In the music world it seems the younger artists always get the lion’s share of attention on the summer festival circuit. So it’s nice to see a few of the older acts at this year’s Bonnaroo get some well-deserved attention: John Fogerty, Jeff Beck, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Cliff and Stevie Wonder
John Hiatt's latest release The Open Road is a loose, very spontaneous affair, much like its predecessor Same Old Man. But unlike that prior album, where the focus remained on the songs, the material on this new album is the means to the end of making music, during the course of which Hiatt himself is an integral member of highly-skilled band.
It's been two years since MGMT breezed through Kansas City's Uptown Theater in support of Beck on his Modern Guilt tour. The crowd at the sold-out venue that night was greeted by the fledgling, Brooklyn-based band, and many were introduced for the first time to the band's synth sound heard on their full-length debut, Oracular Spectacular. The intervening two years have seen MGMT's stature, and style, grow considerably, and their headlining stop on June 13 at one of Kansas City's finer venues showed them deliver on their high expectations.
Michael Franti & Spearhead return with their much anticipated album, THE SOUND OF SUNSHINE, on August 24th through Capitol Records/Boo Boo Wax. The album’s first singles are already gaining momentum
Radiohead are currently back in the studio putting the finishing touches on the "best album we’ve ever made," guitarist Ed O’Brien announced during his guest DJ spot on BBC 6
Beginning on September 22nd in Rochester, NY, beloved Canadian indie rock band STARS will headline a month-long US tour in support of their forthcoming new album The Five Ghosts. Before
Phish celebrated Father’s Day this evening with their followers at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, AKA SPAC, in Saratoga Springs, NY. The show opened with Brother and during the middle
Phish was all business for the first 2:45 of Friday’s show in Hartford, the second of two nights at the Comcast Theatre. But the encore, which featured a strange dedication and the same song played twice is probably what will be remembered most about this night.
Fee was an interesting choice for an opener on a Friday, when the crowd seemed ready for something with more energy. The song is fairly rare these days – it was played only once in 2009 – but doesn’t do much to get the crowd going and this version wasn’t really any exception. Rift was close and had some good moments but was not quite as tight as it should be as Trey struggled with the “darkness the light from above could not reach” lyric and several of the licks in the buildup and peak. The set got cooking briefly with a very strong Wolfman’s Brother that started funky but turned into more of a straight ahead rock and roll jam and the energy began to rise in the venue.
New Phish songs always sound strange the first time you hear them live. Everyone sort of looks around and shrugs and has that “I have no clue what this is” look on their faces. Summer of ’89 certainly drew those looks on Friday night. I can’t say I enjoyed the song all that much but I’ll reserve full judgment until it’s been worked out a bit. The beginning struck me as a Water in the Sky/Driver hybrid that tried to gain steam with a jam segment that didn’t go very far. But we’ll see how the song develops if it remains in the rotation.
READ ON for more from Luke on Night Two of Hartford…
On September 28th, Vagrant Records will release the latest studio album from Pete Yorn. Produced by Frank Black (The Pixies), this visceral 11-song collection follows Yorn’s two 2009 releases. Back
EELS leader Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, calls the 14 track album the final installment of a trilogy that began with HOMBRE LOBO (June 2009) and END TIMES (January 2010).
