HT faves My Morning Jacket finished off their New Year’s Run in style last night with a blow out at Agganis Arena in Boston. MMJ were joined by old friends Preservation Hall Brass Band and filled their main set and encore with covers and “hits” from their repertoire of originals.

For the countdown, Jim James and Co. utilized Sesame Street’s 12345678910 1112 before kicking in to One Big Holiday. See how it looked…

Thanks to YouTuber dillsnufus we can watch a number of the covers from last night.

Here’s My Morning Jacket covering Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen…

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Umphrey’s McGee at The Tabernacle, Atlanta GA

Set One: Leave Me Las Vegas[1] > 40′s Theme, Crucial Taunt > 2×2, Mail Package, Jessica, Ringo[2] > JaJunk[3]

Set Two: Hourglass[4], Much Obliged[4], Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > White Pickle > Higgins, Hajimemashite, Dance Hall Days[5], Comma Later[4]

Set Three: The Triple Wide[4] > Auld Lang Syne[4], Partyin’ Peeps[4] > Glory > Mulche’s Odyssey[6], Gulf Stream, Andy’s Last Beer, Wife Soup[4], Kashmir[4]

Encore: Good Morning Good Morning[4] > Women Wine and Song[4]

[1] debut, original
[2] with Under the Influence (Eminem) jam
[3] completes the 12.30.12 version
[4] with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret horns, including Jeff Coffin
[5] debut, Wang Chung; with Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret horns
[6] with Bulls On Parade (Rage Against the Machine) tease

[via All Things Umphrey's]

The Disco Biscuits at The Theater at MSG, New York NY

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We’ve come to the end of 2012 and Phish’s four-night New Year’s Run at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tonight the quartet returned to MSG to finish off the run with their seventh three-set, New Year’s Eve performance at “The World’s Greatest Arena.”

[Photo via @phishfromtheroad]

Phish has always been known for their “quirky” lyrics and no song is quite as quirky as Kung. The Jon Fishman-penned ditty features the line “we can stage a runaway golfcart marathon.” Over 23 years after the debut of Kung, the quartet showed that can indeed “stage a runaway golfcart marathon” as this year’s “gag” turned MSG into a golf-themed, garden party complete with golf carts driving wildly around the stage. The golf theme continued into the third set after Tweezer Reprise followed Auld Lang Syne as each song Phish played referenced golf – Sand, The Wedge, Fly Like An Eagle (Steve Miller Band), Wilson (an image of a Wilson-branded ball was shown on the scoreboard), Lawn Boy (performed a capella), Driver and Iron Man.

Watch The “Gag”…

READ ON

“I hate New Year’s Eve, it’s always so anticlimactic.” – Your friends who don’t see live music every year.

Perhaps you’ve already got a show picked out for New Year’s Eve 2012-2013. Maybe you lucked out and it’s local or maybe you’re traveling 3,000 miles or even crossing an ocean to get there. Regardless, it’s always fun to know what else is going on at that exact moment all over the country.

Alaska:

DeVotchKa at Bear Tooth Theatre in Anchorage, AK

Arizona:

Sugarland at Ashley Furniture Homestore Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ

British Columbia:

Doobie Brothers at River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC

California:

READ ON

Once Jon Fishman finishes with Phish’s three-set performance at Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve, he’ll head uptown to The Iridium for an “Extended New Year’s Eve Last Night Show” with Touchpants. The band, which also features Chris Friday, Colby Dix and Aram Bedrosian describe their show as “vulgar.rude.crass.musical.humor.”

This rare “out-of-Vermont” Touchpants performance is scheduled to start at 2AM following The Mike Stern Band’s gig at The Iridium. Tickets cost $20 and are available now.

HT faves Railroad Earth will hold their annual New Year’s Eve Run at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon this year. The run begins on December 29th and runs until NYE.

A pre-sale is currently underway through the band’s ticketing site, while the general on-sale is set for Tuesday, September 14th. Look for more details and opening acts to be revealed soon.

[via JamBase]

Warren Haynes’ Gov’t Mule outfit has announced their plans for New Year’s. The group will kick off a four-night NYE run at Philadelphia’s Tower Theater for performances on December 28th and 29th. From there, the Mule heads to the traditional home of their NYE festivities, the Beacon Theatre in New York City, for shows on December 30th and 31st.

Haynes and Co. always have cool themes for their New Year’s Eve celebrations and we’re sure this year is no exception. However, we still have to wait to see exactly what that theme will be. a public on-sale will take place on August 17th via Ticketmaster. CID Entertainment has VIP offerings for the run.

[via Here Comes The Flood]

Caught one band in concert and want to listen to another act’s New Year’s show? We’ve got you covered in this week’s Boot Camp column, as we point you towards streams and downloads of over a dozen NYE performances. Be sure to check out our NYE Roundup if you haven’t already.

• Umphrey’s McGee: Official SBD / DAUD Stream or Download
• Railroad Earth: DAUD Stream or Download
• Phish: Official SBD / DAUD Stream / DAUD Download
• Disco Biscuits: DAUD Stream or Download
• Furthur: Sirius Radio Rip Download / DAUD Stream or Download 
• Cornmeal: DAUD Stream or Download
• JGB: “On The Fly Matrix” Stream or Download
• Ween: DAUD Stream or Download
• Gov’t Mule: Official SBD / DAUD Download / DAUD Stream
• Widespread Panic: Official SBD / DAUD Download / DAUD Stream
• moe.: DAUD Stream or Download
• 7 Walkers: DAUD Stream or Download
• The McLovins: DAUD Stream or Download
• Max Creek: DAUD Stream or Download
• Jackie Greene: DAUD Stream or Download
• Dawes: DAUD Download

We’ll update this post as more recordings surface. FYI, DAUD = digital audience recording.

Halloween and New Year’s Eve are traditionally the two biggest nights of the year in the jam world as each band within the scene gathers their devoted fans from across the country for a musical celebration. We’ve rounded up setlists from around the country in one handy post.

Widespread Panic

Set 1: Chilly Water > JAM > Imitation Leather Shoes > Mr Soul, Cotton Was King, Shut Up and Drive, Walkin’ (For Your Love), Saint Ex > Slippin’ Into Darkness*^> Bust It Big* > Chest Fever*# (76 mins)

Set 2: $> Henry Parsons Died, Quarter Tank of Gasoline, Coach^^, L.A.**, Degenerate#, C. Brown##, Blue Indian##, Ain’t Life Grand%## (41 mins)

Set 3: $$ Countdown by Steve Lopez >>>> Tall Boy*, Love and Happiness*^^, Tail Dragger*, Space Wrangler > Papa’s Home > Funk JAM > Drumz > Papa’s Home, Machine > Barstools and Dreamers, Pigeons, Up All Night*, On Your Way Down*, You Should Be Glad*# (98 mins)

Encore: Disco > Surprise Valley > Pilgrims > Surprise Valley > Climb To Safety (29 mins)

Notes: * Mega Blasters ~ Horns, ^Lopez on percussion , # John Keane on guitar
$ Acoustic Set, ^^ LTP 11.20.09, ** W/ Randall Bramblett, ## John Keane on pedal steel, % JB mandolin, ^^ LTP 10.13.07,

[via PanicStream]

Widespread Panic’s NYE Run was short and sweet – just one show at the Time Warner Arena in Charlotte. The band previewed their upcoming Wood Tour by offering an acoustic second set that included rarity Coach, a song from the Todd Nance side project Barbara Cue. The MegaBlasters horn section, who sat in with the band on their ’09 – ’10 NYE Run, were Widespread Panic’s guests last night for the end of the first set and all of a third set that started off with a countdown led by crew member Steve Lopez.

READ ON

[Last Update: December 9]

“I hate New Year’s Eve, it’s always so anticlimactic.” – Friends of yours that don’t see live music every year.

Perhaps you’ve already got a show picked out for New Year’s Eve 2011-2012. Maybe you lucked out and it’s local or maybe you’re traveling 3,000 miles or even crossing an ocean to get there. Regardless of the status of your plans, it’s always fun to know what else is going on at that exact moment all over the country.

[Photo of Umphrey's McGee NYE 2010-2011 by Chad Smith]

What’s become increasingly commonplace, disappointedly so, is that this guide features heavily upon jambands while lacking any sort of real indie presence. While jam focused bands dating back to the Grateful Dead have long embraced the countdown show, the independent scene continues to miss out. Unless currently touring, typically in support of a recent album release, indie artists just don’t seem inclined to schedule a holiday run.

As we’ve done in the past, we’ve compiled a list of all the New Year’s Eve concerts that might appeal to our readers. We’ve also thrown in some clips from past NYE performances featuring our favorite bands and have recognized about 20 concerts with superlative awards.

Arizona:

The Gin Blossoms at Fiesta Bowl Block Party in Tempe, AZ.

California:

Five For Fighting at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA

Fishbone at The Caspar Inn in Caspar, CA

Chris Robinson Brotherhood at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, CA

The Beach Boys at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA

The Who Are These Guys? Award – Don’t go to The Beach Boys show at Thunder Valley Casino expecting to see Brian Wilson and Al Jardine. While all sorts of rumors are circulating about a reunion of the REAL Beach Boys in 2012, Mike Love is the only original member of Beach Boys who will be performing under the name on New Year’s Eve.

READ ON

Once again Sirius/XM radio will broadcast live concerts from across the country this New Year’s Eve. In a press release issued this morning, the satellite radio giants detailed their plans…

Furthur (featuring Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead) at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, CA (Grateful Dead Channel, channel 23); Willie Nelson from the Moody Theater in Austin, TX (Willie’s Roadhouse, channel 56); Southside Johnny at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ (E Street Radio, channel 20); Patti Smith at Bowery Ballroom in New York City, NY (The Loft, channel 30); Cheap Trick’s concert at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, FL (Classic Rewind, channel 25); Widespread Panic at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC (Jam_On, channel 29); and Little Feat’s concert at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD (Radio Margaritaville, channel 24).

If you’re still looking for a concert to attend this New Year’s Eve, be sure to check out our NYE Concert Guide. Just over a week to go!

If you’re sticking close to home this New Year’s Eve, you’ll still have plenty of options to hear and see live music from a number of our favorite bands on the 31st. Not only can you watch webcasts from Phish and the Flaming Lips, but Sirius/XM satellite radio will provide live broadcasts from 11 different concerts on the final night of the year for subscribers.

Untz pioneers the Disco Biscuits, who currently feature Jon “The Barber” Gutwillig on guitar, return to the Tower Theater on NYE and you can listen to the whole show on Jam On [Channel 81]. The Avett Brothers’ NYE homecoming at the Asheville Civic Center can be heard via Spectrum [Channel 18]. Outlaw Country [Channel 63] will broadcast the Drive-By Truckers live from Terminal 5, the Grateful Dead Channel [Channel 32] will air Furthur’s show in San Francisco, while Radio Margaritaville [Channel 31] will allow fans to listen in on Little Feat’s performance at the Keswick.

DJ fans can hear Paul Oakenfold spin live from Rain in Las Vegas on Electric Area [Channel 38] and Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello will DJ live from Roseland in NYC on Electric Area [Channel 38] earlier in the night. Other live broadcasts include Southside Johnny from Asbury Park on E Street Radio [Channel 10], Patti Smith from the Bowery Ballroom on The Loft [Channel 29] and Phil Vassar from Nashville on The Highway [Channel 60].

In our fifth installment of New Year’s Eve Report this week, we’re taking a look at the Umphrey’s McGee 3-night run that started with one show at Chicago’s Vic Theater and continued with two nights at The Aragon Ballroom.

It was “throwback night” at The Vic on the 29th as UM played a venue a little too small for their current draw and all the merchandise onsale reflected an older “look” that was also mirrored in the show poster. It also looked like the music might be from an earlier era as the first hour featured songs that were all at least seven years old, including the fan-favorite rarity Front Porch which clocked in at twenty minutes. But UM made it clear that this would not be a night of exclusively old material when they closed the first set with The Floor, a tune debuted in 2007.

This setlist segment may not make sense to a lot of you, but here is how the second set opened:

Preamble > Mantis Ghetts > Pay the Snucka > Mantis > Mantis Ghetts > Mantis > Pay the Snucka

Preamble is just a short pre-recorded ditty that always precedes the epic track of UM’s 2009 release Mantis when played live. Mantis Ghetts was a bonus track issued to those that purchased the album online, and it’s essentially this gangster remix of an instrumental section of Mantis. Gangster shit was a theme that would continue (really for the whole run) as the band dropped into Pay The Snucka, a band anthem that intentionally rips off it’s first section from Eminem’s Kill You. This section was well executed and extremely well received by the sold-out audience.

To close the second set UM performed one of their original mashups from this year’s Halloween Las Tortugas Festival in Yosemite Park. This one combines sections of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls, Led Zeppelin’s Good Times Bad Times, and UM original Nemo. Basically it starts with just the Queen a capella vocal intro. Then there’s the hits from the GTBT intro, then UM starts playing the guitar lines from Nemo as keyboardist Joel Cummins sings the first verse of Fat Bottomed Girls. A straight verse of GTBT follows next before the Nemo vocals kicks in while the guitars still play GTBT. And so on, and so on.

A debut cover of Steppin’ Razor written by Joe Higgs but popularized by Peter Tosh rounded out the show nicely.

Click here to view UM’s official blog on the preparations for the 12/29 show.

READ ON for the review of the shows from the Aragon and more photos from Tammy.

Words by Carla Danca
Photos by Jeremy Gordon

After an amazing year on the road the Disco Biscuits returned to New York City’s Nokia Theater for the 2nd year for their New Year’s Holiday Run. Memories of the chaos and cold from last year couldn’t keep people away as the show was again sold out much in advance. With a light wet snow falling outside, the theater staff was much better prepared to greet the masses of fans going into the show, and the smooth entry process allowed everyone to get inside before the first notes of M.E.P.H.I.S rang out. The night started early. Though the curfew at the Nokia was extended for the NYE festivities, tDB went on without an opener and hit the stage promptly at 9:30 much to my surprise.

The past year has been a big one for the Disco Biscuits. From creating their own festival at Red Rocks, to their big sets at Rothbury and High Sierra Music Festival, to a new video on mtvU, the signing with Red Light Management, and the constant teasing of the long awaited album Planet Anthem. The quartet has been in high gear with no signs of stopping. While the entire holiday run is getting rave reviews (especially 12/30/09), this NYE show was one for the records.

Overall just a great collection of shows from start to finish that showed off how tight and together these guys have become.

READ ON to read more about tDB’s New Year’s run and Jeremy’s photos.

A band that is unfortunately no stranger to loss, having lost their very own Mikey Houser back in 2002, Widespread Panic faced a heart wrenching confrontation at their Phillips Arena 2009 New Years run; to play their hearts out for fallen comrade Vic Chesnutt.

The band did just that over the course of three sets at the Atlanta venue (home of 9 of their last 10 New Year’s shows), bookending the eulogy show with Chesnutt material including opening up with Vic’s Let’s Get Down to Business and closing down shop with his Protein Drink/Sewing Machine.

Sandwiched in between Vic’s nuts, Panic treated fans to: an acoustic first set, a smoking tribute to that other pop star who died in 2009 (at midnight), a sarcastic Another One Bites the Dust tease in Arleen, a brassy horn cavalcade courtesy of the Megablasters, a crack at Van Morrison’s Moondance, and a Patsy Cline nod in Walkin’ After Midnight.

With the stakes high on behalf of their fallen friend, Widespread Panic came out and raised them even higher. On a special night with emotions running wild, the final set Widespread Panic played for the aught decade (third set), may also be one of their very best according to many fans.

READ ON for a full setlist and downloads.