Archive: 2010

There’s nothing like summer in Chicago, especially when it comes to the weather and live concerts. The Summer of 2010 is already off to a good start with the announcement of the impressive Pitchfork Music Festival lineup and word of a proposal to have three more night-time concerts at legendary Wrigley Field. Originally, it was […]

Having such a foundation as New Orleans has given Galactic access to so many great musical resources over the years.  The band, set to release its 6th studio album titled, Ya-Ka-May, brought in a wide range of fantastic artists to collaborate with and has built a record that depicts a new sound coming from “The Big Easy.” 

When Stefon Harris joined Imani Wnds on the Mainstage of the Flynn February 5, he helped crystallize the intensity of their playing and  at the same time, elicited a greater level of improvisation from their playing.The effect of the collaboration might well have been even greater had Harris' own band been present, but even so, the performance was impressive.

Bright Eyes have announced that they have recorded four new songs, as part of the reissue of 2004’s ‘One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels’ EP. A collaboration between Bright Eyes and Neve Dinova, the new songs are ‘Rollerskating’, ‘Happy Accident’, ‘Someone’s Love’ and ‘I Know You’. Due out on March 23, those pre-ordering the record […]

The Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, John Mayer, B.B. King and Sheryl Crow will join Eric Clapton at his third Crossroads Guitar Festival, which will take place June 26 at Toyota Park in Chicago — where Clapton also held the 2007 event. The day-long festival will feature 26 axe-wielding acts in […]

NY indie quintet, The Walkmen, are the latest signees to Mississippi label, Fat Possum and are currently working on the follow up to 2008’s You & Me.  The band will produce the record themselves with Chris Zane once again set to engineer it.  The guys have also announced a trio of shows, that include a […]

English rockers, Arctic Monkeys, have announced a handful of tour dates to kick off this April.  The US tour will pick up after a handful of dates overseas and opens with a performance in Miami on the first.  San Francisco indie collective, Sleepy Sun will support on all dates.  Don’t miss out! Arctic Monkeys Tour […]

There’s been plenty of chatter around the HT Headquarters about yesterday’s Bonnaroo 2010 lineup reveal. We wanted to share a few members of our staff’s thoughts about this year’s bill and then we’d love to hear your take, so please leave a comment after the post.

Kind of an odd mix, at first glance, but makes sense when you consider Bonnaroo’s more recent push to make everybody happy and expand its audience demographics. You have baby boomer appeal with sizable reach (Stevie Wonder), an anchor jamband that has no problem with large crowds (DMB) and the most bankable rapper on the planet (Jay-Z). Not bad, but it’s nothing that’s going to get me to Tennessee as an automatic.

The Lips playing Dark Side will be fun, but boots of their New Year’s performance circulate and they’ll probably repeat the feat at other festivals. It’ll be cool to see Tenacious D back in action, the Avett Brothers and Zac Brown Band are riding a wave of acclaim and excitement, the Kings of Leon are a force to be reckoned with, Phoenix, The National and LCD Soundsystem are your indie attention-grabbers, and whoa, hey, there’s Steve Martin and he’s going to do his bluegrass thing. Throw in Tori Amos and Norah Jones and you really do have something for everyone.

The most intriguing listing, for me, is Jimmy Cliff, who’s said to have a full-blown return tour in the works. Can’t think of a better festival than Bonnaroo to re-introduce the man. Here’s hoping for lots and lots of collaboration, too, though I can’t see anything so far that would rival Springsteen’s Phish sit-in from last year.

I kind of miss the ‘Roo’s jamband/jam-friendly indie roots: it’s always been eclectic, but I feel like it used to have more of a personality all its own (i.e. it looks like Coachella now, whereas Coachella, despite its own continued boomer-baiting, hasn’t gone all hippie or anything). – Chad Berndtson

READ ON for the thoughts of a few other HT Staffers on this year’s bill…

Words: Jonathan Kosakow
Images: Adam Kaufman

Josh Clark, Trevor Garrod, Reed Mathis and Scott Rager took the stage Friday night at Terminal 5 to a mostly empty room, and those who were there on time jumped for joy at their own personal Tea Leaf Green show.

[All photos by Adam Kaufman]

It’s no secret that Terminal 5 doesn’t provide the most incredible experience for those that enjoy actually watching a band perform, so it was a healthy surprise to have a virtually clear line of sight from anywhere in the venue as the band took stage. Soon enough though, after Mathis’ driving bass lines coupled with Clark’s screaming guitar solos opened up the room, the growing crowd filled the space.

It was a solid performance throughout the show, and if it wasn’t evident that the group was having fun by watching Clark shred his guitar neck to dust, then it was clear by the time that Garrod pushed away from his keyboard to dance midstage at the rhythm section’s streamlined funk. The tight southern-style rock that sometimes comes out of this San Francisco-based quartet makes it easy to draw in even a novice of TLG, like this reviewer, but it’s the fluidity of jams and ease of transitions that has obviously made Tea Leaf Green a constant staple for many.

READ ON for more of Jonathan’s thoughts and Adam’s photos…

We have a lot of good audio and video to throw at you from last week, Furthur is back on the road for a major tour and Trey Anastasio is out on the road solo for the first time in over a year. Also Umphrey’s McGee seems to have worked their way into three different bands entries this week. Check out what’s below to see which band had a member sit-in with UM and which one took a veiled jab at either the band or the fans, or possibly neither.

[Thanks to j5brock for this week’s photo]

Artist & Title: Furthur – It Must Have Been The Roses
Date & Venue: 2010-02-06 Hard Rock Live, Orlando FL
Taper & Show Download: marcus

Somewhat quietly, Zoe Ellis and Sunshine Garcia have been added to Furthur to help out in the vocals department. This rendition of this great slow Jerry tune sounds fantastic and most certainly benefits from their addition. Furthur plays tonight at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.

Dear Mr. Fantasy Video from the night before:

READ ON to stream the rest of this week’s selections…

In  an effort to focus our attention on something besides Phish for a change, we’ve decided at HT headquarters to (hopefully) drum up some good chatter about the final season of the greatest television show in the history of the idiot box. Check in on Wednesday of every week  during Season 6 to share your […]

Last month Austin-based indie-rock act Spoon released their seventh studio album Transference via longtime label Merge. The band recently debut this black and white, in-studio performance video for the album’s first single… Spoon – Written In Reverse

Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB continue their tour in Washington D.C. this evening at the legendary 9:30 Club. The snow is falling hard in our nation’s capital which we think might have some impact on attendance and setlist. Speaking of which, here’s tonight’s setlist courtesy of DaveO and SCSlim… [Photo from Charlottesville by Tom Daly] […]

Love ’em or hate ’em, the folks at Pitchfork sure know how to put together a music festival that is big on heavy hitters and low on price. The influential music site has revealed the initial lineup for for the fifth annual Pitchfork Music Festival which as we previously reported will be headlined by Pavement. […]

The Free Ice Cream Crew has come out with another underground hip-hop scorcher via Kats’s Levitate.  The Brooklyn based MC boasts all over his “tenth album” and the braggadocios flow abounds, yet he manages to remain rooted in common stories like the tale spun on, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and that title tune, “Levitate”.

Hot Chip's One Life Stand is one of the most genuine, unpretentious albums of the young year. Without trying to re-invent the wheel, the band has steadily produced albums of increasing quality throughout their career. One Life Stand is the next logical progression in their timeline, a deliciously and deceptively simple affair that showcases the band's best qualities. The subtle differences in their sound aren't forced or fabricated, making the album a unique listen while comforting the listener with a consistent, dance-driven pop style.

Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2010 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The ninth annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 10 – 13 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed […]

Celebrated Los Angeles culture-mashers Ozomatli are set to release their new album, Fire Away, April 20th on Mercer Street Records / Downtown Records. Fire Away is the Grammy Award-winning band’s fifth studio full length, and first for the NYC based Mercer Street Records / Downtown Records. Produced by acclaimed producer Tony Berg, Fire Away features […]

Sugarcoating, Martin Sexton’s new album due out April 6, 2010, finds the one-of-a-kind artist doing what he does best: locating larger truths within specific details of the life he’s living. “I write from personal experience — my own hang-ups and quirks, good times and bad times. That keeps it real.” The Syracuse-born artist tracked Sugarcoating live […]

 NEW ALBUM BY SAGE FRANCIS OUT MAY 11th ON ANTI-RECORDS Anti-Records is excited to announce the impending release of an impassioned new album Li(f)e by celebrated agent-provocateur of hip hop, Sage Francis. An underground star from his years as a battle champion, poet and founder of influential Strange Famous Records, Francis garnered even wider acclaim […]