Finally! New Yorkers; The Budos Band, brought their unique style of funk and afro-beat to Columbus, playing at Outland Live last Saturday. Together since 2003, and playing over 150 shows in the last two years, it was about damn time, but they made it well worth the wait.
Outland Live was the last stop of their week-long tour into the South and Midwest, and there was a celebratory feeling in the crowd and onstage. The band brought out a varied crowd; no age group was excluded and a good portion of the crowd was looking classy, dressed up in suits and dresses. The venue was like something out of Fear and Loathing with colored lights everywhere, couches, and even a 20-ft. tall Eiffel Tower out front. There were two big rooms, two bars, and a stage with mirrors and poles all around it. The band played in the bigger back room with a higher, slightly more normal stage (if you don’t count the painted mannequin bodies around the room). The lighting left something to be desired but when you’re traveling with over ten people, there isn’t much room for a light rig.
The band took the stage over, stretching ten people across. To the left was the driving force of the Budos sound, the percussion section. Big enough to be its own band, the drum section included Brian Profilio on drum kit, conga & drums player John Carbonella Jr., bongo and conga player Rob Lombardo, Dame Rodriguez on cowbell, clave, & tambourine, and Vincent Balestrino on shekere (talk about stamina!). Balesetrino, Rodriguez, and Carbonella were surprisingly present and notable, bringing an African groove out of the Staten Islanders. Lombardo had some incredible solos, bringing every tone possible out of the hand drums. A defining part of the Afro-beat Budos sound, the percussion section is full of subtleties and different layers. It’s uncommon to see such a large band touring, but by trying not to leave out any part of the live performance that fans would hear on the album, the band shows true attention to detail and dedication.
In the middle of the stage were the horns, a trumpet, and baritone sax. The sax has a deep booming tone that adds mysteriousness to their sound and brings some serious power. For being so big, it is surprising how fast sax player Jared Tankel can tear it up. Trumpet player Andrew Greene was somewhat buried when the whole band was playing, but made his presence and talent known when he stepped up to the mic for one of his many solos. Also carrying the melody, and amping up the ambiance, was guitarist Thomas Brenneck. The tone of his vintage Harmony H74 is perfect for the 70’s-style analog character of Budos.
Brenneck, Greene, and Tankel, when they got into a groove, would all step back and forth in sync, but the rest of their stage presence was totally unique. Brenneck was rocking out with one foot on the monitor, head banging, shaggy hair flying, and even crowd surfed with his guitar in the encore. Greene is a sunglass wearing, dirty mouthed badass, leading the crowd in an encore chant of the line he uses with the band, “what the fuck, Budos!”. Tankel came across as an early 70’s rock star, stomping his cowboy boots (tight jeans pulled over them, of course), and pushing his long hair out of his face to take a swig from a bottle of Absolut.
Bass player Daniel Foder’s stage presence came from his interesting style of playing, holding his 1967 Gibson EB-0 bass guitar straight up and playing it like an upright. He and Brenneck work together to build a foundation for the rest of the band, writing their own parts and building many of the songs from there. On instruments that typically take the lead, they are great at stepping back and sharing the lead with the horns and organ, leaving no decisive front-man and making for better variety and complexity.
The final element of Budos’s spooky, driving funk is Mike Deller on a vintage Farfisa organ. The Farfisa brings a psychedelic element and Deller’s playing is on point, whether he’s taking the lead or playing trills and runs in the background complimentary to the band. Usually in a minor key, Deller adds to the dark and sneaky feeling that first drew me into Budos.
They played an incredible set, including songs from all 3 of their albums (appropriately titled Budos I, Budos II, and Budos III). Highlights included the driving force of Adenji, Ride or Die, Up From the South, the fast and spooky Black Venom (“Do you guys like metal?!”- Greene), and the first song of the encore, Volcano Song.
The Budos Band is somewhat indie and underground, but has gotten some great and well-deserved recognition from all over including NPR, The New York Times, and Wakarusa Festival… (they were even being played in the Apple store this winter). They are signed to Daptone Records, the New York funk/soul/afrobeat label best known for bringing us Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (and Budos, of course). The show was their first time in Columbus, and they had a great turnout. Even with Trey Anastasio Band playing five minutes away, the stage room at Outlands was packed with funk-hungry fans. The band seemed to love the crowd, so hopefully they will be back soon for more. In the meantime, if you see Budos on a festival line-up this summer, consider it an incentive to be there. Their one-of-a-kind style and energetic live performance is not to be missed.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Yonder Mountain String Band @ The LC
Yonder Mountain String Band brought their jammed out bluegrass to Columbus, OH last Thursday. The band and the fans were on their A-game; as Jeff Austin put it, “you guys are crazy!”
The first thing that stood out was that the LC Indoors was a great venue for Yonder to perform at; there was plenty of room to dance and fans could move around the venue without any problem. When it came to the sound in the LC, the huge warehouse-esque room seemed ringy and didn’t have the best acoustics for a string band, but overall there was a good mix and every part was distinguishable.
The stage set-up was simple but fitting. The four band members stand straight across the stage with about 6 feet in between them. On the LC stage (which flips around for outdoor shows) the high ceiling left the guys looking like monuments. Rather than having a complicated light set up, there were colored spotlights on the stage and that was about it. They were well run and just enough to compliment the music without being too complicated. The real surprise came with the strobe lights. There’s something you don’t see at a bluegrass show very often…
…But, that’s what Yonder does. They don’t stick to the rules of one genre. Rock, blues, and jam music all have a noteworthy influence on Yonder’s style, making the title of “bluegrass” seem too vague a description for their sound. They bring the improvisational oomph of a jam band to the stage, with their ability to change things up, jam into other songs, and feed on the crowd. They allow their punk and alt-rock influences to form a more modern style of bluegrass when it all melts together, differentiating them from any other “bluegrass” band in the scene. Their blend of roots and danceable rock are what have gotten them to places most other bluegrass bands don’t try to go to (All Good 2010 Late Night… what a show!).
The band didn’t waste any time getting the crowd to dance to the uptempo banjo-picking, starting the show with Out of the Blue. They went old school with Rag Mama and then featured the incredible Ed Carner on fiddle for A Father’s Arms. Yonder brought up the energy with Red Rocking Chair and continued to play faster dancey songs, even teasing a little polka (Polka On A Banjo) and Grateful Dead (Althea). Mandolin player Jeff Austin was strumming, headbanging, and singing his heart out on Ruby. The band’s speed is incredible, and props are due to banjo player Dave Johnston who was playing with his right hand in a cast. The stand-up bass, played by Ben Kaufmann, stood out on Sometimes I’ve Won. The band brought it down for How ‘Bout You and as the set went on the jams got longer and longer. They wrapped the first set with Illinois Rain into Troubled Mind back into Illinois Rain.
Early in the second set, Austin told the crowd they were holding up their reputation as one of the craziest he’s seen. Rumor has it, when Yonder played a two-night set at the Newport in Columbus in 2006, the Newport saw record liquor sales. The crowd at the LC was rowdy for a Thursday night but most fans seemed to keep it under control and there were good vibes all around.
Set two was loaded with jamming and dancing, and between the string band and the crowd, the LC was filled with an electric energy. Much of the 2nd set was a blur of foot stomping, strobe lights, and bluegrass twang. Snow on the Pines into Follow Me Down to the Riverside and back to Snow on the Pines was the highlight of the night, with an incredible long jam and climactic lights to match. Follow Me Down ended in a climax of bright strobe lights and then it was right back in to the foot stomping of Snow on the Pines. Toward the end, they brought it down and started back up softly with a fresh riff carrying them into Raleigh & Spencer. Lights flashed to the crowd’s calls for an encore and the band quickly came back on stage and honored a request from a fan’s sign: Ooh La La, a Rod Stewart cover YMSB first played on New Year’s Eve 2006.
Bluegrass die hards may knock Yonder by saying they aren’t “true bluegrass”, with their rock guitar solos and improved peaks and jams. While they may not be the most old fashioned musicians, the way that they’ve added a modern twist to an old style of music is refreshing and it’s good to see, in an age of electronic music, how far good old fashioned musicianship has progressed.
Set 1: Out Of The Blue, Rag Mama, A Father’s Arms(1), Red Rocking Chair, Polka On A Banjo, Althea, Another Day, Ruby, Sometimes I’ve Won, Not Far Away, How Bout You, It’s All Too Much, Illinois Rain> Troubled Mind> Illinois Rain
Set 2: Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down, Honestly> Casualty> Train Bound For Gloryland> Honestly, Ripcord Blues, Nothin But Nothin> 2 Hots & The Joint Turned Brown, Damned If The Right One Didn’t Go Wrong, Part 1> Fingerprint> Snow On The Pines> Follow Me Down To The Riverside> Snow On The Pines> Raleigh & Spencer E: Ooh La La, 20 Eyes
The first thing that stood out was that the LC Indoors was a great venue for Yonder to perform at; there was plenty of room to dance and fans could move around the venue without any problem. When it came to the sound in the LC, the huge warehouse-esque room seemed ringy and didn’t have the best acoustics for a string band, but overall there was a good mix and every part was distinguishable.
The stage set-up was simple but fitting. The four band members stand straight across the stage with about 6 feet in between them. On the LC stage (which flips around for outdoor shows) the high ceiling left the guys looking like monuments. Rather than having a complicated light set up, there were colored spotlights on the stage and that was about it. They were well run and just enough to compliment the music without being too complicated. The real surprise came with the strobe lights. There’s something you don’t see at a bluegrass show very often…
…But, that’s what Yonder does. They don’t stick to the rules of one genre. Rock, blues, and jam music all have a noteworthy influence on Yonder’s style, making the title of “bluegrass” seem too vague a description for their sound. They bring the improvisational oomph of a jam band to the stage, with their ability to change things up, jam into other songs, and feed on the crowd. They allow their punk and alt-rock influences to form a more modern style of bluegrass when it all melts together, differentiating them from any other “bluegrass” band in the scene. Their blend of roots and danceable rock are what have gotten them to places most other bluegrass bands don’t try to go to (All Good 2010 Late Night… what a show!).
The band didn’t waste any time getting the crowd to dance to the uptempo banjo-picking, starting the show with Out of the Blue. They went old school with Rag Mama and then featured the incredible Ed Carner on fiddle for A Father’s Arms. Yonder brought up the energy with Red Rocking Chair and continued to play faster dancey songs, even teasing a little polka (Polka On A Banjo) and Grateful Dead (Althea). Mandolin player Jeff Austin was strumming, headbanging, and singing his heart out on Ruby. The band’s speed is incredible, and props are due to banjo player Dave Johnston who was playing with his right hand in a cast. The stand-up bass, played by Ben Kaufmann, stood out on Sometimes I’ve Won. The band brought it down for How ‘Bout You and as the set went on the jams got longer and longer. They wrapped the first set with Illinois Rain into Troubled Mind back into Illinois Rain.
Early in the second set, Austin told the crowd they were holding up their reputation as one of the craziest he’s seen. Rumor has it, when Yonder played a two-night set at the Newport in Columbus in 2006, the Newport saw record liquor sales. The crowd at the LC was rowdy for a Thursday night but most fans seemed to keep it under control and there were good vibes all around.
Set two was loaded with jamming and dancing, and between the string band and the crowd, the LC was filled with an electric energy. Much of the 2nd set was a blur of foot stomping, strobe lights, and bluegrass twang. Snow on the Pines into Follow Me Down to the Riverside and back to Snow on the Pines was the highlight of the night, with an incredible long jam and climactic lights to match. Follow Me Down ended in a climax of bright strobe lights and then it was right back in to the foot stomping of Snow on the Pines. Toward the end, they brought it down and started back up softly with a fresh riff carrying them into Raleigh & Spencer. Lights flashed to the crowd’s calls for an encore and the band quickly came back on stage and honored a request from a fan’s sign: Ooh La La, a Rod Stewart cover YMSB first played on New Year’s Eve 2006.
Bluegrass die hards may knock Yonder by saying they aren’t “true bluegrass”, with their rock guitar solos and improved peaks and jams. While they may not be the most old fashioned musicians, the way that they’ve added a modern twist to an old style of music is refreshing and it’s good to see, in an age of electronic music, how far good old fashioned musicianship has progressed.
Set 1: Out Of The Blue, Rag Mama, A Father’s Arms(1), Red Rocking Chair, Polka On A Banjo, Althea, Another Day, Ruby, Sometimes I’ve Won, Not Far Away, How Bout You, It’s All Too Much, Illinois Rain> Troubled Mind> Illinois Rain
Set 2: Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down, Honestly> Casualty> Train Bound For Gloryland> Honestly, Ripcord Blues, Nothin But Nothin> 2 Hots & The Joint Turned Brown, Damned If The Right One Didn’t Go Wrong, Part 1> Fingerprint> Snow On The Pines> Follow Me Down To The Riverside> Snow On The Pines> Raleigh & Spencer E: Ooh La La, 20 Eyes
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