Hidden Track

December 28th is traditionally the start of Phish’s New Year’s Run, but with an extra show this year, tonight was the second concert of the five-show jaunt as the quartet returned to the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. [Photo from 12/27 by Andy Hill] Last night’s show had it moments and the same could be […]

Photographer Andy Hill was in the pit shooting Phish for us last night and returned the following shots of the NYE Run tour opener…

[All photos by Andy Hill]

• Phish Worcester Night One: Setlist and Recap
• Worcester Videos: MKDevo 12/28 Playlist

READ ON for a full gallery of Andy’s shots from the DCU Center…

[Originally Published: August 3, 2010]

To my surprise, it was pointed out to me after our previous Cover Wars when we took a look at Any Major Dude Will Tell You, it was our first time ever selecting a Steely Dan song. Well, let’s make up for some lost time shall we? This week we’ll have a listen to four performances of Green Earrings, first track of Side Two of the 1976 record The Royal Scam.

The Contestants:

Animal Liberation Orchestra: Leading off this week we’ve got ALO who have been covering this tune since 2002 but it appears to have fallen out of rotation, at least judging by the results on the Live Music Archive which shows it last being played on Jamcruise in 2007. Source: 1-3-2007

READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

I finally got around to seeing the Single Video Theory documentary about Pearl Jam’s severely underrated Yield album this weekend. Director Mark Pellington gives us a great inside look into what makes the Seattle-based band tick as you can see from this excerpt featuring Wish List… Pearl Jam – Wish List

Six years after filming their New Year’s show at the Riviera in Chicago, which was released the following year as Wrapped Around Chicago, prog-jammers Umphrey’s McGee will film all three upcoming New Year’s Run shows at the same venue for a future DVD release. [“Settling Into The Riviera” via UM Facebook] The band also announced […]

Phish @ DCU Center (The Centrum), December 27th Phish kicked off a five-show NYE Run tonight at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. At the group’s first of two performances at the venue formerly known as The Centrum, Phish delivered two mostly standard sets filled with songs that referenced the previous day’s weather, which made […]

Since 2003, devoted Chicago bluegrass fans have traveled near and far every Tuesday night to catch the city’s resident acoustic outfit, Sexfist. While the name may spark visions of earsplitting metal, sweaty moshpits, B.O. and raging fits of testosterone, fear not! I assure you that the acoustic four-some are devoted bluegrass traditionalists right down to their suits and ties; heck they even share one mic!

Contrary to what their name entails, Sexfist specialize in traditional, finger-lickin’ bluegrass crossed with a steady mix of rock renditions and original compositions. They have a reputation for delivering high-energy performances branded with articulate picking and fluent harmonies. Really, when it comes down to it, very few Chicago bands throw hootenannies quite like Sexfist. These days the band can be found playing every Tuesday night at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. It was there where Hidden Track caught up with banjoist Chuck Oakton, and eventually bassist Bradley Longwood, to chat about the Chicago bluegrass experience.

Hidden Track: Where do your stage names come from?

Chuck Oakton: They’re porn names. It started off as a basic middle name followed by the street you grew up on. But, occasionally that wouldn’t work out so well, like sometimes it would be perfect. Like James our old dobro player he had the perfect Sexfist name, it was Michael Wildwing (laughs). Most of them are porn names and a couple of them are made up to sound like porn names, because you want there to be a consistency…like some people’s are pretty lame. Like Eric’s (guitar), I forgot exactly what Eric’s was, he’s Clutch Johnson, which is a great porn name but his middle name isn’t Clutch (laughs). So mostly it’s our middle name followed by the street we grew up on but it varies.

READ ON for more of our chat with members of Sexfist…

Dave Schools of Widespread Panic recently spoke with Billboard’s Gary Graff about the bassist’s plans for 2011, which includes touring with Stockholm Syndrome and celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his main band. The article reveals that filming for a Widespread Panic documentary – set to include both newly shot and archival footage – began at […]

While your ears will likely already be filled with plenty of Phish this week, why not add another heaping helping? This week’s Stormy Monday is a mix of vintage Vermont goodness drawn from three show in the early nineties: 4/25/93 in Geneseo, NY; 12/31/92 in Boston, MA; and 5/14/92 in Port Chester, NY. The first […]

With Snowpocalypse 2010 descending onto the a large hunk of the eastern seaboard yesterday, dumping upwards of 20-plus inches of snow and bringing more than a few things to a halt including the cancellation of last night’s scheduled NFL game in Philadelphia. As we wake up to this wintry mess, which here in Manhattan means […]