Hidden Track

Scott Metzger is a free agent again. And if the music world were as financially rewarding as professional sports, the 29-year-old guitarist would surely command a healthy contract above the market rate.

Metzger wisely de-Part-ed everyone’s favorite late-night technojamband in late July, ending the odd mismatch that saw him playing straight rock in a group that mostly fused together trance, boredom and epileptic seizures. Chalk it up to a learning experience or call it decent exposure, the end result is a reinvigorated songwriting guitarist with a narrower focus and a newfound determination.

I sat down with Metzger to see what lays in store for New York City’s rock scene and the rest of the country, and what follows is a Chris Farley-style “That’s awesome!” interview jumping from topic to topic and back to previous topics. But fans of Metzger, and those unfamiliar with him, will certainly come away impressed with his intellect, his honesty, and most of all, his love of having fun on stage.

My hard-hitting questions didn’t cause him to make the face above — it’s possible his underwear was as brown as his shirt in this Six Flags’ Great Adventure photo from the Nitro ride — but Metzger did open up about possible plans for a Bustle In Your Hedgerow tour, the long-awaited Danjaboots album, the status of RANA, a job offer from James Brown, his father’s methodone clinic, teaching kids to rock, and learning to play Metallica on a nylon-string acoustic guitar. Get on it…

It may be Monday, but we can take some solace in the fact that we have a short week in front of us. Remember, New Year’s is only five weeks off at this point, so start making those plans, concert or otherwise… Hall of Fames officially jump the shark after the Long Island Music Hall […]

Here’s the story you’ll hear 32 times today: “Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.” Come to think of it, besides Jackie Childs and that family that George busts […]

I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan of the self-aggrandizing weekly recap most bloggers enjoy, but considering we’ve published 70 posts on this here rag in less than a month of full-scale operations, there’s bound to be some shit that’s slipped through your cracks. Hmm, maybe there’s a better way to say that… […]

Sports fans around the country were saddened to learn that former Michigan head coach and athletic director Bo Schembechler had died at the age of 77. Perhaps the group of people most surprised by the mellow-harshing, morbid news was a Columbus-based punk band called the Dead Schembechlers. In the wake of the ol’ ballcoach’s passing, […]

My good friend Russ Kahn — better known in some circles as the entreprenurial young man that created the “101 Songs” Phish poster — took his sweet-ass time posting his usual encyclopedic concert and/or festival summary. But good things come to those who beg slackin’ slackers to get the fuck motivated, and Russ’ finished product is easily the best personal summary of Vegoose anywhere on […]

You can breathe again, it’s Friday. While you get your plans together for tonight, check out these items from Al Gore’s Interweb: MSG officially announces that it has leased the Beacon Theater, and if they change the name I will chain myself to the marquee Beck wants to be a jamband Guitar pyrotechnics from Wednesday night’s Umphrey’s […]

It’s become moderately fashionable to over-appreciate and impersonate the genius of Michael McDonald. After living in the wayback of the public consciousness for the better part of two decades, the former Doobie’s legacy and career were resurrected by two important events: First came the Ain’t No Mountain High/Ain’t Nuthin’ Like the Real Thing MCI commercials […]

Marco Benevento knows his math. The bearded hipster pianist wisely chose to set up a regular Wednesday residency at Tonic on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in November, which fortunately for all of us, has five Wednesdays. As Cosby would say, that’s “One, two, three, four, fiiiiive Marco Wednesdays.” Bonus.

Last night’s over-before-it-started, 70-minute show marked the middle gig of Marco’s Novemberstand, a (mostly) solo performance full of experimental covers and spacey loops. Somehow he ended up with more equipment on stage than most full bands, but like a musical polygamist, I’m pretty sure he spent a little time with every one of them: the grand piano, the electric piano, the tiny keyboard, toy circuits, drum pad, you name it. Still, the per instrument set-up to play-time ratio couldn’t have been lower than 5:1. I made that up, but it sounded good.

Marco began with Randy Pink Floyd’s Fearless, then followed that stellar beginning with terrifically tickled homages to Thelonius Monk (Bye-Ya), Leonard Cohen (Seems So Long Ago, Nancy) and Radiohead. He even played a lesser known Duo tune off Best Reason To Buy The Sun, Welcome Red, before saying something like “Joe [Russo] is gonna kill me for playing that.” But if a recording of this show ever surfaces, that Monk tune — a grand piano jazz performance devoid of all his typical layers of sound — floored me more than any of his other inventiveness.

Marco eventually called up to the stage his occasional collaborator and preferred rock shredder Scott Metzger for three songs near the end of his set. The lowercase duo kicked it off with a Combustible Edison tune, hightailed it into the capitalized Duo’s Abduction Pose and finished it up with a Happy Birthday-infused cover of Ween’s Birthday Boy (read on below for a couple of videos I shot of these last two). As much as I loved the solo stuff, Metzger took the night’s proceedings to a higher level, his understated-ness notwithstanding.

You’ve got two more chances to see Marco & Friends down at Tonic this month. Next Wednesday features the keyboardist with three drummers — Sir Joe Russo, Bobby Previte and Mike Dillon (and where there’s a Mike D there’s usually a Skerik, but…). Make it your beeswax to get down there and see what unfolds…

Just think, one week from today we’ll all be off and celebrating the turkiest of all days. We’re almost there, and to help you get to the short week faster, check out this list of 19 bands that have never played Bonnaroo. Why not an even 20? Because that’s how I roll. Keep in mind the band […]

Because sometimes you just gotta share cool shit with your friends… I love the brief description of this video on YouTube: “Just because you dont know how to play the piano or drums doesnt mean you cant make music. This must have taken a long time to compile. Well done Lasse Gjertsen.” Well done indeed, […]

We’ve gone grousing the aisles once again to help you get over this week’s hump. This edition returns to our jambandian roots, with a few clever diversions into classic rock. We’re moving beyond torrents and opening up the floor to streaming shows, as well as MP3 downloads. Don’t worry, we’ll alert you as to what’s what.

Benevento/Russo Duo – 11/3/2006 Matrix (FLAC)
bt.etree.org/details.php?id=501756

Compliments to The Duo — it’s a very fan-friendly move to allow tapers to record matrix versions and spread them within days of the show. The sound quality on this particular show is amazing, and it helps that the band kicks the proverbial asses of Something For Rockets, Becky and 9×9. The Duo gets better every show they play, and we look forward to watching their continued upward trajectory.

Read on for more on The Clash, The Who, The Santana, The Umphrey’s, The Phish, The Grateful Dead, The J. Geils Band and more…

The lineup for the 5th Annual Langerado Music Festival is now officially out there, and it looks pretty damn good. Save all your anti-jamband bullshit for Coachella, ya hipster doofus, this one’s gonna be down and dirty.

The Langerado Music Festival is known for kicking off the country’s festival season each March by attracting thousands of music lovers from all over the country to sunny South Florida. Today, the region’s premier music festival makes its first announcement regarding the artist line-up for its fifth annual event, happening at Markham Park on March 9, 10, and 11, 2007. Reputed for always gathering a diverse collection of today’s hottest artists, 2007’s Langerado Music Festival is thrilled to host Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, moe., O.A.R., Matisyahu, Micheal Franti & Spearhead, Paolo Nutini, The Disco Biscuits, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Toots and the Maytals, Los Lobos, Blackalicious, Yerba Buena, Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, Rodrigo y Gabriela and many, many others. Visit http://www.langerado.com for the complete list of confirmed artists, with more artists still to be announced.

Good lord, I know it’s a pipe dream, but what I wouldn’t give to see Trey take the stage with Stevie Malkmus and MMW. Greyboy, Toots, Tea Leaf Green, The Slip, Bela, moe., Panic, and look out for Band of Horses, Apollo Sunshine, Sharon Jones and Assembly of Dust — this thing is a dream lineup for this here sucker.

Tickets go on sale to the public December 1st, and the late-night shows will be announced shortly. Read on for the full lineup, and let us know what you think — are you a holier-than-thou hipster that’s pissed there’s no Death Cab for M. Ward, or are you a satisfied wook ready to sling phatty grilled cheese in the lots?

“Oh,” she shrugged. “You’re one of those guys.”

I’d been chatting up a leggy blonde at someone’s rooftop party well past midnight when she lobbed that one at me. The topic of conversation had turned to music at some point — it so often emanates from geeks with beat game — and having just run the table for six straight Beirut victories, my voice must’ve conveyed a loud conviction that bordered on either batshit insanity or total deafness.

“One of which guys?” I asked sheepishly, trying to play cool the fact that during my pointed lecture I had just spat on her face, breast, chest neck and head.

“You know, those guys,” she retorted. “Those guys in their twenties that talk about The Band like they’re the greatest thing in the world, as if possessing such a love for an obscure group of rock musicians you weren’t even old enough to see makes you cooler than everyone else, when really it just makes you an elitist that refuses to play nice with his own generation.”

“Look, ma’am,” I began with arrogant charm, “I make no apologies for wearing my love for the most underrated mostly non-American band in American rock history on my short sleeve for the world to see. You know how they say if we didn’t jump into World War II that all of Europe would be speaking German right now? Well, if The Band hadn’t hung ’em up in 1976 we’d all be singing Canadian-Injected Southern Country Soulful Rock right now. You don’t assemble a collection of fucking talent into one band often enough that I’m willing to just brush them into the dustpan of misplaced rock. Music From Big Pink? I mean, c’mon…”

“I’m gonna go get another beer,” she mumbled, inching away slowly. “Bye.”

I know that all sounds more like an anecdote in a J. Peterman catalogue than a newsy blog post about a new tribute album hitting shelves on January 30, 2007, but I felt the need to preface my first real post on here about The Band with a full disclosure of my belief in their greatness. Nobody puts The Band in the corner.

So when ScottyB e-mailed me the information that 429 Records is releasing Endless Highway: The Music of The Band early next year, I perked up like I’d stumbled upon a cache of free porn. Hornsby on King Harvest? My Morning Jacket on It Makes No Difference? The Allmans on The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down? ALO on Ophelia? I’m normally not a tribute album guy, but buying this disc sounds like a total no-brainer, a real Schiavo. Read on for the full setlist…

With Phish now defunct, our only chance to hear unreleased music sits idly in the band’s extensive archive. As the band’s archivist for the past 10 years, Kevin Shapiro holds the key to the vault. Luckily for the fans, he’s a good man, and thorough, with an incredible ear (probably two).

Recently Kevin graciously took time to answer a few — well, eight — questions about the new Colorado ’88 issue, under-the-radar Phish shows and more…

Scott Bernstein: Why Colorado ’88? How did the idea come up?

Kevin Shapiro: When I discovered Phish around 1990, that first tour was already the stuff of legend among Phishheads. In that sense, I’m sure the general idea pre-dates me working with the band. One of the first things I did on the job was work with Shelly to get the master cassettes from Mike Lynch to keep safe in the archives. He always hoped they’d be released someday.

In the past couple years we’ve released some landmark Phish: The Island Tour, New Year’s Eve 1995 and Live in Brooklyn; plus, downloads of New Orleans Relief and the fall 1994 Olympia and Salem shows. Colorado ’88 is the earliest live Phish release, and it’s a crucial link in the chain. The composition, improvisation, intensity and wit in the music and banter are really powerful, as is the sense of being with the band in such an intimate setting. It’s must-hear Phish.

When Mike Lynch recently requested his tapes back, that was kind of the final straw to convince the band it was time to release the best of the run…

In an effort to continue wasting your valuable time, we now present you with this blonde-haired, blue-eyed installment of our regular Tuesday department piece… It’s always fun watching two grown men sing into the same mike, especially when those dudes are Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, Slow Hand and Slurred Speech. They stand so close […]

…the environmentally friendly Green Apple Music & Arts Festival is growing. As had been widely expected at the conclusion of this April’s inaugural Green Apple in New York City, America’s Largest Earth Day Celebration will officially expand into Chicago and San Francisco for the weekend of April 20-22, 2007. That’s all we got for now, […]

We’d like to thank you all for entering the Johnny Cash: At San Quentin contest, and we really wish to give you all free DVDs. But we can’t, and now that we think about it we probably wouldn’t, because you’re all are bastard people. If you’re wondering, King of Rock won the three-disc set with […]

It’s not often music fans find an opportunity to screw over Clear Channel, but businessman Bill Sagan did just that. Four years ago, Sagan bought legendary concert promoter Bill Graham’s archives on the cheap from the media giant, and he’s continued to leverage every piece of material in the collection. For us, it’s only getting […]

Welcome to another week of work and dress shoes. On the bright side, next week is already Thanksgiving, so stay strong, and stay black. As usual, Hidden Track helps you adjust to the dimness of Monday with a healthy serving of links: A huge score for us: Wolfgang’s Vault adds streaming audio, with over 300 concerts available […]