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Living in Denver or Boulder provides one with a constant stream of live music options. People trade off most of those shows, however, when living in the Rockies. When shows do come through the area, travel is usually required.

Seeing the String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth in a tiny, intimate venue was easily worth the travel time and surpassed the expectations of almost everyone in attendance. Touring in support of his new album, Then There’s Now, The Kyle Hollingsworth Band came to Three20South in Breckenridge on their way back home to Boulder for an incredible evening of jazzy/funky, fusion.

The evening opened up with Ft. Collins’ Euforquestra. The reggae/funk jamband seemed to hold the interest of some of those in attendance although the music leaned towards the generic side, and at times grew quite stale. The set closed off with the title track of their new album, Soup, a nonsensical song used as a jam vehicle. The problem is that this doesn’t really work out too well when your jams all pretty much sound the same and the musical chops are average at best. While the music was fun and quirky at times, it was more or less relieving when the set was finished.

The headliner, on the other hand, was simply superb. With a top-notch band featuring Dave Watts (drums) and Garret Sayers (Bass) of The Motet, Kyle Hollingsworth was set to throw down an eclectic mix of covers, originals and Cheese songs for the near-capacity crowd. The show opened with an instrumental version of The Beatles’ Taxman. The up-tempo and extremely funky rendition of this timeless song set the tone for the night and the energy level was maintained the entire time. The highlight of the set came with Galactic sandwiching Zuco 103’s Peregrino. The 30-minute jam went all over the place musically and featured sit-ins from several members of Euforquestra before closing out the set.

READ ON for more of Jason’s thoughts & photos on the Kyle Band…

Have you ever asked either yourself or somebody else why they stomach the time-bandit commutes and exorbitant rents to live in New York City? Well, get a load of this random New York City moment.

[Photo from The Music Slut’s Fanfarlo review]

Just before Fanfarlo took to the Webster Hall stage on Friday night, they opened the show with a crowd pleasing something extra – something BIG. The show commenced with a man being harnessed in a straitjacket and hoisted upside-down via the lighting rig, high above the stage. The band came on stage to wild applause and tore into probably their best song The Walls are Coming Down while the magician wriggled an amazing escape before the song closed to thunderous applause.

Now here’s where the funny New York saga comes into to play. As my wife and I watched this magician’s face turn tomato-red and the arteries bulge from his forehead as he struggled to escape, she says “Oh my God, that’s our friend with the parrot from our building. We totally know him.” At first, we couldn’t believe it, but she was right. This magician actually lives in our building and I confirmed it in the elevator the following day. He regularly sits out front on the stoop with a giant white parrot and chats amicably with all of the neighbors. So, in the spirit of surprise, we decided to conduct a quick chat later that day regarding the awesome feat.

READ ON for more from Ryan on Fanfarlo at Webster Hall…

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