Having recently finished an enterprise feature for another publication on the glut of national music festivals and what role that glut creates for regional festivals with a lot more personality, I’m more excited this year for the Gathering of the Vibes than I have been in quite some time. As the man said, “He’d have to be one charming motherfuckin pig”…er, sorry, “Personality goes a long way.”
Compared to the Roo- and Coachella-sized behemoths, and a lot of the sexy new kids with names both playful and official-sounding—Rothbury might be a bit of both, and allegedly, it was quite the time—the Vibes is a creakier, more elegant dinosaur. A glorious, humble triceratops of a festival, yes, secure in its size, pleasant in its modest ambition and its abilities, not ostentatious, and kindly manageable.
And damn isn’t it great to have it back in New England proper (it returned in 2007 after several years of renovation to Bridgeport’s Seaside Park and a few years at various upstate New York locales)? For this born/bred New Englander, it’s not only in a New England/Tri-State area happy medium, but it fills a still-felt void left by the big Phish festivals of yore and especially the can’t-believe-it’s-been-five-years-now departed Berkshire Mountain Music Festival (1997-2003). (For Berkfest alums from those heady days, monsoon conditions and all, have a scoop of nostalgia on the house) READ ON for more about what you can expect at GOTV ’08…
On September 23rd, the Followill brothers and their cousin Matt – better known collectively as the Kings Of Leon will release the fourth album Only By The Night. The record will be their second in as many years and as part of the promotion the band is currently offering up the first track off the album – Crawl – as a free download for one week only. Simply right click on the link below and it’s all yours, enjoy…
For those looking for the quick lowdown the song is definitely a continuation of the sound from Because Of The Time – crunchy guitar riffs that bring a big arena rock sound to Caleb’s large emotive vocals. The band will appear at next weekend’s All Points West Festival before heading across the pond for some U.K. dates.
Jelly NYC, the folks that put on the wildly popular Pool Parties at Brooklyn’s McCarren Pool, can’t seem to catch a break this summer. Either it’s been stiflingly hot out or there have been severe thunderstorms that have rolled through town – two reasons that have kept me away from the free festivities.
Yesterday, I had planned to head to Williamsburg to check out electro-psych rockers MGMT, but more rain kept me inside instead – though from the looks of it, it didn’t keep anyone else away. So I thought we’d check out one from the much buzzed about band of formerPhish Heads, here’s the promotional video for Electric Feel…
Is it me or does this also remind you of Men Without Hats video for The Safety Dance, except with the guitar playing bear from the Country Bear Jamboree?
The final summer of Pool Parties (at least at its current site) continue this Sunday with The Black Lips set to headline, but we’ve got our eye’s set on August 10 when HT faves The Felice Brothers will play host. Let’s hope for good weather.
Now that we’re in the thick of the summer, it’s time to kick back with some good old rock and roll. This week’s Stormy Monday begins with The Stones doing a nice You Can’t Always Get What You Want back in 1989 in Philly, followed by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band getting down on Come to Poppa. That one comes from my very first rock concert back in August of 1986 at SPAC. Ah the memories.
Staying in the same frame of mind, the new school of Gov’t Mule offers a hard hitting Going Out West with Dave Schools on bass, followed by The Doors with a ripping Peace Frog Jam > Blue Sunday from 1968. To close, Mr. Anastasio covers Wind Cries Mary and Ooh Child from his first (and best) solo tour back in ’99 at The Palace Theater. It’s even better than Freedom Rock, so turn it up!
The summer concert season reaches its crescendo this upcoming weekend when three of the longest running festivals in the nation take place. Out in Chicago the promoters of Lollapalooza defended themselves from accusations that their radius clauses are killing the local music scene. Meanwhile, the schedule for the Newport Folk Festival came out, and there are plenty of maddening conflicts. For those of us unable to attend next weekend’s other major festie, the Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT, you can follow the action on iClips.
We’ll have plenty of news, reviews and photos from all three festivals.
Let’s see what else is goin’ on as we gear up for another busy week:
It’s been at least two weeks since we’ve heard any Led Zeppelin reunion tour rumors, so we thought we’d share the latest. Gigwise reports that the reason the band hasn’t moved forward is due to a rift between Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. Come on guys, bury the hatchet and let’s get it on before you’re too old.
Over forty years into their career Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are still as capable as they were in their heyday of rockin’ mass audiences. Anyone who has seen The Who since they returned to the road in the late ’90s can attest to that. The band, who were recently honored by Vh1, is set to hit the road again this fall for a mini-run of predominantly East Coast-centric shows. There has also been persistent grumblings about the band working on another new album (and rumors of a rift), so maybe they’ll be road testing some new material.
If you’re not into Pete Townshend windmills and Roger Daltrey twirling the mic like a madman, then maybe one of these recently announced tours will be for you…
Finally, the ever adorable Jenny Lewis will release her second solo album Acid Tongue this September. The album will feature a slew of guests including Elvis Costello, Chris Robinson, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. In anticipation of the release the former child star has revealed a handful of dates including several shows with former labelmate Conor Oberst – culminating with a show at New York’s historic Apollo Theater on October 4 which may include some of those guests.
When Metallica entered the studio in 2003 to record a new album they brought along video cameras to make a documentary about the process. But instead of concentrating on the music, the makers of Some Kind of Monster focus on the dysfunctional relationships and resentment between the band members with epic results.
Friday [all times Eastern]:
Live From Abbey Road: Manu Chao, The Black Keys [Sundance 9PM]
Documentary: Metallica – Some Kind of Monster [VH1 Classic 10PM]
Late Night with Conan O’Brien: Tokio Hotel [NBC 12:35AM]
Saturday:
Film: Prince in Purple Rain [Fuse 9PM]
Austin City Limits: Ben Folds/Ray LaMontagne [PBS Check Local Listings]
Saturday Night Live: Arcade Fire [NBC 11:30PM]
Sunday:
Iconoclasts: Eddie Vedder and Laird Hamilton [Sundance 11AM]
HDNet Concert Series: Ringo Starr and the All-Starrs [8PM]
Remember the rumor that Sheryl Crow was going to be joining Fleetwood Mac for a world tour? Fortunately, it’s not gonna happen. Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham squashed those rumors during an interview with Gary Graff of Billboard, but admitted it had been discussed. According to Buckingham, after a nearly five year layoff Fleetwood Mac plans to get back on the road for a tour early next year sans Lance Armstrong’s ex-girlfriend. The Mac will head into the studio after the tour.
Here’s some other news of interest from the week that was:
We thought we’d take a break from the norm this week and offer a mix tape dedicated to some great comedy – because who doesn’t like to get their laugh on? So let’s take a listen to some great indie-comics, as well as a couple of classics.
We’ll do our best to give a bit of an intro for each track without giving away the punchlines. First, we start off with king of the geek comics, Patton Oswalt, explaining the brilliance of KFC’s best selling item. Don’t let the title fool you, David Cross’ bit has nothing do to with Diarrhea or Moustaches. From there, the even toned Todd Barry tells just why he loves Chipotle and the absurdity of Trader Joe’s. Then we move on to Britt and Jemaine, better known as Flight Of The Conchords, for their brilliant tribute to David Bowie. Finally, we’ve got two of the Godfathers of alternative comedy Bob Newhart and the late George Carlin. Enjoy…
Back in the late ’70s a new style of music called 2 Tone originated in England. 2 Tone music combines groovy reggae beats and catchy pop melodies with a whopping dose of punk snarl. No one played 2 Tone quite like The Specials. The Specials took what some of their contemporaries were doing to the next level.
Today, we’re featuring a fabulous recording of The Specials’ performance at Hurrah in NYC taken from a radio broadcast. The bad news is that this download only contains about half of The Specials’ set, but this is all that was aired. We take what we can get around here. The British ska legends start things off with an energetic Monkey Man and keep the rapid fire pace going throughout the evening. I particularly dig A Message To You Rudy and Gangsters (which was played twice) thanks to the catchy melodies and killer horn lines. Supposedly, The Specials are reforming for a World Tour next year, but until then we’ll always have these stellar tapes.
Last week prog-rock legends Rush made their first U.S. television appearance since before I was born when they performed Tom Sawyer on The Colbert Report. As per usual, the band nailed the popular tune with seemingly little effort.
Before they hit the actual stage they hit the virtual stage of the popular video game Rock Band. Geddy, Alex and Neil tried and failed to make it through the video game version of Tom Sawyer, but you gotta give the wily Canadians effort for trying. You can tell Geddy gets a kick out of seeing DRUM! Magazine’s two-time Drummer of the Year Neil Peart actually struggle behind the kit:
No one is ever going to claim that they enjoy using a Porta-Potty, but the portable toilets are a necessary staple of outdoor concerts and festivals. These tiny versions of a bathroom are usually a dicey affair at best, and depending on how frequently they’re serviced often you’re better off holding it in for duration of your stay.
Well as bad as they might get, I’m not sure if I could ever be convinced to use the eco-friendly alternative from the folks at the Brown Corporation called The Shit Box. The reusable, portable cardboard toilet is specifically made for outdoor use and folds out from a 14 inch flat pack into a mini cardboard throne.
Finally, Jeff Tweedy and company are once again asking fans for their input for picking tunes for their upcoming tour, by soliciting requests via their website. Wilco fans can choose any songs from the band’s large catalog, along with the show they’ll be at. The band isn’t letting you get off that easy, as they are also asking why you’ve chosen a particular song – so start thinking and choose wisely.
With the Information Age in full swing, keeping up to date on the jambands just keeps getting easier: no more B&Ps, trader tape lists, or lot newsletters. Now, to keep up to date, there are a million tricks of the trade thanks to the internet.
One of my personal favorite of these tricks that I picked up to help stay current involves what I like to call the Jamband Charts. Essentially, I just poke through Live Downloads to determine the most popular downloads at both the aggregate level and for the more active individual bands. In doing so, you get a pretty good sense of the best bust outs at recent shows, which are almost always either monster jams, rarities, or kick ass covers. So, today I thought I’d put on my DJ hat and dedicate a Bust Outs column to what’s hot and climbing the Jamband Charts this summer.
As Bob Cormier from Stand By Me would say, “From the racks and stacks, it’s the best on wax! How ’bout another double-golden-oldie-twin-spin-sound-sandwich from K-L-A-M in Portland? Iiiiiiit’s… BOSS.”
Widespread Panic – Stir It Up
Do you want to get in a good mood? Just imagine being at Red Rock while JoJo leads this kinky reggae funkfest. I could listen to Panic play this song for hours. One thing to note for a laugh is when the guitar chords come in towards the beginning, you can tell that after all these years, Jimmy Herring is still having fun playing with a wah pedal. READ ON for more of this week’s Bust Outs…
Last night, Sound Tribe Sector 9 ditched their tour mates, Umphrey’s McGee, to play a two-set show at the Higher Ground in Burlington. During the second set former Tombstone Blues Band bass player Mike Gordon joined STS9 for what folks on The Lowdown are describing as a funky improv. In other Mike Gordon news, WNEW posted their interview with Cactus from the Mile High Festival in which he made it clear Phish will be getting back together “pretty soon.”
While we’re discussing Phish (for a change) you gotta check out this really cool feature from Goal.com. Pat Walsh uses Phish lyrics to help describe the first half of the Major League Soccer season. Here’s one entry to give you a taste:
Incoming Rumors
Well I’m convinced the whole day long
That all I learn is always wrong
– Character Zero
This summer the big names bandied about for possible big names coming to MLS were a pair of Barcelona aces, Ronaldinho and Deco. Why fans continue to believe superstars under 30 would realistically leave Europe to come here makes no sense. But that doesn’t keep the message boards from being run amok at the slightest hint of transfer rumors. Rumors that are almost always wrong.
Warren Haynes is easily the hardest working man in jam. Between splitting time in the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule, the guitar-slinger is also the default go-to guy if you’re looking for a sit-in. I’m convinced that much like a Shazzan, if you shout his name at a show he’s obligated to appear. In addition to his on-stage work, each year the affable Haynes puts together his X-Mas Jam to benefit Habitat For Humanity.
So why am I telling you all of this? Well for our latest installment of Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away we’ve got two copies of Warren’s XMas Jam benefit concert DVD up for grabs. Just follow the rules below:
To enter the contest leave a comment below telling us about your favorite Warren Haynes sit-in in 50 words of less
Your comment must be left by 11:59 PM EST on Sunday July 27th
Don’t be greedy, only one entry per person
Two winners will be selected at random from entries that follow the rules
Winners receive a copy of Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert, Volume 8
