December 20, 2007

Everyone wants to escape from the douchebaggery of the bar scene and the jacked-up prices of restaurants, but many people are still struggling to find cool events at which to ring in the new year. Considering it’s already December 20th, now is probably the time to pull the trigger make a final decision. Let’s take a look at 10 of the more interesting concerts celebrating the beginning of 2008.

1. Boy We Wish We Lived in Australia: Girl Talk, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Kings of Leon and The Go! Team rock the Falls Festival in Marion Bay, Australia

2. From MSG to the middle of nowhere in 11 years: Blues Traveler hit the peak of their popularity on December 31st, 1996 when they performed to a sold out Madison Square Garden. This year the Traveler plan to play a place just a little bit smaller. If you happen to live in Anchorage, Alaska check them out at the Bear Tooth Theatre.

3. Well This Is Why Phil Isn’t Playing on NYE: Jackie Greene takes the stage with his solo band at Marilyn’s on K in Sacramento, CA. Will Phil show up? We’re guessin’ yes.

4. Aren’t You Supposed to Cover Albums on Halloween?: Rose Hill Drive covers Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic on both December 30th and 31st at the Boulder Theater

Read on after the jump for more possible events this New Year’s Eve…

Our regular Thursday contributors Rupert and Stan from the acclaimed Ghosts of Wayne Fontes blog are back, ready to inject a sports needle into your musical ass…

What, you think we’re not gonna read the comments in our inaugural post? We are certainly not about to let a wiseass remark go unnoticed, particularly one that happens to be right in our wheelhouse. Soiled Dove, we’re granting your request to “compare epic Phish openers to epic leadoff homeruns.”

Okay, not really. That’d be a tough gig, and we’re not about to let the inmates run the asylum. So we’re opening up the parameters a bit, comparing epic openers from a variety of bands to what we’d consider to be their sporting equivalent. There really aren’t that many notable leadoff homeruns in the World Series, nor would we remember them, but hopefully our flex rules will still garner up some street cred.

Genesis Auditorium Theater, Chicago, IL, 11/20/1974 – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (click here for full video)

The mighty Genesis opened the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour with, of course, the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. It’s the epic tale of the black cloud descending upon Manhattan, sucking the island into overwhelming doom and gloom.

We can only think of one situation suitable to play the sports equivalent of this opener, and it won’t make this blog’s proprietors very happy: the 2004 Boston Red Sox’s epic comeback in the ALCS. The Yankees laid down a colossal collapse, allowing the Red Sox to comeback from the only 3-0 deficit in playoff history. Doom and gloom indeed swept Manhattan that week, and somewhere, at the moment the Sox clinched, Phil Collins…didn’t care.

Read on after the jump for the sports equivalents of Psycho Killer, Mike’s Song, Once Upon a Time in the West and several other hot openers…

The holiday season used to be about exchanging gifts with friends and family, but now a buncha musicians are looking to stuff our stockings. Last week we told you about

The popular rock band Phish doesn’t get enough credit for revolutionizing the music industry. The boys from Vermont came up with a number of innovative ideas that both made them money and made their fanbase extremely happy. One of those brainstorms was the launch of the Live Phish download program on December 31st, 2002.

Phish teamed up with Nugs.net to offer MP3 and SHN downloads for sale within 48 hours of the end of each show. For a mere $13, Phish fans were able to ignore unreliable audience recordings and download the band’s official mix each night.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Live Phish download program, Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro will stream a special edition of From The Archives on Live Phish radio at 1 PM. We can’t wait to see what Kevin has in store, as he never disappoints. We’re hoping we finally get the Albany YEM we’ve been seeking for 12 years.

• Previously on HT: Opening Up Phish Archivist Kevin Shapiro
• And read on for a must-see video of a unique and awesome take on Stash…

The girl in this video is Ann Marie Calhoun, and she’s currently out on tour with Steve Vai. But she’s also making these badass clips on YouTube — this one is fantastic.