Aqueous Debuts Original & Cover At Domefest

Over the weekend, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong hosted their 10th-annual Domefest, with the multi-night music and camping event taking over Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia. In addition to five sets from the Baltimore-born host band, the festival also welcomed their friends from Aqueous, who performed two sets across the weekend. Tapped to perform on Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18, during each of these two sets, the Buffalo-based jam act surprised fans by offering up a debut.

On the first day, May 17, the group debuted a tune called “Be The Same,” which fell after the set-opening stretch of “Origami,” “Mosquito Valley Pt. I” and “The Median.” Following the debut original, Aqueous worked into a bust-out cover of Cake’s “Short Shirt, Long Jacket,” marking the first performance of the 2001 Comfort Eagle track since April 2015 and a gap of 406 shows. The cover also saw the group joined by Mungion guitarist Justin Reckamp and West End Blend trumpeter Michael Bafundo. The duo of guest collaborators stayed on for Aqueous’ own “Weight of the World,” before leaving the four-piece to their own devices for the set-closing combo of “Warren In The Window” into “Don’t Do It.”

The following day, May 18, Aqueous offered up a jam-heavy show focused on extended inter-song transitions. 2012’s “Strange Times” and 2011’s “Marty” opened the show, with the deftly moving between these two songs and proceeding “Timmy’s Blades” and “Say It Again.” “Split The Difference,” off last year’s Color Wheel, led in the theme songs for two classic ’90s Nickelodeon shows, Rocko’s Modern Life and Rugrats, both of which were drawn from the band’s 2018 “Nick Toons”-themed Halloween show. Following “Random Company,” Aqueous debuted their cover of Empire of the Sun’s 2008 pop hit “Walking on a Dream” featuring Rob Houk on vocals. They closed their final Domefest appearance with a take on “Dave’s Song,” including its full ending and a tease of AC/DC’s “Back in Black.”

Watch a clip of Aqueous’ new song, “Be The Same,” below:

Setlist (May 17, 2019)

Set: Origami, Mosquito Valley Pt. I > The Median [1], Be The Same [2], Short Skirt, Long Jacket [3], Weight of the Word [4], Warren in the Window > Don’t Do It

• 1 = w/o intro
• 2 = Debut, original
• 3 = Bustout LTP: 4/18/15 (406 shows), ft Justin Reckamp (Mungion) on guitar and Michael Bafundo (West End Blend) on trumpet
• 4 = ft. Michael Bafundo (West End Blend) on trumpet and John Mundy (West End Blend) on trombone

Setlist (May 18, 2019)

Set: Strange Times > Marty > Timmy’s Blades > Say It Again, Split the Difference > Rocko’s Modern Life Theme > Rugrats Theme > Random Company > Walking on a Dream [1, 2], Dave’s Song [3, 4]

• 1 = Debut, Empire of the Sun cover
• 2 = Rob on lead vocals
• 3 = w/ ending
• 4 = Back in Black (AC/DC) tease