Today, California rock band ALO announce an August extension to their highly successful Silver Saturdays tour beginning in California, stopping in Lake Tahoe, and then heading east to Woodstock, NY on August 15 with tickets on sale this Friday, May 5 at 10 AM EST here. The band has been busy touring along the West Coast as they celebrate 25 years together with their new spirited ninth studio album Silver Saturdays out everywhere now via Brushfire Records. Now, the four-piece is thrilled to bring it to a new coast. See a full list of dates below and get an exclusive look at the making of the new album as the band brings listeners behind the scenes here.
The recently completed, fully sold out West Coast leg received rave reviews from long-time tastemakers like JamBase, Glide Magazine, Santa Barbara Independent and many more. The only thing that got in the way of a flawless tour were several shows cancelled due to weather. The sold out Carmel show is back on the calendar on August 3rd. For those that couldn’t get into a sold out Fillmore, the band has added two shows at the beautiful Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda, CA on August 5 and August 6. For those who had their tickets cancelled (and refunded) at Crystal Bay, NV due to a blizzard/melt cycle, the band is pleased to announce they will be playing Brews, Jazz & Funk at Palisades Tahoe on August 12. Those that missed the shows or wish to relive them can now access the audio from all West Coast shows exclusively on nugs.net.
Of the band's Santa Barbara, CA show in March, JamBase wrote, "ALO delivered a career-spanning performance in between cuts from Silver Saturdays in Santa Barbara." Santa Barbara Independent added, "ALO can still deliver the fun, especially for a nostalgic crowd whose connections to the band are longstanding and deep-rooted...They hit SOhO with a vengeance." The publication concluded, "The entire show was well worth staying up late for."
Glide Magazine praised the March 25 show at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco, CA, stating, "ALO took the stage with their signature positivity and the first song of the set, 'Make It Back Home' from their new release 'Silver Saturdays' hit the spot just right. Everything was on point, tight, and practiced as ever."
Silver Saturdays, the band's bright ninth full-length album out now, celebrates an ongoing journey that began in Saratoga, California in the late eighties when Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (guitar/vocals), Zach Gill (keyboards/vocals) and Steve Adams (bass/vocals) met in grade school. It stands out as the first full-length studio release featuring drummer/vocalist Ezra Lipp—a fixture in the Northern California creative scene where he cut his teeth with the likes of Phil Lesh, Sean Hayes and countless others. Meanwhile, the title nods to the band’s recent penchant for silver attire at their Saturday shows, which became a costume theme amongst their fan base and an acknowledgment of their silver “25th” anniversary.
Leading up to the release of the album, the band shared the sweet ode to friendship "Growing Your Hands Back," the uplifting track "Sparrow" and the irresistible "Hot Damn." "Growing Your Hands Back" is a unifying moment that captures the warm feeling of seeing old friends again after a long time apart. Gill explains, “'Growing Your Hands Back'” is about losing your wherewithal and through a process of revelation and self-discovery, growing it back. The lyrics were partially inspired by an old folktale called The Handless Maiden." Gill continues, "For me, the “hands” in this song are being used for clapping and playing musical instruments, for sharing drinks and giving hugs and high-fives to old friends, after a long time apart. It’s a song of finding your way back to the primordial campfire of joy and group revelry, after a long, hard time away."
"Sparrow" celebrates the power music has to make one feel understood and its ability to carry one through a difficult time. Explaining the meaning behind the track, Lebo shares, "Who amongst us has not been knocked to the floor, or lifted to the clouds by the power of a song that hit them at just the right moment in their life? 'Sparrow' is an ode to this goddess of music. She is not bound by time or space, and she always shows up right on time... but only if you let her.”
The first taste of the project, "Hot Damn" is a feel-good track that alternates between moments of lush instrumentation, fluid fret-simmering guitar leads, and a hypnotic high register-inflected hook perfect to sing along to with the windows down (and funkified enough to move and groove to!). It highlights both their musical intricacies and downright undeniable knack for a chorus. Keyboardist and vocalist Zach Gill explains, "'Hot Damn' is the eureka moment, the soulful epiphany, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. As we behold our respective treasures, be they love, wisdom or an actual chest full of gold, we say to ourselves “Hot Damn!” Relix lauded that the track is a "feel-good bop [that] flows between fluid instrumentation, simmering guitar rips and an earworm of a hook, ideal for connecting the band with just about any crowd."
Recorded at Sun Machine studio—nestled in the hills of northern Marin County, CA—the album is a fully collaborative effort written by the band and co-produced alongside longtime engineer David Simon Baker. For Gill, Lebo, Adams and Lipp the session was both a return to their roots and a new beginning – a chance to reconnect and immerse themselves in the creative process.
“There’s always a moment in the making of an ALO record when we ask ourselves, “Why make another record?” Gill reflects, “For me, the answer comes in waves over time. It has to do with the spirit of musical adventure and the rhythms of laughter. It’s about the sweet release of a Lebo guitar lead over an Ezra drum beat as Steve and I weave the bass and keys around each other. Call it a jam, call it a song, call it a feeling, but it has to do with connection. For me, it feels like coming home.”
The result is ten new original songs, recorded mostly live, that pay direct homage to the journey and the artistic process and further refine ALO’s singular and self-ascribed “jam-pop” genre—which Lebo fondly describes as “human music for humans.”
The sounds captured on Silver Saturdays are fresh and mercurial, but they are also fun, thoughtful, dreamy and articulate. All four members lend their distinctive lead and background vocals throughout. Their concise, meticulously-crafted songwriting and storytelling is interwoven with Lebo’s soaring, seemingly effortless leads as he draws impossible, ever-evolving tones from his signature acoustic-electric guitar. Gill’s tasty comping on keys and Adams’ bass groove perfection provide deep pockets sewn by a lifetime of mutual experience, and Lipp’s jam-informed rhythmic flourishes breathe new energy into the mix while also maintaining stylistic continuity with ALO’s earlier body of work.
The East Coast leg of the tour kicks off on August 15 in Woodstock, NY and will move through Fairfield, CT, Brooklyn, NY, and Harrisburg, PA and a soon-to-be-announced show on August 19. Before the newly announced dates, the band will perform this Saturday at SunFest 2023 in West Palm Beach, FL. Also in August, they will play a rescheduled date at Folktale Winery in Carmel, CA, and play back-to-back shows in Orinda, CA. On August 12, the band will take the stage at Brews, Jazz & Funk Fest at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley, CA. On August 17, the band will play. Brooklyn, NY's Brooklyn Bowl, co-headlining with Honey Island Swamp Band. This fall, the band will appear at Oceans Calling Festival on October 1 in Ocean City, MD. Tickets for existing dates are available now, and tickets for the added dates go on sale this Friday, May 5 at 10 AM EST via alomusic.com/#tour.
