Concert Review: Nipperfest 2023 @ Schenectady’s Central Park, 07/22/2023

Editor’s note: The review is the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Nippertown.

Under postcard-perfect skies, clouds sailing over Central Park on Saturday, the second Nipperfest began with serendipitous symmetry, the sort we music nerds love. It ended 11 hours later in an astounding moment of warm inclusion.

Very varied artists, 17 in all, performed on two stages, food trucks fed the hungry, and crowds from gray-bearded boomers to young families savored sun and sounds, as bands checked each other out.

Symmetrical was the age gap between the first acts on the two stages. On the main Music Haven stage (hereafter, the main), 17-year-old Sofia Corts acknowledged writing songs about “things I haven’t gone through.” Half an hour later, on the Daily Gazette/County stage (hereafter, the second), 71-year-old Deb Cavanaugh explained her songs are about “every bad thing” she’d experienced in two tumultuous relationships and other adventures.

Both had strong things to sing, Corts in a strong clear alto backed by versatile heavy-hitters keyboardist Peter Iselin (founder of Metroland, successor to Kite and predecessor to Nippertown and therefore a media saint) organized just two weeks ago; Cavanaugh in quavering tones with her Dandelion Wine veteran acoustic folk players. 

That warm inclusion moment was when headliners Jocelyn and Chris came into the crowd to sing, surrounded so closely by fans that they disappeared but for voices and instruments.

Sets alternated on two stages, both well-equipped with sound and lighting gear that made everybody audible and visible. Things mostly ran on time; in half-hour sets early, then longer shows. At first, seats on the flat plaza before the Music Haven main stage were in full sun, so fans sought shade among the trees up top; picnic tables before the second stage were in the cool shade. Last year that stage was in the Tom Isabella Picnic Pavilion, but it hosted artworks in a joint exhibit of the Electric City Barn and the Albany Barn on Saturday when the more prominent, elevated stage offered both better sight and sound.

A loose no-repeat-artists “rule” soon developed holes. Angelina Valente played solo last year but with full band Saturday while Girl Blue played last year with her full band and on Saturday with husband Jimi W as a duo. Meanwhile, both violinist Connor Armbruster and drummer Sam Zucchini played with both Lucas Garrett and Angelina Valente – showing the friendly fluidity of the regional music scene whose richness organizers engineered the festival to display. 

Nipperfest is a project of Nippertown whose leading lights, Jim Gilbert and Laura DaPolito, curated the music, and organized and promoted everything. The two and an unobtrusive staff were everywhere, notably including WEXT impresario Chris Weink who helped with onstage introductions.

As for the richness, that rang strong from the first notes.

Corts opened on the main at 11, singing pop (“Play Your Cards”), R&B (“Thought Things Through”), organ-and-guitar rock (“Communication”), even a taste of reggae (“Crazy Too”). Surrounded by elders wielding horns, keyboards (Iselin, an ace), guitar (Bert Pagano, a valuable last-minute addition), drums and bass, she more than held her own.

Next, on the shady second, Cavanaugh played zippy dulcimer in a weave of acoustic instruments and sang of travails and and triumphs, the Grateful Dead-like “Long Strange Trip” summing up a long vivid life.

On the main, like Corts, Rhoseway (Rob Fleming writes, plays and records alone) has beefed up from solo act to fronting a band. In only its second gig, anchored by (mostly jazz) drummer Matt Niedbalski, this gave his melodic pop songs the polish of Pink Floyd meets Radiohead in outer space. Well-made songs, very capably performed.

Bouncing back to the second, songwriter Jimi W likewise benefited from expert support, wife Arielle “Girl Blue” O’Keefe. Her strong, sympathetic voice added dimension and emotion to folk-pop tunes that peaked, in personal emotional musings, with “Hardly Any Loneliness” but also included the political angst of “Lonely Ride.”

Give troubadour Lucas Garrett the groove prize, singing and playing guitar from an electric wheelchair. While his baritone vocals were difficult to decipher, but there was no resisting the force of his compact band’s grooves.

Singer Barbie Barker of punk/emo band Candy Ambulance unloaded heaps of mostly tormented emotion in the only solo set of the day.  On the second, she strummed electric guitar and turned herself inside out. Songs surged or whispered – the pensive, empowering “C.” quietly charmed and revealed. While she proclaimed “I’m afraid of what comes next,” she seemed fearless.

Louder, livelier and even more assertively optimistic, the rap duo Camtron5000 amazed on the main. Recorded beats burst behind precision Afro-futuristic sci-fi sagas that resolved persuasively into strong expressions of hope – a powerful yin to Barker’s yang.

More folk sounds came next on the second: singer-songwriter-banjoist Carolyn Shapiro (a longtime Caffe Lena staffer now making music full time) with fiddler Connor Armbruster. Calmer and more contained than Barker, she used falsetto to accent her full voice and celebrated how the Hudson River meets the sea near the close of a well-paced set

Lots of “river” songs: Cavanaugh’s “Walking by the River,” Angelina Valente’s “Riverside,” Hold On Honeys’ “Tennessee River Runs Low,” Shapiro’s ode to the Hudson – maybe more that I’ve missed. But I digress.

Valente followed Camtron5000 on the main, her cozy folk-pop vocabulary echoing the rap pair’s uplifting messages of optimistic self-determination. But nobody – in her band or elsewhere on Saturday – could have matched the dazzling dance moves Camtron5000’s rapping partner J. Lyrics executed to illuminate beats with motion.

The Hold On Honeys harmonized to delicious effect on the second, linked voices gliding on discrete acoustic accompaniment featuring Connor Ambruster’s fiddle. Emily Curro, Raya Malcolm and Shannon Rafferty wove their voices like some Roches, and they showed Paul Simon-like writing ambition, especially in the folk-waltz “Maple Lane.”

But then, THEN – a blues-rock explosion on the main by Margo Macero and her razor-sharp band. In a festival of fresh ingredients, this young niece of legendary record producer Teo Macero (most Miles Davis recordings) and Berklee grad stirred in some of the spiciest sounds. Fiercest, too. Her human-trumpet voice and flame-thrower guitar playing lit up the place, both in soulful hard-hitting originals and covers she claimed in full-force grabs: Sheryl Crow’s “Steve McQueen”, Melissa Etheridge’s “Somebody Bring Me Some Water” and Heart’s “Barracuda.” Ferocious, tuneful, intense.

If I had to pick a breakout star from this Nipperfest, she’d be it; or part of it; since another cool discovery band (new to me…) played next on the second: the super-funky R&B/soul blasters E-Block. 

Up front, Luke Pascarella played solid guitar and sang in a supple voice ala Kenny Rankin or Michael Franks with tenor saxophonist James Soren playing short solos and essential fills. Keyboardist Devin Tetlak linked this front line to the tremendous beat power of bassist Daniel Folds and Leroy “Rudy” Dalton. This thing slammed and sang and swung. While upbeat blasts “Sleepwalking” (an ironic title for sure) and the yearning “Running” pumped everybody’s pulse, the quiet ballad “Constellation” soothed and charmed. So did their closing “Silver Car,” dedicated as a birthday gift to a friend named Rob who drives one. They played with thrilling velocity, Dalton doubling or tripling the beat, everything as tight as a hot-weather line at Jumpin’ Jacks.

Back on the main, the ShortWave RadioBand reached for that same mix of energy and charm through the proud amateurism of vintage punk. Fun and funny at times, they rhymed paranoia with clairvoyant, played pretty fast despite trying briefly to “slow down as much as we know how.” In this deceptively peppy number, Steve Nover danced, well, the Steve Nover, despite his sneaker sole trying to defect. A paean to the 518 music scene name-checked the Sugar Hold, then setting up on the second.

An ironic sort of antique show, The Sugar Hold revels in pop culture cheese from past decades, many past decades. In the Ramones-y lament “TV Screen” (despairing that they might ever appear on one), they sang a blunt-force credo that summarized their slamming, silly set: “I’m gonna get real drunk and play two chords.” OK, so they were sober, I think, but also gleefully goofball, calling the Hold On Honeys aboard to rhapsodize, 60s-girl-group-style – on “Cheeseburger” – yeah, dumb as it sounds –and later bemoaning the travails of buying weed and driving a shitty car (at the same time?) with grinning swears.

After that, I couldn’t tell if the Brule County Bad Boys, all in cowboy hats on the main, were lampooning lunkhead bro’ country or celebrating it. Some songs felt too on the nose for satire, some didn’t, and it all might have landed better in a 2 am kicker bar. However, a competent cover of “Ain’t Living LongLike This” gave a nice power glide feel – good walking music for heading to the second for Precious Metals.

A project of singer-songwriter and echoey-sound guitar by J. Lee White, PM sometimes features members of the North and South Dakotas, sometimes other cats. But they sounded solid making aggressive alt-rock noise in propulsive songs powered either by emo introspection or bust-out exuberance. Citing a two-song film-shoot, they invited the crowd close to signify community and “how we’re your favorite band.” Fans complied and, more impressive, the band had the songs and energy to hold them there, in a land of “Tequila Dreams.”

With radio and TV airplay and national tours, Jocelyn and Chris Arndt busted out from Fort Plain to almost everywhere and headlined Saturday on the main stage as the Figgs did in last year’s first Nipperfest.

Opening with “Skeleton Key” (pun intended), they delivered airplay-ready tunes as compelling concert pieces charged with confident energy in their own versatility and unerring control of dynamics.

Things got hot, and stayed there, even when they sat on a garish orange couch in a short acoustic set that recalled their nightly streamed shows during the worst of the pandemic.

Busy touring since the world reopened – their next gig is in Wisconsin – the band was commanding in vivid rockers, sympathetic/tasty in ballads. “Outta My Head” followed “Skeleton Key;” then, in “Things I’ll Never Know,” singer Jocelyn and guitarist Chris jumped up and down together before the song-wave crested toward silence.

With the siblings up front being stars, the band grooved: drummer/musical director David Bourgeois and bassist Dan Zavadil at the edges of the stage and newest member keyboardist Tyrone Hartzog directly behind the center-state orange couch.

Seated there, they country-crooned and picked their only country song, “Drink for the Memory,” before bringing the band back on, quietly playing acoustic; after an OK singalong, they covered Jewel’s “Who Will Save Your Soul.”

Dynamic throughout, they contrasted Jocelyn’s delicate vocal with the pile-driver band riffing in “Someone Else’s Blood.” And there were surprises to come. After the soul-funk singalong “Sugar and Spice,” they brought out Margo Macero, ready to shred and to sing. She plugged in and they took off into Dylan’s bluesy “Meet Me In the Morning.” Chris co-soloed, Jocelyn jump-danced around and put her best howl on the lyrics.

Much quieter – no amplification at all – was Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” sung in the audience, with the audience, and with nothing held back in this trusting total immersion.

By then, the fingernail moon had sunk behind the pines, and fans’ excited homeward-bound talk replaced the echoes from hours of music in the sunny times before.

Photo Gallery by Leif Zurmuhlen