David Bowie put together a list of his favorite songs that he wrote for Sunday’s Daily Mail. Instead of picking his greatest hits The Thin White Duke dug deep through his catalog for some choice cuts including The Bewlay Brothers, Win and Teenage Wildlife. We’re just glad that Life On Mars made Bowie’s list.
Let’s see what else is happening on the first day of this shortened week…
The Police bade an emotional farewell to their UK fans at Hyde Park
Last year Stormy Mondays celebrated the birth of the country with a selection of Brit rock covers by Mr. Warren Haynes. One good tune deserves another, so this year we have Mr. Phil Lesh taking on The Beatles’ songbook. First up is a rare Grateful Dead version of Rain from MSG in ’93. The tune only became part of the GD repertoire in that final slew of weird covers in the mid ’90s.
Next up is the Q with She Said, She Said from Boston in ’00, followed by You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away from Jimmy Herring’s last gig as part of Phil’s band. Warren does a killer job as guest vocalist (Joan was already the lead singer at this point) on this soundboard recording that does not circulate. (The song would stay a staple in the ensuing, and miserable, Chris Robinson PaF.)
Finally, the long jam comes from an often overlooked, but exceptional version of Phil and Friends that played only two shows in the spring of ’05, featuring Barry Sless, Mookie Siegel, Molo, Jackie and Gloria, and Al Schnier. Across the Universe is the jumping off point for a jam that winds through Eyes and on into a smokin’ Love the One You’re With. The band is just about perfect, nailing the music in a way that is, let’s face it, rare for an inaugural night of a new Phil ensemble. And from where this week’s mix leaves off, the set continues with Millenium Jam into The Eleven into a stunning, one time only performance of Phish’s A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing (!!!!!!) > Man of Constant Sorrow. Certainly worth checking out while you’re eating hotdogs and launching illegal fireworks over the weekend. As always, enjoy!
If you ever catch yourself in one of those funks where they noodling doesn’t hit the spot, indie rock is too tired, and you just can’t find the cure for what ails ye’, what you need is a dose of Reverend Furry Peyton playing some old time guitar, slide or dobro, “Washboard” Breezy on the washboard, and Jamie Peyton on the drums. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band does for Delta Blues, what the Dropkick Murphy’s do for Irish Music; they douse it with strong whiskey and light it on fire. The threesome lives up to their ironic moniker by transcending their size in both sound and stage presence. This is a band that is destined for greatness, particularly festival greatness. For summers to come, this band will attract festie stragglers to their stage as the quirky, frenetic sound reels ‘em in like the Banjo Minnow. – Rupert
A few months back Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher singled out Jay Z as the reason that this weekend’s Glastonbury festival didn’t sell out – claiming there was no place for hip hop at the historically rock heavy festie. While the rap impresario did issue a response, he saved his real retribution for his performance last night.
To open his headlining set Mr. Carter strolled onto the stage with an electric guitar strapped on as the strains Wonderwall played behind him and with a sly smile led the crowd in a sing along of Oasis’ ubiquitous hit. Check it out…
Noel clearly needs to learn a couple of things: first, never get involved in a land war in Asia, and a close second is to never get into a feud with one S. Carter.
This weekend NBC airs the first episode of Saturday Night Live in honor of the late George Carlin. Carlin hosts the episode which originally aired on October 11, 1975. The premiere of SNL actually featured two musical guests, so be sure to check out two performances a piece from Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
Friday [all times Eastern]:
Classic Albums: John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band [VH-1 Classic 5:00PM]
Live From Abbey Road: Herbie Hancock, Sonya Kitchell [Sundance 9:00PM]
David Letterman: Wild Sweet Orange [CBS 11:35PM]
Conan O’Brien: The Raconteurs [NBC 12:35AM]
Saturday:
Classic In Concert: KISS Live in L.A. [VH-1 Classic 7:30PM]
Austin City Limits: Blues Traveler [PBS Check Local Listings]
Saturday Night Live: George Carlin / Billy Preston [NBC 11:30PM]
Sunday:
FNMTV: Vampire Weekend, Lil Wayne [MTVHD 1:00PM]
Film: Prince’s Purple Rain [TVOne 4:00PM]
HDNet Concert Series: John Mellencamp at Walter Reed [8:00PM]
It might not have the coolest line up around but the list of performers for the 30th annual Seaside Summer Concert Series was revealed earlier this week. Geared more towards the boomer audiences this free music series boasts shows from the likes of Michael Bolton and Liza Minnelli. So why am I mentioning this? Well, it’s because on July 17 you’ll have the chance to catch legendary Beach Boy Brian Wilson – which would certainly be worth the schlep out to Coney Island.
Performances will be held every Thursday night, beginning July 10 at Asser Levy/Seaside Park on West 5th Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island, across the street from the New York Aquarium. Did I mention all of these shows are gratis?
If aging boomer acts aren’t for you then maybe one of these recently announced tours will be…
Finally, looking to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump (and the blog band curse) L.A. indie-rockers the Cold War Kids will release their second album this fall. In anticipation of the release the band has lined up a fall tour that finds the band graduating to some larger rooms across the country. But before all of that, the band will take the stage tonight for a free show at the Prospect Park Bandshell with Elvis Perkins and Sam Champion supporting. See ya in BK!
What is it about a lyric or a guitar solo that evokes so much emotion in people? Or for that matter — even the lack thereof. For example, the part in Divided Sky when there is silence and Trey just waits and waits to feed off the crowd for that exact timing and then it just explodes into this momentary epic masterpiece of bliss. That, my friends, is why I love Phish so much. It was never, ever the lyrics that grabbed my attention (sorry Tom Marshall) — it was always about the sounds that the instruments made and the way the boys talked through their instruments. How many bands could do that and do it so fucking well?
Not to sound too cliche but music is my life. It has been ever since I can remember. You can ask anyone of my friends or even my family, I always prefer to go to a concert or a music festival over taking a vacation to the beach, mountains or a foreign country. And much to my families dismay, I prefer concerts over church. It’s simply because music speaks to me personally more than anything I have known or probably ever will know. It simply is and that’s it for me. I can’t imagine myself doing or being anyone else.
Now, I know music doesn’t speak to everyone in this way but music is an important part of our country and our world. It’s a form of communication that everyone can understand and relate to in one way or another. For this reason, it’s very important for political candidates to pick the correct theme song for their campaign. These songs are something that the candidate’s supporters can relate to and it helps to create a feeling, mood or even a memory. Much like the ending of The Sopranos these songs are meant to evoke an emotion and often times serve as inspiration to people to believe in the individual they are supporting. So now, let’s take a look at some campaign theme songs from some of the candidates from this race. READ ON to see what we think Obama’s theme song should be…
Whenever I think about Def Leppard I can’t help but think about the third concert I ever saw, when the boys from Sheffield poured some sugar-y sweet hair metal on me back in 1988. Unlike many of their contemporaries Def Leppard’s still together and making new music. In fact we’re partnering with Glide to giveaway four autographed copies of their latest CD, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge.
No Conflicts!: All Good reveals their conflict-proof schedule scheme
Jam Cruise 7 hopes to sell out the last of their empty rooms with the announcement of some additional artists. Welcome aboard: Yacht Rock featuring Dan Lebowitz, Jamie Shields and Ryan Stasik, Kris Myers and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee, Special Guests: Jackie Greene and Cyro Baptista plus DJ Rootz vs. Murphy – a tag team between last year’s DJ and David Murphy from STS9.
We’ve finally made it to the end of the week which means it’s time for a mix tape! While we don’t have a particular theme this time around, we do have six tremendous songs that come from a wide spectrum of sub-genres and decades.
Let’s kick things off with Brock Butler’s beautiful cover of Tom Petty’s Time To Move On. Next, we have the Black Crowes showing off their improvisational prowess with an incendiary Jam > Thorn In My Pride from June 23, 1997 in Charlotte. From there we move on to something completely different: Public Image Limited’s Rise. While we’re dropping random songs from the ’80s why not also kick down Prince’s Raspberry Beret? For the grand finale we’ve got Tea Leaf Green performing Bootlegger at 2004′s Haymaker Festival and the acoustic mariachi version of Conquest by the White Stripes. Take a listen…
It hardly seems like six months have passed since the beginning of the year, but here we are on June 26. While I’ve failed miserably at fulfilling all of my resolutions I did see a ton of incredible shows. Now I get to rate them, as this week’s B List looks at my ten favorite concerts of the first half of ’08.
What’s the criteria for this list? Well, obviously I had to be there to catch the show, so I can’t give MMJ @ Bonnaroo “show of the year” honors even though the tapes seem to indicate they deserve it. All I can go by is my gut and how wide of a smile each of these performances induced. Here’s what I’ve got…
I’ve had the pleasure of catching J-Ha at the Blue Note on three separate occasions, but the performance she gave at the legendary jazz club in May was the cat’s pajamas. I brought my cousin to the show, and it was incredible to see how in awe she was of Jen’s voice, trumpet playing and the way Jen took control of the audience. Let’s hope there are more Jennifer Hartswick gigs in store for us New Yorkers. READ ON for Scotty’s top nine shows of the first half of ’08…
Within an hour of each other Mike Gordon and Page McConnell both added tremendous fuel to the Phish reunion fire. Page addressed the rumors head on for a letter that ran on Phish.com, while Mike spoke to Rolling Stone about all of the speculation. So what’s the gist of it? Let’s just say it’s SO on, but not for a little while. Here’s the full text of Page’s letter to the fans:
For me, the last four years have been great. I’ve spent quality time with my family and have watched my daughter grow. I took great pleasure and pride in writing and recording an album. I’m living a healthy lifestyle. I travel as little as possible and I sleep in my own bed. It took a couple of years after the break up to begin talking to my old band mates, but once the conversations began to flow it wasn’t long before the friendships were rekindled. And I can honestly say that I’m closer with all of them now then I’ve ever been in our 20-year relationship.
Recently the conversations have turned toward the possibility of spending some time together. Currently many of us have plans and projects already in the works, most notably Mike, who made a great album and is about to hit the road in support of it. Given that I might not even see some of the guys for the next six months, I would say that the announcement of a reunion is premature. However, later this year we hope to spend some time together and take a look at what possible futures we might enjoy. In fact the only real decision that has been made is that when we do get together, it will only be the four of us, hopefully with no distractions. I am really looking forward to that.
I want to say just a few more things. The prospect of Phish reuniting is something I consider very seriously, and I think about it a lot. And lastly, as always, there is plenty of misinformation floating around. Try not to focus too much on secondhand sources and random gossip. If there is anything real to announce, it will come from the four of us as a group.
Until then,
Page
Page mentions that you shouldn’t focus too much on secondhand sources and random gossip, but then Mike goes ahead and tells Rolling Stone that there was more fact than fiction in Jamtopia’s post about Steve Lillywhite:
As for Lillywhite, Gordon says, “We talked to him, actually. [The rumor] stemmed from reality. We love Steve Lillywhite. He would bring out some great things in us. But we don’t have specific plans to work with him. It was an idea and hopefully it’s something that if we rev things up, it could happen some day. We don’t know if we would tour first or make an album first. We have no idea.”
The squeak of the sneakers at a basketball game…the calls of “peanuts” or “ice cold beer here” at a baseball game…the clack of the puck on the tape…
The sounds you used to hear throughout the course of a sporting event were the common noises from the field and the occasional organ ditty. If a team really wanted to go out on a limb, maybe they’d pipe in the beat of We Will Rock You once in a while.
These days, it’s more like a bad iPod playlist serving as the background music to our sporting events.
Most stadiums and arenas, which are now closer to shopping malls than sports venues, rely heavily on blasting (usually crappy) music and crowd cues to generate “energy.” READ ON for more of Luke’s editorial on music at the ballpark…
Leave it to Sebastian Bach to provide us with one of the more entertaining stories of the week. The former Skid Row front man spun a tale to Rock Daily about how he almost got both Axl Rose and Slash to jam with Sly Stone in the studio on separate occasions. Apparently the reason that it didn’t happen was that Sly was demanding that Bach buy the reclusive singer a $8,500 puppy from a specific kennel in Northern California. You can’t make this shit up kids.
Rolling Stone finds out what’s on Obama’s iPod; while Cody ChesnuTT released his pro-Obama jam – Afrobama
If you’re looking for audio from Bonnaroo 2008 you’ll save some time by heading over to Largehearted Boy’s comprehensive lists of downloads from the festie. We’re still awaiting a copy of MMJ’s mind-blowing set from the XM feed that doesn’t have all the cuts found in this version. Any help on that one?
We’ve got a little over a month until Phish’s Walnut Creek 2-DVD set hits stores on August 5, but once again the folks at Phish Inc. sent us over a little sneak preview. One of the unique things about 7/22/1997 was the intense thunderstorm that clobbered the venue during the show. Here’s the Taste from Walnut Creek complete with lightning strikes and thunderclaps:
