Trombone Shorty w/ Son Little 7/3/15 College Street Music Hall

Great crowd for the start of the Fourth of July weekend at the re-newed Palace Theater, now the College Street Music Hall. Soul voiced, but modern sounding Son Little was the opener. Drums, bass and Little on guitar and vocals played some southern inflected indie hits. CSMH retained the balcony and some floor seating but had a general admission dance floor in front of stage. Little, from Lake Charles, said he was proud to open for fellow Louisianian TS.
Trombone Shorty is a whirling dervish from Nawlins. I guess it helps when you start your career as a bandleader at 6 yrs old in the 9th Ward. Boundless energy from TS, guitar, drums, two saxes, and big fella on electric bass. Some originals, Let's Get it On, Get Down on It, Mardi Gras Day, a Green Day hit, BB King tribute, and encored with a rousing When The Saints Go Marching In. You just new the night was rockin when The Funky Dawgs Brass Band set up on College Street to play as concert goers entered the hall.

Las Cafeteras 7/1/15 Crowell Hall Middletown

Las Cafeteras is a seven person collective from East LA. Mexican,more specifically from Veracruz, their instrumentation was great. Guitarros for all in various shapes and sizes. Ukulele Bass from Hawaii and "box" drummer held up the low end. Two male and two female singers and rappers played a wide variety of percussion: wooden stomp board (like tap dancing on a pallet), donkey jawbone,shakers, a Barbie xylophone, all  amazing. Politically charged lyrics with the emphasis on idiotic US immigration system. They made a point of flexing their smarts, with one young member getting his PhD at UCLA. Songs included "This Land is Your Land (for Donald Trump)", Ring of Fire, closed with a traditional take on La Bamba. Las Cafeteras had some great guy/girl rap exchanges, one song had the refrains "I'm Trayvon Martin I didn't DO nothing wrong, I'm Michael Brown i didn't DO nothing wrong, I'm Eric Garner I didn't DO nothing wrong" got me sad to think that the lyrics could go on forever unless some humanity hits our society.

Lucinda Williams 6/26/15 Arts and Ideas Fest

Nice weather for Lucinda on the New Haven green. Good crowd supported some classics, Joy, Car Wheels, Passionate Kisses. Solid backing band could rock these tunes from legendary songwriter. Lucinda was in good form, she is a temperamental artist and feeds off good karma. I saw her at Toads once and a Sox-yanks game was showing on the back bar TV eliciting some untimely (with the music) cheers. "What the fuck is goin on back there?" She blurted before quickly ending her set. Tonight's  show ended with two classic encores, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash and "Rockin in the Free World" the Neil Young classic that was recently wrongfully pinched to serve as the theme song for Donald Trump's candidacy for president.

Cibo Matto w/ Invisible Feathers 6/25/15 Spaceland

Caught the last tune from opener Invisible Feathers, a psych-rock trio. Capable guitar, bass, and female drummer showed some blue collar psych.

Asian, female, hip hop duo CM are always a sight. Preparing for their stint at Wilco's solid sound festival, CM made a stop at Spaceland. "So wha you chew do in dis Ham den?" Says vocalist, rapper Miho Hatori. I notice that Hatori has bad teeth that leave her face in a permanent state of sly chuckle. Her NyQuil induced dance moves added flavor to hits Birthday Cake and Sci-fiWasabi. Beatmaster and knob twiddler Yuka Honda had Yoko Ono shades and was able to coax many sounds from her laptop/keyboard setup. Male drummer and bassist, both dressed in white looked like a stud rhythm section brought along for their self-titled Banana Split tour. CM played some songs from their recent Hotel Valentine release, including the catchy environmental song MFN (ease da mutha fucking nay cha!) 

Mono 6/11/15 Spaceland

Tokyo noise quartet Mono swooped into Hamden to shatter some eardrums. Two guitars, female bassist, and monster drummer comprised Mono. Songs had the same formula, quiet intro that swelled to a raucous caterwaul. Japanese rock bands ooze hipness, and Mono is no exception. The guitarists, both seated, dressed in black, flailed their shoulder length hair at crescendo time. They looked like twin Buckingham Palace guards keeping watch over skronk-town. Female bass player in black dress with red pumps seemed like a stewardess guiding the listener to jump off the cliff of noise. The drummer came with gong and tympani to punctuate the sound. My ears are still ringing.

Ringo Deathstarr 6/10/15 Bar

Austin Texas based trio RD brought the noise for this show at Bar. Guitar/vocals, bass/vocals, and drums were all that was required to deliver ear-splitting squall. Guitarist reminded me of the spazz version of Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan. Lanky female bassist and motorik drummer provided the perfect backdrop for the fuzz and reverb drenched songs. Barely audible vocals were almost unnecessary in the Deathstarr attack. At one point, the singer asked if anyone in attendance was in the Skull and Bones, they said they would accept any and all grant money. It's curious why the proboscis-oriented drummer for the Beatles has spawned so many band names. Obla-Dee, oblin-deed.

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.