Barack Obama’s been on the campaign trail preaching Unity as much as Change. His stump speech rhetoric reeks of togetherness, of building a coalition of races to award this country
With Sunday’s Super Bowl rapidly approaching, we thought we’d share a piece we ran about our favorite halftime shows just in case you missed it back in December. Stay tuned after the post for our predictions for the big game.
Nothing encapsulates the questionable marriage of sports and entertainment quite like the Super Bowl. The halftime show of the NFL’s signature event has been transformed over the past 42 years from an afterthought to a main focus of the Big Game. What was once a time for a piss break and a follow-up beer has turned into a big-time production thanks to the major television networks.
Originally the shows were filled with brief performances by a number of different artists celebrating a unifying theme. More recently the NFL decided to hand over the keys to the halftime show to just one legendary artist. What a difference a nipple makes, eh? This year Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been tabbed to perform at Super Bowl XLII on Sunday.
The Gainesville-bred band should look at the past for an idea of what works and what doesn’t work at the big game. Let’s use this week’s B List to take a look at our 10 favorite Super Bowl halftime shows. Read on for the videos…
Rupert and Stan from the Ghosts of Wayne Fontes blog do everything for the keeeedz. So let’s turn our attention to their regular Thursday nonsense…
While kids like you and me were busy tasting dog food and puking at church, a rare breed of kids prefer composing sonatas and jamming with blues legends. Mozart allegedly learned to play the harpsichord at age three, Ricky Scaggs performed with Flatt & Scruggs at the tender age of seven, and Herbie Hancock played piano with the Chicago Symphony at age 11. Were talking about the Doogie Howsers of music. These are the rugrats who quite miraculously develop virtuoso mastery of an instrument at a freakishly early age. So today, we’ve scoured the interwebs to take a look at some of today’s rising geniuses.
Since we believe musical talent is hereditary, we’ll also take the opportunity to speculate which musical masterminds may have tapped some groupie ass and unknowingly produced these small wonders. Read on for the five best…
The 8th Freaks Ball — El Ocho Loco — is coming. There’s no sense waiting around for Zeppelin to get back together, so get involved with the real deal in
If there was one band we could resurrect from the jamband and rock graveyards, the proprietors of this here blog would choose God Street Wine. But RANA would be a
Photos by Dave Vann of Phil Lesh and Friends' Mardi Gras show, held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA on January 26th, 2008. You can see more of Dave's coverage over on our Hidden Track blog
Recorded comfortably in the Zebra Ranch studio operated by Luther's and brother Cody’s father Jim Dickinson, Hernando temporarily postponed the release of a documentary on NMAS. All Stars Front-man Luther Dickinson has recently joined the Black Crowes, appearing on their anticipated Warpaint release, making himself one of rock's most prolific guitarists.
Last weekend I finally caught up on organizing all of the amazing shows I’ve downloaded since I started this column 16 months ago. One thing that blew me away was how many incredible sounding (and looking) Steely Dan bootlegs that I’ve grabbed from the torrent and MP3 bootleg sites. I thought instead of being a selfish chazer (Yiddish anyone?), I’d take this opportunity to compile all of the kickass Dan recordings for those who may have missed out in the past.
We’ve got links to 10 of the best Steely Dan bootlegs you could possibly find. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I am. Let’s check ’em out:
Steely Dan 03/20/1974 FM (FLAC, MP3):
After listening to one of Steely Dan’s rare live gigs from the ’70s, I’m just confused as to why these guys didn’t tour behind any of their legendary albums. The Dan absolutely tore it up in the live setting with a band that included Michael McDonald, Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. To see what I’m talking about, download this crispy-as-fuck radio show Steely Dan recorded on March 20th, 1974.
I’ve had a copy of this show for years, but the hiss on the analog tape made it unlistenable. But last week a pristine copy of the set made its way to the torrent sites. My old copy has now become my new coaster. The show begins with a high-energy romp through Bodhisattva that features Baxter and Walter Becker trading mind-blowing licks. Do It Again is a little more groovin’ than the album version thanks to McDonald’s work on the Rhodes. Other nuggets on this recording include the nasty solos in Rikki Don’t Lose That Number and a soulful version of Any Major Dude. We can only hope that more crispy recordings from the Dan’s epic 1974 tour surface soon. Read on for much more GTA…
ESPN’s tapping one of our favorite new(ish) bands for Sunday’s big game: “With anticipation high for Sunday’s big game, Rodrigo y Gabriela are honored to be featured on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown on February 3rd. The fast-fingered, acoustic heavy metal duo from Mexico via Dublin, have produced exclusive video segments for the show, which will air Sunday (11 am-2 pm ET).” ¡Viva!
Dave Vann and Margaret Pitcher danced among the crowd of 8,000 at a non-New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration — Dave shoots, Margaret writes…
In what could become a resurrected tradition, Phil Lesh & Friends threw an epic Mardi Gras party in San Francisco on Saturday, the group’s first since February 2005, when the friends included Chris Robinson and members of Railroad Earth.
P&F is rightfully regarded as an ever-shifting and evolving unit, which makes the experience of their live shows both an exciting and risky prospect. On this night the band was definitely on, delivering an amazing performance that unexpectedly brought us into the wee hours of the morning.
Read on for more of Dave Vann’s amazing photos from the Mardi Gras event, more of Margaret’s great review and a great recording for stream or download…
