Eli-Fest at The Bayou in Albany, November 30th

Eli-Fest, a benefit concert was held at The Bayou in Albany on Friday November 30th was held for Eli Ramos, who was injured in an accident on July 1st. To celebrate Eli’s strength and courage, bandmates, friends and fans gathered for a night full of groovy jams. With first walking into the front of Bayou, you wouldn’t even know that there was a huge show going on. Heading through the various sections of the venue, the smoky atmosphere hits you and so does the music.

There was constant music being pumped out of the speakers all night. When the bands were not on stage, there was a mixing table set up to the right with DJs, responsible for keeping the party mode at a constant level. Insidious started the night off to a small, eager crowd, ready for the night to begin. His beats were enough to catch everyone’s attention and head to the dance floor. Inverspace was up second with a set that was light and upbeat. It was an easy groove to get into after Solaris. The last DJ for the night was General Korn whose big hit of the evening was a remixed Talking Head’s song, “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).”

Solaris, the three man instrumental band from Ithaca took the stage and quickly warped the crowd. With a slow easy start, they hit hard into jams such as with great fluidity from song to song. The boys debuted a new song, “Deacon”, which had a fast tempo, enthusiastic start and a high build up jam. The trio has been logging in more practice time and it certainly shows on stage where they each have such control of their instruments. They are clean- cut and fresher than ever with their electro-fusion melodies and beats. Their authenticity brings the music to the next level and it’s been a thrill to watch them grow as a band.  Their set is available for free download.

Solaris Setlist: Complete, Chapman, Deacon, Infrared, Cosmo

It was my first time seeing digiMUN, which is a collaboration between members of jamtronica bands Digital Dharma, Wiley of MUN and Dan Gerken of Timbre Coup. With the huge crowd and high energy, it was a delicious recipe for a chaotic dance floor. Their entire set was improv, showcasing the vast talent that had come to pay tribute to Eli. Each jam had a funky rhythm, plenty of electronic beats and surprises around every trance infused melody. The encore was a Digital Dharma original entitled “Cloud 9” which featured Eli himself on the iPad. Their set is also available for a free download.

One of Albany’s finest, Timbre Coup, was last to take the stage that night to the packed out venue with the snow falling outside. Early in the set, the progressive rock band dedicated the song “December” to their dedicated fans in November, an upbeat groove with hypnotizing melody. They covered Rick James’ “Give it to me Baby” as well as The New Deal’s “Deep Sun” both instant crowd pleasers and fed more energy to the band. Timbre Coup looks like they are having as much fun as the crowd and it’s a treat to watch them dance on stage and even switch instruments.

Timbre Coup Setlist:  June, Jam->December. Give it to me Baby, 55->Jam&->Don’t Fly a Key on a Kitestring, September, July, Something About Radio->Jam->Mother Nature’s Baby Daddy, Verbal Kint->Jam&->55 end, Deep Sun, I Didn’t Know She Had a Moustache

Throughout the night, all anyone had to say was how lucky we all were to share in the great music and help out a more than worthy cause. The event raised over $1200 and if people would like to still donate they can contact Steve Mink or Aaron Zarabi.

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