Bust Outs: The Michael Jackson Edition

Robert Randolph and the Family Band: 1) Randall’s Island, 7/30/05 and 2) Festival Pier at Penn’s, 7/29/06

Robert Randolph and the Family get this party started in a hurry. Danyel Morgan’s utter beatdowns on his bass provide for a gritty low end for Robert to tear through the blistering melody lines. The band plays through Billie Jean with unbridled angst and takes it through a landscape through deep funky caverns and back up to the nebulas. Likewise, Robert Randolph and the Family Band’s take on Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough is a funk filled festivity. These guys like their crowds dancing and they know how to make it happen. Even just sitting here, it’s almost impossible to hold still.

Perpetual Groove: Variety Playhouse, 10/31/05

The Halloween show is the quintessential night for the Michael Jackson bust out and Perpetual Groove did it to the nines. Before launching into some full blown Michael, they pulled the Jackson 5 arrow, I Want You Back, out of their quiver. After a random skit where Brad the stage manager apparently tries to saw somebody’s head off, the band goes exactly where we know they are headed, Thriller. The cover opens with a really eerie buildup into a full-blown trance monster. They brought the delay effects, warm synth tones, and electric drums to create a cool disco feel. Tread gently if you are not a fan of the Untz, but if you are, stop wasting time and get the fuck in there. I love this take on Thriller. I feel like I am 10 years old at a roller skating party.

Santana: San Quentin Prison, 12/10/1988

As a musician, nothing gets the juices flowing like playing for a pen full of stoic jailbirds. Still, a skinny Santana and his hombres throw it down all 1988-like and provide a hip shaking rendition of Smooth Criminal.

Umphrey’s McGee: 1) 930 Club, Washington D.C., 4/14/07; 2) Lambda Chi Alpha House, Auburn, AL, 4/9/03; and 3) Newport Music Hall, 11/6/2004

You might want to start making your way over towards the warning track, because we’re taking it deeeeeep for the Umphrey’s portion of the show. First up, during their 4/14/07 show, Umphrey’s served up a Ms. Tinkle’s Overtune -> Billie Jean Jam -> Ms. Tinkle’s Overture that will get your neck hairs standing tall. As if the Ms. Tinkle isn’t a masterpiece on it’s own, sandwich a shifty up-tempo Billie Jean groove with equal portions of untz, funk, and feisty staccato guitar melodies. Next up, Umphrey’s takes us on an odyssey of quick takes from 4/9/03 as they weave seamlessly in and out of Michael Jackson’s The Girl Is Mine and a handful of fun covers, including Jane Says, Stairway to Heaven, and a Linus and Lucy Jam before finally coming back to a couple of their own tunes. The band handled MJ’s singing duties masterfully in The Girl is Mine here, as they fully embrace their inner lounge lizards. Finally, I know it’s a lot, but I couldn’t leave out the stellar medley from 11/6/04 that zig zags between Thriller and Smooth Criminal, before kindly leaving us in the middle of the Motley Crue mega ballad, Home Sweet Home. This is all just too damn fun.

Phish: Lincoln, NE, 10/21/1995

You had to see this coming. The Phish tribute set comes from the infamous tease of all tease shows, 10/21/95, just a short ten days before Halloween. The Phish decided to lay down blatant taunts of curiosity as to if Thriller was coming out in its entirely for Halloween night. Look nobody’s complaining about Quadrophenia, but the Halloween Thriller just has to happen someday. We’ll keep waiting patiently, but in the meantime, this tease laden Nebraska show is still lingering in my top ten. Also, this Suzy is the cat’s pajamas.

Miles Davis: from Live / Love

Miles Davis gets his Muzak on as he gently caresses Michael’s hit, Human Nature. This has simply got to be one of the most painful Miles Davis recordings in circulation, but it still grows on you after a while. Don’t worry about it Miles. Every good jazz musician goes through the Food Emporium music to pay the bills phase; just ask Wes Montgomery.

RAQ: The Bijou Theatre, 12/31/07

Not to be outdone, RAQ brings a junkyard dog approach to their Billie Jean as they take a nasty crack at it. This version comes from their New Years Eve ’07 show, and is definitely one of those recordings where you can just hear the people bouncing off the rafters with energy. Surprisingly, RAQ keeps it pretty straightforward with just some distorted guitar tone and stays relatively minimal on the Untz, ultimately segueing smoothly into Guilty Pleasures, which exhibits a pretty monumental climax of its own.

String Cheese Incident: Orleans Arena, 10/29/05

Who wants more Thriller? Ooh, ooh, String Cheese Incident does… SCI tends to be pretty hit or miss with their covers. Musically, they can nail most anything, but often the mandolin and acoustic guitar just don’t have the balls to do a crunchy song much justice. Fortunately, Kyle Hollingsworth can pick up the slack, because String Cheese brings the heat in their 10/29/05 show. They bring a festive percussion and horn filled rendition and it gets really dark and haunting for the “Darkness Sparkles Across the Land” spoken segment. Further, they resist temptation to exaggerate the high back up parts – an area of concern for most any SCI cover – and Nershi handles the MJ part really quite well. Overall, this is a fabulous cover.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones: Green Acres Music Park, 8/25/1995

Alright, we’ve gotta be cutting it close to curfew, but I couldn’t leave this sunny New South Africa with a great I Want You Back jam towards the end off the list. Frankly, I just love this song and it’s making me excited for spring to freaking spring already, so it’s convenient that there is a little Jackson 5 to spruce it up for us.

The Disco Biscuits: Tweeter Center, 12/31/07 & Magner’s Gnarly Pool Party, 9/11/2004

And last but not least, what would a festival be without a late night Bisco party? We got a couple nice gems here to close out this 19 hour edition of Bust Outs. The first two tracks here come from this past New Years Eve at the Tweeter Center with a thumping Morph Dusseldorph that is chock full of Thriller jamming. Of all the stuff on this edition, this Morph might just be the Vai Sikahema.

After a smidgen of new years banter they pick it right back up and go pull out a full version of Wanna Be Startin’ Something. I strongly advise you to skip the first 3 or 4 minutes of this song as it is – no joke – the worst singing I have ever heard. Still, they get it rocking to bring in the New Year. Finally, we’ve added a little side project action here with Magner’s Gnarly Pool Party for extra special laser-y dance number for all you spun out dance freaks that are still with us.

That’s all for today, but leave us a comment if we missed any…