pm on a Friday? I headed over to Nectar’s and caught four, or so, songs from Seth Yacovone Band, really just Seth solo, and he was really great. His gruff vocals spun some vivid stories and his guitar playing is so warm and precise. He’s a treasure that I don’t check out often enough.

After a bit I headed back to Radio Bean for the big show, and quickly found my way to the outside yard where Abbie Morin was starting to play. She played acoustic and sang some solid well constructed songs and Thomas Pearo played electric and really lit them up. At times they let the music go very quiet and at times let it build a bit and rock out. The first set wasn’t long, and when they wrapped up, I went back through Light Club Lamp Shop over to Radio Bean to see if the next band were ready to go. They were not yet, so I headed back to the yard. I got to hear three or four more songs from Abbie and Tom when I thought I heard a louder noise coming from somewhere. I ducked back into the Bean and Binger were on. They were playing a cool song when I walked in, then followed with a new song, then a super new song that had never been played out. Both were pretty good. Dalton Muzzy‘s drumming was super solid and at times he threw in a furious flurry of notes, then slipped back into the beat seamlessly. Shakir Stephen wandered around the bass making it almost sound like he was playing lead while keeping the rhythm immaculate. Braden Winslow‘s calypso sounding ripping lead guitar runs added nothing but joy to the songs. They played that Can You Dig It Yes we Can song that sounds like Walk On The Wild Side, then said they had time for one more. They asked if anyone in the audience had a request, though it had to be one of their songs. I gave it a second or so, and no one said anything, so I blurted out Sequoia 3. They played an epic over the top killer version of one of the best songs currently happening in Burlington. It was great! Being a bit hungry, I walked from the Bean, through !Duino! (Duende), through the Lamp Shop into the back yard, and got a Cubano from the Pincho cart. I took it back into the Lamp shop and slowly ate as Paper Castles put on a mellow ripping show. Their songs have a moody flow that occasionally finds some sweet choruses. The drumming was solid and Padraic Reagan‘s bass held the songs together nicely while his singing illuminated the songs. With both Jake (from Violet Ultraviolet) and Wren on guitar, there was some serious rocking going on. Wren used a screwdriver to pull out some intense slide sounds from the instrument. Jake just attacked his Les Paul and ripped out some killer solos. The set was really good, but after that I was done. I really wanted to stay until ROUGH FRANCIS played at 12:30, but there was nothing left in me. I took a slow walk home and crashed just after 11. I actually slept nicely, so let’s see how late I can make it tonight.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.