Archive: 2008

We celebrate the end of the year today with the second annual New Year’s Eve Tribute to Trane–music for ringing in, or recovering the next day, or both. A lightning strike of an Afro Blue from the fall of 1963 opens the mix, followed by some musings on Trane from Ethan Iverson of The Bad […]

December 30 has always been a major holiday for jambands. Nearly every major act took to the stage last night for their last standard show before busting out all the stops for tonight’s New Year’s Eve concerts. Let’s take a look at what went down last night across the country…

[Photo via Mule.net by Chris Rushin]

Gov’t Mule – Hammerstein Ballroom – NYC [via JRoxx]

Set 1: Blind Man In The Dark, Lola Leave Your Light On, Gameface, Towering Fool, She Said, She Said-> Tomorrow Never Knows, Spanish Moon *with Marc Quinones and Ivan Neville*, Into The Mystic *with Marc Quinones*, Kind Of Bird *with Marc Quinones*

Set 2: Like Flies, I Think You Know What I Mean-> When The Levee Breaks, Time To Confess, Red Clay *dedicated to the memory of Freddie Hubbard with Jimmy Vivino, Jeff Young and Marc Quinones*, Drums *with Marc Quinones*, I’m A Ram, Mule *Who Do You Love Tease*
Encore: Come On Into My Kitchen Intro -> 32/20 Blues *with Jimmy Vivino and Jeff Young*

The Skinny – Most expected Ivan Neville of opening band Dumpstaphunk to sit in throughout the night, but it was Warren’s ABB band mate Marc Quinones who spent the most time on stage with the Mule. The Mule also enlisted Jimmy Vivino [Fab Faux, Max Weinberg 7] and Jeff Young [Jackson Browne, Steely Dan] to celebrate the life of Jazz Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who passed away on Monday in LA. Of course, Neville did make his way to the stage for a cover of Little Feat’s Spanish Moon.

READ ON for setlists and reports from Phil and Friends, RatDog, Umphrey’s McGee, the Disco Biscuits, Widespread Panic and more…

Sometimes widespread speculation ends up totally bupkes…and sometimes it’s widespread speculation because, well, it just friggin’ makes sense. In that regard, saxophonist extraordinaire Jeff Coffin has confirmed that he is officially joining Dave Matthews Band in 2009. Coffin is, of course, a longtime associate of Dave & Co through his work with Bela Fleck and […]

Remember when you’d have to wait weeks to hear your favorite band’s big shows? We’ve all gotten used to hearing audio within 24 hours of a concert ending, but it isn’t often high quality video footage surfaces quickly. Last night, prog-jammers Umphrey’s McGee kicked off their New Year’s run at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre and the […]

With 2008 rapidly coming to a close, we can start looking forward to the plethora of festival line up announcements that will be coming our way in the next few weeks and months. So, to get you used to the constant bombardment that is headed your way, we thought we’d tell you about the initial […]

“I hate New Year’s Eve, it’s always so anticlimactic.” – Friends of yours that don’t see live music every year.

Perhaps you’ve already got a show picked out for New Year’s Eve 2008-2009. Maybe you lucked out and it’s local or maybe you’re traveling 3,000 miles or even crossing an ocean to get there. Regardless of the status of your plans, it’s always fun to know what else is going on at that exact moment all over the country.

[Photo via Phishpics.net]

Well maybe not that exact moment, we’ve got those damn time-zones to deal with. When My Morning Jacket rings in New Year’s in New York, Umphrey’s McGee will be one hour behind in Chicago, followed by Widespread Panic in Colorado and finally Phil Lesh & Friends play the last notes of 2008 in the Continental United States.

So we’re sorting this guide in the following manner: First by Time zone then State then City then Band Name. Whenever we could, we linked directly to ticketing information. This post will be continually updated.

EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Ryan Montbleau Band with Zach Deputy & Jesse Dee, The Warehouse – Hartford ($30-65)

Earth Wind & Fire, Foxwoods – Mashantucket ($60-95)

The Breakfast with Shakedown, Toad’s Place – New Haven ($12.50)

Hall & Oates, Mohegan Sun Casino -Uncasville ($55-90)

READ ON for the rest of our New Year’s Eve Concert Guide…

David Byrne has been known to reinvent himself through various artistic mediums, so  it was no surprise that he recently decided to recharge his creative battery by reconvening with Brian Eno.  Byrne/Eno of course are  renowned for their work on early Talking Heads albums and 1981’s landmark electronica/ambient album – My Life in The Bush of Ghosts.

n June of 2007, the reunited Smashing Pumpkins (or Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlain and some new members) decided to forgo a U.S. tour and instead do two residencies, one in Asheville, NC and the other at the vaunted Fillmore in San Francisco. This was, as Jimmy Chamberlain said in the documentary portion of If All Goes Wrong, "art for art's sake," finding the band putting the present ahead of their celebrated past.

The Black Crowes will record new, original material for an upcoming album during four sold-out concerts at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, in February and March. This run of performances at the recording studio built decades ago by the 2008 Grammy winner and former drummer for the Band are being billed as “Cabin […]

Beastie Boys will reissue their epic Paul’s Boutique on January 27th to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary. The classic LP has been digitally remastered for the first time, with all three Beasties overseeing the 24-bit process. The album’s original vinyl artwork will be restored in an eco-friendly, eight-panel digipak displaying a panoramic view of the […]

I thought that I had cemented my list of favorite albums of the year about a month or so ago, but after listening to All Songs Considered’s Year In Music show I was introduced to the music of the indie-folk duo Blind Pilot. Unbeknownst to me the Portland, OR band released their debut album 3 […]

On Saturday afternoon, I had a pang to listen to my favorite tune written by a member of Phish since the band broke up, Suskind Hotel. After rockin’ the YouTube clip of GRAB’s incredible version from PNC Bank Arts Center it made me very excited to see the whole band demolish this tune. [Photo by […]

Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule kicked off their two-venue New Year’s run with a couple of killer shows at the gorgeous Angel Orensanz Center in New York City on Saturday and Sunday. The two intimate shows at the neo-gothic synagogue were billed as acoustic gigs, but the majority of the shows were electrified. Haynes channeled […]

Besides singer/guitarist Jim James falling off a stage, 2008 couldn’t have treated My Morning Jacket any better. The boys roll into New York City for the biggest gig of their career headlining Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve on top of the world. Their latest release, Evil Urges, was ranked in most critics Top 10 lists and Jambase recently named them the Band of the Year. Things couldn’t be better for the Kentucky-based quintet.

[Photo by likethetwilight]

New York Magazine spoke with James and drummer Patrick Hallahan about MMJ’s epic rise, James’ epic fall and what we can expect for at Wednesday night’s New Year’s show…

“After this huge election, and such a big, crazy year that had so much to do with New York for me, to be tying things to a close at the Garden is such a big deal,” says James, who admits to being nervous about his injury while still promising the usual marathon performance, special guests, and new covers. “It’s one of those transformative nights, because no matter how bad the year has been, I feel like I’ve got a new chance.”

Marathon performance, special guests and new covers are the key words we’ve been hoping for and expecting. We already know that Sex Mob slide trumpet great Steven Bernstein and sax star Jeff Coffin will join the band and that we’re in for some Zeppelin covers, but we’re sure MMJ has plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Tickets for Wednesday night’s show are still available.

READ ON for setlists from MMJ’s rescheduled shows in Chicago…

The Disco Biscuits’ five-show run at the Nokia Theater in New York City kicked off with a heady mix of new tunes, old classics and the debut of a cover of P-Funk’s Standing On The Verge of Getting It On complete with bassist Marc Brownstein in pimp gear. Let’s take a look at the setlists from Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s shows, some videos as well as a few pictures from Jeremy Gordon and a recording of Saturday night’s show…

[All Photos by Jeremy Gordon]

12/26/08 Nokia Theatre, New York, NY
Dub War NYC opened
Set I: Floodlights¹> Shem-Rah Boo¹> Little Betty Boop²> Svenghali³> Kitchen Mitts, Save The Robots
Set II: M80, Munchkin Invasion> Liquid Handcuffs> Story Of The World
Encore: The Autumn Breeze⁴

¹ unfinished
² middle section only
³ ending only
⁴ 1st time played

[All Setlists via PT-Bisco]

READ ON for Saturday and Sunday’s setlists as well as videos and a stream…

One of our Top 10 Music DVDs of 2008, Wetlands Preserved returns to the Sundance Channel this afternoon at 1:15PM. The engaging Wetlands Preserved tells the story of New York City’s jam-rock mecca with the help of the employees, artists and club regulars that made the Wetlands so special. Monday [all times Eastern]: Documentary: Wetlands […]

For writer and teacher Jenny Lumet, this has been a long time coming.  Her first screenplay to be made into a film, the Jonathan Demme-directed Rachel Getting Married, has made waves in the movie world, something that Lumet, daughter of Academy Award-winning director Sidney Lumet, didn’t necessarily see coming, but has enjoyed.

From 1994-99 and then from 2002-03, I spent my week in between Christmas and New Years seeing popular rockers Phish. It was nice never having to worry about what I was going to do for New Year’s. This week, The B List offers a virtual reacharound to my favorite five Phish NYE shows.

5. 12/29/95 – When God invented segues, he must have had Bathtub Gin > The Real Me > Bathtub Gin in mind. That mind-blowing segment is just one of the highlights from a second set that included Trey running laps around the stage David Byrne-style during BBFCFM and Mike Gordon’s bass instructor Jim Stinnett participating in a rare suck-free bass duet. The recently released 12/31/95 from Madison Square Garden is a close number six here, but the evil looking pot I got in the Centrum parking lot gives 12/29/95 the edge.

4. 12/31/98 – When Phish came on stage and busted into Prince’s 1999 I thought the Garden was going to explode. Some New Year’s Eve shows have a tendency to be a letdown, but Phish came through with a killer three-set show to end the year. The Antelope, Hood, and Tweezer from this show need to be heard to be believed. 12/29/98 is the other monumental show from this run.

3. 12/29/94 – The night of December 29th, 1994 is when the word “epic” entered my vocabulary. I nearly wet my pants after witnessing the most mind-blowing David Bowie ever that night — the beginning of the song was so evil I was literally scared. The evil theme continued throughout the first 25 minutes of Bowie until the band dropped into one of the most uniquely beautiful pieces of improv ever played (String Cheese Incident enjoyed that beautiful jam so much they decided to play something extremely similar at the end of their version of Lands End). Other highlights from the shitty little arena that could include a dark version of Guyute, a tasty Runaway Jim > Foam, and a Possum that included teases of Auld Lang Syne and LA Woman.

Read on for the rest of Scotty B’s favorite NYE Phish shows and more…

Singer-songwriter-producer Delaney Bramlett, who penned classic rock songs such as "Let it Rain" and worked with musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton, has died. He was 69. Bramlett died Saturday shortly before 5 a.m. at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles as a result of complications from gall-bladder surgery, his wife Susan Lanier-Bramlett […]

Alright kids, thought I’d get all those holiday songs that have been floating in your head for the last 48 hours or so out of there with a Mix Tape chocked full of some of my favorite tunes from 2008 releases. So sick back and relax and be prepared to have these six tunes rattling […]