You couldn’t ask for a nicer day of weather than we had this past Friday. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the real feel temperature at 7PM was a delightful 70 degrees. It was under these perfect conditions that Tea Leaf Green and the Dark Star Orchestra took the stage at Governor’s Island for an evening of blissful music.
[Photos by Rich Lieberman]
While I’ve lived in Manhattan for over eight years, I’ve never had a chance to make it out to Governor’s Island. The island, which is only about 700 yards off the coast of Battery Park, served as an army base for nearly 200 years before spending 1966 to 1996 as a Coast Guard installation. In more recent years Governor’s Island functions as a national monument that is open to the public on a seasonal basis. This summer the folks that run the Highline Ballroom have been tapped to throw three concerts on the 172-acre island including last Friday’s TLG / DSO affair.
I was warned that Tea Leaf Green would be going on at 6PM sharp, so I left my office near Wall Street at 5PM in an attempt to catch their whole set. Unfortunately the schedule posted on the Governor’s Island website was wrong and I wound up missing the first ten minutes of TLG’s set, even though I was at the ferry terminal by 5:30. I quickly forgot about the hassle once I reached the magnificent island.
READ ON for more of Scotty’s TLG/DSO at Governor’s Island review…
If you ask us there is nothing better then seeing music outside in the summer. So we couldn’t be more excited when we saw the announcement of the Governor’s Island Concert Series - which will be booked by the folks from the Highline Ballroom. At press time moe., Dark Star Orchestra and The Saw Doctors were confirmed, with more artists to come. Tickets go on-sale today at noon, with your ferry fare included in the price. But don’t fret, it’s a quick trip to the island.
If you hate boats then check out one of these recently announced tours…
Finally, we thought we’d squeeze in one more baseball story this week with the announcement of dates for the Baseball Music Project. The organization presents “concerts celebrating the National Baseball Hall of Fame through the great lineage of baseball music.
These concerts will feature the greatest music ever written about the greatest sport, combined with images, narration and video about America’s favorite pastime. Members of the Hall of Fame and/or baseball celebrities will serve as narrators and hosts for the concerts.” Sounds a like a great night to us!
Earlier we mentioned that Music Snobbery slang some shit at the Fillmore New York @ Irving Plaza for presenting a nostalgia-filled lineup to the masses. While we’re sure the announcement of the lineup for the first annual Bill Graham Memorial Foundation benefit won’t exactly thrill those guys, we think it looks pretty good. Kinda like a trip back in time to the heady days of 1992.
The Dark Star Orchestra, Spin Doctors, Chan & Popper from Blues Traveler and “surprise special guests” salute the Fillmore Scene at Irving Plaza on May 27. Tickets will set you back $65, and can be purchased through both a pre-sale (starting tomorrow at 10AM) and a general on sale (Monday at noon) at Livenation.com.
If you’re working this New Year’s Eve, you can take solace in the fact that Radiohead will be doing the same exact thing — only they’ll be playing songs off of In Rainbows for a worldwide webcast and television broadcast. Those of you who have Al Gore’s Current network on your cable systems will be able to watch the broadcast on your television, while everyone else can follow along on Al Gore’s Internet.
And for my final link of 2007, let’s turn our attention to Fiery Furnaces’ new video for Duplexes of the Dead…the linkage will see you in ‘08.
Everyone wants to escape from the douchebaggery of the bar scene and the jacked-up prices of restaurants, but many people are still struggling to find cool events at which to ring in the new year. Considering it’s already December 20th, now is probably the time to pull the trigger make a final decision. Let’s take a look at 10 of the more interesting concerts celebrating the beginning of 2008.
1. Boy We Wish We Lived in Australia: Girl Talk, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Kings of Leon and The Go! Team rock the Falls Festival in Marion Bay, Australia
2. From MSG to the middle of nowhere in 11 years: Blues Traveler hit the peak of their popularity on December 31st, 1996 when they performed to a sold out Madison Square Garden. This year the Traveler plan to play a place just a little bit smaller. If you happen to live in Anchorage, Alaska check them out at the Bear Tooth Theatre.
3. Well This Is Why Phil Isn’t Playing on NYE: Jackie Greene takes the stage with his solo band at Marilyn’s on K in Sacramento, CA. Will Phil show up? We’re guessin’ yes.
4. Aren’t You Supposed to Cover Albums on Halloween?: Rose Hill Drive covers Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic on both December 30th and 31st at the Boulder Theater
Read on after the jump for more possible events this New Year’s Eve…
Barack Obama lovin’ Jeff Tweedy and Wilco return to the road in February for a string of dates in the States before heading to Australia. Wilco’s brief tour covers a lot of ground in just two short weeks, and they’ll play some of the best venues this country has to offer. Our resident expert Luke advises us that in typical Wilco fashion, they will probably add dates over the course of the next few weeks.
As if the 2007-08 Reunionmania wasn’t already out of hand, a UK developer has persuaded the original lineup of Spandau Ballet to reform in Las Vegas for one show by offering a two-million pound payday. True was a good song and all, but two million pounds?! We can only hope that P.M. Dawn opens the show.
When I saw RatDog last Monday night, a bunch of my friends told me Fake Bobby from the Dark Star Orchestra was playing better than the Real Bob Weir. I was stupefied — how could this possibly be? How can an imitator be better than the genuine article? I got my answer on Saturday when I saw the Dark Star Orchestra play a fantastic show at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
Here’s the backstory on DSO, for the uninitiated: On most nights they recreate old Grateful Dead concerts, song by song, in the exact style of the era in question. When you ask around about DSO, you typically get one of two responses. Either “That concept is really lame” or “Those guys are fuckin’ amazing.”
The former generally comes from people who aren’t into the Dead, while the latter comes from the Deadheads. I was in the That Concept Is Lame camp for a long time, but I finally got over myself and headed down to the partially gentrified streets of Asbury Park on the 14th and found out how wrong I was.
Read on after the jump for Scotty’s full review of a night with DSO…
I’ve seen many cover bands in my day, and most have left me extremely cold. There’s just something that’s always annoyed me about bands that don’t have any original material. Lately I’ve started to change my tune, as a few innovative acts have done a nice job re-interpreting the classics. Sometimes you just want to go out, have a few beers and enjoy the music you have grown up with. Hey, artists die, but it doesn’t have to mean their songs should die with them. So for this week’s B List we take a look at eight cover bands that don’t actually suck…
1. Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Bustle is a Led Zeppelin cover band featuring Dave Dreiwitz, Joe Russo, Marco Benevento and Scott Metzger. What started out as a one-off gig has turned into an actual band that’s played shows in every U.S. time zone this year. Each member of the band is an absolutely incredible musicians who can handle Zeppelin with collective aplomb. Bustle shows cover a wide range of LZ material, sometimes played straightforward and occasionally with different arrangements. Wisely, the band refrains from singing the songs, with Scott and Marco playing the melodies on their instruments. The band rocks Cleveland tonight before heading to Asbury Park for this weekend’s School of Rock Festival, where Ace will drool for hours.
Read on after the jump for seven more cover bands that don’t suck…
It’s time to tell your folks, your friends and your employers how much you really need a long weekend of introspection, how much you need an extended weekend overseas for personal reflection that includes somber visits to the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Some time around mid-March 2008.
Jam in the Dam organizers upped the ante this morning, announcing the event will stretch to six bands playing over four nights, a first for each number. After the fan-supported artist poll gauged proper interest, the festival has decided to add the Disco Biscuits, Perpetual Groove and Dark Star Orchestra to the 2008 edition of Jam in the Dam, a triumvirate that joins Umphrey’s McGee, Tea Leaf Green and Lotus on the bill. And if you want to see which bands are playing in which time slots, they’ve already released the schedule of events. Bully for us.
This thing’s becoming more and more can’t-miss by the day. I must ask, though, are they actively trying to collect the worst band names in music on one bill?
Written by
Scott Bernstein on
04.16.2007 |
Allmans,
Blues Traveler,
Bruce Springsteen,
DBT,
Dark Star Orchestra,
Gov't Mule,
Grateful Dead,
Hors d'Oeuvres,
Jerry,
Page McConnell,
Tea Leaf Green,
The Beatles,
Tour Dates,
Umphrey's McGee,
Widespread Panic,
YMSB
Summer tour dates are flooding the Hidden Track Headquarters at a furious pace. Blues Traveler started adding dates after a long layoff. Squeeze returns to the road following a longer layoff, touring the first time in nine years for a string of 11 U.S. dates. George Clinton and P-Funk will play a number of festivals this summer, including a spot at Gathering of the Vibes. And, finally, the Drive-By Truckers aren’t letting Jason Isbell’s departure stop them from adding more shows. But there’s plenty of other linkage to peruse, so let’s do it to it:
And make sure to read on after the jump for a sampling of setlists from this weekend, including the Wanee Festival down in Florida…
