Archive: 2011

In this week’s column, featured columnist Brian Bavosa takes a look at the The Dead’s legendary Europe ’72 tour, along with the impending 60+ CD release…assuming you were lucky enough to snag one.

The old saying goes: There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert. If that’s the case, what can one say about an entire tour? Especially one as special, and as much of a landmark as the famed 22-show, Spring run of 1972? Often lauded as one of The Dead’s high-water marks, Europe ’72, as it is commonly referred to, is quite simply an extremely important time in the band’s history.

[Europe ’72 artwork by Kelley/Mouse]

So, when the announcement came that The Grateful Dead would officially be releasing the entire tour in a 7,200-copy pressing, $450, limited edition boxed-set, even the most die-hard of Deadheads were at least slightly taken aback. However, within four days of the pre-sale, the allotment was sold-out, leaving many who wanted to purchase this historic piece of history out of luck.

The band quickly decided they would still release more units – at the same price tag of $450 – but without the commemorative packaging, something that simply doesn’t sit right with me and a number of others.  Today’s column will focus not only on the magical time of the Spring of ’72 in Western Europe, but also allow me to chime in -and ask your opinion through PFPS’s 2nd ever poll  – about what The Dead should have done after the initial sets sold out.

READ ON for more of this week’s Postcards From Page Side…

Brooklyn’s Food Will Win the War got into the holiday spirit this winter and filmed their latest music video at SantaCon 2010 amidst the legions of blotto Santas and Elves. The band has a big week this week, as they are currently competing in the WNYC Battle of the Burroughs for a shot at performing […]

Photos: Chad Smith

From January 20th – 24th, Umphrey’s McGee, STS9, the Disco Biscuits, their fans and a few other acts took over the Now Sapphire Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico for Mayan Holidaze.

[All photos by Chad Smith]

In a previous edition of Last Week’s Sauce, DaveO went over some of the the musical highlights from the first-ever Mexican edition of Holidaze and today you’ll get the visual side of things from one of our favorite photographers in the scene, Chad Smith. Chad, who makes his Hidden Track debut this morning, has shared not only pictures of the bands in action, but also a number of shots featuring festival attendees getting down.

READ ON for over 90 photos from Mayan Holidaze…

Pretty Lights fulfilled the promise he made to his fans at the beginning of 2010 by delivering three new EP’s, and followed that by touring the world over, and launching Pretty Lights Music, his digital record label at the beginning of 2011. Now he’d like to share the news of a Spring tour, taking place from […]

Iconic punk champions Bad Religion will be hitting the road along with melodic hardcore upstarts Rise Against for what is sure to be one of the most electrifying and rousing tours of the year. In the last months Bad Religion have celebrated thirty years of innovative and genre defining music, capping the landmark with the […]

If the measure of a good autobiography is the extent to which the writing reflects the progression of the life under inspection, then Keith Richard’s Life is an exceptional piece of work. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a stunning read all the way through, but only that it reveals the true nature of its subject, blemishes and all.

The Decemberists have announced a second leg of U.S. tour dates for the Spring, which will kick off April 16 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and cover the Midwest and South before reaching Atlanta, Georgia on May 2. The 14-date run will also include the band’s first-ever appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival […]

It’s certainly not everyday that an avant-garde cellist sells out a show in a popular rock club, and adorned with only a cello, series of foot pedals and laptop completely wins over the entire crowd.   That is unless you’re Zoe Keating

Playing to a packed 600 seat Aladdin Theater, Daniel Lanois and his band lured the crowd into their cozy lair with a mix of material from Black Dub’s wonderful self titled debut and Lanois’ previous solo work.  It is obvious Lanois chooses only to surround himself with the highest quality musicians,

There’s no denying that it’s been already been a long and brutal winter here in New York City, and we’re barely a week into February. There is really only one thing that will keep our seasonal depression to an minimum and that’s getting out and listening to some feel-good music. Who better to provide the […]

HT faves Umphrey’s McGee revealed more details for UMBowl II, which we already knew was set to take place in the band’s hometown of Chicago on April 2, via The Floor. The event will feature four musical quarters, each with a different theme at Park West starting at 7:30PM. While Park West normally holds 1,100 […]

Buddy Guy @ Buddy Guy’s Legends, January 27th

Every January, Chicago blues fans brave the city’s schizophrenic weather and flock to the 700 block of south Wabash. Their destination, Buddy Guy’s Legends to experience none other than blues deity Buddy Guy, at home in the flesh. To many it would not be a new year without Guy’s traditional winter residency; loyalists would even say that Guy’s shows set the tone for the year ahead.

Each year, Guy returns to sweet home Chicago to perform a month’s worth of sold-out shows, 16 to be exact, at his South Loop club, Legends. For 20 years Legends was located at 754 S. Wabash; that was until Guy’s landlords, Columbia College, gave his bar the boot to expand their campus. As a result, Guy bought a new place up the block at 700 S. Wabash, replicated and upgraded his 20 year old masterpiece, and re-opened during the summer of 2010.

January 2011 marked Guy’s first residency at the club’s new address. There were people packed into every nook and cranny for show #13 on January 27th. About three or four rows of tables lined the middle of the room, all of which were dominated by Buddy Guy vets, aka experienced patrons aware of the benefits to unite together and arrive early. For everyone else it was standing room only surrounding the club’s perimeter. Looking around there could not have been a friendlier or more welcoming atmosphere.

READ ON for more on catching Buddy Guy in Chicago…

With the announcement coming this past weekend that LCD Soundsystem would be playing their final show on April 2nd at Madison Square Garden, it seemed appropriate that we select one of their tunes for Cover Wars. All My Friends was released as a single for LCD’s 2007 album Sound of Silver. As you’ll see below, that single included two covers of All My Friends.

The Contestants:

Franz Ferdinand is the first of two artists this week who recorded a cover of All My Friends specifically to be released as a B-Side to the single.

Franz Ferdinand has played it live on a number of occasions:

READ ON for four more covers of All My Friends…

Baltimore’s The Bridge have just released a video for the single Rosie off the sextet’s National Bohemian album and the song smokes. Clocking in at a radio-friendly 3:20, Rosie is a soul-fueled rocker that will stay in your head all day. Take a look, this guys just might have a hit on their hands… The […]

With the football season wrapping up this past weekend, many of us around the HT HQ are eagerly anticipating the return of baseball, which officially gets underway this weekend as pitchers and catchers begin to report to Spring Training. This spring the soundtrack around the ballparks will get a dose of indie-rock as The Baseball […]

On Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will, as was the case on earlier albums and more recently on 2008’s brilliant and often under-appreciated The Hawk Is Howling, Scottish rock outfit Mogwai knows how to set a mood early and occasionally explode from that jumping off point. With a bit more texture in spots a la The Cure-meets-Coldplay which fuels “White Noise” (and later during “Letters To The Metro”) Mogwai settle things down with a decent if not delectable “Mexican Grand Prix” with, dare I say it, vocals?

Wilco have joined Foo Fighters as the headliners for the 10th annual Sasquatch! Music Festival. Foo Fighters was previously announced as the headliner of the festival’s new Friday event. Thanks to the addition of the fourth day, this year’s Memorial Day weekend festival takes place May 27-30 at Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash. May 27’s lineup […]

We were sad to see the news that guitarist Gary Moore passed away early Sunday at the Kempinski Hotel in Estepona, Spain. Moore is best known for his work with Thin Lizzy as well as his career as a solo artist. As of now, no cause of death has been determined. Check out Greg Prato’s […]

For every important musical movement of the last 60 years, there has always seemed to be a venue that has played a pivotal role in helping to foster and cultivate it. The folk music boom called Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village home, while psychedelic rock bloomed at the Fillmore in San Francisco. For the […]

Ozomatli @ Irving Plaza – February 3rd, 2011

Jam bands tend to try and be a little bit of everything to everyone. And a lot of the time they just fall flat as pale imitators. Hip-hop acts tend to recognize their “roots.” Sometimes this comes off as phony; just another way to try and gain “street cred.” Last Thursday evening at Irving Plaza, there was a party goin’ on. Sly would have said that at moments, it was worthy of a riot. But what exactly was being played? I’m still not totally sure. But I know one thing: Ozomatli rocked the house making a cold Winter Thursday night feel like a “Saturday Night.” And the audience in attendance could have cared less what type of music was coming from the stage.

[All words and photos by Marc Millman]

According to Wikipedia, in a 2007 NPR interview, band members Jiro Yamaguchi and Ulises Bella described Ozomatli: “You drive down Sunset Boulevard and turn off your stereo and roll down your windows and all the music that comes out of each and every different car, whether it’s salsa, cumbia, merengue, or hip-hop, funk or whatever, it’s that crazy blend that’s going on between that cacophony of sound is Ozomatli, y’know?” And if you dance your way through one of their almost two hour sets, you will see that this is the perfect description. The band has varied in size since its inception in 1995. Thursday night’s shows featured seven members that included the core six found in every incarnation.

Over the course of an 18-song set, the band bounded from rock to soul to funk to reggae to hip-hop to cumbia and back again. One really did feel as though they were making their way down Sunset. And while Asdru Sierra (lead vocals, trumpet), Raul Pacheco (lead vocals, guitar) and Justin Poree (rap vocals, percussion) led the band through their paces, the crowd got a taste of all sorts of genres. But never without a bit of rock to smack your ass while you were busy shakin’ it.

• Marc’s Ozomatli Videos:  Chango, Unknown, Cumbia de los Muertos, I’ll Take You There > After Party, Saturday Night, Ranch and Ozomatli Brings It To The Crowd

READ ON for more of Marc’s thoughts and photos on Ozomatli…