Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Videos - Mountain Jam

Hat tip to This Is Somewhere for the latest Grace Potter and the Nocturnals video...


And... Mountain Jam Blog has a bunch of Grace Potter pics...

Sounds of The Simpsons

If you're like me, other than being fucked in the head, you also like to put your Ipod on Shuffle Songs and let her go. When I happen upon a small Simpsons snippet, it's a nice change of pace. Included in this download are classics like Flaming Moe's, All in the Family, and of course We Do ! (The Stonecutters). Enjoy !!

http://www.mediafire.com/?jcry0n5hbhw

Breaking News: Radiohead Tells Prince to Stop His Purple Reign

Thom Yorke and crew have issues with Prince these days. Apparently the “Purple” one covered Radiohead’s hit song “Creep” at the Coachella festival and he has taken action to stop fans from releasing Youtube clips of his performance.

Recently informed about Prince’s unique version, Yorke was inflamed by Prince’s decision to ban all footage of the performance. In a text message to bandmate, guitarist Ed O’Brien, Yorke responded, “Really? He’s blocked it? Surely, we should block it. Well, tell him to unblock it. It’s our song.”

Prince has not responded with a comment about his actions.

Here at Coventry, we give you the inside scoop, so here is one guy’s video of Prince’s performance. At least you can hear it clearly. It is definitely dizzying. Enjoy. Hopefully it will still be up by the time you read this.



By the way, here's an MP3 download of Prince's "Creep" performance.

Widespread Panic - Best of Nashville Mix

Here's a few selections from Widespread Panic's show in Nashville on 10/26/07 which includes a couple of my favorite covers...

Widespread Panic - Nashville 10/26/07
1. Cream Puff War
2. Old Neighborhood
3. Disco
4. Sharon
5. Life During Wartime
6. Going Out West

Download the Panic Nashville Mix

Wil Wheaton Reviews Elvis Costello & The Police

Wil Wheaton recently checked out The Police concert at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. Elvis Costello opened. Wil posted a review on his blog titled bring on the night . . . and the assholes. Seems like Wil had a great time except for some assholes around him. I feel his pain.

Here's a bit:

The Police put on a tremendous show. They've been playing the same songs for thirty years, but like Elvis Costello before them didn't show any obvious signs of "we've been playing this song for thirty years" fatigue. They sounded great, it was clear that they were having a lot of fun and enjoying each other's performances, and their energy was great. They were most certainly not phoning it in, and if we hadn't been surrounded by assholes, it could have been one of the greatest shows I've ever seen... More

Mountain Jam IV Bound

Tomorrow I'm off to Mountain Jam IV. My first music festival in the new millennium!! I'll be kicking it old school with pen and paper and won't be able to post till the Ratdog grand finale and my descent off the Mountain in the wee hours Monday. Internet and cell phone reception may be spotty at best and I decided not to drag the laptop with me. I will be armed with disposable cameras and notebooks to record the memories and energy. BFF & music teacher, Kim is bringing her drums and we have enough people at our camp to have a real drumming circle. Yes, IG is camping for the first time since I camped on Cape Cod on the eve of a hurricane during the Falmouth Road Race circa August 1993/1994. Normally my idea of camping now is a Holiday Inn.

Check-out the live blog now, and throughout the weekend here. The blog is being brought to us by music journalist, Rich Lieberman.

Tune into Sirius Jam On Channel 17 this weekend for live audio coverage each night.

Friday ~ Umphrey's McGee ~ 8pm

Saturday ~ Gov't Mule ~ 10pm

Sunday ~ Bob Weir & Ratdog ~ 7pm

Iclips will be live streamin the jam too. Check the blog for details.

There is also a live web cam up on the website as well as lots of cool photos.

I'm going to miss the first couple of acts but will definitely be there in time for the first must-see show for me Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

Utah Phillips

Utah Phillips

I'm here to change the world, and if I am not, I am probably wasting my time.

The Golden Voice of the Great Southwest passed away last week at the age of 73. Bruce “Utah” Phillips was most known for his storytelling and folk songs, much like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Utah lived the life of a hobo and railroad tramp and felt welcomed amongst those “spit out” by society. He took those experiences and transformed them into songs. He was powerful; his stories evoked a feeling of unity amongst the industrial workers of the world. He always fought hard for equal rights and labor laws.

…kids don’t have a little brother working in the coal mine; they don’t have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. That’s why I sing these songs. That’s why I tell these stories, dammit. No root, no fruit!

Utah was a true eclectic, a historian, a peace activist, and pacifist.

Most recently his work with Ani Difranco on Fellow Workers* received a Grammy Award Nomination. He also collaborated with her on another album, The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere.**

…folk music isn't owned by anybody. Everybody owns it, like the national parks, the postal system, and the school system. It's our common property. There is nobody's name on it. Nobody can make money on it. It's not copy written.

I really feel that people will learn something by listening to his songs, if not that, at least they'll hear a good story and might even get a chuckle out of it!

*Personal favorites include: Stupid’s Pledge, Direct Action, Shoot or Stab Them, Why Come?, and Unless You Are Free
**Personal favorites include: Anarchy, Candidacy, Enormously Wealthy, Mess With People, Natural Resources, and Heroes

Phil Lewis Art

This weekend I was up in Boulder and got a piece of art from a local artist by the name of Phil Lewis. I really like his art and think that most of you will too. Check out his website- you can order a print for only $20! Really cool psychedelic stuff...

Trey Confirmed at Rothbury

This just in: Trey will perform a solo acoustic set at the inaugural Rothbury Festival on Sunday, July 6. Trey.com

Predicted setlist:

Esther, Velvet Sea, Heavy Things>YEM*, Friday, Simple>Cavern>Foam

*my left nut jam

Top 5 Worst Phish Songs: Daddy's Picks

I first met Daddy at the last ever Phish show at Deer Creek in 2004. We smoked up on the lawn during setbreak and have been buddies ever since. He recently sent me a hilarious email which detailed what he thought was his least favorite Phish songs.

So here they are....

Daddy's Top 5 Worst Phish Songs

Here my five least favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, Phish.

Note, these aren't essentially the "beer" or "piss" songs such as Bouncin', Brian and Robert, etc. where it's time for a break at a show. I can get these songs, I'd just rather have mashing jams when I'm seeing them live. Most of these songs don't truly suck per se, they're just often grossly misplaced.

5.) Simple - Some people love it, I can't stand it. The drive is there, but the repetition grows tired before we even hear how grand the saxophone really is.

4.) Cavern - This song can be so fucking funky, and so damn good at times. A great example of where their lyrics just totally fucking blow it. Of course, if you give me some "Gears" Gerhard trumpet action I could stomach these lyrics all damn day.

3.) Heavy Things - I'm still confused why they chose this as their radio single off of Farmhouse. Has there been a worse marketing decision in the history of music? In a related note, The Inlaw Josie Wales - Sand - First Tube trio is one of the greatest in studio album history.

2.) Contact - At first it was neat to have your guys play what is essentially a children's song right in the middle of a sick funk stretch. Once the novelty wears off it's pretty easy to see that this song just fucking blows.

1.) Esther - Probably my least favorite song by any of my favorite bands. When I hear it I'm tempted to lop off one of my fingers in an effort to have the intense throbbing drown the song completely out of my brain.

Honorable mentions: The entire Round Room album.

And there you have it. Daddy has spoken.

Trey Hints at Phish Reunion?

Hat tip to Partyin' Peeps for the link to the blurb in Rolling Stone titled Trey Anastasio Hints at Phish Reunion.

I have a feeling that God spoke to Trey in jail and told him, "Get the band back together."

Is Trey on a Mission from God? Let's hope so.

Here's the quote that has given ever male Phishead a hard-on and got every Phishy chick wetter that monsoon season...

"When Phish broke up, I made some comment about how I'm not gonna go around playing 'You Enjoy Myself' for the rest of my life," Anastasio said with a laugh. "And it's so funny because Fish and Mike and Page have been talking to each other a lot lately and now — it's not that I can't believe that I said that, but its symbolic of how much I lost my mind or how much I lost my bearings or something. Because at this point in time I would give my left nut to play that song five times in a row every day until I die. I certainly thought about that while I was in jail."

For the record, I'd give up my left nut and at least one finger if Phish got back together. Stay tuned for more info on a potential Phish reunion.

Grace Potter's Politics

My Morning Jacket Interview & "I'm Amazed" Video

I ran across a couple of things on My Morning Jacket. First, Jambands.com has a really great interview with the band. I enjoyed it, here is one of my favorite parts:

"We basically just say we are a rock band, but I don't really know what that means," Broemel says of seemingly every critic's quest to define My Morning Jacket's style. "I mean, if I am at the dentist's office and the dental assistant is like 'I like Kid Rock, would I like you?,' I'm like, 'well you may like us.'" And if she presses, I'm like, 'but we are a weird rock band,' so if she comes to see us, she isn't disappointed."

Second, here is a video from their March Austin SXSW performace of "I'm Amazed":

She & Him North American Tour Dates

Now, for a Hollywood starlet who actually CAN sing!

Unlike her contemporary, Scarlett Johansson, who recently released her album of Tom Waits covers to scathing reviews, Zooey Deschanel has found both critical acclaim and popular enthusiasm for her musical collaboration with M. Ward. Calling themselves She & Him, they released their debut album Volume One this past March, and after playing to sold-out houses in New York and Los Angeles, have added 13 more U.S. and Canadian tour stops this summer.

Tickets go on sale May 30 via Ticketmaster.

Here's the full She & Him tour calendar:

She & Him Tour Dates:
07.23 Toronto, ONT - Opera House
07.24 Northampton, MA - Academy of Music
07.25 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
07.26 New York, NY - Terminal 5
07.28 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
07.29 Atlanta, GA - Varsity Playhouse
07.30 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
07.31 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
08.02 Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
08.05 Chicago, IL - Park West
08.07 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
08.08 Madison, WI - Barrymore
08.10 Washington, DC - V Fest

Oh and here's a clip of She & Him performing Change Is Hard on the Late Late Show...

Dear Scarlett... Don't Sing

Dear Scarlett,

Stick to acting. And wearing designer outfits that show off your cleavage.

Sincerely,

change100 and the 1102 other reviewers who gave your album a combined score of ONE STAR on iTunes

P.S.-- Here are some of my favorites.

The Top 20 One-Star Reviews of Scarlett Johansson's Anywhere I Lay My Head on iTunes

dani_defenes: "duuuude... it does not get more WTF than this. Who let her do this? As Michael Kors might say-- sounds like someone was drinking the kool-aid when this was put together."

pha...: "I buried my voice under a million other sounds so you could only kind of tell that I can't really sing."

Country-Girl-in-the-City: "Worse than American Idol's rejects week!!!!"

kaiser5: "I honestly thought this CD was a joke, either that or some kind of Tom Waits parody. Frankly, anyone who feels otherwise is musically clueless."

peterpanlovesd: "What in the world is this? I'm scared."

tksandfc: "I'd rather listen to the Wiggles. Or Barney."

kinogod3: "This makes William Shatner's debut and magnum opus MacArthur Park, sound brilliant."

njaero: "This is like something that I would sing while gietting drunk at 3 a.am, banging out rnadom things to tunes like my jewelry box, or playing with spoons."

volt: "She sounds a bit like a tone-deaf android with mechanical failure."

musicadm: "You don't give children knives to play with and obviously you don't give Scarlett an 8 track and some microphones."

nickna: "Please just go back to taking hot pictures of yourself almost naked."

Vaporpark: "if I wanted to head Senad O Connor id drown a puppy in a bucket of water."

8ball80: "Garbage."

woofani: "Horrifying. My ears refused to listen."

js: "nooooooooo. no no no no no. noooooooo. No."

MaverickMuze: "YOUR VOICE MAKES ME WANT TO CHEW TIN FOIL AND GET SEVERAL TOOTH CANALS IN THE PROCESS."

lw: "She sounds like a man."

Haylet: "She sounds like a man!"

klb: "OMG, she totally sounds like a man."

RockHardforChrist247: "It kind of sounds like whales mating...and the instruments sound like noises that come from McDonalds Happy Meal toys."

Another Trey Sneak Preview: Shine

Phish sent us another sneak preview from Trey's new album. This time it's Shine.

Download Shine

Here's the email we got:

Here is a new track for you to download from Trey Anastasio's "Original Boardwalk Style" for your site or station and some more photos for use on your website and/or blog.

"Original Boardwalk Style" will be released on Rubber Jungle Records on June 10th, 2008. It will be available as CD and Vinyl and as digital audio downloads in both MP3 and FLAC formats. Pre-orders are available now via Trey's online store at Trey.com and at Livephish.com.

Proceeds from this album will benefit the Seven Below Artist Initiative established by Trey to foster artistic development and support arts education in the state of Vermont. The program offers residencies for visual artists at The Barn, a uniquely restored property on 65 acres in Vermont. The residencies are designed to provide artists with a peaceful, inspiring, and supportive living and working experience.

Through a partnership with Burlington City Arts, Seven Below is open to artists at any stage of their career and working in various visual arts media. For more information about the program, including how to make a direct contribution, please visit www.trey.com/nonprofit.

Jam On The River YouTube Videos

A few videos are showing up from this weekend...check them out:
The Avett Brothers, Weight of Lies


Lotus...


The Disco Biscuits, Jam into Inverted And The Ladies Were The Rest of the Night...


and The Flaming Lips...

Summer Camp Videos

Here is what I have been able to find so far:

Getting Down At Summer Camp...


For a full recap of the event, including photos, articles and reviews, visit the Journal Star's Summer Camp site: http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php?/summer_camp/

Girl Talk and The Flaming Lips (audio is a little weird at times)...

Bleeding Head Of Jesus Candle Says "Jazz On Sale - Buy None, Get Two Free!"

I keep having this recurring argument with Dr. Pauly that this Coventry joint needs some more jazz. He thinks that's great, but insists that most of y'all wander over this way because you're fans of live music.

So I'll compromise.

How about two discs of live jazz to start out your week? Disc One features some pretty straightforward accessible stuff, while Disc Two has some tracks that are just another step or two outside the mainstream. Links below.

-------------------------------

UPDATE: LINKS ARE FIXED - 410PM MONDAY - APOLOGIES

DISC ONE - DOWNLOAD

"My Favorite Things" - John Coltrane from Newport '63 - Coltrane (ss), McCoy Tyner (p), Jimmy Garrison (b), Roy Haynes (d)

The review from AllMusic.com says this is arguably the best live version ever captured of this iconic Coltrane classic. This whole disc is actually pretty damned good overall too, as you've got the novelty of Haynes sitting in for Elvin Jones, and a pretty solid reading of a favorite ballad of mine, "I Want To Talk About You."

"All The Things You Are" - Sonny Rollins from A Night At The Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (1957) - Sonny Rollins (ts), Elvin Jones (d), Wilbur Ware (b) (It's either these two or Donald Bailey (b) or Pete La Roca (d))

This set is a Dr. Pauly favorite, and for good reason. Rollins alone with bass and drums was a risky venture back in the late 50s, but he managed to create some pretty spectacular music without a piano involved.

**iTunes Alert** - There's a $19.99 Sonny Rollins "five disc" set on iTunes from Blue Note Records called The Complete Blue Note Recordings that collects the two discs of these trio sessions, plus the albums known as Vol. 1 & 2, and a pretty nice set from an album called Newk's Time. Vol. 2 in particular has some cuts with Thelonious Monk that are pretty fucking worthwhile, if you're so inclined.

"Poinciana" - Ahmad Jamal from Live at Oil Can Harry's (1976) - Jamal (p), Calvin Keys (g), John Heard (b), Frank Gant (d), Seldon Newton (conga)

Ahmad Jamal is one of a short list of highly influential jazz artists who always sat on the outside looking in in terms of popularity. Jamal influenced Miles Davis a great deal, mostly through his thoughtful use of space and silence in his solos. This album never made it to CD (I don't think), and, like much of Jamal's recorded work, remains out of print.

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - Cannonball Adderley from Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Live at "The Club" (1966) - C.Adderley (as), Nat Adderley (cornet), Joe Zawinul (elec. piano), Victor Gaskin (b), Roy McCurdy (d)

Little boogaloo? Don't mind if I do.

"A Night In Tunisia" - The Quintet from Jazz at Massey Hall (1953) - Charlie Parker (as), Dizzy Gillespie (tpt), Max Roach (d), Bud Powell (p), Charles Mingus (b)

A fun, if not groundbreaking, set from true icons of bebop, touring in Canada as their musical style was circling the drain. Parker sounds good here, despite playing a borrowed plastic (!) alto. I forget if he pawned his personal horn to buy heroin in this case, but let's just say that wouldn't have been the first time.

"Walkin'" - Miles Davis from The Complete Concert 1964 - Davis (tpt), George Coleman (ts), Herbie Hancock (p), Ron Carter (b), Tony Williams (d)

My favorite story about this set is that the concert was that Miles came in to the dressing room for his band just prior to taking the stage and told them they were going to give up that night's paychecks to charity, as the show was thrown by the NAACP to benefit voter registration in the deep south. None of the guys in the band were stars at the time, and between their nerves performing at New York's Philharmonic Hall and their anger at playing for free without their consent, they pushed the ever loving hell out of Miles that night. Great show, top to bottom. Probably my favorite live set from my jazz collection.

-------------------------------

DISC TWO - DOWNLOAD

"Aggression" - Eric Dolphy from At The Five Spot Vol. 2, 1961 - Dolphy (bass clarinet), Booker Little (tpt), Mal Waldron (p), Richard Davis (b), Ed Blackwell (d)

The three discs that make up the Five Spot sets this band played are a testament to the musical chemistry between Dolphy and trumpeter Booker Little, who would pass away three months after this set. Little was just getting his personal sound into shape, and could have emerged with another classic recording or three under his belt as one of the superstars of the free jazz movement, but he was cut down by complications from uremia at age 23. Regarding Dolphy, some people can't stand the squawking chaotic bass clarinet soloing he's famous for, but I think it's brilliant and unique. To each, their own.

"Walkin'" - Miles Davis from Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel 1965 (disc 5) - as above, replacing Coleman with Wayne Shorter (ts)

I thought this might be a fun additon for comparison's sake to the 1964 version on Disc One. The Plugged Nickel sets found Miles helming his second great quintet (the first was the late 50s group with Coltrane), and it's amazing how much these young musicians have grown behind him. Herbie's playing sounds a little darker, more impressionistic. Williams' drumming is more assertive, and replacing Coleman with Shorter traded muscle for angularity. The style becomes more adventurous and elastic, pushing in and out of the rhythmic structure and unmooring the traditional blues of "Walkin'" and drifting into freer territory.

"I'll Remember April" - Charles Mingus from Mingus At Antibes (1960) Mingus (b), Eric Dolphy (ts), Booker Ervin (as), Ted Curson (tpt), Dannie Richmond (d), Bud Powell (p)

I think I'm going to have something more to say about this concert at some point soon, but I posted about this song on MetaFilter awhile ago, and that's as good a place as any to start. The last five minutes of the song are, for my money, the most exciting five minutes of music I've ever heard. Dolphy and Ervin trade fours, then twos, with Dolphy providing the fractured mirror image of Ervin, dismantling his blues licks and building them into something altogether different. Oh, and if this whole song doesn't get you off your ass, you've got no soul.

"Directions" - Miles Davis from The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 - Davis (tpt), Gary Bartz (ss), Keith Jarrett (keys), John McLaughlin (g), Michael Henderson (b), Jack DeJohnette (d), Airto Moreira (percussion)

Let me just state for the record that this is a pretty difficult era of Miles' output to approach. It's kinda space-funk-jazz that stabs at you with malicious intent, and isn't at all easy listening. That being said, if you dig this, there's a TON of material +/- five years from this recording that are going to appeal to you. Let me know. I'm guessing that out of any of these cuts, this one is going to be the one that meets the skip button more often than not.

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Enjoy the music, and let me know in comments what you think.

Today in Phishtory: 5/26/94 San Francisco, CA

14 years ago today, Phish completed their second show of a three night run at the famous Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, CA. I was a senior in college in 1994 and caught a bunch of Phish shows on their Spring tour. They were throwing down some heavy ass shit back during the Rift days. Heck, they even played Mound in a second set that also featured 2001 > Antelope.

5/26/94 Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Set 1: Buried Alive > Poor Heart > Cavern, Demand, Split Open and Melt, Sparkle, It's Ice > Catapult, Divided Sky, Sample in a Jar

Set 2: 2001 > Run Like an Antelope, Fluffhead, Down With Disease > Mound, Ginseng Sullivan*, Dog Faced Boy*, You Enjoy Myself, Amazing Grace

E: Good Times Bad Times

*Acoustic

Download/listen link to 5/26/1994 (courtesy of Phishows.com, please note that the Antelope is mislabeled in the second set as "Sample in a Jar")

The World Series of Hip Hop

Imagine stepping up to the Mic and getting your chance to drop your tightest lyrics in front of a group of industry legends. Then imagine winning your battle and collecting $1 million for your decisive victory.

This may sound like a blunt-induced, MTV-fueled fantasy, but it will soon be a reality for some lucky lyricist as the World Series of Hip Hop kicks off August 5th, in Atlanta. Featuring a tournament-style rap battle, amateurs will square off against pros and do their best to become the next overnight hip hop sensation.

Yes, I know this sounds like a dream, but according to the WSOHH.com (World Series of Hip Hop) website, it is happening and it only costs $300 to enter. The line-up of judges is set, featuring an all-star roster of hip hop legends including Ladybug (Digable Planets), the Yin Yang Twins, Daddy O (Stetasonic), Pras (Fugees), Roxanne Shante, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow, Kool Keith, Schooly D, Doug E. Fresh, and Dana Dane.

In addition to the Male Heavyweight division (ages 25 and up), there is a female heavyweight class (the winner also gets $1 million), a male and female Middleweight division (ages 21-24 with a $500,000 first-place prize) and a male and female Lightweight division (ages 18-20 with a $250,000 first-place prize).

The event is being held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

“This is like a hip hop lottery, you have to be in it to win it,” said legendary hip hop diva Roxanne Shante in a recent press release. “I can’t wait to see some unknown rapper really shame some industry rapper.”

With $1 million on the line, the event promises a big turnout. If this goes off and there isn’t a riot at some point, it could be one of the hottest tickets of the summer. Can you imagine the outtakes of some of the early rap battles? Forget American Idol, this event could produce some of the funniest YouTube clips in history.

According to WSOHH organizer Furqaan Clover (yes, that is his real name), “An unknown rapper can become an overnight millionaire in the heavyweight category,” Even known rappers can use that kind of money. (Established artists) feel it’s like taking candy from a baby, but the competition is going to be stiff.”

There is also a dance squad competition where the winners take home $500,000.

One thing that strikes me about this competition is the judging guidelines. There is no biting (using other rappers lyrics) and there is no ghost-writing (having someone else write your lyrics), so the talent has to not only be able to rap, but also be able to write and this should let the cream of the crop rise to the top.

My hope is that this event will introduce us to a new artist that has the rhyming skills to pay the bills. Lord knows we need some new talent to blow up the spot.

Below is a clip of Big Daddy Kane from the Juice soundtrack. Enjoy.

Breaking News: Oakenfold to Rip Up Las Vegas

Las Vegas has finally joined the world’s elite dance venues with Rain Nightclub’s recent signing of one of the best DJs on the planet as its Saturday night resident.

Located at the Palms Casino, Rain’s addition of legendary DJ, producer, remixer, and label head, Paul Oakenfold, is by far and away, the biggest nightclub signing of 2008 and truly puts Las Vegas on the international dance map.

This will be Oakenfold’s first U.S. residency. He and his Perfecto crew will be rocking the turntables every Saturday through the Spring of 2009. The night is called: Paul Oakenfold Presents: Perfecto Las Vegas.

A living legend, Oakenfold has pretty-much done it all when it comes to dance music. A two-time Grammy nominee that has previously held residencies at Cream Nightclub and Home @Leicester Square, Oakenfold has worked with a ton of superstars including Madonna, Pharrell Williams, and Brittany Murphy.

According to the N9NE Group, the show will include both video and audio entertainment, as well as performance artists and props.

“There is nowhere in America other than Las Vegas that I would want to be a resident DJ. It is the world’s oyster, and Rain Nightclub is where I belong,” said Oakenfold in a recent press release.

If you like good music, this is a pretty big deal. Oakenfold is well-known for putting on stellar performances and the fact that Las Vegas residents can see him every Saturday night is well…..sick.

I was lucky enough to catch Sasha and Digweed when they held residency at Twilo in New York City and the vibe during those nights was off the chain. The reason for this was that the people attending were there to see them perform, just the way everyone will be at Rain to see Oakenfold drop science. There is something about DJs performing on home turf that lets them transcend traditional sets and it drives the crowd nuts.

This is a big win for the Las Vegas music scene.

In honor of Oakenfold’s upcoming Las Vegas arrival, here is a clip from the movie Swordfish. Oakenfold was responsible for the movie’s soundtrack. The video is for his remix of Planet Rock. Enjoy.

The Starscape Festival: June 7th, 2008

When I was going to college in Baltimore, I got to go to Ultraworld’s then-fledgling Starscape Music Festival, which quickly became one of the East Coast’s most anticipated all-night parties. This “rave-like” event has continued to grow and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Originally starting out as a electronica and dance music party, the line-up has moved more towards the jamband sound in recent years.

Featuring performances from The Disco Biscuits and Eoto (Michael Travis & Jason Hann of The String Cheese Incident), this year’s festival goers will get a chance to hear a variety of sounds throughout the day and late into the night. Also performing live is Slick Rick (with and 8-piece orchestra), See-I (members of Thievery Corporation), the Pnuma Trio, and the Easy Star All-Stars.

Dance music fans will have plenty to talk about thanks to Starscape’s continuing commitment to bringing top-flight DJs and dance acts to the festival. Leading the way for the dance acts are BT and Dieselboy. Also performing are Uberzone, Krafty Kuts, Teebee, Charles Feelgood, Photek, Scott Henry, and Grand Master Roc Raida (X-ecutioners).

Tickets are $49.50 and it is being held at the Fort Armistead Park in Baltimore. For more information on the line-ups and the festival, go to: http://www.starscapefestival.com/

In celebration of its 10th go-round, enjoy the following clips of Roc Raida and The Disco Biscuits at the 2007 Starscape Festival. Make sure to take notice of the guy in front of the stage in the Roc Raida clip. The binky in his mouth makes for a good laugh.

Roc Raida

The Disco Biscuits

Les Claypool Movie -Electric Apricot (Quest for Festeroo)

A comedy in the spirit of This is Spinal Tap. This is a National Lampoon "mockumentary" of the Jam-Band scene. Electric Apricot actually played a few unannounced gigs in California during 2004 and 2005 to shoot footage and the film made its way around the film festival circuit including Bonnaroo's Music & Arts Festival. The film was just released on DVD (May 13, 2008) and there is an accompanying music CD which includes songs by Electric Apricot as well as Bob Weir, Gov't Mule, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Stiff Dead Cat, Henry Thomas, and Larry LaLonde.

-Written and directed by bassman, Les Claypool, who stars as drummer/vocalist Lapland "Lapdog" Miclovik in this flick.

"Making a film... it's a non-stop kick to the testicles."— Les Claypool (on his directorial debut)

-Cameo appearances from Mike Gordon, Bob Weir, Wavy Gravy and Warren Haynes as themselves. South Park's Matt Stone also appears as a taper.

The movie follows the fictional Jam-Band Electric Apricot as it rises up thru Jam-Band circles and follows their road to the granddaddy of music festivals Festeroo. I laughed at the theme song: "Hey are you going to Burning Man". The trailer shows the typical hippie stereotype's like the burning of sage to ward of evil spirts, space-dancing festival goers, and hula hoops (personally I never hula hooped at a show but I did hacky-sack). Pass the Patchouli and order me a veggie burrito!

The official website is here.

You can check out other clips here.

Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan!

Looking for some Dylan to listen to on his birthday? Hit up TUBE for a shitload of Dylan bootlegs.

And here's Bob and his flashcards in Subterranean Homesick Blues...



And here's Bob Dylan rocking it out in the UK in 1966 with Like a Rolling Stone...

The Band Videos - Don't Do It

I always felt that The Last Waltz (directed by Martin Scorsese) was the best ever concert films and documentaries ever done.

Here's Don't Do It by The Band...


That video was just the first part of The Last Waltz. Youtube user sk8punk3d288 has the entire film uploaded. Check it out.

Rap in Charts and Bar Graphs

Funny shit. Hat tip to Kid Dynamite for finding this amazing site... rap music as represented by charts and graphs.

iclips Broadcasting Summercamp

As I am typing this the sweet sounds of Umphrey's performance are coming through my speakers. Seems like the kids over at iclips are getting better and better at broadcasting from festivals. Check out the rest of Umphrey's McGee and the Flaming Lips tonight, or take a look and listen tomorrow and Sunday. The schedule looks pretty tasty:

Friday, May 23

1:30 PM CST - Moe.

3:00 PM CST - Tea Leaf Green (Chicago 2/16/08)

4:00 PM CST - Tea Leaf Green

5:15 PM CST - The Lee Boys

6:00 PM CST - STS9

8:00 PM CST - Umphrey's McGee

10:15 PM CST - Umphrey's McGee

12:00 AM CST - The Flaming Lips

Saturday, May 24

1:00 PM CST - Avett Brothers

2:00 PM CST - Cornmeal

3:15 PM CST - Family Grove Company

4:00 PM CST - Umphrey's McGee

5:15 PM CST - Lotus

6:00 PM CST - G Love & Special Sauce

7:15 PM CST - Blind Melon

8:00 PM CST - Moe.

9:15 PM CST - TBA

10:15 PM CST - Moe.

Sunday, May 25

1:00 PM CST - Lotus

2:00 PM CST - Hot Buttered Rum

3:15 PM CST - Backyard Tire Fire

4:00 PM CST - Banyan

5:15 PM CST - Dumpstaphunk

6:00 PM CST - Moe.

8:30 PM CST - Moe.

10:00 PM CST - George Clinton

12:00 AM CST - The New Pornographers

Link to iclips Summercamp Stream

Trey Anastasio Videos - My Sweet One (Acoustic)

Good news for Trey... he avoids jail as long as he stays clean.

Here's one of my favorite videos of Trey performing an acoustic version of My Sweet One in the back of Phish's tour bus circa November 1994.

DJ Preview: DJ Jazzy Jeff @ Wet Republic on Memorial Day

This Memorial Day, DJ Jazzy Jeff will be playing with Roger Sanchez at Wet Republic, MGM’s newest addition to the Las Vegas pool scene. I promise you, if you go to this show to see DJ Jazzy Jeff, you won’t be disappointed. He’s called a legend for a reason.

One of the pioneers of modern DJing, DJ Jazzy Jeff of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince fame continues to drop sets that leave fans chanting for more. A true renaissance man of turntables, he can switch styles at the drop of a hat with ninja-like deftness and is well-known for his innovative scratching.

I‘ve had the pleasure of catching DJ Jazzy Jeff several times at a small nightclub in Philly called Fluid. Located right off of the legendary South Street strip on Fourth Street, this hidden gem of a club produced some of the sickest shows I have ever seen. Each night he performed, DJ Jazzy Jeff would take his turn on the decks and rock the club for three straight hours. With flawless mixing in and out of a multitude of styles, he masterfully controls the sound and take his audience on a musical journey that leaves them both breathless and screaming for more at the same time.

Tickets can be purchased at: http://www.wanttickets.com/

To hold you off until Memorial Day, here is a clip of the master at work.

Radiohead Videos - Houston, TX 5/17/8

Pancho sent me the link to this video of Reckoner from Radiohead's Houston show last weekend...

Trey Anastasio's Sentence Reduced

From my local newspaper the Albany Times Union:

Ex-Phish frontman gets reduced sentence

By CHRISTEN GOWAN, Staff writer

FORT EDWARD -- Former Phish frontman Ernest "Trey" Anastasio received a reduced sentence for drug charges Wednesday with his successful completion of Washington County's drug court program.

Anastasio was facing class D felony charges after he was arrested in Whitehall on Dec. 15, 2006, with an assortment of prescription medications, including hydrocodone, Percocet and Xanax, which had been prescribed to another person.

The rocker appeared in Washington County Court in front of Judge Kelly McKeighan. With his graduation from the program imminent, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright recommended the reduced sentence, saying Anastasio will graduate with "flying colors."

"He did very well in the drug court," Kortright said. "If they do well and don't have past violations, then they are recommended for reduced sentences."

He was sentenced to three years' probation; three others in the program also received reduced sentences in court Wednesday.

Anastasio entered the treatment program in April 2007. He will graduate in mid-June. Kortright said the musician completed community service and had one violation during his treatment time. Anastasio was also tested weekly for drugs.

During treatment, Anastasio lived in Saratoga Springs, and the district attorney said that county probation will determine whether the rocker should still maintain his residence there.

The rocker faced one to three years in state prison had he failed the treatment program.

Kortright said he asked Anastasio to use his celebrity to share his story and help others with drug addiction.

Back in January, the rocker led a class through Road to Recovery, an organization that works to help teens overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

Editor's Note: This news even made E!'s news blog... Trey Anastasio Treats Himself to Probation.

2008 Bonnaroo Schedule

The Bonnaroo schedule has been released! Check it out... here.

Here are my suggestions...

Thursday: Newton Faulkner, Dark Star Orchestra

Friday: Steel Train, !!!, Anders Osbourne, Willie Nelson, Metallica, My Morning Jacket, and the Super Jam

Saturday: The Wood Brothers, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Ozomatli, Levon Helm, Phil & Friends, Talib Kweli

Sunday: The Lee Brothers, Robert Randolph, Yonder Mountain, An Acoustic Performance by Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, Phil Lesh & Teresa Williams, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, Widespread Panic

And here's some of our hijinks from Bonnaroo 2006 featuring the celebrity heads...

The Avett Brothers: NPR and Upcoming Release!

Check out The Avett Brothers: Beyond Blood

interview and performance on NPR!

There's a couple new tunes they play during the interview that I had never heard, Late in Life (Frozen in my Tracks) and That's How I Got to Memphis

AND......

Woohoo!!

Give a look'see to my other post on the boys as well!

Movement - The 2008 Detroit Electronic Music Festival

Having started in 2000, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) is arguably one of the biggest dance music events on the U.S. calendar. This Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday through Monday) marks the start of yet another year for this stellar festival, as the Motor City once again plays host to a broad spectrum of dance music sounds.

Heading-up the line-up are Carl Craig, Benny Benassi, Dubfire, James Zabiela, Moby, Speedy J, Tech Itch, and Terrance Parker.

To celebrate the DEMF, here is a video clip from DJ superstar Benny Benassi. Enjoy.

Dear Scarlett...

Dear Scarlett,

Unless you are going to jump up and down in a wet t-shirt while you butcher Tom Waits songs, then please for the love of God... stop singing.

With all the love in my loins,
Pauly

P.S. By the way, this is how to sing a song. I stumbled upon a random You Tube video from a cute chick named Margie Chadburn. It's just her, a raspy country voice, big city dreams, and an acoustic guitar covering one of your songs.

STS9 et al. Summer Podcast Released - post-Joker Sex Jubiliation?

It's been almost 2 months since STS9 put out a podcast, perhaps Joker's make-up sex reminded STS9 that sharing is caring. Anyhow the podcasts are quality recordings and free, so good news. Also, it seems as though their mixing it up a bit and including other artists from their label, most jambanders will recognize Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (JFJO) and Pnuma Trio, I'm excited to hear what Count Bass D is doing, I first heard him on a Spongebath records album 10 years ago.. We'll see, anyhow go subscribe to STS9's podcast via Itunes if you haven't already, or check out this webpage.

1. Shock Doctrine - STS9 2. Tether Ball Triumph - JFJO 3. BFF - Sub iD 4. Can We Hang Out Tonight? - Count Bass D 5. Need Some Hope - Collective Efforts 6. AVID - Pnuma Trio 7. Tokyo (Low Pro Lounge + Djunya Remix) - STS9 8. By The Morning Sun (Slicker Remix) - STS9 9. the paint - The Meantime Apocalypse 10. i feel free - Collective Efforts 11. (Regeneration Edit) aka. the Media pt.1 - STS9

Around the Horn: Bad Plus, Phil & Friends, Wilco, Ernie Stires, and Free Music in NYC

Some stellar content this week all around the music blogs including a several reviews. Here's a few of note...

The Bad Plus @ Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco 5/15/08 by Justin Ward (Live Music Blog)

Preview: Free Summer Concerts in NYC by Some Dude (Hidden Track)

Review: Phil Lesh & Friends 05.16 & 05.18 SF by Ben Marks (Jam Base)

Review: Wilco 05.14.08 Lawrence, KS by Nathan Rodriguez (Jam Base)

Also check out this piece from the Burlington Free Press about Trey's mentor Ernie Stires passing away.

Sergio's White Hot Top 5: Songs on iTunes

And now for your hump day giggle courtesy of Current...

American Idol: It's Archuleta vs. Cook in a Battle of the Davids

David Cook-- Your Next American Idol?

It was 25-year old alt-rocker David Cook vs. 17-year old Mormon popster David Archuleta in last night's boxing-themed American Idol finale. Each David got the chance to sing three songs before America voted for the last time-- Cook pulling out U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and Collective Soul's The World I Know, while Archuleta took on Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and John Lennon's Imagine. In addition to those songs, each contestant also had to try on one of the (God-awful) numbers penned by the American Idol songwriting contest's 20 finalists.

For more Idol goodness, check out my full American Idol Recap.

My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious Mix Up

One of our readers, Eric, sent me this link... My Morning Jacket's Cantaloop Love Affair (My Old Kentucky Blog).

I was happy to find a nice mix by DJ Immuzikation of Highly Suspicious (from MMJ's new album Evil Urges) with Cantaloop (US3) and Athene (Hercules & Love Affair).

Click here to download the MMJ mix up.

OMG! The Joker and STS9 Had Make-up Sex, Are Back Together

I am a pretty big fan of STS9, but over the past year my confidence has waned a little bit. The last really good shows I saw by STS9 were in March ’07, when they played 5 consecutive nights at the Boulder Theater without repeating a song.

Since March ’07, I felt that STS9 were doing 3 things that I did not like on a consistent basis:

Playing the same performance over and over, without improv

Being too predictable in song selection (playing the same shit all the time)

Overplaying (in my opinion) what I call the glitchy-laptop-sample focused (newer) songs, while forgetting some older gems

I basically had gotten bored with a band that I loved, and the newer stuff that they were playing I thought sucked. I felt like STS9 and I were drifting apart. It wasn’t you, STS9, it was me. I pretty much had broken up with them after the Langerado '08 set. I just wasn’t that into it.

I had discussions with a lot of my fellow STS9 fans here in Colorado and we started talking about how we liked the “old STS9” and didn’t like the “new STS9.” I am an infrequent visitor of their message board, thelowdown.org, but it seemed like the few times I went there the messages posted seemed to echo what I was feeling.

Pauly checked out their recent show at the House of Blues in Hollywood last Saturday 5/17 and called me to tell me that he had a great time.

Honestly, this surprised me. I thought he would come back saying “you know, it was an average show…kids in flat billed hats, crystals and spun out wookies kinda thing.”

I listened to what Pauly had to say. I checked out the boards to read what others had to say. The set list looked pretty good on paper. I downloaded the show from their web site.

As I am listening to it now, all I can say is:

Holy shit, STS9 listened to me (and are good again)!

But we are talking about music, so listen for yourself. I have a few selections from the show:

5.17.08 STS9 - House of Blues - W. Hollywood, CA

Set 1: Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature, Tooth, 118, F Word, We'll Meet In Our Dreams, This Us, Breathe In > Arigato

Set 2: EHM, Glogli, ABCees > Evasive Maneuvers, From Now On, Rent, Open E

Encore: Moon Socket > Breathe In

Here is what they did that I like, and I hope they will do more of:

1. Longer intros and building some tension, being patient with the song and building into an uncontrollable dance party: GLOgli

2. Segues, mixing up the old and new: Abcees>Evasive Maneuvers

3. Segues without finishing songs, then finishing the song later: Set I: Breathe In>Arigato and Encore: Moon Socket>Breathe In

So check it out, and check out STS9 this summer late night after that second has roll kicked in. And if you like what your hear, get the whole show at STS9music.com.

Au - Verbs (2008)

The nodatta music blog tagged Au's new album as "abstract, ambient, experimental." That's not much to go on, but a good start - enough to get me to hunt down their myspace and check out their tunes. As soon as RR vs D started to play I knew I'd be enjoying the whole album as fast as Brighthouse's bandwidth would allow. That hipster-know-it-all-son-of-a-bitch Bob Boylen evidently felt the same way because he led off with the same song for last week's NPR: All Songs Considered "Great Unknowns Showcase." It's a bright piece of work, tangential and surprising.

The skinny: album comes in late June, the man behind Au is Luke Wyland, he uses a collective of (surprise, surprise) Portland, Oregon, based artists. Fans of Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Akron/Family will especially dig this. They only have west coast dates scheduled this summer, hopefully that'll change.

official website

Battle Between Old School Hip Hop and Modern Rap (Part 2)

In this post, I’m going to pay tribute to old school hip hop and all its glory by listing five reasons why hip hop will always be better than rap music and by giving Coventry viewers a taste of some true hip hop, in the form of a clip from Philly’s own, The Jedi Mind Tricks.

In April of 2007, I was working as the content director for RawVegas.tv and I got the chance to produce a concert video of the Jedi’s Vegas show. The below clip features some of their live performance intermixed with an interview with the group’s main lyricist, Vinnie Paz. If you’ve never heard of them, you are in for a treat, as one of underground hip hop’s leading acts proceeds to rock the house and drop science about life, the state of modern hip hop and Philly’s long-standing hip hop roots.

Five Reasons Why Hip Hop Will Always Be Better Than Rap:

1) Hip hop is a way of life. Rap music is a way of cashing in.

2) Hip hop speaks of a time when artists actually gave a rat’s ass about the lyrics they were spitting. Today’s rap lyrics are dominated by themes of shooting guns, owning bling bling, and the latest ideas on how to properly use a stripper pole.

3) Hip hop refers to the lifestyle and culture of the city. Rap music refers to a fake materialistic dream-world where everyone is packing heat, dealing drugs, and the women have nothing better to do than fuck you.

4) Hip hop is an original form of expression that touches listeners because of its realistic portrayal of life. Rap does nothing but promote unrealistic portrayals of members of society (especially women) and help to further cement negative stereotypes described in their crappy lyrics.

5) Hip hop is a philosophical outlook on life that helps listeners makes sense of the harsh realities of modern world. Rap music continually promotes escapism and creates an illusionary world that devalues the human essence as a whole. It has done little to better the lives of its listeners in the way hip hop has done in the past and it plays to the lowest common social denominators.



You can read... Part 1 of Battle Between Old School Hip Hop and Modern Rap .

Phish News: Mike Gordon Solo Album and Free Show

First of all, the city of Buffalo, NY is offering up free shows this summer at Buffalo Place. Mike Gordon will be one of many artists playing for Thursday at the Square concert series. Also on the slate are... Galactic, Disco Biscuits, Yonder Mountain String Band, Mickey Hart and Tea Leaf Green.

Since we're on a Mike kick today, here's some good news for all you hardcore Cactus fans. Mike Gordon will be releasing a solo album on August 5th. It's called The Green Sparrow and includes Trey and Page (but no Fish!) in addition to Chuck Leavell from the Allman Brothers, Bill Kreutzmann from the Grateful Dead, Ivan Neville from New Orleans and several horn players from Antibalas.

Here's Mike Gordon's tour schedule as he hits the summer festival circuit...

See the Cactus:
7/04 Rothbury Festival @ Rothbury, MI
7/06 High Sierra Music Festival @ Quincy, CA
7/12 All Good Music Festival @ Masontown, WV
7/19 Mile High Music Festival @ Denver, CO
8/02 Gathering of The Vibes @ Bridgeport, CT
8/14 Buffalo Square @ Buffalo, NY

By the way... if you are looking for Mike Gordon's website, don't forget about the hyphen! Mike-Gordon.com. If you don't use the hyphen, you get some real estate dude in cheeseland.

Metallica Weenie Roast Download

I had a chance to see Metallica the other night in Irvine and skipped out to see STS9 instead. I only saw Metallica once and that was in high school back in the late 1980s in New York City. It was an insane show then and I wonder what it would be like seeing them now?

Anyway, here's a link to the download link for Metallica from 5/17/2008. Hat tip to TUBE.

By the way, as a special tribute to Coventry's three Swedish Metallica fans, here's Part 1 of their documentary Some Kind of Monster... including Swedish subtitles.

Phil Lesh Warfield Videos - Balloon Drop & Sugar Magnolia

Here's a cool video of the "balloon drop" during Sugar Magnolia...


Video courtesy of Kava's Radio Soup.

Radiohead Videos - Dallas 5/18/08

Editor's Note: Click on song for link to YouTube videos, and please thank them for filming, its the day after and these guys have almost the whole show up already!

Radiohead Set List - 5/18/08 Dallas, TX
Set 1: All I Need, There There, 15 Step, Bangers and Mash, Nude, Pyramid Song, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The National Anthem, Dollars and Cents*, Faust Arp**, Videotape, A Wolf At The Door*, Optimistic, Reckoner, Everything In Its Right Place, Idioteque, Bodysnatchers
E1: Fake Plastic Trees, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, House of Cards, Exit Music (For A Film)***, The Bends
E2: You and Whose Army?, Paranoid Android
*first time played this tour
**Phil Selway films Thom & Jonny’s performance
***Thom responds to a heckler: "You’re a funny guy"

* * * * * *

I found this video of "The Bends" performed during the first encore last night. Video from gundleok. Also check out his profile & videos, seems he is uploading as we speak...



Here's "Idioteque" courtesy of birddogtheaction...



Here's "Paranoid Android" courtesy of birddogtheaction...



Here's "15 Step" courtesy of gundleok...



Here's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" courtesy of skysaw73...



Here's "Faust Arp" courtesy of gundleok...



Here's "Fake Plastic Trees" courtesy of gundleok...


We'll post more videos here as they come available.

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/18/08 Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Tonight is supposed to be a special night at the Warfield. After four epic nights of covering entire Grateful Dead albums, Phil Lesh is closing out his five show run with a three set performance that included several special guests such as Bob Weir.

Over at the Phil Zone, the thread for the 5/18 show mentioned...

tonight's set timing from official staff handout:
1st set 9-10:15
2nd set 11-12:15
3rd set 1-2:30

The first set featured Phil Lesh playing as a trio with Bobby and John Molo. They opened with a cover of Come Together. Other highlights included a sizzling Dark Star and West L.A. Fadeaway.

During the set break, in between the first and second set, Jackie Green and Larry Campbell played a mini-acoustic set around 15-20 minutes long. That song list is incomplete but I got word that they played a couple of tunes including Deep Elum Blues.

Phil Lesh's normal line up appeared for the second set. They opened with a bong-rattling Shakedown Street. Phil sung on Althea! Mark Karan sat in for a couple of songs. That second set which also included an instrumental version of Stella Blue before they ended the set around 1:15am with Sugaree.

During setbreak, Jackie Green played a few songs with Tim Bluhm.

Third set began around 2am with a balloon drop from the ceiling and Sugar Magnolia. Set 3 ended around 3am and featured heavy hitters such as Uncle John's Band and Terrapin.

Here's the setlist so far. We'll do our best to update it as more info comes forth!

Phil Lesh and Friends Set List - 4/18/08 The Warfield, San Francisco, CA

Set 1 (With Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and John Molo): Come Together > Dark Star > Loose Lucy, West L.A. Fade Away, The Wheel > Not Fade Away

Set 1.5 (Jackie & Larry acoustic): ? Your Last Letter, Sing Me Back Home, Deep Elem Blues, ?, Warfield Waltz, ? Please Come Home, Goodnight Irene, ??

Set 2: Shakedown Street > Ball & Chain, Big River, Mississippi 1/2 Step > Althea, Mexican Girl, Stella Blue > Sugaree

Set 2.5 (Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm): Spider John and unknown songs

Set 3: Sugar Magnolia > Sunshine Daydream, Unbroken Chain > Mountains of the Moon > Terrapin > I Know You Rider

Encore: Truckin' > And We Bid You Goodnight

Stay tuned for more info...

Click here for more Phil Lesh and Friends coverage including setlists, reviews, videos, pictures, and download links.

Radiohead Setlist 5/18/08 - Dallas, TX

A friend of mine will be texting in the set list info from Radiohead's show in Dallas, TX tonight at the Superpages.com Center. It's their last show on this leg of their US Tour.

Here's the unconfirmed setlist so far... (follow links to YouTube videos)

Radiohead Set List - 5/18/08 Dallas, TX

Set 1: All I Need, There There, 15 Step, Bangers and Mash, Nude, Pyramid Song, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The National Anthem, Dollars and Cents*, Faust Arp**, Videotape, A Wolf At The Door*, Optimistic, Reckoner, Everything In Its Right Place, Idioteque, Bodysnatchers

E1: Fake Plastic Trees, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, House of Cards, Exit Music (For A Film)***, The Bends

E2: You and Whose Army?, Paranoid Android

*first time played this tour
**Phil Selway films Thom & Jonny’s performance
***Thom responds to a heckler: "You’re a funny guy"

Curious about how often a song is played? Check out the 2008 Tour Stats Page.

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/17/08 Houston, TX
5/14/08 St. Louis
5/11/08 Bristow, VA
5/09/08 Charlotte
5/8/08 Atlanta
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

Click here for more Radiohead coverage of previous shows including pics, videos, reviews, and live blogs.

Radiohead Videos - Houston, TX

One of our readers tipped us off to some Radiohead Houston YouTube vidoes from Blakeeb. Thanks a bunch because they are slammin'!

Here's the Houston playlist.

And here's the videos...


Editor's Note: The Joker highly recommends checking out the lights in Planet Telex (video 7).

Brokedown Palace - Jackie Greene & Phil Lesh Acoustic Video

Directed by Grahame Lesh this was a rehearsal shot in Phil's very own living room for the Fall 2007 Phil & Friends tour. I remember wondering who the "new kid" was when I saw Phil and Friends at the Glens Falls Civic Arena last October. Even though Trey Anastasio sat in for this show, it was clear to me that Phil had found someone special in the kid. You can read my review by clicking here.

Jackie Greene will also be performing solo at Mountain Jam IV.

STS9 Setlists - 5/16/08 and 5/17/08 House of Blues in Hollywood, CA

STS9 played a special two night run at the House of Blues in West Hollwood. I only caught the Saturday night show.

I'm not a hardcore Sound Tribe fan, but I've been to over 25+ shows spread out over a decade. I've seen them open for other bands (like Trey in Red Rocks), perform at festivals like Langerado or Bonnaroo, and even saw them play late night shows at Langerado and Vegoose. They are definitely one of the bands you see around 2am after your second roll kicked in.

The Joker is the STS9 guru and has caught them a bunch of times. His assessment of the setlists/shows were that they mixed up a lot of newer songs from the last two years along with some of their classics.

I thought set 1 was above average, but they had several raise the roof moments in set 2. Highlights included... Glogli which is m favorite STS9 tune.

5.16.08 STS9 - House of Blues - W. Hollywood, CA

Set 1: ISB (new intro), Monkey Music, Bigs, By The Morning Sun, Common Objects Strangely Placed, Yes/No, 1103, New Song

Set 2: The Rabble, Be Nice, Instantly, Water Song, Really Wut, Mischief, One A Day

Encore: Aimlessly


5.17.08 STS9 - House of Blues - W. Hollywood, CA

Set1: Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature, Tooth, 118, F Word, We'll Meet In Our Dreams, This Us, Breath In > Arigato

Set 2: EHM (extended), Glogli, ABCees > Evasive Maneuvers, From Now On, Rent, Open E

Encore: Moonsockets, So It Goes > Breathe In

Setlists courtesy of thelowdown.org.

Bill Kreutzmann Trio featuring Scott Murawski and Oteil Burbridge

What a trio!! Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge, Max Creek vocalist and guitarist Scott Murawksi, and none other then the Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann have formed a power trio and will be touring this summer. The three are said to also be working on a late fall release. Not sure what the actual name they are playing under is but I have seen KBM and the Bill Kreutzmann Trio on different sites and according to David Gans over on Cloud Surfing it might just be THREE.

Tour dates confirmed thus far:

Wed, May 28-Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel- Providence, RI

Thurs, May 29-State Theater- Falls Church, VA

Fri, May 30-New Alhembra Arena- Philadelphia, PA

Sat, May 31-Recher Theater- Towson, MD

Sun, June 1-Rocks Off Concert Cruise- New York, NY

Tues, June 3-Tupelo Music Hall- Londonderry, NH

Thurs, June 5- The Roxy Nightclub- Boston, MA

Fri, June 6-Toad’s Place- New Haven, CT

Sat, June 7-Higher Ground Ballroom- S. Burlington, VT

Sat, Aug 2-Gathering Of The Vibes Fest- Bridgeport, CT

Sat, Oct 25-Magnolia Fest- Live Oak, FL

I'm a little disappointed that the NYC cruise date conflicts with Mountain Jam IV and our good Dr Pauly will be on assignment in Las Vegas during that time. It's great to see Bill back out there playing music again. Bill has a pretty cool website showcasing his artwork and music and a link to his myspace page. Take a look at Ocean Spirit.net and click on the faces of his drums.

You can also hear a sneak peak of them over on Scott's website Scott Murawski.com by clicking on listen to 3 @ Pearl Street. There is a ripping, smoking Eyes of the World with Scott on guitar and vocals and an incredible bass line by Burbridge. Alas, I was unable to find the show on archive.org just yet.

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/17/08 Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Phil Lesh was at it again covering Dead albums at the Warfield. On Saturday night, he performed Skull & Roses and then skipped a few albums before he went with Dead Set.

Here's the unconfirmed and unofficial setlist...

Phil Lesh and Friends Set list - 5/17/08 Warfield Theater

Set 1 (Skull & Roses): Bertha, Mama Tried, Big Railroad Blues, Playing In The Band, The Other One, Me & My Uncle, Big Boss Man, Me & Bobby McGee, Johnny B. Goode, Wharf Rat, Not Fade Away > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad

Set 2 (Dead Set): Samson and Delilah, Friend Of The Devil, New Minglewood Blues, Deal, Candyman, Little Red Rooster, Loser, Passenger, Feel Like A Stranger, Franklin's Tower

Set 3: Rhythm Devils > Fire On The Mountain, Greatest Story Ever Told, Brokedown Palace

Set 3 with Henry Kaiser

Stay tuned for more info.

Radiohead Setlist 5/17/08 - Houston, TX @ The Woodlands

Radiohead kicks off their two Texas shows with one in Houston tonight.

So far here's what we have of the unofficial set list...

Radiohead Set List - 5/17/08 at C.W. Mitchell Pavilion in Woodlands (Houston, TX)

Set 1: 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Lucky, Morning Bell, Nude, Pyramid Song, Weird Fishes/Apeggi, The Gloaming, National Anthem, Faust Arp, Videotape, Optimistic, Where I End and You Begin, Reckoner, Everything in Its Right Place, All I Need, There There

Encore 1: Jigsaw Falling Into Place, House of Cards, Climbing Up The Walls, Planet Telex, Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Encore 2: You And Whose Army?, Idioteque

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/14/08 St. Louis
5/11/08 Bristow, VA
5/09/08 Charlotte
5/8/08 Atlanta
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

And check back in with us tomorrow for the setlist for the next show in Dallas, Texas.

Click here for more Radiohead coverage of previous shows including pics, videos, reviews, and live blogs.

Memorial Day Clubbing in Las Vegas

Having lived in dance music hotspots such as New York, Philly, and Tampa, I’ve had the pleasure of going to some of the biggest and best nightclubs in the world. I got lucky enough to hit up legendary venues such as Twilo (New York City), Space (Philly), and Firestone (Orlando) during their peaks, so I wasn’t expecting much from the club scene when I first began thinking about moving to Las Vegas. I pretty-much figured it would be virtually impossible to find a good dance scene in the desert and that I would have to drive several hours to L.A. if I wanted to see any real talent. Upon my arrival in Vegas, I would find out that I was dead wrong.

With tons of international vacationers coming to Sin City, the nightclubs are constantly trying to top each other by bringing in the world’s best talent. Proof of just how wrong I was comes in the form of the Memorial Day weekend's line-up of international DJs who will be gracing the decks of Vegas' top clubs. If you are in Vegas this weekend (or thinking of coming) and you can’t find anything to do, you must be dead. Take a look at the acts appearing below and see if one interests you.

Wednesday, May 21:
Body English (Hard Rock): Godskitchen with Eddie Halliwell/Serge Devant

Thursday, May 22:
SoundBar: Quentin Harris

Friday, May 23 :
Ditch Fridays (Palms): DJ Scribble (daytime event)
Rain (Palms): Z-Trip
Puff Lounge (afterhours): Lee Burridge/Oscar Molina
Pure (Caesars Palace): Steve Aoki
Rehab (Hard Rock): Stephen Marley (night event)

Saturday, May 24:
Wet Republic (MGM Grand): Danny Teneglia/Victor Calderone (daytime)
Rain: Crystal Method (DJ Set)/George Acosta/The Scumfrog
Puff Lounge (afterhours): Farsheed/Josh Abrams

Sunday, May 25:
Wet Republic (MGM Grand): Sharam (Deep Dish)/Cedric Gervais (daytime)
Moon (Palms): Felix Da Housecat
Blush (Wynn): DJ Premier
Tao Nightclub: Erick Morillo
Jet (Mirage): Tiesto
Puff Lounge: Dubfire (Deep Dish)/Boris M.D./Samshbox

Monday, May 26:
Wet Republic (MGM Grand): Roger Sanchez/DJ Jazzy Jeff (daytime)
The Bank: Tiesto

Clubbing Quickie

To celebrate the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend DJ line-up, here is a clip from one of the world's most popular dance music artist, Tiesto. He'll be in Las Vegas Memorial Day Weekend with gigs at Jet (Sunday, May 25) and The Bank (Monday, May 26).

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/16/08 Warfield Theater - Workingman's Dead & American Beauty

Yep, just like clockwork, Phil Lesh and friends is back at it again. They are playing two of my favorite Dead albums... Workingman's Dead and American Beauty... both from 1970.

Here's the setlist...

Phil Lesh and Friends Set list - 5/16/08 Warfield Theater

Set 1 (Workingman's Dead): Uncle John's Band, High Time*, Dire Wolf(, New Speedway Boogie*, Cumberland Blues*, Black Peter*, Easy Wind*, Casey Jones

Set 2 (American Beauty): Box of Rain*, Friend of the Devil*, Sugar Magnolia, Operator, Candyman, Ripple*, Brokedown Palace, Till the Morning Comes**

Encore: Attics of My Life**, Truckin*

* with David Nelson
** with Teresa Williams

FYI, the gang at Hidden Track has download links for the first two Phil Lesh Warfield shows.

Also... Jam Base posted a killer review of the 5.13 and 5.14 shows by Ben Marks, which includes photos.

Check 'em out!

Grateful Dead Blog Site of the Day

We all know the studio recordings of the Grateful Dead paled in comparison to the live concert experience. As the saying goes: There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert.

I started going to shows well before the Internet was even in my vocabulary. As someone who didn't own a computer until late 2000, I had to be satisfied with studio albums, bootleg recordings, and tape trading between shows. I remember my old boyfriend and touring partner Rob, trying to record a show with either a handheld cassette player or a small boom box. A few years back we laughed about how foolish we were to even attempt to tape a show with such low rent equipment. I remember Kim, my other touring partner/partner-in-crime/BFF (best friend forever) and I buying a bootleg at a record store in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. When we got it back to her house, the record itself had a Christian Music label on it and I thought she was going to cry because we had been ripped off by the store. I told her to play it and we were rewarded with the scratchy warbling of Jerry, Bob and I think even PigPen or Donna Jean on this record.

I always wondered if the tapers were enjoying themselves. They all seemed so stoic, standing rock solid still, microphone stands telescoped into the air. I often thought one taper was trying to out do another by seeing who could get their mike stand higher. And I'm sure there was a pecking order amongst themselves. Frankly, I found the tapers to be a little geeky strange as they spoke their own strange language and stood in their own little section away from the twirlers, hall dancers and average Joe weekend-warrior deadhead.

Yet we relied on the tapers to feed our Jones and as preservationists of these magical moments in our own personal histories. Long after the shows were over we needed those tapes to relive that extra-special Birdsong or Lost Sailor/Saint of Circumstance or Finiculi Finicula or the Drums/Space with licks from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And is was only on tape that we could relive the the playful teasing of Jerry not helping out Bob when Bob launched into Stir it Up and forgot the words during the 3/26/88 Hampton, VA show.

None of my circle taped and we weren't actively into tape trading. Most of what my collection became was copies of copies of copies. The sound getting poorer and poorer with each generation of the original tape. I even purchased some bootleg tapes at the Psychedelic Solution in NYC's Greenwich Village. Most of my personal collection which was never that vast to begin with didn't withstand the test of time and snapped after years of play and some were never returned after being loaned out or were stolen.

Dick's Pick's and From the Vault releases helped satisfy my hunger for shows. But their numbers paled in comparison to the total number of actual performances. Internet access opened up a whole new world and last year I won an IPOD in a poker tournament and was introduced to archive.org. My tech and music savvy "nephew" Zackary (Kim's son) walked me thru downloading to my computer and importing into I-Tunes, something his music teacher mom couldn't do!

Today I stumbled across ICEPETAL's great blog. In his own word's Icepetal is:

Part of the wave of tape collectors that participated in the early online tape trading communities of the mid-late 90's and into the age of high speed digital archiving. With extreme pleasure, was trusted by old Dead tapers who sent their masters to me and allowed me to transferred many a show from cassette, reel-to-reel, and DAT into mass consumable forms via tape trees and vines. Obsessive over creating the perfect cross-fade. Contributing reviewer to the Tapers Compendium.

A link to his welcome post will give you a little more background and what his site is all about:

http://deadlistening.blogspot.com/2008/02/welcomes-and-greetings.html

and the direct blog link:

http://deadlistening.blogspot.com/

Enjoy the ride!

Battle Between Old School Hip Hop and Modern Rap Music (Part 1)

Let me open this post by saying that to a certain extent I’m a hypocrite, because I love hip hop and I dig rap at the same time. Although I grew up predominantly listening to hip hop from artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and the Jungle Brothers, I also listened to rappers like Eazy-E and Two Live Crew. I have love for both genres these days, but if I had to make a choice, it would be hip hop, hands down.

I’m a hip hop kid through and through, but as a DJ, I am some-what forced to play songs that appeal to the demographic I am targeting. In other words, I play rap songs when I am making mixes for people that like that stuff, but when I am listening to music for myself, I listen to hip hop more often than not. I often try to put the two together in my mixes, so as to educate my listeners, but it doesn’t always work as the two styles can sound like polar opposites. My wife, who loves rap, but dislikes hip hop, because you can’t dance to it, is always quick to let me know when I’ve put too much hip hop into a mix.

In many senses, modern rap music has pretty-much killed hip hop. Sure, there are still a few hip hop artists left, such as The Roots, The Jedi Mind Tricks, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, but the majority of today’s urban music charts are dominated by rappers like 50 Cent, Sean “PDiddy” Combs, and the Cash Money Millionaires.

One of the reasons for this is that you don’t hear a lot of hip hop played on radio stations these days. The reason for this is that the majority of hip hop artists don’t look to make songs that have cross-over appeal. Another reason for rap’s successful emergence into the mainstream is the fact that a hip hop lyricist often requires listeners to actually think about a song’s message, which is something that doesn’t happen in rap music. Unlike hip hop fans, rap listeners tend to love easily-memorized lyrics and they become hypnotized by a particular tune’s repetitive bass line. How else does a song like Lollipop become a success?

By staying true to their lyrics, hip hop artists spit captivating urban tales and document the struggles of modern life while still managing to engage the audience and making them a part of the story. Rappers on the other hand, are typically weak lyricists and they speak of a fictitious and violent world that promotes itself through the music’s repeated ideology and redundant beats. Unfortunately, it happens to be what sells and is what the masses demand.

This is where my hypocrisy comes into play. I will love hip hop until the day I die, but I also love a good song by Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, or Kanye West. Despite being lyrically-challenged, these artists can get to you in ways that old school hip hop can’t and I’ll be the first to admit, nine times out of ten, when you are shaking your ass, you just don’t want to hear about the world’s troubles.

This doesn’t however mean that I believe in selling out brilliant lyrics and tight rhyming for a banging beat and even though today’s rap song’s have sick rhythms that make you want to bust a move, that doesn’t mean that I forgive today’s rappers for pretty much destroying the majority of what hip hop artists built and doing it in about half the time.

Michael Franti Videos - Hello Bonjour

This is for Strawberry Shortcake and BFF Kim.

One of the artists I'm really looking forward to seeing at Mountain Jam IV. He also will be opening select dates for the Dave Matthews Band.

Power to the Peaceful!!

420 Guy on The Price Is Right

I posted this on Tao of Pauly yesterday. I had to post it here today. It's the infamous video of the pothead who bis 420 every chance he had during his appearance on The Price Is Right.

MIGHTY MIC: A human rights awareness concert

A 9-day human rights gathering, consisting of multiple events for Genocide Awareness Week, will be held May 20th-29th of 2008 on the UCLA campus. The week will wrap up with the Mighty Mic Human Rights Awareness Concert to Save Darfur on May 29th.

The Mighty Mic Human Rights Awareness Concert and Genocide Awareness Week will consist of events that raise awareness about genocides past and present, while celebrating the courage and perseverance of genocide survivors and emphasizing the importance of ending the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

Handmade Music Makers @ Etsy

You can find all types of cool shit at Etsy

Ann Marie Calhoun: Still Hot and Playing Jam Band Classics

Here is the latest of the lovely Ann Marie Calhoun and her take on "Ripple".

Wil Wheaton Loves Scarlett Johansson

Coventry's favorite geek, Wil Wheaton, recently admitted something that many of us share... his love of Scarlett Johansson. Scarlett's debut album of Tom Waits covers comes out on May 20th, but Wil caught a sneak peek and said, "I like a lot more of the album than not."

Click here to listen to a sneak preview of Anywhere I Lay My Head.

OK, I gave Scarlett's new album a quick listen and she bombed. I couldn't get into any of the tunes and I dig Tom Waits. So, so, so sorry Scarlett. Will you still let me fondle your boobies?

American Idol: Syesha's Ouster Sets a David vs. David Finale

After a three-song-per-contestant performance show that saw each of our remaining Idols phoning it in at least once, America voted alt-rocker David Cook and squeaky-clean Mormon teen popster David Archuleta into the finale. Sweet sweet Syesha Mercado exited in third place this week, after her renditions of Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You, Peggy Lee's Fever, and some horrifying tune from a movie about penguins failed to ignite the public.

For more on this week's performances, check out my full American Idol recap.

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/14/08 Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Wow. Phil Lesh is at it again covering Grateful Dead albums! He kicked off the first set of his 5.14 show at the Warfield with Aoxomoxoa (1969). Set two started off with Live/Dead (1969).

Here's the unconfirmed setlist...

5/14/08 Phil Lesh and Friends, Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Set 1: St Stephen, Dupree's Diamond Blues, Rosemary, Doin' That Rag, Mountains of the Moon, China Cat Sunflower, What's Become of the Baby, Cosmic Charlie

Set 2: Dark Star > St Stephen > The Eleven, Turn On Your Love Light, Death Don't Have No Mercy, Feedback, We Bid You Goodnight

Encore: King Bee

Teresa Williams sung vocals on a couple of tunes including Rosemary and What's Become of the Baby. Mark Karan sat in for the entire second set.

Stay tuned for more info such as pics, videos, and even a review.

Ummm, maybe I should drive up to San Francisco and see the next three shows?

Phil Pwning Faces: Phil and Phriends '99 Soundboards

The last time there was this much buzz about Phil Lesh (and his friends) pwning faces in San Francisco was in '99, when Page and Trey joined Phil for a few shows. John Molo and Steve Kimock helped out too. Check out these shows if you don't already have them:

4/15/99, 4/16/99, and 4/17/99
Warfield Theater
San Francisco, CA

Phil Lesh - bass and vocals
Trey Anastasio - guitar and vocals
John Molo - drums
Page McConnell- keyboards and vocals
Steve Kimock - guitars

Soundboards

4-15-99
part 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?azgmmdadmm2
part 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?rwmwemcmmzm
part 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?ydw39qfs362

Set 1: Viola Lee Blues (39 min), Big Railroad Blues, Jack-A-Roe, Cosmic Charlie, Wolfmans Brother> Space> Uncle John's Band> Jam
Set 2: Alabama Getaway, Sugaree, Like a Rolling Stone> I Know You Rider, Row Jimmy, Shakedown Street, The Wheel, Not Fade Away
E: Mr Tambourine Man

4-16-99
part 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?mcdjcbesja1
part 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?yxw0icz4axv
part 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?bdmn0jsx5nh

Set 1: Help On The Way (Trey)> Slipknot!> Franklin's Tower (Page), Wish You Were Here, Tennessee Jed (Trey), Stella Blue (instrumental), Alligator
Set 2: *Bertha (Trey and Donna), Prince Caspian (Trey), St. Stephen> The Eleven, Unbroken Chain, Chalkdust Torture (Trey), Mountains of the Moon, *Scarlet Begonias (Trey and Donna)> *Fire On The Mountain (Trey and Donna)
E: Ripple (acoustic)

4-17-99
part 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?evggyofcrim
part 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?09iwnfxxmtv

Set 1: Dark Star > It's Up To You > Days Between > Dark Star > My Favorite Things, Mississippi 1/2 Step, Bird Song

Set 2: Terrapin Station > Down With Disease > Dark Star > Friend of the Devil, Casey Jones, Morning Dew, Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad > And We Bid You Goodnight

Encore: Box Of Rain

Also, Pauly was at 4.17.99 and wrote up a great piece about it. Check it out!

Radiohead Setlist 5/14/08 - St. Louis, MO

Here's the unofficial set list from Radiohead's show at Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre in St. Louis, MO...

Radiohead Setlist 5/14/08 - St. Louis, MO

Set 1: All I Need, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Airbag, 15 Step, Nude, Kid A, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The Gloaming, You and Whose Army?, Idioteque, Faust Arp, Videotape, Everything in Its Right Place, Reckoner, Optimistic, Bangers ++ Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore 1: Exit Music (for a film), Myxomatosis, My Iron Lung, There There, Fake Plastic Trees

Encore 2: Pyramid Song, House of Cards, Paranoid Android

Stay tuned for a review, pics, and/or videos from the St. Louis show.

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/11/08 Bristow, VA
5/09/08 Charlotte
5/8/08 Atlanta
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

And stay tuned for set list info for upcoming shows in Houston and Dallas, Texas.

Click here for more Radiohead coverage of previous shows including pics, videos, reviews, and live blogs.

The Digital Music Revolution and Crack

As a DJ, when I first started buying music, it was all on 12-inch vinyl. I spent ridiculous amounts of money buying album after album, usually planning on playing only one of the four tracks on featured on the record. Most albums were $12, while imports hovered in the $20-$25 range. Of course the best tracks were imports and I would end up dropping between $100-$300 to get just enough new music to satisfy my music addiction, at least for the moment.

Today, things are much different thanks to the online music revolution. DJs and music lovers everywhere now have almost unlimited access to music from all parts of the globe. I say almost, because there are certain songs/albums that have only been released in specific territories and they are not available to people from other territories. That part sucks, because there are some sick European tracks that U.S. residents can’t get.

When I think about how much I spent on vinyl, I now want to shoot myself. These days, I spend a hell of a lot less and get more bang for my buck thanks to websites like Beatport.com (dance music), its sister-site, Beatsource.com (hip hop, rap, dancehall), and the industry leader, iTunes. Digital downloads are one click away at these sites and they often cost $2.50 or less. You can pretty much get anything you want, from old school electro to Madonna’s latest remix and you don’t have to wait for it to come in the next record shipment.

I use to have to drive an hour-and-a-half to get to 611 Records (a DJ store) in South Philadelphia for my tracks. Now I just turn on my laptop and bang; I’m shopping. Granted, I still spend a lot of money on tracks, but that is because there are just so many different styles and genres that interest me and well, I have little self-control.

There is one downfall to the music’s online evolution. The fact that songs are cheaper these days is in essence like the crack epidemic of the early 80s, but for DJs. Like crack, today’s downloadable tracks are a stronger product and it comes at a cheaper price. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m Pookie. I just can’t seem to get enough to satisfy my incessant need to have fresh tunes. When I hear a dope new track, I want it. Unfortunately, I have to watch myself or I’ll go broke because of my music addiction. OK, that last part isn’t true, but my wife likes to say it, because it keeps me from blowing too much of the nest egg on my music.

In the end, that is the only downfall of the digital music revolution: you just can’t afford all of the good music that is out there.

Editor's Note: I welcome DJ Ocean to the Coventry family! Check out DJ Ocean's bio.

Mountain Jam IV - Daily Schedule

Only a few weeks away until the Start of Mountain Jam IV!


Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Photo credit: Taylor Crothers
The lineups for the three days have been announced:

Friday May 30th 2008

EAST STAGE

Gov't Mule 10p-1a
Umphrey's McGee 8-9:30p
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals 5:30-7p
Pete Francis 3:45-4:45p
BuzzUniverse 2:15-3p
Dark Meat 12:45-1:30p

WEST STAGE

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk 7-8p
Jimmy Weider 4:45-5:30p
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad 3-3:45p
Phonograph 1:30-2:15p
RatBoy 12:12:45p

LATE NIGHT - Starts at 1:30 am

West Stage - Galactic
Lodge - Lotus
DJ Lady Verse

*Please Note: Friday will be open to Three Day Passholders only!!*
**The music will run non stop from Noon-4am with no overlapping! (except for late night shows which will take place the same time)

*****

Saturday May 31st 2008

Michael Franti
Photo Credit: Thomas Moore
EAST STAGE

Gov't Mule 10p-1a
Michael Franti & Spearhead 6:45-8:15p
Ray LaMontagne 4:30-5:45p
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings 2:15-3:30p
Ingrid Michaelson 12:30-1:30p

WEST STAGE

Citizen Cope 8:15-9:30p
Jackie Greene 5:45-6:45
JJ Grey & Mofro 3:30-4:30p
O'Death 1:30-2:15p
Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned 12-12:30p

LATE NIGHT - Starts at 1:30 am

West Stage - Dark Star Orchestra
Lodge - Pnuma Trio
DJ Lady Verse

**The music will run non stop from Noon-4am with no overlapping

******

Sunday June 1st 2008


Ratdog
Photo Credit - Kraig G. Fox
EAST STAGE

Bob Weir & Ratdog 7-10p
Levon Helm's Ramble on the Road 5-6:30p
Drive-By Truckers 2:30-3:45p
Felice Brothers 12:45-1:45p

WEST STAGE

Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood 3:45-5p
Dr. Dog 1:45-2:30p
Larry McCray Band 12-12:45p

**The music will run non stop from Noon-10pm with no overlapping!**

Artist Schedule subject to change without notice!

Tickets on Sale Now

Audio Preview

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/13/08 Warfield Theater with Bob Wier

A friend of mine caught the Phil Lesh and Friends concert last night at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, CA. Two special things happened. First... Bob Weir sat in for most of the show and in the first set they played the first Grateful Dead album (Grateful Dead - 1967) and in the second set they played the second Dead album (Anthem of the Sun - 1968). Pretty clever and epic at the same time. Just think... this is the first of five shows at the Warfield. I wonder what other tricks Phil will pull out of his hat!

5/13/08 Phil Lesh and Friends, Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA

Set 1: The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion), Beat It On Down The Line, Good Morning Little School Girl, Cold Rain & Snow, Sitting On Top Of The World, Cream Puff War*, Morning Dew*, New Minglewood Blues*, Viola Lee Blues*

Set 2 (with Bob Weir): The Other One, I. Cryptical Envelopement, II. Quodlibet For Tender Feet, III. The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get, IV. We Leave The Castle, Nobody's Fault But Mine, New Potato Caboose, Born Cross-Eyed, Alligator, Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks)

Encore: Not Fade Away

* Bob Weir came out for Cream Puff War and played the rest of the show.

So perhaps tonight, Phil Lesh will break out Aoxomoxoa in the first set and Live/Dead in the second set since those are the Dead's third and fourth albums.

Click here for some pics from the 5/13/08 show.

The Ditty Bops

Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald as The Ditty Bops

I came across this duo last summer and I became enamored with their spunky lyrics, delicate voices, and their overall eccentric personalities. They combine a myriad of instruments and rhythms to concoct a genre of music that is not of the ordinary.

This article on the ladies describes more about their enviro-friendly lifestyle and their partnership both in music and life, as well as their newest album, Summer Rains, which was released in March of 2008.

The Ditty Bops/self-titled (2004)

Moon Over the Freeway (2006)

One of my favorite tunes, Angel With An Attitude

and footage from their bike trip cross-country from

CA to NY during the summer of 2006.

Enjoy my friends and once again......

welcome to my quirky world!

Phil Lesh and Friends Videos - 5/11/08 The Greek Theatre

I stumbled upon several Flickr videos of Phil Lesh and Friends from their show in L.A. on Mother's Day. Hat tip to Flickr user mquest!

Here's Bertha...



... and here's Franklin's Tower (Pt. 1)...


FYI... You have to click through to Coventry to view the videos via RSS or Bloglines.

Sneak Peak at Trey's New Album - Free Download

The gang at Phish.com sent us a sneak peak of a track off of Trey's new album Original Boardwalk Style.

Download Link - Plasma

Original Boardwalk Style is due out on June 10th. The CD is available for pre-order at Trey's online store. Hit up LivePhish.com to pre-order MP3s and FLACs.

Radiohead Downloads: West Palm, Tampa, Charlotte, Bristow MP3s

W Palm Source 1 (Etree)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7A83SYGN
W Palm Source 2 (Dimeadozen)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=URPQSLGN


Tampa Source 1 (Dimeadozen)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5EW4Z7RW

Tampa Source 2 (Dimeadozen)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XV5HTDW2

Charlotte
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5ME64JGI

Bristow
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W2G06G7M

Need a setlist? Check out our coverage.

Setlist Nerd? Tour Stats.

Chuck Klosterman Uses Big Words And Is Funny

Chuck Klosterman is one of Coventry's favorite writers. He has a recent piece that you can read in Esquire. I enjoyed it and think that you will too. Here is a snippet I found entertaining:

I disagree," I said. "I don't see why I can't just declare myself a hippie for entertainment purposes. I don't understand why I need to embrace any specific hippie beliefs. It would seem like being a third-order simulacrum of a hippie should be totally acceptable at this point in history, and perhaps even preferable. I reserve the right to dictate my motives for adopting the contextual qualities of postmodern hippiedom. Moreover, I grow tired of this debate. How about we hitchhike to an animal shelter and feed all the puppies LSD?"

Check out: The Ethics Paradox by Chuck Klosterman

Rollingstone Gets On The Bus With Widespread Panic

So, Rollingstone got on the bus and has 9 short video clips talking to JB and Jimmy. If you are really into what WSP eats (and who isn't?) then I recommend watching them.

Show Review: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at The Greek Theatre, 5/11/08

Dr. Pauly had picked up tickets for us to the Phil Lesh & Friends show several months ago when he'd figured out that he'd be arriving in California that weekend for his nearly four-month west coast sojurn. As a bonus, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals were opening for Phil. I really dig her album This is Somewhere and have caught her a couple of times at various festivals.

Only 24 years old, Potter sings lead vocals in a thick, blues-influenced timbre that might lead you to believe she was raised on a windblown ranch or deep in the Mississippi Delta, but in fact she and her bandmates hail from Phish country-- the rolling hills of Vermont. She also sits on keys, playing piano and a Hammond B3 and picks up an electric guitar on certain songs. Rounding out the band are Bryan Dondero on bass, Matt Burr on drums and guitarist Scott Tournet. They've spent the majority of the last two years on the road, playing afternoons at large-scale music festivals and smaller club dates on their own. This summer, in addition to their festival schedule, they've started opening for bigger artists like Phil & Friends and the Black Crowes.

"We've never been here before" said Grace Potter, as she took the stage. "This is a beautiful space." Indeed the Greek is one of my favorite places to see live music-- anywhere. The 5,500 seat amphitheater is nestled in the hills of Griffith Park and there is hardly a bad seat in the house.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals 5.11.08 Los Angeles, CA

Ain't No Time, Treat Me Right, Stop the Bus, Nothing But the Water> Drums Jam > Nothing But the Water, Apologies>Mastermind, The Big White Gate

Grace opened with a bouncy Ain't No Time and went straight into Treat Me Right. Next was a heavy, jammy treatment of Stop the Bus, where Grace picked up her guitar to solo with Tournet. Nothing but the Water started with an a capella verse-- just Grace singing gospel-tinged blues and slamming a tambourine, before the rest of the band kicked in. They broke for an all-hands-on deck drum jam before segueing back into the final verse. Things then shifted downtempo for Apologies, one of my more recent "favorite songs to sing in my car while sitting L.A. traffic." Mastermind and The Big White Gate, both of her latest album, finished out the set.

I'm in love with Grace's voice and it's in her live performances that you really get to experience it's full range. She's not afraid to take risks, riff off the melody, or fearlessly reach for that wailing high note. I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing her again at the Outside Lands Festival later this summer.

More Jammys Videos: Grace Potter, Warren Haynes, and Gold Dust Woman

Hat tip to Partyin' Peeps who blogged a slew of pro-shot Jammys videos!

Here's one of my favroites of Grace Potter singing Gold Dust Woman with Warren Haynes...

Phil Lesh and Friends - 2008 Summer Tour Dates

Phil Lesh will be playing a couple of shows at the Warfield this week in San Francisco. He's hitting the road this summer including two stints at Bonnaroo where they will be playing two sets starting at Midnight set and a special acoustic set the next day featuring Phil with Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, and Teresa Williams.

Phil will also be playing at the various festivals this year including All Good, Summerfest, Rothbury, 10K Lakes, and Gathering of the Vibes. The Levon Helm band will open for selected dates.

Phil Lesh and Friends Summer Jamboree 08 Tour
6.12 Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion **
6.13 Chicago, IL - Charter One Pavilion **
6.14 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music Festival (Midnight Set)
6.15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music Festival (Acoustic Set)
6.17 Glen Allen, VA - Innsbrook Pavilion
6.19 Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak
6.20 Philadelphia, PA - Penn's Landing **
6.21 Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion **
6.22 Gilford, NH - US Cellular Pavilion **
7.3 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
7.4 Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Summerfest
7.6 Rothbury, MI - Rothbury
7.8 Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavilion
7.9 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
7.11 Masontown, WV - All Good Music Festival
7.12 Rochester, NY - Highland Bowl **
7.13 Wantagh, NY - Jones Beach **
7.26 Detroit Lakes, MN - 10,000 Lakes Festival
8.2 Bridgeport, CT - Gathering of The Vibes

** with Levon Helm opening

My Morning Jacket SNL Videos

Quick! Before the NBC police take them down! Check out these videos of My Morning Jacket performing I'm Amazed and Evil Urges on Saturday Night Live!

I'm Amazed, My Morning Jacket on Saturday Night Live, 5.10.08



Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket on Saturday Night Live, 5.10.08

Radiohead Videos - YouTube All-Stars

These are the best of the best that I have found...or do your own search.

Just, Tampa 5/6/08


Lucky, Tampa 5/6/08


Paranoid Android, Charlotte 5/9/08


Talk Show Host, Charlotte 5/9/08


Fake Plastic Trees, Bristow 5/11/08


Like Spinning Plates, Bristow 5/11/08

Radiohead MP3 Download - 5/5/08 West Palm Beach, FL - Audience Recording

Download Radiohead 5/5/08 West Palm Beach

Seems to be the better of the two sources floating around out there. Setlist:

Radiohead - West Palm Beach, FL 5/5/08

Set 1: All I Need, Bodysnatchers, There There, Reckoner, The Gloaming, Morning Bell, Nude, How To Disappear Completely, 15 Step, Weird Fishes > Arpeggi, Idioteque, Bullet Proof (I Wish I Was), Where I End And You Begin, Airbag, Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, Videotape

Encore 1: Optimistic, Just, Faust Arp, Exit Music (For A Film), Bangers + Mash

Encore 2: House Of Cards, Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Download link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=URPQSLGN

Video of National Anthem from West Palm Beach (Nasty NASTY version)

Show Review: 5/11/08 Phil Lesh and Friends @ Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Right after the Langerado music festival, I bought a ticket to Phil Lesh and Friends' concert at the Greek Theatre in LA. I thought Phil Lesh's latest lineup (Jackie Greene, Steve Molitz, John Molo, and Larry Campbell) was the best that he had in years and they were one of the many highlights of Langerado. When I scanned their tourdates, I jumped at the chance to see them at the Greek.

I found out several weeks later that Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were opening up which is sort of big because Phil usually doesn't have an opening act. The gang at Coventry are huge Grace Potter fans. And I have been on a GPN kick over the last couple of weeks.

The Greek Theatre is nestled in the hills of Los Feliz and the last and only time I was for a Trey Anastasio Band concert a couple of months before 9/11. The Greek is located near a residential area and they had an 11pm curfew. Grace Potter was scheduled for 5:30pm.

I went to the show with Change100 and we arrived at the venue around 4:30pm. The Greek has stacked parking for $15 which means once you get into the parking lot... you're stuck until everyone in front of you leaves.

I have never seen the Grateful Dead in California, although I caught a couple of Phil & Friends shows, it's not quite the same. Sure, Deadheads can be found all over the globe, but the hardcore Deadheads still live in California. They all came out of the woodwork for the show.

When I used to follow the Dead in the early 1990s, I was a teenager and a part of the Gen-X crew of Deadheads which meant that my hippie counterparts were two (and even three) decades older. That age gap still held true at Phil and Friends. It was kinda cool to be around real hippies again, you know, the originals and the ones who started it all. A couple of them saw the Dead as far back as the Acid Tests in the early 1960s.

Shit, Grace Potter wasn't even born yet when the Dead stopped playing St. Stephen in 1983. As one of my Deadhead buddies would say, "I have t-shirts older than her."

We really wanted to catch Grace Potter's set and motivated to go inside. We made a pitstop stopped at a bathroom in the parking lot. It was a tiny bathroom with three urinals. I stood in line at the doorway. A Deadhead (a dead-ringer for Richard Dreyfuss) wearing a tie-dyed shirt rushed past me. We had to tell him that the line started behind me. He apologized and I noticed right away that he was far gone.

"We're in California, right?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. Los Angeles to be exact," I assured him.

"Right on."

I pissed in the far urinal and the hippie guy took the one next to me. There was a window where you could see out into the parking lot. He commented on the big old school bus that had a cut out of a VW bus on top of the roof.

"It's the bus," he said. "Here, have these."

He held out his fist. I finished up my urination and zipped up before I unfurled my hand. He dropped tiny two cubensis mushrooms in my palm. By the looks of him, he must have ingested a fair amount.

I usually turn down drugs from strangers especially psychedelics. I made an exception. Buy a ticket and take the ride. The mundane always becomes extraordinary when you involve mushrooms.

Change100 and I made our way into the venue and there was no pat down by security. We bought $10 beers and found our seats towards the back of Section B. There's no really bad seat the Greek and we were almost aligned with center stage. The walk in music was bluegrass covers of Phish... Rift and Cavern.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals came on at 5:30pm. and played for less than 45 minutes.

5.11.08, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Set 1: Ain't No Time, Treat Me Right, Stop the Bus, Nothing But the Water > Drums Jam > Nothing But the Water, Apologies > Mastermind, The Big White Gate

Grace is the obvious shining star with a sultry voice that reminds me a bit like Edie Brickell mixed with a tinge of Janis Joplin. Grace also plays piano and guitar. Depending on the song, she'll even play both.

I recognized every song they played and Nicky wrote down the setlist since she knew the title to every song. The highlights for me were Stop the Bus and the Nothing But Water sandwich which included a drum jam where everyone in the band got up on the drummer's riser and beat some sort of percussion.

At one point, Grace mentioned, "I love hearing all the random shit that you guys yell. Keep it up, because we'll actually answer you."

One guy from the back screamed, "Show me your tits!"

The shrooms weren't extremely strong, but they definitely kicked in towards the end of Grace's set.

It would be almost an hour before Phil Lesh took the stage. In the meantime, I drank a couple of more $10 beers as the venue eventually filled up. I dunno if it was sold out but there were plenty of open spots. I'd say it was 85-90% full by the time Phil's set began.

Two older hippie guys sat in the row in front of us. Next to them were two hipster chicks sipping white wine. There was also a family of four nearby. I forgot that Deadheads often brought their kids to the show. The old guys befriended the hipster chicks. One of them pulled out a tiny prison joint and they smoked up only to be caught by a security guard since our section was not filled up by that point. The guard didn't throw them out and only said, "You can't do that here."

* * * * * *

Set 1: Shakedown Street, Friend of the Devil, Bertha, Ball and Chain, Beat It On Down the Line, Cumberland Blues, Sugaree

Phil Lesh took the stage around 7:15pm. The tuned up for about five minutes before they busted out a crowd pleasing and blustery version of Shakedown Street. The gang jumped into a jam right away and didn't wait to get heated up. Right off the bat, it was obviously that it was Larry Campbell's night to shine. He and Phil ripped it up during Shakedown. There was one section where Phil soloed a few notes and then Steve Molitz on keys replicated them before they transitioned out of the jam and back into Shakedown Street. I thought they were going to segue into The Wheel, but they abruptly stopped. Jackie picked up an acoustic guitar and Larry went for a fiddle as they played Friend of the Devil. It's one of those songs that make me miss Jerry whenever I hear it.

Bertha was high energy and Larry continued to lead the way. The great thing about bands with accomplished musicians is that on any given night, someone steps up and is the MVP of the show. Jackie took those honors at Langerado. Even though it was still the first set, Larry's stellar playing early on set the tone.

I thought the flow of the set was disrupted by Ball and Chain (not exactly what I wanted to hear) and BIODTL (a sloppy version). The shrooms started to fade away and smoked heavily during those tunes while the hipster girls in front of us hit their peaked wastedness.

They saved the set with Cummberland Blues. That song was one of the highlights of Langerado and they did not disappoint with their version at the Greek. They closed the first set with a mellow yet powerful version of Sugaree, although I expected Jerry to materialize on stage and finish it off properly.

I drank a couple of more beers during setbreak. Those 24 oz. Coronas for $12 pack a punch.

Set 2: New Speedway Boogie, Devil Take Your Mind, Jack Straw, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Unbroken Chain > The Wheel > Franklins Tower

E: Box Of Rain

I always have this weird theory that if you listen to music in the car on the way to a concert and happen to be listening to the same band you are about to see, inevitably, that band will play at least one song that you heard on the drive to the show. Phish used to do it all the time and it was always cool when it was an obscure song or a serious bust out.

This instance we listened to New Speedway Boogie on the way to the Greek. I mentioned it to Nicky that I hoped they played it and sure enough, they opened up the second set with a resounding version. Devil Take Your Mind was a classic Pauly Takes a Piss song. The trio of Jack Straw followed up by China > Rider was the highlight of the second set. Jackie stepped it up but Larry continued to plug away.

The second set ended with a three tune sandwich of Unbroken Chain > The Wheel > Franklin's Tower. It was a unique choice of songs to segue into each other. I kept hearing them tease The Wheel since the start of the show and it magically appeared. Franklin's came out of nowhere for me. Never expected that! Stellar version.

The encore included the standard donor rap where Phil expressed his gratitude for the kid who died and donated his organs which Phil desperately needed after decades of damage. That was followed up by Box of Rain.

Overall, it was an above average show highlighted by Larry Campbell's guitar playing. I thought some of the song selection was blah, but they managed to do a solid job with the songs that I didn't want to hear. The crowd was friendly but my section was super mellow.

I had high expectations for Phil and Friends after Langerado and they didn't quite meet that high standard which I set. In Langerado, my expectations for Phil and Friends were low because historically speaking, festival sets rarely stand out. Phil kicked everyone's ass to close out Langerado and that's why I expected them to do the same at the Greek.

Obama & Reckoner!!!!

I wanted to share this with you.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals L.A. Setlist

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals opened for Phil Lesh & Friends tonight at one of my all-time favorite venues--the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Dr. Pauly and I caught the show. I'll post a full review tomorrow, but for now, here's the set list:

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals 5.11.08 Los Angeles, CA

Ain't No Time, Treat Me Right, Stop the Bus, Nothing But the Water> Drums Jam > Nothing But the Water, Apologies>Mastermind, The Big White Gate

Radiohead Setlist 5/11/08 - Bristow, Virginia

Here's the unofficial setlist from the Radiohead show in Bristow. VA at Stone Ridge:

Radiohead 5/11/08 Bristow, VA

Set 1: All I Need, Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Lucky, 15 Step, Nude, Pyramid Song, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Myxomatosis, Idioteque, Faust Arp, Videotape, Paranoid Android, Just, Reckoner, Everything In Its Right Place, Bangers + Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore 1: Like Spinning Plates, Optimistic, Karma Police, Go Slowly, Planet Telex

Encore 2: Fake Plastic Trees, National Anthem, House of Cards

And stay tuned for set list info for upcoming shows in St. Louis, MO, Houston, TX, and Dallas, TX.

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/09/08 Charlotte
5/8/08 Atlanta
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

Phil Lesh and Friends Setlist - 5/11/08 Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA

Just got back from the Phil Lesh show at The Greek. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals opened. Stay tuned for a review of Phil and Friends. For now, here's the setlist...

5.11.08 Phil Lesh and Friends, Greek Theater, LA, CA

Set 1: Shakedown Street, Friend of the Devil, Bertha, Ball and Chain, Beat It On Down the Line, Cummberland Blues, Sugaree

Set 2: New Speedway Boogie, ?Devil Take Your Mind, Jack Straw, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Unbroken Chain > The Wheel > Franklins Tower

E: Box Of Rain

BG's Coventry Jazz Mix - A Few Of My Favorite Things

Hey y'all, BG from Gambling Blues here. Dr. Pauly and I were talking music the other day, and, as usual, I started to get evangelical about my love of jazz.

See, all you jamband lovers who dig it when Trey plinks around on that guitar of his for twenty solid minutes know where improvisational American music was born, right? Louis Armstrong begat Duke Ellington, who gave rise to Charlie Parker, with Miles Davis, John McLaughlin and those guys from Galactic as your logical heirs from there.

So give my guys from the 50s and 60s some love, and let me introduce you to a few of my favorite performances, conveniently located in a zip file on Rapidshare, and burnable to a single CD for your listening enjoyment.

Download BG's Coventry Jazz Mix... here.

Favorite Piano Solo: "Bags' Groove (take 1)" - from Bags' Groove by Miles Davis (1954) Miles Davis (tpt), Milt Jackson (vibes, songwriter), Thelonious Monk (p), Horace Silver (p), Percy Heath (b), Kenny Clarke (d).

You know the old saying, "Two wrongs don't make a right?" Thelonious Monk, starting at 6:45 of the track, sets out to prove that thesis incorrect. Monk is famous for his ability to stretch and twist rhythm and melody, and this solo is all about playing with the empty spaces around his untraditional phrases to allow you, the listener, to fill in the blanks and resolve them in your own head.

The blues, as a structure, is to make a statement, repeat that statement, then resolve it. AAB structure. Something like:

I got my mojo workin', just don't work on you
I got my mojo workin', just don't work on you
I wanna love you so bad, don't know what to do

This song is very clearly a blues structure. Monk will make his A statement, muddy the waters with a seemingly wrong chord and misplaced rhythmic beat in the repeat, and then play something in his B statement resolution that, while wrong "on paper," makes enough sense to your ear from the context of the "AA" lead that it seems to work out in your head.

I'm not very well versed in music (can't read it, am no scholar), but once I read a quote about this solo that essentially said, "Monk expects the notes to resolve themselves in the empty space," it made perfect sense to me.

Favorite Non-Traditional Take on a Standard - "On Green Dolphin Street" - from Outward Bound by Eric Dolphy (1960) Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet), Freddie Hubbard (tpt), Jaki Byard (p), George Tucker (b), Roy Haynes (d).

My friend Gracie doesn't like Eric Dolphy. She thinks he sounds like a shrieking goose.

Well, to be fair, he is playing the bass clarinet.

This version of this song is likely my favorite jazz cut of all time. Dolphy, still a couple albums away from stepping more fully into "free jazz" (music without melodic underpinnings), seems to have an instinct through his bass clarinet to push at the outer edges of the chords in the melody without fully breaking any of the rules. Regardless of all this pseudo-intellectual crap about tonality, this shit just fucking swings. My favorite part is the restatement of the theme after all parties have soloed. Dolphy makes this yelping noise with his horn as he leaps into the final verse that just gets me every time.

Favorite Original Jazz Composition - "Gingerbread Boy" - from On The Trail by Jimmy Heath (1964) Jimmy Heath (tsax, songwriter), Kenny Burrell (g), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), Al Heath (d).

It was relatively simple in the 60s to get lost in the tenor sax shuffle. Coltrane was killing it, Sonny Rollins was an established star, and Blue Note Records seemed to be able to land a new Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin or Stanley Turrentine LP on the shelves with frightening regularity.

Jimmy Heath is, in my opinion, a founding member of the 1960s All-Underrated Team. Jimmy came from a jazz family (his brother Percy is on the Miles Davis track above, and his brother Al sits in on this one), and really made his mark as a composer more than soloist. This track in particular is likely his best known contribution to the standard songbook, and it burns. Kenny Burrell has a pretty solid solo on the guitar to lead off, with Jimmy following with a serpentine dance around the melody.

Between Dolphy, Heath and Mal Waldron below, I feel like I should be going door-to-door to casual jazz fans, trading them their Coltrane Greatest Hits albums straight across for something just as interesting from a lesser-known artist. It's a shame that guys like these end up largely forgotten, except by collectors willing to dig through the era carefully enough to unearth a gem. Forty years later, all this stuff still sounds fresh to me.

Favorite Saxophone Solo - "Blue 7" - from Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins (1956), Sonny Rollins (tsax, songwriter), Max Roach (d), Tommy Flanagan (p), Doug Watkins (b).

There are guys who play a lot of notes, and there are guys who thoughtfully play the right notes. Rollins is in the latter camp. Look, I like Coltrane as much as the next guy, but listening to the guy blister through "Chasin' the Trane" for eighteen minutes gets tiring. Rollins is a guy who tells a linear story, almost has a conversation through his horn, and it's largely absent the byzantine hyperkineticism that marks Coltrane's style.

"Blue 7" was really Rollins' first great step forward as an individual voice. It's a thoughtful, intelligent and maybe even witty solo, that is as much planting the flag on his own territory as it is a reaction against the prevailing Charlie Parker and bebop freneticism of the day. Max Roach and Doug Watkins give Rollins all the room he needs, and he proves you can stretch out without filling every available empty moment with a sixteenth note. This whole album can be had for cheap, and comes highly recommended.

Favorite Guitar Solo - "Unit 7" - from Smokin' at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery with the Wynton Kelly Trio (1965) Wes Montgomery (g), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d).

Speaking of high recommendations, this is a jam band blog, and this is the standout track from one of the great live jam records of the jazz era. Some people even list it in the top three all-time.

I'm not one to argue.

Wes Montgomery had a fairly unfortunate career arc, mainly because someone showed him a series of big fat checks to play elevator music. It's a shame, too, as his limited output prior to selling out really highlights the guy's talent. Smokin' is a true jam date, with the greatest working rhythm section of the mid-60s letting Wes sit in for these sessions. This track in particular has, in jazz guitarist Pat Metheny's eyes, the greatest jazz solo ever played.

I'm not one to argue.

Favorite Obscurity - "Duquility" - from The Quest by Mal Waldron with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin (1961) Mal Waldron (p, songwriter), Eric Dolphy (alto sax), Booker Ervin (tsax), Ron Carter (b), Charlie Persip (d).

Booker Ervin was rooted in the blues, Ron Carter a Philharmonic-schooled classicist, and Eric Dolphy a dissident of dissonance. With Waldron and Persip providing a thin pencil sketch framework around which to play, it's really interesting to hear these three styles come together, especially through headphones. In both channels, you get Carter's plaintive bowed cello work, with Ervin anchoring to tradition in your right ear, Dolphy pushing against tonality in your left. It's really Carter's show though. No fireball solos in this cut, just four minutes of mood music that ends far too soon. Carter wouldn't join Miles Davis' second great quintet until 1964, but this cut foreshadows some of that group's greatest work - especially works like "Mood," "Orbits," and the classic deconstruction of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints."

Favorite Trumpet Solo - "Moanin'" - from Moanin' by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (1958) Art Blakey (d), Lee Morgan (tpt), Bobby Timmons (p, songwriter), Jymie Merritt (b), Benny Golson (tsax).

Ow! The Lee Morgan! It buuuurrrrnnnnsss! The kid was 20 years old when he laid down this swaggering solo. How good were you at anything but bong tokes and inventing reasons to skip Econ lectures at age 20?

Thought so.

Favorite Guest Appearance - "Someday My Prince Will Come" - from Someday My Prince Will Come by Miles Davis (1961) Miles Davis (tpt), Hank Mobley (tsax - first solo), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d), John Coltrane (tsax - second solo at the 5:55 mark).

This was the first album Miles recorded post-Coltrane, and the first with his new-and-soon-to-be-ex-tenor sax player Hank Mobley. Now, I like Hank. I like Hank a lot, actually. He's a bluesy player, full tone, swings hard. But listen to the difference between Hank's solo, then Coltrane's. Thom Jurek at the All Music Guide says, "Mobley plays a strictly journeyman solo, and then Coltrane blows the pack away with a solo so deep inside the harmony it sounds like it's coming from somewhere else."

That's about right. It's graduation day for Coltrane, who had learned all he could from Miles. Miles, Coltrane and Mobley went off in different directions after this album, each having a great deal of success as leaders on their own, but for this one song on this one album, Coltrane is clearly a man among boys.

Enjoy! Let me know in comments if you've got favorites I've missed...

Grateful Dead Videos - Acoustic Ripple

Composed by Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter

My all time favorite Grateful Dead song. Not sure from what show this was ripped from. I'm guessing this was from the legendary October 1980 run at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, as Brent is on the keyboards, Jerry has a touch of grey but hasn't packed on the pounds yet, and Bobby doesn't have his doorknob ponytail, and isn't wearing his later attire of mountain biking shorts and birkenstocks. I know there was probably only one performance of Ripple in my touring days of 1984-1992 and I wasn't at that show.

A google search of Ripple performances bears this out:

Ripple was only performed about 40 times by the Grateful Dead. The first performance was in August 1970. The song was performed in acoustic sets in 1970 and 1980, a handful of electric sets in 1971 and as an encore once in 1988.

For me there is nothing like an acoustic Ripple.

A search of The Grateful Dead Family Discography shows that Bob Weir's Ratdog, as well as The Dead (post Other Ones) have covered the song pretty extensively.

Radiohead Charlotte Pics and video by Savage, Recording of West Palm 5/5/08

Big props to Savage from PT who posted some pics and video from last night, check it out:




big props to Savage from PT who posted some pics and video from last night, check it out:

and here is a recording of 05/05/2008, Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CIDXSRL8

I can not verify the quality of this recording or mp3 rip, I am downloading now, will listen to it soon...

...also, I found this advice, take it for what its worth, but may be worth a try at the next few shows:

"My buddy went to the box office at 7:30pm and Radiohead released the unused gueIst passes and he was able to get 5 tickets in sectoin 2 row r dead center for $60. f you want to go see the show tonight, I would just go to the box office at 7pm and ask for seats."

Talladega Nights Bar Scene: How Rednecks Hear Jazz

OK, maybe I'm the last person to see this movie (caught it last night on cable) but I got such a kick out of this scene from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, where the redneck bar crowd freaks when Jean Girard puts jazz on the jukebox.

It's Just a Plant...

a children's story about marijuana

A perfectly factual, beginner's account of our

insane prohibition against cannabis. This book may assist parents in speaking honestly with children about marijuana use, the rewards

and the dangers, in an open manner. -Alex Grey

Radiohead Setlist Charlotte, NC 5/9/08 - Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre

Here's the unofficial setlist from last night's Radiohead show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre:

Radiohead 5/9/08 Charlotte, NC Set List

Set 1: All I Need, There There, Airbag, 15 Step, Nude, Sail to the Moon, Weird Fishes/Apreggi, Myxomatosis, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Videotape, Optimistic, Where I End and You Begin, You and Whose Army?, Everything in Its Right Place, Bangers & Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore 1: Go Slowly, Talk Show Host, Exit Music, Planet Telex, House of Cards

Encore 2: Paranoid Android, Reckoner

Stay tuned for a review, pics, and videos.

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/8/08 Atlanta
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

And stay tuned for set list info for upcoming shows in Bristow, VA, St. Louis, MO, Houston, TX, and Dallas, TX.

Radiohead Charlotte 5/9/08 - Live Blog

11:45 lot is clearing out but still seems a clusterfuck getting out. I gave a high five to the kid playing YEM and a kid with a clemson plate is puking off the bed of his 4 door diesel dodge pickup while his girlfriend waits to drive out of the lot.

11:32 found a couple that likes to have sex to radiohead but would prefer sts9. Move my peeps more specifically. There is a tank in the radiohead lot- maybe the hippies like radiohead after all.

11:25 hangin in the lot with my knomies.

11:07 thank god finally people are setting off fireworks in the lot! Broseph tries to sell beer In the lot 1 for 3, 2 for 5!


Set 1:
All I need
There there
Airbag
15 step (random raindrops)
Nude
(Dedicated to the good people of north carolina) sail to the moon
Fluffhead>moma dance
Weird fishes/apreggi
Myxamitosis
Idioteque
Morning bell
Videotape
Optimistic
Where I end and you begin
You and whose army?
Everything in its right place
Bangers £ mash(thom Really loves playing that song)
Bodysnatchers
10:09 end of set

E1: woa this is a song I do not know. Serious. Btreotch says it is an in rainbowz bside. Check a real radiohead fan site.
Talk show host
Exit music
Planet telex (woa they showed us the tye dye hippie lights! I thought I had seen it all till that!)
House of cards
10:35 end of encore

E2:(johnny takes a photograph of crowd)
Paranoid android
(Very tight!better than last night)
Reckoner

End of show 10:55

LOLZ


8:47 lights out

8:30 met some kids that know about w00k 17. Word.

8:07 sun is setting, rain has passed. Going to head in soon.

7:35 finally got my ticket from intheblimpalot from PT.

Last 5 things heard blaring out of a car:
Tom tom club
Radiohead(weird fishes)
Queens of the stone age
Phish(weekapaug from slip stitch and pass)
Nine inch nails

Invited the kids over to smoke that were listening to phish.

7:17 just bought a poster in the lot. Quote of the night from blonde girl behind us "I don't want to get struck by lightening again at a radiohead concert."

7:00 weather looks like it is moving in. Was really sunny but just saw lightening from the south. Somebody check the doppler. Blonde girl parked behind us says she is "way done with college". We think she is maybe 25.

6:45 this is how people party in north carolina in the lot: beer pong, ladder ball, and corn hole. I love these people. Broseph has sold all the pbr's in 30 minutes for a $5 profit. He is wearing the kanye glasses and can sell anything.

6:00 in the lot. Lot scene much more lively than last night. Seems like people are smiling a little more and wearing less black, however I am wearing black. There is a well dressed.couple in a new bmw parked behind us and I already pissed off the cute blonde next to us by laughing at her when she said she was "over widespread panic." We are drinking coronas however broseph has pbr's to sell and a dude parked next to us just broke out some sushi to munch on.

5:00 We are checked into a craptastic extended stay motel. all three of us seem a little tired but are still excited for the show. going to pit stop at the beer store and head out to the lots soon.

2:45 pit stop outside of greenville, sc for gas and wendys spicy chicken sandwiches.

11:50 we are on the road. Couple of random notes from last night:

•During the heavy sections of paranoid android the lights turned red,white and blue, looked to me like a distorted american flag. Pretty powerful symbolism to me.

•we saw a couple on the bus over there that had a sign that read "today is our 10 year anniversary" on one side and "jigsaw falling into place" on the other. They were down in the pit and thom acknowledged the sign saying something like "congratulations, but we aren't playing that one."

•in our observation, the girls wearing black dresses with sleeve tattoos at radiohead shows are usually pretty hot, but not very talkative or warm and friendly.

•we did not meet anyone from atlanta last night; of course we were staying at a hotel and took public transport. Still, we met people from savannah, pensacola, athens, tampa, chatanooga, nashville, denver(preggers girl) and destin were all represented.

Radiohead Atlanta Video Montage 5/8/08

Here are some pics and videos taken by Btreotch and Broseph last night...We got the "rain down" section of paranoid android and the parking lot dance party after some shots of Atlanta and the lot...

Stanton Moore Tour Dates

I have never backed down on my assessment that Stanton Moore is the best drummer on the planet. The drummer from Galactic recently released a new album called Emphasis (on parenthesis) on Telarc Records, which featured Will Bernard on guitar and Robert Walter on organ. Stanton is on the road supporting his new album.

The Stanton Moore Trio featuring Will Bernard and Wil Blades will be playing a bunch of dates on the West Coast and two shows in Colorado. We're catching him in L.A. on Saturday.

Staton Moore Trio Tour Dates

May 9, 2008 Friday @ Winstons - San Diego, CA
May 10, 2008 Saturday @ The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
May 12, 2008 Monday@ Kuumbwa Jazz - Santa Cruz, CA
May 13, 2008 Tuesda @ Yoshi's - San Francisco, CA
May 14, 2008 Wed @ Yoshi's - San Francisco, CA
May 15, 2008 Thursday @ Mobius - Ashland, OR
May 16, 2008 Friday @ Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
May 17, 2008 Saturday @ Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
May 21, 2008 Wed @ Bluebird Theatre - Denver, CO
May 22, 2008 Thursday @ Fox Theatre -Boulder, CO

Photo Credit: Mark Trottier

My Morning Jacket on Saturday Night Live

Set your TiVos! My Morning Jacket will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, tomorrow night at 11:30 ET/PT. This week's host is legendary stoner and Indiana Jones star Shia LeBoeuf. Expect a couple of tunes off of Evil Urges, which hits the shelves June 10th.

Download Evil Urges (rapidshare)

* * * * *
Check out this video of MMJ perfoming Gideon with the Boston Pops during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2006...

Counting Crows Video - Friend of the Devil (2003)

Excellent acoustic cover by the Counting Crows of the Grateful Dead classic Friend of the Devil, performed for rollingstone.com.

2008 Jammys Videos - Trey with the Fab Faux

I stumbled up one of the Jammys videos... Trey sitting in with the Fab Faux during While My Guitar Gently Weeps.



And... Partyin' Peeps posted a shitload of Jammys Videos including the Head Count All Stars. Check it out.

Widespread Panic - Best of St. Louis Mix

Here's a few selections from Widespread Panic's show in St. Louis on 10.16.07...

Best of St. Louis:
1. C Brown
2. Flicker
3. Blackout Blues
4. Papa Legba
5. Imitation Leather Shoes
6. Climb to Safety
7. Makes Sense to Me

Download Link - Widespread Panic 2007 St. Louis Mix

18th Annual High Sierra Music Festival 7/3-7/6/08

4 Days . 4 Nights . 75+ Artists . 5 Stages . Epic Late Night Shows
On-site Camping . Kidzone . Artist Playshops . Yoga . Pilates
Dance . Parades . Food & Drink . Art & Craft Fair . And much more!

HIGH SIERRA 2008 ARTISTS

Bob Weir & RatDog
Gov't Mule
Michael Franti and Spearhead
Built To Spill
Keller Williams with Moseley, Droll & Sipe
Mike Gordon
Railroad Earth
Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck
James Hunter
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
Charlie Hunter Trio
Buckethead
Robben Ford
Bassnectar
Emmitt-Nershi Band
Benevento/Russo Duo
The Slip
New Monsoon
Surprise Me Mr. Davis
MarchFourth Marching Band
Critters Buggin
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Spam Allstars
The Lee Boys
Groovesect with Fred Wesley
Papa Mali
EOTO
Akron/Family
Chicago Afrobeat Project
BLVD and MC Souleye
The Mother Hips
Lebo and Steve
SambaDa
AZA
Joe Craven
Carolyn Wonderland
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Blue Turtle Seduction
Scott Amendola Band
Will Bernard Band
Phix
Dusty Rhodes and The River Band
The Weather Underground
Langhorne Slim
American Babies
Sneakin' Out
Banana Slug String Band
the everybodyfields
Nathan Moore
Rotary Downs
Cornmeal
Eric McFadden Trio
The Heavy Pets
Aphrodesia
Stephane Wrembel and Camarade Soleil
Sol'Jibe
Ashleigh Flynn and the Killdeer
Flowmotion
Ryan Montbleau Band
Jamie Janover
Lynx
Gamelan X
MO2
Chris Chandler
Michael Herndon
Oneside
Soldiers of Hi Fi
Izabella
Five Eyed Hand
Vida Girls
Big Light
Monophonics
Deep Fried Pickle Project

For Ticket information including camping/RV passes click here.

To be added to the email newsletter click here

Radiohead Setlist Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre

Here's the unofficial setlist from last night's Radiohead show at Lakewood Amphitheatre:

Radiohead 5/8/08 Atlanta, GA Set List

Set 1: All I Need, There There, Lucky, 15 Step, Where I End and You Begin, Nude, Pyramid Song, Optimistic, Weird Fishes, National Anthem, Idioteque, You and Whose Army?, Reckoner, Everything in Its Right Place, Bangers + Mash, Bodysnatchers, Videotape

Encore 1: Gloaming, Talk Show Host, Just, Faust Arp, How to Disappear

Encore 2: Paranoid Android, House of Cards

Check back in later for more Radiohead coverage as BTreotch and the Joker head to the Charlotte, NC shows next!

Previous Radiohead Setlists:
5/6/08 Tampa
5/5/08 West Palm Beach

Radiohead Atlanta 5/8/08 - Live Blog

11:45 its raining hard and we are standing underneath the cover of a gas station across the street from lakewood amphitheater. Its a hilarious scene of wet hipsters trying to get on the bus back to the marta station. Btreotch is trying to find out what happend tonight on lost.

11:30 dance party in lot, clusterfuck getting out by car or getting on bus. Chaos.


All I need
There there
Lucky
(Rain enough to get wet)
15 step
Where I end and you begin
Nude
Pyramid song
Optimistic
Weird fishes
National anthem
Idioteque
You and whose army?
Reckoner
Everything in its right place
Bangers + mash
Bodysnatchers
Videotape
10:20 end of set

E1: gloaming
Talk show host
Just(rain)
Faust arp
How to disappear
10:45 end of encore

E2:paranoid android!!!
House of cards
11:00 end of show


8:58 lights out

8:40 broseph talks about how the lawn is a cooler scene than where we are. The people are way cooler, more freedom. A free for all. Its a matter of taste. I am like a moth to the lights so I like to be closer, but I see his point.

8:12 the liars are finished. We have seats but the pavilion is smaller, we are not covered. There is a straight up pit that would be awesome to be in. The kids in front of us will be 21 in june.

8:05 I buy a $4.00 water inside the venue, we find our seats. All these amphitheaters look the same.

7:30 lot shenanigans continues. We pass up a face value 14th row seat from a pregnant girl. Lots of pregnant girls at radiohead shows for some reason. We have seen 5.

7:08 the rain has passed. We are standing in the lot where people are streaming in. Times we have been offered drugs:zero. People with extra lawns: hundreds. Cute georgia peaches: enough for an honorable mention. Broseph calls the walk in "parade of the awkward".

6:40 light rain. We find other crew that went to the other shows and drink beers.

6:30 last 5 artists heard in lot:
Radiohead
Pearl jam
My morning jacket
Phish (mikes song miami)
Chromeo

6:02 btreotch sells his extra lawn for $40. Broseph buys pbr's for $1 each. Lot scene is now mild.

5:45 scene in the lot is non-existent. Btreotch tries to sell our extra lawn. I can hear all I need be soundchecked. Weather looks threatening. Ticket scalper with baby stroller is shaken down by cops.

5:35 a young buck sold us 2 pavilion tickets for $60 each on the bus to the venue. Average age on bus: 25.

5:30 we make radiohead happy and reduce our carbon footprint by taking MARTA to the show. I am wearing my W loves phish/mike drops bombs tshirt and have already gotten a comment (mike does indeed drop bombs)

4:00 btreotch shoots and scores! Accommodations at the hilton downtown for $75 including tax through hotwire.this aint no phish tour- we be big pimpin on the 20th floor! Broseph is ironing his shirt for some reason. The hilton wants to nickle and dime us, though.$17 for parking and $18 for internet access. Bitches.

1:15 gas stop at exit 101 northbound on 75 to atlanta. Gas is $3.59/gal. so far we have seen more religious themed billboards(6) than confederate flags(3). I am lobbying to stop at a dairy queen since we are in the south. Broseph is confident that he will be able to pick up a local girl at the show who will provide a place to sleep tonight, while btreotch and I are opting for a motel room.

12:20 we have entered the great state of Georgia. Passing over 5000 t-shirts at magnolia plantation. We ate a great breakfast with strawberry shortcake in ocala, fl this morning. The sign on the diner reminded us that "you don't go to hell by accident." Indeed.

My Morning Jacket Tour Dates

My Morning Jacket announced today the dates and venues for an extensive U.S. and European Summer/Fall Tour. Kicking off with the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, TN, Jim James and the boys from Kentucky will hit up Radio City Music Hall, the Glastonbury Festival, Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Austin's legendary Stubbs' BBQ, and L.A.'s Greek Theatre between now and October.

Head over to My Morning Jacket's official website for ticket info.

My Morning Jacket Summer/Fall Tour, 2008:

06/13/08 Fri Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester, TN
06/16/08 Mon Kool Haus Toronto, ON
06/17/08 Tue Le National Montreal, QC
06/20/08 Fri Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
06/25/08 Wed Leadmill Sheffield, UK
06/26/08 Thu Bristol Academy Bristol, UK
06/27/08 Fri Manchester Academy Manchester, UK
06/29/08 Sun Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury, UK
07/01/08 Tue Gruenspan Hamburg, GER
07/02/08 Wed Gebaude 9 Cologne, GER
07/04/08 Fri Rock Werchter Festival Werchter, BEL
07/06/08 Sun The Hop Farm Kent, UK
07/08/08 Tue Melkweg Amsterdam, NL
07/09/08 Wed Trabendo Paris, FRA
07/11/08 Fri The Rescue Rooms Nottingham, UK
07/12/08 Sat Oxegen Festival Naas, IR
07/13/08 Sun T in the Park Kinross, UK
07/15/08 Tue The Forum London, UK
07/19/08 Sat Benicassim Festival Valencia, SPA
07/26/08 Sat Pemberton Festival Pemberton, BC
08/16/08 Sat Waterfront Park Louisville, KY
08/18/08 Mon Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
08/19/08 Tue Harrah's Casino & Hotel Council Bluffs, IA
08/21/08 Thu Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO
08/23/08 Sat Palladium Ballroom/Loft Dallas, TX
08/24/08 Sun Stubb's BBQ Austin, TX
08/27/08 Wed Fox Theatre Atlanta, GA
08/29/08 Fri The Fillmore/Jackie Gleason Theater Miami Beach, FL
08/30/08 Sat House of Blues Orlando, FL
08/31/08 Sun House of Blues Myrtle Beach, SC
09/02/08 Tue Charlottesville Pavilion Charlottesville, VA
09/03/08 Wed DAR Constitution Hall Washington, DC
09/05/08 Fri Festival Pier @ Penn's Landing Philadelphia, PA
09/06/08 Sat Bank Of America Pavilion Boston, MA
09/19/08 Fri Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA
09/21/08 Sun Greek Theatre Los Angeles, CA
09/23/08 Tue Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
09/24/08 Wed The Joint @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas, NV
09/25/08 Thu SDSU Open Air Theatre San Diego, CA
09/27/08 Sat Edgefield Troutdale, OR
09/28/08 Sun McCaw Hall Seattle, WA
10/02/08 Thu Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis, MN
10/03/08 Fri Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
10/04/08 Sat The Fillmore Detroit (State Theatre) Detroit, MI
10/09/08 Thu The Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
10/10/08 Fri The Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL

* * * * *
Here's a video from 3.10.08 in Houston where MMJ performed Evil Urges...

Video: Phish Accepts Jammy Award

There's a lot of douchebags shouting out for Phish to play or to get back together while he's trying to talk, but here's a video of Trey Anastasio's acceptance speech delivered last night at the 2008 Jammy Awards, where all four members of Phish reunited onstage to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Trey Anastasio Unplugged at Newport Folk Festival

Breaking news on Trey's website...

Trey will make his debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival this August as part of the 49th annual festival in Newport, RI. Playing a full acoustic set, it will be his first full performance in 17 months. Other confirmed artists include Richie Havens, Gillian Welch and Jillian Welch. For a full festival lineup and to purchase tickets, visit www.newportfolk.com.

Newport Festival will be August 2-3. And yes, Trey will be playing unplugged. No word if he'll bust out anything from Blonde on Blonde.

2008 Jammy Winners

Scott from Hidden Track has a great write up of last night's Jammys in New York City. Check it out.

My buddy Kid Dynamite was also at the Jammys. He wrote a recap called Laddy Dahhddy We Likes to Pahhtay.

Page and Trey played but not together. And no, Phish did not play together. The boys did however receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. And no... Fish did not wear the muumuu.

Page performed Magilla and Cars Trucks Buses with Roy Haynes, Nick Payton, Christian McBride, and James Carter. Trey sat in with the Fab Faux for While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Here's a quick list of winners...

2008 Jammys Winners

Live Performance of the Year: Gov’t Mule @ Bonnaroo
Tour of the Year: D.U.M.B.
Studio Album of the Year: The Conch - moe.
Archival Release: Three From The Vault - Grateful Dead
Download of the Year: Headphone Jam - Phish
Live Album: Live at Murat - UM
Song of the Year: Cadillac - Keller Williams
DVD of the Year: Progressions - Disco Biscuits
New Groove: Cornmeal

Photo Credit: Reax Magazine

Breaking News: Phish Reunion at Jammys?

This is not a cruel April Fool's Joke.

I just got a text message from my boy Kid Dynamite. He went to the Jammy's tonight in NYC. Phish was supposed to get a Lifetime Achievement Award. There were rumors that the boys would play, but I thought it was just another one of those Phishy Reunion rumors.

He just sent me a text at 11:13pm that said, "Full band. Mania."

That's all I got, so far. Stay tuned for more info on the Phish Reunion at the Jammys.

* * * * * Updates * * * * *
11:25pm... One poster on PT (borat_) mentioned something about the all stars (allstars: kyle russo brownie barber jake) playing Wilson.

11:29pm... borat_ posted the allstars played Antelope. No sightings of anyone from Phish yet.

11:49pm... Kid Dynamite sent me a text: "All star cover team ripped through wilson antelope 2001 and maze."

11:59pm... Kid Dynamite sent me a text: "No band. Unreal. They were here and did not play."

12:01am... OK, so from what I gather... everyone in the crowd went nuts when they found out every member of Phish was at the Jammys. They were all on stage together to accept the award, but did not play. At that point, I got a lot of mixed messages about Phish actually playing. Trey sat in with the Fab Faux for While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Turns out it was just The Head Count All Star cover band that played several Phish tunes... without members from Phish.

No reunion. Looks like thoughts of quitting my job were premature.

This completes a test of the wookie alert system. Had this been an actual Phish reunion, you would have been instructed to drop everything you are doing, bust out the patchy pants and patchy dresses, and start loading up the car for Phish tour. We return you to regularly scheduled programming.

Just a reminder that the Coventry gang will be in Atlanta on Thursday providing live coverage of Radiohead's latest stop on their US tour. If you see the joker, stop him and say hello! Then buy him a beer for all his hard work.

A New Beck Album is 4-6 Weeks Away; Beck Tour Dates

MTV News, citing "sources close to the artist," is reporting that Beck will be releasing a new album within the next 4-6 weeks.

Beck's publicist and his label have yet to confirm the imminent release, but it's true that he has been at work in the studio on his new Danger Mouse-produced disc, featuring collaborations with Cat Power, among others.

Beck remains on tour in the U.S. and Europe throughout the summer. Here are the remaining 2008 Beck tour dates.

06.25 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06.27 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
06.28 St. Gallen, Switzerland - St. Gallen Festival
06.30 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
07.01 Southampton, England - Guildhall
07.02 Manchester, England - Apollo
07.04 London, England - Hyde Park (O2 Wireless Festival)
07.06 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07.07 Paris, France - Olympia
07.09 Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
07.10 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock Festival
08.22 San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Festival)
08.24 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
08.30 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09.20 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
09.27 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)

American Idol: Jason Castro Draws a Blank on Dylan Lyrics, David Cook Baba O'Riley Video

Poor, poor dreadlock boy. First he gets anally raped by the judges in their criticism of his rendition of I Shot the Sheriff and then follows that up by forgetting the lyrics to Mr. Tambourine Man. Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame week was hard on our wook-like friend, but all was not lost. David Cook turned out a kick-ass cover of the Who's classic Baba O'Riley while Syesha Mercado blew the doors off the place with her performance of Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come.

For more, check out my complete American Idol Recap. And here's a video of David Cook doing Baba O'Riley on last night's show.

The Last Police Show Ever?

After a reunion tour that earned them hundreds of millions, the Police have announced that they're done with the whole live performing thing and will play what they're billing as their "Last Show Ever" this August in New York City. The announcement was made at a Times Square press conference yesterday.

The show will also mark 30 years of the Police playing to American audiences. Their first U.S. tour in 1978 opened with a gig at the now-defunct CBGB's.

The exact date and venue for the show will be announced soon, but expect ticket prices to be steep. The show will also function as a benefit for arts programming on the New York television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW.

The Police remain on tour throughout the summer. Here are the remaining Police tour dates:

05.10.2008 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
05.11.2008 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
05.13.2008 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
05.14.2008 Omaha, NE Qwest Center Omaha
05.16.2008 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
05.17.2008 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
05.20.2008 The Woodlands, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
05.21.2008 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
05.23.2008 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand - Garden Arena
05.24.2008 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion
05.26.2008 Chula Vista, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
05.27.2008 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
05.28.2008 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
06.03.2008 Marseille, FR Parvis du Stade Velodrome
06.05.2008 Mannheim, DE SAP Arena
06.07.2008 Werchter, BE TW Classic Festival
06.08.2008 Dusseldorf, DE LTU Arena
06.10.2008 Saint Etienne, FR Stade J. Guichard
06.12.2008 Zurich, CH Hallenstadion Zurich
06.13.2008 Haderslev, DK Landsstaevnestadion
06.15.2008 Isle of Wight, UK Isle of Wight Festival
06.17.2008 Manchester, UK Manchester Evening News Arena / MEN Arena
06.18.2008 Manchester, UK Manchester Evening News Arena / MEN Arena
06.20.2008 Belfast, IE Stormont Castle
06.22.2008 Venice, IT Heineken Jammin' Festival
06.26.2008 Chorzow, PL Silesian Stadium
06.28.2008 Leipzig, DE Zentralstadion
06.29.2008 London, UK Hyde Park
07.02.2008 Valencia, ES Estadio Ciutat De Valencia
07.04.2008 Bilbao, ES Bilbao Live Festival
07.04.2008 Bilbao, ES Kobetamendi
07.05.2008 Madrid, ES Rock in Rio Festival
07.11.2008 Ridgefield, WA The Amphitheater at Clark County
07.12.2008 George, WA Gorge Amphitheatre
07.14.2008 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
07.16.2008 Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion
07.17.2008 Marysville, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
07.19.2008 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheater
07.21.2008 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
07.22.2008 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
07.25.2008 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
07.26.2008 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
07.28.2008 Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
07.29.2008 Philadelphia, PA The Wachovia Center
07.31.2008 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
08.01.2008 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center / SPAC
08.03.2008 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
08.04.2008 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
08.05.2008 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

Radiohead Tampa YouTube Videos

I was going to post some of my own videos until I found these from last night... great footage!

Idioteque...


The National Anthem...


Weird Fishes/Arpeggi...


The Bends...

Radiohead Setlist Tampa, FL - Ford Ampitheatre

Here's the unofficial Radiohead setlist from Tampa, FL...

5/6/08 Radiohead Setlist, Tampa, FL

Set 1: All I Need, There There, Lucky, Bangers and Mash, 15 Step, Nude, Pyramid Song, Optimistic, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, National Anthem, Idioteque, You and Whose Army?, Reckoner, Everything in Its Right Place, Airbag, Bodysnatchers, Videotape

Encore 1: The Gloaming, The tourist, Just, Faust Arp, Exit Music

Encore 2: The Bends, House of cards

Don't forget to check out the joker's live blog of the Tampa show.

The gang takes a day off, but will be heading to the Atlanta and Charlotte shows.

Chris Kuroda Interview: It Always Goes Back to Phish

Randy Ray from Jambands.com interviewed Chris Kuroda in a stellar piece which touches on his thoughts on his stint with Phish and working with R. Kelly, Aerosmith, and the Black Crowes.

Check out Chris Kuroda: It Always Goes Back to Phish.

The most haunting part of the interview was how Kuroda describe Vermont after Phish broke up. Here's an excerpt...

Vermont reminds me of your old Wild West gold town. When the gold was flowing, Vermont was thriving. There was a lot of Phish-based income going into the state. There were tons of people around that were either related to Phish, working for Phish, or people who just wanted to be in the scene that Phish had created in Vermont. There were a lot of people who were moving up there—college kids at UVM. Obviously, there was a whole lot going on besides that, but that’s the world that I live in, so that’s what I saw.

When Phish broke up, when the office closed down, and the whole operation came to a screeching halt, a lot of people moved on, left, and went their own way. There is very, very few of us left. My family, Kevin Shapiro’s still up there, a handful and smattering of people—obviously, Page is still up there, but it feels like a ghost town. That thriving Wild West gold town has become a ghost town with tumbleweeds blowing through. I feel like Vermont lost something very important and very strong when Phish hung it up. It doesn’t have the same magic that it once held. It’s hard to describe. For me and my family, there just is nothing really going on anymore up there that we fit into. There’s no real scene for us. We have our close circle of friends, but there’s just not much going on up there, anymore. A lot of people left and it is very quiet. Yes, it’s changed quite a bit. I definitely feel that Vermont—wonderful state that it is—lost a little piece of its heart when Phish broke up... More

Radiohead @ Tampa, FL - Live Blog

11:30 we catch a cab back home, the after party begins. great show tonight, we thought the flow was better and a more rocking show than last night. i have footage of "exit music" i will post tomorrow.

Setlist:

All I Need
There There
Lucky
Bangers + Mash
15 step
Nude
Pyramid song
Optimistic
Weird fishes
National anthem (the joker goes ape shit again)
Idioteque
You and whose army?
Reckoner
Everything in its right place
Airbag
Bodysnatchers
Videotape
(End of 1st set 10:10)

Encore 1:
The gloaming
The tourist
Just
Faust arp
Exit music
(End of 1st encore 10:30)

Encore 2:
The bends
House of cards (Btreotch note: great audience participation on clap on 2 & 4 count.
(End of show 10:41)


8:46 lights out. 1st song is all I need again. see you guys in a little bit, I'm going to enjoy the show.

8:45 the people in front of us are cool. They also saw the show last night. We have tons of room.

8:30 holy shit. I hit the jackpot tonight. The ticket I found outside is a legit ticket, it is 10 ft from the stage jonny side. Our other tickets are 20 ft from the stage ed side. Everyone is going to get close. They are playing massive attack on the pa.


8:05 $5 lawn tickets on the way in.

8:00 bad traffic getting into venue. We have the cab drop us off on the highway and walk in. I find a pit ticket on the ground on the highway, we will see if it works. Our group has a mix of pavilion tix (4) and lawn tickets, its a challenge of the stub down. Weather again is perfect as the sun goes down in florida. We can hear the liars play in the background.

7:26 The cab is coming...we are heading over to the show.

7:01 BTreotch locks himself in the bathroom (again)

7:00 Strawberry Shortcake is going through her crystal/stone bag to give a guy something to hold to change his energy, cause he is mad about something...and the only person that can be mad about anything tonight is Thom, cause he kicks ass.

6:53 BTreotch note: the joker mix hits a lull with shakira- hips dont lie.

6:52 we are thinking about going, but are only about 5 miles from the venue and nobody really cares about the liars. music nerds agree that we will probably hear paranoid android, karma police, lucky, i might be wrong, pyramid song, the bends, my iron lung, and you and whose army? along with the other songs from in rainbows tonight.

6:20 people are getting excited. ive had enough to drink to start being dj. billie jean>push it>paper planes got a good response.

5:40 Btreotch brings the pizza, hanna montana has also arrived

5:24 joker puts on his "kanye" glasses

3:00 Btreotch makes beer selections at the liquor store. Laguntas IPA, flying dog snake dog IPA, and a sammy smith make the cut. I just go for corona and blue moon.

Radiohead Videos: The National Anthem from 5/5/08

Here is my best clip from last night...definitely one of my favorite Radiohead songs, and the lights speak for themselves...

More Radiohead from the joker

We all had a great time last night. Sounded amazing, looked amazing. We are all excited because we will be closer tonight and there will be a much shorter drive home after the show. I thought the song selection was interesting- I am hoping that we will get a lot of different songs tonight. I am attempting to upload the video I have of "The National Anthem". In the meantime, there are videos showing up already from last night...here is one of the better ones I have found so far...

Radiohead Setlist - Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL

Here's the official unofficial Radiohead setlist from last night:

Radiohead - West Palm Beach, FL

Set 1: All I Need, Bodysnatchers, There There, Reckoner, The Gloaming, Morning Bell, Nude, How To Disappear Completely, 15 Step, Weird Fishes > Arpeggi, Idioteque, Bullet Proof (I Wish I Was), Where I End And You Begin, Airbag, Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, Videotape

Encore 1: Optimistic, Just, Faust Arp, Exit Music (For A Film), Bangers + Mash

Encore 2: House Of Cards, Street Spirit (Fade Out)

The Joker, BTreotch, and Strawberry Shortcake will be at tonight's show in Tampa. Check back in for live updates!

New Dandy Warhols Album - Earth To The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols have a new album coming out called Earth To The Dandy Warhols Head over to their myspace page to listen to their single The World The People Together (Come On).

Or you can download The World The People Together (Come On)... here.

The Dandys are loved in Europe and will be touring there this summer. No US dates have been announced.

The Dandy Warhols Europe Tour Dates

7.4 BBK Live Festival - Bilbao, Spain
7.5 Lien de Musiques en Stock - Cluses, France
7.6 Abart Music Club - Zurich, Switzerland
7.11 Colours of Ostrava - Ostrava,CZ
7.13 Les Ardentes Festival - Liege, Belgium
7.14 Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
7.16 Rockefeller Music Hall - Oslo, Norway
7.19 Lanhydrock, National Trust - Bodmin, Cornwall, UK

live blog: radiohead @ cruzan ampatheater, west palm beach florida

10:58 end of show

10:46 encore 2

house of cards
street spirit


10:25 encore 1

optimistic
just
faust arp
exit music
**at some point towards the end of the set or first encore "bangers and mash" was played with thom on drum kit at the front of stage.

8:56

All I Need
Bodysnatchers
There, There
Reckoner
Gloaming **
Morning bell
Nude (big ideas, don't get any)
How to Disappear
15 step *w/ failed audience clap
Weird Fishes
(Seemed like a false start/reprise)Arpeggi
Idioteque
(Wish I Was) Bulletproof
Where I End and You Begin
Airbag
Everything In Its Right Place
National Anthem
Videotape

** Show notes: all green lights reminded us of a scene from the matrix. crowd singing "should be raining...". amazing lights. Tubes that go vertical with the stage and shine light and live video of band members behind tubes. Crowd is singing "just cause you feel it, doesn't mean its there..."


8:50 there are tons of tubes that look like lights maybe. The guy behind us thinks thom is going to play them like instruments. He is drunk. Hollie got a arapa and it is tasty.

8:34 wow. The t-shirts look like shit. Awful. Both btreotch and I call bodysnatchers>15 step opener. The girls sitting in front of us are 22 and paid $110 each for their tickets.

8:20 the liars ended. Huge applause cause radiohead is next. Pavilion maybe half full.

8:00 we have tickets in the middle of the pavilion. Weather is a comfy 77 degrees with a pleasant breeze. The line is non existent for margaritas and aramark just sold us some for $8. The atm line way way longer than the bathroom line and the liars are playing some weirdo shit.

7:53 free ticket on the ground at entrance, no pat down.

7:30 meet up for pavilion tickets. Drinking beer with car neighbors and listening to bon mot mix.

7:00 beers in the lot, extra lawns going for $40.

Scarlett Johansson "Falling Down" Music Video

If you enjoy a good trainwreck and don't mind some plodding, flat vocals in the background from a voluptuous Hollywood star, then this music video for the first single off of Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers delivers from start to finish.



The video's "story" goes something like this:

Scarlett rides in a car and blows bubbles while gazing out the window.

Scarlett arrives on some sort of set.

Scarlett gets her makeup done.

Scarlett gets that ugly tattoo on her forearm covered too.

Scarlett gets her nails done.

Scarlett gets her hair done.

Scarlett walks on set in a black dress.

A random Japanese guy appears to be directing her in a photo shoot.

This is starting to look like the bad version of Lost in Translation.

Scarlett's face appears on a monitor. She looks angelic.

Scarlett flashes back to her childhood when she was lying on a white rug in a red dress.

This disturbs her.

Scarlett gets on a plane.

She's back to riding in the car and chomping her bubblegum.

Things go by very fast out the window.

She checks into a hotel and brushes her teeth.

Salman Rushdie makes a random appearance. Is it a dream?

An Asian guy gives her flowers as she arrives at the airport.

Scarlett gets into a chauffered car and waves at her adoring fans before rolling up the window and her fake smile falls away.

Johannson's album Anywhere I Lay My Head drops May 20th.

New Trey Anastasio Live Album

Just got word from Phish.com that Trey's new album, Original Boardwalk Style - Live In Atlantic City, will be out on June 10th.

Here's the track listing...

Original Boardwalk Style
1. Drifting
2. Plasma
3. Shine
4. Alive Again
5. Mud City
6. Simple Twist Up Dave
7. Tuesday
8. Money, Love and Change
9. Mr. Completely

Exclusive Digital Bonus Track
10. First Tube

And here's excerpts from the press release...

Original Boardwalk Style, a live album from Trey Anastasio and the Undectet, will be released on June 10th on Trey's own Rubber Jungle Records. Proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit the Seven Below Arts Initiative, established by Trey in 2006 to foster artistic development and support arts education in the state of Vermont.

The album was recorded at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ on December 30th and 31st of 2006, coming at the end of the band's holiday tour. The two shows marked the culmination of a long year of touring and growth as what began as a six-piece sextet in the beginning of the year had progressed into a full-force eleven member Undectet.

The raw energy of a well-oiled band at the top of its game permeated the set as the composer/vocalist/guitarist led The Undectet - comprised of Tony Hall (bass, vocals), Ray Paczkowski (keyboards), Jeff Sipe (drums), Christina Durfee (vocals, synthesizer), Jennifer Hartswick (vocals, trumpet), Peter Apfelbaum (saxophone, flute), Russell Remington (saxophone, flute), Jeff Cressman (trombone), Dave Grippo (saxophone) and Cyro Baptista (percussion) - through electrifying big band arrangements of his classic songs, replete with big horns and dazzling Brazilian percussive stylings.

Original Boardwalk Style features over 75 minutes of music, remixed from the multitrack masters by Trey and Ben Collette at Rubber Jungle Studios and mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering. In addition to CD and digital download formats, the album will be available as a double-gatefold, audiophile grade 180-gram LP Vinyl pressing.

The album is now available for pre-order as CD and Vinyl Trey's online store as well as digital audio downloads (in both MP3 and FLAC formats) at LivePhish.com. All pre-orders will automatically be entered to win a professionally printed photo - signed by Trey and esteemed photographer Jeff Kravitz - of the band on stage at the House of Blues. Color corrected by Jennifer Brown, it will be framed in barn board crafted by Lars Fisk, a creative contributor to The Barn's Artist-in-Residence program. Ten runners-up will receive autographed copies of the vinyl.

Radiohead U.S. Tour Kicks Off Tonight!

Radiohead will begin their US tour with a show tonight in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Joker and BTreotch will be attending the first four shows of Radiohead's tour including stops in Tampa, Atlanta, and Charlotte. Expect them to post random stuff including pics, setlists, and videos from the road.

I just spoke to the Joker, and he will be live blogging the Radiohead setlists from his crackberry! Just check back in with Coventry after 8pm ET to see what's going on.

Anyway...

In the last ten days, I was in Hollywood and New York City drinking in dive bars and I overheard Weird Fishes in at least three different bars on both coasts!

So before I go, here's some recent Radiohead coverage on Coventry...

Radiohead_In Rainbows_From The Basement

Ohh yeah baby... Ohhh... why don't you remember my name... ohhhh yeah...

Radiohead YouTube: Glastonbury 2003 & Bonnaroo 2006

Radiohead on Conan O'Brien

Radiohead still the best fucking band in the world: Live at the BBC

A bunch of Radiohead links

The Hott Fiddle Player with Widespread Panic

We are a little behind on this one, and if you are a rabid Widespread Panic fan then this news is a little old...I just watched the "official" video of Ann Marie Calhoun play with the Boys and I think it is pretty fucking cool...check it out.

More coverage on this subject at Jamtopia.

Page and Mike Jamming at Jazz Fest

Global Noise Coalition at The Howlin Wolf, New Orleans LA May 2nd, 2008

Grace Potter & Gov't Mule - Honky Tonky Woman

Hat tip to This Is Somehwere for the video of Grace Potter sitting in with Gov't Mule on May 1st. They covered Honky Tonk Woman.

Radiohead_In Rainbows_From The Basement

In case you missed the special on VH1 last night, the songs are up on the VH1 web site. I loved the performances on this special...I was not expecting the older songs- Optimistic and Where I End and You Begin are 2 that I have not seen performed much. See you tomorrow, Thom.

The Setlist:
bodysnatchers
nude
myxomatosis
arpeggi/weird fishes
house of cards
15 step
optimistic
reckoner
where i end and you begin

Greyboy Allstars Webcast Tonight (Saturday)

So I know that we haven't been getting much news out of New Orleans for Jazzfest...if you are feeling FUNKY tonight you can watch Greyboy throw down at Tipitina's...begins at 2am Central- Thats 3AM Eastern, 1AM Mountain, 12AM on the Left Coast...

http://www.tipitinas.com/content/webcast/