Prepare the sodium bicarbonate baths, stock up on calamine lotion: Current Wilco guitarist Nels Cline has contracted a case of the chicken pox. You know, that can’t really be considered
The Van Halen with David Lee Roth reunion tour took its first official step towards reality today, with the band assembling to announce a slate of dates. We’re still firmly in the “I’ll believe it when I see the tight pants” camp, but read on after the jump for the press release and dates (subject to change…for real).
Soccer’s a lot like jazz, or yazz, and to some extent, the popular rock band Phish — it’s free-form, flowing with an emphasis on space; the players feed off the
I’m abnormally excited to see The Ten tonight, and I’ve got cinema on the brain today. So when Double J randomly sent me the link to the recently uploaded trailer for Eternal
It’s Friday, it’s raining, it’s dark, it’s drear, and the only thing that saw me through this morning’s wet commute was the soulful yelping of Otis Redding. So this morning we’re bundling one
Earlier today, Scotty posted a link in our Grousing The Aisles department to a must-download Steely Dan radio gig. That led our friend R-Keli (not the piss- and underage-lovin’ R&B’er) to point out
The Beastie Boys kicked off the first of three straight New York City shows last night in the world’s craziest outdoor schvitz. A crowd of thousands braved the sauna-level humidity in Central Park’s SummerStage to watch Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA return to their hometown and captivate sweat-drenched revelers with a perfect mix of songs that spanned their entire career. Most fucking impressive.
Ahead of tonight’s concert at McCarren Pool and Friday’s Gala Event at the Hammerstein Ballroom, the well-dressed Beastie Boys took the stage shortly after 8 pm and rocked the park with 100 consecutive minutes of hip hop, funk, punk, and at one point, a kind of meandering acid jazz instrumental jam that reminded me more of ’60s psychedelics than half the jambands we cover.
Rather than go blow by blow, I’d rather speak to the unbelievable evolution of a band that’s seemingly been around forever. Appropriately for this trio that have recently released an album called The Mix-Up, the Beastie Boys and MixMaster Mike alternated between mike-devastating songs from Column Old School and experimental songs from Column Instrumental (with Money Mark on keys and Alfredo Ortiz on percussion) to produce a meticulously eclectic show. The Beasties rocked the mikes as well as their instruments, and almost everyone else in the park rocked the perma-grin as well as their white-boy dance moves.
You could tell the crowd wanted to be whipped into a total frenzy on tunes like Brass Monkey, Root Down, Intergalactic, Sure Shot and So What’cha Want, but at one point everyone just kind of ran out of gas from the extreme heat — how those three managed to not pass out on stage from dancing around in suits speaks to the energy they put into every show. Still, for as impressed as I was with the older material, the fact that they managed to mix in songs off the new album like Off the Grid and B For My Name without missing a beat made me happy to be a part of a crowd that accepted the incredible evolution of the band. Oh, and fuck: Sabotage closer? That’s how you make this guy smile downstairs.
For more great photos, make sure to check out BrooklynVegan’s gallery here. And read on after the jump for the full setlist…
Yeah, it’s that time of the year when we think back to when we were kids on a softball field in Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania, seemingly tucked away in a
The Black Crowes have completed the recording of their new album and will start mixing in September for a Spring 2008 release. Read on for full news blurb…
Farm Aid organizers officially planted its 22nd-annual installment of the festival on New York’s Randall’s Island back in June. That much we already knew. But today Farm Aid unveiled the full lineup for its
