Archive: 2008

On Monday we kicked off a new feature called Tour Diary with the first of four entries from the Umphrey’s McGee crew about their recently completed West Coast tour. Here’s UM Lighting Crew Chief Wade Wilby final installment:

02/15/08 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
OM Trio opened
Set I: Bridgeless> Much Obliged> Dump City, Partyin’ Peeps, The Fussy Dutchman, Sociable Jimmy> Bridgeless
Set II: Miss Tinkle’s Overture, 2nd Self> Der Bluten Kat> Gulf Stream¹> Der Bluten Kat, Syncopated Strangers, Utopian Fir
Encore: Bombtrack^{2 3}

1 First Time Played (Original) ; Portions played on 11/10/07 & 12/31/07
2 First Time Played (Rage Against The Machine)
3 Ilya Stemkovsky (Vocals) and Brian Felix (Keyboards)

All photos by Matt Ziegler, except where noted

San Francisco is a gorgeous depiction of West Coast vegetation and landscape; Rolling hills dotted with island-like real estate and a dreamy climate controlled by the waving palms. Besides its deep natural romance, the city has played host to some of music’s most famous live moments, classic venues and of course…The Fat Man. We would only come in contact with one of the aforementioned amenities in The Fillmore, and it would prove to be our last 3 night run there, making it a very special weekend at this institution of rock and roll. Read on for more…

Just one week from today the Langerado Music Festival kicks off at Big Cypress in the Florida Everglades. I’ve attended the last two Langerado festivals, but this year’s lineup takes things to a new level. As someone who doesn’t get to many festivals, I think the best part of going is the enjoyment I get from checking out artists I haven’t seen before. Here’s the second part of my list of ten bands I’m excited to see for the first time at Langerado:

1. The Avett Brothers – North Carolina’s Avett Brothers play deeply spiritual music that seems to appeal to a diverse range of music fans. The songs that Seth and Scott Avett write are gritty tales of life played on basic acoustic instruments. Their most recent release, Emotionalism, shows the wide range of styles in the fellas’ music. Within one song on the album you may hear elements of Calypso followed closely by a bluegrass stomp. I’m very interested to see how they pull of this melange of styles live. Read on for more on the Avetts and four other bands….

We were very impressed when the initial Bonnaroo lineup surfaced a few weeks ago. Now we’re feeling down right fluffy after hearing about the first two acts who are set to play late night sets, and a couple of interesting artist additions. Returning to the late night slot will be My Morning Jacket who delivered […]

When I looked at the date this morning I got a reminder of just how quickly time passes. Can you believe it’s been five years since the boys in Phish played one of the best shows of their career at the Nassau Coliseum? Not only did the band bust out Destiny Unbound for the first […]

The internets were abuzz this week with news of a “new” Velvet Underground song. The guys at Dead Flowers unearthed a live VU recording from 1967, which features the previously unheard track I’m Not A Young Man Anymore. The other gem on this bootleg is the first known performance of Sister Ray. The Otter’s Cheese […]

Pictures by Kenny Pusey of Foo Fighters, Serj Tankian and Against Me! at Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 3/21/08

Another Sound is Dying offers some interesting layering effects, but despite the band’s obvious chops, it’s an album that may have a difficult time finding an audience. Dub fans will be turned off immediately, and hardcore fans probably won’t tolerate the extended airy sections.

Our resident guitar expert, Yair2k, hipped us to Paul Languedoc’s webpage, where the luthier has just released photos of the newest ‘doc. Languedoc started out making instruments before Phish’s Trey Anastasio convinced him to go on the road as the band’s sound engineer. Now that the band has been on hiatus for a few years, […]

On Monday we kicked off a new feature called Tour Diary with the first of four entries from the Umphrey’s McGee crew about their recently completed West Coast tour. Here’s UM Lighting Crew Chief Wade Wilby with a behind-the-scenes look at the San Diego and Los Angeles shows, and their day off in San Fran…:

02/12/08 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
Dub Trio opened
Set I: Get in the Van, Jimmy Stewart> Water, Higgins, Nemo> Sweetness> Jam^{1 2}, Nemo
Set II: 40’s Theme, Example 1³, Padgett’s Profile, Search 4, Morning Song, Ringo¹
Encore: Show Biz Kids^{1 4}, The Floor

1 – With Mike Keneally
2 – ‘Abacab’ jam
3 – Mike Mirro (Drums)
4 – First Time Played (Steely Dan)

Photo by Mike Sherry

The SD HOB is a bit tight to work in, but you sacrifice the space for the climate. The head lighting technician there is the funniest and most well versed HOB light guy, if not one of the best club guys in the country, so he is always a treat. He and (Umphrey’s LD Adam) Budney busted balls all day, while the boys awaited Mike Keneally from Frank Zappa fame to arrive. Jake, Joel and Kris recently recorded some great tracks with Mike on their trip to LA, and we got to listen to a few. Very scary. Very angular. Very Umphrey’s. I hope this stuff sees the light of day soon. It was decided by the group that Steely Dan’s stab at Hollywood Show Biz Kids would be the cover of the night. Read on for more from San Diego and LA…

The Disco Biscuits are returning to the stage for three shows at the Starland Ballroom starting tomorrow. If you weren’t able to purchase tickets, or you’re just scared to run into this guy, you can watch all three shows on iClips. The broadcasts begin each night at 9:30. Don’t forget your pacifier and dancing shoes.

The New York Mets will play the final baseball game at Shea Stadium this fall. Billy Joel, a quintessential New Yorker and baseball lover, will play the final musical notes at the stadium, which has been home to the Amazin’s since 1964, in July. From the Beatles historical concerts to Dwight Gooden’s fastball, Shea has provided some fantastic memories. Here’s a few remembered, mash-up style:

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant – Mike Piazza, who certainly provided his share of Amazin’ moments for the Mets, will probably best be remembered for his performance in the first baseball game played in New York in the post-9/11 era. On September 20, 2001, Piazza hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning that lifted the Mets over the Atlanta Braves 3-2 and brought the tiniest bit of joy to a still weeping New York City.

A Matter of Trust – The Mets lose the first two games of the 1986 World Series at Shea to the Red Sox setting off panic after a 108-win regular season and a dramatic NLCS win over Houston. Tim Teufel’s through-the-wickets error allows the lone run in Game One and Dwight Gooden is shelled for six runs on eight hits over five innings in a 9-3 Game Two loss. The Mets turn it around and win Games Three and Four in Boston.

Read on for eleven more Billy Joel songs that just drive Mr. Met absolutely crazy…

We’ve got a couple of more festivals to tell you about this week, and let’s begin with this year’s 10KLF event at Detroit Lakes in Minnesota. Phil Lesh and Friends, The Flaming Lips and P-Funk head up the initial lineup announcement, which also features Mickey Hart’s new band and Michael Franti. 10KLF offers four days […]

The sun doesn’t  shine a whole lot in Seattle, but Grand Archives reflect an inner vivaciousness typically not heard in the rainy corner.

Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes’ new album by a writer who hadn’t listened to the whole CD. The review in Maxim’s March issue gives the Crowes’ "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five. The band posted an exasperated statement on its Web site last week […]

On April 1, Nonesuch Records will release The Black Keys’ fifth full-length LP, Attack & Release. The album follows their 2006 critically acclaimed Nonesuch debut Magic Potion, which the Chicago Tribune proclaimed, "a gritty, wild, minimalist masterpiece."Produced by Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, The Gorillaz, The Grey Album), Attack & Release was recorded at engineer Paul […]

On April 1, Nonesuch Records will release The Black Keys’ fifth full-length LP,Attack & Release. The album follows their 2006 critically acclaimed Nonesuch debutMagic Potion, which the Chicago Tribune proclaimed, "a gritty, wild, minimalistmasterpiece."Produced by Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, The Gorillaz, The Grey Album), Attack &Release was recorded at engineer Paul Hamann’s illustrious Suma Studio […]

Carbon/Silicon have announced the dates of a full North American tour this spring. The band, which features Mick Jones of The Clash and Tony James of Generation X, will begin their tour with performances at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival next month. They’ll then play several West Coast dates including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver […]

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan will release their second collaboration album, ‘Sunday At Devil Dirt’, later this year. The pair – ex-members of Belle & Sebastian and Screaming Trees respectively – released their first joint album, the Mercury Music Prize-nominated ‘The Ballad Of The Broken Seas’, in 2006. As was the case for that album, […]

Be Kind Rewind tells the story of a guy who sabotoges a power plant, magnetizes himself and unknowingly demagnetizes all the VHS tapes in his friend's video store while the boss is out.  Sound weird?  Then you don't know Michel Gondry.

The Verve has scheduled its first U.S. shows in nearly a decade in conjunction with its late April appearance at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. The group will play in Las Vegas on April 26 and in New York on April 28-29.The reunited U.K. rock outfit has also slated a handful of summer European […]