Alive in Vermont
associate editor Steve Lemcke
Upside Down Frown and Leftover Salmon, 7/28/95, Club Metronome
by Big Ed Chester
The air was as thick with humidity as it was with anticipation for the return of Boulder, Colorado's Leftover Salmon. Last July's visit was their fifth to Burlington since their debut in the Queen City in March of 1994. That first show had them paired up with HORDE favorites Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. Friends who attended that show were treated to a special on-stage jam session with our local HORDE heroes Phish, Michael Ray, and Dave Grippo, who all joined in for a night of music that is still remembered by neo-hippies to this day. Their return performances have always been well attended events and this show was no different.
Club Metronome was already getting crowded when local hipster groover rockers Upside Down Frown took the stage as the opening act. These guys have been playing locally since 1994. Upside Down Frown is Adam Frehm on guitar; James Koomick on guitar, mandolin and vocals; Mike McCarney on percussion, Mike Santasusso on bass; and Mike Bradshaw on drums. Musically they are a loosely blues-based improvisational rock'n'roll band. As part of that hipster crowd, they combine a whole lotta stuff into their set. Allmans style guitars, a little Santana, and a whole lotta grooves. Koomick's mandolin gives the whole thing a bluegrass flavor. The band is technically proficient and will thrill any and all seeking an alternative to Phish wannabes---still in that same vein but not as derivative as a lot of those bands out there.
For those of you unfamiliar with Leftover Salmon, they have been dubbed poly-ethnic Cajan slamgrass, bluegrass with a rock edge, playing a lethal mixture of bluegrass, cajun, zydeco, calypso, and rock all combined to keep everybody's body moving.
The first set of music followed the pattern that Leftover Salmon has become known for: blistering, speedy musicianship and odd lyrics. Of note was the fact that Vermont's 13-year-old fiddle prodigy Patrick Ross sat in with them for two numbers: 'Gold Rush', a Bill Munroe instrumental, and 'Cuckoo's Nest', an old-time traditional. The enthusiastic crowd cheered Patrick on as he wove his fiddle in and out of the ensuing madness, certainly one of the highlights.
During the second set they were joined by Phish bassist Mike Gordon. The audience went nuts as the usually morose Gordon, known by Phish fans for his background in bluegrass (he has worked closely with Breakaway's Gordon Stone for many years now) sang the bluegrass standard 'John Hardy.' Definitely another high point of the show.
Hartwick Fiddlers Contest 7/29/95 Hardwick
by Big Ed Chester
Last July was the place to be for old fashioned fiddlin' music. This was the 14th annual Hardwick Fiddlers Contest and it broke previous records for number of contestants. Entrants came from a variety of places, including a few from Canada and one from County Claire, Ireland. Other American states represented were New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Washington. Some of these folks, contestants and fans alike, travel around the country just to see fiddle contests. You thought Deadheads were loyal. There were sixty-one fiddlers in all, fifty-two of which will appear on an album that recorded the day's musical event (see Reviews section).
After a brief though much needed rain shower, the son came out and so did the dancing feet. Fiddle music is rootsy 'good time' music and it's hard to keep your feet from moving whenever the sweet strings of a fiddle are playing. Imagine when there were sixty-one of them.
Starting out the eight-hour event were the Radio Rangers, who have a live show every Saturday morning on local country station WDEV. The contestants all sawed fast and slow. It was not so much about competition as it was about having a good time. But when you call something a contest someone has to walk away from the day with a prize in hand. One prize went to young Patrick Ross who took first place in the junior division. The VT Council on the Arts was so impressed that they invited Patrick to take part in a fiddle workshop this past August.
The crowd at Hardwick was really great. It consisted of people from all walks of life--young and old, country and town, hippies and alt-rockers and everybody in between. They all gathered together for a common purpose- to enjoy good old time music. This contest is held every year on the last weekend in July. It may be too early to think about next year, but after the cold of winter you can be sure that come next July it will be smokin' hot in Hardwick with the sawing of fiddles.
Big Ed Chester is from Canaan Vt. As he would say, "from the northeast corner of the Northeast Kingdom." He owns Promised Land records which, would you guess, produced fiddler Patrick Ross' cassette Just Fiddlin' Around.
Huffy/Ruth Ruth/Madeline's, 9/25/95 Club Toast, Burlington.
by Kiera Flynn
Before leaving Burlington for the summer in May, I picked up both huffy's and Madelines' tapes at Tones. I listened attentively all summer and I was pleasantly surprised to find them on a bill together at Club Toast my first weekend back this fall.
In a town heavily populated by hardcore kids young and old, it's hard to be a little sappy without being referred to as 'cute.' Yuck!
But huffy disguises their sap amidst really rockin' (pardon the expression) music. Lead singer and guitarist Tim Lauben is a true entertainer. He is not only a talented songwriter and musician he also has mastered the dramatic stage jump quite well. They are a very tight three-piece outfit with a sound often compared to Dinosaur Jr and Buffalo Tom, but I see them as more influenced by bands on indie labels like Harriet or Teenbeat. If anyone has heard the song Drinkbox off their split 7'' with Six Cents and Natalie, you have already realized what a precious addition this band makes to the Burlington scene. It was my first time seeing huffy play live and I was not disappointed.
Ruth Ruth was another story altogether. To make a long story short..."they're so alternative!" Let me elaborate. Ruth Ruth are the quintessential grunge-by-the numbers band. You can expect a buzz dip in the near future (in the likes of Sponge and Filter). They certainly true they're fair share of the frat-boy bandwagon jumping contingent to Toast that night. I must say, though, that the vocals were quite good. They also had the worst instrument recovery of the night. The drummer dropped a stick and it took him the whole song to pick it up. Ruth Ruth.. better luck next time.
I was anxious to see Madelines after missing them in Boston the week before. The conditions were perfect: big crowd, high energy. They played an extremely tight set. Their songs are chalk full of little pauses that were executed perfectly. There is something very Robert Smith-like about lead singer Colin Clary's dreamy expression while singing. Madelines are fun to watch because individually, and as a band, they look like they are into it and enjoy what they do onstage. The basis and guitarist exchanged teases and smiles throughout the set. The drummer has total control.
Someone remarked to me that their songs were too long. What's wrong with that? They are good songs with interesting changes. "Finder" is a killer song and can be found on their tape Used to Believe. It is also their track on Good Citizen: Soundtrack to the 'Zine, Volume One. If you haven't seen Madelines yet you are missing out. They served as a much-needed antidote to Ruth Ruth.
Skylab/Tulleycraft/Madelines/Tuscadero, 9/18/95, Club Toast, Burlington
by Kiera Flynn
Unfortunately I missed Skylab, although a reliable source told me that they were the perfect indie band that may never go anywhere (i.e. "too scientific,") whatever that means. I walked in just as Sean Tollefson, clad in a huffy T-shirt, picked up his guitar to start Tulleycraft's set. Tulleycraft is a trio from Seattle comprised of two parts indie bigwig Crayon and one part Wimpfactor. I can't say enough about them. They bring back the way your mom must have felt about pop music, late nights watching Ed Sullivan, crushes on lead singers. They induced perma-grin on nearly all the females in the audience and on some of the males too. At the end of their set, my friend Adam turned to me and said, "I think I have a crush on Sean!" It's hard not to fall in love with him as he heart-wrenchingly delivers the lyrics to their hit "Superboy and Supergirl," quite possibly the cutest song ever written. It's good to see a band that is proud to wear their hearts upon their sleeves. Tulleycraft are yummy. 'Nuff said.
I'm not sure why, but while watching Madelines I remembered asking a friend why Karl Malone is called "the Mailman." "Because he delivers," was the reply. (Here comes the segue) Madelines deliver. They were playing to a considerably smaller crowd than the last show that I saw but they didn't let it affect their performance. Once again they proved who are the masters of the super cool pop explosion in this town.
I also got the chance to see an amazing drumstick recovery. Actually it was more of a near miss. One of the drumsticks broke in two and flew out of the drummer's hands towards the bassist's and guitarist's heads. They both ducked in sync and the drummer didn't miss a beat. It couldn't have been better if it hadn't been choreographed. Good stuff!
I was lucky enough to see Tuscadero at Burlingtonitus 2 last spring and since then they have been one of my favorite bands. They are a four-piece mixed gender band from Washington D.C. and are on the Teenbeat label. They also toured the second stage of Lolapalooza this past summer, so I was fearing some contamination of their indie purity. Tuscadero rocked, but they seem to be more involved during their show last spring. They played some new songs off of Queen for a Day and lots of stuff off their most famous The Pink Album. They have an amazing duality not only within the band (the two lead singers have a Ginger/Maryanne thing going) but their songs as well. The juxtaposition of the simple, calm and quiet "Crayola" and the louder and more rockin' "Latex Dominatrix' ' show that the band has good range. Not many bands can do both types of song equally well. On the whole, although their enthusiasm lacked as much as the number of people in attendance, Tuscadero still rules.
I was most disappointed by the turnout. You all had the chance to see four bands for five bucks and you missed it. You should be ashamed of yourselves!!
Kiera Flynn is a student at the University of Vermont who is also a drummer (could you tell) in the local band Me Jane.
Wide Wail & Moot Boot Lover , 9/14/95 Club Toast, Burlington
& Wide Wail/Juliana Hatfield , 9/19/95 Club Toast, Burlington
by Josh Silverstein
There are a lot of different ways to interpret live music. Some bands follow one school of thought that is based on the once-in-a-lifetime moments associated with improvisational music like a lot of jazz. Jazz follows a rough structure, yet it is continually embellished with every live performance. The other extreme, however, is more of a strict and precise style where every note, once it is initially created, has its fixed place in the musical score of a song. The first method has its virtue in a song's ability to constantly grow and mature with each performance, well the latter has the increased emotional intensity that can be replicated because "the song remains the same." That adds a certain depth. Jazz and groove oriented music is a moment by moment proposition. In music that is more heavily structured, emotional content of songs is more easily retrieved and duplicated in a lot of ways.
Moon Boot Lover is an example of the improvisational spur-of-the-moment style of playing. Their show on September 14th at Club Toast lasted roughly two hours, and without a set list they moved flawlessly from one song to the next without tripping up the music.
A Moon Boot Lover show seems to be a recreation of their songs specifically for that moment in time, tailored to fit the mood and attitude of the room. It's as if they are constantly trying to find the perfect form in which their song can exist. Their soulful and funky standards such as "Keep on Runnin’," "Play on Brother" and "Carol Lynn" I'll change mood and rhythm so that the song changes its form, emphasis and intensity as the need arises. As an audience member you follow their musical Journey not knowing where they are going to take you. They have one of the best singer-guitarists around in Peter Prince. They have a rhythm section that won't get you lost, and a keyboard that won't leave your head for days. Because they are so versatile they rarely fall flat (I have never witnessed it), and they make you move your body even if it's against your will.
Wide Wail is an example of the second approach to life performance. Their concerts are generally more of a listening session for their impressive self-titled album. They stay true to the song's recorded form. On a good night their style of performance is one of uplifting emotion. The downside of this is that on a rough night, the songs can fall flat and become lifeless.
When Wide Wail hit the stage on September 14 at Club Toast, they started their set with "Clear", a rhythmically intense song with many shifts that range from a hard post-grunge depth to a soft swirling. In performance those shifts increase the emotional Heights that an audience can experience, but the changes that night were too rigid to allow the songs to rise. That problem persisted until the end of their sixth song, "The Sea is Powerful", a beautifully spiritual song. It is so full of sad loss amidst perennial hope that it seems to gain momentum. It seemed to bring the band together. When they started their next song, the hit single "Help Wanted," they weren't full force. That force was maintained for the rest of the show especially with such strong new material as "Smell Like You" and "Liars and Thieves" showing that the band is stretching its musical boundaries outside of their CD.
On September 19th Wide Wail put on a fantastic and moving show. Where they were rigid in the previous show, this night they were loose and filled with energy. They were like a train that just would not stop, and judging by the audience's enthusiastic reaction, no one wanted to. They started with their brilliant new song, "Smell Like You", which created the momentum that was needed to carry everybody until the end of the 40 minute opening set. Even the accidental misstep starts of "Help Wanted" (guitarist Josh Mechem playing most of the set with a broken string) just added to the anticipation. When they started into the song it provided a release that just seemed to wash over you.
The show that night perfectly Illustrated the virtues of the strictly structured and low-key performance; each song was taken and directed, and thereby enhanced, so that the mood and feeling of each individual song was heightened and made more powerful.
One of the faults of the previous show was that Josh Mechem, lead guitarist, was not able to let loose with his fiery leads. On this night, however, he let loose and that, besides lead singer Amanda Gustafson's powerful and emotive voice, seems to be the key in expanding the limits of their songs.
It's hard to know what to expect from an industry performer, especially one who has been around for a while such as Juliana Hatfield. Are they road weary and therefore content to play short sets? Are they original and spirited enough to deserve their good fortune? Or are they caught up in the world of MTV and Rolling Stone magazine and writing songs for TV shows? Judging from her performance at Club Toast, a good mix of all those questions summed up the experience. Her music was a lot harder and had more intensity than on her albums, and her voice was stunning: able to hold high notes on key and for a very long time. She was backed by some solid players and seemed to make an effort to reach her audience.
But in all honesty her set was short and even though she has ten years experience, her songs, compared to Wide Wail's, seemed uninteresting. Wide Wail has a sense of reality, a thoughtfulness and of experience that Juliana seemed to lack. The riffs were cool and all, but the substance was either overlooked or underscored.
Wide Wall was the band to see that night. When Wide Wail is on, they take you places where you wish you could establish residency, and when they're off you're merely listening to songs through one speaker. Part of that is the reality of performing songs that require such a level of tightness. The odds that they will always be 'on' will get better with more constant playing. And as the band continues to grow, so will the beauty of their songs.
Josh Silverstein is a man about town and guitarist (could you tell) in the local proto-band Listless.
Otis/Never Only Once/Rocketsled/Sam Black Church, 9/18/95, 242 Main, Burlington
by Todd Kennedy
Otis started things off on this special Sunday matinee show at 242 with some really heavy junt-style music. Lots of bass and low tuned guitars with the rhythmic beating of the drums performed a perfect background for the almost mellow crooning of the lead singer. A tight four- piece from Boston, Otis rocked its way through a half hour set in which one could not help but move, as if the music was possessing you.
Next stop were Burlington locals Never Only Once. Definitely one of our city's most talented bands, they played some of the best post-hardcore style breakdown music that I've ever heard, either locally or from any label. Throughout their set you could see that they have been influenced by the post-hardcore scene, but they do not mimic more nationally known bands. They ended their set with a cover of a Supertouch song, "Searching for the Light," with Sterling Dew of Colorblind and Twelve Times Over helping out on vocals and what has become somewhat of a tradition.
Local juntsters Rocketsled hit the stage next, playing a lot of music from their long-awaited debut CD '71 Nova. They augmented the better known tunes with a few new ones. Guitarists Matt and Daryll dueling, Eric and his near-distorted bass, and Greg's incredible drumming (although missing the much beloved cowbell of earlier days) and singer Casey Rea's lyrical prose all blended well to create an overall Sonic output. Check these guys out for some agro-junt metal.
Sam Black Church, from Boston, headlined the afternoon show with their incredible high energy hardcore performance. I swear that lead singer Jet must smoke crack before each performance. He jumps and runs and screams through song after song. As for the musical part of the set, I would have to give Sam Black Church a thumbs down. The guitar sounded like crap, probably because, rumor Has it, they play them through bass heads. Plus every single song sounded the same.
The breakdown: Otis, Never Only Once, and Rocketsled kicked ass! Sam Bllack Church fell on theirs.
Todd 'DJ Dorkstain' Kennedy is a hard-core fan and editor of his own zine Durchsehen Magazine. Todd and his zine will be profiled in the next Puzz in Good Citizen.