Hailing from Maryland, folk, reggae rock band Pasadena played one of their last New York shows on Saturday, June 24 at Buffalo Iron Works.
The band announced in April that it would be taking an indefinite hiatus after this summer. Lead singer, Joey Harkum will still be writing music and touring under his own name after Pasadena jams for the last several times after nearly two decades together as a band.
As a fan of their reggae rock with an Irish twist, I knew this would be one of my last chances to see the band perform together before they went their separate ways. I arrived right as the first opening act, Harrison and the Radiators finished up their set, while the popular downtown venue started to crowd in.
blank POINT method took the stage next, announcing to the crowd their band motto, “fuck a genre.” Their set proved their motto, as they played an array of music ranging from upbeat blues, easy folk, hip hop and funky soul.
Free Man was the last opening performance and got the venue rocking with their mashup of their jam-heavy “I Am the Storm” into the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” The guys did an original cover of Sublime’s “Summertime,” highlighting their reggae jams while flipping the song into a psychedelic rock feature of the night.
Pasadena came on stage a little after 11 p.m. and opened up with their soft and sweet “All in Good Time.” Harkum sang out lyrics from their 2015 album Hurricane, playing popular favorites “Trouble” and “Be Still.” Bassist Aaron Hooper assisted Harkum with vocals in “STFU” while the crowd yelled out the lyrics “shut the f*** up!” Harkum, Hooper, Bellas and McAteer ended their set with their reggae rock “Peace to my Enemies” and returned back to their dancing rock rhythms in “Apathy.”
As the band closes in on their final tour, I highly recommend you try to catch one of their last shows. Pasadena will be playing in Pittsburgh and at The Freakstomp Festival in Medina, Ohio in August. Their final Buffalo show will be on August 11 at Buffalo Iron Works.