We’ve finally reached the start of Phish’s first tour of 2011 as the band pulled into Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY for the first of three shows at a venue we always hoped the quartet would play.
[Photo via @aaronpethic]
The band dotted the 11-song opening stanza at the venue near the site of the Woodstock Festival with four covers including Walk Away by The James Gang, Roses Are Free by Ween and Woodstock legend Jimi Hendrix’s Axis: Bold As Love. According to Sam Davis of Dog Gone Blog the improv out of Kill Devil Falls was a “full departure from the song structure,” as it contained a “spacious, flowing jam” that was “just amazing.” Surprisingly, there were no new covers or originals debuted during show one of the summer tour.
Set Two kicked off with Carini which led into a Back On The Train with a “patient build up” and “soaring peak” that contained “some of Trey’s best playing in 3.0” according to Guy Forget of Online Phish Tour. A cover of Stevie Wonder’s Boogie On Reggae Woman came next and featured a “weird slowdown” at the end according to Scott Marks for @YEMblog. Out of Boogie On came the first version of Waves since August 2009 and the Round Room tune clocked in at nearly 14-minutes as it went off into a spacey jam space that Davis described as “pure ambient beauty, a fine moment.” Another shining moment was a take on the Talking Heads’ Crosseyed and Painless which Davis felt had a “krautrock jam” and featured Anastasio on “octave dropped riffs.” From there, the group ended the set with a run of heavy rotation originals that left Marks noting the “very inconsistent energy level” of the set. Oddly, Phish did not play Tweezer Reprise during the encore, instead leaving off with just Julius.
HT’s Brian Bavosa will be at all three tour-opening shows and will file a full report early next week. Check back later for the debut of The Skinny, our “box score” of sorts about each gig. READ ON for the setlist…
Maybe you’ve heard, Phish Summer Tour kicks off tonight in Bethel, NY and the venue is situated extremely close to Max Yasgur’s 600 acre farm, the site of the original
The Death Cab For Cutie episode of VH1’s Storytellers will debut this evening at 11PM. Ben Gibbard and the boys share the stories behind their biggest “hits” as well as
Now that the Summer Camp Festival is underway, and radius clauses are out the window, jambands moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band and Cornmeal have been added to the
These are in no particular order of ranking. This is purely in the order that I witnessed them. And in most cases WITNESSED is the perfect word.
[All photos by Marc Millman]
1) Dave Malone sitting in with Tommy Malone & The Mystik Drones @ the New Orleans Convention Center (7th Annual Threadhead party – Mardi Gras World, May 3)
Monday through Wednesday are the three “off days” between the two weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. They are referred to as the “Daze Between.” For the last seven years, the Threadheads have thrown a party to help support local musicians (this is what the group does in addition to being all things Jazz Fest). I was shoveling plate after plate of free crawfish into my face mere hours after landing in the Big Easy while Tommy and his band were playing. The music was great background music.
I had seen Dave and Tommy standing around earlier. But when Tommy announced Dave was joining them, I grabbed my gear and ran to the front and I’m glad I did. They did two songs together. I don’t know the names of either, but the love you could see between the brothers and the passion they have for playing live music came through. And that’s what Fest is all about. READ ON for more of Marc’s top Jazz Fest musical moments…
Last week I told you about a couple of the places I hit (and enjoyed) on my recent trip to Key West in the posting F4tF: Key West Eating and Drinking. This week I am sharing some other places I checked out both in Key West and on the drive home up Route 1 back to reality.
On one of my daytime walks down Duval St I came across a shop Cocktails, Celebrating the Art of the Drink! seems the mixologist thing has made it all the way down to Key West as well.
READ ON for more on Jon’s trip to Key West…
After a brutal winter of blizzards and mounds of snow, and what has turned out to be quite the rainy spring, we’ve finally reached the official kick off summer as Memorial
After enduring a round-trip total of 28 hours in a Rav4 and extreme sunburn, I managed to survive the 2nd annual Hangout Music Festival on the beaches of Gulf Shores, AL. The sold-out festival featured three days of incendiary music, including over 60 acts right on the Gulf Coast. Festival headliners included Paul Simon, Foo Fighters and Widespread Panic, and those were not even the weekend’s best sets.
Gulf Shores was the epitome of a tacky tourist town; think Myrtle Beach crossed with Wisconsin Dells, with an added pinch of southern hospitality. The main strip, Highway 59, was lined with attractions including over the top souvenir shops, an amusement park (featuring the Wild Woody go-cart track, definitely worth the ride), bold colored beach houses and neon-lit restaurants including oyster bars and shrimp shacks.
The festival itself was set on the beach, roughly 25 feet from the coast. Everyday the sun beamed down from cloudless skies, incinerating the flesh of thousands of scantily clad fans. Stumbling through sand, insane music fans and sweaty southerners while watching the likes of My Morning Jacket, the Flaming Lips and Ween made the Hangout Festival a priceless experience. When the overabundance of skin and scorching temperatures became too much, all one had to do was walk a block out of the festival grounds, and take a dip in the ocean. I was honored to represent Hidden Track in witnessing all the glory the Hangout Festival had to offer.
Day 1: Easy Star All-Stars, Umphrey’s McGee, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, My Morning Jacket
Hangout officially kicked off Friday May 20 to 85 degree heat and blazing sunny skies. I started my experience with some mid-afternoon, soul soothing dub-reggae by the Easy Star All-Stars (ESA). The seven-piece collective are best known for their dub renditions of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (Dub Side of the Moon), Radiohead’s OK Computer (Radiodread) and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band). ESA heated the afternoon with signature Dub Side and Radiodread selections. They also performed original songs off their April 2011 release First Light, the collective’s first full-length album of original songs.
- Hangout Music Festival – Day One Recordings: My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic and Warren Haynes Band
READ ON for more on the first day of the Hangout Festival…
Garage A Troi performing at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia, PA 5.19.11.
Dropkick Murphys have announced additional North American summer tour dates in support of their critically acclaimed Going Out In Style CD (Born & Bred Records/ILG), which debuted at #6 on
