Scott Bernstein

Jennifer Hartswick will be releasing her second album, True, on October 2nd. Hartswick and her new band will celebrate the release of True with two special shows: September 30th at the Higher Ground in Vermont and October 20th at the legendary Blue Note in New York City. Look for our interview with Jennifer about the making of True on Hidden Track some time next week.

• Who’s nuttier? Prince celebrated the conclusion of his 21 night residency in London by singing a duet with Amy Winehouse
• Gene Stout of the Seattle Post Intelligencer spoke with Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry about the Neon Bible video
• The Flaming Lips demonstrated how extreme their stage show has become in Seattle on Thursday night
• The Sex Pistols have added to its supposedly one-off comeback after the initial show sold out in 10 minutes
• Both Modest Mouse and The Lemonheads announced fall tour dates
• The biggest names in rock have come together to support Fats Domino
• Everyone’s growing marijuana these days…even Prince Charles
• Stylus examines the history of band logos
• Metallica’s two acoustic performances at the Bridge School Benefit will be released on livemetallica.com to raise additional money for the school
• The Last Waltz is number one on Rolling Stone’s list of The Top 25 Music DVD’s of All Time — as if anything could beat it
• Our main man Neddy shares some images and words from the ACL Festival, in addition to providing a list of shows of the week
• Highlights from Queen’s 1981 run at the Montreal Forum will be released on DVD on October 30th
• Hilly Kristal of CBGB’s fame was a closet millionaire

And as always on Mondays, read on after the jump for a full slate of weekend setlists including Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Genesis and Phil & Friends’ tour opener…

Photo via ChristianJamesPhoto Friday [all times Eastern]: Velvet Revolver are Letterman’s musical guest on The Late Show [CBS 11:35 PM] The Tonight Show with Jay Leno features a performance by

The Beastie Boys announced plans for a vocal version of the previously instrumental album, The Mix-up, according to Billboard. Adam Yauch (aka MCA) says the B-Boys have their eye on

The summer has been incredibly kind to Hidden Track. Both Ace and I have seen a ton of good shows, and we’ve both come across some great music that we’ve shared with our readers. Before the season officially ends, we’re gonna point out the tracks that helped us beat the heat. This week’s B List pays tribute to 10 songs that really stood out to us this summer…

10. On July 13th Ace previewed two exclusive, unfinished tracks from A Big Yes and a small no, including I’m Always Manic

• I’m Always Manic

9. One of my favorite shows of the summer was the Crowded House performance at the Masonic Lodge on July 21st where they played a bunch of new material; the best of these was the frenetic She Called Up

• She Called Up

Photo by Adam Kaufman

8. On July 20th Ace came across an amazing video of 1,500 plus incarcerated inmates performing Michael Jackson’s Thriller

• Thriller in Prison video

Read on after the jump for seven more Songs of Summer 2007…

Our friends at Largehearted Boy have provided a nice soundtrack for your listening pleasure by listing as many Austin City Limits performances for download as they can find. Keep checking

If you thought the summer was chock full of shows, just wait until you see what’s in store for the fall. Many of my favorite bands have just started long tours that will keep them busy through the end of the year. This week’s edition of GTA looks at four shows from four bands that will each play a slew of upcoming shows.

We start with Smashing Pumpkins, who have already been on the road for nearly four months with no end in sight. And since Ace got all indie on us this week with his ACL reviews, we’ll go back to the well and check out shows from jamband favorites RAQ, Perpetual Groove, and Toubab Krewe. Just by listening to these downloads, I can tell it’s gonna be one helluva fall for us.

Smashing Pumpkins 09/08/2007 DAUD [FLAC]

We checked out a Smashing Pumpkins show shortly after they reformed, so now let’s see where the band is at after a full summer of performing. Just last week, the Pumpkins played a terrific set as part of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal. Billy Corgan & Co. headlined a terrific lineup that included Bloc Party, Damien Rice and Apple’s new pitch-girl, Feist.

Thanks to a first time taper named Matt we were able to find a crispy recording of the Pumpkins’ first post-hiatus concert in Canada. The band did a nice job of mixing in old classics among a slew of tunes from this year’s Zeitgeist. Corgan gave 1979 the solo acoustic treatment, which really shows off his underrated vocal abilities. Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes, who play guitar and bass respectively, have come a long way over the past few months. They back up Corgan really well on both Tarantula and Superchrist. The Pumpkins are back, and they sound as tight as they ever did during the James Iha/D’arcy years. Read on for more GTA…

After working hard on recording and then touring behind his first album, Page McConnell is ready to unwind a bit this fall. While McConnell doesn’t have any tour dates booked, he will be making his Carnegie Hall debut during an Elton John and Bernie Taupin tribute on October 10th.

Photo by Adam Kaufman

Page was kind enough to speak with us about the Elton/Bernie tribute, personal highlights of this past year, and what’s next for the Chairman of the Boards…

Scott Bernstein: How did you get involved with the Elton John tribute?

Page McConnell: Initially Michael Dorf, who runs the series, asked Mike Gordon or maybe even Mike and Leo to do the benefit, but it isn’t something that he is doing right now. Through (Mike’s) people, I was turned onto it.

SB: Have you prepared for the performance at all? Do you know what you are gonna play?

PM: I do know what I’m gonna play…and you know what they say about trying to get to Carnegie Hall. Yes, I have been practicing. Practice, Practice, Practice. I’ll be playing Amoreena. Also I suppose there is the possibility for collaborations. I jumped at the opportunity because I’ve never played Carnegie Hall, and I’ve been an Elton John fan for my whole life. One of my very first concerts was Elton John at the Garden in ’82. Read on for more of Scotty’s interview with Page…

I grew up with nothing but respect for Rush‘s music. But that’s not to say I ever really opened up to the trio’s material outside of the radio hits that were considered required listening at my high school.

Photo by Chad Johnson

I never got a chance to see them live, so when they announced their North American tour, I knew this might be my last chance to see Geddy, Neil and Alex play Tom Sawyer. While I’m That Guy who came for the hits, Rush impressed me with nearly every tune they played at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

When Rush took the stage and opened with Limelight I was taken back to the days when rock bands put on shows instead of just concerts. Rush isn’t one of those bands that “focuses on the music” by eschewing the use of an elaborate stage setup; they give their audience a full multimedia presentation, complete with the arena rock staples of a crazy stage, prerecorded skits, lasers and pyro.

Read on after the jump for the rest of Scotty’s review of Rush at MSG…

You may know Dane Cook for his shitty movies and jokes that appeal to the insanely stupid. But now Cook has stepped onto our turf with the release of his

When The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, they entered the studio intent on making an album that couldn’t be reproduced live. Forty years after the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Fab Faux flawlessly recreated the legendary “unrecreateable” album at the Beacon Theater on Saturday.

From the time Del Shannon covered From Me To You in 1963, artists have been trying to re-interpret the work of The Beatles. What made The Fab Faux’s performance standout is that these guys believe in the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: They played nearly every song exactly like the originals.

Since there were double-tracked vocals on Getting Better, there were two members of the band singing the same exact melody. Since Within You Without You features two different percussive instruments, so two members of the band played percussive instruments. While some cover bands don’t strive for accuracy, The Fab Faux have built their reputation on playing the songs exactly as The Beatles had recorded them. Read on after the jump for much more…