Pale Blue eyes is track four of the self-titled third album by The Velvet Underground. Covered by what I find to be a surprising amount of artists, we have narrowed it down to six diverse entries this week. Check in next week for the beginning of the annual Cover Wars March Madness.
The Contestants:
Leading off this week is this stunning rendition from Alejandro Escovedo that illustrates the positive atmosphere produced from an extremely quiet and attentive live audience:
READ ON for five more covers of Pale Blue Eyes…
Last year, Soulive helped to celebrate the month of March with a ten-show, guest-laden residency at Brooklyn Bowl that was cleverly dubbed Bowlive. For the second year in a row,
Trey Anastasio Band @ Riviera Theatre, February 27
On Sunday night, Trey Anastasio and his Trey Anastasio Band rolled through Chicago for a sold out show at the legendary Riviera Theatre. The site of TAB’s Chicago debut in 1999, the Riv was an ideal setting to catch the band’s 2011 return to form. The first set was mostly Trey solo acoustic, and began with the 3.0 staple Backwards Down the Number Line before settling into a great acoustic arrangement of Theme from the Bottom. While surprisingly heavy on new Phish material, the acoustic segment also featured great takes on classics Gumbo, Halley’s Comet, Dirt and The Wedge.
[All photos by Joel Berk]
Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman came out to sing backup on a breathtaking Let Me Lie, an interesting slow arrangement of Water in the Sky and Wading in the Velvet Sea before the rest of the band came out and launched into Heavy Things. The tune, also slightly rearranged, gave keyboard player Ray Paczkowski his first moment to shine of what would be many. Liquid Time and Hey Ya! closed the full-band acoustic portion of the show, but the group wasn’t done yet and launched into a ripping electric Push On ‘Til the Day to close the opening stanza.
The electric set began with the TAB-turned-Phish tune Gotta Jibboo, which got the crowd going right off the bat before launching into a horn-driven version of Ocelot. Ocelot, with its horn parts sounding reminiscent of Allen Toussaint’s arrangements on The Band’s The Last Waltz, worked way better for me than it ever has as a Phish song.
READ ON for more from Joel on TAB in Chicago…
After grinding away at it since forming over eight years ago with incessant touring and a steadily growing fan base, Baltimore’s The Bridge is poised to take it to the next level. And while it’s perhaps a bit ironic for a jamband, it’s an old-fashioned album release that has them elevating to the next tier of improvisational bands.
The band put all its chips in the middle of the table with its latest release, National Bohemian, by hiring former Los Lobos sax-man Steve Berlin to produce; orchestrating a well-coordinated tour of both headlining and support roles (Tea Leaf Green and Galactic); and promoting the music with a professional video and proper publicity push. It’s exciting to see an up-and-coming jamband put so much energy into a record release, so we caught up with guitarist/vocal Cris Jacobs to hear more about the recent developments.
Hidden Track: To get started, I think it’s interesting to hear how bands characterize each others personalities. How would you describe the dynamic of the friendships in the band? Who are the goofballs?
Cris Jacobs: It’s a very brotherly type of relationship. We all thrive on being able to bust each others balls whenever possible. There’s literally no mercy. It’s like “Oh really! Nice shirt there Liberace!” Basically everything that anyone says, does, or wears is under constant scrutiny and is fair game for everyone to jump on and make fun of until the person has their soul beaten to a pulp and they have no self-esteem left. All in good fun of course. But seriously, we really do love each other and get along pretty damn well for six guys in such close conditions day in and day out. Even if the mere sound of someones voice is like nails on a chalkboard first thing in the morning and we bicker over stupid shit out of frustration or just plain road-irritability, I’d say we’d all jump in front of a bus for each other. We’re a very close group, we have a lot of fun, no one is an outsider or a loner really.
We all have our different personalities for sure. As far as who the goofballs are, what time is it? Who decided to have a drunk night? Any given minute it can be any of us and we all have our goofy tendencies, but I’d have to say all around, Patrick. He’s the wide-eyed wonder. And Kenny, one of the most unique personalities I’ve ever come across. And for the first and last 15 minutes of a van ride Dave has the hyperactivity of a 5 year old after too much sugar. We don’t quite know why it only happens during those times, but its quite a consistent and amazing phenomena.
READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with Cris of The Bridge…
HT faves Wilco have announced the initial lineup for its second annual Solid Sound Festival, which is set to take place at MASS MoCa in North Adams, MA on June
Filmmaker Alan Yentob’s revealing 1975 documentary about David Bowie has surfaced on Vimeo and this most interesting BBC feature examines The Thin White Duke during one of the more turbulent
The High Sierra Music Festival turns 21 in 2011 and to celebrate the event “coming of age,” HSMF organizers have put together one of the more high-profile lineup in the
Soulive is heading back to Brooklyn Bowl for ten shows in March. The two-week residency, aptly dubbed Bowlive 2, marks the second year in a row that America’s preeminent organ
The String Cheese Incident (3 performances) andDutch DJ Tiësto will top the bill at the inaugural Electric Forest at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan on June 30 through
Silence Worth Breaking is so stunning because the album’s title is extraordinarily appropriate. Annibale has a lot to say because she has listened much and learned a lot about life, and whatever wisdom she has to impart is made even more incredible because she shares it as a story instead of giving a sermon. Her vocal restraint is amazing at times, startlingly confident in others and all the while she infuses her performances with unadulterated joy.
