Posts by Hidden Track Staff

We’re required by blog law to invoke the Cleveland Rocks Clause somewhere in the top of this post, but today we don’t feel like honoring the cliché contract. So let’s just all cool out, kick back and look at some pictures that our photo-gifted friend Christian James took of the Family Band and listen to the 5/2/07 show.

Read on after the jump for some amazing shots of the Family Band from the House of Blues, as well as links to stream the show’s entire audio recording, woven in throughout the post. Let’s start out with the hot opener…

We’re not exactly geeked up about the SummerStage lineup this year. Some good shows and some weak ones, but the only event we’re dying to see is Levon Helm’s return engagement on June 28th. After The Beacon, there’s just no place we’d rather be. The bill for the upcoming show calls for “special guests,” which last time meant Dr. John, […]

It’s Uncle Neddy to the rescue with a bag full of downloadable presents… Here’s a guest minimix for the Hidden Track crowd. It’s time to give the drummers some, as they say. This is a good cross-section as any to get a feel for the many varied drumming styles that fall under the heading of “jazz.” Some […]

As we promised yesterday afternoon, we’ve got some quality shit to share. The gifted ‘n talented Danfun returned from New Orleans with a boatload of sharp shots, and we’re very proud to feature his incredible pictures below. Neither of us were able to hit JazzFest this year, and if you couldn’t make it either, some of these will hopefully make you feel like you were there. Mmm, crawfish:

It ain’t a New Orleans party with Allen Toussaint. A frivolous blog asked an important query in the hours following Hurricane Katrina: “Did Allen Toussaint actually leave New Orleans or did he chain himself to the fairgrounds? Shouldn’t this hurricane have been named Sneakin’ Sally?” As it turned out, Toussaint did wait out the storm and went missing for a little while. But when we think of New Orleans, he’s one of the first faces that pops up. More than a year and a half removed, it’s good to see Allen in full effect.

Read on for 20 more photos that’ll make you wish you took photography as a kid…

We haven’t seen this announced officially anywhere on the world wide web yet, but a reliable source tells us that Farm Aid 2007 is coming to Randall’s Island in New York. That’s right, because nothing says “Let’s save America’s family farms” more than an island off the side of fucking Manhattan in a sewage-infested river. […]

Our resident photographer Danfun has returned from New Orleans, and we’ll be featuring his incredible pictures here tomorrow. ‘Til then, here’s a quick taste: It’s always a bit disheartening to see a sudden build-up of water in New Orleans: Check back tomorrow for a full photo gallery from this year’s JazzFest…

Our friend NoBowls Brad only writes on legal paper, and only in a language so garbled you’d need some sort of degree to decipher it. But NBB stole a day away from The Firm at the end of April to catch the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, and he filed this tardy report from the Phoenix/Scottsdale area…

How’d it happen that the (second) best band got the third worst time slot?

It’s true. Tea Leaf Green took the stage at the Triple-M fest at 3:45 on Friday, the first afternoon of a two-day festival. They were the second band to play, and needless to say, no more than 300 people in the wide open field below the red mountains in the background got to see them shred. Those 300 people, however, were fortunate enough to see TLG play a stellar hour-long set that included These Two Chairs, One Reason, a two-minute bass solo and, of course, Got No Friends in Arizona. They’re wrong, though. I counted about 300 of ’em.

In some of the pictures, like the one above, you can see two guys sitting on a couch at the end of the stage. MMMF organizers brilliantly instituted a raffle for each band, and whoever won the raffle won the chance to sit on the couch on the side of the stage during that band’s set. These two guys didn’t get up the whole time, and people in the crowd were giving them shit for it: What would you do if you were sitting on a couch while Tea Leaf Green was playing? Despite the couch dwellers’ incredible lack of enthusiasm, by the time Tea Leaf Green walked off the stage, everyone was talking about how great they were.

Read on for more of NoBowls Brad’s review and more photos from the fest…

We are gonna switch things up for this week’s edition of GTA. Usually we review four or five shows in this space, but this week we’re featuring just one. ‘Cuz really, this show deserves it’s own post. Dale “Sociable Chappy” Chapman turned me onto this incredible Pavement soundboard from the Great American Music Hall in 1994, and it comes with a piece Dale wrote about his experience at the show:

Pavement 04/23/1994 SBD (MP3):

The buzz around Pavement started in 1990 or 1991. Nobody knew for sure if these guys were actually a band or if they would ever release anything other than quirky 7″ and 10″ vinyl singles. By early 1992, however, months before Slanted & Enchanted was released, Rolling Stone called it one of the best records of the year, or the decade, or the millenium. One of those things.

When tour dates were announced and I secured my ticket for the show at San Francisco’s Kennel Club (now The Independent), my mind was exploding with anticipation. The performance was tentative, awkward and aloof, but it was absolutely spectacular. The first song they played was Loretta’s Scars, and I regressed to that kid in a candy store. A pig in slop. Grin from ear to ear.

Read on for the rest of Chappy’s tale and the downloads themselves…

We’ve been wanting to see Rose Hill Drive for a while, yet we missed this weekend’s show. Thankfully, Neddy was there, and he filed this report…

I felt like there was a white duck following me around Mercury Lounge on Saturday, abruptly squealing “AFLAC!” every couple of songs. The occasion was the Rose Hill Drive show, and I spent much of it feeling the limits of my flesh and bones, wondering if I needed supplemental insurance.

It was about three songs into the set that I was wondering if my regular insurance would cover all the hemorrhaging my ears were doing. You see, Rose Hill Drive was making my ears bleed. Sharp, loud, intense — guitar, bass, drums — ouch, ouch, ouch. It was a cranking start to the show.

The room was crowded and loose for a Saturday night, and they lit right into it. There was a “Showdown” early on, and they wasted no time getting onto the Hendrix bus with Band of Gypsy’s “Power of Love,” but song titles didn’t seem to matter much to me and my ears. There are few bands doing what Rose Hill Drive can do every night — Wolfmother, Earl Greyhound and, um, you tell me.

But none are doing the base, primal power trio face-melter thing with as much talent and zest as these guys. Not many have ever done it — Jimi Hendrix, Cream and, um, you tell me. I’ll take these under appreciated boots-to-the-head over whatever you got. I hadn’t felt this way about a band since the first time I saw Gov’t Mule for the first time almost a decade ago. A couple songs into the set and my head was buzzing, my nose was running and my ears were bleeding. What would happen if I lost my hearing — or sense of smell or taste for that matter? The rock was burrowing deep into me like a parasite, nibbling away at my soul from the inside. [AFLAC!]

Read on to see if Uncle Neddy makes it through the night…

One week it’s the Flaming Lips at Brown, the next it’s The Hold Steady at NYU. Apparently it’s college time for our resident photographic genius Danfun.

Hey, NYU parents: Maybe this is what your $46,800 a year in tuition, room and board gets ya. For all that money, your kids can dance the Watusi (or however the devil it is you kids dance these days) at a semi-private rock ‘n roll show like the one on Thursday that brought The Hold Steady to NYU’s Kimmel Center.

The intimate concert did open itself to the public, and Dan managed to sneak his wiry frame through the doors to snap the following photos for us. He added, “The crowd was going crazy. NYU students were running up on stage and jumping in the crowd every couple of minutes. I haven’t been a pit like that in some time. In some ways it was really fun, in others it was just a little too crazy for me.”

Too crazy for all us older folk — we’ll just never understand these crazy kids and their newfangled electronic mail. Read on for some more shots from Dan…

First, a line change: As per his request, our resident mixologist Dan Alford will bring his tunes to those gloomy Mondays. Dan will take up residence in a new department yet to acquire a catchy-as-shit moniker, in which he plans to kick off your week with a soundtrack suggestion for the days ahead. The Friday Mix Tape […]

Neither of us can successively operate a camera. We take out-of-focus pictures and shaky amateur videos, but we can’t get it right. Thankfully some of our friends have at least a modicum of talent, and occasionally they pass along some photos for Show & Tell. Our man Danfun from Who’s Driving the Bus? caught the Flaming Lips this weekend, and he was kind enough to share. Take’r away…

Perfect weather, frozen lemonade, confetti and balloons — oh, just another day with The Flaming Lips, this time at Brown University.

The Flaming Lips have always been one of my go to bands, having seen them countless times over the past 11 years. Their albums are amazing and transcendent, but their live shows are even bigger, greater, always a huge extravagant production to absorb. The band also happens to feature some the nicest and most endearing musicians in all of rock and/or roll.

Although their live concert has essentially been the same show for the past five or six years, it’s one that I personally can never pass up. It’s a lot like watching your favorite movie over and over again: You know how it’s going to end and you don’t care, because it just means that much to you. I have taken dozens of people to see the Flaming Lips for their first time, and almost every single one of them has left knowing they were just at the best party going on in that particular time zone.

So Saturday morning I decided to head up to Brown University’s Spring Fling Weekend to catch Stardeath and Whitedwarfs, Missions to Burma, Yo La Tengo, and, of course, the Flaming Lips. And boy I’m glad I did. Read on for more photos and more thoughts about the show…

We don’t know all that much about Chris Cornell, other than the fact that he looks kinda like that Dominant Male Monkey Motherfucker Clint character from Dazed & Confused. But while we were rockin’ out at Rodrigo Y Gabriela on Monday night, our friend Jon Hochstat was partyin’ like it’s 1992. Here’s his take:

Some of us count ourselves among the large fan base surrounding the entire grunge scene in Seattle back in the early 1990s. But many of us have not had the chance in a long time to hear in a live setting the Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog song catalogs we knew well…until Monday night.

On the fifth stop of his short pre-album release tour, Chris Cornell and his band strolled out onto the stage at the Venue Formally Known as Irving Plaza around 9:20. And from the second Chris & Co. hit the stage, it was obvious the Manhattan crowd planned to show Cornell that the true center of the concert universe is 2,900 miles from his home. Read on for more from this under-reported show…

Our friend Danfun wants to school you on some cool shit…I’d let him.

You’ll usually catch nothing but blank stares if you mention Roky Erickson‘s name. But the Texan’s story, his music and his behavior are the stuff that legends, and they’ve transformed him into a rock ‘n roll cult icon with an outlaw persona.

So I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see Roky’s first ever New York City appearance, and especially not one on a Friday the 13th. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Roky’s show, since I had heard rumors that he still suffered from mental health issues (read on for more about that).

But the concert delivered way more than I ever could have expected. Roky and his band, The Explosives, just flat-out destroyed Southpaw. The band was tight, Roky’s vocals were awesome and the crowd loved every minute…

Read on for more of Roky Erickson’s story and Danfun‘s photos from the show

Our friend Frances Greene had a unique experience this week. Now, show ‘n tell…

I had the honor of joining my friend as one of the privileged hundred (give or take a few hipsters) on Monday night to see Andrew Bird in an intimate venue, Union Hall in Park Slope. I’m not sure of the exact details, but after failing to procure a ticket the normal way, there was a charity auction, and my friend, from what I’ve been told, grew really competitive, and he won said charity auction.

Somehow, and I’m still not exactly sure about this part either, but maybe cause I know him for more than 20 years (oh no, am I old enough to know people that aren’t my relatives for two decades?), I became the recipient of my friend’s charitable-yet-selfish competitiveness. Either way, we both won.

For those of you who don’t know Andrew Bird, allmusic.com describes him thusly: “Chicago singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird updates the traditions of small-group swing, German lieder, and New Orleans jazz, mixing gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style.” But, as is often the case with small blurbs, that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of this prolific and original musician.

Read on for more of Frances’ review of Monday’s incredible performance…

Neither of us can successively operate a camera. We take out-of-focus pictures and shaky amateur videos, but we can’t get it right. Thankfully some of our friends have at least a modicum of talent, and occasionally they pass along some photos for Show & Tell. Our man Danfun from Who’s Driving the Bus? caught the Dr. Dog show at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, and he was kind enough to share. Take’r away…

During the past three years I’ve been lucky enough to see Dr. Dog open for some of my favorite bands, like My Morning Jacket and the Raconteurs. But if last night’s Bowery Ballroom show was any indication of where this band is headed, these guys will probably be headlining bigger venues instead of opening for bigger acts.

Read on for the rest of Danfun’s top-notch photos from the show…

House Mixologist Dan Alford is away this week, so we’ve turned to our ol’ pal Neddy for some downloadin’ love. Neddy’s offering for us features a “little roots music focusing on the wond’fully dynamic pedal steel guitar.” Before we get to that order of business, we’d like to issue a serious note of thanks to […]

**Click here to download this show (thanks to PT’s PhishyPhishPhan)**

It just felt right. No place we’d rather be on a random Wednesday night in April than the 499-capacity Gramercy Theater to watch the former keyboardist for the popular rock band Phish sit down at his rightful place behind a new set-up, Chris Kuroda bathing him in the familiar tones of the light rig.

So you can imagine that even before the music began in earnest, we’d been sold our bill of goods. Thankfully, though, the same genuine enthusiasm for Page’s new band and material left with us on the way out of the theater.

Our Page Permagrins emerged the minute the concert started, with McConnell busting out a solid instrumental called Back in the Basement. From there he played the entire album, and we loved nearly every minute of it. Songs that were five minutes on the debut solo disc became 15-minute jam sessions. And save a few exceptions on either side, the jamming of this band is infinitely more palatable than the improvisations of a certain red-haired guitar player’s recent bands.

Read on for more thoughts on the show and amazing pictures from Coach…

It’s almost official: Concert-promoting heady overlord Live Nation is one step closer to pulling off the…completely unnecessary. The good people at Idolator ran a clever post today with the following picture taken from one of those cellular telephones with the cameras. They’re taking down the sign, and just six days from now, the un-brand new […]

HT Contributor Eliot Glazer has tremendously terrible taste in music. But he’s an adroit wordsmith, and he’s gonna try to convince us that the bad is really good. Most of the time, duets tend to bomb. That’s not to say that duets are inherently bad, but there’s no denying that two people performing together — especially in […]