With disco lights a blazing Tea Leaf Green took to the stage at the Highline Ballroom on April 18. Leading the New York City division of the Green Apple Festival, the band warmed up with such favorites as Bootlegger, One Reason, and Devil’s Pay; but it was the trippy Panspermic De-Evolution that really stole the first set. Aaron Redner of Hot Buttered Rum String Band joined the band on fiddle for a rousing Ophelia before the band went to break.
Highlights of the 2nd set included Kali-Yuga, Criminal Intent (again with Redner sitting in) and a rousing Tequila to send the fanbase into the night. The biggest surprise of the night was the inclusion of Las Vegas and Deep River back into the cataloge, songs that haven’t seen the light of day since Ben Chambers left.
While Steve Adams (of ALO) did a fine job filling in on bass, (and was greeted warmly by the faithful with fake moustaches) I think the band was truly missing the spark that Reed Mathis provides. Hopefully Tea Leaf Green can bring in Mathis fulltime and regain the heights we saw at the Blender last September.
READ ON for more of Jeremy’s photos and links to audio of the shows…
Maybe it was the recent studio time the band did in London and Philadelphia, maybe finally after two years Disco 2.0 is starting to emerge whole again, or maybe it’s just the damn fact that Barber is just happy to stand on two legs. But one thing the fans can agree on is that the Disco Biscuits rocked the sold out Nokia Theatre in NYC this past weekend.
Highlights from the first night included the Vassilios>Spaga jam and the Above The Waves> Confrontation> Caves of the East> (and yes I did just name almost the entire 2nd set) and from the 2nd night include Resurrection> Spacebirdmatingcall and M.E.M.P.H.I.S.> Lunar Pursuit.
Read on for more of Jeremy’s review and killer photos from tDB’s Nokia run…
U-Melt triumphantly returned to their old stomping grounds last Friday and Saturday at the recently refurbished Sullivan Hall in NYC. In their first shows back since New Year’s Day, U-Melt started up where they left off by opening with Through The Prism – a song begun over two weeks ago during their residency in Boston.
Moving deftly through old favorites Marvin the Pussy, Air, and Folded, were placed the classic covers of Once In A Lifetime sang by keyboardist Zac Lasher and Cosmik Debris by drummer George Miller. Added to all this was the debut of a new tune: Twilight’s Song. Such tracks as Disclaimer/Disillusion segued into a hot Elysian Fields to end the second set. Finally, with the first night drawing to a close, the band sent the crowd dancing off into the night with the upbeat trance jams of Bubblehouse.
The second night can be summed up in three words: The Sullivan Palindrome. As a band known for dedicating an entire night to Frank Zappa or an entire set to Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond, to take six of their own songs and wrap them around each other in a Mobius strip or a palindrome is pure delight to any fan.
Read on for more of Jeremy’s review and amazing photos of U-Melt…
