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.

Pigpen Theater Co., The Morningsiders, Kindred Queer 8/24/16 Bar

Missed the opening set from local indie chamber pop heroes Kindred Queer. I did however chat with singer/guitarist Xavier to learn they performed new material and that he was pleased with the outcome. Along with cellist Olive and rhythm section, Kindred Queer play concise pop with excellent harmony vocals with flourishes of cello.
The Morningsiders are an Americana outfit from Brooklyn. Bass, guitar/vocals, keys/trumpet, and drums put forth a big sound. Decent songwriting and the addition of the trumpet reminded me of the hipness of Calexico.
Pigpen Theater Co. was a seven piece outfit from the mid-west. Bass, banjo, lead guitar/lap steel, lead vocal/guitar/violin, mandolin, drums, and keys/accordion. Beautiful harmony vocals where everyone sang. Excellent cover of Signed, Sealed, Delivered. This band had a lot of energy and reminded me of early Railroad Earth. A true theater company, they played a tune from their forthcoming play set to open in Chicago.

Bent Knee w/ Hnry Flwr 8/17/16 Bar

Opener Hnry Flwr was a quartet from NYC with some obtuse ties to the New Haven area. Drums, bass, lead guitar, and charismatic front man on rhythm guitar and vocals. Before the band started, the singer drew asterisks with black "war paint" over each eye to give a trippy effect. 70s rock song structure was helmed by strong vocals that were sometimes processed to make him sound like a melodica. Set highlight was a phenomenal take on Lou Reed's Perfect Day.
Bent Knee has been reviewed in this blog before. A sextet from Boston (Berklee grads or alums I assume) give off some prog vibes with quirky female vocals. Drums, violin, Korg (organ) playing female vocalist, female bassist, spazzy-haired lead guitar, and some dude on laptop (though it seemed like he might have just been checking his email on stage). Bent Knee have a new recording on the fabulous Cuneiform record label and are poised for bigger stages. Singer said they just returned from a European tour.

Noah Preminger w/ Dave Douglas 8/8/16 Bushnell Park

Intriguing installment of the Hartford Monday Jazz in the park series. Sweltering evening and decent crowd out to see local Jazz hero and Hall High School grad Preminger's quartet. Preminger on sax and a special treat Dave Douglas on trumpet with bass and drums. The evening's focus was straight ahead blowing on traditional blues numbers. Songs by Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James were put through the modern jazz blender to full effect. Preminger and Douglas are music students playing any and all genres (check Douglas' Buster Keaton tribute). The crowd was receptive and I must say Douglas is a big name for this series.

Boris w/ Earth 8/7/16 Spaceland Ballroom

This show was originally scheduled for The College Street Music Hall, but moved to Spaceland probably due to low advance ticket sales, which made for a crowded, hot affair at the Ballroom. The crowd was hungry for this sludge metal double bill.
First up was Earth. The brainchild of guitarist Dylan Carlson, Earth was a trio of two guitars and a female drummer. Slow churning vocal-less fuzz metal sounded as if the Spaceland was poised to be run over by a train. Carlson had long hair and beard which he swung in an almost metronomic fashion. With a cross tattooed to his upper cheek, he looked like the house band for Game of Thrones. Earth started in the early 90s but was interrupted by Carlson's stint with heroin. It must be interesting to play this kind of music before and after sobriety.
Headliner Boris is a shape shifting metal trio from Japan. Female guitarist Wata had serious command of fuzz feedback and drone. Takeishi played a double neck guitar and sang. Gender fluid Atsuo on drums and gong, looked like a boy, dressed like a girl, thinking he was a boy. They recreated their mid 2000 record Pink. In metal style, they were able to envelope the crowd with fog machine and drone with a hazy multi-directional noise that was comforting to the throng of head-bobbers. The show closed with a maniacal gong solo and Atsuo waving a pedal in arena lighter style. He hit the button which cut the sound mid-screech, what power! With my requisite foam earplugs, this show made me feel as if I was in a coozy of swirling metallic noise.