In just a few short weeks Phish will take the MSG stage for their traditional four-night New Year’s Run in New York City. NYC promoter CEG Presents has a full slate of late night after parties set to take place at a variety of venues from the 28th to the 30th for your post-show entertainment.
Tickets to these shows and more, including Consider The Source at Rebel on the 27th, are available through PhishAfterParties.com. You can also try your luck at Glide Magazine’s giveaway.
HT contributor and turntablist extraordinaire Wade “Wyllys” Wilby will front The New York Hustler Ensemble this Friday night for a cruise around Manhattan billed as A Disco Voyage. For this particular performance, the Hustlers will consist of Wyllys, Jennifer Hartswick, Peter Apfelbaum, Nick Cassarino and special guest D.V.S. Business Casual Disco and Mr Bonkerz will open after Hartswick and Cassarino welcome cruisers by performing a special acoustic set of tunes from the Yacht Rock era.
A Disco Voyage takes place on The Jewel, which departs from the New York Skyport Marina (E. 23rd and FDR) at 11:55PM sharp. Tickets are available for now through TicketWeb.
Saratoga Springs venue Putnam Den will host a trifecta of late night shows following each Phish performance at SPAC between July 6 and 8. On July 6, HT contributor Wyllys will bring a special version of his New York Hustler Ensemble featuring Particle keyboardist Steve Molitz to the venue. Then, on the 7th, the official WaterWheel Foundation 15th Anniversary Party will take place at Putnam Den with Grateful Dead tribute act The Dead Sessions set to perform. Finally, on Sunday the 8th, Dopapod will close out the Post-Phish action.
Joining Wyllys and Molitz on Friday night at Putnam Den will be guitarist Derek VanScoten and sax player Brian McNamara. The members of The Dead Sessions set to play at the WaterWheel party are Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro and Trevor Ainsworth on drums, Seth Yacovone and Toby Kniffin on guitar, Brian Laurie on keys, Paddy Wagon on bass and Christina Durfee on vocals. Tickets are on sale now.
It seems that each day we’re learning of another musician who has passed away after battling cancer. Guitarist Chris Cartelli survived a bout with the dreaded disease and started a foundation called Rocking Out Cancer to raise funds which support clinical trials in cancer research through live music events [read our feature on the organization here]. Rocking Out Cancer’s first concert will take place on August 2nd at The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York featuring HT faves Tim Palmieri, performing a set of Beatles tunes on acoustic guitar, and Leroy Justice.
Tickets will run $10, with proceeds going towards ROC. For more information on this incredibly worthwhile concert, be sure to follow the event’s page on Facebook.
Here’s six other stories of note as we start the week…
The lineup for the second annual Holy Ship! EDM cruise was announced
Finally, HT contributor and turntablist extraordinaire Wade “Wyllys” Wilby has just launched a brand-new website. Located at OriginalWyllys.com, you can keep tabs on the latest Wyllys gigs and sample his music through the site. Wilby heads to the Summer Camp Music Festival this weekend for a performance with the New York Hustler Ensemble featuring Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss.
We’re sure there will be plenty of Beastie Boys tributes over the next few days in honor of the late Adam “MCA” Yauch, who passed away today after a long battle with cancer. One of these tributes will take place at The Maison late night this evening down in New Orleans. Turntablist Wyllys (an HT contributor) and Umphrey’s McGee keyboardist Joel Cummins will play an impromptu Beastie Boys tribute along with special guests including Steve Molitz of Particle, drummer Terrence Houston (George Porter Jr., Dark Matter), Future Rock bassist Felix Moreno and Wyllys’s New York Hustlers band mates Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie “Chainsaw” Cressman. “In the spirit of New Orleans, we’re taking the songs deep into uncharted territories. This is not to be missed,” Wyllys tells us. The Beasties performance will segue into the Space Disco (Wyllys and Cummins) set. The action starts at 2AM sharp.
Following Phish’s New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden, HT contributor Wade “Wyllys” Wilby and his New York Hustler Ensemble (featuring Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman) will take the stage at Sullivan Hall for a late-night after party. The Hustlers will be joined by HT fave Scott Metzger on guitar for his first appearance with the band. Doors open at 1:30 AM when DJ Groundhopper kicks things off before Wyllys and the Hustlers come on around 2AM. Tickets are on sale now for $20.
Finally, the inaugural Electric Forest festival took place this past Fourth of July Weekend at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan. We’ve heard mostly raves from those who attended and we’re glad to see the event will return to the venue on June 28 – July 1, 2012. No word on the lineup as of yet, but here’s the trailer for the second annual Electric Forest festival…
The list of bands that have been formed by members of our extremely talented staff continues to grow, and over the next few days NYCers will have a chance to see two of these acts in action.
Wade “Wyllys” Wilby heads to Williamsburg for a pair of Umphrey’s McGee post-show concerts. Tonight, you can catch an intimate night of nu-disco at Two Door Tavern on North 5th Street starting after the Umph’s show. This gig marks the first-ever live performance at the tiny venue. On Friday, Wyllys teams up UM side project Digital Tape Machine at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on North 6th Street.
Meanwhile, HT’s Ryan Dembinsky’s genre-defying D.O.T.S. C.O.N.F.U.S.E. M.I.N.D.S. are set to perform at Arlene’s Grocery in Manhattan on Saturday at 11PM. This set, which should last about an hour, is also Ryan’s birthday party, so be sure to wish him well if you’re able to attend. Check out a taste of this killer band and hopefully we’ll see you there…
Last Thursday, HT contributor Wade “Wyllys” Wilby brought his New York Hustler Ensemble to Sullivan Hall on his wife/Hustler member Jennifer Hartswick’s birthday. Wyllys seized upon the celebratory mood from the get go and delivered a focused 90-minute set that blended pre-recorded electronic music with live gold from instrumentalists Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and Zac Lasher as well as special guests Rob Salzer (U-Melt), Todd Stoops (RAQ/Kung Fu) and Pete Pidgeon (Arcoda).
Wyllys started the show up on the stage by his lonesome and showed off some of his turntablism skills. Wilby worked in clips of John F. Kennedy’s famous “we choose to go to the moon” speech and wound up bookending his set by dropping more quotes from JFK’s speech at the end. Hartswick and Cressman have spent plenty of time together on stage over the last 18 months and the connection they share and have honed over that time was clear throughout the evening.
Following Wyllys’ intro, he invited the core members of his group up for a few groove-laden tracks before welcoming the guests up. RAQ/Kung Fu keyboardist Todd Stoops made the most of his time on stage, banging away at Lasher’s rig to deliver one funky riff after another with a quickness using a meaty clavinet tone. Salzer made his first public appearance on guitar since leaving U-Melt and was exchanging smiles and energetic solos with Lasher, his former band mate. Yet Wyllys was the clear star of the show, directing the musical traffic in a way that kept things interesting throughout.
HT’s Jeremy Smith was in the house and took a number of fantastic snaps. READ ON for more of Jeremy’s killer photos from this show…
HT contributor Wade “Wyllys” Wilby has been hard at work in his lab for the last few weeks putting together the perfect set for tomorrow night’s Wyllys & The New York Hustler Ensemble show at Sullivan Hall in NYC. For this special Friday the 13th performance Wyllys will be joined by Hustler regulars Jennifer Hartswick (Van Ghost, Trey Anastasio), Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio) and Zac Lasher (U-Melt) plus special guests guitarist Chris Michetti (RAQ, Conspirator) and keyboardist Rob Marscher (AGP, Matisyahu).
[Photo by Laura Wainer]
What can you expect from tomorrow night’s show? “Each Hustler show is its own unique animal. We are really using this Friday the 13th vibe to our advantage. Expect our signature funky disco, but just know at some point its going to get dark and technical and downright scary at points,” Wyllys told us. “This will mark the first gig the Hustlers will experiment with the electro genre which I am very excited about. We also are playing some unreleased tracks from Gang Gang Dance as well as some original unreleased Michetti beats. Lots of surprises in store,” the turntablist continued.
The addition of Michetti to the mix excites Wyllys, “I have been lucky enough to see Michetti play with the Mega Biscuits and twice with Conspirator and each time I have seen [bassist Marc] Brownie [Brownstein] and [keyboardist Aron] Magner rely on Michetti to draw out the jams and really look to him for leadership in the improvs.” Wade aims to play to the guest guitarist’s strengths, “I feel Michetti is going to be able to get into a groove and lay out to build a base for all of us to communicate in. I have ordered double copies of a few jams so that Michetti can have a nice long groove to work with.”
Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir as well as former GD managers Rock Scully and Sam Cutler as well as roadie Steve Parish share remembrances of the late Owsley “Bear” Stanley for a fascinating article posted at RollingStone.com. Hart proclaims that Bear was “responsible in great part for the Grateful Dead” and also feels that “music in general was never the same” after Owsley’s “brew” hit the scene.
Here’s six stories of note to help you get over the hump…
And finally, HT contributor Wyllys is bringing his New York Hustler Ensemble back to NYC for a performance on May 13 at Sullivan Hall. In addition to core members Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and Zac Lasher, Wyllys will be joined by guitarist Chris Michetti (RAQ/Conspirator) for this special Friday The 13th gig. Tickets are currently available through TicketWeb.
The Trey Anastasio Band’s tour hits Chicago this evening, where horn players Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman will be doing double duty. JHa and Chainsaw will join Future Rock’s Mickey Kellerman and Hidden Track contributor Wade “Wyllys” Wilby at the Kinetic Playground after the TAB show for a special Wyllys and the New York Hustler Ensemble performance. Check out Wade’s article on the group for a taste of what you can expect.
Winter’s comin’ and I’ve got a debut…and what a night it was. Months in the making, Wyllys and the New York Hustler Ensemble made their first appearance ever at Sullivan Hall on December 30th as part of the Phish After Party series thrown by CEG. The gig blew all of our expectations out of the water and we can’t wait to do it again. We already have three more gigs in the books but that’s for another article.
[Photo by Laura Wainer]
I figured my column here on HT would be a great place to give the public insight as to how the project came together, our method of writing/rehearsing, and what we plan to do in the future. If you, the reader, thinks this reeks of shameless self promotion, you’re right. But who better to interview me than myself. ENJOY.
About two years ago I began collecting Nu Disco and Re Edit records when I lived in Chicago. My DJ partner Lax Class had turned me onto the genre and I slowly became obsessed with it. The style seemed to be what Dubstep is to Drum and Bass; a slower, funkier and more psychedelic version of its predecessor. I loved the tunes but couldn’t figure out how people were suppose to dance to it. It was a drastic tempo change from House but still had the 4-on-the-floor groove. The more I listened, I started to identify the main components of each record. Indigenous instruments and soulful vocals were on almost all of the tunes. I figured if I really wanted to play this style out in the clubs I would need to magnify these human attributes, and what better magnifiying glass than actual humans.
READ ON for more on The Hustlas’ debut performance…
Yes, I totally owe the readers a recap of the second half of Day Four on Jam Cruise 9 as well as the grand finale on Saturday, but before I go all newsy on ya, I wanted to tell the tale of my Jam Cruise performance debut.
[Photo by Tiny Rager]
At the start of the trip, one of the sets I was most excited to see was Brock Butler’s collaboration with DJ Wade “Wyllys” Wilby on the small Solar Stage at 5PM on the final day of the trip. Wyllys and Butler had teamed up back in October for a pair of gigs in the Southeast under the name AMBIENt, which gave Brock the opportunity to add textures to Wade’s music instead of the shredding that tends to happen during Perpetual Groove shows.
Wade, a Hidden Track contributor and one of my BFFs, told me about an idea he had for the Wyllys/Butler set in which he’d call up to the stage a number of friends he’d met through the music of Phish to sing backup on one of that band’s early songs, Sanity. Wilby asked me to help round up some of our friends and bring them to his room at 1PM on the day of his set with Brock.
Day Three of Jam Cruise 9 continued the trend of sit-ins at nearly every set during a full night of music that followed our stop in Roatan, Honduras. Those cruisers who wanted to sleep took full advantage during the stop at port, while plenty of adventurous types partook in all sorts of excursions on the tiny island.
Once 5:30PM hit, everyone returned to the boat and Easy Star All-Stars kicked off the action on the Pool Deck. The band mixed Beatles songs with Pink Floyd songs with a few of their originals mixed in for good measure. A break for dinner followed, though a Moog Workshop headed by Bob Moog’s grand-daughter featuring Scott Metzger, Nigel Hall, Robert Walter and a few more musicians took place in the Disco.
Last night’s “atrium piano set” was led by Zach Gill of ALO and Jack Johnson’s band. Zach took requests throughout and performed a ridiculously fun mix of covers including Billy Joel’s My Life, Warren Zevon’s Lawyers, Guns and Money, Elton John’s Bennie and the Jets and I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues and Beatles medley that featured A Little Help From My Friends and Hey Jude. When Gill couldn’t remember the lyrics to Hotel California, Jam Cruise attendee JRapp stepped in and helped Gill with the words. These solo piano sets continue to be a highlight of the cruises.
Jerry Joseph, Dave Schools and Stockholm Syndrome had the plumb, prime-time spot on the Pool Deck and blasted through a few hours of heavy rock. Karl D. made his first of many sit-ins during the Stockholm set, which also featured a tribute to Vic Chesnutt in the form of Vic’s original Whoa Death. Joseph seemed to fully embrace the Jam Cruise experience this time around after he wrote a cynical song about his last trip on the boat.
READ ON for more of the recap from Jam Cruise Day 3.
Jam Cruise 9 will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on January 4th filled to the brim with amazing artists and the band fans who love them. Today, we present another Jam Cruise Files column which profiles a band or musician scheduled to rock the MSC Poesia between January 4 & 9. This installment of JC Files features DJ – and HT contributor – Wade “Wyllys” Wilby who worked in production and as an LD on three previous cruises before he was welcomed back as an artist this time around for Jam Cruise 9.
[Photo by Michael Kommesar]
Name / Jam Cruise 9 Gig: Wade “Wyllys” Wilby / DJ Bands: New York Hustler Ensemble, AMBIENt Past Jam Cruise Experience: Light Designer (JC4, JC5, JC6) 2010: Toured the Midwest, opened for members of Umphrey’s & The Egg and is set to embark on a tour of the Southeast with Perpetual Groove
Hidden Track: On a past Jam Cruise you worked on the production end of things, is it as hard to load equipment onto a boat as it seems?
Wyllys: It sure is. The Florida wind is your main enemy because everything comes over the side of the boat via crane. I believe “huge ass crane” is the technical term. The backline (rented musical equipment), sound and lighting come over in boxes that the crane sends over the side of the boat and us monkeys below have to stabilize the crate, bring it to landing, unload and repeat ad nauseum. Those aren’t that bad.
The most terrifying thing to come over the side of the boat is the main stage for the pool deck, which is the trailer portion of a tractor trailer. One of those blowing around in the florida wind can cause you to really re-think your career choice. We then move all the gear to their respective places inside the boat, literally building some “venues” where no venue existed before in some cases. Very challenging to say the least.
