March 11, 2011

Colorado-based jammers String Cheese Incident played their first show of 2011 last night at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO as part of the group’s Winter Carnival. SCI bassist Keith Moseley mentioned that the band would dust off a number of tunes they hadn’t performed since going on hiatus in 2007 in an interview with HT earlier this month and String Cheese lived up to Moseley’s word by including the previously shelved Suntan, Cottonmouth, Big Shoes and Ramble On in the setlist.

[All photos by Brian Spady]

The first set finished with the SCI debut of the Colorado Bluebird Sky, a song written by Bill Nershi and his wife Jillian about an east coaster seeing Colorado for the first time. For the start of the second set, SCI offered a version of BAM! that featured a cover of Cee Lo Green’s Fuck You in the middle. Also of note, String Cheese’s encore featured the Chuck Berry tune Tore Up Over You done in a similar style to the Jerry Garcia Band.

Set 1: Smile, Birdland > Wheel Hoss > Birdland, Sometimes a River, Black and White, Suntan, Don’t Say > Water, Colorado Bluebird Sky

Set 2: BAM! > Fuck You > BAM!, Betray the Dark, Rivertrance, Cottonmouth, Piece of Mine, Sweet Melinda, Big Shoes > Ramble On

Encore: Barstool, Tore Up Over You

[via Friends of Cheese]

J.D. Crowe and the New South open tonight’s show in Broomfield.

[Thanks to Jambands.com for some info included in this report]

READ ON for more of Brian’s amazing photos from Night One of String Cheese Incident’s Winter Carnival 2011 at the 1st Bank Center…

I’ve always been a fan of a great cover version of a song. I once mentioned in my column, Marc’s Musings, that I am not much of a fan of cover bands in general – although certain tribute bands like the Fab Faux that really excel at what they do and show a real passion for the music are exceptions to my rule. But to hear a band do their take on a song that they truly love can be a great moment.

Like in most areas, I don’t think women in rock generally get enough attention. Sure we know about the greats from the past like Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin. But it’s only through recent revivals that anyone younger than 40 might be aware of the likes of Mavis Staples or Bettye Lavette. Luckily we have Women like Joan Osborne and more recently, Joss Stone and Grace Potter to carry on the great tradition of ladies who can belt it out. So here is a mix of rockin’, funky and soulful covers by women of all ages of songs from the 60s and beyond recorded from the ’70s up through today.

Bettye Lavette is a Soul singer who’s been making the rounds since the early ’60s. And for the most part never received the acclaim she deserved. After some early success, she ended up just about giving up on the business and even went to Broadway to perform. But eventually she connected with the producer Joe Henry for the 2005 album I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise. The album is all covers of songs by other women. This track is a Fiona Apple song. Could there be a better way to start this off?

Ruth Copeland was an English girl. She married Motown producer Jeffrey Bowen and through a lucky chain of events ended up on the Invictus label at a time when George Clinton was also signed to it. She ended up co-writing several songs with George including one of my favorites for the Parliament’s Come On In Out Of The Rain. In 1971 she released her second solo album I am What I Am. The album is essentially her backed by Funkadelic. Along with five original compositions, there were two Rolling Stones covers: Play With Fire and Gimme Shelter. The latter is featured here in all its psychedelic glory. READ ON for more on this week’s Friday Mix Tape…

When Phil Lesh and Friends took over the Beacon Theatre for a seven-show run in October 2000, the band tipped its proverbial hat to The Beatles by covering a different

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Tickets for the first leg of Phish’s Summer Tour 2011 go on sale today and tomorrow through various vendors. Phish.com has a handy list of what time each show goes