Hidden Track

Anyone else have that Asti Spumante Nando Wine “Taste the good times” commercial from the ’80s in their head? Just me? Ah, fuck it: Links! Some top-notch Langerado photos from Scott Galbraith Papa Glide Magazine unleashes Version 3.1 Don’t fuck with Levon, ‘cuz he’ll sue your ass A review of NYC’s newest venue: the Gramercy Theater Chicago is letting The […]

New York City’s Meatpacking District ain’t just for drugged-up clubbers anymore. Nope, now it’s for drugged-up music fans as well. The Highline Ballroom — owned and operated by the family behind BB King’s and the Blue Note — will mark its grand opening on May 1. And so far, the bookers have done an incredible […]

We’re continuing to recruit new talent to HT in an effort to provide you with more web junk to help you procrastinate at work. Today we offer our first post from Danfun, the photogenius behind the Who’s Driving The Bus? blog.

A sword sallower, a burlesque escape artist and three generations of rock and roll converged on the Webster Hall stage last night for fantastic evening of music.

Damon Albarn‘s amazing new supergroup, The Good, The Bad and The Queen, played its first North American show last night. A far cry from his old groups, this band features Clash bass player Paul Simonon, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and afrobeat pioneer and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen.

Read on below for more photos from The GB&Q’s continental debut…

For this week’s installment we turn south once again, continuing the nonstop coverage of Langerado into which we’ve somehow fallen. But, for us, the true beauty of the Interweb lies in the ability to live something in reality and then live it all over again online. And for alla’youse that didn’t get a chance to make […]

I just finished watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and oh my, what a train wreck. The only salvageable parts were REM’s performance and the footage from past ceremonies. Once Velvet Revolver was signed up to play Van Halen songs, I knew we in trouble. Here’s some more trouble, a Tuesday link dump: Past […]

As Widespread Panic referenced New York City during last night’s Bust It Big, I got a little sad that Langerado had come and gone. For the second year in a row it was a flawless weekend at the little festival that could.

And I was so impressed with Widespread’s headlining set, I flashed them as they left the venue behind a Sunrise Police cruiser. I’m sure Schools appreciated that.

There were only two complaints I heard all weekend, one of which is a fair criticism, and the other is just another case of jamband fan idiocy. A few days before the festival an e-mail update went out that mentioned a second exit out of the park that would relieve traffic congestion. Let me know if anyone found that supplementary egress, because I spent all weekend searching for it.

But the other criticism is ludicrous: the people complaining about the lack of an encore from Widespread. Panic walked off stage at 10 pm after playing a 150-minute, greatest hits blockbuster set that maybe contained two minutes of downtime. A large group in the crowd audibly booed when Annabel Lukins came out to announce the show was indeed over when the crowd didn’t leave. She must have been psyched to get that plum assignment.

Langerado has a strict 10 pm curfew. My hotel was three miles from the main stage and you could hear the music clearly from the festival, so I can understand how the organizers weren’t looking to blow through the curfew on a Sunday night. Panic consciously decided that instead of wasting five minutes leaving the stage and coming back for an encore they would just play until the curfew. People should be applauding that decision. We actually got extra music, dumbasses.

Anyway, with the brief lecture over, let’s take a look at some more of my favorite things seen and overheard around the Langerado festival this year…

We’re planning to bring you as much coverage of the kickoff to festival season as possible, just because we can. And if you think we’re gonna play it straight, you’ve got the wrong guys (or you’ve fucked with the wrong Marine).

Some photos are posted below and individual set reviews and downloads are forthcoming, but here are some general news and notes from Langerado…

–I want to resist the massive, ongoing My Morning Jacket bukkake film the music blogs are creating together, but they really are that damn good: They just fuck your face more than any band I’ve ever seen. MMJ’s especially talented at hitting that high peak and wailing on it for a while instead of letting it back down, and every time that happens I picture Kelly Preston in Jerry Maguire screaming “Don’t ever stop fucking me!” Every single time. Um, am I alone in that?

–The Swamp Tent wasn’t all that crowded for Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, and I’m thinking this was probably the biggest mistake many people made during the festival. I’m all for moe., but Malkmus’ band is incredible and the Langerado faithful have fewer opportunities to see his shows. Throw in the fact that he’s an equal opportunity employer –- the chicks in the band are fucking amazing — and this was a must-watch performance. SuperDee turned to me at one point and said, “He really makes me want to do heroin.” I think she was kidding, but I agree.

—Michael Franti really fits in well in South Florida. He asks “How you feeeeelin’?” more than most Jewish mothers and grandmothers I know. If this whole musician thing doesn’t work out for him, I suggest Franti move down there and open up a delicatessen specializing in chicken soup. Franti’s set was enjoyable, the highlight being the cover of What I Got > Sesame Street > What I Got.

Read on for more thoughts and briefs from the weekend that was…

A handful of news stories broke while your friendly HT staff concentrated our efforts on the kickoff to festival season down at Langerado. It kinda reminds me of Die Hard With a Vengeance. We fell for it hook…line…sinkah. So let’s take a look at some of the shit that went down outside the state of […]

Another glorious day in the Florida sunshine, 85 degrees with a breeze and a 90 percent chance of fucking awesomeness. There’s something about Langerado that’s really challenging every band bring its very best.

We’ll take it, and we’ve been treated to some truly mesmerizing festival performances this weekend. So piggybacking on top of yesterday’s photo gallery, here are 20 more shots to whet your appetite for more coverage to come. Our friend Teddy served as the staff photographer for the weekend, and we thank him for all the photos contained herewithin (except for the last one).

I love this shot above, a cigarette-smoking Elgin Park and beefed up Karl Denson during the amazing Greyboy Allstars set. We got the good Greyboy today, the rockin’ funky give-it-to-us Greyboy. Is it just me or has Greyboy been so much better since Barry Bonds joined the band? Jeeez, test Denson’s urine. Nobody puts on that kind of muscle mass after the age of 35. Before you discount it, remember that Greyboy is from California. BALCO anyone?

Read on for 19 more of Teddy’s great photos from the second day of the Langerado festival, including Toubab Krewe, The Slip, Soulive, JJ Grey & MOFRO, Michael Franti, MMW, My Morning Jacket and the Disco Biscuits…

With Langerado serving as the unofficial kickoff festival season, many musicians take the opportunity to stroll the grounds and see other bands they respect. Thus far we’ve spotted the following people in the festival crowds: The Slip rocks out on Saturday (photo by Teddy) My Morning Jacket watching The Slip perform Ivan Neville, Futureman, and Luther Dickinson taking […]

It’s 2 am on the East Coast, and I’m earnestly tired. I honestly forgot how draining these days are: 10 hours of nonstop live music in the sun on three stages with anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people to navigate.

The day itself was, in a word, prettyfuckingawesome. I’m not sure how any band combination for the rest of the weekend will top the Assembly of Dust > Tea Leaf Green > Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings triumvirate we caught from 1 to 4 pm today, but I’m certainly willing to field offers over the weekend’s remainder. Every band we saw brought its A-game to Langerado, ensuring that every muscle in my body is sore. I can hardly type. I’m in terrible shape apparently.

It’s an interesting crowd at Langerado. But, rest assured, this guy is here:

Obviously we’ll have plenty more about the actual music as we proceed this weekend and into next week, but I’d like to first offer these pictures, which I’ve always been told are worth, like, a thousand times a word…

Former 70 Volt Parade lead singer Trey Anastasio kicked off this year’s Langerado festival with a three-hour show at Ft. Lauderdale’s Revolution. So what was Big Red’s first song out of rehab, on the road and not at the Y? Shine. The more things change, the more things stay the same. I moved around quite a bit, considering how […]

Scotty’s already down in Florida and I’m out the door. Trey awaits at the Revolution tonight, and then scores of our favorite bands will likely greet us with fantastic aural hospitality over the next three days. I purposely didn’t excerpt The B List post below, so scroll down for 10 awesome YouTube videos featuring must-watch […]

Last week I kicked off a two-part look at the best covers buried amongst the two million videos on YouTube. So let’s finish that up this week — kindly turn your attention to this batch of 10 more outrageous covers… 1. This funny vid of Kermit The Frog covering the Talking Heads’ Once In A […]

After this post I’m off to Florida for some rest and relaxation…oh, and also an adult dose of great music and general good times at Langerado.

Before I check out (I’m already checked out mentally), you should check out the latest edition of Grousing the Aisles. This week we’re featuring a rare 1990 Bruce Hornsby show, the Cracker duo in Pittsburgh, an amazing Leo Kottke gig, and one of Addison Groove Project’s farewell shows. Enjoy the cold weather, suckers!

Bruce Hornsby 12/16/90 SBD (FLAC):

Over the three years that Bruce Hornsby was a member of the Grateful Dead he didn’t have many opportunities to play gigs with his own band. Hornsby only played six shows with The Range in 1990 after he joined the Dead, and that list includes this terrific show from the Concert Theater in Ventura, California.

For this performance Hornsby augmented the Range’s lineup with Shaun Murphy (Little Feat) and Laura Cramer on backing vocals. From the On The Western Skyline opener through the rest of the show, the ladies’ voices make a strong impact, giving a rare vocal fullness to Hornsby’s greatest hits. During recent shows Bruce may play one or two of his radio hits, but on this night he played them all. Hornsby also played Jacob’s Ladder and The End of the Innocence: two songs he wrote that were made famous by Huey Lewis and Don Henley, respectively.

Hornsby is energetic and enthused throughout the entire show. In many interviews Hornsby has complained about the rigid structure that had become entrenched in the routine of being a member of the Grateful Dead. Throughout this show Hornsby sings and plays piano like a man being let out of a cage. I’ve been searching for a Range show from this time period for a while, and it was worth the wait. If you like Bruce, you’ll love this show.

Read on for more music from Kottke, Cracker and the Addison Groove fellas…

We’ve got a juicy rumor that seems to be making the jump to fact. A number of industry sources have indicated to us that the North American segment of the Live Earth festival will be held at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens.

Hey, Gore, Shea is a shithole. Perhaps the organizers were feeling a bit of nostalgia, as the home of the Mets will be closing after the 2008 baseball season.

Aside from the word of our sources, here’s another clue: The Mets will be away from the park from June 29th to July 11th, giving the organizers and field crew plenty of time to assemble and take down the stage and production elements.

The 07/07/07 Live Earth is a 24-hour festival billed as the “The Concert for a Climate in Distress.” Al Gore, the main spokeperson for the worldwide event, says it will take place at seven separate locations, each one on a different continent. Confirmed locations include London’s Hyde Park, Johannesburg, Shanghai, and Sydney. The venue in Antarctica has yet to be announced, but I have a feeling that will be an easy ticket no matter at which igloo the bands play.

The performers that have been announced at press time are:

* AFI * Akon * The Black Eyed Peas * Bloc Party * Bon Jovi * Corrine Bailey Rae * Damien Rice * Duran Duran * Enrique Iglesias * Fall Out Boy * Faith Hill * Foo Fighters * Genesis * John Mayer * John Legend * Kanye West * Keane * Kelly Clarkson * Kenna * Korn * Lenny Kravitz * Maná * Melissa Etheridge * Paolo Nutini * Pharrell Williams * The Police * Ray LaMontagne * Red Hot Chili Peppers * Robin Thicke * Sheryl Crow * Snoop Dogg * Snow Patrol * Tim McGraw

Read on for more on the storied history of rock concerts at Shea Stadium…

Every week in Wednesday Intermezzo we throw you a link to the latest edition of the Grateful Dead’s Taper’s Section. If you haven’t been clicking on that link and downloading all the tracks on the page, you are truly missing out. David Lemieux and the archive staff are releasing tasty rare nugget after nugget each […]

On a day rife with major news announcements in our cosy corner of the music world, I offer youse our regular Tuesday department for your consumption… Think The Gourds’ unique take on Gin and Juice was both clever and well-played? Well, this clip puts it to shame. To shame, I says. Check out this fucking […]

The Chairman of the Boards, Page McConnell, will be playing his first gig in promotion of his new solo album on April 4th at New York City’s Gramercy Theater. Page’s band will be the same group he played with at moe.down, only with Gabe Jarrett (Jazz Mandolin Project, Vorcza) replacing Jon Fishman on drums. Ticket […]

My one-year-old nephew is gonna be fuckin’ stoked to hear this news: Children’s entertainer Laurie Berkner will be one of the headliners at this year’s Green Apple Music & Arts Festival. Having just spent an entire afternoon at my kin’s birthday party listening to Berkner’s entire catalog, I can safely say that the tradition of wacky jamband lyrics will surely remain alive at this particular festival.

Check out the list of the other headliners at the upcoming three-city Green Apple festival, courtesy of Mike Greenhaus at Relix:

Bob Weir and RatDog, Taylor Hicks, Decemberists, Umphrey’s McGee, the Disco Biscuits, Greyboy Allstars, Kaiser Chiefs, Stephen Marley and world-famous children’s performer Laurie Berkner are among the artists scheduled to headline the second annual Green Apple Music and Arts Festival.

As previously reported, the world’s largest Earth Day celebration will expand to three cities this spring, simultaneously taking place in New York, San Francisco and Chicago from April 20-22. Produced by Relix Magazine and Peter Shapiro and presented by JP Morgan Chase, Green Apple is a direct descendent of New York’s famed Wetlands Preserve, which meshed music with activism. In total, Green Apple will present over 150 performances in 60 music venues.

It’s certainly not as powerful as I had hoped for, especially in New York, but at least I know I’ll be solidly entertained for a pleasant three-day span next month. Read on for many more details on which artists are playing in which cities, as well as what the people of New York, San Francisco and Chicago are in for…