Rochester

For this Umphrey's review we invited Aqueous's Mike Gantzer to sit in as guest reporter and cover one of his and Aqueous's big influences.   In the Fall of 2007, I’d been strongly advised by my fellow band mate Evan McPhaden, (who’d been…

To say that one has "seen" a David Mayfield Parade show is an understatement. The experience can best be described as an event that you were a part of when the Parade came to your town. The charisma that emanates from Mayfield's heart and…

XRIJF announced the return of Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers to the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre for the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival 13th Edition, which will be held June 20-28. Tickets go on sale Friday,…

Despite several non-heady forces: A red hot Syracuse basketball team playing,  sub-zero wind chills, and a liquor license-less venue; Rochesterians turned out en masse for the electro-jam instrumentals of Philly based Lotus. Touring heavily…

There’s something exciting about looking at equipment on an otherwise empty stage, waiting to be used. As soon as audience members rounded the corner into the backroom at Bug Jar on Friday, January 17th, they were greeted with BabaYaga’s…

The hype from all of the New Year's runs has finally died down and right on its heels come the first announcements of the festival season. Sandwiched right in between though, and largely overlooked, is the winter tour where bands often…

Walt Disney did it. William Shakespeare did too. It’s taking the metal of another one’s work, and spinning it into your own gold.  It’s the alchemy of the creative mind.  It’s declaring the statement, “I can take your idea, and make it…

There's a rumbling coming from Western New York as of late; or so it seems from the perspective of the editor's desk here at Upstate Metal, as we've had our eyes forcibly opened ala Clockwork Orange to the music scene out of Rochester, New…

A bluegrass background mixed with a punk-rock like attitude and a dash of a carnival side-show -- The David Mayfield Parade is an experience one won't soon forget. You may have seen him recently with The Avett Brothers or Mumford &…

John Viviani's latest incarnation is Blue Falcon, the Rochester guitarist/singer/songwriter teams with drummer/vocalist Devon Trammel and bassist/vocalist Ben Stephanus. First Flight, their debut EP was released last August and continues to…