Archive: 2011

While Ween’s latest tour couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start than the Vancouver shit show, Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and his mates pulled it together to end the brief West Coast run in fine form. This past weekend saw the group lay down two impressive performances in California filled with rarities and classics […]

While we were smitten by the sounds of Mumford & Sons in 2010, we somehow let the music of their kindred compatriot Laura Marling elude us. Last year, Marling released her sophomore album, I Speak Because I Can, which features the folkie singer-songwriter backed by the Mumford boys. At just 21 years of age, Marling […]

Can you believe it has been 20 years since Naughty by Nature’s self-titled platinum album, and the hit single O.P.P., took the world annoyingly by storm? Well, it’s been 19.5 years since I thought about Naughty by Nature until I saw they will visit David Letterman on Thursday night. Monday, January 31 [All times EST] […]

Yesterday, BandsThatJam.com set the Phish blogosphere abuzz with an article that claimed Phish signed a contract to play eight sets over three days during the Fourth of July Weekend at Watkins Glen. The post went on to say tickets would cost $200 and that re-entry would be allowed to the site throughout the weekend before ending with “This has been confirmed and contract has been signed.” Today, Watkins Glen International president Michael Printup denied those reports to The Elmira Gazette…

“We don’t know who is putting that out. There are a bunch of erroneous sites out there,” he said. “We’ve been working with a concert promoter. But we don’t even have a contract. It’s all wishful thinking. We haven’t even signed a contract with a promoter. You do that first. Then it’s up to him to see what band he gets.”

Printup also mentioned “Watkins Glen International is looking at some kind of summer concert, but it’s too early to even start talking about bands.” We reached out to Bands That Jam yesterday for clarification on their report and the site’s editor Pete Stergion responded, “the WGI President has to deny the story. They can’t publicly confirm until all the loose ends have been tied up. Our source has given us credible, specific information. Our source is not a Phish fan so they wouldn’t even have the ability to make up the information which is very consistant with what Phish has done in the past.”

Stergion went on to say, “People need to realize that Watkins is a VERY small town. To organize something of this magnitude it requires co-ordination with a lot of different people and when you have a town this small it’s hard to keep secrets. We’re standing by our story & our source.” Whether Printup is offering some misdirection is up for debate, but we do know is that no permit has been issued for a mass gathering at the racetrack. As always, no Phish concert is confirmed until it is listed on Phish.com.

[Hat Tip – @TylerCurtis]

UPDATE: This story was updated at 10:52PM with Bands That Jam’s response to The Elmira Gazette. READ ON for more from Stergion…

Live Forever is the 40th posthumous Bob Marley-related release.  Fortunately, it’s one of the better efforts, thanks to generally pristine audio quality and the significance of the show itself – Marley’s final concert, in which nearly all his utterances seem imbued with a prophetic quality.

As long-time fans know, Escovedo, however, is not a one-trick pony.  Like kindred spirit, Neil Young, he can tone down the bombastic tempest and enrapture the audience with his brilliant songwriting and storytelling.  Back catalog classics like “Five Hearts Breaking” and “Rosalie” slowed the pace and brought a reverent hush over the crowd.  And as the name would suggest, “The Sensitive Boys” can follow suit, adding subtle accompaniment and elegant grace that match the introspection of Escovedo’s words and images.  The arrangements at this show stood on their own and came to life just as they do when Escovedo tours with his “Orchestra” and plays a more intimate setlist.

On May 3rd Fleet Foxes will release Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop/Bella Union), the much-anticipated follow up to their 2008 self-titled debut. The release of the twelve-track album will coincide with the band’s first North American tour dates since August 2009 followed by a string of UK and European dates.  The tour will begin in Vancouver […]

U2 will make their first ever appearance in Atlantic Canada this July, performing at the Magnetic Music Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick. Special guests on the day will be Arcade Fire. “The Moncton show is set to be the final date of the U2 360° Tour in North America and we're really looking forward to […]

Nearly all of the bands within the jam scene have performed at Brooklyn Bowl even though many of these acts could fill much bigger venues. A notable exception is Umphrey’s McGee, but that will change this Monday, January 31st, when the Chicago-based sextet takes the stage at our favorite room in New York City. UM […]

As we reported last week, STS9 bassist David Murphy was diagnosed with cancer and recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his sinus cavity. The band shared an update on Murph’s status on STS9.com… First and foremost, David, STS9 and their families can’t thank all of you enough for your incredible support through the […]

Avant jazz-jammers Medeski, Martin and Wood are celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year and today announced the start of that celebration. MMW will play ten shows out West this March in which the first set will consist of fan requests while the second set will be a nod to the improvisational shack party days with […]

The Suwanee Springfest returns to Live Oak, FL’s Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park on March 24th – 27th boasting a killer lineup that includes The Avett Brothers, David Grisman, Jesse McReynolds, Travelin’ McCourys with The Lee Boys, Donna The Buffalo and Greensky Bluegrass as well as “The Colorado Superjam” featuring Emmitt-Nershi, Michael Kang and […]

Ovation airs a concert film showing Johnny Cash’s legendary 1968 performance at Folsom Prison in California this Saturday at noon. Friday, January 28 [all times EST] Sex Pistols – The Filth & The Fury [Ovation 8:30PM] Gregg Allman on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM] Fitz and the Tantrums on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC Midnight] Matt & Kim […]

Our friends at Relix.com have just announced the launch of their first “TV show” this afternoon and the star is a gentlemen who should be very familiar to most of our readers. Jefferson Waful came onto our radar in the early ’00s through his work as the Daily News Editor of Jambands.com before he literally […]

Early Elton @ Rockwood Music Hall – January 14, 2011

What is Early Elton and why should anyone care? Early Elton is what I like to refer to as organic Rock & Roll. If you love The Band, Stax & Atlantic Soul, The Counting Crows, Exile on Main Street-era Stones, Rod circa Gasoline Alley & Every Picture Tells A Story and even Ronnie Wood’s beautiful Mystify Me from I’ve Got My Own Album To Do, then you get what I mean.

[All photos by Marc Millman]

But more importantly if you loved singing along to Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous but were just as overcome with emotion when Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters was played during the scene where Jann Wenner makes a cameo in a NYC taxi, then this band is for you. Sure you like Bennie and the Jets. Who can deny its infectiousness? But wouldn’t you rather hear Grey Seal? And let’s be real, wouldn’t you rather listen to just about any track from 1970’s self-titled debut through 1972’s Honky Chateau?

Playlist of 10 Early Elton Clips From 1/14

Early Elton is the ultimate homage to Sir Elton. This is not a tribute band anymore than the Fab Faux are. (In fact, both bands share a key member in drummer/singer Rich Pagano.) They are “a Piano Driven Power Trio-Performing the music from the Elton John, Dee Murray & Nigel Olsson Trio tours of ’70–’72” according to their Facebook page. And this is spot on. If you can imagine those lucky enough to have been at A&R Studios on 11/17/70, then you can understand what it was like to share this night with passionate music lovers.

READ ON for more from Marc on Early Elton in NYC…

When visionary ex-pats Trevor Herman and Jumbo Van Renan compiled the music of the Indestructible Beat of Soweto: Volume 1 from the Soweto region of Johannesburg, South Africa – an acronym which translates to “southwestern towns” – they changed music forever. Without it, some of the finest music from the likes of Paul Simon, David […]

Dan Bejar may be best known as the wild haired, quirky voiced member of the The New Pornographers, but in addition to his work with the Canadian indie-pop supergroup, Bejar has been releasing critically acclaimed music with his own band, Destroyer, since the mid ’90s. Earlier this week, Destroyer put out their ninth studio album, […]

Last week I recollected a 24-hour trip a couple of friends and I took in April 2009 for my posting F4tF: The Chicago Hot Dog Trip, Pt. 1. This week, I bring you day two of this whirlwind trip.

We knew going into day two that time was of the essence as our first stop of the day was Hot Doug’s.  Being that Hot Dog’s has unique hours (Open Mon-Sat 10:30AM-4PM) and has a reputation of getting busy from the second the doors open until 4:30PM when they close, our goal was to get there as close to 10:30 as we possibly could.

True to form, when we got there around 10:35AM, there were already eight or nine people in line ahead of us.  You can always find Doug Sohn (the Doug of Hot Dougs) working the register, engaging his customers and overseeing the kitchen, all without having to move from his one spot.

READ ON for more on Jon’s Chicago Hot Dog Trip…

It’d be easy to file Let England Shake as a political missive—an accessible but dense album of musings about the state of our world through the lens of Harvey’s home country England. Yet, PJ Harvey’s continual (and in many ways insatiable) desire to reinvent both her persona and music make classifications exceedingly difficult. She does not seek to push the limits of her catalog but wholly redefine it, experimenting with vocal techniques, varied instrumentation or poetic structures that both destabilize her oeuvre while creating new spaces in which to exist.

 Omar Rodriguez Lopez (The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In) announces the spring 2011 release of a quadruple LP / double CD collection culled from his multiple solo and collaborative albums. In celebration of this, Rodriguez Lopez’s eponymous band will perform at this year’s Coachella Festival and SXSW Music Festival (Sargent House/Rodriguez Lopez Productions showcase). Headlining […]