2010

First Fusion: Bob Weir + Marin Symphony

On October 22 former Grateful Dead and current Furthur vocalist/rhythm guitarist Bob Weir will team up with members of the 41-piece Marin Symphony and Quartet San Francisco to perform “as-yet-undetermined”

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30db: One Man Show

The bio page on 30db.net refers to this collaboration between Brendan Bayliss (Umphrey’s McGee) and Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band) as “unexpected,” but fans of both bands have long recognized the musical and personal friendship between the pair. After hearing the debut album under the 30db moniker, One Man Show, even outsiders won’t miss the chemistry and similarities that Austin and Bayliss share.

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Delta Spirit: History From Below

History From Below plays like Delta Spirit's stripped down B-side to 2008’s Ode to Sunshine.  As that term suggests there are none of the standouts like “Thrashcan” or “People C’mon” contained here yet the band continue to experiment. “White Table” is one of the better efforts, at once sonically barren yet pulsing with promise until springing alive halfway through; a neat trick.  “Bushwick Blues” bounces along at an urgently brisk pace, and “Golden State” is an exuberant piano pounding rhythmic shake-fest, both are infectious highpoints.  

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The Gaslight Anthem: The Midland, Kansas City, MO 7/17/10

Finally…a rock band.  It seems one can get lost in 2010 trying to see a first-class, straight-ahead rock show, but if The Gaslight Anthem is coming your way, you have outlet to satisfy your rock cravings.  The New Jersey lineup featuring three guitars and a drummer came to Kansas City, Mo on the night of July 17, to play the majestic Midland Theater.  With its driving sound and yearning lyrics, the band played up the fact that everyone was out on a Saturday night having a good time—and the audience seemed to hold the attitude that a good time was being had on a Saturday night.

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A True Shit Show For Kings of Leon

Back on Thursday we presented a list of ten concerts in which the cliched phrase “the show must go on” was lived up to. Apparently the Kings of Leon didn’t

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SCI Fuck With The Stars @ Red Rocks

String Cheese Incident “fucked with the stars” last night at Red Rocks where they debuted covers of MGMT’s anthem for the youth, Time to Pretend, and Joe Walsh’s ode to

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Review: Widespread Panic @ Radio City

Widespread Panic @ Radio City Music Hall, July 23

Widespread Panic met a bit of a harsh reality in performing at the storied Radio City Music Hall for the first time since July 21, 2007. In stark contrast to their last visit – which was packed with excited folks bouncing off the rafters – the band played to spotty attendance and a largely unenthusiastic crowd. Probably a third of the first mezzanine contained vacant seats and it just got progressively worse as you went up from there. As a result, the energy of the performance ebbed and flowed.

[All photos by Adam Kaufman]


The band played tight throughout the night, but with three new songs that the crowd met with stillness and curiosity as opposed to open arms, the excitement lacked significantly at times. The first set opened with a Heroes > Pleas > Imitation Leather Shoes segment that allowed the band to find both their chops and the lay of the land, but it really wasn’t until the John Bell-led Airplane – a bittersweet crowd-pleaser, as it’s a quintessential song of the late Michael Houser – that the crowd warmed, particularly for the funky JoJo Hermann-led clavinet section.

Beyond Airplane, the band kept it textbook for the remainder of the first set, but the Protein Drink/Sewing Machine closer finished the stanza on a high note. Sewing Machine also got the JoJo treatment, providing a theme for the evening, anytime JoJo’s sound got out front in the mix, the band shined. Otherwise, they felt a bit uninspired, which you can’t fault them for, as the NYC crowd brought their “B” game on this night.

READ ON for more of Ryan’s thoughts on last night’s show…

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Leftovers: Jerry Gets A Biopic

After being rumored for quite some time a biopic based on Grateful Dead singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia will finally be headed to the big screen. The movie, based on Robert Greenfield’s

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