Hidden Track Staff

Images: Tammy Wetzel

Philadelphia’s Lotus paid tribute to David Bowie at the jamtronica act’s Halloween show in Baltimore by performing a number of Bowie covers for the first time as well as offering their version of the Phish song named for The Thin White Duke. In addition, the members of the band each dressed up as Bowie from a different era including ’80s pastel suit Bowie, Ziggy Stardust Bowie, Dancing In The Streets Bowie and Jareth (Labyrinth) Bowie.

1: Wax, David Bowie, Hammerstrike > Under Pressure > Hammerstrike, Tarasque, Flower Sermon >
Suffragette City > Flower Sermon, Molluskunk, Fame > Afraid Of Americans
2: Tip Of The Tongue, It’s All Clear To Me Now > Space Oddity > It’s All Clear To Me Now > 128 > Rebel Rebel > 128, Blacklight Sunflare, Age Of Inexperience > Let’s Dance > Age Of Inexperience
E: Bellweather
David Bowie-Phish cover: first time played, Under Pressure-David Bowie/Queen cover: first time played, Suffragette City, Fame, Space Oddity, Rebel Rebel, Let’s Dance -David Bowie covers: first time played, Afraid Of Americans-David Bowie/Nine Inch Nails cover: first time played, Fame with Chuck Morris & Bridget McCallion on vocals, Let’s Dance with Chuck Morris on vocals
With Big In Japan & The Egg [via Lotus Message Board]

Our own Tammy Wetzel caught the band at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo the night before Halloween and took plenty of amazing photos.

READ ON for a full gallery of Tammy’s shots from Buffalo…

Words: Tim Hara
Images: Matt Speck

Everyone inside the Auditorium Theatre knew that they were in for a special night. It was the first time that Philadelphia’s Disco Biscuits were playing a Halloween show in Chicago. This was a big deal.

The venue was absolutely stunning – an old opera house that has been open for almost 120 years. Huge murals are painted on the walls that are surrounded by intricate, ornamental carvings. The sound is loud and crisp and there are great sightlines from virtually every seat in the house. There are multiple balconies with the highest one making the performers look like ants on stage. No fans ventured that high unless they wanted to. The orchestra level and first balcony were completely filled with kids in their wildest costumes. They anxiously awaited what tricks and treats the Disco Biscuits had up their sleeves for the night.

After Holy F*ck and The Glitch Mob opened things up with some early dance parties, the Biscuits took the stage dressed as “classy zombies,” with their costumes complete with suits and lots of fake blood. As they looked out over the crowd, it seemed as though even they were amazed that they were playing in such an awesome venue. The group opened the show with a stand-alone instrumental, Strobelights and Martinis, which seemed very appropriate with its dark theme. This version was solid, but straightforward without much of a jam.

READ ON for more from the Disco Biscuits’ Halloween show…

Words and Images: Tim Hara

As we exited our cab outside of the Park West in Chicago, we were immediately approached by a fan asking us if we had any extras for the sold out Pretty Lights show. Then another, then another, then another. Dozens of kids braved the miserable cold and rain with their fingers raised high in the air with hopes of scoring a ticket to what seemed like the hottest show in town. Sadly, almost all of them would get shut out.

Yonder Mountain String Band was playing at the House of Blues Chicago, but you wouldn’t have known it. All people were talking about for weeks was whether they had a ticket for Pretty Lights and how they were going to get in if they didn’t have one. Desperation led to some fans offering up to five times face value for a single ticket. I hadn’t seen this kind of pandemonium for a show in this city for a long time. We passed all the unfortunate, ticket less fans and entered the venue knowing that the evening was truly going to be something special.

Derek Vincent Smith, AKA Pretty Lights, creates infectious beats that seem to appeal to a wide audience. His music is so unique that even his biggest fans have a hard time describing exactly what it is that they are listening to. He blends a heavy electronic sound that walks the line of glitch, electro or even dubstep with a combination of samples that run the gamut of soul to funk to rap. The result is a live performance of non-stop dance music that truly provides something for everyone.

READ ON for more from Tim on Pretty Lights in Chicago…

As with many things, when it comes to music festivals bigger isn’t always necessarily better. Take the case of the third annual Treasure Island Music Festival which took place in San Francisco on October 16th and 17th. Thanks to a unique location, a solid lineup and a comfortable setup, festival producers Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment sold out both days of the event and won rave reviews from attendees.

[Flaming Lips by Dave Vann]

Margaret Pitcher reviewed and Dave Vann shot the festival for Glide and you can tell from Margaret’s description that Treasure Island isn’t anything like your typical major festival…

A word many people use to describe the Treasure Island Music Festival is “manageable,” which is very appropriate and much more inviting than it might sound. Featuring two stages (Bridge and Tunnel) within close proximity, great overall sound and no overlapping set times, the fest makes it possible for you to enjoy all the acts without trekking a far distance. You could strategically place a blanket between the stages (or sit in the “covered wagon,” on the inflatable stars or near the trapeze performance sculpture) and stay there for the duration of the day and night. The music can be heard from most areas of the festival site, for those times you need to use the loo, grab food or drinks or stretch your legs.

Head on over to Glide for the full report. READ ON for additional Treasure Island Music Festival photos by Dave Vann featuring The Decemberists, Girl Talk, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Bob Mould, the Flaming Lips, Spiral Stairs, The Streets, Vetiver, The Walkmen, The Streets, Passion Pit and more…

We continue our coverage of Yonder Mountain String Band’s recently completed swing through the Northeast with a review by our two newest contributors who both hail from Boston. Please welcome writer Eli Badra and photographer S. Balaji Mani to our ever-expanding team.

Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band are now in the middle of a brief fall tour, which culminates in a two-night Halloween stint at Liberty Hall, in Kansas. While working their way through the Northeast, the quartet stopped by Boston’s House of Blues, literally in the shadow of Fenway Park, this past Friday for a marathon session of bluegrass-flavored tunes.

The evening was a notable one for Yonder: two of its members, bassist Ben Kaufmann and guitarist Adam Aijala, both grew up in the fair state of Massachusetts. The band is no stranger to the state, either, having performed at just about every historic venue the city has to offer, including the older, smaller House of Blues that was once in Harvard Square. It was this show, however, that drew the single largest Boston crowd they have played for (by a factor two-and-a-half, according to mandolin player Jeff Austin). Did Yonder Mountain String Band deliver? Two sets, 28 songs and three hours offer a resounding “yes” to that question.

Taken as a whole, the first set served as a perfect warm-up, both for the band and the audience’s legs, keeping things energetic and light, but not too intense just yet. The music kicked off with Good-Hearted Woman, which got the vibe of the evening flowing. Austin and Kaufmann teamed up for the usual spot-on harmonies, underneath which Dave Johnston provided a steady current of sixteenth-notes that the rest of the band flowed on top of. Johnston and Aijala each took a couple verses of solo before things really kicked into high-gear, quickly jumping into double-time. The band ran through a few more choruses, which included a quick but impressive display of Austin’s chops on the mandolin, and brought the song to an end.

READ ON for more of Balaji’s photos and Eli’s words on Yonder…