She & Him @ Bowery Ballrom – March 29

The dreary rain that swept across NYC on Monday seemed the perfect precursor to the first of She & Him’s two sold out gigs at the cozy Bowery Ballroom. While their music isn’t necessarily reflective of a rainy day, their mellow mood approach is the perfect elixir after sloshing around in puddles.

It was also especially appropriate for me since the last time I saw She & Him was at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival after a torrential downpour.

The duo, comprised of actress Zooey Deschanel and singer/songwriter/Monster of Folk M Ward, recently released their second retro-pop offering, Volume Two, two years after Volume One arrived on the scene and established them as one of the music scene’s most unique acts.

Accompanied by four other solid musicians, including a pair of talented singers crushing the backing vocals in the best possible all way all night, Ward and Deschanel put on an almost mystical performance in front of a packed house at Bowery from the openings notes of Riding in My Car to the final notes of Sweet Darlin’. READ ON for more from Luke on She & Him…

With the 2010 baseball season upon us, we wanted to continue a Hidden Track tradition started in 2007 where we chat with of our favorite musicians about their love for America’s past time. For the first part of this year’s Baseball Preview, we asked them for predictions on the upcoming season, while the second part of our questionnaire got a bit more personal.

Batting second in the 2010 Hidden Track Baseball Preview line up is The Low Anthem’s bass player – and baseball historian, having taught the subject for High Schoolers – Jeff Prystowsky. We spoke with Jeff about his beloved Cardinals, his thoughts on the upcoming season, his favorite ballpark and many other subjects. Check it out…

Hidden Track: What team do you think will win the World Series and what team will they beat in that final series?

Jeff Prystowsky: St Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees, with the Cards winning it all.

HT: Which pitchers do you think will win the AL and NL Cy Young awards?

JP: NL Cy Young – Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants), AL Cy Young – C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankess)

HT: Which players do you think will win the AL and NL MVP awards?

JP: Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals) and Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox)

READ ON for more of our baseball convo with Jeff of The Low Anthem…

The emails are starting to flow out from Music Today letting Phish fans know whether they’ve scored tickets to this summer’s shows through the presale lottery. How did you do? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

In the meantime, here’s links to the public onsales:

Friday (April 2):

10AM (EDT): Mansfield,
11AM (EDT): Chicago, Jones Beach1, Jones Beach2,
12PM (EDT): SPAC1, SPAC2, Canandiauga, Merriweather1, Merriweather2,
1PM (EDT): Portsmouth, Hartford1, Hartford2, Greek1, Greek2, Greek3
2PM (EDT): Camden1, Camden2, Telluride1, Telluride2,

Saturday (April 3):
10AM (EDT): Hershey, Mansfield, Raleigh, Charlotte, Noblesville1, Noblesville2,
11AM (EDT): Alpine1, Alpine2,
1PM (EDT): Cuyahoga Falls, Alpharetta1, Alpharetta2,

Note: Clicking on the links to Ticketmaster above credits HT/YEMblog with a commission at no cost to the purchaser. If you appreciate what we do and want to support the sites, please use the links above to get to Ticketmaster.

Wilco fans who can’t make it to the Boston show on Tuesday will be pleased to know that they can still enjoy a webcast from the show as it happens at the WilcoWorld Roadcase. In other Wilco news, a matrix from the group’s March 3rd performance in Halifax has just surfaced on bt.etree.org.

While you might not think of the middle of March as “Festival Season”, we’ve got audio from two separate festivals this week in our audio & video recap of what’s been going on recently. Jam In The Dam returned to The Melkweg in Amsterdam after taking a year off in 2009, while moe. had their first festival of the year up in Rutland, VT for the appropriately titled snoe.down.

[Thanks to OtherOneK for this week's photo]

We also check in with Widespread Panic as they played their first live shows of the year and we listen in on some of the acoustic mini-sets that Wilco has been throwing into the three-hour shows they’ve been playing. We lead off with a gorgeous Neil Young cover and also have some audio and video from Orchestra Morphine’s most recent gig.

And we continue to take all the selected tracks, normalize them, create some simple fades and put it into one easy to download MP3 for you. Click here to download Last Week’s Sauce Podcast #4

Artist & Title: Cowboy Junkies – Don’t Let It Bring You Down
Date & Venue: 2010-03-23 Space, Evanston IL
Taper & Show Download: darktrain

As Neil Young says on 4 Way Street, this next song is guaranteed to bring you right down. It’s called Don’t Let It Bring You Down. The Cowboy Junkies perform a fantastic rendition of it. Cowboy Junkies next play April 15th in Buffalo NY.

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Video from a very intimate gig in Davenport. Read more about it here:

READ ON for tracks from Les Claypool, moe., Orchestra Morphine, Widespread Panic and Wilco…

In an effort to focus our attention on something besides Phish for a change, we’ve decided at HT headquarters to (hopefully) drum up some good chatter about the final season of the greatest television show in the history of the idiot box. Check in on Wednesday of every week during Season 6 to share your thoughts, theories, complaints and assessments of the previous night’s episode. Big time SPOILER alert for anyone didn‘t watch yet.

Synopsis: As always, we teamed up with the Joker from Coventry for this week’s setlist and recap. Side note: Joker ran a reprint of his epic LOST/Phish Tees if anyone missed out the first time around. Check ‘em out.

Geronimo Jackson, March 30, 2010

Set I (Off Island): Mo Money, Mo Problems (1), Hardest Button To Button (2) > Money, Love and Change (3), Money That’s What I Want (4), Tweezer > Free > Punch (Shot) You In The Eye (5) > Knocked Up (6)

Set II (On Island): Commando (7) Runnin (from) The Devil (8) > You Can’t Talk (9), Garden (10), White Room (11), War Pigs (12)

Encore: Wolfman’s Brotha (13)

(1) Notorious B.I.G; Jin and Sun, Korean Lyrics
(2) White Stripes; Jin and Sun
(3) Trey Anastasio; Jin and Sun
(4) Barrett Strong; Keamy
(5) Phish Medely; Tweezer had “Jin stepped into the freezer” lyrics, Sayid,
Sun, Jin, Mikhail
(6) Kings of Leon; Sun
(7) Ramones
(8) Van Halen; Sun and FLocke
(9) David Bowie; Sun, Korean Lyrics
(10) Pearl Jam; Sun and Jack
(11) Cream; Jin
(12) Black Sabbath; Flocke and Widmore
(13) Phish, first time Desmond performed on the island since The Economist,
38 shows ago.

READ ON for this week’s epic one liner and discussion points…

Jam In The Dam 2010 – Amsterdam – Day One – March 21

There really is nothing quite like a destination music festival. Why stay in a tent when you can stay in a hotel room? Why be a gross, dirty hippie when you can shower daily? Why stay in a hot field when you can explore a resort or world-class city during the day? Whether you are on a cruise ship, a tropical island, or in one of Europe’s most amazing cities, one thing is certain; events such as these sit in a class of their own. A true fan of live music and traveling owes it to themselves to try and attend a destination music festival at some point in their life.

Events like this one are truly unique for so many ways, but what immediately stands out is the size. There are few opportunities to see bands with such sizable fan bases in such intimate settings for three nights in a row. It is made all the better by the fact that you are raging with the same people for the entire duration. You meet some people on the first night, and by the end you are saying goodbye to dozens of new friends and future tour buddies. There is no experience like a destination music festival, and no live music event quite like Jam in the Dam. Where else can a wookie make a steamroller out of his cardboard poster tube, and walk back and forth from stage to stage begging the bands to smoke it, and in some cases jumping on the stage to instruct?

The festival hit the ground running with an improv-heavy set from Umphrey’s McGee. Umphrey’s is the only band that really brought a significantly sized group of their fan base overseas, so it made sense to have them get things going. Their set was highlighted by a Ringo > White Man’s Moccasins > Ringo Segment that really allowed bassist Ryan Stasik to shine as he took the lead with some incredibly technical slapping. As the crowd filled into the Melkweg and the night got into full swing, the band finished things off with a perfectly placed and executed 40’s theme. The stage was set for a great evening, and the energy continued through Les Claypool’s set right up until he left the stage for a 20+ minute bathroom break drum-solo.

READ ON for more of Jason’s Jam In The Dam review and photos…

Just when we thought that the Take-Away Shows couldn’t get any better, the gorgeously-shot video site managed to post a brand new episode this week featuring none other than Wilco. The band, who according to a post on the site has been on their wish list, turned in this performance of Country Disappeared prior to their show at the L’Olympia in Montreal…

Wilco – Country Disappeared

Jeff Tweedy & Co. continue their short Northeast tour tonight with a stop at the Scranton Cultural Center in lovely Scranton, PA. No word on if Scrantonicity is playing a post show anywhere in town yet.

At some point during its five year run, The Wire evolved from a lowly rated & unwanted show about the City of Baltimore, to arguably one of the greatest shows ever seen on the small screen. Mixing the stories of cops, dockworkers, city officials, street dealers & heroin abusers, The Wire used memorable characters to speak about the broken promises of the American Dream and its decaying cities. Now David Simon, Eric Overmyer, and HBO bring us the story of New Orleans & its most beloved American creation: Jazz.

Set three months after Hurricane Katrina and the federal incompetence that followed, Treme portrays more of David Simon’s critique of our flawed American criminal-justice system, political institutions, and public housing affairs. On a more personal level, Treme will follow Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, and John Goodman, as they struggle to rebuild their homes, their families and their city.

Throughout it all is the music of New Orleans. With appearances by Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Galactic, Trombone Shorty, the Treme Brass Band, Deacon John and the Rebirth Brass Band, this show should be one to follow. Treme premieres at 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 11 (EDT), on HBO.

With the 2010 baseball season upon us, we wanted to continue a Hidden Track tradition started in 2007 where we chat with of our favorite musicians about their love for America’s past time. For the first part of this year’s Baseball Preview, we asked them for predictions on the upcoming season, while the second part of our questionnaire got a bit more personal.

[Photo by John Schulze]

Leading off for the 2010 Hidden Track Baseball Preview is Widespread Panic keyboardist – and longtime baseball fan – John “JoJo” Hermann. We spoke with JoJo about his beloved Mets, his thoughts on the upcoming season, his favorite ballpark and many other subjects. Check it out…

Hidden Track: What team do you think will win the World Series and what team will they beat in that final series?

JoJo Hermann: Those Yankees look unbeatable, but they’ll get tired in October and the Mariners will pull the upset in Seattle to go to the World Series. The Braves and Bobby Cox will be the Cinderella-feel-good story of 2010 and take the series from Seattle in 7.

HT: Which pitchers do you think will win the AL and NL Cy Young awards?

JH: Felix Hernandez in the AL will break through big-time for Seattle. I gotta go with Lincecum again for the Giants–he’s the best.

HT: Which players do you think will win the AL and NL MVP awards?

JH: For MVP, going against Pujols in the NL is like betting against Secretariat. For the AL, Mark Texeira in Yankee Stadium might get 200 RBI.

READ ON for more of our baseball-heavy chat with JoJo…

We started our Cover Wars March Madness tournament with 32 different winners of Cover Wars over the past year. We broke those down into two separate portions as to not overwhelm our voters. Then, we had our Sweet Sixteen, our Elite Eight, the Final Four, and now there are two. It all comes down to this, and it’s a battle of jamband quartets.

PGroove – This Must Be The Place vs. Phish – Curtis Loew

Hailing from Savannah, GA; Perpetual Groove offers up their cover of The Talking Heads’ This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody). The first known performance of this cover took place at The Georgia Theater in Athens on September 5th, 2002. PGroove has gone on to play it over 100 times since. The vocal duties are handled by guitarist and lead singer Brock Butler.

Perpetual Groove – This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Audio: 2-10-2007

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Video: 12-13-2009

Hailing from Vermont, Phish offers up their cover of Lynryd Skynryd’s The Ballad Of Curtis Loew. The first known performance of the cover took place on a Wednesday Night in the Spring of 1987 at Burlington’s famed Nectar’s. It was pretty regular in the rotation for the next few years. The first notable gap was from 10/30/1990 to 3/14/1993, a 290 show gap. It was played three times in 1993 and disappeared for the next six years. Though not an official performance, The Ballad Of Curtis Loew was soundchecked at Big Cypress in 1999. And then Phish brought it back at Fenway Park in Boston on May 31st of last year for a glorious bust out, and we haven’t seen Curtis Loew since. The lead vocals are handled by keyboardist Page McConnell and it’s part of a rare group of songs in Phish’s repertoire where guitarist Trey Anastasio doesn’t sing a single note.

READ ON to listen and watch Phish’s Curtis Loew and to vote…

Since the beginning of the 2000s, Canadian indie-pop collective The New Pornographers have somehow managed record and tour behind four critically acclaimed albums, all while the band’s members pursue their successful solo careers. AC Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar & Co., will release their fifth studio album Together on May 4 and have recently announced the details for a lengthy North American tour, where they will be joined by The Mountain Goats, The Dodos, The Dutchess & The Duke and Imaad Wasif at various stops along the way. The 32-date trek kicks off with a high profile appearance at the Sasquatch Festival in George, WA on May 31.

If you not into a night with the indie-pop collective, than maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…

• Psychedelic folk-rockers Blitzen Trapper head cross-country
• Former blips act Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros head out
• Son Volt front man Jay Farrar lines up a handful of solo dates
• The Dead Weather head out for a 14-city mid-spring tour
• Jam-pop act O.A.R. puts together a lengthy summer shed run
• Green Day bring their brand of punk rock to a town near you

Finally, despite persistent Led Zeppelin reunion rumors that have circulated since the band’s one-off performance in 2007, the seminal hard rock act will remain dormant, though its surviving members are keeping themselves busy with other projects. After the runaway success of his unconventional pairing with Alison Krauss, former Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant has revealed the members of his new band consisting of Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott , Byron House, and Marco Giovino – dubbed the Band Of Joy. Plant & Co., who will release their debut later this year via Rounder Records, have lined up a short 12-date summer run to showcase their new material that kicks off on July 13 at the Orpheum Theater in Nashville, TN.

Paul McCartney kicked off his Up and Coming tour on Sunday night in Phoenix and peppered the setlist with a few rarities. Venus and Mars, Rock Show and 1985 returned to Macca’s set for the first time since the Wings days, while The Beatles’ classic I’m Looking Through You off of Rubber Soul was performed live by McCartney for the first time ever. Take a look…

I’m Looking Through You – Paul McCartney

Phish fans’ ears perked up a few weeks back when the producers of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon announced a weeklong celebration of Exile On Main Street featuring select musical acts performing one song off the Stones’ album each night. Who better to cover a song from Exile than Phish, who covered the album in its entirety at Festival 8? Today, Billboard reported that Phish indeed will be one of the “select musical acts” on May 13.

Phish’s First Late Night Appearance

The May 13th appearance marks the group’s return to late night television for the first time since 2004. The Billboard article doesn’t make it clear what song Phish will perform, but wisely mentions Loving Cup and Shine A Light as front runners. What song do you think they’ll play?

Perpetual Groove @ Bowery Ballroom – March 26, 2010

New York City is a tough nut to crack for most bands that aren’t from the Northeast. When a group schedules a date in the Big Apple, they can be assured of competition from dozens of other acts and multiple forms of entertainment across the city. Perpetual Groove first played NYC back in 2004 and since that time they have built an audience in the city slowly and surely thanks to a number of impressive performances at area venues. The band’s hard work paid off on Friday night when they filled the Bowery Ballroom and treated the crowd to a signature “heater” of a show.

[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]

The evening started with an eclectic set of music from former Blips artists Turbine. Over the course of the band’s 45-minute performance, Turbine offered up six tunes that each showed a completely different side of their sound. War of 9161 (The Pledge) contained hints of early Genesis, the intense Columbus Days featured Ryan Rightmire laying down all sorts of layers on effects-driven harmonica while the upbeat Behind These Walls gave guitarist Jeremy Hilliard ample opportunity to wail. It isn’t often you see the harmonica used as a rhythm instrument, but Rightmire impressed with his ability to add wacked-out textures to Turbine’s originals.

Coming out strong with the anthemic No Decorations – a tune that opens their latest release, Heal – PGroove wasted no time displaying the songwriting chops that separates this band from their peers. Singer/guitarist Brock Butler sings with such conviction that when he belts “here you have a friendly ear, if you need one” you almost want to run up to him after the show to tell him your problems. It’s that connection between singer and listener that had the usually chatty NYC crowd hanging on each word.

READ ON for more thoughts and pics from PGroove in NYC…