Posts by Luke Sacks

If you want to watch the strangest Christmas movie ever made, check out the Flaming Lips in Christmas on Mars late on Xmas Eve on Sundance. It took Wayne Coyne and gang eight years to make the movie, which comes off as intentionally bizarre. But if you are looking for something different to watch while […]

The Coen brothers fantastic flick O Brother, Where Art Thou? (CMT, Wednesday at 9PM) isn’t about music per se, but the soundtrack is a major part of the movie’s appeal. George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson are awesome as a trio of escaped cons in search of hidden treasure. Some of the musical […]

Today, VH1 Classic will celebrate The Beatles with a day of Fab Four programming. Highlights include an airing of Richard Lester’s 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night (8PM), the John Lennon Live in New York City concert film (11PM) and a Paul McCartney concert film – Live in St. Petersburg (Midnight). Monday, December 7 [All Times […]

On Thursday morning at 9AM, you’ve got a tough choice to make. Hopefully you’ve got DVR and won’t have to pick between Biography’s profile of Jerry Garcia and Palladia’s airing of The Last Waltz. If you don’t have DVR, watch The Last Waltz at 9AM and catch the Garcia Biography re-airing at 3PM. Monday, November […]

The Pixies will visit The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday to perform the song Debaser from their 1989 classic Doolittle. The group also will perform a second song from Doolittle, chosen by fans. you can tweet your Doolittle song choice directly to Fallon @JimmyFallon. Monday, November 23 [All times ET] Rush: R30 [Palladia […]

Kinks founder Ray Davies, one of the most underrated rock and rollers around, will visit The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS this Wednesday. Davies, who recently appeared with Metallica at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concerts at Madison Square Garden, will play two shows at NYC’s Town Hall on […]

The Beatles are all over VH1 Classic this week from Monday’s showing of John Lennon Imagine to Wednesday’s airing of 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night to the Sweet Toronto documentary of Friday which features the best of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band’s performance in Toronto back in 1968. Monday, November 9 (All Times […]

If you didn’t get enough of Indio, Calif. during Phish’s Halloween festival this past weekend, tune into Palladia at 9:30 PM on Monday for highlights from Coachella 2006, which also took place at the Empire Polo Grounds. Monday, November 2 (All Times ET) Wayne Newton: Biography [Biography 3PM] Robert Plant: Soundstage [Palladia 3PM] Led Zeppelin: The […]

In addition to doing Leno last week and Letterman this Monday, Rod Stewart will appear on The View on Tuesday and on Kimmel Thursday night to promote his Soulbook album which drops on October 26 and contains covers of soulful classics like Tracks of My Tears and My Cherie Amour. Stewart certainly has never been a […]

Dave and Jay each bring out a big musical gun this week. Leno welcomes Rod Stewart on Monday night and Letterman counters with a repeat featuring Paul McCartney on Wednesday’s Late Show. Must be nice to have a Beatle to trot out when you’ve had a rough few weeks at the office. Monday, October 19 […]

Palladia will air D.A. Pennebaker’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust on Monday at 5PM EDT. The flick takes a look at David Bowie and crew in character, including more wardrobe changes than Fashion Week. But this doc shows Glam Bowie at his best – loud, rocking and freakishly thin. Monday, October 5 [all times EDT] […]

If you are a fan of CSN&Y, you’ll want to tune into Biography on Thursday morning for looks at the C – David Crosby (8am) and the Y – Neil Young (10am) as the network airs a two hour profile of each musician. Monday, September 28 [All Times EDT] Bobby Brown: Behind the Music [VH1 […]

Biography will air profiles of two musicians that couldn’t have less in common on Thursday with looks at both Cat Stevens and Weird Al Yankovic. Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, takes his music a tad more seriously than Weird Al, the parody master who released his first album in 1983. Monday, September 21 (all […]

Jay Leno returns to the airwaves this week with The Jay Leno Show (NBC, 10PM) and in addition to the star power of Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Cruise, Robin Williams and Drew Barrymore, Leno has lined up some serious musical acts for his first week. Jay-Z, with Kanye West and Rihanna, will join Leno for his first […]

Jay-Z, who will play a benefit concert for the New York Police & Fire Widows & Children Benefit Fund at Madison Square Garden on September 11, will stop by The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday for a performance. Jay-Z’s new album, Blueprint 3, will be released on 9/11. Monday, September 7 [all times […]

It’s a good week musically for Conan O’Brien and the Tonight Show with Kings of Leon on Monday, Motown legend Smokey Robinson on Tuesday, Franz Ferdinand on Wednesday and Matisyahu on Thursday. It’s nice to see Conan mixing it up and having a nice variety of artists on the show. Monday, August 24 (All times […]

I walked out of Phish’s Hartford show thinking, “I’m glad I don’t have to write a review of THAT one.” But summing up the following night at Merriweather Post Pavilion isn’t much easier of a task.

[All Photos by Adam Kaufman]

Part of me wants to write a fairly negative review because for the most part, the song selection and placement were pretty bad. But the songs they did choose to play were played very well and there were some highlights.

I was in the pavilion and where I stood, the sound was good. But I’ve heard from numerous friends who were in good positions on the lawn that said they couldn’t hear much. I’ve been on the Merriweather lawn enough times to know I didn’t want to be there for Phish so I’m not surprised the sound on the grass was subpar.

READ ON for more of Luke’s thoughts and Adam’s photos…

If you aren’t all Woodstocked out by now, check out VH1’s Then and Now for a look at the historical festival on Wed. at Midnight. This special covers not only the music but also the logistics that went into planning the event. Monday, August 17 (All times ET) Tom Petty: Soundstage [Palladia Noon] Paul McCartney: […]

There is no denying that Phish has been absolutely killing it this summer. Let me put that out there right at the beginning to alleviate any thoughts that this list is meant to serve as a bashing mechanism. The first leg (June) of the summer tour was highlighted, musically, by Camden, a scorching final day Bonnaroo first set with Bruce Springsteen and two awesome shows in Wisconsin at Alpine Valley. July and August have proven to be just as solid with incredible stands at Red Rocks and The Gorge so far.

But equally undeniable is the fact that some of the songs Phish used to absolutely demolish are still not feeling quite right. Not that the 2009 versions of these songs have been awful but they just haven’t lived up to their potential. So while it’s early in the life of this incarnation of the band, let’s take a look at a few songs that could use a vintage version…

The Moma Dance

Black Eyed Katie + lyrics about sailing = Fantastic. With 25 appearances in 1998 (only Birds of a Feather appeared more that year) Phish played the hell out of this song and shaped it into one of their most consistently funky offerings. For a while this was a song that just kept getting better and better and riled the crowd into dance party mode.

READ ON for four more songs Phish needs to work on…

VH1 Classic airs the Janis Joplin documentary JANIS on Tuesday at 9PM. The film looks at Joplin on and off stage and features footage from throughout her career, including the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where she shared the bill with a couple of decent musicians named Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix. Monday, August 10 (All times […]