August 30, 2020.
Marckomitoville has only ever been about one thing: bringing people together. I’d like to claim the following words as my own, but it’s perhaps even more poignant that I quote my new friend Stephanie Susnjara whom I met this summer at a similar type of gathering, “Good music, good people, good vibes. So many people are suffering. Everyone is having a hard time in some way. We need to lift each other up. Music is the scaffolding.”
Upon that scaffolding, Marckomitoville was built. And even as my family still mourns the recent loss of my dad just over a year ago, we celebrated his life on what would have been his 80th birthday the only way we know how … we gathered as a family, TOGETHER, with our friends by our sides as we held a party for the ages in his honor. Stan Komito loved a party. EDIT: Stan Komito loved to throw a party. Well, no doubt we did the old man proud this summer. He literally devoted his life to bringing people together and never had boundaries or labels for his friendships like school, work, childhood, family, real estate, or whatever. My dad collected people. No, he really did. He made lifelong relationships at the drop of a hat and spent a lifetime cultivating and nurturing them and making his people feel special and important and loved. The secret was, if you entered his sphere in any way, shape, or form, you became his person. Strangers were just friends he hadn’t met yet and friends were family, corroborated by the arm’s length of aunts, uncles, and cousins I have that I learned later in life actually had no familial relation. Literally no one was ever left out or alone, for any reason. Above all, my dad’s very greatest pleasure was creating opportunities to bring his collection of people together. Marckomitoville gave me the chance to channel the very best of my dad as friends from all walks of my life gathered as one, united by music to celebrate life.
Let’s cut back to the present day and just tell it like it is right quick — 2020 sucks. Or at least everyone says it does. I, however, choose not to let it. In spite of it all, I’m living my best life. I try to find silver linings, most especially when the shit hits the fan. I never set out to be a healer or some supernatural Shaman, I just wanted to spread some good cheer and attempt to recreate some small semblance of what’s been taken away. I wanted to feel normal. I wanted my friends to feel normal. I wanted something to look forward to. I wanted first to build and then to climb the scaffolding that Stephanie talked about. It was time to start rebuilding, so to speak. In my worldview, there is absolutely nothing like gathering with friends and letting yourself be taken by the positive vibrations of communal energy. So when people seemed like they needed it most, when I needed it most, I got creative and turned to the mystical powers of livemusic: the power to heal, the power to unite, the power to transcend.
“Music … is the vessel to the real value of friendship, community, kindness, spirit, and love. If we all lived as mirrors everybody would have a constant reminder of how beautiful they are.” – Mike Jaskewicz.
Cosmic
Ten weeks ago, I booked a band. They agreed to a gig. I don’t think any of us dreamed at the time that what would develop over the course of the summer would be lifelong relationships built on a foundation of love, compassion, and mutual respect, all born naturally of the vessel referred to earlier by Mike Jaskewicz. When bassist John Nemeth and I first made that arrangement back in late June, I didn’t even know Mike’s name, or anyone else’s in the band, for that matter. I just called a local band that had left me impressed and I thought would be fun. That all changed quickly. Today I write about my brothers: Mike and John and Billy and Dan, whose character and relationships define them far better than the quality of their musicianship. That being said, they’re reallly fucking good at what they do and with Sunday’s show at Marckomitoville, are now my most seen band of 2020 (having surpassed the three show bar set by JRAD’s run at the Capitol Theatre this past February).
This is all really important because it sets the stage for the love-fest that was Sunday’s show. There was so much heart and passion and warmth and kindness emanating from that stage and it was reflected in every note, vocal, and shared glance. Smiles were a mile wide. Joy was palpable and energy was tangible. Dare I say, it was a real fucking concert that was as least as good as any I’ve seen, every detail crafted by love, respect, and mutual admiration. For almost three and a half hours (!!!), we all forgot. Strike that, reverse it. Maybe it makes more sense to say that we all remembered … this is exactly how it’s supposed to be.
Cosmic, formerly known as Cosmic Jerry Band, changed their name earlier this year as they started to write and play more original material. The classification that is “Grateful Dead cover band” severely limits the scope of what they do and the beauty that they create. From what I understand, they have fifty-five completed songs (wow!) and that’s in just the past year alone (wow again!). Sunday’s twenty-five song set featured seven originals plus a bonus soundcheck of “Words In The Wind”, just the “second or third song” that Jaskewicz ever wrote. And that was just the first of two soundcheck treats as Billy Siegel and Dan Donovan treated us to a spontaneous keys and drums duet of 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love” before packing it in for the main set.
I confess to having fallen hard for Cosmic’s original songwriting, handled mostly by Jaskewicz though everyone pitches in. What can I say, the dude speaks directly to my heart. I also have a well-documented penchant for Jerry Garcia Band material and, if you know me at all, then you know that I’m an energy guy. With all that considered, this setlist was tailor made for me. I’ll also neither confirm nor deny having sent a moderately long wishlist so it kind of actually was. Having gotten to know me quite well this summer, Cosmic turned that alleged wishlist into the show of my dreams.
“Finders Keepers” was the perfect opener, getting the show off to a running start with a funky Merl Saunders tune (his songwriting credit is debatable but he did in fact later copyright it) popularized by the Keystone recordings with Jerry Garcia in 1973. “Butterflies” gave the first taste of a Cosmic original before a four song run straight off the aforementioned wishlist that kicked off with “New Speedway Boogie” > “Cosmic Charlie”. From Jerry Garcia’s Shining Star album, this next one had a few asterisks as I’ve never seen “Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox” live — until Sunday. One of my white whale songs for almost thirty years, Cosmic helped me check that (bread) box in glorious fashion. Ahhhh, thanks for that.
Billy Siegel followed with his characteristically tasty vocals on “Blow Away” before an original of “I Was Worth It”. Without even hearing the songs or knowing the lyrics or the backstory, the song titles themselves let you know that Cosmic’s songwriting comes from a place of deep healing; to feel their passion as these songs are played is to enter Cosmic’s universe. To underscore that point, another original titled “Set Me Free” was sandwiched by two more JGB goodies, Donny Hathaway’s “Magnificent Sanctuary Band” and Jimmy Cliff’s “Harder They Come”. With that, an energetic and emotional first set was in the books.
After a much needed rest and a chance for everyone to hang and catch up, the second set got off to an equally fast start with “Help On the Way” > “Slipknot” > “Franklin’s Tower”, the last of which is without question the best song ever played in my backyard! There. I said it. To see people jumping around, waving their arms, and engaging in hell-bent debauchery made this Marlboro, NJ backyard party on a Sunday afternoon feel more like the pool party scene in Boogie Nights (minus the cocaine of course ;). How do you follow that??? With “Chalkdust Torture”, natch. Oh man. A trio of originals followed including one that quickly became a personal favorite, “Crooked Tree”, that’s like a window into Jaskewicz’ soul. If you’re keeping score, we had just barely reached the halfway point in the second set.
A raucous cover of the Talking Head’s “Life During Wartime” > “Ride Mighty High” (JGB gospel tune originally recorded by The Mighty Clouds of Joy) had me grooving so hard I thought my feet were bleeding (they kind of were as I stubbed my toe during the Franklin’s … oh well, occupational hazard). A thirty second respite was all we were given until “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” was pencilled in due to some I’m not gonna take no for an answer coaxing from a friend, incidentally the same friend who coordinated a sizeable donation of Hometown BBQ for us all to enjoy. {Thank you, Jeff G, for the Golden Road (To Unlimited BBQ)!!!} In a bout of setlist wizardry, “Corrina” gave a nod to Karina Rykman who had just arrived and would be playing with her band later in the day. The most jubilant of Cosmic’s originals, “We Are Divine” (strong imagery in the title here, too), preceded the set closing “Suzy Greenberg”. Act One, Scene Two, Day Three of Marckomitoville was in the books. Or was it???
The band may have thought they were done. I had other plans. Every time I see Cosmic, they knock me on my ass with a duo or trio of songs in the encore slot. Always unpredictable at this point in the show (think Ripple > Baba O’Riley > Weekapaugh — yeah, that really happened), I gently seduced them to pull a little something out of their bag of tricks and keep playing. And because these dudes really don’t ever want to stop playing, we were all rewarded with the most glorious “Morning Dew.” If ya know, then ya know. Good lord. This. Was. It. They left it all on the table right there. Teary and emotional, no one on either side of the stage could have possibly had anything left to give. Right??? Wrong. So to put one more exclamation point on a monster two-plus-hour set, Old & In the Way’s “Midnight Moonlight” mercifully closed the show.
I don’t know how to properly thank these men not just for entering my life but for gracing our home with their talent. My friendship, my support, and my love are forever.
30,065 steps. BOOM!
How could anyone have anything left in the tank after that??? Well, Marckomitoville was designed to be a music festival so onward and upward my friends, it’s time to dig deep for the next act. In my mind, this was always a co-headlining double bill. Like Cage the Elephant opening for Beck, you have to have balls to follow an act like that. Enter …
Karina Rykman with Adam November, & Chris Corsico
Karina Rykman, Princess of Funk, and her trio were next to the stage and they came ready to throw down. Another beautiful story of a gig turning into a friendship, Karina was so much fun to work with every step of the way. Humble, straightforward, and funny as shit, this delightful human is gonna be making me dance and laugh for a long time to come. A hip artist who’s really exploded on the jam scene, booking her to play Marckomitoville really seemed like a coup. But I now know that her headlining debut at the Brooklyn Bowl this past year doesn’t define her any more than her role as bassist in Marco Benevento’s trio where she replaced her guru, Dave Dreiwitz (Ween, JRAD). Karina is a kind and humble musician who embodies the spirit of love and community. I just recently learned that she’s also a crazy talented artist whose art is now hanging in my home 🙂 To know her is to love her, both musically and personally.
Personal attributes aside, she’s also got the patent on throwing down ridiculously fun party vibes with her bass-driven trio and did so straight away with her newest single, “City Kids”, released just days before this show. As she would explain to Andrew O’Brien during a L4LM interview on this latest release, “‘City Kids’ is unbridled joy meets lunatic sunshine.” Yes, that. {Evidently she’s also something of a creative writer who may be hot on my tail as a journalist, too.} This song fucks. (I think that’s good, lol, even if I’m too old to ever really put anything like that in writing again.) Anyway, the irony of this city kid playing her “joyously cynical” new single from the comfort of the burbs, no doubt having endured a jughandle or two to get here, was not lost on me. Even better, the thought of her trying to figure out how to make a left turn in the Jerz kind of makes me chuckle with sinister suburban glee.
Masterfully assembling two sets of originals and covers that perfectly suited the atmosphere, she provided an impromptu comedic set when guitarist Adam November broke a string and cleverly ad-libbed lyrics all night to suit both the mood and the moment. Karina played on John Nemeth’s bass rig and even before I would learn a few days later from Cosmic’s equipment tech that she had Jelly’s bass amp turned up higher than it’s ever been, there is no mistaking that bass driven grooves are the name of the game with this group. Please, though, I implore you not to sleep on her bandmates, guitarist Adam November and drummer Chris Corsico. As Karina would at one point quip, “Adam is really good at guitar and whatever else he does over there.” True that. He loops and plays with this little box while throwing down these psychedelic licks that layer perfectly with Karina’s bass and Chris’ drums. Let’s talk about those drums for a sec, borrowed from a friend in my neighborhood that very morning, Corsico made himself at home on that kit as if he’d been playing it his whole life. Chris’ role in the band is more subtle, but don’t overlook the fact that he drives Karina’s grooves. See “Goji Island”. Love that one!
It’s funny to think that when we booked this gig we weren’t sure whether Karina would come with these bandmates or her “quarantine” band. I hired her and reiterated that whoever she brought in tow was fine with me. I take it back. These three are a band, more than the sum of their parts, who know where each other is headed before they even decide to go there. As evidence of that last, and even though I don’t think it’s as impromptu as was claimed, check out the “Ska Jam” that kicked off the second set.
“Elevator” was the planned set opener and at its conclusion, the trio unleashed a medley of covers that just tore the place apart. “Hella Good” -> “Voices Inside My Head” -> “Crosseyed & Painless” -> “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”. Sweet Jesus. For the uninformed, that’s No Doubt -> The Police -> Talking Heads -> LCD Soundsystem. Whoa. Can’t say who filmed this eighteen minutes of goodness but this clip was good enough to turn up in my inbox the following day on Jam.Buzz live clip of the day. Seriously though, seeing my backyard bathed in haze and concert lights as Karina and company slayed and Marckomitoville turned up on a well known national website was just … wow. Mind. Blown.
The Butthole Surfer’s ever popular “Pepper” was the penultimate tune before Phish’s “First Tube”, a blissed out dance anthem of the highest order that Adam November so admirably played in his own style, not an easy task mind you when taking on the enormity of my favorite guitar-slinging ginger, Trey Anastasio. Kudos to Karina and her bandmates for putting on an absolute clinic in the art of musical after-parties. Bravo!
12,612 more steps. I’m telling you people, this is why I run.
Setlists:
Cosmic 8.30.20
Set 1: Finders Keepers > Butterflies*, New Speedway Boogie > Cosmic Charlie, Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox, Blow Away, I Was Worth It*, Magnificent Sanctuary Band, Set Me Free*, Harder They Come.
Set 2: Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower, Chalk Dust Torture, Crooked Tree*, Raised Upon A Fire*, Wine Women Rock* > Life During Wartime > Ride Mighty High, The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion), Corrina > We Are Divine* > Suzy Greenberg.
Encore: Morning Dew > Midnight Moonlight.
*originals.
Links to audio of Cosmic’s sets …
https://archive.org/details/cosmic2020-08-30.cmc622.cmc621.cmc65xt.keysdi.sbd.matrix.flac24
Karina Rykman
Set 1: *City Kids, *Plants, 2fish 1fish -> I Get Lifted -> Spiders, Goji Island, 4 Out of 5 -> National Anthem -> Why Can’t I Touch It?
Set 2: Ska Jam, *Elevator, Hella Good -> Voices Inside My Head -> Crosseyed & Painless -> Daft Punk Is Playing At My House, Dirty South, Pepper, First Tube
Links to audio of Karina’s sets …
https://archive.org/details/karinarykman2020-08-30.cmc622.cmc621.cmc65xt.sbd.matrix.flac16
Shoutouts …
John “Jelly Roll” Nemeth, Cosmic’s kickass bassist who ran sound for both his band and Karina.
Josh Nemeth and Anthony Otero, the dopest roadies and techies around, for making sure everything was just perfect.
Harrison Nussbaum for busting his ass so I didn’t have to bust mine.
Erica Boilen for the incredible pics.
Eric McRoberts, taper extraordinaire, for lovingly recording and mixing these sets to be enjoyed in perpetuity.
Jeff Gorlechen for lining up the grub that enabled us to make $500 in charitable donations on the day to: Freak’s Action Network’s Musician’s Fund, FOXG1 research, and the Marlboro Twp F.O.P.. I have $100 left to give that’ll bring the grand total of Marckomitoville contributions to $1000… any ideas???
Ellie Deneroff for the sweet concert poster that really nailed the vibe!
Diana Komito for letting us all get away with this, me most of all … #mywifesasaint
And to every single person on both sides of the stage who rolled with the punches and showed up a day after they thought they would, a million thanks for blessing our home with your presence.
Awesome jams