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It’s been a while since we’ve heard from HT’s Portland, OR-based contributor A.J. Crandall for his unique, first-person accounts of seeing shows from an eclectic mix of artists in his hometown. A.J. caught a recent Bob Dylan show and has filed this report for his Through The Fog series of reviews…

As some of you may know, my wife does not exactly share my enthusiasm for live music. Where I am more than happy to slog through four and five day festivals as happily as I get in early and get up front for a rock show at any of a dozen wonderful and unique venues nearby, the wife; not so much. When we first met, I made no secret that live music was a passion of mine. Among our first dates were several shows. America and The Doobie Brothers were at a park in Beaverton. We saw several shows at the Roseland, including Joe Cocker, Little Feat and a KINK.FM Christmas show featuring Melissa Etheridge, Sarah McLaughlin and Barenaked Ladies. She ranks seeing Ian Anderson in the intimate Newmark Theater as one of the best concerts she’s ever attended.

But, God love her, she just doesn’t like it much any more. Maybe I overloaded her. I looked back at my ticket stub collection. I took her to 11 different shows in the first 14 months, including Farm Aid outside Seattle. Maybe that was a little much. A couple of years ago, she flatly stated that she was attending what could be her last rock show (Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band). Her decision was a timely one, as the recession was about to hit and I had to cut my concert budget in half. One ticket instead of two? Problem solved.

I did insist that she have right of first refusal for any show I planned on attending. Weekdays were generally a given negative. She works hard and there are times that she is fast asleep by the time I leave for a show. Same thing for new or trendy bands. She knows what she likes and it’s classic rock with a slight west coast slant. If she’s going to budget out a block of time for a concert, it should be someone she already likes. Fair enough.

READ ON for A.J.’s thoughts on seeing Bob Dylan with his wife…

Two of the better documentaries released this decade will be broadcast on Thursday afternoon. IFC shows 2003’s Tom Dowd and the Language of Music – the story of innovative producer/recording

The second leg of the fan-friendly Allman Brothers Band / Widespread Panic co-bill tour continued this weekend at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. As with most of the other shows on the tour, the Birmingham shows contained plenty of collaborations between the two bands along with this weekend’s co-conspirators DJ Logic and Colonel Bruce Hampton.

On Friday night, Derek Trucks joined Panic for a cover of P-Funk’s Maggot Brain that segued into a take on Time Is Free that also featured Hampton on vocals and Oteil Burbridge on bass. WSP’s JoJo Hermann returned the favor by adding an extra pair of hands for The Weight and Key to the Highway during the Allmans’ set. Later, Panic bassist Dave Schools replaced Burbridge on Dreams, before WSP guitarist John Bell and Schools guested on a cover of Highway 61 Revisited. Finally, Jimmy Herring added another ripping guitar to the mix for the One Way Out encore.

Saturday featured more of the same as the Allmans welcomed John Bell to sing And It Stoned Me and Colonel Bruce to sing Smokestack Lightning. Panic’s set featured DJ Logic on turntables for Dyin’ Man, Warren Haynes on guitar and Marc Quinones on perc for a cover of War’s Slipping Into Darkness, Gregg Allman on vocals and organ for a cover of Bob Dylan’s Just Like A Woman and Haynes on guitar for Bust It Big.

Here are the Birmingham setlists via burnthday from the ABB forums…

10/10/09 BJCC Arena, Birmingham, AL
The Allman Brothers Band with Widespread Panic

O: Midnight Rider >Trouble No More, Can’t Lose What You Never Had, You Don’t Love Me, Soulshine, Stand Back, And It Stoned Me*, Revival, Statesboro Blues, Little Martha > Mountain Jam > Smokestack Lightning**> Mountain Jam

E:Black Hearted Woman

O:The Take Out > Diner > Rock > Porch Song, Dying Man***, Slipping Into Darkness****, Just Like A Woman*****, Bust It Big****** > Drums* > Airplane > Pilgrims > Good People > Dark Bar > Good People > Junior

E:Expiration Day > Going Out West

* with John Bell on guitar/vocals
** with Colonel Bruce Hampton
*** with DJ Logic
**** with Warren Haynes on guitar, Marc Quinones on percussion
***** with Gregg Allman on organ/vocals
****** with Warren Haynes on guitar

READ ON for the setlists from Friday night’s show…

This was a busy week as usual for the Hidden Track Crew as we published 34 posts by 11 different contributors including the latest member of our team – Tammy

Something about a young band on the cusp heading out on tour seems to bring about all sorts of antics and funny stories. Having first come to know of the Minneapolis-based Roster McCabe after finding their spirited take on Warren G’s rap classic Regulator for an old edition of Bust Outs, we have since seen the name bantered about plentifully in the jamband circles, most recently as the Jambands.com New Groove of the Month.

In poking around a bit on their website, it quickly became evident that these guys have a close knit friendship where the music comes first, but the tomfoolery a close second. So, naturally they seemed like a fun band to check out a bit further.

What is Roster McCabe all about musically? The original songs tend to see-saw up and down through big frenetic jams and mellow reggae breakdowns throughout the course of their extended, but not belabored song structures. The most distinguishing trait would be the lead vocals of keyboard player Alex Steele who brings a hip-hop, roosty reggae energy which easily staves away the dreaded “standard jam fare” label. It’s a fresh approach, particularly for anyone who likes reggae music with a more energetic and improvisational bent.

In chatting with the band between shows in the early stages of a hefty Colorado run, we learned more about the group’s camaraderie and their music, while scoring ourselves one hell of an entry for America’s Funniest Home Videos along the way.

Hidden Track: First off, congrats on being selected to the New Groove of the Month by Relix and Jambands. That’s a big step in the right direction. Do you get the feeling that things are really kicking into gear these days for the band to make the jump to the next level?

Roster McCabe: Thank you, we were honored to be selected as the New Groove of the Month. Things have been growing steadily for us. The touring, practicing and writing has been slowly paying off, so we are just going to continue those things and see what happens. We were recently in Billboard as one of five up and coming national jam acts, so that was nice to get a little recognition for everything we have been doing.

READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with Roster McCabe…

After months of speculation, the tour dates for the first Phish Fall Tour since 2000 have emerged. Phish.com has been updated with a cute little video highlighting the dates, which

Just as with Phish’s Summer Tour, Ticketmaster and Live Nation have started posting information about dates on the group’s Fall Tour before the actual announcement of the tour by the