2004

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.

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.

With the September national release of “The Honest Hour” The Assembly of Dust

Perpetual Groove will perform ten concerts this fall in full 5.1 Dolby surround sound in support of their new album, All This Everything. Kicking off October 1 at The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, the tour will stop at nine more southeastern theatres and clubs before concluding on October 31 in Tampa for the annual Halloween Freak Out.

The Speed of Surround Tour launches in Atlanta and then heads north for a much belated return to Nashville. North Carolina gets a two night run the following weekend with tour stops at The Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh and Ziggy’s in Winston-Salem. On October 15th, Perpetual Groove makes their return to The Georgia Theatre in Athens, just in time to help celebrate Homecoming! North Carolina gets a final dose of Perpetual Groove when the band stops in Charlotte for a night at The Visulite and then again the next weekend for a special, post-SCI show at The Orange Peel. The weekend closes with an evening in Charleston at The Music Farm.

At the end of October, Perpetual Groove celebrates Halloween twice when they return to Florida for their final Speed of Surround tour stops. Join the band at the newly renovated Freebird Live in Jacksonville on October 30 and then Sunday at The Masquerade in Tampa on 31 for a special Halloween performance as we help bring Tampa’s Annual Guavaween Celebration to a close.

The tour will feature two sets each night, presented in full 5.1 Dolby surround sound. Perpetual Groove will be traveling with a live 5.1 surround system constructed especially for this tour by our friends at Renkus Heinz and our own production manager/front of house engineer, Michael Gaster. The band will perform road tested material as well as new material from their upcoming release, All This Everything, and anything else that just might suit the night.

The full tour dates are as follows:

10/01 – The Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
10/02 – The Exit/In – Nashville, GA
10/08 – The Lincoln Theatre – Raleigh, NC
10/09 – Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC
10/15 – The Georgia Theatre – Athens, GA
10/16 – The Visulite Theatre – Charlotte, NC
10/22 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
10/23 – The Music Farm – Charleston, SC
10/30 – Freebird Live – Jacksonville, FL
10/31 – The Masquerade – Tampa, FL

A star-studded roster of acts has signed on to perform as part of the Ramones’ 30th anniversary party Sept. 12 at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Red Hot Chili Peppers members Flea and John Frusciante, Henry Rollins and Rancid’s Tim Armstrong are scheduled to perform with Marky and C.J. Ramone as well as producer Daniel Rey at the event.

The show, which is already sold out, will begin with a set by the Dickies, followed by “two very special unmentionable bands,” according to RamonesWorld.com, and an address by former drummer Tommy Ramone.

Additional guests confirmed to join Marky and Johnny include Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz, the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Dickie Barrett, Pete Yorn and Rooney’s Robert Carmine. Further artists are expected to be added to the bill.

A number of these acts appeared on the 2003 Ramones tribute album “We’re a Happy Family,” including event host Rob Zombie.

Beyond live performances, the evening will host a “once in a lifetime exhibition of Ramones memorabilia,” according to the site.

The Avalon hosted the Ramones’ final show in 1996. Proceeds from the bash will be donated to the Lymphoma Research Foundation and the Cedars-Sinai Prostate Cancer Research Center.

As previously reported, Marky shot the bulk of the footage on the upcoming Ramones DVD “Raw,” due Sept. 28 via Image Entertainment.

Source billboard.com.

In 1977, American photographer Kate Simon tagged along on the bus during Bob Marley and the Wailers’ breakthrough European Exodus Tour, capturing the images that form the core of her new book, Rebel Music — Bob Marley and Roots Reggae.

“When Bob was on the road, he was playing [soccer] at every spare moment — after sound check, in the hotel rooms,” says Simon. “I think he loved [soccer] almost as much as he loved music.”

Simon’s photography is paired with anecdotes and reflections from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Patti Smith, who penned the introduction. Simon also offers extensive commentary and stories behind the photos of Marley, whom she befriended in the Seventies.

“From the first time I heard Bob’s voice and saw him sing, [I knew] this was not an ordinary pop singer,” Simon said. “This was someone who happens once every many generations and yet as a person . . . he was really accessible and really helpful.”

Only 2,000 copies of the book will be available with 350 deluxe versions signed by Eric Clapton, whose cover of “I Shot the Sheriff” helped propel Marley’s career. The wood-box bound book is available through the publisher’s Web site (genesis-publications.com). Simon’s 400 mostly unpublished photographs capture Marley everywhere from the One Love Peace concert in Kingston, Jamaica, to his home with his family. Simon also photographed Marley’s 1981 funeral. “The entire mountainside was covered with people who were just coming out in love for Bob,” she says. “It was unforgettable.

“He was something else,” Simon continues. “A really lovely guy . . . He created such a treasure trove at such a young age.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Phish called it a career last night (Aug. 15) at the end of the second day of its weekend-long finale in Coventry, Vt. Before a crowd of more than 70,000 fans, the Vermont-based jam band wrapped things up with a rare performance of “The Curtain With,” which guitarist Trey Anastasio told the crowd he’d written in 1985 while living in a cabin in a neighboring town.

Yesterday’s three-set affair was understandably an emotional one. During the second set, both keyboardist Page McConnell and Anastasio broke down in tears while addressing the audience.

Set three was a surprisingly mellow affair, opening with “Fast Enough for You” and winding down with “Slave to the Traffic Light,” before a massive fireworks display was set off just outside the concert grounds at the Newport State Airport.

The quartet was on fire during the first set, offering definitive versions of “Mike’s Song,” “Weekapaug Groove,” “Chalkdust Torture” and “Possum,” among others. Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon brought their mothers, as well as longtime manager John Paluska, onstage to dance during the jam in “Wolfman’s Brother,”

Early arrivals to the festival awoke Saturday to the news that state police had begun turning away cars approaching the concert grounds. More than 20 miles of traffic backed up on I-91 and conditions at the mud-filled camping area deteriorated due to heavy rains.

In a move that echoed 1969’s Woodstock festival, thousands of fans abandoned their cars on the side of the highway and walked or hitchhiked to the concert site, an effort profusely praised by the band once it took the stage that evening.

After a tentative Saturday first set that featured such older staples as “Run Like an Antelope,” “Axilla,” “Sample in a Jar” and a closing cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” the band hit peak form during such second set stunners as “AC/DC Bag,” “David Bowie” and “Character Zero.”

The band seemed to mirror the fatigue of the crowd during its third set, fashioning strange, psychedelic jams out of “Stash” and “Free.” But a second wind gave life to a cover of the Who’s “Drowned” and an encore rendition of the smile-inducing “Harry Hood.”

The concerts were simulcast on XM Satellite Radio and in Regal Cinema movie theatres throughout the United States.

Source billboard.com.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland have confirmed their only US show of the year.

The pair, who are currently working on songs for their third album, will appear at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles (November 20).

The performance is part of ‘A Sounds Eclectic Evening’, a benefit for Los Angeles independent radio station KCRW.

More acts will be announced in the coming months, but Rilo Kiley have confirmed support.

Coldplay made their live US radio debut on the station in 2000.

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