By offering such a special show to the dedicated Cleveland fans, Everfine Records and OAR have created one of the most ambitious and promising traditions to come along in the birthplace of Rock in quite some time.
For twenty one years, Phish continually challenged our ears with their complex compositions and unpredictable musicianship. For their final shows – the multi-day “Coventry” festival in Coventry, Vermont – Phish challenged their fans to the physical extremes. Of course for others, the final shows put some fans through emotional extremes as well, as a chapter in not only the band
All five original members of NYC based jazz/funk/fusion band ulu will reunite for a performance at world-renowned jazz club, The Blue Note, in Greenwich Village on September 10, 2004.
The last time all five original members performed together was November 19, 1999 at the Wetlands Preserve. This show was recorded and titled
It’s time to get registered, it’s time to vote,” says Dead guitarist Bob Weir. “If you ever want to vote again, do it now. I’m not telling people who to vote for. I think they can figure it out. But I will say this: If every Deadhead in the state of Florida had voted in the last election, it’d be a very different world right now.”
Never known for mixing their music with politics, the Dead — the abbreviated name for the post-Jerry Garcia incarnation of the Grateful Dead — have taken up a cause: removing George Bush from office. The group has even been playing “Johnny B. Goode,” the Kerry campaign theme song, during shows. According to Weir, the Dead’s move into political activism came from a sense of urgency.
“It occurs to me and the rest of the guys that this may be our last meaningful election,” Weir says. “If we continue to drift the way we’re drifting, the United States will become a democracy in name only. Instead of government of the people, by the people and for the people, we’ll have government of the people, by the elite and for the elite, and the people will come secondarily.”
The Dead kicked off their summer-long Wave That Flag Tour at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee on June 12th, and it ends Thursday in Atlanta. The outing is the latest step in a revitalization of the band, which reunited in 2003 around the core of Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. They streamlined their organization, cutting the employee roster in half and outsourcing merchandising and ticketing operations.
This is their first tour with a three-guitar lineup that includes new addition Warren Haynes. According to Weir, differences among band members have largely been resolved. “Going into this, I was thinking maybe we were gonna need a traffic cop,” says Weir. “But everybody’s listening to everyone else, and Warren has made us a little more muscular.”
The tour hasn’t been smooth sailing. In June, the Dead sold out only three of five nights at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, and they played to half-empty houses in Phoenix and Salt Lake City. But Weir says the crowds have been enthusiastic — and young. “There are kids up front who don’t mind the elbows,” he says. “A few rows back, they get a few years older.”
The group will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2005 and plans to launch a major U.S. tour next year. Rhino Records will release several studio reissues and rare live material. Asked whether the band plans to put out new music, Weir says, “I don’t know if albums are the way it’s going to be done anymore. With downloading, the album may be an obsolete concept. If there’s some reason to put out a group of songs together, we may do that. We’ll be recording all along. We’ve written a few new songs already.”
Source rollingstone.com.
Chris Robinson has canceled plans for a fall tour with his band New Earth Mud, amid growing speculation that he may re-team with his brother Rich under the Black Crowes moniker. As previously reported, the siblings have met recently with former manager Pete Angelus to discuss a potential reunion.
Angelus declined to comment, other than to say, “Keep your resin-covered fingers crossed.”
Rich Robinson is prepping for the Aug. 24 release of his solo debut, “Paper,” via his own Key Hole imprint. There’s no word yet if he will tour in support of the set, in the wake of recently completed pre-release residencies in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
Also foreshadowing a reunion is the recent reactivation of the Black Crowes’ Web site, which has been largely dormant since the group announced a hiatus in 2002. The site hosts animation of two crow heads with lit joints in their mouths, as live Black Crowes audio clips play in the background.
Source billboard.com.
