PHEW
Providence Sound Session was a BLAST and I saw a TON of acts all over Providence.
I’m still loading video clips form Lupo’s and WBRU’s block party Friday night.
And took almost 20 video clips from the Black Rep’s block party Saturday so keep your eyes peeled.
If you want a sneak peak at any of the videos before the full writeups are posted, you can always check them out on my videos channel on myspace
There is so much music going on this week and in the whole month in general, I’m already behind on write-ups. Two shows down, too many more to go.
July 4th I hit the Ocean Mist to catch Funk Nugget for their annual funky dance party, this year was a special treat with the release of their first studio CD “Biscuit City” Here’s a little taste of what’s to come:
07.04.09 Funk Nugget performing “Wand”
Last night on a whim I decided to head down to McFadden’s for the free show featuring J.U.D.A. Strain and Love Money. It was a great show, both bands rocked the house, unfortunately I haven’t had an opportunity to load any video on line yet, but there will be plenty to come in the full write-up that’s pending. Continue reading
I went to the beach first thing this morning and was inspired to write lackluster poetry.
Here we are July finally, and quite an exciting month of music indeed!
Starting the month off right last night Madonna and Child and FRIT graced the stage at The Wheelhouse in Narragansett. I wish I was able to make it down to enjoy the show.
If you haven’t gotten out to a show yet, July is your chance there is so much music, I don’t know where to begin! Okay, well we’ll start with Tonight as its only logical. Continue reading
Mike at the kit and Ricky tuning up for the set
A few months ago Ricky Valente alerted me to this particular gig he had in June, allowing Nicole and myself a lengthy enough heads up to take some time off work. We took June 11th and 12th off, and in the meantime I secured us some tickets to the taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Having little to no familiarity with New York I decided to set off after work on Wednesday June 10th, on our way to stay with my friend Jess and her finance Stef in Brooklyn. Heading to Providence my stomach began to growl, once at Nicole’s apartment she agreed we should probably get some food before hitting the road and we decided on the closest best eats, United BBQ. After filling our bellies it was probably around 7pm before we hopped on I-95 South for the three and a half hour drive. We were making pretty good time until we hit some construction spots in Connecticut. Upon arriving in New York by about 10pm there was some thick traffic over some sketchy looking bridges and after only one wrong turn through a red light and two missed turns, we arrived at out destination. Jess and Stef were excited to see us and after introducing us to Riesling their new kitten, we opened a bottle of wine and had a relaxing evening chatting and sipping some Portuguese red. A few hours passed before Stef admitted she had work in the morning and we all set to retire for the night. Continue reading
Questlove
Friday night, after the passing of the King of Pop, The Roots invited Erykah Badu to sit in for Episode 75 of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, for the night they performed as a Michael Jackson Cover Band, which was a beautiful and fitting tribute. Being a huge fan of the show, I follow some of The Roots tweets. Today Questlove (@questlove) provided links from zShare to some tracks they laid down before the taping of the show. Both were so beautiful and made me smile, I wanted to share them before you missed them:
I Wanna Be Where You Are and Billie Jean
Be sure to thank Questlove for sharing some gems from his personal vault!
The Blackstone
Friday June 5th I struggled to find accompaniment to the Blackstone. Fridays are usually tough, as I’ve stated previously, as everyone tends to be a little warn down from the workweek. Stopping by Zig Zag‘s apartment on the way I knew there was a fighting chance that I’d be able to twist either his or Bobby’s arm into tagging along. Bobby had to work in the morning, but after a few glasses of wine it didn’t take too much prodding to get Zig Zag to tag along, albeit much later than I like to head out. We parked across the street in the lot provided, with ample parking, and made it inside to catch Chris Fullerton finishing up his opening set before The Revival Preachers took the stage. Continue reading
Big Jon and Kris with the Drop Out Night Styles
Thursday June 4th I was debating with myself whether or not I wanted to hit the town. Having only been to Snookers once before, and it being a work night I was leaning towards staying home. It then came to my attention that this was to be the final Drop Out Night at Snookers, as Providence’s best pool hall would be changing locations later this summer. I’d only recently heard of Drop Out Night, a summer Thursday night acoustic music tradition on the smoker’s deck at Snookers, though this would be the final show after a three year run. It was after 15 minutes of circling the side streets and back alleys of Providence before I recognized the area surrounding Snookers, without my brother Tim, a human GPS for Rhode Island, on hand, I had to rely on directions I’d scribbled from MapQuest. Either a combination of construction in town made the directions convoluted, or my illegible chicken scratch had fooled me into a wrong turn, regardless I was there plenty early to chat a bit with Kris Hansen and Big Jon Tierney before they began their set. Continue reading
Fungus Amungus
Friday May 29th I spent a bit too much time trying to round up some troops by prodding either Nicole or Tim to come along to Jerky’s for the evening, to no avail. Friday’s are a great night for shows in that most people don’t have to work in the morning, but it can also generate a hindrance to find accompaniment after a long week of work. I set off downtown solo to catch Eric French & Mr. Hyde open for Fungus Amungus. Arriving a bit late, Eric French was well into their set, I said some quick hellos to some familiar faces, and tried to get a good placement to set up for the evening.
Continue reading
TONS of Great Tunes for which to keep out your ear!
Don’t forget to VOTE for your favorites in The Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll
Thursday June 25th
PROVIDENCE – Eric French & Mr. Hyde at AS220
Friday June 26th
PROVIDENCE – Gravity Works opening for GROW at Jerky’s
BOSTON – Innocent Uprising at The House of Blues competing in Emergenza Finals
