Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins at The Cutting Room

Mike Keneally & Beer for Dolphins
The Cutting Room
New York, NY
October 14, 2025

Mike Keneally was making an especially rare NYC appearance with his long-standing band, Beer for Dolphins this Tuesday evening at The Cutting Room. For over 30 years, Keneally has established himself as a singular force of nature as a composer and songwriter as well as a freakishly facile singer, keyboardist, and guitarist—all qualities which were on abundant display throughout the group's two-hour-plus performance. For the event, Beer for Dolphins was comprised of its most renowned lineup in guitarist Rick Musallam, bassist Bryan Beller, and drummer Joe Travers.

Keneally's work is defined by an earthy, personal and candid voice on all things that progressive music commonly brings to mind—from complex, technical song forms to seemingly impossible feats of virtuosic performance. Since first coming to prominence as a junior member of Frank Zappa 's final touring band in 1988, Keneally has released two dozen albums as a leader that have garnered a dedicated following for his particular blend of progressive rock, fusion, collage, power pop, metal and more than a few strands of unclassifiable quirky. While this buffet of styles may seem disparate and patchy from the description, the seams between all the elements were made flush by Keneally's openminded and vast artistic taste. This set covered material of the whole of his oeuvre from his 1992 solo debut on Exowax, hat. through The Thing That Knowledge Can't Eat (Exowax, 2023). The show commenced with a quick combo of the bouncy, jammy "Aye, Aye Monster" followed by "Beautiful" which adopted a slick, stream-of-consciousness funk that called to mind a version of Steely Dan if it were fronted by Annette Peacock. From their first notes together, the band showcased its deep familiarity and ease with this body of work, somehow managing to always find new angles to explore together in spite of decades of performing the material as unit. Each member added depth, humor, and ferocious musicality to match Keneally's towering stage presence. Breaking up the powerhouse bits, the group would occasionally relax on several carefully placed more lyrical entries such as the impressionistic and through-composed "Haugseth" and Bryan Beller's ode to touring musicians entitled "Bunkistan."

Early on and throughout the first half dozen pieces, Keneally experienced an escalating variety of technical issues with backline equipment. These difficulties could have handily derailed a less experienced artist but this was not that artist. Gaffes and malfunctions were seamlessly and humbly embraced and even incorporated into the performance. The band simply could not be stopped, building energy as the night progressed.

Several special guests were welcomed throughout the evening, beginning with saxophonist Evan Francis on "Uglytown"; this portion of the set was arguably the most jazz-esque featuring an extended duo improvisation between Keneally and Francis that could perhaps be best described as "Prog metal-John Coltrane." Delivery of a smaller, but fully functional Vox combo amplifier from the Cutting Room definitively resolved the gear problems, and finally allowed Keneally's searing guitar to adequately cut the room in half —much to the unmitigated delight of all parties involved. If that moment represented the group at its most cathartic intensity, the complexity of the show's selections reached its apex immediately thereafter. The band then brought out singer-guitarist, Sally Minnear and guitarist/keyboardist, Dave Bainbridge—the evening's opening act—to help mount a rousing version of "Cardboard Dog" from 1998's Sluggo album that was realized in full, undiminished glory before an utterly spellbound audience. Things were then brought home safely home with the Beach Boys-esque "2001," a final multi-part behemoth entitled "The Carousel of Progress" and the anthemic "Live in Japan" joined by final guest and fellow opener, Matt Dorsey.

Last but not least, the band closed with a single encore of "We'll Be Right Back" from 2000's Dancing album before the lights went up and patrons began to pick their lower jaws off their tables. One can only pray the group did not leave permanent burn marks on the Cutting Room stage from such an affair. Surely, Keneally and crew could beautifully destroyed in a similar way any room smart enough to host them. Hopefully, The Cutting Room will do again before too long.