Tag: Oberon Rose

Oberon Rose and Anton Barbeau

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Oberon Rose

Oberon Rose “Tell Me About It”

I was extremely proud to have Oberon Rose play Power Popaholic Fest a few years ago, and now Tommy Oberon takes his band and ups the ante on a brilliant sophomore LP. Older rock influences (Beatles, Pink Floyd) are happily played alongside newer ones (The White Stripes, The Flaming Lips.) The opening title track is an infectious rocker that shimmers to life with its flowery production and psychedelic flourishes. This is followed by “No Stranger” as it continues to impress with its driving rhythm and sing along chorus.

Tommy’s guitar solo is truly amazing on the epic ballad “Life In A Box,” one of the best tracks here. The flashes of experimental alt. rock concepts like the ambitious march of “Battle Hymn (Of The Magi)” work so well, you can sense the band is firing on all cylinders here. And it isn’t afraid to change tone on “A Place In The Sun,” and get pastoral on “The Way To Avondale” with its gentle harmonies. The band closes out with the very Sloan-like “Drawn and Quartered” and the slow-burning finale “Twice Bermuda.” Strong work from Tommy Oberon, with Chris Listorti (bass)and Mike Keyes (drums.) Not only highly recommended, but it makes my top ten list for 2018.

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Anton Barbeau

Anton Barbeau “Natural Causes”

While Barbeau is a prolific and tireless musician, picking through his catalog for the good stuff can be challenging.  But on Natural Causes, it’s easy — as “Magazine Street” is a jangling pop treasure, with a strong bass line and hook in the chorus. “It’s The Coffee That Makes The Man Go Mad” has Anton’s quirky lyrics and instrumentation with some nice harmonies. Some of these tunes are from his past catalog of work, but there is a good amount of polish in the production that makes this his most accessible album in years.

“Disambiguation” and “Magic Sandwiches” both are good distillations of the Barbeau artistic aesthetic, and I like to compare it to Adrian Belew in some other universe. Not everything here sticks, but enough does. More standouts include “Just Passing By” and “Down Around the Radio.” This is the Anton Barbeau that I’ve been waiting for.

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Power Popaholic Fest 2016 review

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This was a special Fest as this year we also were raising money for The Spirit of Harmony Foundation (Todd Rundgren‘s charity) and our second year at Bar Matchless after last year’s concert. The night was started with Oberon Rose playing selections from his upcoming album, great songs here and a few from the debut LP too. He was followed by Joe Caravella and The Reign, who rocked out a nice long set including covers of Badfinger and Beatles tunes — the band was tight and also played some new music thats due for release soon.

Unfortunately The Connection had an emergency and cancelled last minute, but Dave Rave came on and saved the day with his band, Haliee Rose and special guests Sal Medina (Milk and Cookies) and Dennis Diken (The Smithereens). They rocked the house as both Hailee and Dave have new albums on sale. The following night was started loudly by Meyerman as his new band shook the walls, followed by New Jersey favorites The Modulators promoting their new album “Try, Try, Try.” Then Boston native Ray Paul took to the stage and played selections from the soon to be released “Whimsicality.” We closed out the Fest with The Zombies of The Stratosphere who played a jangling set with some country overtones.

We were also able to make a donation to The Spirit of Harmony Foundation, giving a check to John Siegler and Kevion Ellman, both from Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Thanks goes to The Odd Fellows Lodge #125 of Mineola for supplying the donation. Its great when you can support the arts and art education with one event. I had a great time and I know the bands had fun too.