Review & Photos: Holly Bowling At Massry Center For The Arts

Holly Bowling :: 10.28.2015 :: Massry Center For The Arts :: Albany, NY

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It’s been one hell of a year for Holly Bowling. She released her album Distillation Of A Dream: The Music of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano, played solo shows all over the country, and even performed two late night sets at Magnaball this past summer. She opened up her fall tour of the Northeast in Albany, New York on a rainy cold fall night at the Massry Center for the Arts and made everyone forget about the weather for just a little while.

Opening with “The Curtain With” and “Talk” the crowd was eased into a night where hearing Phish’s music would be just a little different. Many people were mouthing the words or humming the tunes as Holly played beautifully on the Steinway Piano the Massry Center provided for her for the evening. A wonderful “The Horse” > “Silent in the Morning” followed and finally Holly welcomed us to the concert. She introduced the next song by saying that although playing the composed songs is great, it’s the jams that really excite her when she is transcribing for the piano. Holly then played the great “Twist” from Glens Falls in 2013 and the crowd participated properly with wooing during the performance. It’s amazing to hear the parts of the song normally played by Trey, Page, Mike and Jon being done by one person on one instrument. What Holly does in the jam moments is mind-blowing.

The Massry Center is built for shows like Bowling’s. The music envelops the room from front to back and makes sure there isn’t a bad spot to watch the concert. There was also a wonderful light show done with much less than Kuroda works with, but it captured the magic that he displays every night. During “Wingsuit” the sound and lights were never more evident and it was the highlight of the first set. The lead up to the jam section of the song was a slow build and executed perfectly. Once the jam got going Holly put in a bit of the Randall’s Island “Chalk Dust Torture” jam and then slowly segued back into the end of “Wingsuit.” The transitions got even better during the second set during a few medleys that Holly played.

After a short intermission (especially compared to Phish’s normal 45 minutes) the intro of “Scents & Subtle Sounds” started us off on what would be a journey of a set two. Following this she apologized for the next song since it wasn’t a Phish tune, but the crowd was happy to hear the Grateful Dead’s “Cassidy” which then transitioned amazingly into “Dirt” and then “If I Could.” It appeared this was going to be the clear highlight of the entire evening, but that was to come later. When “It’s Ice” started up no one in the room had any idea what was going to come of it. For roughly the next 20 minutes Holly played a grandiose version of the song, segueing in and out of parts of “Fire on the Mountain” and “Steam” and then back into “It’s Ice”. As the songs continued to weave in and out of one another, smiles slowly were strewn across faces in the crowd. Holly’s hands furiously pounded the keys throughout the whole segment and got a standing ovation once the sequence was over.

She finished up the set with “Horn” and “Squirming Coil” with the later song ending on a Page-esque solo coda. She thanked everyone for coming, and announced those that could stick around would be treated to a third set, but that it would only consist of a little 37 minute jam known to all as the “Tahoe Tweezer.” After a short break she came back and did an absolute great job with the amazing song the guys played two summers ago. The crowd, though smaller at this point, joined in loudly with “woos,” much to the liking of Holly as she laughed during that portion. Once she wrapped up, she quickly came back out for a “Harry Hood” encore to cap the evening off.

Out in the lobby, attendees were basking in the glory of the almost three hour show they just saw. It felt like a Phish show had just ended as people were talking about the songs and jams that had just seen. With Phish hitting continuous peaks this year, Holly should be able to continue to find more jams to transcribe in no time, and if we are lucky, maybe some new studio songs as well.