Archive: 2010

SiriusXM satellite radio will celebrate reaching the 20 Million Subscriber mark on December 13th with a special performance from Paul McCartney at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Tickets will be distributed through a sweepstakes that SiriusXM subscribers can enter here. This marks Macca’s first-ever concert at the legendary venue, though Beatles band mate John Lennon […]

Phish performing their Halloween show at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on 10.31.10.

Earlier this fall Robert Plant released his latest foray into the world of roots-rock with Band Of Joy via Round Records. The album, named in honor of the experimental blues band he played in with John Bonham prior to forming Led Zeppelin, features Plant backed by an impressive band of top-notch roots musicians including Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Byron House and Marco Giovino.

Plant & Co., who played a brief summer tour, have confirmed that they will head back on the road for a 15-date North American tour that will kick off on January 18 in Asheville, NC at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and includes a high profile stop at New York’s Beacon Theatre on the 29th. Joining Plant as the opening act will be DUOLOCO otherwise known as Cody and Luthor Dickinson of the North Mississippi All Stars.

READ ON for the full Band of Joy tour itinerary…

While the Aladdin’s sound is crystal clear and is a wonderful place to see a concert, the number of empty seats impacted the energy.  Only a third full, the Mazda2 tour could have rolled into the Doug Fir Lounge and blown up.  However, “beggars can’t be choosers”, or “haste makes waste”, whatever mom used to say.  Mayer Hawthorne and the County are movin’ on up.  

A crisp autumn breeze swept the streets just outside the El Rey Theater where indie fans were beginning to gather. Anticipation growing along with the hum of riffs to come emanated from them. They had come prepared to dance their way into the early hours of Halloween. Some people took notice of this special occasion and dressed appropriately. A proven fact as a guy wearing a pig nose walked to the back of the line shortly followed by Minnie Mouse. But these people were not here to see silly costumes, little did they know they wouldn’t have a choice. No, they had come to see Portugal. The Man.

With Pearl Jam taking a breather, Stone Gossard has had the opportunity to get back together with his friends in Brad, to finally release their fourth full length CD Best Friends?, and head out on the road for some shows across the United States. It’s a strong recording, with songs that are moody and spirited, a little funky here and a little psychedelic there.

All 13 Legendary Beatles Studio Albums & Special Digital Box Set· Apple Corps, EMI and Apple are proud to announce that The Beatles are now available for the first time on the iTunes Store http://www.itunes.com · Starting today, each of the Beatles’ 13 legendary remastered studio albums, including "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Revolver," […]

I say, “Warren,” and you know exactly who I’m talking about, because, let’s face it, there are well-known musicians in this scene, and then there are the select few for whom a one-name utterance is more than enough. “Warren” qualifies. Hell, I could just leave it at, “How you feelin’, huh?” and you’d probably still know who it is.

Catching up with the mighty Warren Haynes is always a catch-as-catch-can affair: he’s expressive and thoughtful in his answers, but with so much on his plate at all times, you run the risk of missing something if you stay on one subject too long. There’s a lot to touch on, as always: Mule is wrapping up one of its most successful touring years ever, but staying off the road for much of 2011. There are monster events like the Island Exodus — in which he’ll return, with the Mule, Ron Holloway, Eric Krasno’s Chapter 2 and Trombone Shorty in tow, to Jamaica for an intimate festival experience in January – and Another One for Woody, a ten-years-gone charity blowout on Nov. 22 in honor of original Mule anchor Allen Woody. Oh, and Warren is still a core member, don’t forget, of the Allman Brothers Band, who may or may not be returning to the Beacon Theater in March (read on to find out).

Perhaps most intriguingly, though, is that 2011 will bring new music from Haynes that doesn’t fall into any of those buckets. At the forthcoming Christmas Jam, he’ll debut a new Warren Haynes Band that scratches a long-burning soul and R&B itch for Haynes. The core band includes one-time Mule bassist and Meters legend George Porter Jr., and Dumpstaphunkers Ivan Neville and Raymond Weber on keys and drums respectively, and the expanded unit brings in frequent Haynes sideman Ron Holloway on saxophone, former Faces mainstay Ian McLagan on keyboards in tandem with Neville, and the mesmerizing blues and soul singer Ruthie Foster. An album is on the way, and so is a tour.

Buckle up, as we cover the bases with the one and only Warren Haynes:

HIDDEN TRACK: There are so many things to get to, but I wanted to start with some of the most pressing for Mule fans and expand out to other things you’ve got going on. Following the West Coast run, the charity shows, New Year’s and Island Exodus, Mule’s going to be taking some time off the road in 2011. Can you talk about why that’s happening?

WARREN HAYNES: We’re going to take a well-deserved break, and it’s something we’ve been talking about for several years. The timing is right now. We’ve been hitting it hard for 16 years, and it’ll also give us some time to relax and then start working on another studio record, but it also gives me an opportunity to release my solo record, which I plan to do sometime around May, and tour behind it. So it’s not like I’m going to be off the road. I think all the guys will be doing things, it’s just Mule, as an entity, that will be taking a rest. READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Warren Haynes…

HT faves Umphrey’s McGee hit the road hard in 2010 and from the looks of the just announced tour dates for the first few months of 2011, next year will bring more of the same for the Chicago-based sextet.

[Photo by Tammy Wetzel]

Umphrey’s returns to the Northeast starting on January 27th with the tour opener at the House of Blues in Boston. From there, UM heads back to the Best Buy Theatre in New York City on the 28th for the first time since the venue changed names. After hitting Philadelphia, Baltimore and State College, the group makes its way towards the Midwest for February performances in Lexington, KY; Columbus, OH and Detroit. A week of shows in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska comes next before UM returns to the Southeast in the middle of February.

A pair of the band’s favorite venues, the Barrymore in Madison and First Avenue in Minneapolis, get some love at the beginning of March before Umphrey’s goes out West for a swing down the Pacific Coast that includes stops in Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles leading up to the tour closer in Phoenix on March 19th.

READ ON for a full list of UM 2011 tour dates…

Harry Nilsson had always been one of those artist whose name I’ve recognized, mostly for the time he (in)famously spent with John Lennon that became known as “The Lost Weekend” and his contribution of Everybody’s Talkin’ to the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack, but someone that I never really knew too much about. To remedy that, last […]