2004

Vermont jam-band titans Phish will give fans who can’t attend its upcoming retirement bash a chance to peek in via satellite radio and local movie theaters. As previously reported, the group plans to call it quits after its Aug. 14-15 Coventry festival in its home state.

The band has struck a deal with XM Satellite Radio for live broadcasts of all six planned Coventry sets, as well as feeds throughout the weekend from the band’s on-site radio station “The Bunny.” The XM broadcast stretches from 6 a.m. on Aug. 14 through 6 a.m. on Aug. 16 on the XM Live and XM Music Lab channels. The band says it will post information on its Web site next week with details on a special discounted rate for Phish fans who’d like to subscribe.

For those desiring the full visual experience of Coventry, the band is planning to simulcast the event on both days at select Regal, Edwards and United Artists movie theaters. Specifics on theater locations and ticket information are not yet available, but the group says it will sell separate tickets to simulcasts on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15. This follows a theater simulcast of a June 17 concert at New York’s Coney Island.

Phish’s final studio album, “Undermind,” was released last month via Elektra and debuted at No. 13 on The Billboard 200.

Source billboard.com.

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready will preview tracks from the group’s upcoming double-disc concert set “Live at Benaroya Hall” via a live, one-hour radio broadcast beginning 8 p.m. ET Sunday (July 25). A band spokesperson confirms such outlets as WBCN Boston, KNDD Seattle, WWDC Washington, D.C., KOMP Las Vegas, XTRA San Diego, WRIF Detroit and WMMR Philadelphia will carry the program.

In addition, McCready was interviewed by XM Satellite Radio for broadcast on the Ethel XM47 show, which will air Sunday at 7 p.m. ET and Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

Due Tuesday, “Live at Benaroya Hall” is Pearl Jam’s first release since splitting with longtime label Epic, and will be issued via the band’s own Ten Club fan organization with distribution by BMG. The largely acoustic set was taped Oct. 22, 2003, as part of a benefit for the Seattle-based aid organization YouthCare.

In related news, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning on KNDD’s Morning Alternative show.

Source billboard.com.

Due to an overwhelming demand from their audiences, the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd will tour together for the first time this fall at seven performances.

The Beastie Boys, Green Day, Kid Rock and Velvet Revolver are among the more than 60 acts that will play the sixth annual Voodoo Music Experience. Following last year’s expansion to a three-day format, promoter Stephen Rehage has scaled this year’s event back to a two-day event in New Orleans’ City Park on Oct. 16-17.

As previously reported, the Pixies and Black Rebel Motorcycle are on a three stage bill that now also features the reunited A Tribe Called Quest, Paul Van Dyk, the Polyphonic Spree, the Killers, Cypress Hill, Shinedown, New Found Glory, Sonic Youth, Phantom Planet, Cowboy Mouth, Snow Patrol, Particle and De La Soul.

Also on the initial confirmed artist list is Gomez, the Thrills, Supagroup, Wylde Bunch, Kill Radio, Gooding, Ghost, Gogol Bordello and Metric, as well as Alter Bridge, the band formed by Creed songwriter/guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips with original Creed bassist Brian Marshall and former Mayfield Four singer/songwriter Myles Kennedy. More artists will be confirmed as the festival approaches.

Voodoo Music Experience tickets go on sale Aug. 2 via Ticketmaster and the event’s Web site. Tickets are priced at $40 per day or $70 for a two-day pass through Sept. 30.

Source billboard.com.

Famed producer Eddie Kramer put more than 2,000 items from his collection up for sale at the online site Backstage Auctions, including a host of rare Led Zeppelin recordings, Kiss’ 1973 demo tape, rough mixes for Peter Frampton’s iconic live set “Frampton Comes Alive” and a wealth of test pressings and acetates from Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.

“I’ve had this stuff in my basement for 30-odd years,” Kramer tells Billboard.com. “I’m actually making a move to California, so I decided to clean house. I don’t need to schlep this stuff around with me anymore.”

Among the tantalizing items available for bidding is a nine-song Led Zeppelin studio session from 1974, featuring different versions of five songs eventually released on the following year’s “Physical Graffiti” (“Custard Pie,” “In My Time of Dying,” “The Wanton Song” and “Boogie With Stu”), plus four tracks that have not been identified.

Other Zeppelin sessions include a rough mix from 1972 or 1973 of the “Graffiti” track “The Rover” on a tape that “ends with a total burst of sound,” according to the lot description; a four-song session for the album “Led Zeppelin II”; an undated early recording of tracks intended for “Houses of the Holy” that excludes opener “The Song Remains the Same”; and mixes for the 1976 live album of the same.

The auction, which also features photographs and memorabilia, concludes Aug. 1.

Two rare Herbie Hancock albums will be released Aug. 17 via Columbia/Legacy. Originally released in 1979, “VSOP Live Under the Sky” has been expanded for its maiden CD issue with 10 previously unreleased tracks taped July 27, 1979, in Tokyo. The Hancock solo studio album “The Piano” was previously available only as a limited release in Japan and is also appearing on CD for the first time.

“Live Under the Sky” finds Hancock backed by Miles Davis Quartet regulars Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, plus trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The group offers extended versions of original compositions such as “Tear Drops,” “Eye of the Hurricane” and Domo,” plus Williams’ “Pee Wee,” a holdover from the Davis years.

The second disc features different, mostly shorter versions of some of the previous day’s concert selections, plus the standard “Stella by Starlight.” Hancock has also penned new commentary for the liner notes.

“The Piano” was Hancock’s first solo piano release. It includes the Davis-associated tracks “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Someday My Prince Will Come In” and “My Funny Valentine,” plus four originals improvised on the spot: “Harvest Time,” “Sonrisa,” “Manhattan Island” and “Blue Otani.” Four alternate, previously unreleased takes round out the set.

Hancock has four more dates on 2004 touring schedule, beginning tomorrow (July 22) in Zurich. Beginning Feb. 3 in Eugene, Ore., he will hit the road with Directions In Music, featuring saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade.

Source billboard.com.