Hidden Track Staff

Umphrey’s McGee @ The Pageant – October 30 & 31

Words: Ryan Maher
Images: Tammy Wetzel

The Pageant Theatre is a world-class midsize venue. Sadly, there are few venues that inspire this much fan appreciation: the multiple tiers offering great sightlines from numerous points, the tiered balcony seating, the crisp acoustics and attentive wait staff all adding up to an idyllic place for face-melting for a two-night Halloween run from Umphrey’s McGee.

[All photos by Tammy Wetzel]

Of course, West Coast fans may take umbrage with the move to St. Louis after they became accustomed to Northern Cali visits from UM for this musical holiday. 2008 was the birthplace of the mash-up Halloween show in San Francisco, and with the tremendous success of their novel approach, UM has fortunately left this tradition intact. The Wood Brothers opened to the sold out crowd for a well played, mellow set on the 30th.

Anticipation was already high following a monster two-night run by UM in Urbana the preceding nights. Queue the theme from Jaws to signal the impending onslaught of a band on fire, and the crowd roared as the six members took the stage for the first at two shows.

They led off with All In Time, one of the more anthemic UM tunes, which worked well in the opening slot as it engaged the crowd with a longtime sing-along favorite. Within just a few minutes, they dropped on a dime into The Linear, instantly submerging the mood from celebratory to a contemplative, exploratory atmosphere. And explore they did.

READ ON for more from Umphrey’s Halloween run…

HT fave Marco Benevento performed a rare solo piano show this past Monday night at City Winery in New York City. The keyboardist packed his set with covers and originals from his three solo albums.  Photographer Rob Chapman was on hand to capture Marco in action…

[All photos by Rob Chapman]

READ ON for more shots of Marco Benevento in action…

The String Cheese Incident celebrated Halloween by throwing a two-day Hulaween event at Hampton Coliseum this past Friday and Saturday nights. Photographer Derek Martinez was on hand to capture all of the action – including a few snaps of the Disco Biscuits’ opening set from Friday – and has filed some amazing images…

Friday’s Setlists:

tDB –

Set: Hope, Astronaut > Spacebirdmatingcall1 > Astronaut, Little Shimmy In A Conga Line1 > Basis For A Day
1 – unfinished

[via PT Bisco]

SCI –

Set 1: Best Feeling > Texas > Daryl, Walls of Time, Yo Se, Got What He Wanted > Black Clouds, Miss Brown’s Teahouse > L’il Liza Jane > Miss Brown’s Teahouse

Set 2: Song In My Head, Just One Story, Joyful Sound > EOTO > > Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms, Way That It Goes, Sirens, It Is What It Is > On the Road….
Encore: Jellyfish > Jump [via Friends of Cheese]

READ ON for more of Derek’s photos from Hulaween…

Regan Teti Marscher shot Phish’s first show in Atlantic City this past Friday night and delivered plenty of amazing photos. Check em out…

[All photos by Regan Teti Marscher]

READ ON for more of Regan’s Phish photos…

We would like to welcome poster collector Matt Quinn to talk about ten of his favorite framed Phish posters done by Link David of Frame Fetish…

Merit badges, shot glasses, postcards, stickers and t-shirts are among the myriad of collectible band memorabilia that Phish graces fans with these days, though the original king of concert merchandise – the poster – still reigns supreme. And while sometimes it seems like Phish fans purchase these incredible pieces of art for the express purpose of filling their closets with cardboard tubes, some of the lucky ones do actually make it into a frame and on to a wall, visually forcing subconscious recalls of random nights of musical madness in that went down in venues across the country.

Most of these fans will end up wandering down to their local craft shop  and  – IMO – will overpay for a sub-par frame job. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be turned on to a framer unlike any other I’ve encountered before or since, Link David, the one man operation based out of SoCal known as Frame Fetish.

Link hand crafts frames and matting, incorporating themes and colors directly from the art, weaving the two into a single cohesive piece. With prices running surprisingly close to what you would pay for a basic frame job from a craft store, if you’ve got something special in the closet that deserves the red carpet treatment, Link is the man you want to handle it. Check out these images below to see exactly what he’s capable of…

1. Power – Pollock (1997)

READ ON for nine more amazing frame jobs…

Melvin Seals and JGB @ Mexicali Live, October 15

Words: Tyler D. Curtis
Photos: Vernon Webb

I headed out to Teaneck, NJ this past Friday for a new musical experience. Being a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, and more importantly of Jerry Garcia’s career as a whole, I was immensely eager to see Melvin Seals and the current lineup of JGB channel the second side of Garcia’s musical endeavors. The room where the show took place, Mexicali Live, is most likely the only Grateful Dead themed venues in New Jersey. And by that, I mean the name – derived from a Grateful Dead classic – and in combination with a picture of Jerry Garcia in the middle of the back wall up in the balcony, makes you feel like his spirit surrounds the place constantly.

[All photos by Vernon Webb]

I arrived to a gathering of fans chattering and exploring the small amount of vending that took place in the bitter Teaneck, NJ night air. As I stepped inside, I noticed the venue was filling up rather fast, and the opening act was closing out their performance. The Desolation Angels were an appropriate opener for the crowd that Seals and his mates attracted, as they brought a bluesy-jam sound to the atmosphere, almost warming up the stage for the Jerry Garcia Band tribute band. I was rather astonished at the younger vibe of the crowd and was surprised to find that a handful of people were on tour with the group. This gave me some reassurance that this band must live up the hype.

As 10:15 rolled around, the band walked on the rather small stage, sat down at their instruments, and wasted little time getting started. Stu Allen (guitar) started off the introduction to Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox while a moment later, Melvin Seals let out a screech from his keys, initiating the iconic song from the Jerry Garcia Band repertoire. As the chorus was sung, the one-woman gospel section brought us to church in a groovy manner.

READ ON for more on last Friday’s performance…

We covered tons of ground this week on Hidden Track and before we get back to the grind we wanted to recap some of the things we learned…

When you announce a tour without specifics, the media gets confused…

The action started earlier today when Prince invited all of his fans to come to the Apollo Theater in Harlem for a press conference at 6PM this evening. When journalists and fans arrived they were greeted by a huge poster that said “Welcome 2 America” and featured Prince. Yet, by the end of the event everyone was left scratching their heads as no specifics were announced. [READ MORE]

Sexual Chocolate Stout is an amazing name for a beer…

Sexual Chocolate lives up to the considerable hype. It’s a sinfully smooth sip, with just a dash of that imperial alcohol bite and plenty of chocolaty, malty goodness to balance it out. Other seasonal tastes included Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin (Baltimore, MD), which was nice and sweet, and Sierra Nevada’s new Tumbler (Chico, CA), an incredibly quaffable “autumn brown ale.” [READ MORE]

READ ON to find out what else we learned this week…