2007

For the final installment of the first annual Hidden Track Baseball Preview, I spoke with U-Melt’s Rob Salzer about his band and his beloved Metropolitans.

Scott Bernstein: How closely are you able to follow the Mets from the road?

Rob Salzer: Honestly, it’s hard to watch all the games. But we keep up pretty well. Some of us have Internet on our phones, so we are able to follow the team. Finding hotels with wireless internet is key. Unfortuntely we don’t get to see as many games as we would like, but we are able to keep tabs on the Mets.

SB: Are the other guys in the band into baseball?

RS: Everyone in the band is a fan of baseball. Myself and Zac, the keyboard player, are big-time Mets fans. My drummer and bass player are both Yankee fans, so we’re split right down the middle.

SB: How does that dynamic work?

RS: It’s actually fun. We’re outnumbered if you include our manager Jason, because he’s a big Yankee fan too. But he’s not on the road with us. There is a little bit of a rivalry; it’s not to too bad, especially since the Yankees haven’t been that succesful in the last six years. It was very, very painful losing to them in the World Series back in 2000. I’m definitely not a Yankee hater; I definitely like the Yankees. It’s a good-natured rivalry.

Read on for more about the ballclub and the band from Rob and Scott’s chat…

Neither of us can successively operate a camera. We take out-of-focus pictures and shaky amateur videos, but we can’t get it right. Thankfully some of our friends have at least a modicum of talent, and occasionally they pass along some photos for Show & Tell. Our man Danfun from Who’s Driving the Bus? caught the Flaming Lips this weekend, and he was kind enough to share. Take’r away…

Perfect weather, frozen lemonade, confetti and balloons — oh, just another day with The Flaming Lips, this time at Brown University.

The Flaming Lips have always been one of my go to bands, having seen them countless times over the past 11 years. Their albums are amazing and transcendent, but their live shows are even bigger, greater, always a huge extravagant production to absorb. The band also happens to feature some the nicest and most endearing musicians in all of rock and/or roll.

Although their live concert has essentially been the same show for the past five or six years, it’s one that I personally can never pass up. It’s a lot like watching your favorite movie over and over again: You know how it’s going to end and you don’t care, because it just means that much to you. I have taken dozens of people to see the Flaming Lips for their first time, and almost every single one of them has left knowing they were just at the best party going on in that particular time zone.

So Saturday morning I decided to head up to Brown University’s Spring Fling Weekend to catch Stardeath and Whitedwarfs, Missions to Burma, Yo La Tengo, and, of course, the Flaming Lips. And boy I’m glad I did. Read on for more photos and more thoughts about the show…

To be completely honest, this year’s Green Apple Music & Arts Festival lineup in New York was, to borrow an expression from the Torah, lamer than FDR’s legs. You know

There was a time when Bob Dylan tours were few and far between. Now the Lucious Bobby Dylan barely takes a break from the road, as you can see from the extensive North American tour he just announced. Dylan is currently on tour in Europe, where reviews have been positive. I’ve had mixed experiences seeing Bob, but I’d be down with seeing the legend perform again. Onto the rest:

• IGN lists the Top 10 Epic Songs
• JamBase competitor Tourfilter is expanding its reach
• Another D.U.M.B. announcement: Biscuits and Umphrey’s play Jamaica
• Jefitoblog serves up a tasty Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show
• Phil Lesh and Friends have been added to the Mountain Jam lineup
• Vail’s 8150 club will soon be demolished
• The Jesus and Mary Chain have reunited
• The Weight busts a myth about Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
• Queen musical We Will Rock You has opened in Toronto
• A preview of moe.’s upcoming tour of Japan — the band also just announced they are giving out free soundboard patches at one of their upcoming Highline Ballroom shows
• Harp Magazine speaks with the Avett Brothers
• Phish has some heady ringtones to sell you
• NYT‘s Ben Ratliff has an interesting take on the summer of the reunion
• Say goodbye to The Polyphonic Spree’s robes; hello to their new jumpsuits

And read on for some setlists from a great weekend of music, including !!!, Flaming Lips, Disco Biscuits, Spoon, RatDog, Wolfmother, G-Mule and more…

A Nor’easter one weekend, a glorious spring day filled with tank-tops the next. I played a little indoor bocce, caught four bands and stood in the, what’s this?, sun for

The Green Apple Music Festival started out a disaster for me personally.

First I slept through Thursday night’s kickoff show, an acoustic affair with the Benevento-Russo Duo, when a planned short nap before a midnight ramble became an unplanned 10-hour slumber through the night. Then Friday evening arrived, and the usually reliable and talented Grace Potter put on a less-than-stellar show with the Nocturnals at Southpaw, complete with three extremely creepy, balding middle-aged dudes taking as many pictures of her as possible — not a fun vibe trying to peek through compulsive masturbators to watch a show.

So I turned to the free shit to break me out of the funk. As we mentioned yesterday, the Green Apple organizers planned several sets gratis outside Grand Central Station for the second straight year, an oasis of quality tunes in a big, bad city. So I headed up to the makeshift hippie enclave for an Earth Day street fair to meet up with some good friends and try to salvage a piss-poor beginning.

Read on for more photos and videos from the sunny day in NYC…