Aqueous/After Funk

With a new EP release right around the corner, Aqueous seems primed and ready to shred Cleveland. This is not a show to be missed. The Buffalo-based band has come through our city a handful of times each year (a pair of Grog shows in September 2014 and February 2015 are the must-hear Cleveland sets), and, by the looks of this past summer tour, they’re riding a really terrific wave these days. If you haven’t yet caught them, Aqueous falls in the jam band category — sort of a blend of Umphrey’s McGee’s well oiled progressive improv and moe.’s heartfelt upstate groove rock — and, over the course of the past seven years or so, they’ve become a real force. In our opinion, they’ve crossed the threshold of “local band does OK” to a Midwest/East Coast touring institution — a “third-tier” jam band, if you will, whose rise is a magnificent ode to improv in itself. (Sandy)