Appreciating some musical moments and venues from Summer 2025

Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Westport, CT

Summer is my least favorite season. Maybe that’s not the brightest way to begin a blog about the summer, but I’m a cold climate guy who finds the humidity in North Jersey oppressive, sometimes sadistic. I also prefer club gigs to outdoor shows—another strike against me here, for the most part. But I still get plenty excited to be outside, and, like the lakes in my community, music at this point of the year provides a different kind of refresher.

Free food. Free drink. When you add the free factor to music…well now. Next level—and our level of gratitude should be raised, too. No matter if it’s a cover band at a farmer’s market or Sinatra in the park or a well-known group in a world-class facility, effort is involved to produce it. You can feel that even more in these situations and, if you’re like me, you smile just a little wider after the party is over because you know you received something beyond the memory.

Priceless, literally.

I had the privilege of attending four free shows this summer: in Jersey, NYC, Connecticut, and on Long Island, with two of them at venues I’d never been to before. Predominantly jam-based stuff, ’tis the season, but with enough variation to inspire on several planes. Do yourself the favor, for the positive vibes alone.

DJ Logic & Friends: Wellmont Arts Plaza in Montclair, NJ, 06/25/2025

I’ve seen DJ Logic perform with Widespread Panic as well as Living Colour, but never as the leader. On a sticky Wednesday evening in Essex County, where even a hint of a breeze was welcome, that changed. He did his thing for a few and was then joined, one by one, by four musicians including Tenafly, New Jersey resident Cyro Baptista, a Brazilian percussionist, and Billy Martin, drummer of Medeski Martin & Wood. The selfless teamwork and virtuosic soloing by the quintet had a real quality of the support and the acrobatics necessary to navigate a single day in your life.

Big fan of the Wellmont Theater, always a good selection of bands, and the summer concert series adjacent to the building is worth it. Saw Spafford there in 2024 when the schedule was heavy on jambands, while this year was in collaboration with the Montclair Jazz Festival. With his beats and loops and scratching, DJ Logic uniquely fits the profile. I would’ve traded the AC in my car on the ride home for another set of heat.

Goose MSG Preshow Party: Hill Country Barbecue in New York City, NY, 06/28/2025

It’s a great feeling to walk out of a movie theater in the middle of a sunny afternoon after watching a great film. Same can be said about this clinic in improvisation: two hours of standardish covers, off-the-nose choices as well—from members of TAUK, Lotus, and Muscle Tough, with the soulful Kanika Moore singing the stories. Wasn’t a true TAUK Moore show, but the outfit will forever be known to me as TAUK Moore & More. Bathed in Flatiron District light as I strolled down the block, it was evident we’d witnessed something special, an ensemble that might never happen again.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Soulshine benefit, where Goose made their Madison Square Garden debut, but I didn’t see their MSG headlining debut later that night. I didn’t stay to sample the brisket or the pulled pork or the baked beans at Hill Country Barbecue, either. Second time in that intimate basement space for a show, but still no food—third time’s the charm, no doubt the cornbread will tie it all together.

Borboletta: Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Westport, CT, 08/07/2025

A Santana tribute act comprised of players in the jam scene, focused on the first three albums? Yes, please. Guitarist Tim Palmieri—mainly of Lotus, but his schedule has him all over the place—heads up this sextet of guys from, among others, Deep Banana Blackout, Twiddle, The Machine, and the Harrison & Belew Remain In Light tour. Barnstorming through those familiar psychedelic mariachi rock tracks, the group has a vibrancy that your garden variety Santana cover band simply can’t match, thanks to a professional passion and a percussion section that dominates.

It’s clear I need to give Connecticut more credit and love, with the music and the venues. Toad’s Place in New Haven is iconic. And now, I know that the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Westport is super fun and the staff is helpful. It hosts around 50 free shows a summer, with some paid events, while the sonic menu is diverse and, from what some friends have said, only getting better. Immediate newsletter subscribe.

TAUK with Kanika Moore: Heckscher Park in Huntington, NY, 08/21/2025

An awesome autumn evening in the summer. Literally a hometown gig for TAUK as they rehearse not far away. With their musicianship, song composition, and smarts, these four guys once again proved they’re among the best pound-for-pound jambands out there. Their patience and control, their feel—they never step on toes, and you can lose yourself for minutes on end just locking onto one of their instruments. When Kanika is added to the mix, her vocals seamlessly find a new layer to live in. A couple of songs as a quartet and four with her, then repeated the process for a total of 12 tracks of jam fusion fun, that melting pot of algorithms and magic in every tune.

My first time in this area of Long Island. I window-shopped in adorable Huntington to stretch my legs post drive. The summer concert series at Chapin Rainbow Stage in Heckscher Park is curated by the Huntington Arts Council, and they knocked it out of the park with this bill, which had local favorite MJT, a sibling trio, opening. Sound quality was very nice. Another venue to pay attention to, and I can’t wait for next summer’s schedule.

Even for this dude who loves winter.