9. Blues Traveler: In the summer of 1992 a friend put on Blues Traveler’s debut album, and I was immediately floored. So many questions went through my mind: Is that just one harmonica? Is that singer dude black? What’s up with the scatting? Listening to that CD was my entrance into the world of what would soon be known as jambands. That same summer Blues Traveler played an integral part in organizing the first H.O.R.D.E. tour. Traveler and Popper became synonymous with the festival, playing at least one show on each H.O.R.D.E. tour. Sadly the band hasn’t produced much worthwhile music since their bass player Bobby Sheehan died in 1999. But Traveler is still touring the country on a regular basis.
8. Widespread Panic: Widespread Panic was one of the bands that put together the H.O.R.D.E. festival in 1992. Of all the bands involved, the Panic boys probably clocked the most time on the road with the other original H.O.R.D.E. bands. In the early ’90s Panic would open for Phish, the Spin Doctors, and Blues Traveler in the north, and headline gigs with those bands when they played the south. It was a relationship that spawned many fans for all the bands involved. WSP played on the first two H.O.R.D.E. tours in 1992 and 1993, and since that time the band has become one of the biggest touring acts in America. Widespread Panic kicks off a full summer tour on Saturday at the Wakarusa Festival.
7. The Black Crowes: The Black Crowes were already established in the music industry when they were asked to headline the H.O.R.D.E. tour in 1995, a tumultuous time for the Robinson brothers, with multiple breakups and reconciliations coming each day. Crowes drummer Steve Gorman talked about how the brothers finally spoke truthfully with each other just before they left for the H.O.R.D.E. tour, and were able put aside their differences for the sake of the music. The Black Crowes have gone on to release some classic albums and are currently in the studio recording their first new studio album since Lions in 2001.
6. Wilco: Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco with John Stirratt soon after Uncle Tupelo broke up in 1994, and one of Wilco’s first big gigs was a spot on the 1995 H.O.R.D.E. tour. The H.O.R.D.E. gig exposed Tweedy’s music to many jamfans who hadn’t yet heard of either the band or him. Wilco has gone on to become media darlings, and big sellers as well. Sky Blue Sky was released in May and debuted at #4 on the Billboard album charts. Getting Wilco in 1995 was probably the most brilliant booking in the history of the H.O.R.D.E.
5. Beck: Not many people remember that Beck was a part of the H.O.R.D.E. festival in 1997. Beck joined the tour for nine dates not long after the release of Odelay, one of the best albums ever made. Widespread Panic planned to play the main stage of the ’97 H.O.R.D.E., but decided against it when they were bumped to second-stage status after Beck was booked. The 1997 H.O.R.D.E. lineup was much more eclectic than in years past as demonstrated by the inclusion of Beck, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Over the past 10 years, Beck has shown incredible range as both a performer and a songwriter. Beck released The Information to critical acclaim this past October, and continues to tour sporadically.
4. Smashing Pumpkins: The Smashing Pumpkins were part of the last H.O.R.D.E. tour in 1998, when they played four dates in the midwest co-headlining with Blues Traveler. H.O.R.D.E. featured many bands that weren’t considered jambands, but Smashing Pumpkins was the biggest. The Pumpkins released Adore in June of 1998, and wanted to introduce their music to a completely different crowd. Festival organizers had similar thoughts, as they wanted to bring in the alternative crowd. John Popper was more than thrilled to have the Pumpkins onboard:
”Billy Corgan is the E. F. Hutton of musicians: he’s really smart and has great ideas. I bumped into him a couple weeks ago and immediately stepped into the role of listening to what he had to say. He said he was checking out our tour and was interested in it, and I was only too happy to accommodate him.”
The Pumpkins went on to release two more albums before calling it quits in 2000. Corgan reformed the band this year for both a new album and a lengthy tour.
3. Allman Brothers Band: The H.O.R.D.E. festival organizers wanted to have an established band headline the third edition of the tour in 1994. They decided upon the Allman Brothers Band, one of the original jambands. The Allmans had just released Where It All Begins and saw the tour as an opportunity to market their music to a younger audience. Booking a headliner as big as the Allmans allowed the H.O.R.D.E. to expand into a eight-week, cross-country tour. Thirteen years later the Allman Brothers Band are still going strong, playing a summer tour filled with Amphitheater dates.
2. Phish: Phish participated in the first H.O.R.D.E. tour and played a few dates on the second tour. In the early ’90s, Phish played a number of shows with each of the original H.O.R.D.E. bands, developing a relationship with the musicians and their audiences. Phish was originally supposed to be on both legs of the first H.O.R.D.E. until Santana asked the boys to open his summer tour. When Carlos Santana calls, you gotta accept the charges.
During the summer of 1993 Phish played two H.O.R.D.E. dates, and never rejoined the tour again. Although known as a H.O.R.D.E. band, Phish only played six sets throughout the festival’s history. Phish left the tour on a high note, as Kevin Shapiro explains in This Month In Phish History from July ’93:
The set-closer on July 27th was You Enjoy Myself and it featured many special guests joining Phish onstage, including Chan Kinchla from Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews and members of his band and members of Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. During the traditional “mini-trampoline” section of YEM, a true to life dummy of John Popper (complete with his trademark hat and harmonica vest) was lowered in a wheelchair (Popper was confined to a wheelchair that whole summer due to a motorcycle wreck) from the ceiling toward a giant trampoline while Popper jammed along offstage. The joke, based on Popper’s grand personage, was that the cable holding the chair and dummy “broke” and the effigy of Popper crashed through the trampoline and thunked onto the stage. The musicians onstage then shocked the audience by attacking “Popper” as the harmonica wailed on.
Phish is currently on hiatus. At press time (I always wanted to say that), Page McConnell is the only member of the band with plans to tour this summer.
1. Neil Young: Neil Young and Crazy Horse are the biggest act to ever take part in the H.O.R.D.E. festival. John Popper called upon Young to headline the 1997 tour, when Blues Traveler decided to skip a few weeks of the tour in order to play Europe. Young, just as with the Allman Brothers, wanted to introduce his music to a younger crowd. Over the length of the thirty date tour Neil mixed up his sets between classics such as Like A Hurricane and Cortez The Killer with newer numbers like Mirror Ball and Broken Arrow. Neil Young entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and released his latest album, Living With War, last year.
Pissed off that I left off Barenaked Ladies? Do you feel that Dave Matthews got no love? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below…
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