Conspirator (Official)/ Boombox bring Jamtronic TripFunk to The Rex Theater – Pittsburgh – Wednesday, 11/7
By Ryan Neeley exclusively for Grey Area Productions and Appalachian Jamwich
Photos by Ryan Neeley and artists press kits
WHERE: The Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA – with GREY AREA PRODUCTIONS
WHEN: Wednesday, November 7th – Doors open at 7pm; show starts at 8pm
HOW MUCH: $17.00 advance; $20 at door = 17 and +
WHY: Because Zion Godchaux, guitarist for livetronica duo Boombox, is the son of Keith and Donna Godchaux, former members of the Grateful Dead, and has the sickest boa and fedora in the game.
Conspirator consists of Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (bass and keys) of The Disco Biscuits along with other accomplished musicians, and they all continue to take their music to an exciting new level, with each show being an unscripted live experience.
DETAILS:
Opening Acts include: – CINNAMON CHASERS/ABAKUS HAS DROPPED OFF THE TOUR!
Cinnamon Chasers/Abakus: Described as an alternative/elector/ Indetronica act from London, UK. Cinnamon Chasers and Abakus are both solo projects of Russ Davies, nephew and son of Ray Davies and Dave Davies respectively (founding members of the rock band The Kinks). There is no album available in stores for Cinnamon Chasers, but downloads of the self-released projects are on fire. Davies is an extremely interesting fellow, and is currently experimenting with philosophy and magic “to create meaning amidst the randomness of existence,” and is inspired by films like The Never-Ending Story and Flight of the Navigator. “I try to create music that gives me the vibes those classic films gave me as a kid,” according to his bio.
Davies has put on albums under to moniker Abakus, and his newest album Futurism is being released in two parts, the first was in July 2012, the second is scheduled for early 2013; however, music from the release has been licensed to over 40 CD album compilations, and has a major following in the Europe electronic music scene.
CO-HEADLINERS
BOOMBOX: I first saw Muscle Shoals, AL bred duo Boombox in 2008 simply out of respect – Being more of a bluegrass/roots music fan, I always thought of electronic music and DJs as more for 20 year-old ravers, with blinking binkies and dinner plate eyes, and I definitely wouldn’t pay for a ticket to see a DJ mix and loop, or so I thought. A friend of mine invited me out, and because Zion Rock Godchaux is the son of former Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux, I decided to go. On stage was a man in a black top hat (Russ Randolph) in front of an Apple laptop and mixing station, and a thin guy with a fu-man-chu, fedora perched on the head, and a fuzzy feather boa and guitar around his neck. Then they proceeded to play, and essentially melt my face. They did some wicked work, and everyone in the crowd was getting down to their funky, psychelic sounds – They gave me a phenomenal treat when they did their version of Shakedown Street, with Godchaux shining on guitar/vocals with extended psychedelia looping and sampling by Randolph This band has played at a number of festivals this summer, and I most recently saw them at Family Roots Fall Fest, where they joined Conspirator for the first show of that leg of the tour and tore it up in front of the crowd in 40 degree weather.
CONSPIRATOR (Official): What started out as a side project by The Disco Biscuits Aron Magnus (bass) and Marc Brownstein (keys) in 2004, Conspirator has become a full fledged force to be reckoned with in their own right, not only impressing electronic music fanatics throughout the country, but also turning rock and other fans into fans of this style of music, which mixes house with dubstep, livetronica, electronic, electro, and rock together in a big pot and spoon feeds the audience, providing them with ample energy to rage deep into the night. Chris Michetti on guitar, Magnus, Brownstein and a rotating group of phenomenal drummers, have worked tirelessly this summer touring North America in support of their album UNLOCKED, Live from the Georgia Theatre, which came out in April and highlighted Mike Greenfield of the band LOTUS on drums. Recent press accolades for the new album include Guitar Player (“Pulsating grooves and synth bleeps … Nile Rodgers-approved funk, technically demanding fuzz melodies, blues-rock wailing, and full-on speed-picked shred,”) Jambands.com (“(Unlocked) demands to be played from start to finish; ride this trip until there’s nothing left to ride,” and the Aquarian Weekly (“The way they seamlessly mesh together great rock and electric sounds makes me want to hear more from these guys.”).
But in my opinion, nothing beats seeing these guys live. While their first release, 2005’s The Key, was a little electronic/dubstep/bass heavy, their second release is much more upbeat and a little less electronic, with more instrumental highlights. And the covers that they’ve pulled out along the way include everything to The New Deals Gone , Gone Gone, The Grateful Dead favorite Scarlet Begonias (Disco Biscuits performed a number of Dead tunes back in the day, and Jeremy Stalwart, one of the bands rotating drummers, played in New Deal.) to Beastie Boys No Sleep till Brooklyn.
RECAP: Make plans to go to the Rex on Wednesday night, and go ahead and tell your boss now that you’ll be coming in late on Thursday – Better yet – take the day off – You’re going to rage so hard that you might not be able to get out of bed. And you might want to bring a mask to prevent your face from being melted.
