Hidden Track

Welcome to the first-ever Hidden Track live blog, where we’ll be providing the setlist, commentary and hopefully some photos from tonight’s Classic TAB Warmup concert at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg.

[Photo from Greek '01 via Walfredo.com]

Classic TAB
August 7, 2008
The Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY

Set I:

4:00 PM: Only 60 more minutes before I blow this Popsicle stand to make the forty-minute commute down to Williamsburg. Meanwhile, have you seen the latest batch of Craig’s List ads? Not exactly as brilliant as the tour dog trade, but certainly some interesting offers…

Will blow you for a Trey ticket
Will sell my testicles for Trey
Trey tickets gets you a serious lickin’

4:50 PM: Soundcheck in progress, about 10 folks in front of venue (via Bruce)

5:00 PM: Alrighty, I’m outta here. One last note from Bruce at the venue before we leave: Trey’s car appears to be right outside, running, driver ready to whisk him off after SC

5:52 PM: DaveO here, I’ll be passing along the photos and commentary from ScottyB all evening long. Just received the photo of the marquee:

6:01 PM: About 30 folks in line. Doors opening soon.

Be sure to leave a comment with your opinion of the set below…

For this week’s B-List, a Scotty/Rupert collaboration, we’ve taken the liberty of handpicking some of the world’s finest locales where the pickin’s are ripe for a hippie festival. Some places are just begging for a few stages, several thousand hippies, and our favorite jambands. Where you ask? I’ll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called…

Green Bay: Not only are the fans in green Bay fervid supporters of just about everything, but they are apparently quite skilled in coercing their idols out of retirement. Perhaps they can put those skills to work and convince Kang, Nershi, and crew to come out of retirement for a big festival group scream. You know those guys would be all about the Cheesehead hats.

Reykjavik: Of course the Sigur Ros headliner appeals, but also if the organizers time it right, this festival could exist entirely at night. This serves a dual function: A) the spun folk never have to feel bad for not sleeping over the course of 72 straight hours, because it would really be just one night and B) we all avoid the inevitable embarrassment of returning to work on Monday with 3rd degree sunburn.

Central Park: Self serving perhaps, but how fun would it be to camp out for the weekend in the middle of Central Park with bands set up throughout the horticultural masterpiece? Come on; throw us a bone. A lot of us poor saps in New York don’t have cars, so it’s getting tricky to make it to many of the good festivals without spending multiple thousand dollars. Besides, parking will be a snap for the rest of you.

Fallujah, Iraq: Maybe the Sunnis and Shiites can come together over a game of hacky sack while listening to the latest String Cheese Incident side project. We just want to see Michael Franti say “How ya feelin’, Fallujah?” READ ON…

I woke up with a huge smile on my face when I realized today is the day I’ll finally get to see Trey rip shit up on the ‘Doc for an extended period of time. Classic TAB plays their first ever gig tonight at the Williamsburg Music Hall, and we’ll be providing a live blog featuring the setlist and super witty comments directly from the venue.

If you have a ticket to tonight’s show perhaps you’re interested in trading it to a gnewb for a Bisco tour dog named Caterpillar who posted this Craig’s List ad:

This is really a tough decision for me, but I have a Black Labrador named Caterpillar that I’m willing to part with for a ticket to Trey Anastasio’s show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on Thursday night. Caterpillar has never been to a Phish show — I’ve never been to a Phish show either, because I am 21 — but he has stayed in the car for a couple of Trey shows and been with me, non-stop, on Disco Biscuits tour for the past three years. Caterpillar knows the layout of Camp Bisco so well that he was singlehandedly able to lead me back to my tent in the middle of a number of trying incidents at CB7. (I had never done mescaline before. Never again.) Caterpillar also has been tough enough to survive after eating a number of crystals.

Anyways. This Trey show is really important to me, as it is in the vicinity of my birthday and I feel a near-tantric connection with Trey after watching the Walnut Creek DVD I bought yesterday. I have only $130 to my name at present and this has not been enough to score me a ticket. My parents will not help out on this one. They pay for my SUNY tuition and have recently set a cap on my jamband-related expenditures.

So. I am willing to part with Caterpillar if you are willing to part with a Trey ticket. Like I said, I feel that i MUST be there. I am ready to make the drive down from Scarsdale as soon as I get word from you. Caterpillar is worth at least $225, which is the lowest asking price right now on Stubhub, and I will throw in his dishes, collar and some frisbee golf discs he likes. He is up to date with his shots.

Please help me out on this. And if there is some kind soul out there who will sell for $130, and allow me to keep my dog, I will figure out a way to find six more dollars and buy that person a beer once I’m inside.

Thank you, namaste and Harpua,

- Chase

This can’t be real, but I’m tempted to find out. WTF??? Well, regardless I couldn’t be more excited to see Sand, First Tube and a slew of other songs I haven’t heard in well over a year. Classic TAB will also perform at the aptly named Bullet Stage on Sunday evening at 7:30 during the All Points West festival in Jersey City, NJ.

I ended part one of my Newport Folk Festival review discussing Jim James’ sublime sit-in with She & Him during the mother of all rainstorms. That wasn’t James only cameo of the weekend, as he also sang Dylan’s Goin’ To Acapulco with Calexico on Sunday afternoon. I love that JJ fully embraced the Newport Folk Festival and stuck around for all three days, unlike Trey Anastasio who took off mere minutes after his set ended.

[Photo by Drew Granchelli]

While Jim James’ sit-ins were outstanding, the highlight of the whole festival was his solo set on Saturday afternoon. Just as the rain was dying down My Morning Jacket’s lead singer treated the soaked crowd to an fan-fucking-tastic performance that mixed old favorites with a couple’a gems from Evil Urges. Jimmy also busted out a scintillating cover of Gil-Scott Heron’s When You Are Who You Are that had many in the audience scratching their noggins trying to figure out what tune they were hearing.

JJ paced the set fantastically moving from new tune to old tune and back again. M. Ward added backup vocals and a second guitar to Wonderful (The Way I Feel), Golden and Look at You, which gave each tune some nice depth. James’ voice was in fine form throughout the set and the crowd cooperated by remaining extremely quiet in awe of what they were witnessing. My favorite part of the set was the final tune: Z’s Anytime. I didn’t imagine that a solo version of that tune would sound so good. JJ eschewed use of his guitar in favor of an Omnichord, which he worked to perfection on Anytime. Once he finished singing Anytime Jim pressed a few buttons on the Omnichord which increased the tempo of the beat and ran off stage. It was a weird ending to a marvelous set. READ ON for more…

We asked Claude Coleman for more information about his departure from Ween and we received this press release from the drummer:

A multi-instrumentalist best known for his chameleon-like and acrobatic drumming skills for cult gods Ween for over the last fifteen years, NJ resident Claude Coleman Jr is announcing for the first time in his long tenure with the group, an indefinite leave of absence.

Citing “a myriad of reasons” behind the departure, his plans are to focus on the new Amandla record and subsequent touring, as well as to enable him the opportunity to work and perform with other groups and artists.

“I’ll always drum with Gene and Dean until the apocalypse. I’m just re-prioritizing my life a bit, turning my focus towards writing and performing with Amandla, my health and a major home renovation, as well as trying on other hats.” Coleman said. “Ween is about those songs - that adventurous music. That’ll be here forever and I’ll be there along with it.”

Regarding the mention of his health, Coleman refers to a near-fatal accident that had nearly stripped his life away in 2002. It will be the six year anniversary on August 7.

The accident hospitalized Coleman for 34 days and suffered a shattered pelvis, and severe brain injuries rendering the left side of his body limp. Seven months were spent in intensive rehabilitation, and Coleman suffers from many lingering effects, including chronic pain and the physical stress that this engenders, as well as paralysis and other chronic, nerve-damage issues.

Coleman doubled up his therapy and made it a full-time effort to re-acquire enough of his abilities to get back on stage, and in less than a year Coleman was again back on the bus and on the road with his band mates, and has been touring steadily since then to constant sell-outs everywhere, performing to the largest audiences in Ween’s history.

Recent years have also seen him devoting more of his energy toward his group Amandla, touring behind his 2006 release The Full Catastrophe. On record, Amandla is Coleman on every instrument as well as handling the engineering and production. Live, he can be seen fronting the band on guitar. Coleman is now working on his 3rd record to be released in the fall tentatively titled Sold tha Skins.

We’re excited to hear the new album, and we await word from Ween about what Claude’s “indefinite hiatus” means for the band. Will they take a break, too?

When you’re onsite at a festival as delectably lively as the Gathering of the Vibes, inevitably a few cool trees get lost in the broad expanse of the forest. With that in mind, a few extra dollops of Gathering of the Vibes coolness that, going over my posts again, I forgot to mention:

Ryan Montbleau @ The Kids Tent - Franklin’s Tower

• The good Scott Murawski already corrected me in the comments for my earlier post, but that wasn’t Jen Durkin sitting in with Murawski, Burbridge and Kreutzmann during Rhymes—it was the most excellent Boston-area songstress Emily Grogan. Em, if you’re reading, my bad! I rarely get to see you outside of the Plough & Stars and all those cavernous Boston clubs—a paltry excuse, I know. You rocked it.

• Speaking of sit-ins, I completely forgot to mention two of the coolest—and underheralded—of the entire weekend. During Deep Banana Blackout’s Friday earthshaker of a set, Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo slid in to add even more texture to the funky, funky proceedings (as did members of the Organically Grown Gospel Choir, with whom Durkin reciprocated on Sunday morning). And later on Sunday, Sam Bush welcomed no less than Bill Evans—his foil in the mellifluous Soulgrass project—to blow sax on a few tasty breakdowns.

• Durkin was everywhere, but Donna Jean was really everywhere—that sit-ins MVP is undoubtedly hers and shame on me for suggesting otherwise. In addition to the previous sit-ins I’ve mentioned, I was also advised she sat in with Assembly of Dust on Friday, too—I missed a large portion of that set dealing with a few business matters, and dangit, something extra cool happened.

• Last, Yuto Miyazawa—the Japanese guitar prodigy last seen being exhibited around New York during the Jammys—jammed on both Sabbath’s Crazy Train and solo Ozzy’s Mr. Crowley during that Deep Banana set. Yuto’s already fallen in with that Guinness Book of World Records crowd—much like Grandpa Simpson’s old flame—but it’s safe to call him a “known quantity” at this point. Shred on, grasshopper, shred on.

Yesterday Scotty gave us the first part of his three part Newport review, but Luke Sacks also attended Saturday’s festivities and offers his opinion:

The Newport Folk Festival holds a special place in the history of rock and roll and conjures up some great imagery. After all, Bob Dylan plugged in and changed the course of music forever at the festival back in 1965. Dylan was almost booed off the stage during his performance that year but since then, the music landscape, and that of the festival, which has been around since 1959, have both changed drastically.

[Photo by Drew Granchelli]

This year’s festival was heavy on the rock but light on the folk as far as the bigger acts went. Aside from some rock musicians playing solo acoustic sets of their electric songs, there weren’t many folk elements to be found in the music. There was plenty of mellow acts - She and Him, Richie Havens, Son Volt and the Cowboy Junkies to name a few - but no big folk name. READ ON for more…

If you’re paying really close attention, you know I had a good weekend when Cover Wars doesn’t make it onto the blog on Tuesday. Well yeah, my car may still smell like wet festival, but the trip that brought me to two ports (Newport for the Folk Festival and Bridgeport for Gathering Of The Vibes) was totally worth it. Following up from last week, PBS has walked away as the clear winner of the Spanish Castle Magic edition.

“Everyone knows rock n’ roll attained perfection in 1974; It’s a scientific fact”. This is according to Homer Simpson in the episode Homerpalooza, where he is questioning the need for “new bands” as he has realized he is out of touch with the music of the young people. Frankenstein was actually released in 1973, though Homer may have been referring to a specific experience WITH the song and not just the song’s release. The song titled originally titled “Double Drum Solo”, the Edgar Winter Group renamed the tune Frankenstein in reference to the fact that it had been spliced together from numerous separate recordings. The result? One of the most bad-ass rock instrumentals ever written.

You gotta register/login to IMEEM to listen to the songs below in their entirety:

READ ON after the jump for some versions not included in the playlist, voting, info on each version and much much more of the original Cover Wars…

The Police delivered a tight, action-packed 90 minutes of rock last night at Jones Beach, where they played their penultimate gig. Stewart, Sting and Andy treated the fans to a spectacular encore that started with the first cover of the tour, Purple Haze. After a jammed packed So Lonely the boys played part of the traditional tune Been Down So Long before ending the show with Next To You.

One of music’s greatest trios ends their lucrative reunion tour tomorrow night with a fund raiser for Public Television at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

• Word built a cool atlas to show where iconic album covers were shot
• 2009’s Woodstock Director’s Cut contains an hour of unreleased music
• Rock Art Wednesday takes a look at Todd Slater’s Ween poster art
• Saxophonist Jeff Coffin finally gets credit as a full-on triple threat
• David Byrne discusses the new track he’s made available to fans for free
• We suggest you buy, but you can stream Apollo Sunshine’s new disc

Finally, the guys at The Weight have had enough of concertwreckers shouting obnoxious shit during shows, and we couldn’t agree more. FREEBIIIIIIRD!

If you’re a music fan and have never been to the Newport Folk Festival, you are truly missing out. You can’t ask for a more picturesque setting to enjoy music from a wide range of genres. Yes, that’s right, the “folk” part of the festival’s title doesn’t exactly ring true. This past weekend in Newport we were treated to outstanding performances from folkies, rockers, hipsters, jammers and the King of the Parrotheads. The only downside was a fierce hour long storm.

The two days of action at Newport’s Fort Adams, a coastal fortification that was opened in 1799, couldn’t have been more different from each other. While the Phishheads reigned supreme on Saturday the parrotheads took over on Sunday. Yet, I was more impressed with the smaller acts that I found at the Waterside Stage and the Harbor Stage than those rockin’ the Main Stage.

My adventure started around Noon on Saturday when I arrived on site to catch the end of the Young @ Heart Chorus’ set, which featured members ranging in age from 72 to 88 singing a number of rock tunes including I Wanna Be Sedated and the Talking Heads’ Heaven. The choir isn’t just a gimmick, these senior citizens offered outstanding arrangements delivered with style and gusto.

READ ON for more of the first part of Scotty’s Newport Folk review…

“The more you live, the more you’ll find, a reason to rewind,” improvised vocals from Umphrey’s McGee’s Brendan Bayliss on a “Jimmy Stewart” inside of Nemo.

Umphrey’s McGee has found the time to rewind, and re-listen, as they released a compilation album of their own brand of non-linear improvisations culled from 2007, Jimmy Stewart 2007. The band released the album in a limited press of 2000 copies, as well as on iTunes. Along with the album, the band has released 10 of their own favorite full shows from 2007 exclusively on iTunes, entitled CompendiUM.

Guitarists Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger, along with archivist Jon McLennand explained the history behind Umphrey’s own version of non-linear improvisation they call “Jimmy Stewart.”

A “Jimmy Stewart” is a set amount time each night that is dedicated strictly to improvisation, Bayliss said. The band sets aside a specific portion of each show for their own brand of improv. They also use “Stewarts” as an improvisational exercise for songwriting while on the road. In addition, it serves to seamlessly give fans, as well as the band, something different every night.

READ ON for the full story behind Umphrey McGee’s “Jimmy Stewart 2007″…

If you’ve ever seen Ween live then you can surely understand how much energy, talent and strength drummer Claude Coleman adds to that band. Sadly, it seems that Claude is getting off the Poopship to focus on other priorities.

Here’s the letter Claude supposedly wrote to the fans explaining his departure:

Friends & Associates,

I’m going to be taking a leave of absence, as it were, from the Ween thing for while. My
reasons are plentiful but it all comes down to simple re-prioritizing of life-stuff.

I’m going to be focusing more on Amandla - a new record and touring, as well as open
myself up to the chance to work with/for other folks that may come about; an experience
I’ve only had a few times outside of Ween.

So this email is to let anyone know as a drummer-for-hire I’m open, and would be quite
willing and available for just about anything - session or otherwise. I’m trying to get a word
out - so tell two friends or something.

cheers and best
claude

Over at the Ween Forum fans are already vetting new candidates for the job including Philadelphia’s Eric Slick. As of now there hasn’t been any official word from the Ween camp about what’s next for the band. They don’t have any tour dates scheduled at the moment, but you can still catch Deaner’s fishing show.

Natalie Portman is slowly becoming the Winona Ryder of the aughts. The diminutive actress has been romantically linked to the likes of Moby, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine and mostly recently has been spotted canoodling with the poster-child of the freak-folk movement, Devendra Banhart.

Not helping to squash the rumors, the long-haired hippie-who looks like a grungiest of tour wooks-has recruited Portman to star in his latest Bollywood-inspired video for Carmensita. Let’s take a look…

Ok, so that one probably won’t “change your life,” but it’s still a pretty weirdly entertaining clip. Somewhere in New Jersey, Zach Braff is thinking about adding Devendra Banhart’s song to his next movie soundtrack.

A number of terrific clips from Lollapalooza are starting to hit YouTube, including a huge batch of videos ripped from the webcast. Here’s a list of what’s available so far, which we’ll continue to update throughout the week…

Battles: Tonto, Atlas,

Black Kids: Hurricane Jane,

Bloc Party: Helicopter, Like Eating Glass, Positive Tension, This Modern Love, Mercury, The Prayer, Song For Clay, Waiting For The 7:18, Hunting For Witches,

Broken Social Scene: 7/4 Shoreline, Cause = Time,

Cat Power: Fortunate Son, Song to Bobby,

Chromeo: Tenderoni, Outta Sight, Fancy Footwork, Bonafied Loving, My Girl Is Calling Me (A Liar), Needy Girl, Momma’s Boy, Waiting For You, Me & My Man, You’re So Gangsta, 100%,

DeVotchKa: Such A Lovely Thing, We’re Leaving, The Winner Is,

Does It Offend You, Yeah?: We Are Rockstars, Doomed Now,

Duffy: Mercy, Tomorrow, Breaking My Own Heart, Cry To Me, Serious, Rockferry, Syrup & Honey,

Explosions in the Sky: You Hand In Mine,

Foals: Hummer,

Girl Talk: Finale,

Gnarls Barkley: Reckoner (Version 1, Version 2, Version 3 - best,)

Iron & Wine: Boy With A Coin,

Jeff Tweedy: Hummingbird, New Madrid,

John Butler Trio: Ocean,

Kanye West: Homecoming,

Kyle Gass: Rockin’ Out,

Love and Rockets: No New Tale To Tell, Ball of Confusion,

Lupe Fiasco: Kick Push,

Mates of States: Get Better, Proofs, Ha Ha, Blue and Gold Print, You Are Free, Like U Crazy,

MGMT: Time To Pretend, Electric Feel,

Nine Inch Nails: The Hand That Feeds, March of the Pigs, The Big Come Down, Hurt,

Okkervil River: A Girl In Port,

Perry Farrell, Slash and School of Rock: Superstitious, version 2, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Jane Says,

Radiohead: No Surprises, The National Anthem, There There, Idioteque, Airbag, All I Need,

Rage Against The Machine: Testify, Killing In The Name Of,

Rogue Wave: Kickin’ The Heart Out, Harmonium,

The Black Keys: Same Old Thing,

The Kills: Last Day Of Magic,

The National: Fake Empire, Apartment Story,

The Raconteurs: Old Enough,

The Ting Tings: Shut Up And Let Me Go,

Wilco: Monday/ Outtasite (Outta Mind), Walken, Hate It Here, Jesus Etc., Spiders, Pot Kettle Black, Impossible Germany, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, One Wing, Misunderstood, Can’t Stand It, A Shot In The Arm, Handshake Drugs, It’s Just That Simple, You Are My Face,

Will take time to let it all sink in, but overall one of the strongest Vibes in recent memory—a really strong mix of young and old, classic and new, Dead and Deader. As I exited the grounds, the Neville Brothers were cooking up a tasty gumbo—as has been their wont for longer than I’ve been alive—and the sun was setting on a steamy hot day.

Soul Stew Revival were as advertised: the Derek Trucks Band bolstered by the always-welcome Mrs. Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, and a three-piece horn section, keying in on various standards of funk, soul and funky, soulful rock ‘n’ roll. It was nice to hear the DTB so focused—by itself, the band moves so intensely through so many different musical idioms it’s tough to get your arms, not to mention head, around a full set. And that Hey Jude closer, wow—a slow-cooking arrangement close to the one Wilson Pickett cut with Duane Allman at Muscle Shoals and a complete crowd-slayer, provoking the loudest cheers of the afternoon.

Soul Stew Revival setlist:

Tell the Truth, People, I Wants to Be Loved, Anyday, Pack Up Our Things, Hercules, Sugar, Get Out Of My Life Woman > Glad You’re Gone, Hey Jude

Next, no one will ever accuse Umphrey’s McGee of playing an easy, no frills “festival” set—the band went for the jugular in its first-ever (I know, right?) Vibes appearance. Some of the Umphreaks in my neck of the crowd were chattering about how Bayliss and Cinniger looked to be playing new or different guitars—I confess I don’t know the Umphrey’s gear situation well enough to confirm anything—but either way, they were their to shred, driving the bus on long swaths of fierce, proggy jamming. Some of it was tough to get into—one onlooker I saw was trying his best to groove to Plunger and got frustrated with the slippery rhythms—but most of it was deeply involving, and the sextet crammed a lot into an hour and a half that went by like five minutes.

Umphrey’s setlist:

Walletsworth > Wife Soup > “Jimmy Stewart” > Plunger, Words, Bridgeless, Miss Tinkle’s Overture > Ja Junk

• CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF CHAD’S GOTV ‘08 POSTS