Hidden Track

Was Nirvana really one of the most influential bands in rock history, or was it the most influential bullet in Kurt Cobain’s skull that posthumously bumped his trio to permanent legend status with no possiblity of a legacy downgrade?

I mean, Nirvana hit it and quit it well before the ascension of the Internets. If Kurt and Dave Grohl and That Other Guy Whose Name Escapes You existed during the irrational exuberance of the late 1990s, you just know that any album produced after 1997 would have drawn out all the cheeky, smartass sassmouths to absolutely thrash and pwn the album and the band, some constructing epic posts on PollyOnLithium.net like “If he thinks his mediocre playing’s worth a shit on this disc, he should just shoot himself in the head right now.”

A strong argument for the greatness of Nirvana hit store shelves this past Tuesday, a digitally remastered DVD release of 1994’s Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! And thanks to the good folks that make possible our Everybody Wins When I Plug Something And In Return They Offer Me Free Shit To Give Away contests, we’re giving away a free copy of this re-issue to one lucky, flannel-wearing fan.

This one’s pretty easy: Nirvana is probably right at the top of many “My Favorite Trio” lists, whether truly deserved or not. So I’d like to know which band you consider to be your favorite musical trio, be it dead or still playing, fictional or real, from bands like Nirvana to jingle specialists like Snap, Crackle & Pop.

All you gots-ta do is tell us which trio you love most and briefly explain why they’re the best ever at what they do or did. The wittier, the better. The contest ends this Sunday night, November 19th, so make yourself heard some time before then, and read on for the movie trailer and list of songs featured on this fantastic DVD…

Like most music fans, we love to indulge our inner geek. HT reporter Kristian Telschow takes you to the frontlines for a better look at how to feed that beast…

It’s a quarter before midnight on an early November Monday as I pull into the 24-hour Wal-Mart in Amherst, New Hampshire. I’m strolling through the aisles toward the electronics department, and I begin to notice a scary sight: the late night Wal-Mart shoppers are out in full force.

I spy a horde of stoned college kids chuckling at some corny T-shirts, a couple who looked like zombies doing some late-night grocery shopping and a strange Indian fellow staring at a can of Pam cooking spray for a solid five minutes. It was a wild scene in the House That Sam Built.

So why, you might ask, am I hanging at the local Wal-Mart shortly before midnight on a Monday amongst the Wal-Mart dregs, instead of on my couch watching the Seahawks beat up on the Raiders? Because Guitar Hero II goes on sale at midnight, and the Veruca Salt inside me says I have to own it now.

For the uninitiated, the original Guitar Hero’s the critically acclaimed PlayStation 2 game — nay, experience — where players can jam out a variety of tunes spanning classic rock anthems to modern-day metal thrashers. As it turns out, with an updated songbook and more fan-friendly features, Guitar Hero II’s a great improvement on what was already the genuine article, and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more. It’ll challenge everyone from the jaded GH vets to the custie n00bz that are just discovering the game now. Allow me to explain…

Attention people of Sunrise, Florida: Schools is now in session. Well, not yet — but the six-time winner of Entertainment Weekly‘s Most Likely To Be Horatio Sanz’s Biological Brother award will be rockin’ Sunrise come March. Love ’em or hate ’em, Widespread Panic will be your Langerado headliner this year. We’re pleased to announce that […]

One of the more eclectic collection of musicians since the early days of Lollapalooza gathered last night inside Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall to pay tribute to a living legend: the lucious Bobby Dylan.

Friend of HT Jeremy Welsh was on hand to report from the frontlines, and he’s done a great job of cobbling together a setlist from this once-in-a-lifetime event. And, yes, that’s actually Sandra “World’s Craziest Lesbian” Bernhard who played Like A Rolling Stone last night — now that’s a one-timer!

We at the Hidden Track home office rejoiced when we saw that Phil Lesh fulfilled his contractual and emotional obligation and played the gig. We can only hope his appearance means he’s well on the path to recovery.

Hopefully a recording surfaces soon, and when it does you can be sure we’ll post it here. I can’t even imagine how some of these songs sound. So without any more set-up, here’s a couple of words from Jeremy before we head into the specifics:

“Pretty amazing show last night at Avery Fisher Hall. The highlight of the night was most definitely The Roots’ cover of Masters of War (the first few verses were sung to the melody of the Star Spangled Banner). That was followed by Isis > Lovesick > Isis by Ryan Adams. Almost every other performance was top notch, except for Cat Power’s flake-out (House of the Rising Sun? wtf?) and the anti-climactic Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, despite the effort that Patti put in.”

Here’s an official review from the good people at Billboard. But read on for the setlist, more eyewitness commentary, a Ryan Adams video and a first-hand account of the event from The Roots’ ?uestlove…

I’d like to personally raise my middle finger to those of you that have off for Veteran’s Day. Ace and I are slaving away at work, waiting for five o’clock like the dude in Loverboy’s “Everybody’s Working For The Weekend.” Anyway, let’s dig into the Leftovers mom threw in the fridge for us… Jambands.com features […]

Umphrey’s McGee, known for its innovation in spreading the music and the gospel, has a new one for you. If you’re a taper and you circulate the show, they’ll let you in for free. You think I’m fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. UM today issued its new taping and photography policy, […]

Once again, Hidden Track can be your personal prognosticator: Warren Haynes today officially announced the details of his 18th Annual Christmas Jam, as we hinted at earlier this week. Better act quick — tickets go on sale this Saturday. Word to the wise, if you have any interest in attending this event, book a room […]

Sometimes a band needs to shake things up before it can make it to the top. Today, I take a look at the significant changes in personnel that actually have benefited the bands. I don’t usually explain my choices, but this week I’m saying, “Why not?” You’ve all been good to me, it’s the least I […]

It’s been exactly eight years since the last time I ate the fungus, the magic mushrooms. Now, I know this space’s supposedly a music blog and not a debauched forum for drug-induced narration and hippie Bacchanalia, but if there’s anything I’ve learned along the way, it’s that the two often go hand-in-hand.

The popular rock band Phish swung through Chicago (aka the Windy Apple or the City of Broad Hips) during Parents’ Weekend of my sophomore year in college. I missed the first night of the three-night stand in order to dine in style with the folks, but they departed Sunday morning and I enjoyed that night’s show thoroughly. I couldn’t wait for the Monday concert, and my over-anxiousness hurt me.

That last UIC show did not disappoint. From start to finish, Phish put on a stellar performance — one of the more underrated concerts I caught from the band. It was an all-good affair, except of course for the 45 minutes when I just completely freaked the fuck out, peaking hard in a fully enclosed arena with no air and no music to distract me, as the band was taking a break in between sets…

Most Internet banter places Trey Anastasio’s appearance somewhere between Eric Clapton and Chuck Norris. But we ran a cadre of musical portraits through the new Hidden Track Facial Recognito 3000, and as it turns out, Bob Weir looks more like the redheaded ass-kicker/name-taker than Big Red. Trey? It seems that he’s more a cross between Jane Fonda, Ellen DeGeneres and Dolph Lundgren. Seriously.

Myheritage.com is a new social networking sites for families. The site is largely negligible, except for a cool feature that let’s you upload a picture of someone so it can find celebrity lookalikes. We gave the service a spin using some of our favorite musicians, and the results may surprise you…

You’ve gotta love a piece of software that says Bob Weir looks like both a crazed murderer and the kid that fucked a pastry in American Pie. Let’s see some more…

The kind folks that produce what I consider the nation’s best music festival are promising the Langerado lineup will be announced one week from today. That’s November 15th for those of youse without wall calendars or pocketwatches or cellular telephones or any discernable people skills. So bookmark the Langerado page to see which bands will be playing […]

It’s time for our regular Hump Day Grousing Spectacular, and today we’ve got an impressive collection of audio torrents for you to hop on and download. We’ll start with two severely underrated shows from the 1980s, move into two ’90s bands that’re still rocking shit today, head into hippie-friendly territory and finish it all off with some Jay Leno favorites. Trust me, your slut of an iPod will thank me…

Talking Heads – 08/20/83 SBD
http://www.shnflac.net/details.php?id=1c619889db6041ca47525061c8c368bd3c8eef67

Stop Making Sense is one of the best, if not the best, rock films ever made. The band hit the road in August 1983 with their concept and filmed a few shows in December for the movie. Featured here is one of the first shows from the tour, and the band stretches out a bit more than they did when it was time to film. Bernie Worrell owns faces on this great sounding recording.

Please accept our insincerest apologies if you happen to be one of these girls, but life is all about having fun at other people’s expense. So let this be a lesson: If you take a picture with the jam world’s (least) favorite son and post it on the information superhighway, you might want to crop out the […]

Judging from the hundreds of e-mails I’ve received this week about the civil responsibility of voting, I’m guessing today is Election Day. My dime-store political analysis: Leave it to the Lefties to peak entirely too soon. Unbridled optimism from the Democrats suddenly became dangerously cautious optimism (with a dash of Hide the Pelosi), and the […]

We’re nearing the Christmas season and yet no announcement’s been made…

Finally, unofficial word’s starting to trickle out about the 18th Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. Bluestraveler.net reports:

“…flyers handed out at a recent Gov’t Mule show in Greensboro, North Carolina state that the John Popper Project would be part of the lineup for the 18th Annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. According to the flyers, the X-Mas Jam will also feature Audley Freed; Col. Bruce Hampton; Dave Matthews; Dave Schools; Gov’t Mule; Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives; the New Orleans Social Club featuring Ivan Neville, George Porter, Henry Butler and Leo Nocentelli; and the Taj Mahal Trio. The show will take place December 18th at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, NC; more information is expected to be announced soon on xmasjam.com.”

Caveat: If that date is indeed accurate, this would mark the first time the X-Mas jam would be held on a Monday, which doesn’t make a whole lotta sense. Being that we’re only about one month away, let’s get some answers, Warren…

Update: It’s possible the show will be that Saturday, December 16th. We’ll keep you updated as the rumors continue to flood the Internets…

I guess the fans have been on their best behaviour…it now appears as if Genesis will indeed announce details about its “Turn It On Again” tour tomorrow.

Check the official Genesis website for details on how to tune into the webcast of the 12 pm GMT press conference. But are you really going to wake up at 7 am just to hear Phil Collins announce the band’s kinda back together?

The real question is, are you excited for a Genesis reunion without Peter Gabriel?

Save the chit-chat, let’s just jump right into the links: An Aquarium Drunkard posts a great piece and a slew of downloads from the Exile On Main Street sessions Bruce Hornsby looks back at his brilliant career For those of you that thought Stevie Nicks was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, get your history lesson right […]

Not that I’m into velvet rope culture, but I was lucky enough to stroll the black carpet at the Beacon Theater premiere of the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line last November. The stars arrived and the girls dialed girlfriends to deliver reports on celebrity style. I left the theater that night admiring the acting’s obvious superiority over a somewhat mediocre script, but I still couldn’t shake the notion that nobody could truly nail the Man in Black.

I was a bit of a Cash late-bloomer. Sure, I’d always known the hits, but not until the summer in the year of our lord 2000 did Johnny ever provide the musical backdrop for such a protracted period of time for me. All summer long Cash’s ruggedly pained vocals serenaded our perpetual season of darts. He’d shout “Hey, Porter” when I’d hit double 20 or lament the time he took a shot of cocaine and shot his woman down after a just-missed-19 single three.

But the first time I heard his live performance at San Quentin, I got pretty geeked up. Part of me wanted to take a double shot of the manliest, dirtiest whiskey in the bar, smash a glass bottle on the table and stab the guy yappin’ at my lady right in the groin. Then I remembered I was a sheltered weakling from Lawn Gisland and my sudden confidence turned to envy of this man’s complete coolness.

I mention all this nonsense as a quasi-preface to this particular bit of town crying: A new, remastered two-CD, one-DVD Johnny Cash: At San Quentin set will be released to the masses later this month, and we’re offering a free copy to one lucky reader of this post. That’s right, one of youse can win the three-disc package as part of our first ever Everybody Wins When I Plug Something And In Return They Offer Me Free Shit To Give Away contest.

Some blogs pick winners at random and some like to throw out trivia, but I’d like to subjectively choose a commenter that deserves it based on their response to this question: If you were locked away in a pound-me-in-the-ass state prison for the rest of your living days, what individual musician or band would you least want swinging by the clink to provide a glimmer of hope to you and your fellow inmates? And like we’re back in grade school, explain your reasoning and show your work.

Respond early, respond often — the contest ends at midnight next Sunday evening, and a winner will be announced Monday, November 13th at a signing ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room with oversized balloons and a bunch of fancy pens. Remember to leave an e-mail address at the bottom of your comment, and make sure to check back and see if you win the fuckin’ thing.

Read on after the jump for some samples from the release and a full track and band listing from this legendary follow-up to At Folsom Prison…

Warning: If you want your asses blown out, read this post… I’m not sure if New Line Cinema’s behind this leaked tease or whether it’s unauthorized sneakiness, but the first six incredible minutes of setup for what many people are calling “The Greatest Motion Picture of All Time” have been uploaded to YouTube. Okay, so […]

This may have been the longest week ever…am I right? Well, Friday is finally here, and we’ve got our regular batch of end-week leftovers to keep you entertained: Relix gets Page Six fever with its new Rumors page Stretching the definition of jamband, here’s one for ya: Babs Streisand gets the Trey treatment, getting a drink thrown at her […]