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When the producers of Langerado canceled this year’s festival in February we had a sinking feeling that was the end of the road for the annual event. Our friends at

Here’s the fourth video in the Lotus web series we told you about a few weeks ago. This installment features the world premiere of the band’s latest single, Simian, off

Words and Images: Tim Hara

The crowd buzzed with anticipation as they waited for Mike Gordon to take the stage at the packed Park West in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago this past Friday night. Rumors swirled that Gordon’s Phish band mate, Trey Anastasio, would be making a guest appearance since he was in town the day before to do an interview for a local radio station. Unfortunately for Phish fans, Trey would never show. However, the crowd didn’t mind as Mike Gordon and company treated fans to a night of great music accompanied by guitarist Scott Murawski, Craig Myers on percussion, Tom Cleary on keyboards, and drummer Todd Isler.

Throughout the two sets, Gordon and his band played a wide array of songs from old and new originals to covers. In the first set, the night kicked off with Another Door from Gordon’s most recent album, The Green Sparrow. Later in the set, the band played solid versions of Mike’s new original Can’t Stand Still and Gillian Welch’s Time (The Revelator). Things really got going when Gordon and friends delighted fans with a rocking version of Soulfood Man from from 2003’s Inside In. The set closed with Dig Further Down, another Sparrow tune.

While it seemed as though Gordon and his band needed the first set to get comfortable and loosen up, the real magic came in the set that followed. They opened with the new, short and sweet Phish song, Sugar Shack, which was penned by Mike. Next came an inspired guest sit-in by Dumpstaphunk’s Ivan Neville. The crowd roared and frantically snapped photos as keyboardist Tom Cleary and Neville sat side-by-side dueling during Hey Now Baby. After Neville left, the band surprised the audience again with a cover of Radiohead’s 15 Step. The highlight of the show came with a huge set-closing jam out of Traveled Too Far, another Sparrow song. The night ended with another sing along when the band encored with The Beatles’ She Said, She Said. READ ON for more of Tim’s thoughts and photos…

As if Phish fans weren’t riled up enough about Festival 8, the quartet has just upped the ante by unveiling a website with nearly 100 album covers of discs the band may potentially play in Indio. The only instructions on the site state “play the last record left alive” which leads us to believe that most of the album covers will be removed in some way in the time leading up to the festival giving fans a hint at what album will be covered on 10/31.

The album covers displayed on the website run the gamut from classic rock albums (Eat a Peach, Hot Rats, Pretzel Logic) to contemporary classics (Ten, Appetite For Destruction, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) to the no-chance-its-happening Pork Tornado debut featuring Jon Fishman.

In the past, Phish has never directly given their fans clues regarding the albums they cover on Halloween so this is new territory for the band. The unveiling of this “Haunted House of Albums” gives Phish fans a chance to get familiar with the potential albums before they head out to Indio for the three-day festival on October 30, 31 and November 1. For a fanbase not used to seeing their favorite band flex its marketing muscle, Festival 8 already has given us the “Save The Date” map, the first-ever full-length acoustic set and the Haunted House.

MMW’s Shack Man and Tom Petty’s Damn The Torpedoes seem to be the first two albums killed, i.e. out of contention for Festival 8.

READ ON for the full list of albums included in this “House of Albums” as well as a look at Phish’s past Halloween musical costumes…

Chicago, IL is the birthplace of House Music, and subsequently, the birthplace of Electronic Music. Sure, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno were making synth based music before this, but nothing resembling the beats and rhythm patterns that make up current day Electronic Music as a genre.

House was a product of technological advancements in studio production gear. This process is what drives Electronic Music to this day. New synths, drum machines, and software are constantly evolving and the genre follows suit. The Roland SH 101 and the Roland TB 303 were the first synths that were used to create House. They were keyboards with built in sequencers used for looping, enabling the artist to lay a foundation for their tracks as well as a bevy of oscillators and filters. These synths were expensive and most of the youth in Chicago who spun records could not afford them.

So, in reality, House Music was born in the suburbs surrounding Chicago where to this day there is still a HUGE scene of kids producing and spinning House. This is part of where House got its name as well, being produced in houses all over Illinois. Others believe House got its name from the famous nightclub that hosted underground parties known as The Warehouse.

House combined elements of R and B, Blues, Disco, and Funk with a four-on-the-floor rhythm pattern. Producers sampled records from all of these genres whether it be the vocal take, a 4 bar sample of the beat, percussion, etc. After sampling, the producers would create their unique beats and breaks to make it House. Then all the elements were brought together and mixed in a sequencer. The tracks were influenced by mixing, producing and editing styles of DJs at the time. Larry Levan, Tom Mouton, and Frankie Knuckles are great examples of the House template and set the bar for all up and coming producers.

• Essential Mix: House – Frankie Knuckles Live at Pacha

READ ON for the rest of this edition of Wyllys and the World Party…

The Mike Gordon Band tour came through the Midwest this weekend for gigs in Chicago on Friday night and Madison on Saturday. We’ll have a full report on the Chicago

Rocktober begins later this week, and we’re gonna kick it off in style with a short, partial set from Led Zeppelin in the prime powerhouse year of 1969  – a