Tim's Triangle Tribune - October, 2016
WORDS BY TIM LEWIS.
The Dave Jarvis Band at the VFW in Burlington Vermont October 28, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last night at the Burlington VFW. I got out of work at 7 and zipped downtown and found my way in just before 8. I hung out with the singer and Peter Pembroke, Chris Rielly, Robin Chesebro Rielly and a few others and had a lively conversation. With snacks and sandwiches and beer provided the room had a nice vibe. The stage was open for a while and a trio, who’s name I missed, played a few covers. After telling lots of fun stories, it was soon time for David Jarvis to take the stage.
He began solo with an acoustic guitar and played a fun version of Up In Smoke. The next song was a Violent Femmes song that I could not place at first. It turned out to be a ballad-like version of Blister In The Sun. He dropped it into I Melt With you and that wrapped up the acoustic set.
After a few minutes, Dave took the stage, picked up the electric guitar and was joined by a bassist, a drummer and Dan on accordion. I thought that was an odd choice but it was mixed down a bit and filled out the songs nicely, without being the focus. The band rocked hard and played a string of great songs from Burlington’s illustrious past. I though all the songs held up nicely and sound relevant today. Papertrain has lots of pop hooks and rocks hard. Talk Of Love has that irresistible hook. The instrumental D was pretty fun as was Ride. Winter has a jazzy feel and is just a gorgeous song. Message has a great pop hook too. The sultry Vampire was great considering the date and all of the Halloween decorations in the room. Sunflower Street is one of my favorite songs ever and it was so great to hear it played live. The tale of trying to be yourself in a world of conformity played out nicely in the super poppy Green Apple Girl.
The set was not overly long, but was full of great songs. It’s so nice to know that some of the magical music that has been created in our town can sit for decades then come back to life onstage, and sound as good as it ever did.
Radio Show 181 Thursday October 27, 2016 9-11pm Eastern US Time 107.1 FM and WBKM.ORG
Tonight’s local music Halloween show on 107.1FM WBKM runs from 9-11pm US Eastern time and will go as follows:
Song before: Who Are These Gods? – Dam Kat
Intro
From our small mortuary to the great big graveyard, these are the skulls of Burlington. It’s been a terrifying few days in Burlington with cold wind and snow blanketing the beautiful red orange and gold leaves. The forecast is for it to get darker and darker until All Hallows Eve on Monday, then it will return to it’s usual lovely state. Our sponsor, Higher Ground, is likely going to send me to the gallows for not mentioning how great of a rock club they are but tonight I want to focus on the fusion of the physical world and the spirits that inhabit it. Our perception of life is merely the light dancing across shifting solid objects. Let’s explore this subject matter with a song called Shadow and Act by Invisible Homes on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemora’s kind of music too.
1.) Shadow And Act – Invisible Homes 2.) Oh My God – Sarah Blacker 3.) Release The Dead – Chin Ho 4.) Angels And Devils – Invisible Homes
That was a song called Angels and Devils by Invisible Homes on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. Can you think of anything more terrifying than going back to your home after a long night at the clubs and finding it invisible? Once you find your way inside it must be hard to balance the angels and devils. For the tale before that I had to dig deep into one of our oldest graveyards to find the song Release the dead by Chin Ho. Did you enjoy Sarah Blacker’s tale of darkness and light in Oh My God? I hope Invisible Homes twin tales of Shadow and Act and Angels and Devils help you enjoy the thin thread between the worlds. Speaking of the devil. let’s take a journey to an ancient Vermont Farm for a song called Devil on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemor’s kind of music too.
5.) Devil – farm 6.) Devil’s Work – Thompson Gunner 7.) Devil’s Right Hand – Swillbillie 8.) Devil Knows My Name – Great Western
Great Western must be terrified that the Devil Knows Their Name on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. Swillbillie told us a gruesome tale of a gun being used as The Devil’s Right Hand. Thompson Gunner told us a tale of he Devil’s Work, and Farm told us a story about freeing themselves from the hold of the Devil. Now, we shall let Hana Zara tell us about one of our most famous holiday’s. It’s called Day Of The Dead on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemora’s kind of music too.
9.) Day Of The Dead – Hana Zara 10.) Raising The Dead – Carraway 11.) Ninjas Vs Zombies – Phil Yates 12.) Two Weeks (’til The End Of The World) – Grand
Considering America’s imminent grand decision, perhaps it is just Two Weeks (’til the end of the world) as the band Grand so nicely stated on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. I hope you enjoyed Phil Yates’ tale of Ninjas Vs Zombies and the epic battle for life. If the zombies should win, at least they dance well, as Carraway explained in Raising The Dead. Hana Zara’s cheery tale of the Day Of The Dead should give you hope too, in the darkest of evenings. Are you afraid yet? I hope so because it’s time to be terrified. It’s time for Doom Service and a Welcome To The Hellmouth on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemora’s kind of music too.
13.) Welcome To The Hellmouth – Doom Service 14.) Demon Eyes – Lake Superior 15.) Demon Moon – Crazyhearse 16.) Vampyre – David Jarvis
That was a tale of the Vampyre by Dave Jarvis on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. Dave will resurrect his old body and band for a show tomorrow and I hear word that the Vampyre will appear. Were you more afraid of Crazyhearse’s story of the Demon Moon or Lake Superior’s Demon eyes? Both were pretty frightening. I hope you enjoyed your Welcome To The Hellmouth with Doom Service. They put on the darkest of shows last Tuesday at Nectar’s. This next singer plays all the time, but to find Alice Austin, you must go to a Graveyard Before Dark on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora.
17.) Graveyard Before Dark – Alice Austin 18.) One More Grave – The Contrarian 19.) Children Of The Grave – Jesus Christ and the Hallucinogenic Allstars 20.) Paranoid – Surf Sabbath (The High Breaks)
Even ghouls like to surf so I hope you enjoyed the cover of Paranoid by Surf Sabbath on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. Since Vultures of Cult and SWALE are playing Black Sabbath cover shows on Saturday I had to subject us to Children Of The Grave by Jesus Christ and the Hallucinogenic All Stars. The Contrarian took us on a trip through One More Grave and we started in The Graveyard Before Dark with newly married Alice Austin. As all of the undead know, once you are in the grave, there is only one way to go, down. Fortunately, you will be guided by Our Lady Of The Underground as told by Anais Mitchell on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemora’s kind of music too.
21.) Our Lady Of The Underground – Anais Mitchell 22.) I Put A Spell On You – Marco Benevento and Kat Wright 23.) You’ll Make A Great Ghost – the grift 24.) Ghost Train – Jerichovox
Did you enjoy your journey on the Ghost Train with Jerichovox on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora? I hope so, there will be more ghostly songs soon. The Grift thought You Will Make A Great Ghost and I agree. That was Marco Benevento and Kat Wright who admitted that I Put A Spell On You and Anais Mitchell was Our Lady Of The Underground. Some people are addicted to the supernatural but Aaron Flinn is forever Giving Up The Ghost on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemors kind of music too.
25.) Giving Up The Ghost – Aaron Flinn 26.) Counting On A Ghost – Elephants of Scotland 27.) Ghostified – Persian Claws 28.) Killing Ghosts – Better Things
Better things are lovely kids to think that they can go around Killing Ghosts on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh’, Danemora. The Persian Claws left us Ghostified and Elephants of Scotland regaled us with a tale of Counting On A Ghost. Aaron Flinn is still Giving Up The Ghost and may do so for all eternity. This next group of individuals has demised as a band, but spend some time before they left Planning My Funeral. They were briefly known as Poxy on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington’s Kind Of Music, Plattsburgh’s kind of music and Danemora kind of music too.
29.) Planning My Funeral – Poxy 30.) With The Dead – Vultures of Cult
As we approach Halloween, we are all With The Dead as foretold by Vultures of Cult on WBKM.ORG 107.1FM Burlington, Plattsburgh, Danemora. I hope you were terrified to check out the music of our town. Let’s do it again next week, shall we? Goodbye. Farewell, See Ya, Sayonara.
31.) Black Cat – Black Rabbit Outro
Songs after: Plague Of Ghosts (live USA 2000) – Fish Phantom Girl – The Cush Black 17 – The New Siberians Crazy Hearse – Barbacoa Voodoo Camero – Wide Wail Alone In The Night – Andriana Chobot
Mr Doubtfire, Doom Service, and Better Things at Nectar’s October 25, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last night at Nectar’s. The show said doors at 9 and I worked until 9. I zipped home, did a quick turnaround and took the chilly walk downtown. Some light rain started about a third of the way down, but it held off and I made it to the club mostly dry.
I got in and settled and a couple of minutes later Mr. Doubtfire took the stage. Playing as a guitar/vocals, bass, drum trio they let loose some loud fast fun punk rock. They bounced all over the stage, almost to their detriment. The drummer was a great showman and tossed in lots of fun fills. They played a few songs from their EP but most of the set was music that will be on their next one. The new songs have nice constructions and it will be fun to get to know them. Late in the set they shouted Cowabunga and played what I think is the theme for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I really liked all of their songs and they have tons of energy on stage. What a great show.
After a bit of a break Doom Service took the stage and rocked hard and heavy. Their sludgy rock is powerful and fun. I think they played a few new songs but most of the set was from their Live At Mount Doom album. With pop ditties such as Monsters Are Due and Welcome To The Hellmouth they played a great set of super fun gloomy music. They tossed in a cover of The Lillingtons Black Hole In My Mind and closed the 11 song set with 1.21 Gigawats? Great Scott into Black Oil. I always have fun when Doom Service are Playing.
Better Things closed the night with a set full of their unique heavy rocking pop songs. They have a great sense of melody and almost everything rocks ferociously. They played classics like Getting Laid In New Hampshire and This Particular Falling Out. They played the slower and gorgeous, yet still searing, Ex-Files, then closed the night with a short fast rocker. Their set was not long but was wonderful for every moment.
I headed out shortly after the last note faded. It was a bit of effort to take that first step out the door, but I’m so glad that I did.
Radio Show 180 Thursday October 20, 2016 9-11pm Eastern US Time 107.1 FM and WBKM.ORG
Tonight’s local music radio show on 107.1FM WBKM will go as follows:
Song before: Time Warp – Rocky Horror Picture Show
Intro
From our small city to the great big world, these are the Sounds of Burlington. I want to thank Higher Ground for sponsoring our station. I heard the Shellac show was great last night and Dweezil is playing on Sunday so that is cool. It’s just been so lovely around town lately with lots of sunny days lighting up the foliage. It makes me think of this song.
1.) Blue Sky – Black Rabbit 2.) Nightingale – 1881 3.) Good Times – Grand 4.) Last Night – Carraway
Great fun brand new rocking song from Carraway. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album when it comes out. I just got Grand’s EP and it rocks nicely. 1881 just put out their second EP Camera. The first was called Lights and the third will be Action. Hmmm, Black Rabbit. OK, let’s play the next song from the Invisible Homes album Song For My Double.
5.) The Lie – Invisible Homes 6.) Fa Fa Fanta – WE Are The Asteroid 7.) Desert – Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re 8.) Golden Goose – Cave Bees
Bees played a great version of that one last night at ArtsRiot. They were joined by Tsu and Asteroid. They have been touring together and recorded one of each others songs. Desert is really an Asteroid song and Fa is a Tsu song. I though it would be fun to play those two. Great song by Homes. These next three bands will rock Nectar’s next Tuesday.
9.) Losing Control – Mr. Doubtfire 10.) Monsters Are Due – Doom Service 11.) Getting Laid In New Hampshire – Better Things 12.) Plastic Revolution – Doll Fight
I miss Doll Fight. I’m glad they left us lots of music before breaking up. Nectar’s should be fun next Tuesday!! OK, let’s keep rocking.
13.) Burn – Dirty Blondes 14.) Can’t Feel It – Vetica 15.) Screwball – Screaming Broccoli 16.) Not True – Peg Tassey MUSIC
Peg and Broccoli used to rock our town in the late ’80’s and ’90’s. I love that Vetica song. The Blondes will host a huge party at Nectar’s on election night so come on out if you do not want to be alone. This next song is a Burlington classic.
17.) Small Town Movie – The Cush 18.) Paint With The Sun – Arc Iris 19.) Cascade – Andriana Chobot 20.) Vicarious – Alice Austin
Great song from Alice. I’m loving the Andriana album. Arc played a great show on Saturday at Signal Kitchen. Hmmm, The Cush. This next band play in town a lot and always put on a great show.
21.) Kick Rocks – And The Kids 22.) The Territory – Hana Zara 23.) Terrarium – Vedora 24.) Move Through Time – Persian Claws
Persian are fun and are Barbacoa when Dee joins them. Great song from Caroline Marie‘s band. Hana played a great show a while ago and I can’t wait for her new album. OK, let’s listen to a little evolution in action.
25.) Chop Wood/Carry Water – Zola Turn 26.) Dragged Around The Universe – Queen Tangerine 27.) Void – The Lavas 28.) Popular Crowd – SWALE
Swale are going to dress up as Black Sabbath and play the Paranoid album the Saturday before Halloween. Alice Austin and Julia Austin were in Zola then changed the band to Queen then to the Lavas, so I thought it would be fun to listen to those three together. OK, there’s not much time left. On Saturday lots of musicians will assemble for Ladies Rock Lotto Fall 2016 and will form bands in the morning and perform later that night. It’s a benefit for Girls Rock Vermont. Here are a couple of songs by prominent supporters Linda Bassick and Samara Lark Brown.
29.) Super Sexy Science Party – Wave of the Future 30.) Tell Me – Linda Bassick 31.) High Water Mark – Belizbeha
I hope you enjoyed checking out the music of our town. Let’s do it again next week, shall we?
Outro
Songs after: Perfume River (live) – Fish In My Mind – Children in Paradise Aura – The Church Band Fugazi (live) – Marillion The Wherewithal – The Tragically Hip Empire Of The Clouds – Iron Maiden regular programming.
Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, We Are The Asteroid, and Cave Bees at ArtsRiot October 19, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last night at ArtsRiot. The show began loud, fast, and rocking with one of my favorite bands, Cave Bees. They opened with everyone’s favorite I Need A Raise and rocked into full gear with Lunacy. Round Some rocked hard and Sweet Pussy had a nice grind to it. They wrapped up the first album portion of the show with Mine All Mine and a blistering version of Golden Goose. They played four newer songs including Josephine and closed with the song about a remedy that is rock and roll. They sounded fantastic and I was in heaven for every moment.
Up next WE Are The Asteroid from Austin Texas took the stage with a roar. They opened with a rocking instrumental then dropped it into a song that is likely called Future Gods. The guitar player and bass player traded lead vocals and the drummer, who was pretty stunning all night long, added some nice backing vocals. Most of the songs had a nice groove to them and were punctuated my metal heaviness and some killer guitar work. They played a song about a walk through the Desert and closed the 10 song set with a rocker that had a nice whoa whoa whoa chant that reminded me a bit of Iron Maiden. They were lots of fun.
Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re capped the night with a heavy rocking set. The songs had an indie rock or punk or metal or some twisted combination of the three feel to them. The guitar player sang most of the songs, the bass player was excellent and the drummer played hard and had a great voice when she sang. They told a story about being on the road with Asteroid and about doing an EP where they each covered each others song. They played a version of Desert that sounded quite different from Asteroid’s which was fantastic on a few levels. They had the audience dancing hard for the nine song set and finished the night with a well demanded encore. I love it when I see bands I know little about and have them rock me so hard.
Paddy Reagan, The Shifting Sands, and 1881 at SideBar October 17, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last Monday at SideBar. The evening began with Padraic Reagan playing a few songs solo on an electric guitar. He began with a song that had a heavy drone then played a couple of mellower songs. He played a song that has more words than he usually sings then wrapped the short set with a heavier song about being to weak to call you.
Up next, New Zealand’s The Shifting Sands played a lush set of drone rock. They started with a heavy flowing song that had a hint of The Church and followed with a more poppy song. The third one reminded me a tiny bit of the Blue Button song How It Goes then they went back to the Shoegaze for the fourth song. A song called Water, I think I got the title right, had some nice moves and changes and was great to experience. The next couple of songs were pretty fun and they wrapped the set with a rocker that asked where do we go from here. I had a nice time seeing them.
1881 capped the night with a fun set of rocking pop. Their songs are catchy and it was nice to hear Winfield Holt break out a few great lead guitar parts. They played hit after hit like The Storm Has Been Weathered and Sometime Next Week from their Lights EP. I did not get the new EP, Camera, until after the show, but I’m sure they played songs from it too. They tossed in the usual cover of All Day And All Of The Night and wrapped the evening with a song called Sleepwalker, in which they count 1881 sheep. I think that was the third time I have seen them and have loved every show.
Arc Iris, Superhuman Happiness and Snakefoot with Stephanie Heaghney at Signal Kitchen October 15, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last Saturday at Signal Kitchen. The evening began with a puff of smoke and a trance music flow supplied by Snakefoot. He moved a lot of cool sounds in and out of the flow and was joined by Stephanie Heaghney. She added bits of voice and flute into the samples that created the sound. She sang a little now and then and that was lovely to hear. There were no separate songs as such, just a steady transition of sounds. It was pretty cool.
Clad in white jumpsuits and wearing head lamps, Superhuman Happiness took the stage for a very rhythmic dance party. The room was pretty full and people were happy and having a great time. They were joined by a percussionist, who’s name I missed, perhaps Eric, and Ray Belli from Arc Iris sat in on the main drum kit. The three main members of the band played keys and horns and Andrea Diaz’s singing was lovely. The only song I knew was See Me On My Way, and they did a great job on it. They played for an hour or so and the crowd danced the whole time.
Ryan Miller sat in on DJ before and after the Happiness set and played some great songs. I don’t think I knew any of them, but they all seemed to have a familiar ’70’s feel.
At some point, three golden caped figures emerged from the back of the room and rushed to the stage. They knelt before it and activated the Arc Iris sign, then took the stage and began to play. The trio sounded great and mixed a dance sound with some lovely melodies. They played fun and gorgeous songs like Paint With The Sun and Johnny. They reworked Money Gnomes from the first album. They played a couple of the songs from Joni Mitchell’s Blue album, since last time they were in town, they played the whole thing. They did an instrumental jam where the angel wings came out and followed with a powerful version of Kaleidoscope. Their set was fantastic and they ended the night with a well deserved lullaby encore. I’m so glad I went.
Mike McGonegal show with James Kochalka, Dino Bravo, Swale, and Led Loco at Club Metronome October 10, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last night, even if the reason for the show was so sad. It’s terrible when such a vibrant force in our community passes away too early, and as fellow humans, all we can do is come together in our mourning and to celebrate the moments that he lived. Many people loved Mike McGonegal and many people came out to hear some music and be together at Club Metronome last night.
The evening began with DJ Disco Phantom, aka Brian Nagle, spinning some of Mike’s favorite songs, and of course, he spun many more during the set breaks. Throughout the evening he played songs like Sympathy For The Devil, My Sweet Lord, Burning Down The House, Fucking Up, Under My Thumb, Give Me Three Steps, Psycho Killer, Little Red Corvette, Like A Virgin, Hungry Like The Wolf, Our Lips Are Sealed, China Girl, Money For Nothing, I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, Kodachrome, I Wanna Be Sedated, and others.
The first band on was James Kochalka which featured James on vocals, Eric Olsen on bass, Creston Lea on electric guitar, Jason Cooley on electric guitar, and Jeremy Frederick on drums. They opened with Magic Finger and said it was one of Mike’s favorites. They played a cool version of Monkey Vs Robot that went into a Gloria section towards the end and a full out Doors meandering before returning to the crashing ending. Another song about Monkey’s followed. They played songs about having to wash your ass, not breaking plates or hearts and wondered what’s the deal with triangles. Apparently, Mike was into shapes. The 10 song set was as wild and rocking and as tongue in cheek as most of Mike’s Facebook posts.
I chatted with a ton of cool people in the set breaks and watched a bit of the slideshow of pictures of Mike that ran in the other room. I grabbed one of the flower bulbs they had out and will plant it somewhere soon.
Dino Bravo VT were up next and opened with the staggeringly appropriate cover of Ween’s Birthday Boy. Lyrics like “Help me now, I’m going down, And I don’t know if I’ll be ok, I’ll be around, I’ll be in town, If you need a place to stay” were right on the mark. They followed with a tremendous version of A Song About The Ocean with a long jammed out ending. They kept the show rocking with Pop Music and Two Car Garage then told the naughty naughty story of Chuck Berry. Past The Mark rocked hard and was followed by the harmony guitars of Strawberry Blonde. Matthew Stephen Perry‘s story about a drunken night where they played a terrible version of Comfortably Numb for Mike beautifully set up the majestic version of that song which Dino performed last night. Chris Farnsworth ably handled the solos. It was a very reverent tribute to Mike.
SWALE came on next and were joined by Mike’s brother Kevin on electric guitar and vocals for a spiritual song that requested that Jesus help me find my proper place. Kevin left the stage and Swale played a gorgeous version of If You Get Lost. Every Last One Of Us started as a slow chant with Jeremy’s over the top drumming then climbed to a staggering rock and roll height before easing back down to a quiet finish. That is such a wonderful song. In honor of Mike, they played a couple of hard rocking Pants songs then rocked hard with their new song Drug Laws. Jason Cooley returned to the stage to sing a brilliant cover of Where Is My Mind? to end their set.
Led LOCO took the stage to close the night with covers of Zeppelin and Ac/DC songs. They opened with the overly appropriate Good Times Bad Times then played a song about music called Rock And Roll. Cooley mentioned something about Olsen’s Union Jack codpiece and Eric said he wore it so he would not get Trumped. Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap) had the still full room dancing hard. They used a Mike Mike Mike Mike chant to start TNT. If You Want Blood, You Got It followed. The Ocean rocked hard and so did What Is And What Should Never Be. They kept the club rocking with Black Dog and Whole Lotta Rosie then capped the night regaling us with stories of their Big Balls. .
It was about 1am when they wrapped up, so I headed out quickly and took the quiet reverent walk home.
Radio Show 179 Thursday October 13, 2016 9-11pm Eastern US Time 107.1 FM and WBKM.ORG
Tonight’s local music radio show on 107.1FM WBKM will go as follows.
Song before: Where Is My Mind? – The Pixies
From our small city to the great big world, these are the Sounds Of Burlington. Thanks Higher Ground for sponsoring our station. They have a lot of music happening this week, and so does the rest of our town. Let’s begin with a guy who played around in the 1990’s and is getting the band back together.
1.) Sunflower Street – Dave Jarvis Band 2.) What’s The Deal With The Triangle? – James Kochalka Superstar 3.) Chuck Berry – Dino Bravo VT 4.) The Next Instead – SWALE
On Monday Kochalka, Dino, Swale and Led Loco played a show in honor of Mike McGonegal. It was a great send off and most of those songs were played. He will be missed. OK, here is the next song on the album I’m playing all the way through week after week. The album is called Song For My Double.
5.) Aspiration – Invisible Homes 6.) The Storm Has Been Weathered – 1881 7.) Children Of The Stars – Madaila 8.) Johnny – Arc Iris
Iris will be at Signal Kitchen on Friday and always put on a great show. That’s another new song from Madaila from their Traces album. 1881 are playing Sidebar on Monday and are really good. This next band are playing with Iris on Saturday.
9.) See Me On My Way – Superhuman Happiness 10.) Better Off – Haley Jane and the Primates 11.) Clocks On The Wall – Jeremy Gilchrist – Singer-Songwriter 12.) It’ll Be OK – Let’s Whisper
Great new song from Whisper. Who needs contests when you can just walk out to a local club and see people like Jeremy. Haley and the band will be at Nectar’s tomorrow and always put on an enthralling show. This next singer will be at Manhattan Pizza on Saturday.
13.) Dreams Elope – Joe Adler 14.) East Jabip – REDadmiral 15.) Muskrat Love – Cave Bees 16.) Two Weeks (’til The End Of The World) – Grand
I still remember the show Grand played at Nectar’s a few months ago and can’t wait to see them again. Bees are playing next Wednesday at ArtsRiot. Admiral are at the Monkey House on Saturday and always rock. OK, let’s play some classic Burlington songs.
17.) Gas And Oil – Gas And Oil 18.) Weapons Factory – The Wards 19.) Las Vegas – Ninja Custodian 20.) The Spy Song – Pinhead.
All four of those are classic Burlington songs. This next one is too and is unfortunately still all too appropriate.
21.) Boys Club – Peg Tassey MUSIC 22.) Kill Your Idols – Slush 23.) Blood Boy – Barbacoa 24.) Sunday – Envy
Those are all classics too. Barbacoa will play with Swale tomorrow at ArtsRiot for a live recording, so that is one of the many can’t miss shows tomorrow, and Saturday is just as packed. OK, let’s keep rocking.
25.) Knight Ov Swords – The Contrarian 26.) Nowhere Feels Like Home – Fire The Cannons 27.) Lead Me To Your Love – The New Siberians
Great new Siberians song. FTC rocked the early 2000’s and Casey used to sing in a few local bands. I hope you enjoyed checking out the music of our town. Let’s do it again next week, shall we?
Outro
Songs after: Medley/The Company – Fish Rock Soldiers – Ace Frehley I Wait – Children in Paradise New Love – Andriana Chobot All The Love – Kate Bush
Note: Andriana is playing Friday at Oak45 (tomorrow) 7 to 9 if you are around Winooski
Ace Frehley, Simo, and Within The Fire at the Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY October 8, 2016
I had a great time seeing music last night at the Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY. I met up with my brother Ken, and took the long drive south. We arrived a little after 5, found the venue, gassed up the car and grabbed a quick meal. We returned to the venue around 6 and stood in the ever growing line. We chatted with a nice couple from Plattsburgh, saw a very young Ace fan, then got in and settled. The show was supposed to start at 8 but there was a lot of activity around the stage at 10 of and by 7:55 Within The Fire started rocking out their song Still Burning. They are a five-piece metal band with two guitars, bass, drums and a bald guy with a long gray beard singing. His voice was quite good and the band had a bit of a Priest or Maiden feel, though did not sound overly like either. I think the second song was Date With The Devil and the third was Three Days Ago. They played a song called Hypnotized and followed with Can’t Let Go. All the songs were hard driving rock and Three Days had some nice harmony guitar work. They closed the 35 minute set with a song for the sinners.
With zero fanfare and a 15 minute set break, suddenly I looked up and Simo were on stage and playing. They had a bit of a groovy swampy heavy rock sound and were completely intriguing. I’m not even sure what it was about the guitar/singer, bass, drum trio that I liked so much, but I was captivated from the first moment. They only played five songs but the first four were really cool and the fifth was a heavy rock version of With A Little Help From My Friends. The guitar player was shredding so hard at the end that he broke a string but they kept rocking until the crashing ending. I will have to find out more about them soon.
The next set break was not as quick but by 9:30 it looked like things were ready to go. I was wrong. It was about quarter of 10 when the lights went down and the bell started ringing and Fractured Mirror started to play. It went for a minute or so, then faded out and the stage was completely dark and empty. It was not long before a voice came over the speakers saying they had lost control of the lights. The audience impatiently waited and after a few minutes some of the stage lights came on. At 10:07 the lights went out again and Fractured Mirror started to play again. Again, it faded much to early, but Ace Frehley and his band just walked on stage and started playing Rip It Out. The lighting was fine for the rest of the night as Ace was joined by Richie Scarlet on guitar, Chris Wyse on bass and Scot Coogan on drums. All four sang lead and backing vocals throughout the night, but Ace sang the most. Toys rocked hard as the second song of the night then he pulled out the first one from his new album of cover songs. Emerald is my favorite Thin Lizzy song and Ace and the boys did a tremendous job with it. The audience was excited when he said they were going to play a song he wrote back in the 70’s. Parasite was the first Kiss song of the night and they rode that wonderful riff hard. Love Gun followed and was as bombastic as always. Snowblind rocked hard then they took us on a Rocket Ride. Bring It On Home started and ended as a bluesy number but had that Zeppelin feel for most of the middle. Ace marshaled all of us Rock Soldiers for a sing along and I loved the line about “If the devil wants to play a card game now, he’s gonna have to play without an Ace in his deck”. A short bass solo followed and Wyse showed himself to be very talented as he tossed in a little Fairies Wear Boots and God Of Thunder. They went back to the Hotter Than Hell album for Strange Ways then got another sing along going with New York Groove. 2 Young 2 Die was another Ace solo song that rocked hard. Scarlet got a short solo at the end but Ace played over it with him. I’m not sure I had seen a double guitar solo before, but they seemed to be having fun tossing in Secret Agent Man and the Batman theme and playing some harmony guitar. The Who’s I Can’t Explain followed but it turned out to be a tease. Will that be on Origins volume 2? They went classic with Shock Me and a great Ace solo followed. It was not super long but did feature the smoking guitar we all know and love. Ace simply said “Still Smoking” which was just great. He said to the crowd that he has been sober for 10 years then introduced a song about partying. He said it was OK for us to drink but to please not drink and drive, since he wanted to see us again. Cold Gin ended the set in a heavy rocking way. The audience could barely muster an encore clap, maybe it’s just too expected, but the band came back anyway. Detroit Rock City was beautiful and powerful and Deuce ended the night with a bang.
We headed out pretty quickly. The drive home was long but it went pretty smooth. In the back of my mind it was a teeny bit unnerving when trucks would drive by fast, considering the lyric in Detroit, but I kept my cool and delivered Ken safely at home in Shelburne, and myself shortly thereafter in Burlington. What a night. Wow, it was so cool to see a childhood hero in a club about the size of Higher Ground instead of the usual arena. I’m so glad I went.
Barbacoa and Sad Turtle at Foam Brewer September 30, 2016
I had a great time seeing music recently at Foam Brewers. There were a ton of great shows in town that night, but my cousin Michael Pearson was in town and wanted to hang out and see some music. I thought the show at Foam would be a cool place where we could still chat a little without me being completely absorbed in the show. We arrived around 8 and a short while later Barbacoa hit the stage. They rocked hard with their super fun surf noir instrumentals. Bobby Hackney Jr. was super solid on drums, Kirk Flanagan ripped it up on bass and Bill Mullins is super cool and calmly explosive on guitar. The played a bunch of originals and tossed in covers like Paint It Black, and maybe the theme to You Only Live Twice. They ended the hour long set with the jam that started as Misirlou then went into Secret Agent Man and the Spiderman theme and ended somewhere else. They are such a great band.
The set break was not quick, but was not too bad, then Sad Turtle took the stage to release their Ruthless and Toothless album. They played the album all the way through in order. They are an instrumental band also and play structured music with a jazzy and electronic sound. They sounded great and I especially loved Jeremy Gartner‘s drumming. We could not stay late since Mike had to drive back to Maine the next day but it was cool to hang out and catch a few of their songs.
Bethany Conner at Light Club Lamp Shop September 27 2016
I had a great time seeing music recently at Light Club Lamp Shop. I had a chance to see and hear Bethany Conner Music a few weeks back when she appeared on Rocket Shop. I was impressed and have been playing songs from her album ever since. She mostly plays around Vermont so when I saw she was returning to Burlington I really wanted to listen to her play a few songs to see if I was as impressed as the first time.
The show was set to start at 7. I got out of work at 6:30, raced home and did a super quick turn around, and headed downtown. The church bells rang the seventh time as I approached the club. I got in and settled then realized the show would be more of a singer songwriter showcase rather than just Bethany and John Smyth, who was also on the bill. I forgot the name of the first gentleman who took the stage, since I misplaced the notes I took, and he nicely sang and played some old timey songs on acoustic guitar. I sat and listened and appreciated the window on another time. He only played four songs, the last of which was a Randy Newman song, or one Randy covered.
After his set Bethany Conner took the stage. She had poise and confidence as she played acoustic guitar and let her voice loose on the crowd. She had a 40 minute set and played most of the songs from her EP I’ll Tell You. Every song was good and her stories in between were casually told and fun to listen to. She tossed a cover in the middle of the set, that faded into something else, and unfortunately, at this point I can’t remember which songs they were. Either way, they were nicely done. I like a lot of Bethany’s songs but that night The Worst Part stood out just a little bit more than the rest. She closed the night with a cover of 4 Non Blondes song What’s Going On. Her voice just soared on the chorus and filled the room as her guitar drove the song perfectly. It was a great end to a wonderful set.
I hung out for a bit, but was tired and had not eaten yet. The first singer came back on and was joined by two others. As they took more and more time to get set up, my energy went the other direction. I hung out for a while, but without music to keep me anchored, I drifted out the door and took the short walk home. On the way I stopped in at Drifter’s and ate a quick tasty dinner, then finished the walk.
Violet Ultraviolet, Invisible Homes and Ryan Power at The Monkey House September 24, 2016
Viloet Ultraviolet at The Monkey House September 24 2016 pic by Tim Lewis
I had a great time seeing music a week ago Saturday at The Monkey House. It had been a while since I had seen Ryan Power. As he often does, he plugged in his phone and played some songs and sang over them. The songs all had a lush texture and went in interesting places. His voice is very smooth and lovely to listen to. I was happily enchanted as he sang seven songs. Most of the songs had a pop sound though one had a country tinged electro vibe. That man just oozes talent and it was great to just stand and listen.
Invisible Homes were on next and played the usual brilliant show. They opened with the Crimsonesque All Your Basis the flooded our ears and hearts with Above The Frequency. Song For My Double had a nice rock groove then they played the cool new one that has the What’s In California? sounding riff. It had some nice freak out Sean Witters guitar work. I’m not sure what the next one was, I’m guessing it’s a new one, then the friendly strains of Pale Rage passed around the room. They followed with the new song about our Robot overlords and closed the night with a ripping This Machine. I was elated for every moment.
Violet Ultraviolet took the stage and played a bunch of the songs from their new album Pop City which was being released that night. VU have a cool sound with oddly paced songs that are quite enjoyable to experience. They played a 14 song set with two played by Jake solo. They sounded great and played well and I really need to listen to their songs to get a handle on them.
I’m so glad I went.
Radio Show 178 Thursday October 6, 2016 9-11pm Eastern US Time 107.1 FM and WBKM.ORG
I got a little extra organized and have tonight’s local music radio show on 107.1FM WBKM all lined up. It will run from 9-11pm US Eastern Time and will go as follows:
Song before: Alone – Children in Paradise
Intro
From our small city to the great big world, these are the Sounds of Burlington. I want to thank Higher Ground for sponsoring our station. They have lots of shows happening this week and have Built to Spill playing tonight. Let’s begin tonight with some huge sweeping songs in honor of all of those people in our community who have huge sweeping hearts.
1.) Teenage Mother Earth – The Red Telephone 2.) Breathing In – The Hero Cycle 3.) If You Get Lost – SWALE 4.) Cascade – Andriana Chobot
Cascade has such a huge luscious sound. Same for Lost. Swale will be playing Saturday at The Monkey House with The Nancy Druids. Sean from the Druids also plays in Telephone so it’s going to be a great night of music. I will be out of town, but more on that later. Great song from Hero. On a more somber note, this week the Burlington community lost one of it’s funniest and most treasured people. I loved all the wry posts that Mike McGonegal shared with us and I got to meet and hang out with him a few weeks back at a Silver Bridget show. I’m going to play three of their instrumental songs to pay a quiet tribute to Mike, and to all of the people who have left this life. I invite you to join me.
5.) Old Man – Silver Bridget 6.) She’s Leaving Home – Silver Bridget 7.) Harvest Moon – Silver Bridget
It was fun seeing them that night and having Mike help me identify which song they were playing. He will be greatly missed by our community. Since we are in a contemplative mood, let’s play the next song from the album I’m playing all the way through, song after song, week after week. Here is the next one from Song For My Double.
8.) Contemplating The Ivory – Invisible Homes 9.) Little Monster – Strange Machines 10.) What If – Madaila 11.) What If – REDadmiral
I had to play those two back to back. They are obviously quite different songs. Machines will be at Nectar’s tomorrow. Homes play so many great styles of music. That’s a song from Madaila’s new album Traces. Admiral are at The Monkey House Tonight. So is this next band.
12.) Ninjas Vs Zombies – Phil Yates 13.) Restaurant – The Mountain Says No 14.) Emerald – Ace Frehley 15.) Hey Ernie – Cold Sweat
When I was younger some friends and I would drive all over Vermont and New York to go see Sweat. We’d see them in Glens Falls and Clifton Park and places like that. I have tickets with my brother Ken to see Ace on Saturday in Clifton Park, NY so that should be fun. I believe that Lizzy cover is in the setlist. Great rocker from Mountain and fun song from Phil. I saw this next band last week at Foam Brewers
16.) Medieval Knieval – Barbacoa 17.) Say It – Anachronist 18.) Falter – Chin Ho 19.) Green Apple Girl – David Jarvis
It sounds like Dave is getting the band back together soon. Great classic from Chin. Great song from Anachronist. Barbacoa always rock. OK, let’s keep rocking.
20.) Sally – Daniel Waterhouse (Dan Murphy) 21.) Windigo – Crazyhearse 22.) The Day I Met You – Dirtminers 23.) A Different Machine – Elephants of Scotland
Great rocker from Elephants, who are really from VT. Great rockers from Dirt and Crazy and cool song from Dan. OK, there’s just a little bit of time left. Let’s keep rocking.
24.) 88 – Wave of the Future 25.) 22R – Cave Bees 26.) Black, Blue and White – The New Siberians 27.) I Am Sunday – The Red Telephone
I thought I’d end where I began. I hope you enjoyed checking out the music of our town, let’s do it again next week, shall we?
Outro
Songs after: Internal Exile Medley (Big Bus) – Fish Against The Rain – TILT Butts Wigglin’ – The Tragically Hip