2007

The long-dormant drummer for the popular rock band Phish is slowly coming back to public music. On the heels of Jon Fishman’s sit-in with the potty-mouthed Touchpants before RAQ’s Green

I’m borderline obsessed with the short-lived Faces. Between the ridiculous musicianship of each band member and Rod Stewart’s appearance and stage presence, how are these guys continually overlooked? Footage from what’s

It’s time for another edition of Digging Deep, our B List series that searches high and low for the best covers on YouTube. We’re gonna change it up a bit by finding the best bluegrass versions of some of our favorite songs. Pick on that.

Some of the tunes are done for comedic value, while others are actually pretty damn good covers. Read on after the jump for 10 great YouTubes featuring the music of Van Halen, Metallica, Outkast, Led Zeppelin and more…

My work colleague and HT commenter, HP Anything, has asked me five times when we’re gonna cover the Silversun Pickups. Luckily for us, our man Danfun caught ’em at Webster Hall the other night, and he filed this report…

I discovered the Silversun Pickups by accident a few years ago. I went down to Pianos to see the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and SSPU just happened to be opening for them that night. Obviously at the time I was completely unfamiliar with any of their songs, but I was blown away by their performance.

SSPU frontman Brian Aubert’s energy and stage presence were amazing that night. But it may have been their ’90s grunge-meets-modern indie rock sound that really hooked me. My being a huge fan of ’90s grunge rock, I loved how the Silversun Pickups sound derives directly from this sadly bygone era.

Last night’s Webster Hall show marked my fifth time seeing SSPU, and this was the biggest show of theirs that I had seen. At first I was a little surprised to find it sold out in advance, but with all the buzz around this band lately, I guess it’s actually to be expected. The room packed and anxious and ready to see the band in its newfound bigness, SSPU treated the capacity crowd to a great show.

Read on for more great photos of the Silversun Pickups at Webster Hall…

From the Better Late Than Never department comes the news that the Grateful Dead will finally be releasing Three From The Vault. In typical stoner fashion, Three From The Vault comes

Our friend Rob with the sunny disposition and the well-cropped beard sent this clip my way yesterday, an astonishing video of a blind man kicking a drumset’s ass. Um, metaphorically, I guess.

We’re getting back to our roots with a jam-heavy edition of Grousing the Aisles. All four artists featured here love to noodle, each in completely different ways. First up is U-Melt, a band that mixes together more genres than the Bonnaroo lineup. Also featured this week is an amazing compilation of Jerry Garcia covering Van the Man. We follow that up with two of the crispiest shows I’ve ever heard from Gov’t Mule and the Phish. Enough with the small talk — check it out…

U-Melt 03/02/07 SBD (FLAC, MP3, STREAM):

U-Melt’s music is all over the place. Within five minutes the band can hit heavy metal riffs, Steely Dan-esque lyrics and poppy melodies. The show featured here is a crispy soundboard from the band’s recent peformance at the Wheel House in Narragansett, RI. One of the segments that you’d only see at a U-Melt show is the scorching Bubblehouse > Boy In A Bubble > Bubblehouse that the band drops early in the show. U-Melt has never run away from their influences, covering the likes of Phish, the Smashing Pumpkins and MMW. Bubblehouse sounds extremely tasty with the addition of some rippin’ guitar.

U-Melt’s epic compositions are the true stars of this March 2007 recording. A Robbins Tale is a well-written tune that’s got a Steely Dan meets ELP vibe. The second set is palindromic in nature, and it’s chock full of some of the best this band has to offer. Kind Insight features Talking Heads-esque vocals with a beat that kinda sounds like Caravan on acid. I think I’ve thrown out enough random band comparisons for one day, so just go check out this show before I run out of ’em.

Read on after the jump for the rest of this week’s Grousing The Aisles…

Bustle In Your Hedgerow is just another cover band, and this band of special occasion will be the first to admit that. But that doesn’t mean they won’t melt your fucking face off and piss all over the remains, and the huge crowds in San Francisco and Los Angeles this weekend will be the first to admit that.

America’s greatest rock cover band experience headed west this weekend for a twin bill at The Independent and the Knitting Factory, and everyone I’ve talked to says these shows were the best they’ve ever seen, the best the band has ever played. They may be Led Zeppelin tunes, but the rock is all their own.

San Francisco packed more than 600 people into the 500-person-capacity Independent, and the crowd proved itself to be so raucous they got a double encore of Immigrant Song and Bring It on Home for its troubles. So with the momentum-building left-coast run behind ’em, and with shows in the Midwest and East on the horizon, let’s take a look at 16 incredible photos from The Lovely Miss Rachel, posted for your pleasure after the jump…enjoy!