E1 Music is excited to announce the release of The Bad Plus’s new album, NEVER STOP, on September 14, 2010. It is the band’s first album of all originals, and
To remember the 15th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death, the San Francisco Giants have planned an impressive list of events for the team’s face-off with the Chicago Cubs on August
Dr. Dog is excited to announce a fall tour in support of their latest album, SHAME, SHAME. Beginning October 16th in Toronto, ON, this four-week tour follows two sold-out headlining
God Street Wine @ Gramercy Theatre, July 10
After the second night of God Street Wine’s reunion at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, I’m convinced that the band’s fans have been punked. Outside of a few lyric flubs, the quintet powered their way through every song performed this weekend with little difficulty. We’re not talking about a pop band either, these were complex tunes with proggy transitions. There’s no way a few weeks of rehearsal went into these concerts, GSW was simply too tight for that to be the case. The assembled Winos had their expectations met and exceeded all weekend long.
[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]
One of the elements of GSW’s music that originally drew me in was the diversity of styles filling the group’s original songs. That variety was on display last night as in the first three songs alone they easily slid from the white-bred reggae in the lilting When She Goes to the jazz-fueled tones of Molly to the powerful, take-no-prisoners Goodnight Gretchen. It’s hard to peg down this group’s sound because it changes so much from tune to tune.
Molly gave guitarist Lo Faber a chance to shine while Goodnight Gretchen turned into a showcase for guitarist Aaron Maxwell’s talents. The same diversity found in the group’s originals can be found in the six-stringers’ solo styles. For his Molly solo, Faber channeled Buddy Guy producing one stinging blues riff after another. Maxwell’s Goodnight Gretchen solo was a beaut based on two chords in the same vein as Frank Zappa’s Inca Roads or Phish’s Reba. Aaron slowly built up the jam with beautiful, cohesive phrases before finally exploding with quick bursts of notes at the peak of the jam. Even Jerry’s tone got some love as Lo utilized an autowah – think Estimated Prophet and Fire On The Mountain – for a Driving West solo that if you closed your eyes you might have thought Garcia was playing. It’s almost as if GSW has six different guitar players thanks to all the different tones and styles Maxwell and Faber are capable are providing.
READ ON for more from God Street Wine @ the Gramercy…
God Street Wine @ Gramercy Theatre, July 9
Nearly nine years after their last public gig, God Street Wine “was brought back” last night at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City and delivered a tight, dynamic performance that showed exactly why the quintet has been missed by fans who started a Facebook group and blog columns pleading for their return.
[All photos by Adam Kaufman]
This was more than a reunion of band, this was a reunion of a highly loyal fanbase. Winos from around the country assembled in the intimate venue exchanging hugs and high-fives well before the NYC-based group took the stage around 9PM to the strains of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
While most of the seven billion people in the world could care less that God Street Wine was getting back together, the seven hundred people in the Gramercy wouldn’t have wanted to be any other place on this night. For many, the show was almost like returning to high school or college for an evening, getting to re-live a part of our childhood and adolescence without the acne and Zima.
“So come on in, we’re starting over. Put down your money, and be like us”
Filled with lyrics about renewal and fitting in with a community, there really was no other choice for the opener but Borderline, as HT’s Jeff Greenblatt presciently pointed out to me via text message a few days ago. Ticket time was 8PM, so the crowd had an hour to build up energy and the place exploded by the first chorus of Borderline. Guitarists Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell were both in fine voice, which hardly mattered since the crowd was singing along so loudly.
READ ON for more of Scotty’s thoughts and Adam’s photos…
Now that the first leg of Phish’s Summer Tour has reached its conclusion – and the post-tour haze has worn off – it’s time to look at the recently completed run “by the numbers.” Here’s what we came up with for the latest installment of our ever-popular The Number Line series…
30,000 – Capacity of Largest Venue (HersheyPark Stadium)
8,466 – Number of Days between Fuck Your Face Performances
6,500 – Capacity of Smallest Venue (nTelos Pavilion)
1,413 – Number of shows since last Fuck Your Face
587 – Shows Since The Last Letter To Jimmy Page
180 – Different Songs Played
95 – Onetimers
92 – Number of Songs Played in 2009 not played yet in 2010 (A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing, Access Me, Albuquerque, All Down The Line, All of These Dreams, Anything But Me, Auld Lang Syne, Avenu Malkenu, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Bike, Bittersweet Motel, Blue Moon, Bobby Jean, Cars Trucks Buses, Casino Boogie, Catapult, Cool it Down, Corrina, Crimes of the Mind, Demand, Dixie Cannonball, Dog Faced Boy, Driver, Frankie Says, Freebird, Glide, Glory Days, Golden Age, Gone, Grind, Guelah Papyrus, Ha Ha Ha, Hello My Baby, Highway to Hell, How High the Moon, HYHU, I Been Around, I Just Want To See His Face, I Kissed A Girl, Icculus, If I Could, Invisible, Lengthwise, Let It Loose, Let Me Lie, Lifeboy, Love You, Meat, Middle Of The Road, Mist, Mound, Mustang Sally, My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own, Nellie Kane, NO2, Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, Old Home Place, On Your Way Down, Paul and Silas, Peaches en Regalia, Pebbles and Marbles, Psycho Killer, Rip This Joint, Rocks Off, Rocky Top, Scent of a Mule, Scents and Subtle Sounds, Secret Smile, Shake Your Hips, She Thinks I Still Care, Sleep, Soul Shakedown Party, Soul Survivor, Stop Breaking Down, Sweet Black Angel, Sweet Virginia, Talk, The Curtain With, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Tomorrow’s Song, Torn and Frayed, Trainsong, Tumbling Dice, Turd On The Run, Two Versions of Me, Ventilator Blues, Waves, Weigh, What’s the Use, When The Cactus Is In Bloom, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Windy City)
- Hidden Track Summer Tour Leg One Wrap Ups: Just The Facts, Survey Results, From A-Z
45 – The number of times somebody says Dr. Gabel in that song
27 – Days Until The Greek
24 – Songs Played in 2010 but not in 2009 (Alumni Blues, Dr. Gabel, Cold Water, Free Man in Paris, Fuck Your Face, Halfway to the Moon, Have Mercy, I Am The Walrus, Idea, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Instant Karma, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Killing in the Name, Letter to Jimmy Page, Light Up or Leave Me Alone, Lit O Bit, Look Out Cleveland, Mellow Mood, Saw it Again, Show Of Life, Summer of ’89, The Rover, Time Loves a Hero, Walfredo)
READ ON for more Phish Summer Tour stat geekery…
We’re less than a week away from what looks to be the biggest and best Camp Bisco yet, as Camp Bisco 9 runs from July 15 – 17 at Indian
Admittedly, it feels like an awfully quiet year thus far for finding new music that really strikes a chord. I know that generally means you’re just not looking hard enough,
Canadian Deadheads couldn’t have been more excited for Furthur to cross the border into The Great White North for a set at the Ottawa Bluesfest on Wednesday night. The Furthur
Umphrey’s McGee @ Red Rocks (Jul. 3) & Gothic Theatre (Jul. 4)
When Umphrey’s McGee came to Denver back in January and hosted one of their S2 events at the Fillmore, one of the fan-submitted-themes put up on the board read, “1st Song You Will Play When You Headline Red Rocks”. The band responded by playing a section from the title track from their 2009 studio release Mantis. This took place before the announcement of Red Rocks & Blue and I certainly wouldn’t have thought less of the band if they had re-thought this decision, as it appeared to be decided onstage within seconds. But there we were about six months later as UM finally took the stage as headliners after playing the venue four times as support and the opening guitar riffs of Mantis reverberated throughout The Rocks. Not only did they open with it, split it up into three separate sections in their two hour power-set, but they also skipped the usual music box intro Preamble so they could immediately get down to business.
[All Photos by Mike Sherry]
The opening lyric of Mantis is, “We believe there’s something here worth dying for,” a fitting declaration for a band who was finally crossing a headlining Red Rocks gig off the bands to-do list in their thirteenth year of touring, a career that has seen over 1500 shows, 62 in the state of Colorado. Fireworks – unrelated to Red Rocks – shot off from a nearby speedway were a real treat for the first 20 minutes of the set for those positioned high up enough to see them.
The set was constructed of the band’s strongest material – pulling the majority of the set from their recent more “mature” offerings. Hangover and Hajimemashite were the only two songs played from the band’s formative years and Haji stands the test of time not seeming like a song written by a 21-year old.
READ ON for more of DaveO’s thoughts & Mike’s photos…
