The Breakfast
(formerly Psychedelic Breakfast
) is an American jam band known for its style of progressive and funk rock. [1]
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THE BREAKFAST TICKETS
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History
The band was formed in
East Haven, Connecticut in 1998 with the original lineup consisting of
guitarist Tim Palmieri,
bassist Ron Spears,
drummer Adrian Tramontano, and
keyboardist Jordan Giangreco. They decided on their first name, Psychedelic Breakfast, based on the suggestion of Tramontano's cousin. It is a reference to the
Pink Floyd song "
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", from their album
Atom Heart Mother
.
[2] [3] The band then began playing shows in Northeast and released their first album,
Psychedelic Breakfast
, in the summer of 1999. Four songs from that album were featured on the
MTV series
Undressed
.
[4]
The band released their second studio album,
Deuce
, in the summer of 2001, followed by their only live album,
Bona Fide
, in the winter of 2003, a time during which they began supplementing their Northeast shows with the occasional national tour.
The band then won a
Jammy Award for being "New Groove of the Year" in 2004
and shortly thereafter decided to change its name to The Breakfast.
Also around this time,
Relix Magazine printed an article about the band.
In the summer of 2005, The Breakfast released their third studio album,
Real Radio
, and embarked on a national tour that saw them open for popular bands such as
The Wailers,
moe.,
North Mississippi Allstars, and
Gomez.
The Breakfast then released their fourth studio album,
Moxie Epoxy
, in the fall of 2006.
On July 7, 2006, shortly after The Breakfast played its 1,000th show, Giangreco played what was intended to be his final show with the band at
Beardslee Castle in
Little Falls, N.Y. Palmieri, Spears, and Tramontano then continued on as a trio for the next 13 months with Palmieri playing both keyboard and guitar.
On Aug. 12, 2007, Matt Oestreicher played his first show as The Breakfast's new keyboardist at
Gathering of the Vibes in
Bridgeport, CT.
On Dec. 31, Spears played his final show as The Breakfast's bassist at Electric Company in
Utica, N.Y. At Spears's second-to-last show two nights prior at
Toad's Place in
New Haven, CT, Giangreco joined The Breakfast for four songs to close the performance, including a stellar version of one of the band's most highly regarded songs, Mooboo's Voodoo (Episode 2), and then a cover of
Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "
Karn Evil 9", with Spears on lead vocals. A 'Thank You' video montage featuring Spears, the other members of the band, and their friends was also shown.
On Jan. 11, 2008, Chris DeAngelis played his first show as The Breakfast's new bassist at Sully's in
Hartford, CT. DeAngelis, a
Connecticut native, has played with
Vermont's Turkey Bouillon Mafia and shared the stage with members of
P-Funk, Eric Kalb (
Deep Banana Blackout), Dave Grippo (
Trey Anastasio Band),
Fred Hersch, Chris Parker, and others.
On Sept. 25, The Breakfast announced that due to creative differences Oestreicher would leave the band at the end of October. The band then embarked on a national tour, playing dates as a trio with Palmieri handling guitar and keyboard duties until Oestreicher's final run with The Breakfast, which began on Oct. 13 and culminated with his last show at Docksider Tavern in
Erie, PA on Oct. 25.
Oct. 30,
RAQ keyboardist Todd Stoops sat in with The Breakfast to begin their yearly
Halloween run, The 10th Annual Fongoulish Freakout, which consisted of that night's performance at The Iron Horse in
Northampton, MA, a show at The 'Sco at
Oberlin College in
Oberlin, Ohio on Oct. 31, and then a Nov. 1 show at Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in
Burlington, VT. The run commemorated The Breakfast's 10th anniversary, featuring the theme of 'Cartoonage', named after one of the band's songs, Tunage, and consisted of them interspersing famous cartoon theme songs with their own material.
On Nov. 7, Giangreco joined the band for their entire performance at Bear and Grill in
Fairfield, CT. He then played with the Breakfast for their shows at Middle East Upstairs in
Cambridge, Mass. on Nov. 28, followed by their performance at Daniel Street in
Milford, CT on Nov. 29.
On Dec. 12, The Breakfast announced that Giangreco would rejoin the band as their keyboardist and he then began his second stint with their show at Mill Street Brews in
Southbridge, MA on Dec. 26.
On Apr. 25, 2009, The Breakfast played an epic show at Some Kind of Jam 4 in Kempton, PA.
Lineup
The Breakfast is known for a high level of musicianship as all four members of the band are proficient at playing each instrument, something they occasionally do by "switching up" during a live performance. Palmieri is the primary songwriter, lyricist, and vocalist with Tramontano, DeAngelis, and Giangreco providing backup vocals and some lead in addition to their own compositions.
Discography
- 1999: Psychedelic Breakfast
- 2001: Deuce
— Sonance
- 2003: Bona Fide
— Sonance
- 2005: Real Radio
— Horizon Music Group
- 2006: Moxie Epoxy
— Horizon Music Group
- 2009: Live As Is
— ...to be released 9/12/09
Notes
The Breakfast has 84 original songs—most of which are still played regularly—and also plays a wide variety of covers, including live performances of the albums
Morrison Hotel (
The Doors),
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (
The Beatles), and
Lawn Boy (
Phish) in their entirety. The performance of Lawn Boy took place as part of the band's yearly Halloween show, The 9th Annual Fonghoulish Freakout, on Oct. 27, 2007 at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in
Burlington, VT. Phish bassist
Mike Gordon was in attendance and then joined the band for the encore and their cover of
Gloria Gaynor's "
I Will Survive", which featured Gordon on bass, Spears on guitar, and Palmieri on vocals and dressed and singing as
Tony Clifton. Other Freakout themes have included
The Big Lebowski and the
Star Wars series, where the band has played sets that interspersed their own music with songs from the movies.
Side Projects
In addition to performing with The Breakfast, Palmieri also regularly plays solo acoustic shows in the New Haven area—known to the band's fans as 'Timmy Tour'—which feature a mix of covers and Breakfast originals.
Palmieri, Tramontano, Spears, and Breakfast archivist, Dave Pecoraro, also perform in a
Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band called The Good Time Boys, which features Pecoraro on lead vocals and the other three on their respective instruments.
Palmieri also conceived and engineered a project entitled 'The Beatles A-Z', which consisted of himself, Spears, and Sean Miller playing every original song and cover from The Beatles' proper discography, as well as selected material from
The Beatles Anthology, and performing them acoustically in alphabetical order through the course of five Sundays in August 2008 at Daniel Street in Milford, CT. All totaled, the project consisted of 224 songs and featured sit-ins from a handful of other musicians, including Tramontano and Giangreco.
References
- Psychedelic Breakfast at Allmusic
- Backstage Pass - What's In A Name?
- The Breakfast of Champions (Or What's In a Name?)
- The Breakfast bio