Archive: 2009

Jimmy Page‘s manager, Peter Mensch, has said that Led Zeppelin will not tour or continue in any form – even without singer Robert Plant. Mensch had previously said that the band would tour with Plant replaced by a new singer – but in a new interview with Music Radar he says that the band is […]

Jacksonville, FL darlings Black Kids announce plans to hit the road this 2009, playing a slew of coast-to-coast shows and stopping off in Canada along the way. Tour Dates 3/08/09  Miami, FL @ Langerado Music Festival 200904/02/09  Richmond, VA @ The National*04/04/09  Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club* 04/05/09  Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg*04/06/09  […]

[youtube]8aBgJrtfyQs[/youtube] Fake Plastic Trees – 7 Worlds Collide with Ed O’Brien, Phil Selway, Jeff Tweedy & Johnny Marr

A week ago, My Morning Jacket rang in the new year in NYC by imploring us all to “celebrate good times… come on!” Well, the NYC Freaks are doing just that, throwing a kick ass celebration at the ninth annual Freaks Ball this Saturday at Southpaw in Brooklyn. This is the show that got Robert Randolph and the Duo started and has featured Bustle In Your Hedgerow, The Campbell Brothers, Apollo Sunshine, Ollabelle, Skerik & Mike Dillon and a whole bunch more. Saturday night should be just as special, with The New Mastersounds headlining with their uber-funk straight from Brittania.

Of course, there’s plenty more on the bill. Danjaboots (Joe Russo & Scott Metzger) will open the night with a rare countrified set of songs about drinkin’, fightin’ and f$%^’in; then the Rodney Speed Experience will set the mood with some classic rock for ya. After NMS. the late night party will get handed over to Rana playing a rawking midnight set. All in all a pretty damn good night. In addition, the night will start off with a special sneak preview of the new Derek Trucks album Already Free and there will be beer specials on Sixpoint brews from 8-10. So come early and often, the Freaks would love you to join ’em: there are still a limited number of tickets left.

We’re aiming for a kick ass celebration with lotsa birthdays, babies being born, not to mention starting the countdown on the last 10 days ’til the country changes hands… what will you be celebrating? Let us know what you’d like to celebrate on Saturday night by leaving a comment below, and we’ll pick a winner for two tickets to the gig on Friday afternoon.

READ ON for more details and downloads from FBIX artists…

We’ve been discussing the Phish Summer Tour Dates at HT and Team HLA central and here are a few thoughts we have… [Photo via Phish.com] The Fox Theater?!?! Are you kidding us? We love the mix of small and new venues and the tour. They are going from a venue that holds 5,060 people to […]

Bonnaroo To Launch Bonnaroo 365 On January 11 With A Set From The Raconteurs. READ ON for the full scoop on Bonnaroo 365…

Oh, is this one good. Let me state it outright: if you’ve ever had anything like a casual enjoyment or curiosity about the Black Keys – let alone a full on, one-of-the-best-bands-of-the-last-decade jones for ’em – Black Keys Live at the Crystal Ballroom, recorded at an April Keys show, is a definite pickup.

But it’s not quite “fun” – it’s great, but not Black Keys great. And the boys have earned the right to be evaluated on a relative scale. Maybe director Lance Bangs’ crispy rendered, no-bullshit attack could have used, for once, a little bit more director involvement – a little something (though something that is not the same as “a little more bullshit”). I found myself wanting to step in to the frame as a viewer and get to something I couldn’t reach; I never moved beyond the feeling that I was merely watching a framed concert of a band I enjoy. I never felt sucked in.

READ ON for the rest of Chad’s review of Black Keys’ DVD…

Earlier this morning Phish.com was updated with dates for Phish’s June tour, announced with the help of a video which featured a plane skywriting with a Punch You In The Eye soundtrack. The tour takes the quartet from their home base in the Northeast down to Asheville and out to the Midwest.

Here’s the full list of dates:

06/04 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY
06/05 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY
06/06 – Comcast Center – Mansfield, MA
06/07 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ
06/09 – Asheville Civic Center – Asheville, NC
06/16 – Fox Theatre – St. Louis, MO
06/18 – Post Gazette Pavilion – Burgettstown, PA
06/19 – Verizon Wireless Music Center – Noblesville, IN
06/20 – Alpine Valley – East Troy, WI
06/21 – Alpine Valley – East Troy, WI

The tour kicks off with the band’s first visit to Long Island’s Jones Beach amphitheater since 1995. On June 6 the quartet returns to New England for a concert at the venue formerly known as Great Woods. Phish first performed at Great Woods on July 21, 1992 and have included the shed on most of their summer tours including their “final” tour back in August ’04. Other venues on this tour that have hosted multiple Phish shows in the past include Deer Creek, Alpine Valley and the Post-Gazette Pavilion in Burgettstown, PA.

One set of shows that hasn’t been announced is the phab phour’s all-but-confirmed headlining gig at Bonnaroo. Look for an official announcement on February 3 when AC Entertainment and Superfly are expected to release the full lineup. Tickets go onsale via Ticketmaster on January 30 for the ten shows listed above. You can also purchase tickets by heading to MusicToday to take a shot at Phish’s online ticketing service.

READ ON for a look at past Jones Beach and Great Woods Phish shows…

We’ve always been big fans of Panicstream for their humongous library of streamable Widespread Panic, but recently they’ve added another terrific new feature. Head to their iPod page to take your pick from dozens of tagged MP3 easily downloadable shows including this kickass compilation of late guitarist Mikey Houser’s Last Time playing a number of […]

As Phish prepares for the next stage of their career they aren’t afraid to look back at the glory days. As we told you about last year, Phish plans to release a seven-DVD box set documenting every note from The Clifford Ball. The Clifford Ball kick started the festival scene as we know it back in August of 1996 at a decommissioned air force base in Plattsburgh, New York. This long-awaited package hits stores and online retailers on March 3 with preorders scheduled to ship from Dry Goods on February 27.

To make things interesting, everyone who preorders the Clifford Ball DVD box set will be entered to win a pair of tickets to Phish’s upcoming reunion shows at the Hampton Coliseum on March 6-8. The band is offering a veritable cornucopia of Clifford Ball packages with t-shirts, ticket stub magnets and a limited edition poster among the merch up for sale.

Besides the concert themselves, The Clifford Ball box set includes a bonus disc chock full of never-before-heard goodies including the band’s recording of the infamous flatbed truck jam, a 30-minute featurette with band member interviews and more. As always, Keep your eyes on Hidden Track for audio and video samples from The Clifford Ball over the next few months.

READ ON for a full tracklist and a run down of the packages…

Maynard James Keenan singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle, will unveil the live incarnation of Puscifer on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14 at The Pearl inside the Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas at 8:00 p.m. In 2007, Keenan created Puscifer, a multifaceted, multimedia, multi-artist, and multi-personality project self-described as “a physical manifestation […]

Recorded in the informal atmosphere of a home studio, Already Free effectively extends the sound of The Derek Trucks Band on stage without a conscious attempt to replicate the live experience. While the album doesn't focus on the instrumental aspect of the group’s music like 2003's Soul Serenade, it never for once ignoresTrucks' exquisite guitar work.  

Femi Kuti has cancelled his upcoming North American tour due to an undisclosed illness. As reported on NME.COM earlier this week, Kuti originally postponed the opening dates of the jaunt, with plans to begin the tour in Montreal, on January 14, a week after the original kick-off date of January 7. However, today it was […]

The Derek Trucks Band has lined up an early 2009 outing to support the group’s forthcoming new studio release, "Already Free."below.  Trucks’ upcoming album, "Already Free," which hits stores Jan. 13, is his band’s seventh studio release. It features guest appearances by Doyle Bramhall II, Oteil Burbridge and Trucks’ wife, Susan Tedeschi, and follows 2006’s […]

As Phish prepares for the next stage of their career they aren’t afraid to look back at the glory days. As we told you about last year, Phish plans to release a seven-DVD box set documenting every note from The Clifford Ball. The Clifford Ball kick started the festival scene as we know it back […]

The official word from phish.com has finally appeared after strong rumors throughout the net.  As assumed, it appears the first leg of Phish’s summer tour will be a limited East Coast-heavy tour, beginning with a two-night run at Long Island NY’s Jones Beach.  Dates include:6/4 Jones Beach 6/5 Jones Beach 6/6 Great Woods 6/7 Camden […]

First opening in 1889, the Auditorium Theater has seen an immense variety of top-notch art. From the Chicago Symphony’s debut performance in 1891, to rock shows by the likes of The Who, The Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa, the room always seems to bring the best out of its performers.

It is no surprise that Umphrey’s McGee chose to step up from the familiar confines of the Aragon Ballroom to this landmark venue for their 2008 New Years Run. And step up they did. The little band from the Midwest has grown into a formidable powerhouse, maturing better than I think anyone could have hoped. Last week’s New Years run was truly a professional display of a band once again on the rise.

I first visited the Auditorium Theater in 1994 to see the Broadway adaptation of The Who’s Tommy, and it warped my 10-year-old mind. From then on, I was obsessed with The Who – a factor that in many ways set me down my current path. Had I not seen Tommy, I wouldn’t have started playing music or developed as a listener, and would most likely see things differently than I currently do. Needless to say, I was very excited to see how Umphrey’s would utilize a room with such amazing sound and sight lines.

READ ON for more of Joel’s thoughts and photos from UM in Chicago…

Words: Carla Danca
Images: Jeremy Gordon

Fresh off the tropical and highly successful Holidaze in Jamica, The Disco Biscuits returned to a wintery New York City to close out the year and ready themselves for a full scale tour. Bassist Marc Brownstein may have acted coy during interviews about the five show, six night run in the center of Times Square during the busiest night of the year but fans certainly didn’t.

Neither the freezing cold winds nor the intense double ring of of cops and security surrounding the Nokia Theater scared off fans looking to party down or search out an extra. The band’s first attempt at playing a 5 night run at one venue, especially NYC during the holidays, couldn’t have gone better with at least 2 shows sold out well in advance and the others rumored to be at or near capacity.

READ ON for more of Carla’s review and Jeremy’s photos from the Nokia…

We’d expect an official announcement at anytime, but for now all we have are a few leaked dates for Phish’s upcoming June tour. Besides Burgettstown on the 18, the phab phour returns to Great Woods (now Comcast Center) on June 6. Keep your eyes on Hidden Track for further updates. Where else do you think […]

With 2008 in the books we can start looking ahead to all the new music that will be hitting the shelves in 2009. Among the releases that I’m getting excited about is Middle Cyclone – the new solo disc from alt.country chanteuse and New Pornographers vocalist Neko Case – who may give Warren Haynes a […]