nothin Phat Astronaut Makes A New Tradition | New Haven Independent

Phat Astronaut Makes A New Tradition

The night before Thanksgiving brings to mind two distinct scenarios — making a feast to share with others, and reconnecting and celebrating with old friends. These two mixed together at Pacific Standard Tavern on Wednesday as the New Haven-based band Phat Astronaut took to the stage along with two other acts, not only to celebrate the band’s one year anniversary, but to record a live album of the night’s set.

Our first show ever was here last year, and we recorded a live album at that one,” said Mark Lyon, guitarist of the band. We said ok, this is us, no overdubs.’ We tried to make a ballsy move like that.” This year Phat Astronaut celebrated that move, a year’s worth of live shows, and recording its first studio album (slated for release in early 2018) back at the place where it all started.

We were born here,” Lyon said, beaming. This is our birth spot.”

One of the two other bands joining in the celebration was the New Haven-based Orbiter, a local band consisting of Mike Antoch on guitar, Mike Sangapore on drums, and Justin Tart on bass. The three musicians played a tight set of four instrumentals that paid their debts to progressive rock and heavy metal. Antoch played his eight-string with delicacy and power over the consistently strong and fiery rhythm section, creating a sound that could be described as heavy metal jazz. The chatter was minimal both on the stage and off, the ever-growing crowd standing close, mesmerized and nodding along, though Antoch took frequent opportunities to express his gratitude to be included in the festivities as well as generally.

We have a lot to be thankful for,” he told the audience.

The second act, the New York-based Valence, consisted of Michael Buonanno and Geoffrey Schaefer on guitars, Wilhelmus Sapanaro on bass, and Chris Romano on drums. This four-piece wasted no time in diving right into its unique brand of instrumentals that also fused prog and heavy metal with the best of the jam-band sound — loud enough to make the floors and seats shake at times, but still melodic and accessible. The four musicians appeared to have a great time delivering their sound to the even larger crowd, playfully interacting with each other and the audience throughout the set. (“You’re nice, and extremely good looking,” Sapanaro told the audience with a big, sincere smile.)

Lyon, who had been working the room throughout the night giving out hugs, smiles and professions of love and gratitude, danced along at the front of the audience and even helped recover a fallen mic stand during the set.
Valence’s set was the perfect bridge between Orbiter and Phat Astronaut, taking the audience from head nods to body rocking.

Karen Ponzio Photo

Phat Astronaut.

Phat Astronaut took to the stage for the final set, and the people in the audience from note one brought themselves right up to the stage and feverishly cheered on and danced along with their friends right to the last note. Consisting of Lyon on guitar, Mike Russo on bass, Mike Knobloch on percussion, Travis Hall on drums, Dylan McDonnell on flute and saxophone, and Chad Browne-Springer on vocals, this tight, funky six-piece band took the crowd through a ten-song set of both old and new tunes that kept everyone moving and made the celebration one of love, sound and spirit.

The spirited pulse and vibe of the kept growing as the music became a synthesis of funk, hip hop, R&B, and psychedelic soul. Vocalists Elizabeth Dellinger and Ruth Onyirimba joined mid-set for three songs, adding another layer of beauty to the already lush sound of the set. Even the band’s final number — an aptly chosen cover of “Wild World” — became a funkified testament to the marrying of skilled musicianship and the sheer love of sharing music. It was hard to not have a blast at this show. Even this reporter had to set aside her pen and notebook to dance along with the high energy crowd. It’s not so often these days that so many people dance without provocation except for the sheer inability to not move along with the music. This crowd never stopped, and it was a joy to watch and participate in.

“A lot of weird stuff happened this year,” Browne-Singer said during the set, and that was probably an understatement for most of us. Traditions sometimes can be what we come back to when the “weird” gets to be too much to handle. But also quite often the “weird” is exactly what helps us break tradition and create a new way to be inspired. It’s possible that Phat Astronaut created a new pre-Thanksgiving tradition in New Haven, one that would behoove all us to share, in the joyful celebration of creation and community.

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