May 24, 2011 will mark a major milestone in the long, storied life of Bob Dylan, as the legendary bard will celebrate his 70th birthday. Earlier in the month, the
It is not easy being Pink Floyd. David Gilmour is a guitarist of unequaled expertise and trying to duplicate intricate machinations with the fingers is not to be taken lightly. You have to feel the music to be the music. And the Pink Floyd Experience has done a spritely job of weaving you into its British hallucinogenic lair … for a few hours, at least.
For a band that features three uniquely talented songwriters, it’s no surprise that the members would find themselves stepping out for a diversion or two in the form of a solo record. And so it is that we find Ben Ottewell following the lead of bandmate Ian Ball’s 2007 sojourn with the release of Shapes and Shadows, a charming and impressionistic assemblage of tunes t dothan’t reinvent the Gomez sound, but serve as a nice addendum to their sturdy catalog.
Washington D.C. legends The Dismemberment Plan released four hugely influential albums in the burgeoning indie rock scene of the late '90s and early 2000s, earning vast critical praise for their unique blend of calculated math-rock rhythms, dexterous instrumental skills, and quirky, off-beat tunes about disconnect and confusion in a rapily changing world. They've also proved to be one of the most influential bands of its era, along the way influencing everyone from Death Cab for Cutie to At the Drive-In.
Arctic Monkeys will be heading out on a North American tour, kicking off in Washinton on May 17th and wrapping up at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on June
This April, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show will embark on a tour unlike any in recent memory. Traveling exclusively in vintage
To celebrate last night’s kickoff of a cross-county Mike Gordon Band tour that consists of a herculean 18 shows in 22 nights, we caught up with our favorite bass player on the planet to chat about the tour, his approach to all things techie and some amazing insights on Phish. You might want to brew a pot of coffee, because I think we caught Mike in a particularly good mood this time around. He really dives deep into some pretty interesting topics and philosophies.
[Photo by Joe Ringus]
Hidden Track: Why don’t we start off with the current tour. It seems as though a lot of thought goes into how you route the Mike Gordon Band’s tours. How involved are you in terms of determining where the band plays and the venues?
Mike Gordon: That’s funny, somebody on my hotline actually asked the same question: somewhat involved and somewhat not involved, mediumly involved.
Usually, the manager and the booking agent come with kind of a scheme, which is based on not going back too often to the same place if we had just been there, but also not forgetting it for too long before we go back. For example, last tour, we felt really good about the West Coast and we had some really good crowds, so we decided to hit it again, but not the same exact cities. We decided to hit some that are near the other ones, but different. The secondary markets as they say, but that makes it sound like we’re routing sugar cane. I never really liked that term, but that’s what the managers call them.
The problem is that there just isn’t enough time to play everywhere that we’d like to play and that people would like us to play. I end up going to a lot of places where I haven’t played in a while, because Phish played there in the early ’90s. On my last tour, I did that over and over again, and the places would say, “Why don’t you tell the Phish guys to play here,” and the answer usually is, “Well Phish is not going to play here, that’s why I am.” [laughs] Phish is looking for places that can fit as many people as would like to come, and that’s often certain ones in certain places. In the meantime, it’s really fun for me to get to visit some of these places I wouldn’t normally see.
- Previously on HT: Mike Gordon Extends Mound in Eugene, Interview – Mike Gordon’s Balancing Act
READ ON for more of Ryan’s chat with bassist Mike Gordon…
Bassist Mike Gordon and the Mike Gordon Band set off on a 18-date tour yesterday at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, Oreg. and Cactus wasn’t kidding when he mentioned an
Yesterday, we published the first part of a two-part B List penned by HT photo editor Jeremy Gordon in which he shared five of his favorite photos and the stories behind them. Today, Jeremy returns to tell the tales of his other five favorite shots. Take it away, JG…
6. The Forgotten Photo
[Coca-Cola sign Times Square]
It was my first time photographing the Disco Biscuits and, man, was I excited. This was going to be the biggest band I had shot up to that time, and only the second time I had shot at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. I got there early and talked to a few people, including some other photographers. Then I grabbed a few shots of Simon Posford as he spun discs for the crowd. Finally it was time for the Biscuits to take the stage leading to three songs and about 15 minutes of me running around looking for angles, trying to grab focus, and guessing shutter speeds against the pulsating lights, all while the crowd was screaming behind me.
Later in the show, I was invited side stage to get some more shots before adjourning backstage for a slice of Famous Ray’s and a beer. Then it was on to the aftershow to catch Bassnectar at B.B. King. So where does this photo fit into that long and rambling story? It ended up being just one of three shots taken after a friend and I left the concert and headed to Times Square in search of an ATM. There, at 3:00 in the morning, workers were repairing the Coca-Cola sign. For one reason or another I wasn’t happy with the shot, and it sat untouched for eight months until I finally got bored and worked on this forgotten shot. I’m glad I did.
READ ON for four more amazing photos and the stories behind them…
It was the Summer of 1991 and I was a 14-year-old who had been exposed to plenty of alt-rock, but wasn’t as familiar with classic rock acts from the ’60s
