Photos: Doug Quimby

Moonboot Lover is a 3-piece band consisting of Peter Prince on vocals, Reed Dieffenbach on drums, and Mike Gruen on bass. Peter Prince has played with many artists through the years. He grew his career in the Capital Region; so, many that are from here anticipated his return after a long hiatus from touring. This night was brought to us by Guthrie-Bell Productions. Greg Bell is a well known promoter for the Capital Region. He has been creating the Albany Music Scene for the past 30 years. As the night begins, he gets on stage to introduce us to the night.

Greg speaks of his experience with the capital region music scene. He describes a scene 30 years ago when he brought Peter Prince to the forefront to play a show. The regulars didn’t want to pay the cover to go upstairs to see the band, and so he just opened it up to everyone for free. Well low and behold, Peter Prince blew everyone away. People stood there with their jaws open. And every since then, Peter’s shows had plenty of fans to watch him perform! Greg mentions how perfect is to have Dave and Greg share the stage tonight as decade long friends that Greg has both known throughout the years. What an unbelievable night to have this evening start off with Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets!

Dr. Jah was a man down, as one of their frontmen, guitarist and singer, Pete O’Hearn, was under the weather and could not be there this night. Despite missing a huge part and heart of the band, Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets maintained a full sound with the same bravado we have come to know and love. Between Dave Geoghegan and Brian Miller, they produced a classic Dr. Jah set starting with “96° in the Shade”. They progressed though a bunch of their hits. They even played “Papa was a Rolling Bones” which is a weed parody of “Papa was a Rolling Stone”.  The Hollow was packed. The crowd was perfect. And everyone was loving Dr. Jah! Dave talks about growing up in the Capital Region and playing music alongside Peter Prince. He spoke to what a special treat we were all in for tonight to see Peter and Moonboot Lover play live.

Photo: Doug Quimby

After the set break, we all gather back in, to the crowded floors of The Hollow. It’s time for Moonboot Lover. Reed is an incredibly funky drummer, and Mike is a total badass on bass. Peter is extremely lucky to have gathered these two professionals to accompany him on stage. They have such a huge sound for just a 3-piece band. Peter Prince contributes rocking rifts and bluesy funky guitar work. Their music is an action-packed, high-octane, funk fest of epic proportions. It would make you shake and groove even if no words were sung, but OH BOY, was there some singing!

Peter Prince singing is like catching lighting in a bottle and as you’re trying to put the cork on, charged particles keep thundering out. It’s like trying to put 2 positive ends of magnets together. It’s like having the Colorado river held back by the Grand Canyon for decades until it can no longer hold it, and the River just explodes through the wall and rushes forward. It’s like trying to stop the Earth from rotating. It’s like you were a stick in the path of the Earth revolving around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour and you were blown to smithereens by the sheer immensity of its force. Peter’s voice is the epitome of raw unbridled passion.  I’ve never seen anyone that can pack that much feeling into a “Yeah” or an “Oooh”. Peter can belt it out with the best of them. He feels it! He makes you feel it! He had me standing still with my jaw open, just standing there in disbelief and astonishment. All I could do was twitch and moan to every word Peter shrilled out. It was like a firecracker of awesomeness trying to be held back by a flimsy string. At any moment you were about to get a bigger explosion.

Photo: Doug Quimby

Moonboot proceeds through their set with mind-ripping music and soul-ripping singing. Mike is ripping it up on bass. He can slap pop and melodically groove, catching the best of all roles when soloing. Reed is keeping it all together on drums. At one point he puts on the Moonboot Helmet which looks like a space suit helmet. I was wondering how he was breathing in that thing! Peter calls Dave up for a few songs and everybody jams. Peter discusses how wonderful it is to come full circle and be back in Albany where it all began. He sends a specials thanks out to Dr. Jah and Greg Bell.

After experiencing Moonboot Lover and hearing Peter Prince, I can only beg Greg Bell to bring him back to the Capital Region very soon. I can only beg Peter Prince to come back soon. I can only beg The Lark Hall and Putnam Place to let MoonBoot Lover play there so we can dance. And I can only beg you to support these local artists and promoters and go see the live local music that fills the capital region with amazing sounds, unforgettable moments, and priceless memories.

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