By: David Schultz

When you’ve grown accustomed to playing lengthy shows in the middle of New York City’s Washington Square Park, where do you go to celebrate the release of your new live album? If you’re New Jersey based BuzzUniverse, you move from land and take to the sea – or in this case, the nearest river. With LiveVibes From The Donegal Saloon hot off the presses, BuzzUniverse commemorated the occasion with a sold-out show on the Half Moon cruise ship. With the weather not quite cooperating, BuzzU rolled with the waves that pelted the ship and, along with Leroy Justice, took the crowd on a three hour tour much more enjoyable and way more predictable than the one shepherded by Gilligan.

BuzzUniverse had its genesis when the prog-rock loving pair of guitarist/lead singer Alex Garay and drummer Dave Migliore teamed up with their jamband loving bassist Greg McLoughlin to create a power trio with horns. Although their numbers have grown, they’ve remained true to their vision. Since rounding out the band about a year ago with the sterling brass section of Stefanie Seskin and Brian Ciufo and Bob Ramos’ menagerie of percussion, BuzzUniverse has really started to soar. Finding the common ground between Garay and Migliore’s prog-rock excursions and McLoughlin’s love of the extended jam, BuzzUniverse continuously finds ways to work in traditional gaucho-inflected rhythms, bluegrass-tinged country rave ups, straight up funk and classic rock.

For the boat trip, BuzzUniverse touched on many of the songs captured at the Donegal Saloon, their home venue, for LiveVibes. “You And Me” nicely segued into a lengthy Velvet Underground tinged instrumental passage with Garay at the center and got a nice jolt from The Who inspired horns of Seskin and Ciufo. They sauntered through a bouncy rendition of “Caballo Viejo,” rolled through a fine cover of the Marshall Tucker Band’s “This Ol’ Cowboy” and brought “Up The Mountain” to its customary boil of a hoedown. For “In The Sun,” longtime friend of the band Andy Earl of Moodras sat in providing additional guitar for lengthy opus, closing the show with a funky bang.

Percussionist Ramos pulled double duty, sitting in with Leroy Justice during their spectacular classic rock influenced opening set. With Ramos providing additional rhythm on covers of Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean” and The Band’s “Don’t Do It,” Justice served notice that it may not be long before they are selling out boats of their own.

On the heels of last week’s celebration, BuzzUniverse continued the festivities by returning to the scene of the crime, performing an acoustic set, their first in three years, at the Donegal Saloon. BuzzU will keep the momentum going with a lengthy free concert this Sunday, October 5th, in New York City’s Washington Square Park.

Labels: BuzzUniverse, Leroy Justice