The members of Phish have remained awfully quiet since announcing their return in October, until today. On the eve of their three-night run at the Hampton Coliseum the band members
Everyone has some sort of numeric equivalent that occasionally happen into their lives. It’s how we reasonably explain coincidences. Relate them to a common occurrence and they become less rare. The less rare something is, the more it is accepted as fact. Therefore, in an effort to explain our universe to ourselves, mankind has come up with some numerical correlations that see them through the day. Celebrities die in groups of three, right? Bad news, in general, comes in threes. In bowling, three strikes are known as a Turkey. In hockey, three goals by one individual is called a Hat Trick.
Three on a match is bad luck. Three’s company. Three’s a crowd. Third time’s a charm. I’m certain there are at least dozens more, but I do try to keep it readable, after all.
I am a firm believer in the vaguely scientific phenomenon known as “The Law Of Twos”. Similar in concept to the above cited rules of three, this one requires much less verification. Take for example what happened a couple of Fridays ago. In conversation over lunch, I mentioned to the wife that I hadn’t gotten a drunken, “I love you” phone call in a long time. You know the ones, from an ex or a long lost college buddy, where in a tequila haze they find your number and call you to remind you that they were there first, they loved you before and they still love you or they still can’t forget that pass you caught in a pickup football game in 1976.
READ ON for more from AJ on The Bridge at the Goodfoot Pub…
The Glide guys have teamed up with masterminds at Pixel Bridge to create the Who’s Got My Phatty Burrito game. Click on the image below to take your best shot
In 2002 the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival kicked off their inaugural edition with a lineup filled with the biggest names in the jamband world. Over the past seven years the ‘Roo has blossomed into arguably the best festival in the country thanks to diverse lineups, fan-first thinking and a comfortable setting where both artists and attendees feel at home.
While most music fans have their sights set on this year’s installment of Bonnaroo on June 11-14 in Manchester, TN – Superfly Presents president Jonathan Mayers already has his set on who he’s going to bring to the middle of the Volunteer State next year.
The extremely engaging and wry-witted Mayers recently took some time to speak with Hidden Track about his start in the industry, the fest’s booking process, their vast vault of performances, year two of Outside Lands, the future of Vegoose and much more in interview with Jeffrey Greenblatt and Scott Bernstein. With so much ground to cover we’ve split the interview into a special two-parter, so make sure to check back next Wednesday for the rest of the interview. In the meantime here’s part one…
Hidden Track: Can you tell us about your background, how did you get into the music industry?
Jonathan Mayers: Well I started in the adult entertainment business, I was… no that’s not true. Well, I went to school in New Orleans and I was always passionate about music, but I was also an entrepreneur and had all kinds of different businesses and stuff. So I went to school there and really got entrenched in the whole music scene down there and got inspired by it and then also, I had interned at the Jazz Fest when I was a senior in college. The New Orleans Jazz Fest is one of the best festivals in the world, it’s an amazing festival, and so I interned there.
READ ON for more on late nights, nabbing The Boss and keeping things fresh…
In the opening of the new Wilco DVD Ashes of American Flags, Jeff Tweedy, donning a cowboy hat in a Neil Young sort of way, leads his band through the title track during a soundcheck at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
As the camera narrows in on Tweedy’s eyes, he stares out into an empty room looking more anxious than his status on the music scene would suggest. Although he is as established as any singer/songwriter of his generation, Tweedy still seems to have the eye of the tiger each night on stage and performs as if he’s still proving he’s worthy of a next gig.
In the span of that opening song, a tone of intimacy, both musically and visually, is set and lasts the duration of the film, the first-ever Wilco concert DVD. It’s hard to believe that a band as successful in the digital age as Wilco has waited so long to release a live DVD but it was well worth the wait.
READ ON for more of Luke’s thoughts on Ashes of American Flags…
As we’ve mentioned a number of times over the past few weeks, it was quite curious that Phish didn’t release any details about the continuation of their Live Phish program
The West Coast had it good this past month with a residency by Marco Benevento at Yoshi’s in Oakland, where he performed every Tuesday night with a different set of
Widespread Panic – Walkin’ (Live From The Georgia Theatre)
“Oh a trance is a spell/ with a thrill wrapped up inside it,” Portland, Oregon singer-songwriter M. Ward sang, six songs into his set at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington on Feb. 21. While he may not have intended it, you can’t help but think the line is a bit self-referential.
[Photos by Zachary Herrmann]
There is, indeed, something trance-like about Ward’s music, and he had the crowd deep in meditation as he took the stage unaccompanied to open the show. With just an acoustic guitar, harmonica and his voice, Ward dazzled the crowd with impeccable leads on One Hundred Million Years and Duet for Guitars #3.
An underrated guitarist, Ward is simply mesmerizing with an acoustic guitar – effortlessly balancing bass notes with lead lines on the Rev. Robert Wilkins cover Prodigal Son. He’s no slouch on electric either, later destroying the fret board – with a full band in tow – on Bean Vine Blues #2, a song by one of his biggest influences, John Fahey.
READ ON for more from Rudi on M. Ward in D.C….
You may not have heard of Tim Brantley as of yet, but after this southern singer/songwriter releases his fantastic debut album, Goldtop Heights,
The album’s first single, Damage, has already caught on at a number of radio stations throughout the country thanks to Brantley’s strong vocals and well-crafted lyrics. Tim will perform a number of songs from Goldtop Heights at Joe’s Pub in New York City on March 13 and 14.
We caught up with this Artist To Watch a few weeks ago to talk about the process of creating and self-producing Goldtop Heights…
Scott Bernstein: I’ve really enjoyed the new disc and I’ve found new little nuances each time through.
Tim Brantley: We try to put a little candy for the kids in there.
SB: Can you take us through the timeline of creating Goldtop Heights?
TB: It took a year. It was more of a matter of circumstance than anything. When I started I didn’t have a deal and I sort of was trying to do it on my own. I did three or four of the songs on the record on my own and then I got a little funding behind it and things started moving along faster. The bulk of it was recorded in a six month period.
READ ON for more of our interview with Tim Brantley…
