Marco Benevento

THIS IS A LATE SHOW FRIDAY May 3

(technically this show starts early morning May 4)

DOORS 1AM / SHOW 2AM

ADVANCE TICKETS $30

This summer, hallucinatory keyboard wizard Marco Benevento pulls back the curtain on his hazy home studio with Benevento — 40-minutes of small-batch psychedelia bubbled up from the base of the Catskill Mountains.

Titled as a nod to Paul McCartney’s first solo album, the record is a similarly loose, low-key affair. Like Macca’s eponymous release, Benevento is a solo work, where song sketches and sunrise jams share space with more constructed tracks.

With few exceptions — guest percussion from Mamadouba ‘Mimo’ Camara on a handful of songs, and backing vocal appearances by his wife and kids — Benevento played all of the instruments. He also produced and engineered the album, all from Fred Short Studios, located at his Woodstock, NY home.

“This record really acts as a psychedelic window into my studio and my brain,” Benevento says.

Benevento has since decamped to a new, significantly larger, home studio. As such, the album acts as a swan song for — and love letter to — his former workspace.

“Wall-to-wall keyboards, mics, amps, drums… The place was about to explode,” Benevento laughs.

In this environment, Benevento unlocked his archives, mining for unfinished song ideas, and surrendered to the machines, coaxing beats and melodies from both go-to favorites and gear that had long since seen a dusting.

Deeply indebted to the West African psychedelia of artists such as Kiki Gyan, Francis Bebey and William Onyeabor, the songs are rhythmic and repetitive, built into thick mosaics of sound. And each track features at least one keyboard solo, allowing Benevento ample time to explore sounds from the deepest recesses of his studio.

Despite stresses of the global pandemic, the vibe at Fred Short was deeply peaceful and creative as Benevento patiently worked through years of accumulated ideas, lost, as he says, in the wonder of Woodstock. The experience ended up being so inspiring that — in another nod to McCartney — Benevento II is in the works.

All sales are final and refunds are only allowed in limited circumstances such as canceled events. If your event is canceled, postponed, rescheduled, or moved, we will attempt to contact you to update you on the status of the event, and inform you of any refund, credit, or exchange procedures.

All shows are for ages 21 and up. Valid ID required upon entry.

Host or Publisher Blue Nile