Cosmosis Jones, Live at Nectar's, Burlington, VT July 13th, 2019

       Hello everyone. Hope things are well. Summer has arrived in Burlington. Phish tour is over but there is so much music going on in Vermont. JRAD at the Waterfront in July, Greensky at Jay’s Peak in Aug, and a friend’s Dick’s party with like 3 bands or something. But today my focus is on the music I saw last Saturday night at Nectar’s…the Reunion of Cosmosis Jones. They played a lot in the past but went on hiatus right before I moved here in 2017. I know they did something of a reunion at Finnegan’s last holiday season but it was not like this. They showed up with the full force of an electronica hurricane and destroyed Nectar’s. Kempepedia is proud to present Cosmosis Jones, Live at Nectar’s, July 13^th, 2019.

     Cosmosis Jones is Paddy Donnelly Bass, Sam Blakely Keys, Dan Usnkow Drums, and Evan Guerra Guitar. Their music is best described as jamtronica. I went in knowing nothing of their tunes. Hadn’t listened to any of their music at all. Here we go!

Gravity, Colors, I Can Change, Liminal, Fume, Boogie On Reggae Woman$, Outer Flowers, Rock Candy, First Snow, Jaws Of Omnipotence>Skew&

$ With Paddy on Synth Bass

& Without 2^nd verse, chorus, and Jam segment due to time restrictions

Here is a vid from 2016

     The First song started off with a sample of a man speaking…and about 20 min later the same sample was played signaling the end of the song. They covered a lot of ground in between. It had a few composed sections and sections where they took off. The speed with which they played was amazing. Paddy’s hand looked like a 4 legged tarantula dancing up and down his fretboard. I have seen him play funk and a lot of Dead tunes but this was something else entirely.

This one is from 2017

     Dan the drummer was an absolute machine. Crazy time patterns and a whole lot of untz. His kit looked so small but the sound and power he pummeled out of it was great. He also had an electric pad that he used to great effect in Rock Candy. Sam looked like he was having the time of his life. He had three different keyboards. It was awesome to watch his body move with the swells of the music. Evan added to the wall of sound they produced and really shone on the Boogie On cover.

     It was all high energy and Paddy really put his soul into singing I Can Change. I haven’t seen a lot of electronica live although I do cast a webcast of the Biscuits now and then. But these guys have IT. Really impressed with their vision of that danced fueled madness that the Biscuits created and then perfected. I also have to give a shout out to Nick Koski. He ran the lights and it was super psychedelic. Definitely forced me to dance a good chunk of it with my eyes open. He had these cool light panels on stage in addition to Nectar’s own lights.

     This whole reunion was just the opening act for Dr. Fameous, aka Allen Aucoin. While I have seen the Biscuits 3 times, I never really followed the music down the electronica rabbit hole. His act was him and his laptop while he pounded out beats on a kit. He didn’t even bring his own, just used Dan’s; who was geeked to say the least. But it was not my thing and I was exhausted from dancing my ass off. The crowd for the Doctor was noticeably smaller.

     Really glad I have the schedule I have now to finally soak up some of the original music that is being made in Burlington.   Furthur!

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll