Hug Your Farmer returned, last Thursday, with a tribute to 50 years of the Rolling Stones. A who’s who of musicians rallied to raise money for The Vermont New Farmer Project, which provides assistance to the next generation of Vermont farmers. Thanks for a great night of music! I’m already looking forward to the next one.
(UPDATE: Links to videos at the end of this post)
Brian Cadoret was at the event and, as he often does, he’s posted a few recordings of the show:
Thanks, Brian!
To kick off this year’s Vermont Festival of the Arts, Haywire and The Grift were invited to Lareau Farm to play for the first annual community picnic. People showed up in droves, spreading their blankets around the great back yard of the inn. The fires were lit, the ovens were cranking out American Flatbread, and the bar had local beer. Kids were playing frisbee and badminton while the bands started.
Haywire started the evening off with a great set of music.
Then The Grift took the stage with a high energy mix of covers and original music.
Early in the evening, the dance floor was empty, but as the night went on it got crowded. I don’t think this girl was complaining in either situation – she was trying to get the party started here and continued to dance to every song until the end of the night!
As dusk arrived, the clouds got thicker and the announcement was made that the fireworks would go off a bit early.
Enhanced with a few flashes of lightening, Northstar Fireworks put on a good show in a slight drizzle.
The grand finale went off just moments before the skies opened up and drenched anyone still outside the pavilion. No matter, though, The Grift kicked up the dance music again and the party was hopping. A little rain wasn’t going to dampen anyone’s spirits this evening.
The first week of June is a great time to be in Burlington. It’s the week of the annual Burlington Discover Jazz Festival which brings together international and local musicians together to play at a variety of venues around the city. I love walking down Church Street during the festival; every block you can hear different sounds drifting out of the windows or on outdoor stages.
This year, The Necessary Means played at Nectar’s as a part of the festivities. Ray Paczkowski and Russ Lawton (Soule Monde) opened. If you haven’t seen these two play together, you’re missing out. It’s hard to believe that two people can produce such a big, full sound. I kept looking around to see where they were hiding all the other musicians.
After a quick stage reset (it’s gotta be hard always moving around that big Hammond organ) the Necessary Means came on and didn’t disappoint. Their Facebook page describes their sound as “70’s horn funk meets modern jam jazz” and that about nails it. Longtime Grift fans will recognize a few songs as solo riffs that have been turned into full fledged, standalone art. What strikes me every time I see these guys play is that in addition to sounding great, they’re all having fun on stage.
Enough words. Enjoy the photos — and maybe put on a few tunes while you’re scrolling through them.
I found the secret sauce to Daiki’s awesome percussion. Coconut Juice.
I recommend picking up their album, “Click” from CDBaby. It’s only 6 bucks as a digital download.
There are still a couple more days of music. Who’re you going to see?
Tomorrow Never Knows is the outgrowth of a show that I saw a few months ago down at Nectar’s. Back then, they were called “Rubber Revolver” and apparently only intended to play that one show. Well, I can say that it was a smashing success and I was ecstatic to hear that they were playing another Beatles show. (Should you desire a soundtrack for this post, I’d recommend this recording of “Oh, Darling” from the show.)
Tomorrow Never Knows is made up of members from Elephantbear (Mike Pedersen), The Grift (Clint Bierman and Peter Day), The Woeful Lonelies (Joshua Glass), Honky Tonk Tuesday (Sean Preece), and Jer Coons. If you’re from around Vermont, you’ve likely seen at least a few of these names around and know they’re a talented group of musicians that regularly put on high energy shows.
Tonight, Tomorrow Never Knows performed Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Abbey Road in their entireties. As someone commented after the show, they just did something The Beatles never did – play Abbey Road live from start to finish.
Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater played hosts to the band and the place was packed. One of the great parts about seeing a show in a theater instead of a nightclub is that you know the lighting is going to be good.
If you have the opportunity to see them, I highly recommend it. You can download the recording of the May 19th show from Nectar’s, but nothing is going to be as good as seeing them live.
Last week, Andrew Parker-Renga put out the call on Facebook that he would be back in Burlington, Vermont recording a live album at Nectar’s. I was first introduced to his music through my friends in The Grift and now that I live in the neighborhood, what could I do but join him?
Andrew played two sets of music starting off with a more standard singer/songwriter set and finishing by adding some looping and beatboxing. APR’s lyrics and melodies are catchy, but his use of technology really amplifies a one man show into something much larger.
The lights in Nectar’s can range between awesome and miserable from a photographic perspective. On this particular evening, they (Sergey?) had the lights on a nice rotating pattern that kept things fresh and provided some texture. I did, however, spice it up with a little Strobist action on some of the shots. The only problem I continually run into is the fact that the front lights are gelled so red that skin tones are next to impossible to achieve.
I’ll let you in on a little secret — if you see me shooting black & white at a show it’s generally because the lighting was incredibly red and monochromatic.
(A side note, I love that even through the numerous renovations at Nectar’s, this light has remained a fixture. I’ve heard that the revolving sign outside is in need of some repair — I hope it hangs around for a while, too. )
Great to hear you play again, Andrew! I’m looking forward to hearing the new album.