Dark Star Orchestra 5/30/15 Capitol Theater Portchester NY

What is the definition of Deadhead? Do you....
1) go to a DSO show at the Cap to celebrate a friend's birthday?
2) remember the actual 3/29/90 GD show at the Nassau Coliseum (Bertha, Jack Straw, The Wheel, Throwing Stones, Estimated Prophet, One More Saturday Night, Goin Down the Road, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Eyes of the World et.al.)
3) after 20 minutes of Eyes of the World, you feel like the song is just starting?
4) know the actual Mayor of Hippie-town?
5) start your parking lot dance/swagger in mid-May in advance of festival season.

 If you answered yes to any of the above, it is very likely you are a deadhead.

Kayo Dot w/ Shilpa Ray 5/20/15 Bar

Opener Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers from Brooklyn with a recent release on Knitting Factory records gave off a lot of sound. Ray played harmonium, which I learned is a tabletop pump organ. It  looked like she was opening and closing a dresser drawer, part accordion, part furniture. Her vocals swelled from somber melancholy to stub-your-toe level scrawl. Capable backing band were all solid. I can see why she is a favorite of Nick Cave, even opening some shows on the Grinderman tours. I asked her about the harmonium, which I confused with a euphonium ( which is actually a large tuba).
  Kayo Dot were billed as "avant-metal". They were sinister, wore black, and played metal-ish tunes with proggy lyrics. Five string bass player and singer seemed like the leader. Guitar, keys/synths, and propulsive drummer rounded out the group.

Agent Orange 5/15/15 Cafe 9

California punk outfit Agent Orange had been on my radar for a couple of months. Judging from iTunes, AO had a few hits in the 80s surfing the punk snarl oozing from LA. Dormant for a decade, they decided to lure out punk fans with a tour. Being a Friday night, it was poor planning to not have an advance ticket and dawdle before entry as the show was sold out on our arrival at 10pm. (One needs a little room to mosh, isn't that a constitutional right?). After hanging out in miniskirt land, we decided to swing back and were allowed entry to view the last two songs. Typical, sweaty, high energy punkness was the genre. I hope they have a Posture-pedic in that van, these guys aren't as young as they used to be.

Low Cut Connie w/ The Silks 5/6/15 Bar

.  Providence- based The Silks were a 70s sounding rock trio. Guitarist looked and played like Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Frenetic drummer and Slade t-shirt wearing bassist comprised the group.
    Low Cut Connie hails from Philadelphia although drummer and sometimes guitarist had a decidedly British accent (a touch more vocals in the monitor mate). Two guitars, drums, bass, and charismatic leader on a beat up piano named Shandra. Straight up rock and roll with the pianist doing his best Jerry Lee Lewis acrobatics in,on, and around Shandra. "Shake it Little Tina" from their recent record was a highlight. Closed the show with a rousing version of Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" complete with Ray Liotta, Goodfellas reference. This song is playing during the crazy cocaine-fueled helicopter scene at the end of that movie.

Lydia Lunch w/ Retrovirus 4/30/15 Cafe 9

I assumed Retrovirus was a punky opener for Lydia Lunch, but was in fact her backing band. I am not familiar with Lunch's catalog, but realize she is discussed in the same breath as NYC seminal punk figures like The Ramones and Blondie. A few years ago, Lunch released a fractured blues record that showcased her post, post punk pushing 70 cackle. Tonight's show was all about punk snarl. Lunch's stage banter made concert goers of all ages blush. With longtime affiliate Bob Berg on drums, Retrovirus was filled out with younger bass and the inimitable Weasel Walter on ear sizzling guitar. WW looked like Will Ferrell but played like Nels Cline crossed with Buckethead. He wore gestapo pants tucked into jackboots, with a haircut that can only be described as a weasel draped over his forehead to enhance the spasmodic guitar renderings. Walter spat at the audience and pushed Lunch around in his psychotic frenzy. One might assume that he would have a certain "respect" for an obvious elder, but not so in the punk realm. This show was a curious sight, an aged punker being piloted through the Straits of Atonalville by Captain Weasel Walter.