While any future Led Zeppelin tour dates are still lurking in the darkest depths of Mordor, former front man Robert Plant has announced a slew of dates with his current musical partner Alison Krauss. The duo will take their oddly beautiful harmonies on a worldwide tour beginning this April in support of their album Raising Sand - with a notable stop in Manchester, TN for a high profile appearance at Bonnaroo. Here’s a taste of what they’ll sound like live:
Tickets won’t come cheap for that tour, but here’s a few recently announced ones that won’t have you taking out a small loan:
Chan Marshall aka Cat Power brings her Southern-gothic soul to more cities in April (begins: 04/10)
Finally after Billy Joel’s “Last Play At Shea” show sold out in 48 minutes - the fastest concert sellout in Shea Stadium history - a second night has been added for Friday, July 18th. Hmm, why do I have a feeling they’ll be show on the 17th too?
It’s February, which means there’s pretty much one festival announcement each day. Today we turn our focus to the Mid-Atlantic. Jam stalwarts Widespread Panic, Phil Lesh and Friends and Gov’t Mule will headline Walther Productions’ 12th annual All Good Festival. You won’t find Blitzen Trapper, The National or even Jack Johnson on this lineup; as the All Good folks like to stick with the jammers.
All Good takes place at Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, WV on July 11 - 13. Visit allgoodfestival.com for more details, including the full lineup.
Here’s a fresh batch of links to help power you through the end of the work week:
The Foo Fighters are suing Marvel Productions for copyright infringement
Finally, poster artist Todd Slater puts up his incredible Wu-Tang Clan and Mars Volta prints for sale at 1PM EST this afternoon. Check out Runaway Dinosaur’s Rock Art Wednesday for full details on those posters, and Slater’s subscription packages.
Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Underworld, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cat Power, The Roots, The New Pornographers, Youssou N’Dour, Animal Collective, Andrew Bird, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Metric, CSS, Girl Talk, Chromeo, The Go! Team, Amadou & Mariam, The Black Angels, Sia, The Felice Brothers, K’Naan, Jason Isbell, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Alberta Cross, The Virgins, Black Kids, Mates of State, Duffy, Forro in the Dark, Nicole Atkins, Juana Molina, Little Brother, Rogue Wave, Neil Halstead and Your Vegas.
In just two short weeks from today the Langerado Music Festival kicks off at Big Cypress in the Florida Everglades. I’ve attended the last two Langerado festivals, but this year’s lineup takes things to a new level. As someone who doesn’t get to many festivals, I think the best part of going is the enjoyment I get from checking out artists I haven’t seen before. So for the next two edition of The B List, I’ll look at the five bands I’m excited to see for the first time at Langerado:
1. Ben Folds - Ben Folds arrived on the scene in 1995 with his trio: Ben Folds Five. You couldn’t walk around the campus of my alma-mater, Skidmore College, without hearing Folds’ refreshing sound that combines elements of jazz and arena-rock with typical singer-songwriter fare. The Ben Folds Five continued to release great albums over the next few years including 1999’s The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, a record which hasn’t left my iPod in over two years. Read on for more about Ben Folds and four other bands you gotta catch at Langerado…
The folks at URB magazine seem to have the big scoop of the day. The monthly magazine devoted to electronic music, hip-hop and urban lifestyle is reporting that Radiohead will in fact be headlining the initial All Points West Music & Arts Festival - confirming the rumor that has been swirling since they announced the fest. The bigger news though is that they will headline not one, but two of the three nights. Look for the complete lineup to be announced shortly.
We’re back for round two of Bust Outs. In the inaugural edition, we got a number of requests for some Grateful Dead bust outs. Well, we’re working our way up to that, but first, we’ll meet you half way. Today, we’re highlighting some monumental Grateful Dead Covers. We’ve got a nice potpourri here - some sinister, some tranquil and some just flat out fun. Without further ado, follow me…
Coffee Bean Brown - 11/21/2002 - It Must Have Been the Roses
This gem of a cover is brought to us via Coffee Bean Brown, the good acoustic twin of Tea Leaf Green. Get it - Tea Leaf Green, Coffee Bean Brown? Dummy. This was actually the first ever show of the band’s Coffee Bean Brown experiment, and their take on It Must Have Been the Roses is just gorgeous. Trevor’s keys and tranquil vocals do a lot of justice to this tune. Tea Leaf Green doesn’t play as Coffee Bean Brown too often, but these early sessions provide some great insight to what this band is capable of acoustically.
Finally, earlier this week some footage from Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the beloved children’s book Where The Wild Things Are leaked onto the world wide interwebs. While it turned out to only be a screen test for the visual supervisor, it’s getting us very excited for the film’s 2009 release date. The film will also feature a soundtrack from YYY’s lead singer Karen O.
Tonight’s a great night for music in the Big Apple. First, you’ve got Keller Williams playing his first area gig with the WMD’s at the Nokia. Then, New Orleans’ funksters Dumpstaphunk bring a taste of the Crescent City to Sullivan Hall. Many folks feel Dumpstaphunk are currently the best band out of New Orleans, and we completely agree. Ivan Neville’s group plays feel-good music that makes even the whitest of white boys want to shake a tail feather.
You can expect a nice mix of originals and covers at a Dumpstaphunk show. These guys play songs by the Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, The Meters and The Neville Brothers; as well as a batch of funky originals Ivan wrote for the group. And Ivan Neville isn’t the only star of the band, Dumpstaphunk also includes Tony Hall and Raymond Webber of Trey Anastasio’s solo band. Check out this video of the group barreling through one of their smooth funk originals for a taste of what you can expect tonight:
Besides writing some of the best original music of the past thirty years, U2 also knows how to kick down a terrific cover during their sets. If you’re unfamiliar with U2’s varied roster of covers check out this 45 track compilation, featuring kickass versions of I Shall Be Released, Help, Whiskey in a Jar, and a shit-ton of others.
Another band that often drops tasty covers is Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band. The aptly named Yondermeister combed through the Live Music Archive to put together a compilation of Yonder’s best covers. You can download the FLACs at bt.etree, while Bands That Jam shares the mp3 version.
While venerable coffee giant Starbucks has been struggling to compete in the beverage department of late, they seem to be hitting the mark with their in-store music selection (that doubles as a check-out impulse buy). For their latest release they’ve gotten the former Robert Zimmerman to handpick selections for an Artist Choice compilation. Read on for the track list of sixteen songs you’ve probably never heard of either, and another bit of Bob Dylan news…
