August 9, 2011

Phish Tahoe Setlist and Skinny: Night One

Another night, another new venue for Phish as the HT faves headed to the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena for the first of two performances in the mountain town. These shows are being webcast on LivePhish.com leading to fans to speculate as to whether the broadcast would have an impact on the band’s performance. Would they play a “greatest hits” show or would they jam? We got a little of each tonight, but certainly more improvisation than the last shows which were webcast – Alpharetta – as the quartet threw down an exceptional 17-minute Light in the second set.

[Unofficial Lake Tahoe Poster by Steve Conroy]


After an uplifting opening segment of Party Time, Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > AC/DC Bag and Mellow Mood kicked off the set, guitarist Trey Anastasio struggled to find his footing in the composed sections of Rift, Punch You In The Eye and Horn. The first Meat of 2011 was an example of how Phish dug deeper into their catalog in the opening stanza as compared to the first three shows of the leg. David Bowie featured the first exploration of the night and was highlighted by a beautiful but short major-key jam. A blazing 46 Days that didn’t stray too far out of the box closed the set.

The second slot in the second set seems to indicate “jam” in the 3.0 formula. This slot has hosted many of the wildest explorations of the era and that was the case again tonight when Light came out of a wild and wooly Gotta Jibboo. Light was used as a springboard to a lengthy trip to the unknown often in 2009 and 2010, but in 2011 its role was for quick and dirty jams. That started to change back in Watkins Glen and Light returned to its former glory tonight. This jam wasn’t a Trey shredfest – all four members made important contributions to keep the psychedelia flowing for over 10 minutes. Page McConnell made ample use of the synthesizers in his arsenal while Anastasio added effect-laden layers to mesh with the rhythm section. At times the jam hinted at Timber Ho and Undermind but the “ripcord” was never pulled. READ ON for the rest of the recap, the setlist, The Skinny, photos, tweets and much more on Phish in Tahoe…

Read More

Technology Tuesdays: DropBox Tips & Tricks


Wow! A recent auction allowing investors to participate in a future funding round may push the valuation of DropBox to $10 Billion. Yes, with a “B”. Billion. That is phenomenal. Not too many companies can boast a market cap anywhere near that. For a tiny company with scant few employees, you’d have to assume that they are doing something right. You’d assume right. DropBox makes it extraordinarily easy to sync documents and files between computers. But what else can it do besides syncing simple items like memos, spreadsheets & pictures from one computer to the next? In this weeks Technology Tuesday we’ll look at some creative ways to use DropBox.


Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know about DropBox. A small cross-platform program that allows you to sync files easily across any computer as well as mobile devices like Android & iPhone. The “secret sauce” of DropBox is that there is nothing to learn. Syncing is just as easy as dropping files into a folder like you are accustomed to already. Automagically, your files instantly appear on any of your connected devices. No pain. No hassle. On the off chance you have not yet tried DropBox, feel free to sign-up with this referral link (mine, thanks!) Free accounts get 2GB of storage & syncing that can be increased all the way to 8GB with referrals.

he point of this article is not an overall review of DropBox, comparisons with other syncing applications or a discussion about recent security lapses, rather it is to share some pretty cool ways that I use DropBox. While these principles may work perfectly fine on other syncing applications like Wuala, SugarSync, or Allway, I can only speak to DropBox and my two years of use. READ ON for more about ways to use DropBox…

Read More

Review: Newport Folk Festival 2011

Words and Photos: Gerry Hardy

In the week before the Newport Folk Festival kicked off, the headlines in the music magazines read “Newport Folk Sells Out.”


Oh here we go, the moribund traditionalists are on again about the lineup not being “pure” enough for folk, adulterated this year by interlopers such as rockers Gogol Bordello and Elvis Costello ( both listed as acoustic), Wanda Jackson’s rockabilly, the Decemberists and Delta Spirit.

A closer read revealed that the headlines in fact referred to this year being the first time in its 52-year history that the Festival had sold out, 10,000 tickets for each of the two days. And this was two weeks in advance in a year that saw weak ticket sales nationally for concert events.

All this was due in no small way to Festival producer Jay Sweet and his team’s keen ear, strong musical sense and dedication to making the festival an event that looked both forward and backward. Sweet handpicked 36 acts in a mix that included old timers Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (79) and Earl Scruggs (93) alongside first timers The Civil Wars, Tegan and Sara and Sallieford. Pete Seeger (92) continued his unbroken streak of Festival appearances, sitting in for brief appearances with many of the younger acts.

READ ON for more on the Newport Folk Festival 2011…

Read More

John Butler Trio: Live at Red Rocks

A common thread that can be drawn from any JBT show is the universal connection between the John Butler Trio as a group of musicians and the audience who equally share a passion for the music that is present.  What John Butler brings to every performance is a sacred offering that is unique to the crowd and the energy of that special moment, and Live At Red Rocks is a direct snapshot of that point in time.                  

Read More

The Disco Biscuits: Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens

here is a constant dynamism at work on Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens. The band will circle back inside a drum break and build up yet again, deconstructing a jam just to hit you harder when the kick drum dive bombs into your chest. As a whole, this body of songs shines with impeccable, dynamic and grounded production, all accomplished at a full-throttle pace. If you’ve ever felt a Biscuit peak hit and responded by thrusting your fist victoriously in the air, this album is for you.

Read More

Gregg Allman Cancels Solo Tour

Gregg Allman has cancelled all of his tour dates through September 14th. Allman –who received a successful liver transplant in 2010 – also yanked some dates on his European tour

Read More

View posts by year

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter