Yesterday, we found out that U2′s appearance at UK’s Glastonbury Festival has been canceled due to Bono’s back problems. It didn’t take long for all sorts of rumors to fly about which artist would replace the Irish act on the bill including the ubiquitous Led Zeppelin is getting back together story. Today, word has come down that Gorillaz have stepped up to take U2′s spot at the famed festie as the Friday night headliner.
In other news, we finally get to hear some new music from Canadian indie faves Arcade Fire as a rip of Month of May – one half of Arcade Fire’s new 12″ – has leaked onto the ‘nets. Take a listen when you get a chance and let us know what you think. UPDATE: The other half of the 12″, titled The Suburbs, has surfaced. [via P4K and Consequence of Sound]
Finally, Bowery Presents has expanded its reach even further into New England with the announcement that the NYC-based independent promotion company will team up with Alex Crothers of Higher Ground Presents to re-open the State Theatre in Portland, ME. This news comes only a few months after Bowery started promoting shows in Boston. If this keeps up, by December they should be well into Canada and the Midwest.
As we previously mentioned, venerable indie-jam rockers moe. are in the midst of celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. As part of this year-long festivities, the band will release their first greatest hits album entitled Smash Hits, Volume One on June 1 via their own label Fatboy Records. Putting the moe. twist on a compilation record, the one-time Buffalo-based act went into the studio and re-recorded several of their older tunes giving them an update from the original versions, as well as laying down the first ever studio version of long-time fan favorite Seat Of My Pants.
The band is currently offering a free download of Spine Of A Dog – one of the tracks that received the update treatment along with Yodelittle, Saint Augustine, Mexico, Rebubula and Buster – as well as an exclusive acoustic version of Lazarus for fans that sign up for their email list.
Finally, with the Bonnaroo rapidly approaching organizers have announced their latest initiative that will give back to the great state of Tennessee that they’ve called home for the last nine years. With the damaging floods that hit earlier this year, the fest has committed to donating up to $50,000 to aid the flood relief efforts in Nashville and the surrounding area. Having already donated $10,000 to the Middle Tennessee Red Cross, now through Sunday, June 6, Bonnaroo will be facilitating donations, via the Bonnaroo Works Fund, and matching them, dollar for dollar, up to $30,000.
It’s mostly a Rock & Roll recap here at Last Week’s Sauce. Notably, three of the bands (Blues Traveler, Pearl Jam, and Ween) all had their major studio debuts within one year of each other in 1990-1991. We round things out from the likes of jamband supergroup 30db covering Wilco and Keller Williams collaborating with his friends The Keels.
[Thanks to DATBRAD for this week's photo]
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.
Artist & Title:30db – Handshake Drugs Date & Venue: 2010-05-22 Berbati’s Pan – Portland, OR Taper & Show Download:Mark Burgin
In the first edition of Last Week’s Sauce of the month we led off with a couple of tracks from 30db, which would normally mean I would ignore any new tapes that popped up. But a cover of Wilco’s Handshake Drugs is the type of thing we make exceptions for. Brendan Bayliss takes lead vocals on this one just a few months after Umphrey’s McGee debuted their cover of Wilco’s I Am Trying To Break Your Heart on Valentine’s Day. For the time being the full-band 30db gigs have past, but there is still one more chance to see Brendan Bayliss & Jeff Austin play the tunes from One Man Show: Thursday night at Summer Camp at 8pm at the Campfire stage.
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30db rips through The Beatles Don’t Let Me Down at The Fox in Boulder:
READ ON for tracks from Blues Traveler, Keller Williams & The Keels, Pearl Jam, and Ween…
Back in April, iClips revealed that this coming weekend’s Summer Camp Festival would be among the festivals the company would be webcasting as part of The Couch Tour. Today, iClips has posted the schedule for the webcasts and we’re stoked to see that sets from HT faves Umphrey’s McGee, Gov’t Mule and moe. will be broadcast from Chillicothe.
So far, it appears that three moe. sets and five Umphrey’s sets will be shown at various points throughout the weekend. READ ON for a look at the complete Summer Camp Webcast schedule…
Watch the conductor! If ever there is question about where a song is going, these are the only words you need remember, whether you are part of the band or the audience. Matt Butler, founder and conductor of the Everyone Orchestra, knows what he wants and he gets it. Using a dry erase board, Butler directs his rotating group of musicians with phrases as broad as “simplify,” as inspired as “explode!” or as open-ended as “take it anywhere.” When he wants the crowd to join in (which is often), he’ll turn around and wave his hands in the air, or grab the microphone and start scatting, or he’ll sing a repeated line. Everyone follows.
[All photos by Laura James]
On Saturday night at Quixote’s True Blue, a Denver bar dedicated to the memory and spirit of Jerry Garcia, the Everyone Orchestra did all they could to live up to the free-wheelin’ musical spirit of the Grateful Dead. The seven-piece orchestra takes on a mind of its own, allowing every wave of inspiration to run its course, with Butler one step ahead of the game, jumping ecstatically into the air or calmly directing a beautiful crescendo.
The names you came to see on this night were obvious. Guitarist Steve Kimock sat coolly at center stage, standing occasionally, resting the guitar on his knee, and playing a mellow slide-guitar so calmly it’s as if he doesn’t even try. Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth (String Cheese Incident), at stage right, mouthed along with the notes to every solo he played and could hardly control the smile on his face.
READ ON for more on the Everyone Orchestra @ Quixote’s…
After putting out albums in back to back years, it’s been three long years since we’ve heard any new music from Band Of Horses. The band dropped their major label debut Infinite Arms last week and stopped by the Late Night With David Letterman to perform Laredo…
Band Of Horses just wrapped up their opening duties for both Pearl Jam and Widespread Panic and will now head out for a headlining tour which kicked off last night at the Roxy in West Hollywood.
On July 19th, VH1 will air The 2010 Do Something Awards live from the Hollywood Palladium. What does God Street Wine have to do with DoSomething.org’s award ceremony to to honor young people’s commitment to social change? The Bring Back God Street Wine Facebook Page has been nominated in the “On Facebook” category to recognize the pivotal role the group playd in getting God Street Wine to reunite for four shows to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in July.
A win for the page would cap an incredible few weeks for Winos and would bring even more recognition to a cause close to our hearts – the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To vote, head over to the voting page for the “On Facebook” category and press the button next to the huge God Street Wine logo. We know the BBGSW page faces stiff competition from Chase’s Community Giving program, but any bank can give away five million bucks. How many rock fans can get their favorite band to reunite after a decade?
Marco Benevento Trio @ the Bowery Ballroom, May 22
Put three of the scene’s most reflective and expressive musicians together on one stage and it’s sure to be impressive. So it should come as no surprise that the Benevento Trio — consisting of keys master Marco Benevento, bassist Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green) and drummer Andrew Barr (The Slip)— transfixed the crowd at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom Saturday as they blanketed the space with their sonic landscapes.
[Photos by Eric Murray]
Beautifully melodic and at the same time exploratory, the music engulfed the receptive crowd. Annoying side chatter was all but nonexistent. Instead, the audience blissfully embraced the moment, all eyes and ears attentive to the action on stage, not wanting to miss a note or fall out of step with a beat.
Benevento — head down, fingers dancing over his keys and playing with effects like a mad but brilliant scientist — was situated stage right. His playing painted the sky, the space, the stars, the sun and the moon of the soundscape, transporting listeners through post-jazz-fueled improvisations. Benevento’s rig up close is a sight to behold! He has an old 66-note acoustic Wurlitzer studio piano tricked out as only he can. Custom bright-red keys connect him to the piano; the front cover removed with color changing LED lights illuminating his effect pedals resting just inside. For the technically inclined, he has the piano mic-ed and running through said effect pedals (your guess is as good as mine!) before running into his amp and a digital resting on top. For those who have seen other incarnations of his bands, this set up is focused on the potential of the acoustic piano — as opposed to all the electronic, digital and toy pianos he regularly employs.
READ ON for more of Diana’s thoughts on Marco @ the Bowery…
If I was to make a list of must-see bands most certainly near the top of it would be the country-infused, folk-rock band Deer Tick. John McCauley & Co. put on rowdy and raucous live shows, that may very well give The Hold Steady a run for the title of the world’s greatest bar band. The Providence-based act, who recently wrapped up a gig opening for Dr. Dog, will release their third studio album The Black Dirt Sessions on June 8 and will hit the road shortly after that for a tour that kicks off on June 18 at Brown’s Island in Richmond, VA and is currently slated to wrap on August 13, with their biggest headlining show to date at NYC’s Webster Hall.
If you’re not into a night with the country-infused roots act, than maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
Finally, late last year I became completely infatuated with Phosphorescent’s loving ode to Willie Nelson - To Willie – which dug deep into the country legend’s catalog for its song selections. As the follow up the Brooklyn-based act recently released Here’s to Taking It Easy, which has a similar laid back, country music vibe and works perfectly as summer late-night drinking music. Matthew Houck & Co. have lined up an extensive world tour in support of the album that includes a free show as part of the River Rocks festival on Pier 54, with like-minded “Cosmic American” band Dawes, on July 8.
From the moment Phish’s Festival 8 ended on November 1 last year, there have been rumors that the band would return to the Empire Polo Club in 2010 for another event. Today, we got a definitive answer as to whether Phish and Goldenvoice would team up this fall and that answer is no.
[Photo by Regan Teti Marscher]
At the end of an article about the Rolling Stones, Bruce Fessier of The Desert Sun reports that promoter Paul Tollett of Goldenvoice has confirmed that his company won’t be producing any additional events in Indio this year…
Despite statements to the contrary by Phish phans, Goldenvoice says there won’t be a Phish festival this
October at the Empire Polo Club.
Promoter Paul Tollett said he won’t produce any more festivals in Indio in 2010. Polo club owner Alex Haagen III is still talking about having a fall jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll festival and says he may hire another promoter. But he said, “We don’t have anything lined up yet.”
As of now, the only date on the books for Phish after the group’s Summer Tour is a headlining appearance at the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, TX on October 8. [via @YEMblog]
STS9 fans were already primed and ready for the band to hit the road this summer, but the excitement has been raised to a fevered pitch with the announcement that longtime LD Saxton Waller has returned to the fold for “the foreseeable future” starting this weekend at Summer Camp. Just check out this simulation of the new designs he put together for Arigato for a taste of why STS9 fans are jumping for joy over Waller’s return…
Through the mirror. Surreal reel begins…just like magic, ‘cept it’s visual gymnastics.
The Joker dangles upside down, taunting and mocking the so-called hero in his final scene. In Heath Ledger’s next film (and his last), his entrance into the film portrays a near exit out of existence, as he dangles from a rope from a bridge; this time, feet down. Ledger finds a way, with the help of two talented filmmakers, to join an idea—indeed, his cinematic coda represents an almost in-through-the-out-door transcendence.
But, I symbolize.
After struggling with how to define Jeremy Davies, one looks at the film career of the late Heath Ledger, and sees that same dilemma. Are these actors pondering metaphysical questions, or are they just human beings looking for answers by playing a part to feel more normal? What the fuck is normal, anyway? What the fuck IS life, anyway? Did Ledger have an answer? Reach for the pearl too soon? Syd Barrett in disguise—a madman posing as a genius? Ahhh…that dirty old question…questioned and beaten up and tossed about in our next go-around as we gaze upon the latest masterpiece, a late-career, much-needed comeback by another curious soul and a true friend to the weird: Terry Gilliam, in this edition of Hidden Flick, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. READ ON for more on this week’s Hidden Flick…
As we reported late last week, U2′s enigmatic frontman Bono underwent emergency back surgery after sustaining an injury during the band’s rehearsals for their upcoming world tour. While the surgery was a success, and the band was hopeful they’d be able to play their scheduled dates this summer, the eight weeks of rehabilitation attached to the recovery from the procedure have forced the Irish-rockers to postpone the North American leg of their tour, as well as their headlining appearance at the Glastonbury Music Festival. Here’s the official statement from the band…
Speaking at the LMU University Hospital in Munich, Paul McGuinness has confirmed the postponement of 16 shows on the U2360° Tour from Salt Lake City on June 3rd, through to New Jersey’s Meadowlands Stadium on July 19th. Tour Promoters Live Nation are now rescheduling those dates.
Paul McGuinness said, ‘Our biggest and I believe best tour has been interrupted and we’re all devastated. For a performer who lives to be on stage, this is more than a blow. He feels robbed of the chance to do what he does best and feels like he has badly let down the band and their audience. Which is of course nonsense. His concerns about more than a million ticket buyers whose plans have been turned upside down, we all share, but the most important thing right now is that Bono make a full recovery. We’re working as fast as we can with Live Nation to reschedule these dates.’
We wish Bono a speedy recovery, and we know their fans will be eagerly awaiting the news on when the rescheduled shows will take place.
Wade “Wyllys” Wilby shares a mix from his set opening for the Disco Biscuits at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ back on May 8…
I always jump at the chance to spin at walk in so I can play more eclectic selections. This mix starts with Hip Hop and moves into Ambient Breaks, Nu Disco and Indie Rock. Some personal highlights are the Kitsune remix of Lisztomania, a pitched down Passion Pit song at the heart of the mix and The New Mastersounds’ remix of Fred Everything’s epic breakbeat track Elevate.
[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]
It’s a great mix for BBQs and the lot scene, brah. My next set is at the Summer Camp Festival with Lax Class in the VIP tent late night on Saturday. As any SC vet will tell you, this set is not to be missed. Be on the lookout for more mixes from Wyllys throughout the summer. Enjoy!
If you gave us a chance to sing Hunger Strike with Pearl Jam in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden, we’d probably freak out, screw up some of the high harmonies, gush over the band and hug Eddie Vedder, so there’s something incredibly endearing about Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell’s excitement as he lived the dream last Friday night…
There’s plenty of links to share, so let’s get to it…
Finally, we haven’t paid much attention to the latest leg of the Clapton/Winwood Tour because it’s happening in Europe, so we were shocked to find out the two legendary rockers have added a cover of The Shape I’m In by The Band to their repertoire. What we’re not shocked about is that their version rips. Only two clips of Eric and Steve covering The Shape I’m In have surfaced thus far and while this particular one doesn’t have great video, the audio is really good. Take a listen…
on June 1 via their own label Fatboy Records. Putting the moe. twist on a compilation record, the one-time 
last week and stopped by the Late Night With David Letterman to perform Laredo…
on June 8 and will hit the road shortly after that for a tour that kicks off on June 18 at Brown’s Island in Richmond, VA and is currently slated to wrap on August 13, with their biggest headlining show to date at NYC’s Webster Hall.
– which dug deep into the country legend’s catalog for its song selections. As the follow up the Brooklyn-based act recently released 
, which has a similar laid back, country music vibe and works perfectly as summer late-night drinking music. Matthew Houck & Co. have lined up an extensive world tour in support of the album that includes a 
