2008

In what’s become an annual tradition, quintessential Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra returned to the Nokia Theater in New York City on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to help burn off the Thanksgiving Turkey doldrums than with a recreation of the epic Red Rocks ’78 two-night stand. The group was joined by former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay for a number of tunes each evening adding to the fun.

[All Photos by Adam Kaufman]

I hit the second night of the run where the band made one of my favorite Dead tapes of all-time come to life: July 8, 1978. After hearing that DSO had covered 7/7/1978 on Friday night we were all pretty sure we were in for 7/8/1978 which was confirmed when they started Bertha. The lovely Godchaux MacKay added some nice harmonies before leaving the stage at the end of the song. I expected Donna to sing with the band the whole night, but she sang on less than half of the songs. The majority featured Lisa Mackey, who normally sings Donna’s parts with DSO. It was pretty weird to see both real and recreated Donna tag in and out all evening, but it seemed to work for the band.

READ ON for more of Scotty’s review and Adam’s photos from the Nokia…

After taking the past four months off to finish recording their new album, the Disco Biscuits return to the road on January 16 for what promises to be a full

The war between industry giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster continues to heat up with the news that ticketing newcomer Live Nation has struck a deal with Blockbuster to sell tickets

As we approach the end of 2009, it’s time to start thinking about the best releases of the year. For me, Consolers Of The Lonely by The Raconteurs is a

When current New Riders of the Purple Sage and former Hot Tuna guitarist Michael Falzarano put together his latest solo album, We Are All One, he enlisted the help of many of the great musicians that have become part of his extended family including the late Vassar Clements, Buddy Cage of the New Riders, JGB’s Melvin Seals and Kerry Kearney. The resulting album takes you on a cohesive journey through many genres with Michael guiding us through all the wonderful styles of music that he’s played over the years.

We Are All One immediately caught my ear with the rollocking Why I Love You I Can’t Explain and didn’t let go through Gonna Power Down Now – the gorgeous lo-fi instrumental that closes the record. Other highlights include a song written as a tribute to Allen Woody (Last Train Out), two covers (Candy Man and How Long Blues) and the last known recording of Vassar Clements (When There’s Two There’s Trouble). We recently sat down with Michael to talk about his latest release…

Scott Bernstein: When I saw the late Vassar Clements’ name attached to this project I realized it must’ve been a long time in the making. Can you take us through a timeline of the creation of We Are All One?

Michael Falzarano: It’s hard for me to come to the realization that it’s been about four years. What happened was, I started recording this project and just as I was wrapping it up about three and a half years ago I got a phone call from Buddy Cage. He said “listen, we’re putting a version of the New Riders of the Purple Sage together to do five shows, would you be interested in playing?” I said “of course!” Number one, I love Buddy and David (Nelson). I love their music, I grew up listening to it and playing it in bars all over New York and Long Island. So, it’s like a natural thing for me. I figured five shows, we’ll just do ’em and have a great time and that would be that.

READ ON for more from Michael Falzarano on We Are All One…

Over the last couple of years, Knitting Factory founder Michael Dorf has put together a string of highly successful tribute concerts honoring Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and other