Cocktail Party Phenomenon

Cocktail Party Phenomenon was easily the best discovery of the weekend. They absolutely throw a phenomenal cocktail party (BYO cocktail). The burgeoning Philadelphia group tackled familiar though underplayed tunes by Bela Fleck and Umphrey’s McGee, while showing off originals wrought with the type of infectious melody and taut interplay that will likely keep this rising band a festival mainstay for several seasons to come. - Sensible Reason

On Friday evening, Cocktail Party Phenomenon was faced with quite the musical task- transitioning a crowd of STS9 and Umphrey’s McGee enthusiasts with freshly melted faces from the Mann Center to The Blockley, where the official after-party was taking place. The Blockley had also hosted another event immediately prior to the after-party, presenting the additional challenge of having to take complete ownership of the space and transform the vibe of the venue in a short amount of time. CPP succeeded, giving a performance that spoke to the energy of the crowd. Steve Catania on guitar, Dan Enden on bass, Mike Gardner on keyboard, and Max Young on drums were also joined by Evan Kilgore and Adam Jaskol on saxophone for the show’s entirety. CPP won the audience over as they entered to “Thriller/Another Brick in the Wall.” Adapting a combo that Umphrey’s plays right after the crowd had the seen the band was no easy task, but CCP’s dynamic and musical prowess allowed for their triumph and the song was well chosen. They then transitioned from originals “Last Stand for Planet Earth” into a 25-minute “Rumblestilskin” and everyone was dancing as hard to the original material as they were to the previous favorites. The crowd was pleasantly surprised by a cover of Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch,” which the band made their own by teasing Escort’s “Cocaine Blues.” The energy generated as people excitedly sang-along and moved about to the revamped but familiar tune was perfectly timed for their next original, a new song titled “Batterjeeznuts.” The high energy and performance quality were consistent throughout the show, as best evidenced by the non-stop grooving. Their performance was followed by Up Until Now, featuring Murph of STS9.



We caught up with bassist Dan Enden and asked his thoughts on how the night went:



It was a different approach then we normally end up taking. Usually, we aim to play flowing, upwards-momentum based sets that span every genre, culminating in a massive peak. We try to really express musical diversity–jazz, funk, Latin, progmetal—so all those things are usually more prevalent. For this show we really tried to combine those factors into one massive, nonstop dance party. From the opening notes onwards it was all dance vibe, even when it wasn’t necessarily music that would normally lend itself to that. We also chose to limit ourselves to four songs, because rather than show off all our compositional complexities, we decided to jam for the vast majority of the set. This would allow us to truly interact with the vibe of the crowd and foster a two-way relationship. With that kind of jamming you can always tell if what you’re doing is working, and if it’s not, you are forced to start building towards something else, or someone realizes that all it needs is one more layer or something like that. Also, the fact that our old sax player (Adam Jaskol) was there really allowed for us to keep that funky, Lettuce vibe going no matter how weird and, say, Biscuits-y we were getting. Umphrey’s is easily our biggest collective influence and that comes through with our music; for this show we had to act as the intermediary between them and Up Until Now, which is way less in our comfort zone, so we really had to just feel the crowd out and maintain our energy from the previous show all the way throughout our set, always keeping that funky backbone so as to not stray too far away from our usual sound. I think we succeeded.



The Music Vibes would have to agree!





Review by Mia Jester - themusicvibes.com

"...Cocktail Party Phenomenon hosted a stellar After Party at nearby music venue, The Blockley. The high-energy set was highlighted by a 22-minute rendition of the hard-hitting "Rumblestilskin". CPP really impressed with their ability to improv and really control the energy of the show. "That was some of the craziest improv shit we've ever done!" said a very excited and enthusiastic Max young, drummer of the band. "It was a crazy show." " - Good Love Scene

It isn’t so much what they play, but how they play it. These guys incorporate jams that start off inspiringly beautiful only to fade into a mysterious darkness. Cocktail Party Phenomenon’s name personifies their sound to the tee: a funky fusion of psychedelic rock, progressive acid-jazz, and ambient jamtronica. With high energy, engaging live performances, this quintet keeps audiences moving their feet and wanting more. - Good Love Entertainment, Adam Harris

On Thursday night at Levels, the band from Philadelphia that named itself after this phenomenon opened a night of dialed-in funk, explosive peaks and trance-like grooves. - The Daily Collegian

"After a refreshing start to the day it’s right on to Cocktail Party Phenomenon, made up of Steve Catania (guitar, slide, vocals) Dan Enden (bass, vocals) Mike Gardner (keyboard/Vocals) Adam Jaskol (alto and tenor sax) and Max Young (drums) started it off with a unique blends of several styles making for quite a solid set of original music, my favorite being “Rumblestiltskin” while also tipping their hats to the powerhouse Dopapod covering French Bowling which was definitetly a crowd pleaser." - Grateful Music

"Formed in southern Jersey, CPP is comprised of five young, unique musicians from a variety of musical backgrounds. From funk and rock, to jazz, reggae and trance, CPP combines a multitude of feels and grooves to form their refreshingly original sound, never hesitating to improvise a jam." --Relix Magazine, March 2010 - Relix Magazine

"Following them was a slew of local favorites Philadelphia Funk Hustle, Blendmode, and Cocktail Party Phenomenon who have tightened up their tunes and created a real presence within the scene" - Headspace Magazine