2007

Sometimes the Law of Unintended Consequences works to our advantage. One of the many unexpected benefits of The Police’s upcoming mega-reunion tour is that many old bootlegs have been transferred to the digital format. The Police’s official website features a message board on which fans of the band are going nuts, sharing old shows like crazy. More than 50 shows have been shared already, with the promise of many more. This week’s edition of Grousing The Aisles presents the best recordings that have been upped so far…

The Police 8/5/77 AUD (MP3):

In August of 1977, The Police was in a state of flux. Andy Summers had just joined the band, but he wasn’t content being the second guitar player. Henry Padovani, the band’s original guitar player, had a distinct punk edge to his playing. (i.e. he wasn’t really good at his instrument). The show featured here is from the Mont de Marsan punk festival in France, and it’s the only recording available of The Police that features the band as a four-piece. A few days after the gig, Sting and Copeland gave in to Summers’ request and Padovani was given his walking papers, making this recording worthwhile for its historical importance. Let’s just say Sting and Stewart made a good move picking Summers over Padovani.

Read on for some more incredible downloads of The Police in its prime…

As we promised yesterday afternoon, we’ve got some quality shit to share. The gifted ‘n talented Danfun returned from New Orleans with a boatload of sharp shots, and we’re very proud to feature his incredible pictures below. Neither of us were able to hit JazzFest this year, and if you couldn’t make it either, some of these will hopefully make you feel like you were there. Mmm, crawfish:

It ain’t a New Orleans party with Allen Toussaint. A frivolous blog asked an important query in the hours following Hurricane Katrina: “Did Allen Toussaint actually leave New Orleans or did he chain himself to the fairgrounds? Shouldn’t this hurricane have been named Sneakin’ Sally?” As it turned out, Toussaint did wait out the storm and went missing for a little while. But when we think of New Orleans, he’s one of the first faces that pops up. More than a year and a half removed, it’s good to see Allen in full effect.

Read on for 20 more photos that’ll make you wish you took photography as a kid…

We haven’t seen this announced officially anywhere on the world wide web yet, but a reliable source tells us that Farm Aid 2007 is coming to Randall’s Island in New

It’ll be more patchouli than pacifiers, blotter than beans. The Deadheads must be much happier than the Biscokids today following Jam Cruise’s initial lineup announcement that includes Dark Star Orchestra and Warren Haynes making their first appearance on the six-day floating party festival at sea.

On January 4th, 2008, Jam Cruise 6 will depart from Ft. Lauderdale with a full boat and a lineup of musicians that mixes heady ship vets with a couple of new additions. Soulive, Toots and the Maytals, Sharon Jones, and The Funky Meters join Warren Haynes and DSO amongst the newcomers. Returnees include Karl Denson, Perpetual Groove, Galactic, and Yonder Mountain String Band. And it’s officially a festival: Michael Franti will be on the boat. How you feeelin? Seasick!

Noticeably absent from the initial lineup are Jam Cruise fixtures Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits (no B.D. Eggman Revisited?). Strange, seeing as this is one festival that doesn’t even attempt to book bands outside of the scene. You won’t find Dr. Dog or Kings of Leon chillin’ on the Jam Cruise poop deck.

Rotan, Honduras and Costa Maya, Mexico — two places we’ve never heard of — serve as the ports of call for this year’s festival. Read on full Jam Cruise 1-5 lineups and an insane amount of downloads from past Jam Cruises…

Our resident photographer Danfun has returned from New Orleans, and we’ll be featuring his incredible pictures here tomorrow. ‘Til then, here’s a quick taste: It’s always a bit disheartening to see a

Our friend NoBowls Brad only writes on legal paper, and only in a language so garbled you’d need some sort of degree to decipher it. But NBB stole a day away from The Firm at the end of April to catch the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, and he filed this tardy report from the Phoenix/Scottsdale area…

How’d it happen that the (second) best band got the third worst time slot?

It’s true. Tea Leaf Green took the stage at the Triple-M fest at 3:45 on Friday, the first afternoon of a two-day festival. They were the second band to play, and needless to say, no more than 300 people in the wide open field below the red mountains in the background got to see them shred. Those 300 people, however, were fortunate enough to see TLG play a stellar hour-long set that included These Two Chairs, One Reason, a two-minute bass solo and, of course, Got No Friends in Arizona. They’re wrong, though. I counted about 300 of ’em.

In some of the pictures, like the one above, you can see two guys sitting on a couch at the end of the stage. MMMF organizers brilliantly instituted a raffle for each band, and whoever won the raffle won the chance to sit on the couch on the side of the stage during that band’s set. These two guys didn’t get up the whole time, and people in the crowd were giving them shit for it: What would you do if you were sitting on a couch while Tea Leaf Green was playing? Despite the couch dwellers’ incredible lack of enthusiasm, by the time Tea Leaf Green walked off the stage, everyone was talking about how great they were.

Read on for more of NoBowls Brad’s review and more photos from the fest…

Whether you worship it or think it’s overrated hippie nonsense, chances are you’ve got some story related to the Grateful Dead’s 5/8/77 show at Cornell University, most likely about your First Bootleg Tape Ever. We’re all well aware

That’s right, folks, the sun hath set on the weekly installments of Pullin’ ‘Tubes. Instead of the usual six videos every seven days, beginning tomorrow, PT will become a daily