The Allman Betts Band at Count Basie Theatre 2/18/20

The Allman Betts Band stopped by Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank last night and took us all for a ride down south! They are on tour right now promoting the release of their new album Down to The River and celebrating the music of The Allman Brothers Band. Devon Allman and Duane Betts are keeping their father’s music alive and well and it was obvious that the fans are loving it.

I must admit that I was hesitant at first about how this show was going to be. My entire family have diehard Allman Brothers fans for as long as I can remember, and I wasn’t sure if The Allman Betts Band were going to live up to their father’s legacy. I can honestly say that after last nights show they can keep up! Devon Allman has strong vocals and solid guitar riffs that drive the beat of their jams. And Duane Betts can shred through some southern style guitar just as good as anyone.

Last nights show had a little something for everyone. They played some great songs off their album Down to The River. Some included their upbeat driving hit Shinin’ as well as Autumn Breeze which takes you on cosmic adventure of a jam. They also busted out some great covers of the Allman Brothers Band celebrating their upcoming fiftieth anniversary. Some of the covers included Ain’t Wastin Time No More, Blue Sky, and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. They even busted out a great funky version of The Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Street which got the place groovin!

This band is carrying the torch of The Allman Brothers Band and running with it. They have that same southern rock drive as well as the head trip jams to back it up. Fans were saddened at the passing of Gregg Allman and were not sure what was going to become of the music that they had loved for so many years. The Allman Betts Band are keeping the music of The Allman Brothers alive and well and bringing their own songs along for the ride as well. If you are thinking about checking them out I would highly recommend it these guys do not disappoint!

The Devil Makes Three at White Eagle Hall 1/19/20

The Devil Makes Three came through White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey last night like a hurricane! The California based band played some great Americana along with some amazing opening support from Matt Heckler. The band is currently on their North American winter tour through February and this is a show you do not want to miss!

The Devil Makes Three’s music is mixture of sound like no other. They combine some great variety of ragtime, blues, folk and some good ol’ fashioned rock and roll! Their show last night was all the ingredients combined. They played a variety of songs off some of their classic albums such as The Devil Makes Three, Long Johns Boots and a Belt, Do Wrong Right, and I’m a Stranger Here. It was a packed house at White Eagle Hall, and everyone came to sing, dance, hoot and holler!

Some of the songs included Gracefully Facedown, Black Irish, Old Number Seven, and the crowd favorite Aces and Two’s. The show was full of twangy guitar shredding from Pete Bernhard, and Cooper McBean. Which was backed up with thumping stand up bass from Lucia Turino and some driving beats from their tour drummer Stefan Amidon. If this tour is ripping through your neighborhood get out there and see it because it is some kick ass rhythm and blues!

Set List: Drunken Hearted Man (Robert Johnson cover), Gracefully Facedown, Forty Days, For Good Again, Bangor Mash, Black Irish, There'll Be a Jubilee, Poison Trees, Pray for Rain, Old Number Seven, Spinning Like a Top, St. James Infirmary ([traditional] cover), The Bullet, Dead Body Moving, Graveyard, Encore: Aces and Twos

Phish night one at Madison Square Garden 12/28/19

Everyone at Madison Square Garden got their ass handed to them last night… twice! Phish came home to their favorite venue and played an amazing show to open their annual new years run. They celebrated twenty-five years of performances at Madison Square Garden last night totaling out to sixty-four shows. It is another amazing milestone in the bands career, and they are just building up steam to keep going strong.

The first set opened with a debut of a new song titled Evening Song. Which was a good way for the boys to get their feet wet before diving into the deep end of the night. After that you knew it was time to get grooving with a great version of No Men in No Mans Land then the body slam of Mike’s bass heading into Down with Disease. At this point you knew you were at MSG when you started to hear the roar of the crowd and the floor start to bounce and move. That is a feeling that will never get old for anyone who has even seen a show there or for the band members themselves.

The rest of the first set included another debut of a song entitled 20-20 Vision, and some other great staples of the Phish repertoire. Some of the standouts included a great version of Ghost, and a funky Gumbo to get everyone groovin. They closed out the first set with Say It to Me S.A.N.T.O.S which has been moving up into the bands go to jam to get the whole house amped up and singing along.

The second set opened with a great version of Everything’s Right which kept the party going. Some other great standouts included an incredible version of Piper, which led into The Who cover of Drowned. This was a peak jam of the night which took the band into the heavier more ominous jams and some great uncharted territory. This brought us into something new, the funny Ass Handed, but also an Ass Handed Reprise because the band was just having too much fun with it. It’s always great to see some banter on stage and showing us how much fun, the band is having even after all the years in this venue.

Finally, they finished up with a double encore including A Life Beyond the Dream, and a smoking version of Rocky Top. Overall it was a great way to kick off the new year’s run and got the band cooking with fire. It will be interesting to see how the next three nights pan out. I am sure that the boys have something brewing for us to make for another memorable New Year’s celebration at MSG.

Set List

SET 1: Evening Song[1], No Men In No Man's Land, Down with Disease, 20-20 Vision[2], Ghost, Gumbo > Rift, Weigh, Dog Faced Boy, Twenty Years Later > Tube > Say It To Me S.A.N.T.O.S.

SET 2: Everything's Right > Beneath a Sea of Stars Part 1 > Set Your Soul Free -> Gotta Jibboo > Free > Piper, Drowned, Ass Handed > Chalk Dust Torture Reprise[3] > Character Zero

ENCORE: A Life Beyond The Dream, Rocky Top

[1] Debut.

[2] Phish debut.

[3] With lyrics changed to Ass Handed.

 

Cannibal Corpse at Starland Ballroom 11/23/19

Cannibal Corpse came to New Jersey and annihilated it! The death metal veterans stopped at Starland Ballroom last night with support from Thy Art is Murder, Perdition Temple, and Nights of Malice. Cannibal Corpse are still just as brutal as ever and did not disappoint. They are true to their death metal roots and continue to kill it just as they did almost thirty years ago from their start.

The band played a killer set of songs with a variety from their fourteen-studio album catalogue. Opening with Code of The Slashers off their most recent album Red Before Black. This set the tone for the rest of the set, which was filled with plenty of brutal vocals, blasting double bass, and insanely fast guitar riffs. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher ripped the fans faces off with his deathly low vocal growls and high-pitched screams and squeals.

Cannibal Corpse confirmed that they are just as killer as ever and show no signs of slowing down. With each new album they continue to shred the death metal scene. They are going to continue to rule the genre, one brutal, face melting show at a time!

 

Set List: Code of the Slashers, Only One Will Die, Red Before Black, Scourge of Iron, Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead, The Wretched Spawn, Devoured by Vermin, Unleashing the Bloodthirsty, Gutted, Kill or Become, A Skull Full of Maggots, Evisceration Plague, Firestorm Vengeance, Death Walking Terror, I Cum Blood, Make Them Suffer, Stripped, Raped and Strangled, Hammer Smashed Face