Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the unofficial kick-off to festival season, the 5th Annual Langerado Festival. We’re counting the days ’til March…
Recently I spoke with one of the festival’s founders and promoters, Ethan Schwartz, about all things Langerado. He filled us in on the origin of the festival, the difference between Langerado and other festivals where police presence has been increased, bands he’d love to see play in the future and so much more…
I was hoping I’d wake up and it would be Friday. Since that didn’t happen, why not spend this lovely Thursday discussing the best ever rock side projects. It’s not easy to come up with a perfect definition for side projects, but since this is a dictatorship, we will say that the band must have started while one of the band members was performing regularly with a larger act.
1. The Traveling Wilburys: One of the few supergroups that has actually produced material that was not only good when it was released but has grown on me even more over the years. If rock n’ roll were like professional wrestling, Petty, Orbison, Lynne, Harrison, and Dylan would be the Five Horseman and could kick any other teams ass. Plus, you gotta love that they skipped right over Traveling Wilbury’s Volume 2, releasing Volume 3 two years after the first record.
Please read on for the rest of The B List…and let’s hear your thoughts at the end.
Sound Tribe Sector 9 keyboard player David “Lars Ulrich” Phipps has started using his laptop for things other than music. Phipps recently used his band’s message board, The Lowdown (snicker), to rant against the torrent site Oink.
Your best bet’s to take a moment and read Phipps’ complete open letter from The Lowdown site, but here’s the pertinent information of his rant:
So, until I get back to Amsterdam to seek this guy out and kick him in the nuts myslef, I can only turn to YOU, my FAMILY, to help put a stop to this. Please understand, you’re not stealing from a corporation. There is only the five of us. We make a living doing this, and only this. When you steal my music, YOU ARE STEALING FOOD FROM MY DAUGHTER’S PLATE. It really is that simple. When the new album hits next year, PLEASE, do me a favor, do the right thing. And encourage others to do so too. Torrenting: Its quick, its easy, its free…and its STEALING from your friend. Unlike the points on this message board, karma is real, and consider sts9 via oink to be triple-hexed.
Yes, folks, Phipps actually used the sentence “YOU ARE STEALING FOOD FROM MY DAUGHTER’S PLATE.” In caps! Let’s not forget, The Lowdown is a community of Sound Tribe Sector 9′s most die-hard fans. While I certainly understand the point Phipps is making, and his argument has some merit, perhaps it’s not best to bite the hand that feeds you, or in this case, the hand that feeds your daughter. Even the general news media has taken up the case of feeding Phipps’ child:
THE INTERWEB, Amsterdam (CNN) — Illegal downloads took 10 elbow pastas off the plate of a young girl, jamtronica band “STS9″ said Wednesday.
Four pop-tarts were stolen directly from the mouth of bandmember ‘Phipps’ daughter in an afternoon download somewhere outside of Omaha on Tuesday about 6:50 a.m.
Less than three hours later, another bandmember’s son had his Reese’s Peeses Cups removed directly from his brown bagged lunch.
A large cantaloupe was stolen from Phipps at about 1:10 p.m. when music was illegally downloaded, also just outside of Omaha.
In Mechanicsville VA, northeast of Richmond VA, three dready teens with hemp-crystal necklaces were killed as the “result of nuts kicking” during Phipps’ retaliation, officials said.
As of Wednesday, 67 vegetables and almost a dozen breakfast foods have been stolen from STS9 in October, and the total for the year so far stands at 602 items of food stolen directly from plates. Since the start of Oink, STS9 has lost 2,775 pounds of food. Several Armani sports jackets have been lost in the campaign as well.
We’re all for artists getting paid, but we’re also for bands succeeding on the road so they don’t need to deal with this bullshit. Jon Fishman had a good take on it in 2002: “Ultimately in the end what the Internet means for musicians is that …
Rapid Fire Review Week continues with HT’s favorite Disco Biscuits Diehard Matt Quinn’s review of this weekend’s two Hammerstein shows:
It’s been a long year for The Disco Biscuits. With “new” drummer Allen Aucoin at the kit, virtually every fan of the band agrees that they are playing with the kind of vigor and creativity that’s been absent since the end of 2002.
Sure there were the brief flashes of greatness in the ’03-’05 era. But for the most part it was directionless and unfocused, a band very unsure of where it was going, a band running out the clock on its first incarnation. After an adequete NYE run, a short spring tour and a summer spent on the festival circuit, the Biscuits’ fall tour has seen them firing on all cylinders in venues across the country, and the shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 11/24 & 11/25 were certainly no exception.
The first night opened with a section that featured exactly the type of setlist creativity Biscuits fans have been craving. The Overture is normally a tightly composed, classical style piece that features a trance jam in the center of it. In lieu of the trance this night, the Biscuits dropped into a 30-second composed segment of Little Lai, then a 30-second composed segment of Bazaar Escape, then a 30-second composed segment of House Dog Party Favor, then directly into an entire Bach Invention (#13 in A Minor, to be exact), then picked up the end of The Overture where the trance section would normally end.
The entire segment was obviously rehearsed, and rehearsed well. There was no jamming between the segments; they were played as though it were one giant composed piece. Apparently the setlist had this labeled as “The OverBerzerk,” but I’ve taken to caling it “The Berzerkerture.” I just think it rolls off the tongue better. Whatever you want to call it, it was well-planned and flawlessly executed.
Read on for the rest of Quinn’s stellar review and download his recordings from both the 11/24 and 11/25 Hammerstein shows…
We’re more than 90 posts into this blog’s mediocre existence, and not once have we cross-promoted anything from our Glide Magazine parent. I was hoping to make it to 100 posts without doing so, but like Julio César Chávez in his quest for 100 straight victories to start his career, this is my defeat.
It’s not that I’m even promoting Glide, it’s just that today’s feature on Borat’s Holiday Playlist is way too a-niiiice not to share with all of youse. Here’s a sample:
5. It’s a Kind of Magic – Queen
I like very much the lead singer – ladies man Frederick Mercury. It great shame that he die in that car crash. Many peoples say I looks like him, infacts, last month I come 7th in Almaty’s annual ‘who look most like Freddy Mercury’ competition. This out of over 843,000 entrant!8. Candle in the Wind – Elton John
I very much like this song about crushed princess of Wales written by bald homosexual Elton John.
Check out the rest of Borat’s Holiday Playlist here for more hilarious gems…
That graphic always makes me smile. I’m still waiting for someone to get the reference of the title of this department — come on people, dig deep. Anyway, since last week’s column featured no Grateful Dead or Dead-related projects at all, this edition of GTA is fully dedicated to Jerry Bear, the Godfather of Wook. Let’s get over that Wednesday hump together with some help from Jerome.
In 1987, Jerry hit Broadway for a series of 18 shows at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Can you imagine the smell in that theater at the end of that run? Just a bit of a different crowd than those seeing Beauty and The Beast, which has been playing at the Lunt-Fontanne for the past seven years.
Garcia’s estate recently released the Halloween show as part of its Pure Jerry series, but we’re gonna focus on the night of the 25th here. Jerry and the acoustic band plays an amazing first set, presented here in all its soundboard glory. For the second set, Mr. Jorts himself, Bob Weir, joined his uncle Jerry for the final four songs of the evening. The second set was clearly taped in the audience, yet the sound is surprisingly good and the performance, while not tight, is interesting. The highlight is the first and only JGB All Along The Watchtower. Other shows from the run newly featured on etree are 10/23 and 10/24…
As if anyone in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area needed an additional incentive to see the quasi-reunited-and-it-quasi-feels-so-good Greyboy Allstars at the Nokia Theater two days before New Year’s Eve, the band has announced a special guest for the evening:
We are very pleased to announce the addition of our (everybodys) hero, drummer extraordinare ?uestlove of The Roots to our New York City show at the Nokia Theater on Dec. 29th. Quest will be providing the beats he is known for as DJ supreme to spice up the evening Philly style.
Join me in enunciating these two syllables loud and clear: Kick, ass. Unless ?uestlove is just opening the show with a DJ set, in which case that’d be coo de la, but not as coo de la as it should be. Either way, Greyboy just might be the best band you’ve never seen, and ?uestlove, well, he’s just a raging beast. So if you’re within 50 miles of this show you should make it your beeswax to be there or face the wrath of a fanboy fluff review that makes you feel small.
Three more solid pieces of GBA news: 1) The band’s playing two hometown shows in Southern California on 12/22 and 12/23; 2) Greyboy will join Soulive at the 9:30 Club in our nation’s capital on December 30th and 31st to usher in the New Year; 3) The band’s new disc, What Happened to TV?, comes out in March, and GBA will be touring at home and abroad to promote it. Score.
Related Audio: Thanks to the good folks at Nugs.net, you can stream or download the 5/1/04 one-off Greyboy Reunion show from the Saenger Theater in NOLA. I don’t want to exaggerate and lead you on here, but the song Jack Rabbit will totally change your life for the better. Thank me later.
Rapid Fire Review Week continues with Hidden Track senior hipster correspondent Luke Sacks’ account of Wilco‘s 11/24/06 show…
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy recently decked a fan that happened to be dumb enough to jump on stage, getting a little too close for comfort. That solitary action must have released years of hostility, because on Friday night at Chicago’s Auditorium Theater, Tweedy and his Wilco bretheren soaked up every ounce of fun in the room.
Wilco’s sound these days is a bit like Bob Dylan and Radiohead thrown in a blender and pureed. The lyrics — still as poignant and moving as ever — are now cocooned in building electronics and whirling riffs that flow from the all-shapes-and-sizes guitars of Nels Cline. Where Tweedy’s raspy voice and “angry-musician” personality once dominated, Cline’s assault on his instrument and frenetic body language have moved closer to center stage for an increasing share the spotlight. Pulsating and gyrating with each chord, Cline shakes and twitches and produces a spectrum of sound that spirals every which way before coming to a screeching halt in time to let Tweedy’s voice be heard loud and clear.
Tweedy began the show with two slower songs: the new “Shake it Off” and the similar-sounding “Hell Is Chrome” from A Ghost is Born. Unlike most bands that like to start things off rocking and/or rolling, Tweedy is known for beginning shows with slower, more brooding selections that give the show a more intimate feel. It wasn’t until the third tune, “Handshake Drugs,” that the energy between the crowd and band synched up with each other…
Can you believe we’re actually talking about shows in the Year of Our Lord Two-Thousand Seven? This year has just flown the fuck by, right?
Umphrey’s McGee this morning announced the beginning of their 2007 touring plans. Read on after the jump for the full list of dates…Bring your helmets, kids!
Rhino Records is finally starting to recoup some of the mucho dinero they laid out as part of a ten-year licensing deal with the Grateful Dead. Get your Christmas gift cards ready, folks — on January 23rd, Rhino will release Grateful Dead: Live At The Cow Palace as part of a three-disc set.
Luckily for the fans, Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux is still on board. Read on to hear what he has to say about the 12/31/76 show and this release…
Tuesday begets YouTubes, and lots of ‘em. Here’s 45 minutes worth of cool shit to shepherd your boredom while the cowboy earns his wages…
Let’s start things off with a video my buddy John sent me of Slash and Jeff Beck dueling on stage at a Guns N’ Roses soundcheck in Paris from 1992. Interestingly enough, Jeff never made it to the actual show due to ear problems. Oh, and check out Steven Tyler and Joe Perry admiring the duel from offstage:
Allright, ramblers, let’s get ramblin’ on the rest of these fuckers:
That’ll do it for our show. For Kaity Tong, I’m Jack Cafferty. Seinfeld is next.
If the goal of a band on any given night in any given city is to both put on a kickass show for its veteran fans and leave the first-time newbs with an impression that the music’s worth delving into further, then RAQ‘s got our permission to hang a “Mission Accomplished” banner following Friday’s extravanganza.
Vermont’s second most famous quartet played a bona fide house party at Brooklyn’s Club Exit this weekend. The evening’s promoters (Slanted View Productions) swept out the typical Eastern European clientele and transformed the venue into a double entendre-laced “On The L” party, a psychedlic playland deep inside the heart of the eerily quiet Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint.
We walked in just before 9 pm, and it instantly became clear this was not going to be a typical rock show. From the hundreds of bulging pupils (is everyone here that runaway bride chick from Atlanta?) to the enormous Borat-speaking bouncers to the obnoxiously loud house music blasting through PA system, we sure weren’t at The Wetlands anymore. Shit, the silly hot bartenders alone made the show better than any jamband concert in recent memory…
Thanksgiving’s over, and I’m pretty excited for a full week of work. Okay, not really, so let’s all pretend its not Monday. Check out these links to keep you busy:
So, folks, how was your weekend? Any cool news that we missed due to tryptophan overload? It’s tired in here.
For those of youse crying like emo kids that there’ll be “too many jambands” at the 5th Annual Langerado Music Festival, get your ironic T-shirts and cocked mesh hats packed and ready for Florida in March.
The festival organizers have announced the exciting addition of five great bands, rounding out a lineup that already looked quite promising: My Morning Jacket, The New Pornographers, Cat Power and the Dirty Blues Band, Cut Chemist and The Hold Steady. Here’s a friendly reminder:
Only 15,000 tickets are available for the 2007 Langerado Music Festival – Tickets go on-sale this Friday, December 1st at 10am EST through the secure ticketing link at www.langerado.com.
If you’re not too busy cutting yourself and being impossibly angry, I have no idea why you’d be anywhere else than South Florida that weekend…
Much as ESPN enjoys unnecessarily naming weekends of college football and full weeks of late-season college basketball to give them that tinge of added importance, Hidden Track’s about to enter Rapid Fire Review Week. Thanksgiving provided the live music community an adult dose of top-notch concerts all around the country, and over the next few days we’ll have a solid incursion of dispatches from our embedded reporters at the shows. Stick around, poke around.
Looking back, looking forward — here’s a sample size of the shennanigans declared this week ’round these here parts:
Thanks for sticking through our weekly attempt at public autofellatio. As a reward, here’s a copy of Cold Bear by The Gaturs, one of my constantly changing favorite songs from the new What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves 1967-1977 compliation, which you can purchase here. I suggest you do. It’s off the charts. We need a new set of charts for this thing. A whole new set. Of charts.
