Marco Benevento

Marco and his band have an amazing ability to impart joy & fun to the audience. They clearly love what they are doing and it's highly infectious. Couple that with the mastery each member has on their instrument and it's a recipe for a great show.

When you thought the musical enchantment of the evening ended as the last note of Tweezer Reprise sounded, enter Marco and great friends. I always enjoying seeing him play, but this was really special. Billy Martin may be one of the tightest drummers ever, coupled with the keyboard stylings of Marco and the thumpin' bottom end of the Slip and it was utterly spectacular. Loved the Benny and the Jets... found myself singing it until Frankenstein hit. The venue was a great size, but seating is extremely limited. If you want to sit, get there early. But, if you want to groove, there's plenty of space for that. Many thanks to Marco, Billy and Marc for playing so late - it was greatly appreciated!

This was an amazing show. It feels good to feel good and that's what I've come to expect from listening to these guys... Great energy... I walked out of the Music Hall of Williamsburg feeling charged up and fulfilled...

It s kinda fun to trace the path that took Marco Benevento from the avant-garde basement of the old Knitting Factory in Tribeca to the point where he was standing atop his piano at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday night, towering over the crowd in a black-and-white-and-Dayglo-striped suit, top hat and pink sunglasses like a live-action Dr. Teeth. But it s a lot more fun to just fully enjoy the moment. And there were plenty of them to be had when the Benevento s infectious, happy-go-lucky energy\u2014and his backing duo\u2014turned the Brooklyn crowd on its head and everyone just surrendered to the fun. Of course, you don t begin an evening by hopping up on your instrument, that s something you have to build toward. The set opened with Dropkick, off the recently released The Story of Fred Short, Benevento singing through the verses before opening into concentric circles of piano jams. Right off, his bandmates\u2014Andrew Borger on drums and Karina Rykman pinch-hitting on bass (regular bassist Dave Dreiwitz playing with Ween across the river)\u2014established themselves as guardians of the groove for the evening. While the crowd was quick to join the party and dance, no one was enjoying themselves as much as the three musicians onstage. The highlight mid-section of the show was a performance of the entire B-side of the new album, which is a sort of concept record. Played live, the music was an explosive prog-rock disco, each piece finding a deeper and more open-ended funk. Rykman was a revelation, often leading the charge with splatter-paint fuzz bass accented by head slamming, body gyrations and a Cheshire Cat grin. Benevento was equally as animated, both on and off the piano, finding his way into the crowd during I Can t See the Light to dance and pose for pictures. The second half of the set was heavy on instrumentals from Benevento s growing catalog, each song showing off Benevento s skills at composition and improvisation. Sing-along, earworm melodies opened up into penetrating jams, his piano augmented by synth and samples, the music swerving between grooves and deep rocking, Borger and Rykman providing equal parts push and pull. And yes, there was dancing and strutting and piano hopping, and even a couple of unironic Take it to the bridge mentions in there as well. For the encore, Benevento brought out opener Mikaela Davis on harp to accompany a nice version of David Bowie s Heroes, which began as just a pensive duet, but when the band returned, with an additional guest\u2014Katie Jacoby on violin\u2014the mood quickly shifted back to giddy party and the follow-up quintet version of the Rolling Stones Let s Spend the Night Together was a perfect we re-gonna-make-your-cheeks-hurt-from-smiling finish to the night. \u2014A. Stein | @Neddyo

Great energy great vibe. Great set of music. the first 7 or 8 are all must hear. They brought up a young lady to sing with the trio later in the show. At the show at the show...

The Parish was bursting at the seams during Second Weekend of Jazz Fest and they did not diappoint! Dancing was inevitable to the funky rock.

Awesome venue and killer show ! These three really played well together. SMOKE FILLED THE ROOM !