Jay Leno will welcome Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers to his new NBC television show on September 17 along with guitar legend Eric Clapton to perform Space Is The Place, from Hornsby’s forthcoming Verve release, Levitate. Clapton also performed on the studio version of the track. Leno’s show debuts on September 14, when Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West will perform Run This Town from Jay Z’s upcoming The Blueprint 3 album.

Here’s a quick look at some other stories of note…

• Richard Gehr interviews Ani DiFranco for HeadCount
• Radiohead delight the Reading Fest crowd with classics
• Guitarist Brian Jones’ death will be re-examined shortly
• Sublime will return on October 23 & 24 with a new singer
• Yonder Mountain announces their New Years Run plans
• Billy Corgan & Dave Navarro’s band cover Morning Dew
• The New York Times profiles the ticket scalping industry

Finally, the Allman Brothers/Widespread Panic tour rolled through New England this weekend for shows in Mansfield, MA on Saturday and Hartford on Sunday. As usual, each band’s set featured numerous sit-ins.

READ ON for the setlists from both shows…

By all accounts,  the 2nd annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival seemed to have another highly successful year, with over 100,000 people making their way to Golden Gate Park. Over the course of the three days, festival goers were treated to a pair of Neil Young covers from Pearl Jam, sit-ins from Robert Randolph and members of the Black Eyed Peas during DMB’s headliner set and M.I.A paying honoring the Beastie Boys – who had to pull out of their scheduled appearance – with a mash-up medley during Bird Flu that included bits of the hip hop act’s Sabotage and Intergalactic.

While I didn’t make the trek out to the San Fran this summer, I did manage to check in with the fest over the course of the weekend via their rather high-quality YouTube stream and dug a lot of what I saw. With a whole slew of great performances to choose from thought we’d check out some smoldering blues via Jack White’s latest project The Dead Weather with their performance of So From From Your Weapon…

Did you make it to the fest? What was your favorite set from the weekend? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

More From Outside Lands:

• Q-Tip – We Fight/We Love
• Dave Matthews Band – Why I Am
• Raphael Saadiq – Stayin In Love
• Street Sweeper Social Club – Promenade
• Thievery Corporation -  Warning Shots

An all too rare Surprise Me Mr. Davis mini tour led the quartet near the empty warehouses of Gowanus in Brooklyn to The Bell House for two sets of rockin’ roots music. The group was augmented by frequent guest and conspirator Marco Benevento for the string of four dates.

Although the keyboardist was regularly swallowed up in the mix, when he did shine through, it was at just the right moment with just the right push or accent; he’s a busy man, but unquestionably he should be a full-time member of the songwriterly vaudevillian cavalcade. By the end of the opening tune, a new semi-sappy song, the keyboardist, all tucked up behind a small upright piano extreme stage left, had bassist Marc Friedman grinning a goofy smile.

The night was a pretty even split of new and older tunes, leaving many staples to rest, As Long as There’s One of Us Standing, Tin Can Coffee Cup and Everything Must Go, among others. But that point speaks to just how much material this infrequent unit has written and just how good 99% of it is, and just how well they play all of it. Nathan Moore was singing out the toast To You in his full troubadour voice, “killing slow and killing us sure” while Brad Barr flooded the PA with huge swelling echoes. By Roses and Bottles, only the third song, they were all killing it, driving hard, Nathan and Brad leaning into their guitars at exactly the same moment, Andrew crushing a heavy beat. At that moment at least, there was no better band in the country. READ ON for more from Dan on Surprise Me Mr. Davis…

As you’ve probably heard, Noel Gallahger quit Oasis on Friday night after a nasty backstage fight with his brother Liam. Here’s the fitting Don’t Look Back In Anger from the band’s heyday…

Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger

Ovation will air the documentary Eric Clapton: Standing at the Crossroads at 3pm on Thursday. The profile looks at Clapton’s career onstage and off and features interviews with Marc Knopfler and Keith Richards among others.

Monday, August 31 (All times ET)

• Bob Dylan: Unplugged [VH1 Classic 11AM]
• The Pixies: Loudquietloud [Sundance 6PM]
• Bruce Springsteen: Live in New York City [Palladia 7PM]
• David Letterman: Dirty Projectors [CBS 11:30PM]
• The Band: The Last Waltz [Palladia 12:30AM]

Tuesday, September 1

• Green Day: Bullet in a Bible [Palladia Noon]
• Iron Maiden: Somewhere Back in Time [Palladia 1PM]
• Classic Albums: Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon[VH1 Classic 7PM]
• David Letterman: Black Crowes [CBS 11:30PM]
• Conan O’Brien: Cheap Trick [NBC 11:35PM]

Wednesday, September 2

• Paul McCartney: Electric Proms [VH1 Classic 11AM]
• The Verve: MTV Live [Palladia 11:30AM]
• David Gilmour: Live in Gdansk [Palladia 2PM]
• The Beatles: Help! [VH1 Classic 5PM]
• Conan O’Brien: The Pretenders [NBC 11:35PM]

Thursday, September 3

• Ray Charles: Biography [Biography 10AM]
• Chris Isaak Hour: Smashing Pumpkins [Biography 2PM]
• Eric Clapton: Standing at the Crossroads [Ovation 3PM]
• The Beatles: Anthology Part II [VH1 Classic 5PM]
• David Letterman: John Fogerty [CBS 11:30PM]

Last week a dedicated Umphrey’s fan named Chris Keefer, a guy whose passion for the band was contagious, passed away suddenly and his loss was felt by everyone he came into contact with. Umphrey’s keyboardist appreciated Chris’ spirit as much as the rest of us Umphreaks and the band wrote a piece of music inspired by Chris which Joel introduces at The Floor.

Umphrey’s will play their second of two shows at the Canopy Club in Urbana, IL this evening. Our own Wyllys will be tweeting live from the show.

Here’s a quick look at what else happened this week…

• The schedule for the Virgin Free Festival is out
• Rolling Stone details how Guitar Hero got Cobain
• McCartney blames his feud with Lennon on drugs
• Tenacious D aim to hide & conquer at Outside Lands
• The Black Crowes and Levon Helm rocked Boston
• LA Weekly profiles the top female topless groupies

Finally, the tracklisting to Phish’s bonus album, Party Time, has been announced by the band. You can view the list over at Glide. You can win your own copy of Party Time by entering our Joy Box giveaway.

[Originally Published: 7/17/2009]

The scenario is this: It’s October 31st at 8pm in Indio California. Phish has not announced what musical costume they are performing and they have not handed out playbills this year. Those banks of lights go down and it’s time for THE set. What’s it going to be?

Side Note: While many of our readers are familiar with the “Musical Costume” concept, it’s worth mentioning to those that aren’t that starting in 1994, on Halloween, Phish would play a three-set show and in the second set, would cover an entire album by another artist. There have been four:

1994 – The White Album (The Beatles)
1995 – Quadrophenia (The Who)
1996 – Remain In Light (The Talking Heads)
1998 – Loaded (Velvet Underground)

For fun, we’ve thrown together a collection of 35 albums – taken anywhere from 8 to 35 seconds of the first track, mixed it in with some Phish audience noise, added some fades, had fun with a few volume swells and this what we’ve got:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You got 15 minutes? Why don’t you test yourself – see how many of these you would know as of right now. Some of the selections are the obvious front-runners, some are long shots, and some — well some of these I just included because I find myself hilarious.

If you’re stumped on a few, hopefully some fellow Hidden Track readers can help you out.

UPDATE [August 28]: While our readers have identified roughly 88% of the albums from the audio clip, there are still some that nobody has mentioned – four to be exact – do you know what they are?

READ ON after the jump for a Partial Answer Key including full credit given to the first HT commenters that ID’d the album…

As the summer winds down, word of fall events are showing up in my inbox. I received an email the other day from veteran NYC food competitor Theodore Peck who most recently hosted the Brooklyn Beer Experiment. His latest food-related contest is The Brooklyn CHEESE Experiment.

It is taking place at The Bell House in Brooklyn on September 13th. According to Theodore’s email, they (Theodore and Nick Suarez) still need a few amateur chefs to come on board. Top prize is a $600 ticket to the Murray’s Cheese Boot Camp….Indulge your inner chef and sign up. Part of the proceeds go to Ovarian Cancer research and if the Brooklyn Beer Experiment was a barometer, this should be one heck of a good time.

Also in my inbox today was an email from an old high school friend to let me know that there is a new show airing on Spike starting on August 28th at midnight. It is called Men-U.

According to their press release: MEN-U is a reality cooking show that features four regular New Jersey guys, one of whom happens to be a professional chef along with Brian McCarthy who serves up booze and bawdy laughs. The show is all about having some fun, looking at hot chicks and maybe learning a thing or two about cooking.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday 4 the Foodies…

VH1 Classic will be showing filmmaker Glenn Aveni’s look at the major musical event of 1983 with a documentary that captures the opening day of the US Festival, including Mick Jones’s final performance with the Clash. Held in Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino, Calif., the festival’s first day — May 28 — featured top New Wave acts the Divinyls, INXS, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, the English Beat, A Flock of Seagulls, Stray Cats and Missing Persons.

Friday, August 28 [all times Eastern]:

• David Letterman: Imogen Heap [CBS 11:35PM]
• Conan O’Brien: Colbie Caillat [NBC 11:35PM]
• Jimmy Kimmel: Dead Weather [ABC Midnight]
• Carson Daly: Doves [NBC 1:35AM]

Saturday, August 29:

• Austin City Limits: R.E.M. [PBS Check Local Listings]
• Steely Dan: Rent Party ’09 [Fuse 1:30PM]
• US Festival 1983: Opening Day [VH1 Classic 3PM]
• Soundstage: Fleetwood Mac [Palladia 6PM]

Sunday, August 30:

• Music In High Places: India.Arie [Palladia Noon]
• Beatles Anthology: Part One [VH1 Classic 7PM]
• Spectacle: Herbie Hancock [Sundance 9PM]
• Doc: Tom Dowd and the Language of Music [Fuse 11:30PM]

The Allman’s co-bill tour with Widespread Panic continued last night at Jones Beach in Wantagh, NY where we saw a continuation of many of the trends established earlier in the tour – sit-ins and tons of latecomers. Panic came on close to the 7PM show time to find an empty venue. A number of Allman fans rolled in towards the middle of Panic’s set just in time to see Derek Trucks join WSP for Thin Air and Blackout Blues. ABB bassist Oteil made an appearance towards the end of Fishwater and showed off his scatting skills.

Panic Set: Three Candles, Worry, From The Cradle, Tall Boy > Blue Indian > Hatfield > Impossible > Thin Air* > Blackout Blues* > Fishwater > Drums & Bass** > Fishwater** >Protein Drink ***> Sewing Machine*** , Ain’t Life Grand

* – w/ Derek Trucks, ** – w/ Oteil Burbridge, *** – w/ Warren Haynes

The sit-in of the night happened at the end of Panic’s set when Warren Haynes joined the Georgia rockers for two songs off the brute. album Nine High a Pallet, Protein Drink and Sewing Machine. Haynes tore into the tunes which he seemed more familiar with than the last time he played them with Panic at the United Palace back in April of ’08.

Allman’s Set: Done Somebody Wrong, Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Woman Across The River, Midnight Rider, Rocking Horse, Statesboro Blues, Revival, Stormy Monday, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed*
Encore:  Southbound**

* – w/ Jimmy Herring, ** – w/ Jimmy and JoJo Hermann

Jones Beach seemed about 2/3rds full when the Allmans kicked off their set with Done Somebody Wrong. The Brothers seemed to extend every song with intros and solos as even Revival got the 10-minute treatment. Former Allmans guitarist and current Panic axe-slinger Jimmy Herring came out for a Liz Reed that went on forever. The ABB closed with a tune that they love bringing out guests to perform on, Southbound, which Herring and JoJo Hermann sat in on. The tour continues tomorrow night at Great Woods.

Wilco was profiled on CBS’s Sunday Morning last weekend…

Wilco – CBS Sunday Morning

With over 70 acts descending on seven stages and performance areas, deciding who to see at this weekend’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival may be a bit of a daunting chore. Well fear not, as this week’s mix tape is dedicated to some bands you may have overlooked while piecing together your daily schedule for the next three days. We’ve got everything from local acts to metal to hip hop to a genuine music legends, so sit back take a listen and most of all, enjoy the weekend…

We kick things off with the psychedelic sounds of West Indian Girl, who hail from just down the coast in LA, with Miles From Monterey – they hit the Twin Peaks stage at Friday at 1 PM. From there, we’ve got She’s A Lady from none other than legendary Welch crooner Tom Jones. This guy has sold over 100 million records and honestly, when are you ever going to get a chance to catch him again? Jones hits the Sutro Stage at 6:50 Friday night, watch out for all the flying panties.

Next up, we’ve got Oblivion from new metal sensations Mastodon. Forget about your preconceived notions about metal music, these guys bring a new twist with complex prog-style playing and some hard hitting lyrics – be at the Twin Peaks stage at 3:55 on Saturday for their set. We follow that up with A Minha Menina from Brazilian Tropicali legends Os Mutantes. Head on over to the Sutro Stage for their 4:50 slot.

Then, we’ve got some local music for you with Waiting For A War from the Berkley-based band The Morning Benders – who you can check out Sunday at the Panhandle Solar Stage 1:30. Finally, we close things out with some hip hop with Shoulda Known courtesy of Atmosphere. The rap-duo of Ant and Slug play the Twin Peaks Stage at 2:15 Sunday afternoon.

As Lotus set out on their highly successful spring tour there were cameras following them to give fans an inside look at the band. The first episode of the resulting bi-weekly web series includes footage from Higher Ground March ’09 and Starscape ’09 and features the song Spiritualize…

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Meanwhile, Pearl Jam has teamed up with Global Inheritance to create Hand-Crank Listening Stations featuring four tracks from the band’s new album, Backspacer, that will be available at the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco this weekend. Head over to the Green Village for a chance to use your arm strength to hear new Pearl Jam tunes.

Finally, you can stream Rich Pagano’s bold new track You Want to Stay High featuring tasty licks from Big Red himself, Trey Anastasio, over at EW’s Music Mix blog. Pagano, the drummer in the Fab Faux, put together a fantastic new album that will be available everywhere next month. Click here to read our chat with Rich where he spoke about playing with the Phish frontman and the blood, sweat and tears that went into making his new record.

For this edition of “Dark Star Stories” we’re going to take a look at one of the best-known renditions of Dark Star – the August 27th, 1972 “Field Trip” performance at the Renaissance Fair Grounds in Veneta, Oregon.

As you probably all well know, the show was a benefit for Chuck and Sue Kesey’s Springfield Creamery. The Pranksters were present, Ken Babbs did the infamous opening introduction for the band Weir – “I don’t know who this guy is, but he aint’ Bill Graham”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day.” – Ken Babbs

The whole show was filmed for the still unreleased concert film – “Sunshine Daydream”, and it was a ridiculously hot day.

“That old sun is making our instruments sound mighty strange…”

The Veneta show is frequently lauded as one of the band’s finest, and it’s reputation is well-deserved. Even the staunchest critic of the band will be hard pressed to find anything wrong with it. The playing has to be heard to be believed, but really there’s something so distinctive about the sound of the show. The guitars sound razor-sharp, Phil’s bass is punchy, the drums snap and crack and Keith’s keys are bright.

READ ON for more of this month’s Dark Star Story…

For this edition of Track By Track, Caravan of Thieves guitarist Fuzz shares a quick factoid about each track on his band’s debut album, Bouquet. Fuzz is probably best known to our audience as the Deep Banana Blackout guitarist, but his latest project shows a completely different side of his musicality.

Bouquet features gypsy-flavored songs with gorgeous harmonies that swing. The disc is currently available through CD Baby and iTunes. Caravan of Thieves have spent plenty of time on the road lately and you can catch them this weekend at the Porcupine Mountains and TC Microbrew festivals in Michigan. Take it away, Fuzz…

1. Ghostwriter – We open the record with this one since it sets the tone and tells the story of where we get all our song ideas… from a highly imaginative ghost who frequents our home.

2. Rattlesnake – Sat with the letter ‘S’ and started swingin’ so steadily, the snake inside us sang the rest of the song out.

• CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD OF RATTLESNAKE

3. The Butcher’s Wife - Its somewhat autobiographical… our spirit writer friend explains how he wound up a spirit – by flirting with the alluring wife of a butcher. READ ON for more from Fuzz on the songs of Bouquet…