With so many of their friends and side bands on the bill, it must’ve been hard for the Allman Brothers Band to figure out who would sit in with them
Bound For Glory: Tedeschi Trucks Band @ Highline Ballroom, April 13
After watching the NYC debut of the Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Highline Ballroom I came to the following conclusion: There is absolutely nothing bad I can say about the band. As far as the setlist, we all wished the set was a little longer (110 minutes) and it would have been nice to hear one or two more songs from the new album and perhaps a few from the past albums of the couple whose names make up the band’s moniker.
[All photos by Marc Millman]
The Tedeschi Trucks Band contains nine musicians, most of whom have played together in some form or another over the years and several of whom are amongst the best around at their instruments including two skilled guitar players (Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi) who happen to be married and show a level of affection for each other while playing that is truly touching. It doesn’t hurt that one sings with passion (Tedeschi) and the other plays the guitar like he made his own deal with the devil at the crossroads (Trucks).
The drummers (Tyler Greenwell & J.J. Johnson) play in a loose manner that reminds you of those live Motown revues from the ’60s. And to watch them having fun with each other while laying down the backbeat was pure entertainment in itself. The brothers Burbridge round out the core of the band and really help tie the whole project together. Oteil (bass) plays with Derek in The Allman Brothers Band, while Kofi (keyboards) performs with Derek in The Derek Trucks Band. With the inclusion of Mike Mattison and another male vocalist as well as a three-piece horn section (featuring Maurice Brown on trumpet) this is a band more than capable of going from a spacey intro jam to hard-core funk or from classic Motown or Stax styled soul to dirty blues.
READ ON for more of Marc’s take on Derek & Susan’s new band…
With its fifth release, Garage a Trois has crafted an album destined to go down as one of the best instrumental releases of the last couple decades. That may sound a tad hyperbolic, but Always Be Happy but Stay Evil showcases the extraordinary range of four musicians at the top of their respective games.
Two legends of distinctively American styles of music hooked up for the first time a few years back, when the Del McCoury Band was invited down to New Orleans to
While we didn’t make it out to Indio for this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Art Festival, plenty of bloggers and journalists did make the trip. We wanted to point
One of this year’s most pleasant musical surprises will arrive on May 10 when Manchester Orchestra releases Simple Math, a humbling and vulnerable (concept?) album whose songs grapple with intensely strong emotions.
The band scores big in conveying a wide array of musical feelings from anger, remorse and disappointment to confusion and ultimately acceptance. As much as the troubled relationship album can be a self-indulgent cliche, when it works, there’s nothing like a broken heart to bring out the rawest of musical emotions. For every good one, there’s probably a hundred contrived bombs, but you can add Simple Math to the short list of really good ones.
In advance of the release, we caught up with bassist Jonathan Corley for a brief repartee on the album, his Sesame Street musical influences and Tony Gwynn.
Hidden Track: On Simple Math, you achieve a huge climactic sound at times with big guitars, and if I’m not mistaken a children’s choir and orchestral arrangements. Did you approach this album as this as essentially the opportunity to go for broke in terms of production and make the epic Manchester Orchestra album?
Jonathan Corley: We worked closely with producer Dan Hannon, who has been involved in all three of our last albums. This album is certainly more grand in scope than some earlier releases, but I believe it holds true to the simplicity of our songs. As time passes since the recording process, I begin to appreciate the work that was done more and more. The children’s choir that you mentioned on ‘Virgin’ actually contains our producer’s children. Simple Math feels more personally intense than other things we’ve released before. Honestly, I’m just excited for everyone to hear it.
READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with Jonathan Corley…
Disco Biscuits shows have been few and far between in 2011, making this past weekend’s three-pack of performances in the heart of “Bisco Country” extra special. The band kicked off the brief run on Thursday and Friday at the Best Buy Theater in New York City before finishing it off at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA on Saturday night.
[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]
The Philadelphia-based quartet mixed material from every era of the band’s history throughout the run. Here’s a look at the setlists…
04/14/11 @ Best Buy Theater – New York, NY
Set 1: Spectacle, Story Of The World1 > Bombs > Above The Waves2 > Spaga3
Set 2: Mindless Dribble > Run Like Hell > Confrontation2 > Mindless Dribble > Feeling Twisted > Run Like Hell
Encore: The Tunnel, Once The Fiddler Paid1 – Unfinished
2 – Inverted
3 – Ending only04/15/11 @ Best Buy Theater – New York, NY
Set 1: Kitchen Mitts, Grass Is Green > Vassillios > Minions > Voices Insane1 > Grass Is Green
Set 2: Spaga2 > Reactor3 > Tricycle > Humuhumunukunukuapua’a4 > Tempest, The Very Moon > Bernstein And Chasnoff4
Encore: Magellan
1 – Unfinished
2 – Dyslexic completion of 4/14 version
3 – Inverted
4 – Ending only4/16/2011 @ Sherman Theater – Stroudsburg, PA
Set 1: Portal To An Empty Head, Aceetobee > Catalyst > Aceetobee, Digital Buddha > Lunar Pursuit > Digital Buddha
Set 2: Spraypaint > Spacebirdmatingcall, House Dog Party Favor, Neck Romancer, 42 > Spraypaint
Encore: We Like To Party
[via PT Bisco]
Hidden Track’s Jeremy Gordon was on hand last Thursday to shoot the first night of the run at the Best Buy Theater. READ ON for a full gallery…
Last week the Blue Man Group celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special benefit show for their Blue School, featuring a performance from the group’s original lineup, and a special
If you missed Alice Cooper’s celebratory performance of School’s Out with Dweezil Zappa on The Tonight Show last month you can catch a repeat this Tuesday night at 11:35PM EDT/PDT
My Morning Jacket @ Memorial Coliseum, Lexington KY We throw the terms road dogs and road warriors around on this site to help describe the many bands we cover that
