Archive: 2011

Crooked Fingers is pleased to announce a North American tour in support of its new album, Breaks in the Armor. It is Eric Bachmann’s sixth full-length as Crooked Fingers and will be available via Merge Records on October 11, 2011. Bachmann, who writes, records, and performs songs mainly under the name Crooked Fingers, lives in […]

With a new album Ashes & Fire on its way in October, Ryan Adams has announced a West Coast tour to support the release. This tour will be his first US outing since 2009. Tickets go on sale starting August 19. Hitting a handful of California dates as well as Oregon and Washington, Adams will […]

A true sign of a band’s heart is how they react to adversity. On Saturday night at the Kahbang Festival in Bangor, Maine HT faves My Morning Jacket made lemonade out of lemons, and showed they are true professionals with the heart of a champion, when they treated fans to a rarity-laden acoustic set without […]

For the third time since they’ve been back, Phish are headlining a festival thrown by someone else. Following appearances at Bonnaroo in 2009 and Austin City Limits in 2010, the quartet performed two sets at Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…

Earlier this week we asked our @hidden_track followers to send us photos of their “couch tour” setups and told folks that the best one would win Steve Conroy’s incredible, limited edition Lake Tahoe poster. We took the best ones, posted them as a gallery on our Facebook page and are now asking you to place […]

I have been very lucky to share my journey on the road with so many amazing musicians and technicians. From very small bars in high school with my dear friends Rane with whom I co wrote many songs, all the way up to arenas with superstars like Beck and My Chemical Romance, I have had […]

Well here’s some news out of left field – Radiohead will be the musical guest on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. SNL hosting vet Alec Baldwin will returns for his 16th appearance on the episode which will air on September 24. Radiohead made their SNL debut in 2000 and haven’t been back since. […]

My Morning Jacket’s lengthy Circuital Tour rolled into Pittsburgh on Wednesday, where the group was joined by chanteuse Neko Case for a killer rendition of the Kenny Rogers / Dolly Parton classic Islands In The Stream. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29LbH1JZZc[/youtube] MMJ had performed Islands In The Stream back on December 31, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New […]

When Led Zeppelin tribute act Bustle In Your Hedgerow rocked Brooklyn Bowl in February, The Roots drummer Questlove took note of the group and mentioned he would rush the stage if they played In My Time of Dying. Questo finally got the chance to sit in with Metzger, Dreiwitz, Russo and Benvento last night when […]

You couldn’t have ordered up a more perfect New York City night for Deer Tick’s free show at Pier 54 than last night, as temperatures hovered somewhere in the low 80s and a cool breeze came rolling off the Hudson River. The band treated a very enthusiastic crowd to a rowdy set that included a […]

Psychedelic four-piece Tame Impala make their late night television debut tonight on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Hailing from Perth, Australia, the group will perform one of the best tracks from last year’s phenomenal Innerspeaker LP, Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind. Friday, August 12 [All times ET] Blake Shelton on David Letterman [CBS […]

Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes is making good use of his main band’s extended hiatus by releasing an album and touring behind it. The Rich Robinson Tour will run from October 1 until November 20 and the guitarist will be backed by Steve Molitz of Particle on keys, Joe Magistro on drums and Jack […]

Alison Krauss and Union Station w/ Jerry Douglas + Dawes @ Wolf Trap Foundation For Performing Arts – August 7

Words and Photos: Grace Beehler

While most people clear out of major metropolitan areas during August, heading to large bodies of water to escape the brutal heat and humidity, some of  those left behind showed up to Wolf Trap to see Alison Krauss and Union Station and Dawes. The sold-out show took place at the stunning architectural masterpiece that is Wolf Trap Foundation for Performing Arts, just outside Washington, D.C., on one of the hottest, most humid nights of the summer.

But the thunderstorms in the afternoon and the suffocating heat did not deter concertgoers, who came prepared. The lawn was packed with picnickers: wine, cheese, artisanal sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres (no heady grilled cheeses or veggie burritos here). Many even brought their own wine glasses to avoid drinking out of the dreaded red plastic cups. It was a classy affair Sunday night at Wolf Trap.

Dawes came on promptly at 8PM and seemed surprised to face an already-packed house. The California-based foursome – Taylor Goldsmith (lead vocals/guitar), Griffin Goldsmith (drums), Wylie Gelber (bass) and Tay Strathairn (keyboard) – is currently on the road promoting Nothing Is Wrong, the band’s second album released in June.

READ ON for more of Grace’s take on Dawes and Alison Krauss…

While one festival, Outside Lands, kicks off tomorrow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park [read DaveO’s preview], we turn our attention to another event held in the historic park – Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. The 11th installment of HSB, a free festival founded and funded by investment banker Warren Hellman, features a diverse lineup filled with […]

On August 23, HT faves Surprise Me Mr. Davis will hopefully kick off  a Canadian Tour following a set at the Liberate Music Festival in Sheldon, Vermont on the 20th. Why hopefully? The band’s front man, Nathan Moore, has been denied entry to the Great White North in the past due to an unfortunate encounter […]

The Newport Folk Festival, held at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI on July 30th and 31st, 2011.

The second leg of Summer Tour 2011 continued tonight as Phish returned to the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey’s in Stateline, Nevada for the second of two shows in the mountain town.

[Photo via @TeaJewelry]

The Anastasio/Marshall-penned Dogs Stole Things opened tonight’s show. Having last been performed on July 12, 2003, Dogs Stole is the biggest bust out of the leg thus far. A theme of stealing emerged to start the show with Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan and Poor Heart coming next. Even Alaska, which followed the opening trifecta, has a line about theft keeping the theme going. Fans hoping for another jammed out Halley’s Comet ala Bethel will have to wait as this evening’s version was a quick one. That trend kept up throughout the set; even Stash didn’t get far out there and Tahoe attendees might have witnessed the shortest Ya Mar yet. A pair of covers – Son Seals’ Funky Bitch and Instant Karma! by John Lennon – led into a relatively tame Run Like An Antelope closer.

The beginning of the second set featured one “big jam” song after another done in “hit it and quit it” style. While the Down With Disease that kicked off set two didn’t stray far from the song’s main foundation, the Runaway Jim that followed did get out there and also contained another staccato jam in between verses. A highlight of the closing stanza, this Jim should be your first listen when you get the recording. Ghost, which started with an arena rock shredfest and ended in a dark, spacy part of town, emerged out of Runaway Jim. Golden Age was also chock full of energy as was 2001. All in all, the dream setlist sequence of Disease > Runaway Jim > Ghost -> Golden Age > 2001, Sneakin’ Sally which opened the second set ran a mere 50 minutes.

You Enjoy Myself had been missing in action this tour and wasn’t performed at Super Ball IX. The Phish staple finally found its way back to the stage this evening to close the set. Despite the long layoff, the ensemble handled the composed sections with aplomb leading to an intense solo from Anastasio. In keeping with the theme of the show, Trey’s solo was short but sweet. The tender Show of Life and a rockin’ cover of Led Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times served as the stamp on the first Phish shows in Lake Tahoe.

• Previously on HT: Lake Tahoe Night One – Phish

READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny from Tahoe…

Civilian is the most concise and compelling example of Wye Oak’s artistry, unafraid to leap into the depths of sorrow, heartbreak and melancholy, but without losing their sense of adventure and humor. It’s certainly one of the finest releases of 2011, and is worthy of the praise through and through. 

Having only lived in San Francisco since November of last year, this weekend will be my first time at the Outside Lands festival which enters its fourth year at Golden Gate Park. Back to a full three days this year, it seems like you can’t turn anywhere in SF or on the internet without friends discussing the festival, sharing a personalized schedule on Facebook or seeing any number of organizations running ticket giveaways.

For some, the festivities begin as early as tonight as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! play a club show at The Independent. Tickets were previously only available to those who had purchased festival tickets but it was announced yesterday that this and a couple other late night shows were also publicly available. Also, on Thursday, in what is certain to be the hippest of festival pre-shows, Best Coast plays at the Academy of Arts and Sciences. Those unfamiliar with the Thursday night Nightlife at the Academy series, just think of a science museum/aquarium, but instead of all the little brats running around screaming, they are replaced with a plethora of bars – it’s awesome and they do it every Thursday.

The festival proper kicks off at noon on Friday. If you’ve got an iPhone or an Android, you should download the free Outside Lands mobile app that gives you stage schedules and a map, and Facebook wants you try out their new Messenger application as a way to keep in contact with friends onsite. If you live anywhere near Civic Center, or can get there easily, consider taking the shuttle running for the first time this year.

READ ON for more of Dave’s Outside Lands 2011 Preview…

Last night was the first of two Phish webcasts from the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys in Stateline Nevada. We asked fans tuning in to tweet pictures of their #couchtour setups to @Hidden_Track, with the winner receiving Steve Conroy’s show poster. Several good submissions have rolled in but there’s still time, so send @Hidden_Track a snapshot of your #couchtour rig and you just might win a poster to add to the ambiance of your room.

The folks behind the webcast, Nugs.net, gave a glimpse of what is arguably the sickest setup possible:

READ ON for the couch tour pics sent in so far…