2007

Remember when 70,000 people showed up to an inaugural Bonnaroo for a lineup consisting exclusively of jambands and improvisatory musicians? The crowd hasn’t grown much in number since then, but the festival’s stature and credibility have increased tremendously. At this point you’d have to consider this camping behemoth one of the more preeminent festivals in the world.

And it’s possible that 2008 will continue to see to ‘Roo cement its reputation. The blogs and message boards are abuzz today after the Digital Media Wire passed on a rumor that Led Zeppelin and Metallica have just signed on to play Bonnaroo ’08. This wouldn’t be the first appearance of a member of Led Zeppelin at Bonnaroo — last year bassist John Paul Jones participated in the SuperJam at the festival and sat in with Uncle Earl and Gillian Welch on a few tunes.

If true, can you even imagine how much money Superfly and AC Entertainment had to have thrown at Zeppelin’s management to convince them to sign? Considering Bonnaroo grossed $17 million last year, we’re thinkin’ a million dollars isn’t out of the question. We don’t envy the competition: This summer’s festival season is sure to be intense with Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo and the newly announced Vineland Festival all attempting to outdo each other. For now this is just a rumor, but it sure is fun to think about the possibilities.

I’d call this a full weekend, with bright spots abound. I watched two friends enter the eternal bond of matrimony then walk back down the aisle to the sounds of

It tears us up every time we hear him drawl that Southern drawl, and we’ll have that opportunity once again: Levon Helm returns to New York’s Beacon Theatre on March

Get ready for more makeshift, mediocre, misguided Fillmores: The Wall Street Journal today published a fine feature on the world’s largest concert promoter, and it appears the current business model just ain’t generating enough capital for Live Nation. The company will now attempt to morph into a record label, memorabilia dispenser and employer of seasonal workers. Let’s see whose identity they can steal for those new growth drivers. Read on for the full story…

Kudos to the good people at Farm Aid for the best turnaround this side of Bonnie Tyler. HD Net will feature highlights from September’s concert this Sunday at 6PM (as

Get up offa that thing, and welcome my tired honkey ass home from what feels like a lifetime of traveling the wide open spaces of these United States. I’ve learned

We’re getting closer and closer to Led Zeppelin’s return, which takes place in London just one week from Monday. The new issue of Rolling Stone contains a terrific feature by

Neddy and I are off to see Andrew Bird this evening while the rest of this city hits Terminal 5 for Ween’s two-nighter…so in order to get Neddy on my good side before the show, we’re gonna pimp out another one of his efforts.

I’m letting ye olde algorithm choose the mix again this week, with the one caveat being that I’ve restricted the choices to music released or recorded during 2007. So here’s a random — literally and figuratively — mix of this year’s infinite crop of tunes, including a couple live tracks of varying sound quality. There’s even two songs performed within a day of each other, interestingly enough. Enjoy.

01 Can’t Leave Her Behind — Stephen Malkmus & Lee Ranaldo: I’m Not There
02 Welcome, Ghosts — Explosions In The Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
03 All This Time — Heartless Bastards: Atlanta 9 June 2007
04 Wet and Rusting — Menomena: San Francisco 8 June 2007
05 Underwater (You and Me) — Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Some Loud Thunder
06 Firecracker — Steel Train: Daytrotter Session

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