The summer festival season kicked off in earnest this past weekend with moe., Umphrey’s and friends throwing down at Summer Camp, the Biscuits invading Colorado, Furthur headlining a three-day fest and the indie world coming together at The Gorge for Sasquatch! We’ll have more detailed accounts of Bisco Inferno and Summer Camp later this week, but for now we wanted to start recapping the major moments from Memorial Day Weekend.
At Summer Camp in Chillicothe, IL, moe. peppered their sets with the debut of five originals and plenty of guest spots throughout the weekend. Ivan Neville, Danny Barnes and Brendan Bayliss all sat in at one time or another during moe.’s six sets and Zappa Plays Zappa was the latest participant in moe.’s full band segue tradition on Sunday. Umphrey’s also welcomed plenty of friends to the stage all weekend including pedal steel guitarist Mike Rackey, Brainchild’s Roy Ponce and Jesse Clayton of The Macpodz. Mad Dog’s Dirty Little Secret horn section – featuring trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick, saxophonist Chris Neal, trombonist Brent Sanders and trumpeter Mike “Mad Dog” Mavridoglou – joined the band at various points during Saturday’s sets.
Never ones to miss an opportunity for a sit-in, Gov’t Mule brought out Chuck Garvey for a cover of Traffic’s Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, Al Schnier for a take on Loser by the Grateful Dead as well as Danny Barnes and Jeff Austin for the Stones’ ballad Wild Horses. Other guest spot highlights were G Love on harmonica with The Avett Brothers for The Fall and Jake Cinninger making the rounds by sitting in with both Dumpstaphunk and The Macpodz.
READ ON for a batch of Summer Camp Festival setlists…
John Travolta isn’t associated with the music business much anymore. He’s apparently more interested in making crappy action movies, flying his jets and being weird these days. But he starred in both Grease and Saturday Night Fever, two of the more popular music movies of the last 35 years. Check out a profile of Travolta on BIO at 8PM on Wednesday.
The 2010 Summer Camp Festival started last night with performances from Dumpstaphunk and 30db among others. Our friends at Bands That Jam have already posted a ton of content live from Chillicothe, so be sure to keep your eyes on their site all weekend long for the latest.
As we’ve mentioned, the iClips team will be broadcasting from Three Sisters Park throughout the weekend and the webcast has just begun with a broadcast of Family Groove Company’s set which will be followed by broadcasts of moe., STS9, Cornmeal, Umphrey’s, Yonder and Gov’t Mule this evening. CLICK HERE for the full schedule.
Let’s take one more look at what we missed this week…
With a festive weekend ahead and most people cutting out early today, this week’s mix tape is designed for the poor suckers who get stuck in the office this afternoon. In other words, this one will help you feel extremely sorry for yourself while everybody else gets to go out and have fun.
No, in all seriousness, the idea here was to compile a batch of extremely introspective songs to reflect on the “memorial” part of this weekend. While most of these tunes are a depressing as sh*t at face value, they’re all amazing to clear your head and remember your loved ones. So, if you have to stick around for a few more hours before racing off to the barbecues and beer, this should give you something to think on.
Last night was a sad night in Upstate New York as area promoter Greg Bell put on what looks to be the last jam-filled evening at Revolution Hall in Troy, where the McLovins and 7 Walkers featuring Bill Kreutzmann and George Porter Jr. capped an illustrious history of jamband shows at the storied venue. Mary A. Mahoney explains the back story…
Revolution Hall in Troy, New York, has seen many acts grace its stage since it opened in 2003. Over the past seven years it has presented an array of performers from nationally touring acts like Umphrey’s McGee and Mike Gordon to younger local bands like the McLovins, who are just gaining momentum in their respective scenes. The stage at Revolution Hall has seen a multitude of musicians, engineers and concert-goers, and leaves behind memories in the hearts of many. “When you walked [into Rev Hall] you could smell all of the good times and amazing music that happened in that space…” reminisces Taraleigh Silberberg, publisher and live music fan.
The venue itself is not inexperienced to change as well. Many changes in management and ownership have occurred in the short seven years it has been open for business – and it looks like one last big change is about to take place. Early next month, Rev Hall will close its doors with nondescript plans for the future; A change which has left many patrons and fans wondering what the future holds for the venue.
Originally opened by Brown’s Brewing Company, Rev Hall has conducted business in an ambitious, eager – if not hyperactive – way. Through the passing of the torch, the overall vision for the venue became a shape-shifter, rendering it difficult for it to grow in any particular direction. With the most recent change this past January placing the management power back in the hands of Brown’s Brewing Company, it seems the identity of Rev Hall morphed for the last time.
READ ON for more from Mary on the closing of Rev Hall…
You can expect the “flyering” to be non-stop at festivals across the country this weekend as street teams hand out flyers and hand bills promoting future events. In an effort to grab festivalgoer’s attention some of the promotional materials contain the name of acts that haven’t been formally announced yet. For example, we came across a flyer for moe.down XI that includes a few groups that weren’t part of the initial artist announcement.
As you can see, Mike Gordon will return to moe.down for the third time on Labor Day Weekend. Cactus had previously performed at moe.down VII in 2006 with Ramble Dove and at moe.down V in 2004 with the Benevento-Russo Duo. This time the Phish bassist should have his kick ass solo band in tow and plenty of material from his forthcoming new album to play.
Jakob Dylan, the Punch Brothers, The Macpodz and Monkey Wrench are also listed on the flyer but weren’t part of the initial artist announcement. Tickets are currently on sale for moe.down XI, which takes place at The Gelston Castle Estate in Mohawk, NY from September 3rd to 5th. The Black Keys, Built to Spill, Tortoise, the Ryan Montbleau Band and The Brew were all part of that initial artist announcement a few weeks back.
Every Friday night this summer the MSG Network will broadcast a block of concert films featuring a diverse group of artists ranging from the Dave Matthews Band to Elton John to Camera Obscura. Music Fridays kicks off tonight by showing Fuse’s Live From Bonnaroo ’09 at 8PM followed at 9PM by a two hour Grateful Dead feature made up of highlights from Dead Ahead (Radio City 1980) and Crimson, White and Indigo (JFK Stadium 1989).
The “full-on promotional blitz” continues for The Black Keys’ latest studio release, Brothers, with the debut of the third music video from the album. For the Tighten Up video the Akron-based duo star as a pair of dads who bring their doppelganger kids to the playground, where both fathers and sons do their best to impress the ladies. Let’s take a look…
Late last night, Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein took to his Twitter feed to spew a bunch of hashtags that signaled the band would start Bisco Inferno Weekend early at 14th and Pearl Street in Boulder, CO at 4PM the following day. The tweet sparked a “flash mob” that gathered today, just hours before the quartet’s show at the Boulder Theatre, to watch the quartet perform four songs, mostly acoustic, over the course of an hour.
The Biscuits posted a 160-second clip of the wild scene…
I-Man started the off-the-cuff set followed by Spraypaint, Story of the World and Spectacle. Bisco Inferno Weekend rolls on tonight at the Boulder Theatre and continues tomorrow in Denver at the Ogden. The main event takes place at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO on Saturday.
Here’s the complete schedule for Saturday’s festivities…
Doors: 4:00pm
Pnuma Trio: 5:00pm-6:00pm
Aeroplane: 6:00pm-6:50pm
Crystal Method: 6:50pm-7:50pm
The Glitch Mob: 7:50pm-8:50pm
TDB Set I: 9:00pm-10:15pm
Booka Shade: 10:20pm-11:20pm
TDB Set II: 11:30pm-1:30am
We’ve got 34 days until the Nateva Festival kicks off over the Fourth of July Weekend in Oxford, ME. Today, the producers unveiled the schedule for the event. Thanks to having two main stages there aren’t too many conflicts between the larger acts. Weekend passes are currently on sale for $229.
Furthur has undergone yet another lineup change just a few short days before the Furthur Festival begins at Mountain Aire in Angels Camp, CA tomorrow. During the band’s two live rehearsals at the Palm Ballroom in San Rafael, CA, new addition Jeff Pehrson joined Sunshine Becker Garcia on backing vocals. For those wanting an additional dose of music after the Furthur Fest, Billy K.’s 7 Walkers project will perform on a bill that also includes Holy Kimoto and the Everyone Orchestra at River Ranch Campground in Tuolumne, CA on Monday as part of an event called Furthurmore.
The latest entry into the hippie jam fest scene comes in the form of the Catskill Chill Music Festival which will be held at Camp Minglewood in Hancock, NY – about 145 miles from NYC – on September 10th and 11th. The initial lineup announcement includes Keller Williams, Soulive, The New Mastersounds, Easy Star All-Stars, Toubab Krewe, Future Rock and Particle. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10AM for $85.
As you might have noticed, we’ve added more interaction to each article on Hidden Track courtesy of a Facebook “like” button at the top of each post. Our contributors and staff create the content we post as a labor of love and it’s always nice to see that readers are picking up what we’re laying down.
If you enjoy a particular post please press the “like” button – it gives us the warm fuzzies and spreads the word on what we do here on a daily basis. Also, Jeff has been doing a bang up job curating our Facebook Page. Stay tuned as we’ve got a few ideas we’ll be implementing on it over the next few weeks including giveaways.
Over the last few weeks, The Arcade Fire have been having a bit of fun teasing the news that they will have a new album coming out this year. The band first posted a hand-written postcard addressed to “the internet” of a new 12″-single. Now today comes the official announcement from the Montreal-based act via another hand-written note proclaiming that they are currently in the “home stretch” of recording and have released pre-ordering details for their third full-length album to be called The Suburbs.
The album, which was recorded in Montreal and New York, will be hitting stores on August 3 and will be available in a variety of formats ranging from a $7.99 digital download to the deluxe double 12″ vinyl, that also includes the album in digital format and a limited edition screen printed poster for $44.99. All pre-orders will receive an instant download to their new single – Month of May and The Suburbs, which was released on vinyl today.
Every year, countless thousands of music fans – from first-timers to seasoned veterans – travel to music festivals of all shapes and sizes. There are many lists of essentials, but here are some of the time honored secrets that can really make your experience better. These suggestions could make the difference from being awakened by the burning sun or sleeping caked in mud. This first post will deal with setting up the best possible camp which means a lot of tips for the rain. The Boy Scouts had it right when they said “Be Prepared!”
#1 – If you will be camping in your van or SUV, invest in window screens to help you keep the car cool but bug free (or DIY with a roll of screen and some magnets from a home store) and don’t forget pop up solar sun screens.
#2 – If you are tent camping, use old yoga mats to make a tent floor. To make a more comfortable bed place an egg crate on top of your air mattress – or better yet a cot – and a towel underneath to soak up any condensation. Finally, when you leave for the day either put your sleeping stuff & pillow in a car to keep them dry or wrap it up in a blanket to keep moisture and condensation away.
#3 – Bring an extra small plastic bin for shoes – you can leave it right outside your tent or car and shoes won’t get wet or muddy.
READ ON for more tips to make your festival experience great…
In the video for the latest single off of Contra, the ska-tinged Holiday, the Vampire Weekend boys trade in their Polo gear for 18th Century garb and show off a less serious side of their personalities…
For generation upon generation, fathers have handed their skills down to their next of kin. Rock music is no different, as many children of rock stars go on to take the stage themselves. A famous name gets you in the door, but it’s hard to keep an audience unless you have your own style. So this week’s B List looks at 10 second generation rockers that aim to pick up where their fathers left off:
1. Dweezil Zappa — There are tons of pros and a few cons to being Frank Zappa’s son. The major con is that you are given the name Dweezil. But on the plus side, Dweezil got to learn guitar from the best in the business. I think Frank would be happy with the career Dweezil has blazed: He’s put out six stellar, albeit low-profile, records, starting out with Havin’ A Bad Day in 1986. In my opinion, his best work was with his brother Ahmet when they formed the band Z. Z put out two fine albums in the mid ’90s that still get tons of play on my iPod.
Over the past few years Dweezil has started Zappa Plays Zappa to honor his father’s legacy and incredible catalogue. Dweezil put together a fine touring band of relative unknowns that he has mixed with a few established, more well-known musicians who toured with his father. This summer, Zappa Plays Zappa is embarking on a major tour with Ray White as a special guest.
READ ON for nine great second-generation rockers that made the list…
with the debut of the third music video from the album. For the Tighten Up video the Akron-based duo star as a pair of dads who bring their doppelganger kids to the playground, where both fathers and sons do their best to impress the ladies. Let’s take a look…
