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Posts Tagged ‘Alive at Five’

Another New Concert for Albany’s Alive at Five Concert Series?

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Felix Cavalieri

As you’ve probably heard, he’s been pretty busy this month with a run on Broadway with his old band – “The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream,” spearheaded and produced by the E Street Band’s Little Steven Van Zandt – but now it looks as though keyboardist Felix Cavalieri may be headed into Albany’s Riverfront Park on Thursday, July 18 for a free Alive at Five concert.

~~Of course, there’s no official word yet from the City of Albany’s Office of Special Events, but we thought we’d better give you a heads-up on the date anyway.~~

UPDATE 4/29/13, 2pm: The City of Albany Office of Special Events reports, “Unfortunately, this show with Felix is completely unconfirmed. We had him booked early but he’s actually canceled the date. We’re working on rescheduling but if it’s at all possible to remove this announcement until we know it’s actually happening, we’d appreciate it. I would hate to disappoint anyone who wants to see him if it doesn’t pan out.”

In recent years, Cavalieri has also played at the Palace Theatre (as part of the sparsely attended Hippiefest oldies show in 2011) and The Egg’s Swyer Theatre (a sparsely attended solo show last October).

OTHER ALIVE AT FIVE SHOWS FOR THE 2013 SUMMER SEASON:
George Clinton
Satisfaction

Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Felix Cavalieri
Posted in Be Here Now: Previews, Music, Real Good For Free | Comments Off

New Concert Announced for Albany’s Alive at Five

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

File this one under “Well, they can’t all be winners…”

Yeah, it was looking like another gang-buster year for Albany’s free Alive at Five summer concerts when the first announcement of the summer turned out to be none other than funkmaster George Clinton.

Now the second announcement is being revealed, and it’s definitely not on the same level. Although there’s been no official announcement yet from the folks at the City of Albany’s Office of Special Events, Satisfaction – yes, a Rolling Stones tribute band – will be taking the stage at Albany’s Riverfront Park for the Alive at Five concert at 5pm on Thursday, July 11.

Tags: Albany, Alive at Five
Posted in Be Here Now: Previews, Music, Real Good For Free | 4 Comments »

LIVE: Smash Mouth @ the Times Union Center, 7/26/12

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

LIVE: Smash Mouth @ the Times Union Center, 7/26/12

Review by Greg Haymes
Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

Due to the threat sever weather, the Alive at Five concert was moved indoors to the Times Union Center in Albany. The bad weather never showed up, but it was probably a good decision nonetheless. Better to be safe than… well, you know. And it was nice to see the City (which runs the Alive at Five series) and the County (which runs the TUC) working together.

But the move indoors made the concert seem like a low-budget arena rock show rather than the usual, fun-in-the-sun party in Corning Preserve. And the truth of the matter is that ’90s pop-rockers Smash Mouth were never much more than a frat-rock party band – not even in their heyday.

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Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Andrzej Pilarczyk, Greg Haymes, Smash Mouth
Posted in LIVE | 1 Comment »

LIVE: Buckwheat Zydeco @ Alive at Five, 7/19/12

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Buckwheat Zydeco

Review by Fred Rudofsky
Photographs by Timothy Reidy

Mayor Jennings, could you please extend the Alive at Five curfew?

That’s what I thought after a brilliant set by 2010 Grammy Award-winner Buckwheat Zydeco came to an end all too soon.

Stanley Dural, Jr. (aka “Buckwheat”) and his band could have easily played another hour – they were on a roll, and the crowd at the Corning Preserve’s Riverfront Park was with them for the ride to the bayous of Louisiana. My bet is that an 11-song set would be just a warm-up back home.

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Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Buckwheat Zydeco, Fred Rudofsky, Timothy Reidy
Posted in LIVE | 1 Comment »

LIVE: The Bacon Brothers @ Alive at Five in Riverfront Park, 7/12/12

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

The Bacon Brothers

Photograph by Stanley Johnson

As an encore, the Bacon Brothers dedicated the Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek” to Levon Helm, followed by a rousing version of the Rollings Stones’ “The Last Time,” which was appropriate on the 50th anniversary of the first Rolling Stones performance.

SECOND OPINIONS:
Excerpt from David Singer’s review at The Daily Gazette: “Movie star Kevin Bacon and older brother Michael — The Bacon Brothers — headlined Thursday’s Alive at Five concert series. While the two brothers started performing as a musical act 17 years and six albums ago, you still have to be skeptical of any celebrity playing rock star. Backed by a full band, the songs were good: original blues-based rock with a polished, folky garage-band feel. Bacon played the cool leader who sang most of the tunes with a gritty, sincere voice that growled when he pushed. Would they headline such a venue if Bacon wasn’t a Hollywood star? No, but that didn’t matter. The place was packed, with an unusual number of women pushing up into the standing area in front of the stage. The musical bar was set low, and any decent music would do: it was a little more than decent and Bacon was entertaining to watch.”

Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Stanley Johnson, The Bacon Brothers
Posted in LIVE | 1 Comment »

LIVE: Dickey Betts & Great Southern @ Albany’s Alive at Five, 6/28/12

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Dickie Betts

Review by Richard Brody
Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

Dickey Betts – founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer and, with the late Duane Allman, half of arguably the greatest two-guitar tandem in the history of rock ‘n’ roll – brought his band Great Southern to Albany’s Alive at Five in Riverfront Park for a trip down memory lane.

It was impossible not to think Allmans with the band’s set-up – two drums, keyboards, bass and guitars – and a set list that was anchored in the classic “Live at Fillmore East” and augmented by the follow-ups “Eat a Peach” and “Brothers and Sisters.” That said, the band seemed to have a good time playing, and the sizeable audience danced, bounced and sang along during the hour and 40-minute set.

Betts and band wasted no time in letting us know what we were in for, starting with a lengthy (is there any other rendition?) of the instrumental “High Falls” and then moving into “Statesboro Blues,” which featured some nice slide work by Andy Aledort (who was a good foil for Betts all evening) and a tight rhythm section led by the syncopated drumming of Frankie Lombardi and James Varnado with Pedro Arevalo on bass.

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Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Andrzej Pilarczyk, Dicke Betts, Richard Brody
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LIVE: The Kirsten Thien Band @ Albany’s Alive at Five, 6/28/12

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Dylan Wissing, Kirsten Thien and Eric Boyd

Review and photographs by Fred Rudofsky

Imagine having just 35-40 minutes to make an impression on thousands basking in the heat of an Albany afternoon. Kirsten Thien and her fine band from NYC met that challenge as the opening band for Dickey Betts & Great Southern at Albany’s Alive at Five in Corning Preserve last week.

“Love That’s Made to Share,” the first song of several off her excellent “Delicious” album (Screen Door Records), invited the crowd to get up and move from the opening chords. Thien’s voice brought to mind Bonnie Raitt and Maria McKee, soulful and confident, as she played acoustic guitar and smiled in the late afternoon sun, while lead guitarist Arthur Neilson (known by many for his tenure with Shemekia Copeland) nailed pinched note solos and fills.

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Tags: Albany, Alive at Five, Fred Rudofsky, Kirsten Thien Band
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