GIGS

MORE GIGS!

Michele Rizzo's Birthday Show
Vintage Lounge, Levittown
May 20th, 2006

story & photos by Vinny Dimarco

Michele Rizzo, the booking agent for Vintage Lounge, celebrated her 30th birthday in style by inviting 9 bands to perform on her show and numerous to attend. The format was to be 4 songs per musician / band and names were drawn out of a hat to determine who performed in what order.

The show started off with Craig Manganello, who actually began his live music career at 58 Gardiners Avenue back when the club was called Munchaba Lounge and Bobby Newman owned it for his first 2 year stint. Manganello is known as a strong supporter of the indie music community as host of Craig's Music podcast and also a pioneer of the advanced web technology, Indie Jukebox (no longer in existence currently), which provided streaming music / related tracking of plays / artist bios / related links of not just local indie musicians, yet those in other states and throughout the world. At this show he performed songs such as "Listen To The Summer," one of Michele's favorite tunes by him and he also performed "Take Me Away." "Listen_." was written by band mate Dave Arnsten and is about the subject of loss due to a death of a loved one plus life in the subsequent months and years. "Take Me Away" is a tune that Manganello wrote, and like many of his songs, is written from the heart and, in this particular case, describes torment and strife due to a relationship ending. His music was very melodic with a full guitar sound and this was a great way to get the show going.

Fear Of Fred, who features 2 guitarists, took the stage next. One of the tunes that grabbed my attention was "Girls on Reality TV" since it was a catchy song. Mike Ferrari's Next Wave Music Series has featured Fear Of Fred in the past and now itŐs clear why they have been so excited about this. The band has a polished and refined sound. And ladies - Fear Of Fred lead singer slightly resembles Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters.

Fear Of Fred

VOXhound, who was one of approximately ten referrals to Michele from this writer and promoter, took the stage next. Two of the songs they performed were "My Desire," and "A Little Bit Of Me." I would consider these the best songs that VOXhound currently perform, in fact VOXhound need more songs that fall into this caliber to go to the next level.

VOXhound

"A Little Bit Of Me" was featured in an ad promoting Soundroom Studios and VOXhound for MTV & VH1. The tune has a catchy riff and the chorus has a great hook. "My Desire" is a heartfelt love song ballad that showcases the vocal talent of Lou Mancuso and the versatility of Adam Dunn on drums and Charlie Grimm on bass. One of the members of the band New York Dynamite joined Mancuso on vocals for a song in the set. It's important to note that an additional guitarist was added to the band over the last several months, Frank Scheno, who will add to the abilities of John "Doc" Ruddy. In fact Scheno was fully in charge of guitar responsibilities for VOXhound at Michele's Birthday Bash.

Al Domingo Project, formerly Sputniks Down, a 4 piece band which features Jaymes Welsh on vocals took things down several notches by performing a jazz and blues type sound. Nothing personal on this, yet one of the disadvantages on picking names out of a hat to determine the order of entertainment. A writer like myself was just ready to continue to rock after VOXhound. Al Domingo and Jaymes Welsh were definitely on to something with their former band Sputniks Down; we'll see where the new project brings them over time; it's going to take more work.

The Kelly Project took their pop & funky type sound to Vintage's stage right after. They feature a great groove, feeling, and well written lyrics. Mike Kelly leads the charge on vocals with Vincent Palma on guitar, Bertrand Valville on bass, and the amazing Benny Arocho on percussion. The Kelly Project was one of a few bands that evening who was able to make the most of the 4 song format by letting their diversity easily come through. They are currently evaluating touring out of state and performing on the college circuit since they have performed on so many shows throughout the Long Island and New York City area over the past 5 years.

Altamonte

Altamonte tore it up on stage next. Their sound emulates The Killers quite a bit. James Cashman, Altamonte's lead singer, also sounds a lot like Morrissey, who I've enjoyed in the past. Altamonte are no strangers to Aural Fix Magazine and they perform at the Vintage Lounge quite a bit and have a very strong fan base. The band's greatest current weakness in my eyes? They need to develop their own original sound more if they really want to stand out from the pack on as many levels as possible. For guys as young as James, Nick Mattiace on guitar, Sean Cashman on bass, and Bill Zaccheo on drums there is plenty of time as newer material continues to get written and developed.

I had to jet to the Greyscale show down the road over at Live Trax of Bellmore so I missed the final 3 acts. Word has it that one Vintage Lounge favorite, Dirty Bath Water, performed as a scaled down 3 piece acoustic, piano, and drums next. Then Joe McGurne Band with Dan Harvey on guitar took the stage. If you haven't met Dan Harvey yet, you need to. He's a huge long-term and loyal supporter of specific bands in Long Island music plus a talented guitarist / vocalist. Johnny B-Hive band closed the evening. Johnny also has a very strong following, good promotion, and the vehicle of managing a venue to advance his band's career. Great overall show and talent put together by Michele on a single bill. Choosing the order of the entertainment according to style would have been a possible enhancement to the evening. Each of the bands that performed were thoughtful for dedicating their Saturday night to share in Michele's 30th birthday celebration.

Michele Rizzo

Fairport Convention
People of Middle Earth Unite!

by Kate Donohue

Fairport Convention - the legendary British Folk-Rock band - has a current lineup of Ric Sanders (formerly of Soft Machine) who is a wonderfully accomplished violin player, Chris Leslie, a mandolin maestro as well as fiddle player, vocalist, and songwriter, and original member, vocalist and guitarist, Simon Nicol.

They graced the stage at the University Cafe (www.university cafe.org) at SUNY, Stony Brook in what was the first in a series of Sunday Concerts (the Strawbs will be featured in October) put together by Charlie Backfish who hosts the radio show "Sunday Street" on the college's station at WUSB 90.1 FM.

It was nothing like the concert two longtime fans, James and Bob, remembered from 1974. Back then, in the Stony Brook gymnasium, Fairport Convention with lead singer, the late Sandy Denny, opened with "Matty Groves." After that, Bob said, the music "exploded from the stage," and there was a brawl by the beer concession. But, according to James, there simply hadn't been enough traditional music to suit him.

But times have changed! This was a kinder, gentler Fairport crowd who drank wine and ale as they sat 'round small tables talking with friends before the music started. Once on stage, Fairport maintained a friendly rapport with the audience and with one another as it galloped over the landscape of traditional English ballads and folk songs.

Fairport Convention

The most telling and poignant part of the evening was the encore on which Nicol sang the Richard Thompson song, "Meet on the Ledge." It's one of those songs about friends come and gone and how they will meet again. Considering Nicol is the one original member in the lineup, it was powerful to hear him sing:

"And now I see / I'm all alone
But that's the only way to be
You'll have your chance again
Maybe you can do the work for me"

They took a few playful digs at their prolific and successful compatriot, but performed yet another of Thompson's and Swarbrick's songs, "Now Be Thankful." Leslie's vocal was right on the mark as he sang:

"Now be thankful for good
things belong
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know"

Outside of these classic Fairport songs, my favorites were the biographical sketches. For example: "I'm Already There," a tune by Chris Leslie, (also a member of the morris dancers at Adderbury) harkened back to Banbury, England, where the story of Henry and George Back is depicted on a stained glass window in a church there. The two brothers, Henry and George, were on an expedition to Canada with Lord Franklin. The sailing ship they were on got trapped in ice and there was a polar bear lurking dangerously nearby. Eventually they got unstuck, but what transpired was the clear demarcation in the brothers' views on life.

Leslie played low whistle and sang on another of his tunes, "The Fossil Hunter." Do you remember, "She sells sea shells down by the sea shore?" The little girl depicted in the rhyme was the real life Mary Ellen who lived in the 1820's and helped support her family by finding and selling many "world firsts" after her father died. Many of her finds led to some of Charles Darwin's discoveries. She was not acknowledged for these, however, because the powerful university took the credit.

"The Hiring Fair," as Nicol reminded us, "takes place in Hardy country, as in Thomas, not Laurel and..." A young man falls in love with a girl from the "hiring fair" during harvest time, but he does not have the emotional equipment to deal with the great flux of emotion and desire. The song describes this one year in his life. But Nicol assured us "it wouldn't take all night to tell" as the story had been conveniently condensed into "just six verses!"

For a spell, Fairport left the traditional world behind and treated us to Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady," which featured Sander's laughing violin sound with the heartbreak smile, Lennon & McCartney's "Here, There, and Everywhere," and Gershwin's "Summertime" which turned into a violin tour-de-force.

The remaining songs were a mix from the albums of the past twenty years and included: "Over the Lancashire Hills," written by their friend, Stuart Marson, a former school teacher, "Slip Jigs and Reels," written by Steve Tilston, as well as "Banbury Fair," "Canny Capers" (from the new live CD Off the Desk), "Over the Next Hill" (from the current studio CD), "Sheriff's Ride," "The Rose Hip," "The Wood and the Wire," and "Woodworm Swing."

I asked my concert-going partner, Brian, why only two Fairport songs? He reminded me, "Folk music is a vast reservoir of songs, and Fairport was picking and choosing from among it, playing songs that suited this lineup." That is true, but the emotional impact of hearing the two original Fairport songs was huge. That is something for this lineup to consider because this could be an extremely strong point for them. For more Fairport info and to read some truly funny stuff about the current US tour from band members, go to their official web site at:

www.fairportconvention.com

MORE GIGS!