Posts by Chad Berndtson

Priorities change, families have needs and jobs burn energy, so when you can still call your live music diet healthy – that definition’s up to you, friend-o – you’re privileged. As you get older, live music performance becomes no less indispensible. It’s just that you just gotta pick your spots better, right? Or try to, at least?

Here are 15 shows that, for me, stood out from the past twelve months.

1. Another One For Woody, Roseland (NYC), Nov. 22

Benefit shows with pre-determined guests and anticipated, formulated “wow” moments have a way of disappointing. But the best ones – and Another One for Woody was among the two or three best I’ve ever seen – meet expectations and then transcend them through a winning combination of warmth, surprise, thoroughness and dazzling performance.

AOFW had all of that, and then some. You had predictable emotional pushbuttons (Savannah Woody singing on Soulshine) and expected collaborations (I Shall Be Released? Yep. Simple Man? Of course.) But you also had heartfelt stories, had-to-be-there grace notes, blistering jams and a crowd that was totally into it and kept the energy up for nearly six hours. The North Mississippi Allstars duo and Mule were fun, but whoever lit a fire under the Allmans is to be commended; the band was at its strongest since the fabled 2009 Beacon run, blazing through its set and keeping it that way straight through a Whipping Post for the ages. Somewhere, Woody was smilin’.

• Review: Another One For Woody

READ ON for more of Chad’s Fine 15 – Best Shows of 2010…

Gov’t Mule @ Beacon Theatre, December 31

Last night was one of the wildest, weirdest Mule shows ever. On the one hand, they played with as much intensity and firepower as I’ve seen in the last five years. On the other, they played like a band definitely ready for a break — haphazard, slapdash at times, randomly explosive — and after the first set, pretty much threw any concept of show pacing out the window.

First set and the first part of the second set was greatest hits Mule: a combination of classic (and overplayed) Mule songs, I think about 2-3 from each of the studio albums, performed ably to extraordinarily. Highs were many, especially a ripsnorting Time to Confess, a wrenching, emotional No Need to Suffer, and a volcanic Game Face with a gooey, psychedelic middle, each tonal shift flavored with impressive work from Jorgen Carlsson.

Gov’t Mule – Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
I: Mule with Kirk West Introduction, Painted Silver Light, Gameface, Blind Man In The Dark, Bad Little Doggie, No Need To Suffer, Beautifully Broken, Banks Of The Deep End, Trying Not To Fall, Time To Confess with Get Up, Stand Up Tease, Thorazine Shuffle

II: Slackjaw Jezebel, Brand New Angel, Steppin’ Lightly, Broke Down On The Brazos, New Years Countdown, Achilles Last Stand * , Bridge Of Sighs * , Nantucket Sleighride * with Corky Laing, Bad Company * , Yer Blues *

Shakedown Street *, Sugaree with Jon Herington & Bill Evans, Sco-Mule with Jon Herington & Bill Evans, Oye Como Va Tease & Dance To The Music Lyrics, Afro Blue with Bill Evans & Oz Noy, Norwegian Wood Tease
* First Time Played

Source: JamBase via  mule.net & nokin in the comments

After the New Year’s Countdown came the fan-voted covers, and Warren said from the stage that Zeppelin’s Achilles Last Stand and Mountain’s Nantucket Sleighride were the No. 1 and No. 2 voted selections (really?). Achilles was a blast — a rip roaring, mindfucking blast — and the band then moved into slow-marinating, colder-toned territory with Bridge of Sighs. Mountain’s own Corky Laing did what basically amounted to a walk-on — Hi Corky, good to see you! — sitting in for that coursing Sleighride, and then the band summoned two more: a decent Bad Company, and then a nasty, nasty Yer Blues that found Warren howling at the top of his lungs and some guitar acrobatics from both the man himself and Dastardly Danny Louis.

READ ON for more of Chad’s thoughts from Mule NYE…

Another One For Woody @ Roseland Ballroom, November 22

By now, if you have even passing interest in what went down at Roseland last night, you’ve seen the setlists, soaked up the cool sit-ins, watched some video and admired, from afar, that when Warren Haynes puts together a guest-laden benefit event, he means Event. Having spent the near six hours it took to get to the finish line, your humble correspondent can say without hesitation that it measured up to the hype – and the ticket price – and then some. Show of the year, in many respects: not only did the Allmans, especially, clear the high bar of expectations, but most importantly, it’s also something that, yep, ol’ Woody would have loved.

Reviewing shows like Another One for Woody is a tricky business, as there’s not much in the way of continuity or the flow like you’d find at a “normal” show. In other words, you expect anchoring acts, filled with guests and setlists cleverly designed to push emotional buttons, and you’re aware of those constructions going in, during the show, and after. And yet, you find the rare, Last Waltzian blowout that does all those things — then transcends them — on the strength of top-notch playing, warm camaraderie in the name of a good cause and a good man, a terrific, fully engaged crowd, and grace notes (metaphorically speaking) amidst all the power chords. Here are 10 things I’ll keep with me from Another One for Woody, in no particular order.

The First Half Of NMAS

Whiskey Rock-a-Roller was a hoot, and so was the extended Gordie Johnson sit-in. But how much fun was it to see Luther and Cody Dickinson as a duo, kicking up a fearsome country blues racket with just fuzzed-out guitar and hammering drums? Here’s a band that I remember loving a long time ago, when their sound wasn’t so polished and their jams were country-fried and greased up. They were clearly into it, and while bassist Chris Chew – who wasn’t there – is an integral part of what makes the NMAS the NMAS, this was a solid 20 minutes of down-home hill country duo shit, naturally dirty.

READ ON for nine more highlights from Another One For Woody…

The Jimmy Herring Band @ Highline Ballroom – November 15

When Jimmy Herring picks up a guitar and starts in on one of those astoundingly rich improvisational flights, it’s tough to get enough. He’s the type of player, be it with Panic or in any other context, for whom warmth and brilliance are as characteristic as technique and intensity – an always-dazzling display, but not a straight clinic, and never cold. He can sparkle, he can wail, he can bring ferocious energy, he can play with comfortable restraint and an ear for dynamics, and, like his good buddy Derek Trucks, he can consistently confound expectations for what should happen during a guitar solo. You’re drawn in and mesmerized and helpless to resist.

That’s one of the reasons that this much-welcome Jimmy Herring Band tour has been a success, and the Highline Ballroom show, nearly sold out, was two hours of expansive, psychedelic bliss. Another reason, though, is that Herring has taken an inherently indulgent format – the guitar wizard who puts together a solo band focused on all-instrumental jazz-rock – and hasn’t just left it as an excuse for a pick-up jam. We know he can play. We’ve learned he’s a strong bandleader: mindful of group dynamics, and knowing when to pour it on and when to get out of his own way.

Herring is the group’s center of attention and it’s his improvisations that drive the show, but he’s created something so much richer than a set of instrumentals with excuses for guitar heroics. Every selection at the Highline, whether a Herring original or a worked-over chestnut from the Meters, Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, the Beatles or elsewhere, felt meaningful and turned out, with a band that burrowed deep inside and fleshed out as many improvisational possibilities within as they could.

READ ON for more on the Jimmy Herring Band…

Catching up with the mighty Warren Haynes is always a catch-as-catch-can affair: he’s expressive and thoughtful in his answers, but with so much on his plate at all times, you run the risk of missing something if you stay on one subject too long. There’s a lot to touch on, as always: Mule is wrapping up one of its most successful touring years ever, but staying off the road for much of 2011.

I say, “Warren,” and you know exactly who I’m talking about, because, let’s face it, there are well-known musicians in this scene, and then there are the select few for whom a one-name utterance is more than enough. “Warren” qualifies. Hell, I could just leave it at, “How you feelin’, huh?” and you’d probably still know who it is.

Catching up with the mighty Warren Haynes is always a catch-as-catch-can affair: he’s expressive and thoughtful in his answers, but with so much on his plate at all times, you run the risk of missing something if you stay on one subject too long. There’s a lot to touch on, as always: Mule is wrapping up one of its most successful touring years ever, but staying off the road for much of 2011. There are monster events like the Island Exodus — in which he’ll return, with the Mule, Ron Holloway, Eric Krasno’s Chapter 2 and Trombone Shorty in tow, to Jamaica for an intimate festival experience in January – and Another One for Woody, a ten-years-gone charity blowout on Nov. 22 in honor of original Mule anchor Allen Woody. Oh, and Warren is still a core member, don’t forget, of the Allman Brothers Band, who may or may not be returning to the Beacon Theater in March (read on to find out).

Perhaps most intriguingly, though, is that 2011 will bring new music from Haynes that doesn’t fall into any of those buckets. At the forthcoming Christmas Jam, he’ll debut a new Warren Haynes Band that scratches a long-burning soul and R&B itch for Haynes. The core band includes one-time Mule bassist and Meters legend George Porter Jr., and Dumpstaphunkers Ivan Neville and Raymond Weber on keys and drums respectively, and the expanded unit brings in frequent Haynes sideman Ron Holloway on saxophone, former Faces mainstay Ian McLagan on keyboards in tandem with Neville, and the mesmerizing blues and soul singer Ruthie Foster. An album is on the way, and so is a tour.

Buckle up, as we cover the bases with the one and only Warren Haynes:

HIDDEN TRACK: There are so many things to get to, but I wanted to start with some of the most pressing for Mule fans and expand out to other things you’ve got going on. Following the West Coast run, the charity shows, New Year’s and Island Exodus, Mule’s going to be taking some time off the road in 2011. Can you talk about why that’s happening?

WARREN HAYNES: We’re going to take a well-deserved break, and it’s something we’ve been talking about for several years. The timing is right now. We’ve been hitting it hard for 16 years, and it’ll also give us some time to relax and then start working on another studio record, but it also gives me an opportunity to release my solo record, which I plan to do sometime around May, and tour behind it. So it’s not like I’m going to be off the road. I think all the guys will be doing things, it’s just Mule, as an entity, that will be taking a rest. READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Warren Haynes…

If you’ve been nose-to-grindstone in the music industry for decades, you hope to stay busy. And now, more than ever, it seems, Jeff Mattson’s cup runneth over.

Although long considered a musician’s musician with wicked guitar chops and a lived-in voice, and best known for the Zen Tricksters and a stint with Phil Lesh & Friends in the late 1990s, some of Mattson’s biggest breaks have come only in the past few years. First came a partnership with Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, with whom Mattson clicked instantly, going on to form what both musicians consider one of their most creative projects. And late last year, with John Kadlecik’s departure from Dark Star Orchestra imminent, Mattson stepped into the “Jerry” role in DSO so seamlessly that by the time he formally joined the band, in June 2010, it seemed just that: a formality. The role was his.

Hidden Track had a chance to visit with Mattson at his Long Island home a few weeks back, part of a rare break for the guitarist and singer between exhausting DSO tour legs. It was one of those conversations where 50 minutes flow by like five, with so much to touch upon, and Mattson was in a mood to expound.

HIDDEN TRACK: Watching you perform with DSO now, you’ve slipped into this role so easily. Obviously you’ve known these guys for a while but it’s a transition all the same. Going back, when did you first hook up with the DSO gang?

JEFF MATTSON: When did I first meet them?

HT: Right, you’ve known them for years and I can remember seeing the Zen Tricksters and DSO sharing bills some eight, nine years ago.

JM: Yeah, I think it was back about then, down south somewhere, where the Zen Tricksters opened for DSO. The first time we encountered each other there was, well, maybe a little gentle competition, but a good vibe between us, too. Then, in 2003, the Zen Tricksters went out as an acoustic trio, just Klyph (Black), Tommy (Circosta) and me, and did something like 10 shows opening for them. We got to know them better and there was mutual respect, and we both saw it as we’re on the same mission, instead of competing. And frankly, they’re a lot more successful than we ever were [laughs], and we weren’t much of a threat! But we had our niche.

READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Jeff Mattson…

Stockholm Syndrome @ Brooklyn Bowl – September 12

Faced with reviewing a show like the barnburner Stockholm Syndrome put on at Brooklyn Bowl, you’re tempted to focus on the visceral impact. But for the uninitiated, know first it’s a quintessentially Jerry Joseph band, and that means punch. The soulful, merciless Joseph was the combination bar band howler, insightful folk-poet and razor-witted iconoclast long before the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and other more fashionable frontmen, and he clearly loves this lineup.

But it’s not only Jerry Joseph and friends, it’s Jerry Joseph and entirely like-minded hellraisers. It means the protean Wally Ingram behind the kit, and the heavy-heavy-heavy, yet amazingly supple Dave Schools bass anchor. It means the one-two punch of Danny Louis and Eric McFadden, both mischievous improvisers, both preferring the unpredictable palettes of acid blues and psychedelic jazz to modal rock solos. It means you take that fivesome, jack up the whole glorious thing to ear-splitting volumes, and spin tales of love and disaster at a relentless pace ad with the verve of a garage band.

It’s a supergroup that’s often transcendent and only occasionally feels like a collection of excellent players passing the baton around. So well do these musicians gel onstage, in fact, that you wonder if the decent-to-quite strong range of original material they’ve released so far could become great if any of them had his full time and energies to devote to it.

READ ON for more on Stockholm Syndrome at the Bowl…

Gov’t Mule @ Summerstage, August 11

Take a good look at the extended Allman Brothers family and you see the winds of change blowing insistently: the mothership band has begun its slow fade to black, and Derek Trucks has put his former focus (temporarily?) on ice in favor of an encouraging, if not yet fully baked supergroup with the missus.

Gov’t Mule, however, is bucking that trend: go to a Mule show in 2010 and you’ll see a band that hasn’t been this comfortable with itself in years, and possibly since the Allen Woody days. Yes, Mule shows have always had a certain intensity – they remain, to me, the closest thing the jam scene has to a fail-safe concert – but you get the sense that Warren Haynes and his (new and old) brothers of the road have finally cohered. They’re a quartet with lots of meat on its bones and a well-stocked idea cellar, one that can execute all the major moves in the Mule playbook, as well as add some new ones, and, finally, with By a Thread, promote new material worthy of its concert bravado.

I reference that comfort level because Mule’s return to Central Park had, despite its unorthodox, one-set/double-encore structure and parade of guests, all the hallmarks of a terrific Mule show circa 2010, and a few of the most common problems. And that’s “problems” relatively speaking; the Mule is wonderfully consistent, it would just be a shame to see them get a little too comfortable.

READ ON for more of Chad’s thoughts on Mule…

Los Lobos @ Bowery Ballroom, August 4

Los Lobos have humility, chops and professionalism to spare, and on a good night, these things propel them, and on a less-than-good night, maintain them. They’re hard to criticize because they just don’t falter: they play that broad, experienced mix of canciones, cumbias and folk songs with rock, blues, country and a whole host of other things, and do it with equal helpings of grace, raunch and bravado.

Sure, album-wise, they’ve been in something of a holding pattern since at least Good Morning Aztlan, and their shows don’t always have the sustained spark of yesteryear. And long-held Los Lobos quibbles – maybe they could mix it up a little more? why again did they bring Louie Perez out behind the drumkit in the mid 1990s to add another guitar voice and utility player? – are what they are at this point. But you’re grateful to have ‘em; rare is the Lobos show that fails to convince you of that.

They were in a peppy and giving mood at Bowery – a small room for them – which kicked off with a passionate Emily opener and dove into range of deep-catalog cuts (how about that filthy Georgia Slop!) sprinkled among the usual rockers (Don’t Worry Baby), cumbias (Chuco’s Cumbia, the heaving Maricela), genre-shifting charmers (still love that accordion on their typically fizzy take on Flaco Jimenez’s Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio) and just plain beautiful Los Lobos staples (the ancient folk tune Volver, Volver – which always seems to hit just as the crowd is slipping from buzzed to drunk and ready to sing).

READ ON for more from Chad on Los Lobos @ the Bowery…

It was originally “Deadhead Haven: A Gathering of the Tribe,” & people came. And they kept coming. And 15 years on, the Tribe’s still coming for Gathering of the Vibes, which has long since achieved veteran festival status & amazingly, manages to stuff its lineup that much tighter every year without sacrificing any of the comfort & just plain old manageability that makes it the choice festival for many concergoers over bigger, glitzier events.

Longtime promoter, Terrapin Presents president and avowed Deadhead Ken Hays knows this, of course. And it’s top of mind again this year, just as it has been for each of the Vibes’ previous 14 installments. Furthur will be there. So will Jimmy Cliff, Nas and Damian Marley, and the latest incarnation of Rhythm Devils, plus a glut of other top-flight acts on two stages.

Hidden Track caught up with the unflappable – and relentlessly busy — Hays this week, as Gathering of the Vibes 2010 prepares to get underway Thursday afternoon at Seaside Park in Bridgeport, Conn.

HIDDEN TRACK: Kind of amazing we’re going to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Gathering of the Vibes. Is it safe to say you didn’t imagine this kind of longevity at the outset?

KEN HAYS: No, I mean it all started in such an organic way. I’d seen over 300 Dead shows and knew people everywhere, but when Jerry died, both me and a lot of my friends knew we weren’t going to be able to see each other – we’d have to all go our separate ways after that. So, a bunch of my friends and I got together and said we’d have a party to celebrate Jerry’s life and the music of the Dead, and on Memorial Day Weekend in 1996, we went to SUNY Purchase college and produced what we called “Deadhead Haven: A Gathering of the Tribe” for 3,500 people. From there it grew exponentially. But it was totally out of default. We had no idea what we were doing. We just wanted to throw a party.

READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Ken Hays…

For a guy who was not all that long ago described as “semi-retired,” Bill Kreutzmann seems to be everywhere these days. No sooner did his BK3 trio peter out than a new band with Papa Mali, 7 Walkers – a fierce little unit spawned from a place where psychedelic Dead meets the spiciest, unruliest New Orleans funk and R&B – came to the fore.

[Photos by Andy Hill]

And wouldn’t you know it, neither unit will be Kreutzmann’s main focus this summer. That’d be the Rhythm Devils – Kreutzmann and brother in arms Mickey Hart – back on the road with a retooled lineup that features percussionist and longtime associate Sikiru Adepoju, as well as Keller Williams, singular as ever, bass ace and former Gov’t Mule anchor Andy Hess, and, most intriguingly, Back Door Slam frontman and shredder Davy Knowles.

Hidden Track briefly caught up with Kreutzmann as the Rhythm Devils tour prepares to get underway.

HIDDEN TRACK: You’ve got so much going on at the moment and plenty of projects, from Rhythm Devils to 7 Walkers. What’s top priority these days?

BILL KREUTZMANN: Right now it’s Rhythm Devils, 100 percent. I’m just focusing on that. I like to focus on one band at a time.

HT: Fair enough. You have a new and interesting lineup for Rhythm Devils, for which I guess Davy Knowles is the wild card. Can you talk a little bit about how you and Mickey put this lineup together?

BK: Well, it’s true, when playing with different musicians, the more people you play with it, the fresher it makes it. The driving force in the Rhythm Devils — from the Devils, meaning me and Mickey, — is to have new players. The one we work with all the time is Sikiru, he’s a master drummer from Nigeria, but the new energy with different people is exciting. I’m looking forward to rehearsal.

READ ON for more of our interview with Bill Kreutzmann…

Lyrics are not Jackie Greene’s strong suit; hooks and harmonics are. How else to explain the way Greene routinely crafts beautiful roots gems, inspired country blues and frayed-edge power pop with smooth, but ultimately featherweight narratives about bad love, weary yearning and wanton soul searching? It’s not meaty stuff, but it’s delivered with grace and gravitas; Greene says “feel it, anyway,” and you do.   It’s a formula that’s worked for him and continues to work on Till the Light Comes, his sixth album and, if not a great collection, surely a nourishing one, with buoyant arrangements and the fullness of a well-oiled band fleshing them out.

With Furthur having just wrapped its own festival and heading out for plenty of summer fun, here’s an appraisal of the past 15-or-so years of Phil Lesh-anchored bands: some justifiably great, others a real stretch for decency. Marvel at this: player-by-player, there are technically more than 50 alumni for bands called Phil Lesh & Friends, and given the various combinations these artists created for Phil over the years, a constellation of different ensembles and different flavors.

[Photo by Stephen Dorian Miner]

Here’s a look at 15 of them for the memory books, and a few players scraped from the “what if” section of the Dead-addled brain. Feel free to argue. We can take it.

5 Greatest Post-Jerry Phil Lesh Bands

1. The Q (Sept. 2000-Sept. 2003): Some of my fondest music-going memories from the past decade, and definitely – unimpeachably – the most accomplished of the individual Phil bands. What fun they were, and transcendent on their best nights, with those guitar tangles, blazing blues rockers, gooey psychedelics, killer rhythms (Molo – the man!) and gorgeous harmonies. Miss ‘em. Still.

Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes, John Molo, Jimmy Herring & Rob Barraco

2. The Jackie Band (July 2007 – Dec. 2008): A band of twang and finesse, and helpful in that it introduced the talented Jackie Greene to a much wider audience. There were some fine, though not always consistent shows from this crew, and it especially clicked whenever Barry Sless was in the mix, as it freed Larry “The Master” Campbell up to play more things with strings.

Phil Lesh, John Molo, Jackie Greene, Larry Campbell, Steve Molitz, Barry Sless

READ ON for the best and worst Phil-led lineups…

Dark Star Orchestra @ Wellmont Theatre, May 22

Dark Star Orchestra do what they do so well, and have done it for years, which is precisely why they’re still one of the biggest mysteries in the scene. How is it that a band with this type of built-in conceit and therefore, so much stacked against it before note one is played on a given night, sounds vital?

Dark Star Orchestra – The Wheel (Live in Montclair)

Credit the music, sure. The Grateful Dead catalog is an endlessly malleable and contiguous oeurve; it provides for all of Jerry’s children, with leftovers. But then that alone was never it. There are plenty of keepers of the flame, not least guys named Lesh, Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart. Hundreds of Dead cover bands can do a serviceable Uncle John’s Band and call it a night. There are more than a few who can stick the landing in the Help > Slip > Franklin’s progression and leave a Dead itch scratched. There are others who through technical prowess and verve can provide a fun approximation of Grateful Dead music from A to Z.

But the great Dead cover bands thin to their most distinguished ranks after that, and Dark Star Orchestra is somewhere at the end of that thinning-out: a category of its own for the reason that it so understands the idiom of Grateful Dead music – the songcraft, the improvisational style, the set narrative, the puzzle pieces – that on a good night, it transcends what’s generally expected of even the most technically brilliant, note-perfect tribute groups. READ ON for more from Chad on DSO in Montclair…

Widespread Panic, Washington DC, April 21

The more time I spend with Widespread Panic’s forthcoming Dirty Side Down, the more it sounds to me like the most comfortable album Panic’s recorded in a decade. If it’s taken this long for Panic to finish a document that feels lovingly stitched together, not “assembled,” and truest to their live mojo, so be it –- for me, it’s taken almost as long for Panic the live band to be as reliable as they once were.

No, it’s not that I haven’t had epic, soul-nourishing Widespread experiences in the post-Houser era of the band, it’s just that it’s taken a long time to be able to depend on them again. Catching the band early in the tour in mid-April, the second of two nights in the capital’s lovely Warner Theater, was affirmative. To JB, Jimmy, JoJo, Dave, Sunny and Todd: I’m buying.

It was a haphazard show with some marvelous moments – part of Panic’s appeal, oddly, are the groovy, ragged edges that contrast the fiery peaks and soulful zeniths – and it was enough to keep me convinced. It’s not a “the band is back” type of feeling, either; Panic never went away and recovered pretty quickly, all told, from a personnel tragedy that would have derailed, or at least neutered, a lesser band. It’s more that I’m not convinced Panic’s best days are in the rearview mirror. They have miles to go, mountains to climb. Nearly 25 years in, that’s pretty impressive.

READ ON for more from Chad on WSP in Washington D.C….

Widespread Panic won’t officially celebrate its silver anniversary til 2011, but you can’t help but appreciate the group’s longevity. Twenty-four years of more-or-less nonstop Panic. Just sort of crept up on us, eh?

As Panic gets set for its first extended run of 2010, it’s about to release Dirty Side Down, the band’s eleventh studio effort and the return of longtime associate John Keane to the producer’s chair.

Having spent a few weeks with it, I feel like it’s among the better Panic albums of the past decade: emotional, propulsive, slightly unrefined and pleasant in its ragged imperfections. There’s a wealth of new material – the shifting tones in opener Saint Ex, for example, are as eclectic as Panic gets — but there are also several Panic live gems, like the furious Jerry Joseph tune North, and vintage cuts Visiting Day and Clinic Cynic, finally making it to the studio. And credit Panic another thing: rather than stumble under the emotional weight of a tribute to fallen comrade Vic Chesnutt, they have here a tasteful, yet heartfelt salute in recording Chesnutt’s tender This Cruel Thing. It does the job, without overreaching.

Hidden Track caught up this month with John “JoJo” Hermann, who was already gracious enough to participate in Hidden Track’s Baseball Preview, to look at what’s ahead. Panic, which kicks off its spring tour this weekend at the Wanee Festival, has another action packed year on tap, following a 2009 that was hardly restful.

HIDDEN TRACK: Before we get into what’s coming up for Panic, I wanted to rewind a bit to your action-packed 2009. The co-bill tour with the Allman Brothers Band is what a lot of people will remember most, and it just seemed like you guys were having so much fun up there every night.

JOJO HERMANN: It was such a great idea. It was a dream tour, it really was. I mean, having Warren and Derek and Jimmy, the three of them up there it was like the Three Tenors, except, I don’t know, the three guitar masters. Getting to sit behind them every night was a really incredible experience. I think we’re going to get to do it again soon, at Wanee.

READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with JoJo Hermann of Widespread Panic…

Drive-By Truckers @ HOB Boston – April 2, 2010

On Saturday morning I was trying to shake the fog from my brain & poke around Drive-By Truckers sites to confirm a setlist. I was greeted on the NineBullets board with the type of exhausted, post-visceral reactions one comes to expect following great shows. “Boston was left a smoldering wreck,” said one. “Awesome, awesome, awesomeness!” read another.

As a paid observer, I’m asked to articulate those types of feelings in a more sophisticated fashion (or something), but really, why overdo it? The Drive-By Truckers were off the fucking chain at Boston’s House of Blues on Friday. They rocked, ripsnorted, ran ragged and swashbuckled their way through two hours, 20 minutes of positively nasty, shaggily soulful rock ‘n’ roll and alt-country. Are they at this moment the country’s best live rock band? Well, leave that to the wags that decide such things. But, hell, they’re in the conversation.

My Truckers affections go back more than a decade at this point, and like many in the Truckers faithful, I agree that the departure of Jason Isbell in 2007 meant the departure of the band’s best songwriter. (Isbell’s own 400 Unit, a more R&B-flavored quartet, is coming on strong and with a bit more seasoning may end up the equal of his former band.) And yet, the Truckers sound like a fully formed unit again, with co-founders Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood as fierce as ever. The Big To-Do, the band’s ninth album, doesn’t have the polish of its predecessor, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, but there’s strength – a hardiness – in the new songs, too, that makes them more heavy and immediate.

READ ON for more of Chad’s thoughts on the Truckers in Boston…

The Allman Brothers Band @ the United Palace – March 15 and 18

I have a half-written column on the Allman Brothers Band that I’ve kept, sort of knocking around, for a few years now. It’s the one I plan to write when it’s clear the memories have been great but the thrill is gone, and that there’s not really any polish left on the shoe. It’s bound to happen, right? The Allmans, to their credit, seem to be slowly recognizing as much, thanks to scaled-back touring and the de-emphasis – can we just come out and agree there isn’t going to be another album of originals? – on, well, growth.

It hasn’t happened, the column. No matter how gently or artfully I try phrase those thoughts, they still sounds churlish. What other band has given us this much justifiable magic this late into its career, or hell, this late into its third act (or sixth or seventh, depending how you evaluate lineups and general eras)? If this is a band no longer much interested in growth as it is enjoying its twilight in grand fashion, fine. Nothing wrong with that at all, boys. No question you’ve earned it. No question you can still bring the heat.

This year’s March NYC run has felt a little muted, but only from afar. You wouldn’t call it a dearth of buzz and excitement – if you were in the seats for any of the United Palace shows so far, you still heard the roars and felt the radiant energy – but the move uptown, the hangover from last year’s 40th anniversary extravaganza (each show every bit as good as the hype, as those who were there and the Beacon Box will attest), and the decision to cancel the last five nights of the run cast something of a pall. But in two very different shows this week, Monday and Thursday, I found the confirmation I needed: the end is near, but I’d be out of my mind to quit on the Allmans until they say they’re done.

READ ON for more from Chad on the Allmans @ United Palace…

The Allman Brothers Band kicks off its annual NYC residency tonight, and it’s safe to say the vibe’s a little muddled this year. No, we know: it’s going to be the usual insanity & balls-out excitement once the boyos get humming, the guests start arriving, the guitars start wailing & the roof starts raising.

But as if the move to the United Palace hasn’t jarred longtime Beacon goers enough – and it’s jarred the band, plenty, as Butch Trucks told us recently – last week came the news that the band would cancel the final five shows of the run, dialing the total number of shows back to eight and leaving more than a few ticketholders, some with travel plans already booked, shorthanded.

Be that as it all may, that good ol’ “people can you feel it” Allmans vibe still permeates NYC this month, and as always, there are plenty of shows going on around town that, intentionally or not, latch on to that vibe and draw in a few extra concertgoers they might not otherwise.

Pickins are a little slimmer this year on the post-show and official afterparty front, but here’s a selection of NYC-area goings-on during the United Palace run (March 11-20) that should appeal to Allmans fans looking for a little extra mojo.

In chronological order:

1.) Bowlive – tonight, tomorrow and Saturday 3/13

WHERE: Brooklyn Bowl (Williamsburg)

TIME: 9 p.m.

COST: $10-$12.50

Soulive’s 10-night Brooklyn residency, dubbed Bowlive, has been positively raging, and if you were in the house Wednesday night you know that a number of the Brothers showed up to blow it out. There are three more nights starting tonight, with the announced guests, respectively Thursday to Saturday, ?uestlove and Rahzel, Marco Benevento, and DJ Logic, with many more expected. We know the Allmans will bring their A-Game, but if they falter at all at United Palace, their crown for kickass-ing-est NYC March residency goes to Soulive for 2010.

READ ON for eight more shows to fatten your Allmans trip…