Archive: 2008

My Morning Jacket has set a June 10 release date for its as-yet-untitled new ATO album, and will celebrate the project with a June 20 show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The group’s first appearance at the storied venue will be "an evening with," and is being billed as MMJ’s only New York-area […]

Our friend and oft-contributor Neddy celebrated his birthday at Sullivan Hall on Thursday night with good friends and great music, and he’s lived to tell…

If you sit down at a blank canvas and paint everything but a bowl full of fruit, fill in the spaces around the still life but never the apples and oranges themselves…well in some way, then, you in fact have painted those things at the same time you were doing the opposite. Confusing, sure, but that’s was the way I was hearing things Thursday night back at Sullivan Hall.

All Photos by Greg Aiello

Marco Benevento & Friends (two different friends than the previous Thursday) worked in some weird inverted musical space, managing their way around songs and styles and themes, and in the process ended up revealing those things…and a bit more. Which is all a fancy way of saying that the show was next-level sickness. In fact, I’ve seen Benevento play at least 12 times in wildly varying formats over the past 15 months, and Thursday night may have been the most exciting, invigorating and mind-bending of them all.

With Brad Barr on guitar and Duo partner Joe Russo on drums, Marco traced around some of the best music you’ll ever hear. The show was an inverted form of the 1st night of the five-show residency, which was wildly free-form beeps and whirrs that occasionally found its click-point and grooved a bit. This time the band would find its whacked-out-willie weirdness but would always settle back down into some seriously jamming, major-key, all-accessible ass-kicking. Read on…

Take a bunch of rabid music fans, throw them on a luxury cruiseliner, sail ’em out to the jurisdiction-less “international waters” and pack the boat with about 30 bands and individual musicians — now I don’t usually recommend beating yourself about the face, neck, chest, breast and head, but if you can’t have fun on that five-day excursion, you might as well begin knocking yourself unconscious.

And such is Jam Cruise, the weeklong vacation-slash-concert now in its sixth year. The MSC Lirica departed from Ft. Lauderdale on January 4th and docked in Honduras and Cozumel along the way; and, in between, the boat played host to countless concerts, sit-ins, super-jams and seafaring spunions. The artist list featured notables like Warren Haynes and moe.’s Al Schnier, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the Funky Meters and Toots & the Maytals, Galactic and Soulive, Perpetual Groove and New Monsoon, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Karl Denson, Robert Walter, Steve Kimock, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Lotus and more.

Oh, and hey, that guy in the green shirt at the kit looks familiar. I doubt anyone chatted up Jon Fishman (of the Johnny B. Fishman Jazz Ensemble, I’m told) at the pool that week. So take a trip with us as we look back at Jam Cruise 6, told through the photographic stylings of the gifted and talented Dave Vann. Read on after the jump for a full gallery, as well as videos and downloads from the boat…

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to catch a rare one-off performance by the Christian McBride Band at the Miller Theater at Columbia University. The night opened with the quartet silhouetted, totally still, against a crimson backdrop as samples of civil rights speeches buzzed in the foreground. At some point McBride began to […]

If you’re like me and biffed the onsale for Steven Malkmus’s previously announced NYC gigs at Bowery Ballroom and the Music Hall of Williamsburg, you’ll get one more chance later today. Tickets go on sale at noon for Malkmus and The Jicks’ newly added April Fools’ Day concert at the Bowery Ballroom. Malkmus hits many other big markets in the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast for his two-week jaunt supporting the March 4th release of Real Emotional Trash.

Let’s kill some time until those ducats go on sale by indulging in some linkage:

• Live Nation finally admits they will take on Ticketmaster, starting in 2009
• Jane’s Addiction looks to release a box set of video and rarities this year
• Record label woes continue: EMI plans to lay off up to 2,000 workers
• Phish keyboardist Page McConnell sits down with ABC’s Nightline to discuss some of his influences and favorite songs
• KyndMusic discovers Scarecrow Collection’s Radio Frequency Disaster
• Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones led a star-studded tribute to late pianist Oscar Peterson
• Engagdet shares a video of Gibson’s Robot Guitar from the CES
• Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs are hitting the road again in March
• Neddy runs down the shows of the week in New York City

Finally, a group of Zappa fans have teamed up to write a petition asking the Zappa Family Trust to stop threatening fan sites and tribute bands with litigation. For more about Gail Zappa’s evil ways, read MP3 Boot Camp: Zappa Sues ’em All [via Here Comes The Flood]

Photos by Dave Vann of Jam Cruise 6 – January 4-9, 2008. Artists included Warren Haynes, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Dark Star Orchestra, funky METERS, Yonder Mountain String Band, Soulive, Toots & The Maytals, The Everyone Orchestra, New Monsoon, Toubab Krewe, Perpetual Groove, Mike Dillon, Skerik and Karl Denson

Film reviews are often expected to put into words why someone should like or dislike the finished product. For There Will Be Blood, I cannot do that, because it’s so self-evident that it’s rendered plainly unnecessary. There’s no possible way you can walk out of this movie disappointed — simply, it’s the best film I’ve […]

Courtney Love has said she wants ‘Half Nelson’ actor Ryan Gosling to play her late husband Kurt Cobain in a film. Love who is executive producer on the film ‘Heavier Than Heaven’, has also asked Scarlett Johansson to portray her in the film according to The Mirror. The movie is based on Charles Cross‘s biography […]

Philip Glass’ modern classical scores have been featured in many films, but now the artist himself will hit the big screen. Koch Lorber Films has acquired U.S. theatrical and home video rights to Scott Hicks’ documentary "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts." The feature includes interviews with Martin Scorsese, Errol Morris, Chuck Close, […]

From The Jam featuring Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler of iconic U.K. group The Jam, has announced a run of North American dates. The band, which also includes Dave Moore and Russell Hastings, will embark on a 14-city tour January 24 at House of Blues in San Diego. Other venues on the schedule include the […]

Bruce Hornsby and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs have launched a new slate of dates to support their eponymous album release. The Grammy-winning musicians, who did a coast-to-coast US run in October, will re-team for shows in Lafayette, LA, and Mobile, AL, this weekend, and then play a steady stream of gigs from late March through […]

Previously known as the “the best unsigned band in America” by Rolling Stone, The Whigs have found a home with Dave Matthews’ ATO Records. Their ATO debut, Mission Control combines the arena rock accessibility of The Foo Fighters and the beer fueled garage rock of The Replacements.

The music making partnership of Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Owen Clarke, Al Doyle and Felix Martin came into existence in gradual stages, and has culminated in their third album Made In The Dark the follow up to the UK gold selling, Mercury Music Prize nominated album The Warning.  Hot Chip has announced U.S. Tour dates […]

Los Angeles’ Dengue Fever will tour the Midwest, East Coast & Canada in support of their third CD Venus On Earth (Jan 22, M80 Music).  Confirmed dates are as follows:          February 27  @ Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL         February 28  @ Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI         February 29  @ Skully’s, Columbus, OH         March 1         @ Black Cat, Washington, DC         March 2 […]

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder won a Golden Globe last night for best original song. Vedder won the gong for ‘Guaranteed’, a song he penned for the movie ‘Into The Wild’ directed by Sean Penn. Vedder was nominated in the same category on 2003 for a track he wrote for the movie ‘Big Fish’ but […]

British Sea Power have announced a tour of North America, scheduled to begin February 25 in San Diego. The outing will support the release of the band’s third album ‘Do You Like Rock Music?’ which will be released February 12. Record in a converted water tower, a 200 year old fort and the forests of […]

Music fans were left in the lurch when the writers’ strike led to the temporary cancellation of all the late night shows. The hosts have returned, and we’re back to rockin’ out to incredible performances from the likes of MGMT and Rogue Wave. Tonight, Spoon peddles their wares on Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show. Friday […]

So last week’s embedded test run with our new friends at imeem went swimmingly, and we see no reason to halt a good thing. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I’m told, and I can add don’t feed a gift horse Beefarino. Rusty! This week’s edition is everywhere, starting out on the old-school […]

Holy fucking shit. That’s about as clear as I can put it. Last night’s star-studded concert at BB King’s was easily one of the cooler experiences I’ve ever had in all my years of seeing live music. BEST $12.50 TICKET EVER! In all caps!

Photos by Adam Kaufman

Pretty much everyone that ever played with Jimmy Vivino came out to help celebrate his birthday, as well as promoter Bill Graham’s birthday. Everyone who was on the rumored lineup turned up, plus even more legendary musicians. This was one of the many nights that I’m so happy to live in New York City.

I had a hard time keeping track of who sat in on what, but John Sebastian came out for the first two songs. The Prisoners of 2nd Ave played the next few songs, and were joined by Elaine Caswell for the Jefferson Airplane shiz. Warren Haynes then came out for blistering versions of both Had to Cry Today and Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad. At this point Levon Helm came out, and the drawlin’ drummer stayed at the kit the whole night. An old white dude named Robert Gordon also came out to sing a couple of Elvis tunes with the ensemble.

I’d never heard of Willie Nile, but he blew me away. That dude is like a mix of early John Cougar and late Bruce Springsteen, and he sang his tune Hard Times in America to much applause. After Willie left the stage, Vivino called upon his Fab Faux band mates for intense driving versions of I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Warren came out for While My Guitar, giving us the monumental lineup of the Fab Faux, Warren, Levon and Paul Shaffer. I couldn’t believe my eyes. READ ON FOR MUCH MORE, PLUS VIDEOS AND PHOTOS…

Rolling Stone’s David Fricke sat down with John Paul Jones for an exclusive interview about Led Zeppelin’s reunion show. The big news out of the article is that the members of the band are gonna meet later this month to discuss the future. Is there any chance in hell this reunion tour doesn’t happen? Jones […]