The yearly Laconia Motorcycle Week is returning, which means drivers should check their rear-view mirrors twice for the next 10 days while heading to the Lakes Region. It also signals the return of the Peter Makris Memorial Run, on June 8. Now in its 18th year, the charity ride attracts hundreds of motorcyclists and benefits area first responders
Motorcycles assemble at Naswa resort and are escorted to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a few laps, followed by a ride around the lake that ends back at Naswa. Now part of this tradition is James Montgomery, who began playing the bike run’s afterparty in the mid-2010s. The blues harmonica stalwart is back again with his band for an afternoon set.
He’ll also help kick things off.
“I play ‘Amazing Grace’ at the beginning of the bike run,” Montgomery said by phone recently. “Last year we must have done at least 500 bikes, something like that. It’s a pretty big run, and raises money, and then we have a party afterward — and, you know, nobody gets hurt.”
Montgomery has been a fixture on the New England blues circuit since coming here in the early 1970s. He attended BU with plans to be a teacher, but instead fell into a music scene that included the J. Geils Band, Bonnie Raitt and Duke & the Drivers. He was signed to the Allman Brothers’ label Capricorn Records, where he worked with studio legend Tom Dowd on his second album.
Montgomery discovered the blues in his hometown of Detroit, seeing legends like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker perform and learning his harmonica and singing style from James Cotton and Paul Butterfield. His reverence for the genre’s progenitors spawned a career in film. He’s participated in documentaries on Butterfield and fabled Boston radio station WBCN.
He also co-produced Bonny Blue, a documentary about Cotton, who he had a father/son relationship with prior to his death in 2017. The film’s centerpiece is a five-camera shoot done at Boston’s House of Blues while Cotton was still alive, with Huey Lewis and the late Jay Geils also in the harp legend’s band.
Montgomery beams while discussing the film, which debuted last year on the festival circuit and will see a general release later this summer.
“We were one of five finalists for the Library of Congress Ken Burns Prize,” he said. “It’s one of the highest awards you can get.”
His current movie project is non-musical, and close to home for Montgomery. America, You Kill Me is a documentary about his late brother Jeffrey, a pioneering gay rights activist in Detroit. His advocacy began when his partner was shot outside a Detroit gay bar in 1984, and he learned that local police were not aggressively investigating it or other LGBT-related murders. It’s played in a few movie houses, and Montgomery is working on a national release.
Musically, his most recent album was a duet effort: 2020’s Cadillac Walk, recorded with guitarist and singer Jay Willie. The title comes from a Mink DeVille song that’s one of several covers on the disc, like the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman.
Each one is given its own spin on the original.
“Jay Willie’s like me — don’t just cover something; he really wants to make an additional statement,” Montgomery said, adding, “I had a ball making that record…. They gave me a bottle of wine and 20 bucks, and I went, ‘OK, I’ll do it for that.’ The wine cost more than what they paid me, but anyway, we had a great time.”
His signature kung fu kick is still operational, though the 71-year-old harmonica player jokes that a hip replacement may change that someday.
“The generation that grew up playing in rock ’n’ roll bands in the late ’60s and ’70s always thought we were going to be young forever … none of us have this mentality that we’re old,” he said. “I say I’m on the ‘too stupid to stop’ tour, because if you don’t stop, you don’t even notice how long you’ve been playing.”
James Montgomery Band When: Saturday, June 8, 1 p.m. (following Peter Makris Bike Run) Where: Naswa Resort, 1086 Weirs Beach, Laconia Info: naswa.com
• Island country: Get ready for Kenny Chesney’s three-night stand at Gillette Stadium with No Shoes Nation, a tribute band from Seabrook that recreates the tropical troubadour’s sound and energy. Thursday, June 6, 8 p.m., LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst, $40 at labellewinery.com.
• Phish stew: An inventive mashup of the Vermont jam band and the likes of Miles Davis, Jazz Is Phsh is an instrumental supergroup led by Adam Chase that can take “Sample in a Jar” and fold in a bit of John Coltrane along with some Herbie Hancock and finish it all with original grooves for a funky, soulful and classy new take on a genre that’s already built on improvisation. Friday, June 7, 9 p.m., Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket, 21+, $20 at portsmouthnhtickets.com.
• Rockabilly roll: A high-octane gumbo of country, surf music and punk rock, Reverend Horton Heat is not a person but a band, fronted by singer, songwriter and guitar player Jim Heath. The group became a staple in the 1990s with songs like “Bales of Cocaine” and “Psychobilly Freakout.” They’re currently on a spring-long tour with the similar-minded band The Surfajettes. Saturday, June 8, 9 pm., The Goat, 50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 21+, $29.50 at ticketmaster.com.
• Banjo afternoon: Though she began her musical career in bluegrass — Alison Brown was for a brief moment in the late ’80s a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station — she’s taken the banjo to another place in recent years. Her eponymous quintet performs an area show, weaving jazz, Celtic and other influences into “a sonic tapestry” that’s earned comparisons to fellow banjoist Bela Fleck. Sunday, June 9, 2 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $29 at palacetheatre.org.
• Living link: Evocative as both a singer and a guitarist, Keb’ Mo’ performs in Nashua. The five-time Grammy winner’s shows are soulful and compelling affairs; in 2022 he released Good To Be, with an infectious title track. One of those Grammys was won under his given name Kevin Moore, for co-writing “Git Fiddler,” from Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus. Tuesday, June 11, 7:30 p.m., Nashua Center for the Arts, 201 Main St., Nashua, $49 and up at etix.com.
The final musical in the Palace Theatre’s 2023-2024 season is far and away its best. From the tap-tastic overture that begins the show, with the curtain rising just enough to reveal 20 pairs of legs in full dance, to the triumphant ending number that gives it a title, 42nd Street is a gem, packed with dazzling dancing, classy choreography and standout stars.
The show about show business won a Best Musical Tony when it debuted in 1980. Set in the Depression era, it follows rehearsals for Pretty Lady, a fictitious production that holds a few fortunes in its hands, including director Julian Morse (Dan Fenaughty), a Broadway legend looking to reverse his latest losing streak, and Peggy Sawyer (Jenna Bienvenue), fresh off the bus from Allentown with hopes of a spot in the chorus line.
Dorothy Brock is Pretty Lady’s star, due to a financial marriage of convenience. Her goofy but rich boyfriend financed the show on the condition that she be the leading lady, though she can’t dance and is past her prime. Larissa Klinger plays the role with nuance and grace; her performance is an understated gem.
Early on, different cast members offer scene-stealing turns — Megan Quinn as Maggie Jones, the brassy co-writer of Pretty Lady, and Ashton Lambert, playing high stepping tenor Billy Lawlor as the kind of person who treats a trip to the store as an audition — his over the top efforts to charm Peggy produced repeated out loud laughs from the audience.
Ultimately, however, 42nd Street’s lead actors carry the day, with Fenaughty commanding in a role originally played by Jerry Orbach. The cynical stage titan softens on the way to singing “Lullaby of Broadway” to remind Peggy of why she should hold on to her dreams. For her part, Bienvenue perfectly portrays her ingenue’s transformation from a chaos agent who can turn dance practice into a bowling alley in an earthquake, to finding her inner star.
Also, high marks are due to director and choreographer Carl Rajotte, for rising to the challenge of a production that has dancing in almost every scene. In particular, “Shadow Waltz” and its use of the Palace’s multimedia screen system was breathtaking. Closing extravaganzas in both acts are also stellar, all a reminder that technical investment in the theater is paying off handsomely.
With classic songs like “We’re In the Money” and “I Only Have Eyes For You” along with the infectious numbers “Go Into Your Dance” and “Dames,” it’s understandable that 42nd Street was the first film musical adapted for Broadway to succeed; it’s been produced hundreds if not thousands of times since.
It’s also director Rajotte’s favorite, for both its entertainment value and sentimental reasons.
“This is my fifth time doing 42nd Street,” he said during rehearsals. “I love Golden Age shows, but they tend to be a little out of date or sometimes the flow of the show is a little bit slower. This one was written in 1980 so it has that fast pacing, but with that charming Golden Age feel … it’s the best of both worlds.”
It’s also the show that brought Rajotte to Manchester. Twenty-five years ago, his father moved here after his mother had passed. One day he called his son, an actor in New York City, and told him about a professional theater company in his new home town. “I said, no, I would have heard of it,” Rajotte recalled.
In a wonderful bit of kismet, just a couple of days later Rajotte picked up a copy of Backstage, a newspaper for actors, and saw an announcement for auditions in New York for a production of 42nd Street at the Palace. He answered the call and was cast as Pretty Lady choreographer Andy Lee.
After that, he left on tour with another show.
“I figured I probably won’t be back again, but then Peter Ramsey called me while I was on tour and said, ‘Hey, how about you come back and choreograph and direct for us?’ I did a couple of shows, and then took the job full-time. This was really the intro, this show. So it’s dear to my heart.”
42nd Street When: Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through June 23 Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester Tickets: $28 to $49 at palacetheatre.org
Sonya Gelinas embodies the spirit of an entrepreneur. She and her husband, Josh Philbrick, run The Smoothie Bus, a mobile business that now has brick-and-mortar locations. Gelinas is also CEO of CARE Counseling Services, with offices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and she’s one of the company’s therapists.
So when Gelinas strolled past the former Black Brimmer in downtown Manchester a few years back and imagined turning it into a dueling pianos bar, it was inevitable that she’d see the idea through to fruition. When Penuche’s shuttered, she and Josh began to make a move.
On May 2, Keys Piano Bar & Grill had its soft opening; a bigger celebration will happen later. For now, every Friday and Saturday has a pair of pianists playing audience requests, bantering and leading sing-alongs to favorites like “Friends In Low Places.” There’s also a spinning wheel containing several NSFW stunts.
Gelinas became a fan of dueling pianos while she was attending college in Tampa, Florida, where she regularly went to Howl at the Moon, a chain of bars. “I had so much fun, so those memories are embedded in my mind forever,” she said during an interview in Keys’ downstairs sports bar.
She’s looking to recreate that feeling at Keys.
“We want to be in line with what Howl at the Moon has created. We want a very interactive experience,” she said. “We want to have a place where people can go out and sing along and have fun and interact with the pianist…. That’s our goal, really, just a lot of audience participation.”
When she first began dreaming about opening Keys, Gelinas wanted a franchised version of the place she fell in love with in Tampa. “I said, I’m going to turn that into a Howl at the Moon one of these days. But Howl at the Moon doesn’t franchise, so we couldn’t do that. We had to build our own,” she said.
A Manchester native — she graduated from Central High in 2001 — Gelinas has a sentimental streak for the energy at the old “Brimmer” and hopes to bring it back.
“I’ve heard a lot of stories,” she said. “We had one couple come in, and they’re like, do you know we met here? Twenty years ago, we met here at the Brimmer. That’s really cool … it is kind of a hallowed space.”
Keys has launched a Caribbean-themed menu with jerk chicken, a Cubano sandwich and Island Fusion Tacos among the dishes. Also, they offer an adult take on the couple’s daytime business.
“We have eight different frozen boozy smoothies, which will be nice on a hot summer day,” Gelinas said.
Shows are free, but the only way to guarantee a seat at the bar is by signing up on the Keys website. Every performance is preceded by a party. “People can come in and eat during that time or have a couple drinks,” Gelinas said. “That way when the show’s on they’re just ready to have fun.”
A rotating cast of performers is provided by Shake, Rattle and Roll Pianos, a New York City agency.
“Every weekend we can expect a different combination, which makes it really exciting, but these aren’t just pianists, they’re entertainers,” she said. “That’s what makes them special. I’ve been to enough dueling piano shows to know that the personality of the guy behind the keys is way more important than whether or not they can play or sing.”
Keys Piano Bar & Grill has a lot in common with the couple’s other ventures.
“We build businesses based [on] passion,” Gelinas said. “My husband and I were really fond of helping people live happier lives, which is perfectly in line with the smoothie shop…. I know when I drink a smoothie every day I feel good. My health care business is about making people better. Now we have this venue, which is all about bringing people together, in happiness and fun.”
Dueling Pianos When: Fridays and Saturdays (pre-party 6:30 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.) Where: Keys Piano Bar & Grill, 1087 Elm St., Manchester Tickets: keysmanch.com
• Bucolic: Now that the weather is improving, a Word Barn concert starring Ryan Montbleau happens outdoors in their meadow for the first time this season. A few years ago, Montbleau made a series of records titled Wood, Fire, Water and Air, with the final song of the last disc offering a sense of closure and peace. Musician and artist Dan Blakeslee will open. Thursday, May 30, 7 p.m., The Word Barn Meadow, 66 Newfields Road, Exeter, $15 and up at portsmouthnhtickets.com.
• Quirky: Purposeful, political and widely varied in musical approach, Bella’s Bartok is a band that defies description. On “Graveyard Funk” they build on a “Monster Mash” drum riff for a masterful bit of horror funk, while “Into the Woods” is an eerie gothic waltz. The band is part of a terrific double bill, with Seacoast-based Bitter Pill opening with a special brand “rhythm and bluegrass.” Friday, May 31, 8 p.m., Bank of NH Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord, $23.75 at ccanh.com.
• Fab: Spanning the eras, home-grown tribute act Beatlejuice performs. Originally led by Brad Delp until his death in 2007, the reverent cover band carries on with changing members, all with long resumes in the regional music scene. They delight in doing Beatles songs from “Love Me Do” to “Paperback Writer,” with drummer John Muzzy perched behind a genuine “Ringo” kit. Saturday, June 1, 7:30 pm., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $29 at palacetheatre.org.
• Reflective: When he performed in the Lakes Region a year ago, John Hiatt brought the band behind Slow Turning, the follow-up to his breakout album, Bring the Family. This time, he plays solo. Sunday, June 2, 7 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia, $49 and up at etix.com.
• Doomy: A twilight show at a growing craft brewery has five acts, led by VRSA, a New Haven band making its Concord debut. The title track of its latest album, Saltwater Circadian, echoes early Black Sabbath at the outset, then morphs into a bullhorn, slash and burn affair, great stuff. Also on the bill are Manchester-based Hobo Wizard, Komodo, BÜZÊM and Evil Bong. Tuesday, June 4, 6 p.m., Feathered Friend Brewing, 231 S. Main St, Unit 2, Concord. More at songkick.com.
Gen X didn’t see it coming, despite the harbingers: internet reminders that the first Lollapalooza Festival was closer in years to the Kennedy assassination than to today, or Pearl Jam getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. As they were reeling from reeling in the years, the arrival of ’90s tribute bands was to many of them a hard (blue) pill to swallow.
Some of the acts that formed weren’t surprising. With Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Scott Weiland all dead and gone, Priceless Advice and Sick Season, devoted to Nirvana and Alice In Chains respectively, and Stone Temple Posers hella made sense. And Oasis likely won’t reunite anytime soon, so it’s not trippin’ to cover “Wonderwall” in the interim.
But what of those still performing, like Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, Radiohead and the aforementioned Pearl Jam, each of which boasts one or more doppelgangers? Even Smashing Pumpkins; a band called Recent History does them. Apparently, all these objects of affection take it in stride and are unbothered about losing any business.
Collective Soul is on the road with Hootie & the Blowfish, with a tour stopping at Fenway Park and Bank of NH Pavilion before the summer ends. In an interview to advance the upcoming shows, their front man Ed Roland was surprised to hear about the existence of Reflective Soul, based in Dallas, Texas — but grateful.
“You can’t help but love it. I’m so honored,” Roland said. “Just being here 30 years and on top of that somebody thinks enough of you to go, all right, we’ll play some of their catalog. It boosts the ego up when you walk in a bar, and somebody is playing one of your songs. You’re like, ‘Wow, I really did have a hit.’”
It’s a hot topic in New England that’s spawned organizations like Covering New England, a tribute-centric company with a growing roster of acts like Crush, a Dave Matthews Band tribute, and White Belts, who play emo songs by Taking Back Sunday, Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, among others.
Covering New England’s Tristan Law thinks the decade is having a moment for a couple of reasons.
“First, a lot of those really seminal albums are having their 25th and 30th anniversaries, so they’re in the news, and you have a lot of people like me — late 30s, early 40s — who came up in that decade and have a special nostalgia for that time,” he said. “How many people’s first CD was Dookie?’”
Law added that while a lot of ’90s stars are still touring, with tickets now costing hundreds of dollars fans are more selective about going to giant concerts.
“Now, you can go see a really good Dave Matthews Band tribute for twenty bucks and still have a great time. That, and the ’90s f-in ruled; why wouldn’t you want to go back then for a few hours?”
At TributePalooza, an all-day show in Warren on July 6, many ’90s acts will perform, including Jagged Little Thrill doing Alanis Morissette, Social Destruction playing the music of Social Distortion, and Stone Temple Posers, along with two other tribute acts that Gen X is a bit more chillax with doing Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC covers.
Here are thoughts from six bands bringing back the decade that witnessed the internet’s rise and the decline of the music business, along with a lot of great and varied music.
Tributepalooza happens Saturday, July 6, at Melody Mountain Farm, 161 Lake Tarleton Road, Warren, $35 at melodymountainfarm.com
Giving 110 percent – Neon 90s
Neon 90s
When it formed, the North Shore-based band Neon 90s wore flannel shirts and leaned into grunge. Later they switched to jean jackets and shades upon realizing there was more to mining the ’90s than Nirvana’s “Lithium.” They became an all-purpose tribute act, determined to hit every high point, from Soundgarden to Garth Brooks.
“We figured let’s take on the entire decade, and smash as many songs as we can into a set,” said John Goodhue, who sings and plays lead guitar with the band, which includes Michael Parsons on bass, drummer Steve Russo and Guy Cloutman on lead guitar.
On any given night the quartet moves from Foo Fighters’ “Learn To Fly” to Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5” and tosses in “Semi-Charmed Life” from Third Eye Blind for spice. Their showstopper is a gender-bending version of Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like A Woman.” They even do Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” and “Wannabe” from the Spice Girls.
Setlists reflect Goodhue’s own tastes.
“All my favorite songs, mostly, are from the ’90s,” he said. “The Top 40 was spread so far off the different genres, you had major pop songs, country songs, grunge came into the mix, even hip-hop. It was a decade where you saw so many different kinds of music really hit the spot.”
Like a lot of similar bands, members of Neon 90s have additional musical projects. Russo plays in Mile 21, a North Shore reggae and ska group, as well as a Top 40 band called Mystery Meat. “Our guitar player Gary has been in several cover bands and original bands, as well as Mike and me,” Goodhue, who also spent a few years on the West Coast playing in different bands, said.
When Neon 90s hits the stage, one of their favorites is “Possum Kingdom” by the Toadies. “It’s a really fun song to play, and it’s kind of challenging, too,” Goodhue said. They’ll also take a shot at audience suggestions, or at least try.
“Sometimes we get requests that aren’t ’90s, like people missed the memo,” he said. “My favorite song was actually requested for us to learn for a wedding, ‘What’s Up’ by 4 Non Blondes. We’ve kept it in our set because it always goes over well, and everyone sings along.”
Neon 90s appear in Hampton Beach on Saturday, July 6 at Wally’s Pub and on Sunday, July 14 at Bernie’s Beach Bar
Worldwide Californication – Red NOT Chili Peppers
Red NOT Chili Peppers
One of the longest-running ’90s tribute acts is also among the most successful. Red NOT Chili Peppers formed in 2009 in Southern California, where the Red Hot Chili Peppers rose to fame. The lineup has changed several times over the years, but the present band — Paul Moffat on bass, guitarist Greg Loman, Pete Koopmans on drums and singer David Vives — has been steady for a while. Vives is the newest member; he joined in 2021.
Red NOT Chili Peppers are unique for being a nationally touring act. Actually, they’ve performed in such far-flung places as Dubai. Much of this success is due to the quality of their act.
“The biggest undertaking with the Chili Peppers is having players who not only can learn the songs,” Loman said in a sit-down band interview prior to a show in Portsmouth. “They have to recreate the tones, the energy, the look, and the vibe.”
Beyond that, the group found its way to Providence Music Group, a Rhode Island-based agency focused on tribute bands, everything from Sublime to Johnny Cash, along with Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, and Linkin Park. When Moffat joined in the mid-2010s, he’d also taken over as manager. Koopmans, who was in the band before Moffat, became their booking agent.
Together, they realized their group didn’t fit a conventional niche, and it was impacting their ability to get gigs.
“Paul and I took a really hard look at the business, and I basically took the band to several different agencies, as our agent then had retired and we were unhappy with him anyway,” Koopmans said. Their agency at the time was “probably 90 percent original bands and 10 percent tributes, and I never felt like they quite understood what to do with us. They would just wait for offers to come in.”
Since making the change, bookings have doubled, “and we’ve watched attendance grow at shows too,” Koopmans said. “I don’t think that’s all attributed to the booking agent in general. I think a lot of that is just us finding the right places to play. But the product is getting a lot better.”
“And the name getting out there, man,” Moffat added. “It’s a good name, and people remember it.”
It’s almost too good — that’s why Moffat and Loman, who helps with the band’s graphic design, modified the logo so the word “NOT” is uppercase. “We were getting ourselves into some trouble,” Koopmans said. “Not by the real band, but by people buying tickets and being pissed all the time that they’d been duped.”
Once, when the band played New York City’s Highline Ballroom, ticket presales exploded, recalled Moffat, probably due to a hopeful case of mistaken identity. “We played the show, and the room was half full,” he said. “In all likelihood, some scalpers scooped up all the tickets when they saw it, because they didn’t look carefully enough. We thought it was a great way to get back at scalpers.”
Fans that come to see them run the gamut.
“Some want to hear Freaky Stylie, others want stuff from Stadium Arcadium,” Loman said. “You watch them all kind of light up, with whatever era or song that you’re playing. It’s just so interesting to then talk to them after and they’ll be like, ‘Oh man, when I was growing up, the most important album of my life, that blew my mind, was Blood Sugar Sex Magic.’ Then another one’s like, ‘Dude, Californication was my favorite’ and another one’s Stadium Arcadium. It goes through the generations in such a wonderful way.”
Singer Vives echoed Loman. “My favorite thing is how passionate fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers are,” he said. “It’s so easy to connect with them about the shared joy of living this music together. They’re showing up, and we all have the same goal. There’s no need convincing them to have a good time.”
Moffat is happiest when a wary fan takes a chance. “It’s like, ‘I had no expectations. It was 20 bucks, it’s a band that I love, I thought you guys were going to suck, and I came in and I was blown away,’” he said. “That’s all I really want, you know. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Red NOT Chili Peppers will appear on Friday, Aug. 9, at Wally’s Pub in Hampton Beach.
Double duty – Yellow LedVedder/Your Honor
Yellow LedVedder
Few bands challenge aspiring tribute acts like Pearl Jam. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are not only still performing, but the Seattle grunge heroes also released a new album this year. The record, Dark Matter, caused one critic to exclaim, “the faithful will rejoice, and the PJ fall stadium tour is completely sold out.
The latter fact is a principal reason that a band like Yellow LedVedder is even viable. In fact, one of their biggest gigs happened in a bar across the street from Fenway Park, where Pearl Jam was playing that night.
“It was one of the most amazing experiences,” Ben Kilcollins, the band’s lead vocalist, said in a recent phone interview. “We had a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, we couldn’t get tickets, so we figured we’d just come down and kind of listen outside of Fenway, then we saw that you guys were here.”
Ever the fans, Kilcollins and his bandmates had one eye on the door all night. “The whole time we’re hoping, Pearl Jam’s around here, maybe they’ll come in, but it never happened,” he recalled. “The best dream come true in the world is just to get an affirmation of, ‘Hey, guys, we see what you’re doing, keep up the good work.’ Even if it was a cease and desist, it’d just be good to hear from the band that they know you exist.”
Playing songs by a band that’s still here is a feature, not a bug.
“A lot of the other bands are paying tribute to guys who weren’t around for very long, but I think it helps that Pearl Jam is still on tour,” Kilcollins said. “Instead of guessing, like Nirvana, what would they be doing now, we already have an answer. It’s what they were playing yesterday.”
Kilcollins continued that miming Vedder, who’s near 60 and still “running around on stage, jumping on people’s shoulders and doing the exact same thing he was doing 30 years ago” also motivates his band, which includes bassist Andy Aikens, Joel Amsden and Pete Risano on guitars and drummer Jason Young. “Eddie’s leaving kids in the dust, he’s still running around the entire band,” he said. “I try to bring to our shows that aspect of their high energy.”
Lending weight to that assertion is the band’s latest endeavor.
“The day Taylor Hawkins died, we decided to put on a Foo Fighters tribute,” Kilcollins said. It was planned as a one-off, but they’ve done four or five shows in the past two years. “We try to pick and choose where we do it, because we don’t want to oversaturate…. We’ll play a full set of Pearl Jam stuff, take a break, and then do a full set of Foo Fighters, kind of opening for ourselves.”
Yellow LedVedder’s summer schedule is under construction. See @yellowledvedderband on Instagram for more.
Originalists – Crush, a Dave Matthews Tribute Band
Crush
Though the Dave Matthews Band is still out on tour, with two sold out Meadowbrook shows happening this summer, it’s not the same group that set the world on fire in 1994 with its debut album Under the Table and Dreaming. When violin player Boyd Tinsley departed in 2018, he wasn’t replaced, and DMB took on a different sound.
That’s made Crush, a DMB tribute band based in Boston, a vital link to the past. It includes a Tinsley doppelganger, sans any scandalous baggage, in the form of fiddler Abe Dewing, which keeps songs like “Ants Marching” and “What Would You Say” true to their origins. That’s just the beginning of what makes Crush a solid draw in New England. They also achieve a look and feel that sets it apart from other efforts
“I think some tribute bands will play note for note, and do exactly what the actual bands do, even on the recordings,” Matt Salito, who plays guitar in Crush, said recently. “There’s certainly a skill to that, but I think part of the fun of being in our band is we take some of those songs and we add our own style to it. We change it just enough where you know it’s Crush playing the song.”
They’re careful not to book too close to any DMB appearances, partly because there’s a decent chance they’ll be buying tickets, but also, they’re realistic. “We realize they’re going to be more of a draw than a tribute band,” he said. Besides, they wouldn’t want to miss a tailgate party. “We meet other people at those shows, and we’re like, ‘Hey, we play a lot in the late summer, in the fall, even in the winter when Dave’s not really doing his thing anymore. So come check us out.”
Salito started Crush as an acoustic duo with Brett Huntley after the two were introduced through a mutual friend in 2011.
“We met at his apartment in South Boston at the time and played a few songs, exchanged information and tried to make arrangements to play again,” Salito recalled. “Along the way, we started seeing a couple other tribute bands to Dave. We really liked what they were doing, and we [thought] we can try to give this a shot ourselves too and see how it plays out.”
After playing a high school graduation party for a family friend, the idea of a full band gained momentum. Crush played its first show in October 2011. There’s been a few lineup shuffles, but Crush has stayed the same in recent years. That’s allowed them to become a more cohesive unit, Salito continued.
“We’ve developed a little family within the band, and I think you can see that vibe on stage,” he said. “We’re really feeling like we’re in a good place as to the songs we’re choosing and the parts we’re playing, and how we’re meshing as a unit. And really being a part of the audience in a sense; even as the performers, that’s important. I think that’s part of our draw too.”
Crush, A Dave Matthews Tribute Band appears Friday, July 26, at Cisco Brewers in Portsmouth.
All in the family – Stone Temple Posers
Stone Temple Posers
Olaf Westphalen was a modern country music fan when his 12-year-old stepson John convinced him to listen to a few Soundgarden and Nirvana songs. The stepdad enjoyed it, and really locked into Stone Temple Pilots upon hearing them the first time. By the early 2000s, Olaf and John were playing in cover bands together, including Wretched Von Krank, The Nerve, and Cold Comfort.
Most satisfying, though, is Stone Temple Posers, a tribute to you guessed it, which played its first show in 2015 and has been a solid area draw since, with stepfather and stepson a bass/drums rhythm section, guitarist Paul Ouellette, and lead singer Hal White rounding out the group. Prior to the Posers, Olaf and Ouellette were briefly in STP tribute act Crown of Apathy; Westphalen was in Stone Temple Aviators and SiN after that.
John Westphalen began playing music when his stepdad gave him a Ludwig drum kit that belonged to his uncle, who also played in a band. “I always liked the drums, and Dave Grohl; I was a big Nirvana guy,” he said by phone recently. Though his new kit was a bit beat up, he didn’t mind. “Don’t get much more grunge than a rusty drum set.”
He stuck with it, and after his parents bought him a brand-new Tama kit, “I’ve been playing ever since.”
Before Weiland died, John Westphalen had a couple of chances to see him live with STP. “I saw them at Casino Ballroom, and it was one of the best shows,” he said. “Of course, he was an hour late, but he was engaged with the crowd, and they sounded awesome. He looked like he was enjoying himself. Then I saw him again in Gilford. He wasn’t nearly as engaged and seemed like he didn’t want to be there. I think they broke up for the final time like three months after that show.”
In addition to being a lot of fun, Stone Temple Posers is the young Westphalen’s longest-running band still boasting every member. It’s also the only one he’s in at this point.
“It used to be me, Olaf and Paul, and then we’d have a hard time finding a singer that would just show up, do the shows,” he said. “Hal, he’s been perfect, very easy-going. If we have a show coming up, we’ll practice the Monday before and just make sure we tighten up a little bit, and then we’ll play. Bang. No messing around.”
Their common bond is love for a big sound from a great decade.
“We’re a bunch of guys that really just enjoy that era in music,” he said. “We know other people do too, and we really try to give it justice by sounding like Stone Temple Pilots but also having our own little sound to it, too. So it’s not just a complete knockoff.”
Stone Temple Posers appear Wednesday, June 26, at Plaistow Town Common in Plaistow.
Straddling the Decade – White Belts
White Belts
If Lollapalooza signaled the start of the ’90s, the Vans Warped Tour helped usher it out. White Belts, a band that hosts Emo Night at the Press Room in Portsmouth and plays throughout New England, aims to keep that spirit alive by reliving as much of that moment as it can.
“We consider ourselves an emo tribute band,” drummer Matt Wishnack said during a phone interview that included White Belts bass player Tom Sargent. “Emo encapsulates the rise of Hot Topic, Newbury Comics and alternative music, which kind of molded itself in that time period.”
As to the bands they cover, “you get a lot of Jimmy Eat World, Under Oath, Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, and we get some pop punk stuff like Blink-182,” Sargent said. “Taking Back Sunday is a main staple, as is My Chemical Romance. I think we’d all be shocked if we didn’t play one song from them in our shows.”
Wishnack added Fall Out Boy to this list of “tentpole bands.”
Audiences tend to be in their mid-20s to early 30s; a little early to start reliving their youth, but nostalgia has an odd pull that White Belts tries to honor.
“We want people to have a similar reaction to seeing us as they would actually seeing Taking Back Sunday,” Wishnack said. “Which obviously is impossible, but you can see the difference when people are reacting to you that way and when they’re just reacting to a cover band.”
When they play Emo Night at the Press Room, they’ll bring along a like-minded band, like Mall Cops or Summer Cult, who played at last year’s Boston Calling. At the next scheduled event on July 6, the Boston-based band We Demand Parachutes will appear.
White Belts includes, along with Wishnack and Sargent, lead singer Derek Bunker and guitarists Nick Grieco and Kyle Kowalsky. All true believers, which, Wishnack stressed, is what makes them unique.
“What separates us from some other bands is we feel like we really represent the music and the bands that we’re covering well. If you’re going to create a block to make you feel like you’re at Warped Tour for two hours without actually going, this is as close as you can get.”
Added Sargent, “and you won’t need sunscreen.”
White Belts hosts Emo Night with We Demand Parachutes on Saturday, July 6, at The Press Room in Portsmouth.
