Columns

In the three years since U-Melt released their last album, The I’s Mind, the New Yorkers have debuted – and road-tested – a batch of inventive compositions that are just

You got to hand it to KISS. They have been living the rock and roll life to an almost cartoonish degree for 35 years. They are in the middle of a tour that encompasses most of North America as well as most of the fourth quarter of 2009. They recently released their umpty-dozenth cd, Sonic Boom.

The marketing typhoon that sells KISS, the product, has been out in force, selling everything from the $1,200 Live 35 box set, featuring every minute of every concert on the current tour, to $1,000 meet and greet premium packages to KISS g-strings, panties and key chains. Is everything in between included, you ask? Damn Skippy, partner.

I have to admit that when tickets first went on sale, I had dismissed the idea of seeing KISS 2.0; Gene Simmons on bass and Paul Stanley on guitar are the only original members with sporadic members Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on lead guitar. I last saw KISS when I was in college and, as was the custom of the time, had become quite inebriated by the time the curtain went up. READ ON for more from AJ on catching KISS…

Just in case you haven’t heard, the Mimi Fishman Foundation has launched another charity auction. The auction includes a whole lot of Phish posters (mainly signed posters from late summer

After one long month of waiting since the shows, HBO will finally debut their their four-hour Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert film at 8PM on Sunday.

History will not look kindly on the show Phish played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia last night. The band threw down one of the best, if not the best, show since they reunited on Tuesday night featuring a dream setlist filled with blockbusters. We all knew what would happen the next night – a standard Phish show. And that’s indeed what happened, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a standard Phish show.

[All photos by Jake Krolick from Philly Night 1 Photo Gallery on Glide]

Phish gigs come in many different shapes and sizes with last night’s show fitting in the Rock Show category. Every member of the band seemed to be feeding off of the energy of the crowd. Some showgoers sing along with the lyrics of each song, not in Philly. This was a crowd that just wanted to move and thrash the night away. Phish complied by delivering a number of potent tunes like 46 Days, Tweezer Reprise, Kill Devil Falls and Wilson. The audience roared their approval during the high-energy parts of the night and swayed en mass throughout the softer moments.

Nothing exemplifies the rock feel of this show more than the marvelous Tweezer for the second set. Phish took plenty of time finding the proper groove as soon as the jam started. To use a football analogy – once the groundwork had been laid, guitarist Trey Anastasio found the hole up the middle and scored a big touchdown. Anastasio kept hooking up with bassist Mike Gordon on a number of creative repeating patterns while drummer Jon Fishman kept the beat intense and keyboardist Page McConnell asserted a few counter-melodies for good measure. While Tweezer may not have veered too far off script, it was powerful and a show of force.

READ ON for more from Scotty on Phish in Philly – Night Two…

My DJ Partner Lax Class just sent me this stone groove of a mix from AliOOft. It’s a Nu Disco and Re Edit saunter through some great old dance classics

In the interest of providing a soundtrack for the holiday weekend, and in case you missed one, we’re re-running the whole Stormy Mondays Acoustic Mix series, from Volume I up through last week’s installment. Hours and hours of gravely vocals and smoldering solos, Americana at its best. It’s just the right music for digesting some pumpkin pie, so as always enjoy!

SM Acoustic Vol. I
Dance, Dance, Dance – Neil Young
One More Day – The Wood Brothers
Blue Jeans Pizza – moe.
One > Take 5 – RyG
Stealin’ – Garcia Grisman
Living in the Country – Leo Kotke & Mike Gordon
Let the Morning In – The Slip

SM Acoustic Vol. II
Cassidy – GD
Predicting the Rain – The Slip
Intro > Almost Cut My Hair – David Crosby
Heart of Saturday Night – Tom Waits
Low Spark – JB and Friends

SM Acoustic Vol. II Bonus Mix
Blackbird – Bob Weir
Kind of Bird – Gov’t Mule
Motion Pictures – Neil Young
Castles in the Sand – Keller Williams

READ ON for three more Stormy Mondays – Acoustic Mixes…