Perpetual Groove threw their annual Amberland festival this past weekend in the band’s home state of Georgia. Our friend Chris Cartelli was in attendance and when he wasn’t sitting in with PGroove’s Brock Butler during Butler’s Brockfast set he was snapping photos of the event.
READ ON to check out more of Chris’ photos…
Hangout Festival @ Gulf Shores, AL – May 22
The third and final day of the 2nd Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, AL was perhaps the hottest of the festival. There was hot and then there was scorching hot where moving across the beach was a task. For the better half of three days I trucked around barefoot, burying my feet and squishing sand between my toes. However Sunday was so hot, walking barefoot in the sand felt similar to walking on a bed of hot coals.
[All photos by Allison Taich]
I left “home” early to take a dip in the ocean with plans to hit Hangout in time to celebrate my favorite one-man-band Keller Williams. Unfortunately Keller was billed at the same time as Old Crow Medicine Show, but I made the decision to stick with Keller. The Sunday sun was ruthless, making Keller the best wake and bake of Hangout. I am confident in saying that his set was responsible for the worst sun burn I endured all weekend.
Heat aside Keller buoyantly bounced around stage creating live loops linked to a free flow of words. His set took shape with interpretations of the Grateful Dead’s Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, melted into his signature Freakshow, which Keller noted “bass by the Grateful Dead words by Ani DiFranco.” He then blazed through the ultimate “Crazy” medley, combining songs of past and present emulating a “crazy” theme, sampling everyone from Patsy Cline to Gnarls Barkley.
READ ON for more on the final day of Hangout…
Bob Weir performed publicly with his daughter Monet for the first time at the Grateful Dead/Furthur guitarist’s solo acoustic gig Saturday night in Mill Valley, CA. Monet and Bob offered
Kurt Vile has put together a release worthy of an early candidate for Album of the Year with Smoke Ring For My Halo. By including his touring band, The Violaters, here Vile has upped the sound quality and density, forgoing the low-fi aesthetic that had somewhat muddied his previous albums by giving them a little too much of a DIY-feel.
Ever since releasing records entitled I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child and Everything into Nothing, Manchester Orchestra has staked a claim as sensitively extravagant rockers. With the more mutedly titled, Simple Math, Hull has concocted a collection of simultaneously bombastic and intimate songs tracking the dissolution and reconstruction of his marriage and his life.
Just days before masses of people descended on the District of Columbia for Memorial Day, Paul Simon paid a visit to D.A.R. Constitution Hall, one of the city’s most patriotic venues. Whatever political subject may have been on the 69-year-old legend’s mind, he kept banter to a bare minimum, quipping only that he recalled “playing here with Artie in the 60’s.
Phish Summer Tour 2011 is in full swing as the band returns to the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ once again this evening.
[Photo by Balaji Mani from 5/31]
@alliedise will be reporting live from Holmdel for @YEMblog, so be sure to follow along for the latest. READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…
Phish @ PNC Bank Arts Center – May 31
While the opening three-night stand in Bethel, NY showed a lot of promise for the current summer Phish tour, Tuesday night’s show at the PNC Bank Center was a small step backward. Unexpected sound issues and botched sections nearly zapped most of the band’s confidence but despite these setbacks the band put forth a relatively energetic performance (albeit a very restrained energy).
[All photos by S. Balaji Mani]
Launched by the much-awaited Chalkdust Torture, the first set opened strong. A nicely placed Roggae followed, maintaining the energy while taking a laid-back tempo. Guitarist Trey Anastasio first encountered some tuning issues during The Moma Dance, correcting himself later on.
A high-energy Rock n Roll and intense Sand were extended but remained relatively structured as strictly Type I adventures. The improvisation in Sand was especially noteworthy, with Trey and Page taking melodic cues from each other. Just as the first set was coming to its eventual close, the composed parts of Divided Sky escaped Trey’s reach – whereas he had flubbed it in the past, this time he completely forgot one entire section. Embarrassed after attempting multiple times to remember the part, Trey deferred to the audience and encouraged the crowd to sing the missing notes. During these uncomfortable moments bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman exchanged looks of confusion but kept playing.
READ ON for more on Night One of Phish @ PNC…
Words: Ryan Maher
Photos: Tammy Wetzel
Ah, Summer Camp. Last year you turned 10, this year you had quite the growth spurt at 11. Attendees quickly realized as they lined in that they’d be camping in tighter quarters with many new neighbors, as record numbers made their way to Chillicothe.
[All photos by Tammy Wetzel]
Thankfully mother nature gave us a break by ending the early rain in time for a dry load-in. The bands and crew weren’t so lucky at 5AM when they got their orders to evacuate due to severe weather. The rains had left some mud and chilly temps in their wake, but the upside would be no dust storms coating the bodies and lungs of the masses this year.
Jake Cinninger rolled out with his old South Bend band, Ali Baba’s Tahini for a fun set that featured the raunchy humor of Karl Engelmann paired with Jake’s guitar chops. Their cover of Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream had a dark chant of “Smoke pot, Smoke pot, Everybody smoke pot” for kicks. Wavy Dave from Cornmeal also lent his jaw harp skills to a ditty.
READ ON for more from Tammy and Ryan about Summer Camp…
We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays (well Wednesday this week if you want to be a stickler) for this
