Phish continues to spoil us by uploading pro-shot videos of the Greek run. Next up from the band is the Mike’s jam and all of the scintillating Simple from the
No matter how much you listen to a band, read their interviews or whittle your workday away on their message boards, there’s something about reading a biography, especially an autobiography, that takes your knowledge to an entirely new level. When written well, hearing the story from the horse’s mouth makes it feel like you were there from the beginning and gives real insight to who these people really are, how they interact, what they really care about and, of course, how they came up with the music you love.
As someone who has read a fair amount of music bios over the years, spanning the gamut from Ben Fong-Torres’ Gram Parsons biography Hickory Wind to Alice Cooper’s autobiography Golf Monster, I can say with easy honesty, that Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue (with Larry Sloman) is without question the best I’ve ever read. In fact, it’s probably the quickest read of any book of any book I’ve ever read. The pages turn themselves. A lot of this comes from the fact that Kiedis’ life is nothing short of fascinating, but it’s also due to the fact that the writing is fluid and wildly honest, giving open accounts of his addictions, failed attempts at love, and personal dynamics within one of our generation’s few cutting edge big bands.
So many times throughout the course of this journey, Anthony reveals interesting factoids, anecdotes, and philosophies, so I thought I’d share some of the more compelling ones below. Heads up for anyone who may still read the book as this is your SPOILER ALERT, but this list is just the tip of the iceberg, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
The Secret to Aging Gracefully – Back when the Chili Peppers recorded Freaky Styley, they packed up and moved the band to Detroit to record and live with George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic. Of all the valuable philosophies and life lessons the band learned from the hairy funk architect, the one that sticks out most is his recipe for aging gracefully, despite years and years of extremely hard partying. What’s the secret? Prune juice.
READ ON for more life lessons from Anthony Kiedis…
Phish performing the first of two shows at Telluride Town Park, Telluride, CO on August 9th, 2010.
The Dead Weather’s final stop on their summer tour was Tuesday night under threatening skies in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Thankfully the rain held off, but the thunder and lightning were in full effect on the stage. Openers Harlem from Austin, TX played a nervous opening set of their stripped down fifties style surf/garage pop. Focusing on their newest album, Hippies, they seemed to mumble and act a bit jittery until things picked up for final few tunes. This could be traced to Curtis O’Mara coming out from behind the drums to sing and play guitar on “Friendly Ghost” and “Faces”.
Lollapalooza 2010: Day Three, August 8
Madness, mayhem, David Bowie? No, but more on that later.
Lollapalooza ended with attendees divided between the long-awaited return of a grunge hero and indie wall-of-sound innovators. But before Soundgarden and Arcade Fire closed out the fest on Sunday, those gathered witnessed the use of a keytar in a cool way, some recycled weed references and MGMT’s snooze-inducing new music.
If it ever felt more crowded than years past, it’s because Lollapalooza 2010 brought a record 240,000 people to Chicago’s downtown, with about 80,000 in attendance on each of the three days.
Yeasayer started my day after narrowly missing Hockey. The New York trio is among an ever-growing contingent of electronics-colored rock, but they stand out as one of the few whose music still retains organic emotional feel in spite of the toys. They rallied the crowd gathered up north through several tracks off their album Odd Blood that ranged from brooding contemplation to bright upbeat release.
Read about Phoenix, Metric and Cut Copy in Day Two
Read about Mavis Staples, Lady Gaga and the Strokes in Day One
READ ON for more from Day Three of Lollapalooza…
STS9 heads to the intimate Gramercy Theatre in New York City this evening for the jamtronica group’s first show of the summer. Tonight’s show is an Axe The Cables gig
Elvis Costello has never hid his affinity for the music of Levon Helm and The Band. Costello – like us – thinks The Band is one of the most important
Despite being smack dab in the middle of the 2010 Festival Season, some folks are looking ahead to next year including the producers of the Coachella Festival. Golden Voice has
From Friday to Sunday, Wilco and its fans will take over the campus of MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA for the Chicago-based band’s first festival. The Solid Sound Festival
Last week we shared a video of Mavis Staples in the studio with Jeff Tweedy previewing her new album, You’re Not Alone. Today we’ve got video of Jeff and Mavis
