Archive: 2010

The debut from Tel Aviv guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Yair Yona attempts to bridge the vast span between atmospheric indie instrumentalism and Delta blues slide guitar, and while the result is undoubtedly original, it often comes to rest somewhere in the inter-genre no-man’s land reserved for smooth jazz and elevator music.

Apparently a number of festivals are trying to sell tickets over the holiday season as announcements are hitting our mailbox at a furious pace. To name a few – The Hangout Festival will return to Gulf Shores, AL on May 20 – 22, moe.’s Snoe.down event comes back to the Killington/Rutland region of Vermont on March […]

Welcome to back to Strange Brew our monthly column dedicated to – as you probably have already guessed – beer. Each month, we’ll take a close look at a new or notable brew, or just one we think you should be drinking.

The folks at Dogfish Head may not be too fond of their beers being labeled as “extreme,” but to those that drink the standard fare, their craft beers could be a bit of a shock to the palette thanks to their unique ingredients and potent punch. Founded in 1995, the Delaware-based brewery, whose unique methods of producing and brewing beer were the subject of a must-read New Yorker article, originally built its reputation around the flagship trio of continuously hopped IPA’s with a 60, 90 and 120 minute variation. Dogfish Head’s mantra is “off-centered stuff for off-centered people” as the company puts out a wide variety of year-round and seasonal offerings, as well as their big bottle rarity series.

The brewery’s latest limited release was brewed and named in honor of the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis’ landmark jazz-fusion album Bitches Brew, a record that is near and dear to Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione’s heart. He claims that it was “my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world.”

Why Should You Drink It?: For the third time in the brief history of this column we have another serendipitous alignment between the worlds of music and beer. This imperial stout, which weighs in at hefty 9% ABV, pours a silky black, almost molasses color with a dark tan head.

READ ON for more on Dogfish Head – Bitches Brew…

Earlier this week, we ran an interview with Warren Haynes in which the Allman Brothers Band guitarist told our Chad Berndtson that “as far as [he] knew” the group would be returning to the Beacon Theatre in March after Banana Shpeel’s residency at the theater forced the ABB to head north to the United Palace […]

Take whatever title you want for this week’s installment of Friday Mix Tape. I compiled these tunes because in November every year I put these same songs in a playlist as an ode to the seven women who have changed my life forever. I guess I’m just a sentimental fool or have some inability to […]

When I knew that I would be heading down to Miami & South Beach for a three day vacation and some well deserved R&R, I reached out to two people I know down there for tips on places to eat.  One of them is a well known chef who has spent most of his adult life in Florida, the other is the brother of one of my best friends who happens to be in law enforcement.

On the second of my three days down there I met up with my cop friend and his wife for a beer.  He said to me, we have to go this place in Hollywood Beach right on A1A that was voted The Best Burger in America by none other than Alan Richman of GQ Magazine.  If you don’t know anything about who he is, here is all you need to know:

Alan Richman is the most decorated food writer in history. He has won 14 James Beard Journalism Awards, a National Magazine Award (and was a finalist five more times), and a Bronze Star for service in Vietnam. You won’t find food writers like him at the food magazines. When he received his National Magazine Award, the presenter described him as “the Indiana Jones of food writers.” He has reviewed restaurants in nearly every Communist country (China, Vietnam, Cuba, East Germany), proof that he will go anywhere for a meal. He once reviewed the Chicago restaurant owned and operated by Louis Farrakhan, not known to be a fan of Jewish journalists. In Cuba, he defied government regulations by interviewing starving political dissidents, then rewarded himself with a lobster lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Havana. In 1998, Richman was inducted into The James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, which recognizes culinary industry professionals for their achievements. He is the Dean of Food Journalism at The French Culinary Institute in New York, where he teaches a class in food writing. Richman’s 14 Beard awards have been presented in restaurant reviewing, feature writing, and wine writing. He has also taken the top prize, the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, twice. He continues to indulge his passion for eight-course dinners (plus cheese).

The name of the place that we went to was Le Tub.

READ ON to read all about the best burger Jon ever ate…

Back in 2007, the BBC Four produced a documentary called Hotel California – From The Byrds To The Eagles that traced the history and lineage of Laurel Canyon’s folk and country-rock scene as the title suggest – from The Byrds all the way up to The Eagles. The entire doc was recently uploaded to YouTube […]

Tonight, former 70 Volt Parade vocalist Trey Anastasio returned to his hometown of Princeton, NJ for a rare solo acoustic show. The performance took place at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall within the campus of Princeton University. Anastasio was backed by the Scorchio Quintet. [via @YouEnjoyMe] Anastasio leaned heavily on material from 2004-2008, but also […]

The Western States Motel has announced a slew of West Coast tour dates this winter. The band is gearing up for the release of their latest full-length record Freeway Freeway Riverbed, set to drop February 2011. A full list of tour dates is below.  For the past year, Freeway Freeway Riverbed has been a labor […]

The National want to turn Black Friday violet.  For one day only, Friday, November 26, the band will offer the expanded edition of its critically acclaimed breakout album ‘High Violet’ – which includes new studio tracks, b-sides, live recordings and more – for $7.99 (MSRP $16.98) exclusively at participating independent record stores (for a map […]

Vermont is certainly known for it's organic products – and now you can add the acoustic bluegrass trio, Jatoba, to that respected grocery list.  

The Sasquatch! Music Festival has added a fourth day to their annual festival and has announced the Foo Fighters  as headlining day #1. 2011 is the 10th year of the now four-day music festival and it will be taking place at The Gorge in Quincy, WA on Memorial Day Weekend (May 27-30). Special discounted four-day […]

A new Jimi Hendrix documentary trailing the late guitarist’s two-night residency at London‘s Royal Albert Hall in 1969 is set to be released next year. The film has been put together using footage of the shows plus material taken on his tour of Europe that year, according to his sister Janie Hendrix. "There were about […]

Lollapalooza which began life as a touring festival and evolved into a destination event, puts on its traveling shoes once again, designating Chile as its first non-North America host. The first “Lollapalooza International” is set for April 2-3 at Santiago’s O’Higgins Park, a location festival founder Perry Farrell described as having “a gentle sloping grass […]

Back in April of 2008, we kicked off a series of B Lists devoted to Stage Setlist Porn in which we presented images of 60 stage setlists that rabid fans had saved from the scrap heap. Each day a number of images tagged “setlist” have been uploaded to Flickr and once again we sorted through most of those pics to bring you a batch of 10 kickass stage setlists.

1. Sufjan Stevens 11/15/10 New York, NY

[via tammylo]

Critic’s darling Sufjan Stevens concluded his latest American tour on Monday night at the Beacon Theater in New York City. It’s not often we see a stage setlist that includes a “balloon drop” on it, so we had to feature this one in today’s column.

Previously: Stage Setlists Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3 & Pt. 4

2. DiSGRACe 11/09/10 Newport, KY

[via Kahlil Katool]

moe. members Rob Derhak, Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey are currently touring under the name DiSGRACe. These stripped down shows also feature stripped down, handwritten setlists like the one above.

READ ON for eight more stage setlists of interest…

Yesterday, the members of the Disco Biscuits headed to the Albert M. Greenfield Elementary School in Philadelphia to see for themselves the city’s first public school with roof-top solar panels. The panels were the direct result of the band’s Bisco Power Mission fundraising efforts, a joint project with HeadCount and Mercury Solar Systems.

[Photos by Ashley Beliveau]

The Biscuits raised money for the installation of the panels at the Bisco Power Mission concert, which was held at Brooklyn Bowl back on March 21. According to the band, the concert raised $15,000 for “Greening Greenfield,” the organization that is heading up the school’s five-phase greening project. The Albert M. Greenfield Home and School Association contributed an additional $10,000, while Mercury Solar donated approximately $10,000 worth of labor and services. Magic Hat Brewing Company was also a sponsor of Bisco Power Mission.

READ ON for more on Bisco Power Mission…

Roger Waters – The Wall @ MSG, November 6

All in All, You Were All Just Bricks in My Wall

We all build walls. Everybody has their bricks. The question is, just how high do we let them go? And what is the difference between having a robust set of personal defenses and being alienated, alone, and generally mad?

The bricks that built Roger Waters’ wall are things that many people can relate to: a father he lost to war and never ultimately knew, an overprotective mother who didn’t let him grow, abusive educators and a lover who seized on his vulnerabilities. But for Waters, the last straw, or rather the final set of bricks, was being adored by people he did not respect.

It was this final trigger that caused him to create his magnum opus, released in 1979, Pink Floyd’s The Wall. And 31 years on, it is safe to say that this piece of music stands shoulder to shoulder to the beloved operas of Venice and the sophisticated chamber music of Vienna.

So Ya, Thought Ya, Might Like to Go To the Show

A late-career revival of an album/tour of such epic proportions reeks of cashing in, and given the sheer number of shows, and particularly the endless add-ons to the tour, even the most dedicated Roger Waters fans had their reservations. READ ON for more on Roger Waters’ The Wall…

Iconic performer Paul McCartney will return to NBC’s Saturday Night Live as the musical guest for the December 11th episode, in which actor Paul Rudd will host. This marks McCartney’s third time as musical guest having performed on the NBC show back in 1990 and 1993, though Macca also made a brilliant cameo in 2006. Paul’s […]

I apologize that you have not seen a new addition of Last Week’s Sauce in nearly a month, but I have recently switched coasts and am now a resident of San Francisco. I’m settled in and excited to get back to my regular HT columns. This week, we’ll take a listen to a new song from the moe. side project Disgrace, Keller Williams, Jimmy Herring Band and a great acoustic segment to close from Little Feat members Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett.

A reminder, you can download all of this week’s audio in one easy to listen to MP3 that we call the Last Week’s Sauce Podcast, click here to download.

[Thanks to RobC for this week’s photo]

Disgrace – Little Miss Cup Half Empty
Date & Venue: 2010-11-09 Southgate House – Newport, KY
Taper & Show Download: K.C. Cadwallader

moe. has got a new side-project titled Disgrace that features Al, Chuck and Rob on acoustic instruments. In addition to a lot of moe. songs and covers, the project debuted an original at this Kentucky show titled Little Miss Cup Half Empty. Disgrace [tour dates] plays tonight at 8×10 in Baltimore, MD.

READ ON for tracks from Keller Williams, Jimmy Herring Band, and the Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett Acoustic Duo…

Mike Gordon Band @ Fine Line Music Cafe, November 16

Words and Images: Joe Ringus

It’s not often a member of Phish graces Minnesota with their presence. Despite the infrequency of band member’s visits, the state’s fans always show their appreciation when one of these performances occurs. This past Tuesday night, the Fine Line Music Cafe in Downtown Minneapolis played host to bassist Mike Gordon and his band as they made a mid-week stop in the bitter north. Fans responded by nearly packing the 769-capacity venue.

The MGB’s first set opened up with the sizzling first track from Moss, Can’t Stand Still, and never let up. Early on, Gordon invited the crowd to make music with him by handing his kaossilator effects pedal to the folks in the front row to pass around. Between lasers and the stage lights, Mike Gordon and company made the most of playing the small bar.

The jams were thick during the second set which included an Alanis Morissette cover, a segue sandwich of J.J. Cale’s Ain’t Love Funny with drummer Todd Isler’s original Kryermaten as well as a staple of the Phish repertoire – a cover of Son Seals’ Funky Bitch. Mike and his band even treated fans to their version of Sailin’ Shoes by Little Feat.

Set One
: Can’t Stand Still, Sound, Suskind Hotel, Be Good And You’ll Be Lonely, Middle Of The Road, Walls Of Time, Radar Blip > Dig Further Down

Set Two
: Idea, Lit O Bit, Hand In My Pocket, Ain’t Love Funny > Kryermaten > Ain’t Love Funny > The Field > Kryermaten > Ain’t Love Funny, Funky Bitch, Pretend, Somaila, Jones, Sailin’ Shoes, Hap Nappy > Rock Me Baby

Encore
: Sugar Shack

[Setlist via Mike-Gordon.com]

Before the night was finally over, the group encored with Mike’s lone track from Joy, Sugar Shack, which sent the fans into the cold Minnesota night with huge smiles on their faces.

READ ON for the rest of Joe’s fantastic MGB photos…