Blitzentrapper w/ Kasey and Clayton 9/28/16 Spaceland Ballroom

Kasey and Clayton are a couple of fresh faced folkies that seemed psyched to be touring with the likes of BT. Kasey on vocals and acoustic, and Clayton on guitar and vocals, with drums and bass. Good, original songwriting had a rocking Carter family vibe
BT evening was billed as an "evening of stories". Hailing from Portland OR, this is the third time I've seen BT. Lead vocals and guitarist reminds me of Jason Scwarzman with deadpan comic addition to the mix. Keyboards (Korg) helmed by a spectacled red haired wild man who reminded me of the sax player on the muppets. Drums/vocals, lead guitar, and bass rounded out the quintet. Many BT songs are stories like the classic Furr, Black River Killer, and Below the Hurricane. The onstage comfort of these guys makes for a completely relatable concert experience. Inter-song banter about a festival with Neil Young, Pearl Jam, And Blind Melon was a jump off point for the lengthy barrage of covers that evolved. Songs from Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Unknown Legend from Neil's Harvest Moon, Gillian Welch's Miss Ohio were great. Lengthy, rockin version of Dylan's Lonesome Hobo was the highlight. Closed the show with a 3-part harmony take on Phil Collin's In The Air Tonight.

Patti Smith 9/19/16 Sprague Hall Yale

Keynote speaker for the literary Windham-Campbell prize, Patti Smith is a breath of fresh air in the land of pomp and circumstance known as Yale University. A true Renaissance woman, Smith has given to music: the seminal records Horses, Easter, and Dancing Barefoot; literature: critically acclaimed Just Kids ( concerning her early years with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe), M-train, and Woolgathering; and photography, her show of black and whites at the Wadsworth Atheneum was fantastic. Smith's talk was centered on "why I write", which morphed into "how I write". She read a passage from an unfinished work titled "Devotion", then described real life situations that evolved into the fabric of this fictional work. Patti Smith is a monumental artist who comes across so humble and real.

Mystic Braves w/ Dream Ride 9/17/16 Cafe 9

Happily caught the whole opening set from Dream Ride. Two keyboard/guitarists, an unusually tall drummer, and an eye-catching singer frontman were part of the Mystic Braves posse. Dreamy, Dream Ride had an infectious, trippy, vibe. The singer had an awesome Yosemite Sam hat, sparkly medallions and jewelry, and a70s pimp suit that looked like it came off the rack of Huggy Bear (from Rockford Files fame). His stage swagger looked like he was paying attention in the Jagger 101 class. The drummer, who was spindly and 6'7" had this huge mop of hair that was a cross between dreads and a fro. I laughed when the singer referred to him as Palm Tree, which is exactly what he looked like. Some good pop psychedelic originals and covered Crimson and Clover and Fleetwood Mac's Dreams.
California's Mystic Braves continued the surf,garage,jangle pop of Dream Ride. Bass, two guitars, and drummer sounded like The Seeds or Psychotic Reaction. Original tunes sounded like they were right out of the excellent Nuggets compilations curated by Lenny Kaye. Songs meandered, having some pop beginning and end with trippy, distorto sequences sandwiched. Chatted with bassist Tony and singer Julian after the show. They were having a mini east coast run, back to Cali then off to Europe for a while.

Acid Dad w/ Straight To VHS 9/14/16 Bar

I knew I was in for a treat when I saw STVHS set up for their show. A power punk trio of drums, guitar and bass gathered around a 70s close-and-play type TV with a built in VHS player. Loud, original songs gave a whiff of Ramones and the Jam with the muscular grunge of Nirvana. Hailing from New London CT, STVHS routinely switched instruments and vocal duties for a thoroughly enjoyable set. If the show got boring, one could always zone out to the classic tapes on the VHS. On this particular evening, some bad 70s clay-mation  looked like Yoda in an episode of Mod Squad.
The buzz of Brooklyn hipsters changing the music scene gets tiring. Acid Dad are worthy of the accolades. A four piece outfit of two guitars, bass, and drums were a loud , punkier version of  the Velvet Underground. One song sounded like a stretched out version of European Son. Everyone in Acid Dad sang, and all had hair that covered their faces when singing. A great set that looked like the house band at the Cousin It convention.

Legion of Jerry 9/11/16 The Back Porch Old Saybrook

Final installment of the season for the hippie Sunday afternoon Mecca that is the Legion of Jerry. The Back Porch looks out over the marina and a decent gathering of head-bobbers showed their support. Set list included Bertha, Scarlet Begonias, Bob Marley's Small Axe, female singer did a rousing take on Joni Mitchell's Coyote. Highlight was Mission In The Rain and Let It Rock (which I played earlier in the day from my original albeit scratchy vinyl). For most of the show, the venerable David Gans lent his guitar and vocal chops to the mix. Show closed out with the bar's proprietor hopping on stage to belt out Brokedown Palace.

Ryan Montbleu 9/10/16 CT Folkfest Edgerton Park

CT Folkfest and Green Expo has an annual event at Edgerton Park in New Haven. The park is home to a beautiful community garden, to which we belong. Previous years have seen impressive (read costly) headliners for this fest, like Steve Earle and Richard Thompson. The current version is free and showcases regional folk acts. The highlight for this lineup was Boston folkie Ryan Montbleu, who has been reviewed in this blog many times. Montbleu got his start playing the T stations of Boston in the early aughts. I saw him at a Berkfest in 2001, and he had crappy time slots at nearly all of the Gathering of the Vibes. I'm not sure why RM reminds me of Jose Feliciano, he doesn't seem particularly Latin, but his easy slurry vocal style and clever songwriting gave this show a boost. Show highlight was an excellent version of Tracy Chapman's Fast Car.

The Addict's Mom 9/10/16 Dwight Hall at Yale

Lights of Hope Agenda was a talk about access, administering, and success of the use of Narcan,  the drug used to combat overdose death in heroin addiction. A pharmacist spoke on the types of delivery systems of the drug. A local community activist spoke about access and availability of the drug. A mother and sister spoke about twice using Narcan to reverse an overdose on their son/brother. Rosa Delauro, the area's congresswoman, listened and spoke about measures the US congress is considering to help this public health crisis. Charlie and Duncan performed a musical interlude by performing the Johnny Cash song "Hurt". Duncan strummed an acoustic guitar, while Charlie sang. The song, with lyrics pertinent to the night's subject matter, were passionately delivered by Charlie. He paced while singing as if to keep the "demon" on the ropes, and boomed the final refrain as if to wake the nodding in far off galaxies. Sometimes music just crystallizes a point that needs to be continually made.

Pavo Pavo w/ Uni Iky Ai 8/31/16 Bar

Another crew of NY hipsters U-A-I, I'm sure I mangled the spelling. Three piece outfit with guitar, female keys/vocals/synth, and another keyboardist (Prophet and Moog). Trippy, indie pop with loops and effects. Female singer processed her vocals so that it sounded like Rick Wakeman trapped in a port-o-let with the lollipop kids. Decent song structure, the woman sounded better with un-processed vocals.
Pavo Pavo had two members of the Yalie folk trio Plume Giant that was reviewed in this blog several years ago. Plume Giant had a memorable sound of two guys and a girl vocal harmony with fiddle and literate songwriting. Pavo Pavo was a quartet with bass, rhythm guitar, and the ex-PG members on guitar/vocals and keys/vocals. PP relied on pedals and effects in contrast with PG that focused on vocals and clever songwriting. While I enjoyed the set, I kept thinking of the older incarnation of this group. Crowd was a who's who of New Haven music scenesters.