Today marks Phish keyboardist Page McConnell’s 50th Birthday and we’ve been celebrating over at JamBase by presenting a list of our 15 Favorite Page-sung Phish One-Timers as well as by sharing the thoughts of jam scene keyboardists Marco Benevento, Matt McDonald, Jason Crosby and Joel Cummins about Page’s influence on their playing. I wanted to make sure HT got in on the act, so we’ll bend the rules on the “full show” part of our Full Show Friday column this week.

My favorite Page McConnell musical experience outside of Phish has to be the night both he and Trey Anastasio performed on three songs with the Allman Brothers Band as part of the group’s 40th Anniversary Run at the Beacon Theatre on March 12th, 2009. At the end of that evening’s first set Page and Trey emerged, along with guitar legend Buddy Guy, to perform Southbound with the Allmans. Then, to kickoff the second set, McConnell and Anastasio added their talents to otherworldly versions of I Know You Rider and In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.

The entire run was webcast via Butch Trucks’ Moogis service and clips of all three songs have surfaced on YouTube for our viewing enjoyment. Besides the performances themselves, check out the beginning of the Rider to overhear a sweet chat between McConnell and Gregg Allman.

Here’s Southbound, followed by I Know You Rider and In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed…

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Yesterday, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell performed at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans with The Meter Men as part of the final day of Jazz Fest. Portions of McConnell and The Meter Men’s set, which focused on Meters material, was aired on AXS TV live from The Crescent City.

[Photo via @NYCJamgal]

Our friends at Cheesehead Productions have captured People Say from McConnell’s Fairgrounds set with Meter Men Leo Nocentelli, Zigaboo Modeliste and George Porter Jr. Take a look…

Considering how many acts have played the New Orleans Jazz Fest numerous times, it’s always been disappointing that Phish hasn’t been asked back after their lone appearance at the Fairgrounds in 1996. Today, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell gave some insight into the reason as part of an interview with OffBeat Magazine.

[Photo by Parker Harrington]

McConnell, who kicks off a flurry of New Orleans appearances tonight at Republic with The Meter Men, explained the issue and espoused his desire to return to Jazz Fest…

“I know there was a problem with fans defecating and fornicating on the lawn. But then, who knows what band those people came to see? But I can see that we bring a particular flavor of fan and we bring enough of them that it can start to feel like something other than Jazz Fest, it can feel like a Phish concert. So we’d love to do it again, but I doubt we’re going to get invited.”

[OffBeat Magazine]

We know how protective Jazz Fest lovers are of the sacred institution, but we’d love to see Phish make their return to the event. New Orleans itself hasn’t hosted a Phish show since September 26, 1999. It’s not 1996 anymore, fans wouldn’t turn the Fairgrounds into a Sodom and Gomorrah.

New Orleans’ own Dumpstaphunk are gearing up for a big few weeks in their hometown during Jazz Fest. Not only will Dumpstaphunk perform at the Fairgrounds during the festival itself, but the band has announced three additional appearances and a preview party spotlighting their new album – Dirty Word.

The band gets things started on April 26th with a Parliment Funkadelic cover set at Howlin’ Wolf. Then, on the 27th, they’ll not only play at the Fairgrounds’ Gentilly Stage, but that night they’ll perform at The Maison with special guest Page McConnell of Phish. On May 1st, Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk will host a Dirty Word preview party at the Louisiana Music Factory. Starting at 6PM that evening, the band will sell the first copies of their new album and treat fans to an intimate performance.

Finally, on May 5th, Dumpstaphunk will celebrate their 10th Anniversary at Tipitina’s Uptown along with the guest horn section of Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and Skerik.

Phish keyboardist Page McConnell and The Meter Men teamed up for their first headlining gig of 2013 last night at the Grand Ballroom in New York City. The quartet delivered many of The Meters’ beloved tunes over the course of the lengthy show including Hey Pocky A-Way and Fire On The Bayou which videographer Marc Millman captured for our enjoyment…

Photographer Dino Perrucci was on hand and has filed a number of stunning shots…

[All Photos by Dino Perrucci]

Here’s more of Dino’s photos from Page and The Meter Men in NYC…

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As we’ve mentioned, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell and The Meter Men will return to New York City this Friday for a show at The Grand Ballroom. We gave away a pair of tickets to the show and are pleased to announce that Dianna Hank won the ducats to Friday’s performance.

Friday’s show marks the band’s first NYC gig since Halloween and Nov. 1. Doors are set to open at 7PM at which point DJ Cochon de Lait will spin. The Main Squeeze will take the stage at 8 followed by two sets from McConnell, bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and guitarist Leo Nocentelli. Let’s check out a clip of Page and The Meter Men tackling The Meters’ Fire On The Bayou…

Head to Ticketmaster to purchase tickets for Page & The Meter Men in NYC.

[Sponsored Post]

Next Friday night, March 22nd, Page McConnell will team up with three members of legendary New Orleans band The Original Meters, aka The Meter Men to perform at the elegant Grand Ballroom in New York City. The quartet features the Phish keyboardist along with bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and guitarist Leo Nocentelli from The Meters.

Page and The Meter Men first visited NYC just after SuperStorm Sandy hit, limiting transportation options for some of those who were looking to attend. Those who did make it out caught a pair of memorable performances that were heavy on funk and otherworldly musicianship. From the looks of the videos we shared from the group’s first 2013 set, they are picking up right where they left off.

As part of our Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see Page McConnell and The Meter Men at Grand Ballroom on March 22nd to giveaway. Simply leave a comment below telling us about your favorite Meters song. We’ll pick one entry at random at 3PM ET on March 18th. You can enter a second time by leaving a similar comment on the Hidden Track Facebook Page and a third time by following @hidden_track and tweeting the name of your favorite Meters song at us. You must include both @hidden_track and #htpagemeters in your tweet.

Here’s the fine print…

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As we reported earlier this week, Phish keyboardist Page McConnell kicked off his 2013 touring schedule with The Meter Men at Tampa’s Gasparilla Festival in Florida on Saturday night. The quartet worked The Meters’ Funkify Your Life into a bit of Loggins/Messina’s 1972 hit Your Mama Don’t Dance.

Bassist George Porter Jr. handled the vocals. Check out a video from our pal thefiveguy…

• More Page McConnell and The Meter Men Videos: Hey Pocky A-Way, You’ve Got To Change (You’ve Got To Reform), Cissy Strut, Just Kissed My Baby, Funky Miracle and Ain’t No Use

Next up for The Meter Men with Page McConnell is a March 22nd show at NYC’s Grand Ballroom.

Three members of The Original Meters – guitarist Leo Nocentelli, drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and bassist George Porter Jr. – have taken to performing under “The Meter Men” moniker with guest keyboardists last year. One of those keyboardists was Page McConnell of Phish who joined The Meter Men for a quick run at the end of October and beginning of November. Page and The Meter Men have scheduled a number of gigs over the next few months, the first of which took place on Saturday night at the Gasparilla Music Festival in Tampa, Florida.

The quartet stuck to material from The Meters’ repertoire as they did at their 2012 performances. Here’s a look at the setlist from The Meter Men with Page McConnell’s Gasparilla set…

Set: Intro > Jam > Funky Miracle, Look-Ka Py Py > Just Kissed My Baby, Sophisticated Cissy > Cissy Strut > Cardova > You’ve Got to Change (You’ve Got to Reform) > Stay Away, Fire On the Bayou >  Funkify Your Life > Your Mama Don’t Dance, Hey Pocky A-Way

Encore: Ain’t No Use

[Setlist via Audience Recording]

A video of the group performing Hey Pocky A-Way to close their set has surfaced…

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UPDATE 3/4 11:30AM: Page has officially announced the release of Unsung Cities and Movies Never Made. Everything we’ve reported below is included in the announcement along with the fact that the LP was recorded at The Barn in December 2009.

Earlier today we told you about Wax Poetic’s report that not only will Phish issue Lawn Boy but that Page McConnell will issue a new LP called Unsung Cities and Movies Never Made for Record Store Day 2013. Now, we’ve got more details about the Phish keyboardist’s new album.

According to Shawn from our friends at Wax Vinyl, the new album will contain 10 tracks that are instrumental soundtracks for movies not yet made. Here’s the tracklisting and description written by McConnell from the promotional materials for the Record Store Day release of the LP…

1) Arbor Day

2) Ava Green

3) Late Edition

4) Yakima

5) Marfa

6) Barre

7) Candlestick

8) Altoona

9) Soul Etude

10) The Lemon Drop

“Movies never made, well, at least not yet.  A series of Soundtracks, maybe….can a soundtrack exist without a film?  Okay, future soundtracks, soundtracks-in-waiting, potential scores searching for a script.  In the meantime, hopefully the listener might develop their own plot lines and imagine a storyboard:  Soul Etude, a period piece; The Lemon Drop, A Psychedelic Coming of Age Film; Late Edition, A spaghetti-western; Candlestick, A murder-mystery (possibly an independent Canadian release); or even Arbor Day, a Lifetime Original made-for-TV-movie.  Sprinkled throughout are a few impressionistic interpretations of unsung cities; not to say these places have never been mentioned in song, but certainly not over sung.  Please enjoy these soundtracks as they float through time, a sort of phantom foreshadowing of films that lay in waiting and cities that, after this release, might be a little less unsung.” – Page McConnell

Tea Leaf Green bassist Reed Mathis shared the news that he, drummer Gabe Jarrett (Jazz Mandolin Project, Vorcza) and guitarist Adam Zimmon (Shakira) make up Page’s band for album. He also mentions that producer/engineer John Siket of Siket Disc fame recorded and mixed the album.  Mathis went on to say, “We made some amazing music and had some amazing times.” Reed told us that Phish bassist Mike Gordon was kind enough to lend him a pair of basses which he used for the project instead of his main instrument. We look forward to hearing what looks to be a most interesting release. Be sure to keep your eyes on Wax Vinyl for everything you need to know about what to expect on Record Store Day 2013.

• Previously: Phish To Issue Lawn Boy on Record Store Day + Page McConnell LP

Euro Phish fan @YomeNetSan advises us that four of the tracks from the new LP were first issued in 2010 on a promo CD titled Page McConnell Film & TV Sampler. From the looks of the photos, it appears the CD was distributed by music licensing firm Music For The Masses and includes an instrumental version of a McConnell-penned song Phish has performed in the past, Halfway To The Moon, as well as a track called Ode School which isn’t on Unsung Cities and Movies Never Made.

In 2011 Phish’s JEMP Records offered The White Tape for sale on vinyl at the group’s Super Ball IX festival and as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday promotion. Last year, JEMP sold 5,000 copies of Junta on vinyl for Record Store Day. When we spoke with a representative of JEMP just before Record Store Day 2012 and asked why they released Junta, the response given was “Last year we started with The White Tape, this year we went with Junta…” leading us to believe Lawn Boy would be up next. According to Wax Poetic, a blog dedicated to all things vinyl with a good track record, Phish will indeed release Lawn Boy on vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day in addition to a Page McConnell album and a Trey Anastasio 7″ we posted about last week.

Wax Poetic says JEMP will put 7,500 copies (2,500 more than last year’s Junta release) of Phish’s second proper studio album, which was originally released in 1990, on sale during Record Store Day on April 20th. Each copy will be individually numbered featuring 2 180g LPs with an etched D side and will also include a download card. We look forward to Phish’s official announcement to find out what process the audio went through before it was pressed on vinyl.

While Phish releasing Lawn Boy on vinyl for Record Store Day might not be a big surprise, another listing on Wax Poetic is a bit of a shock. The blog lists a Page McConnell LP titled Unsung Cities and Movies Never Made will be released on 180g vinyl. Only 1,000 individually numbered copies of the album will be available. No word on what that album is all about yet [UPDATE: DETAILS HERE] but expect an announcement on that and every Record Store Day release soon.

• Previously: Record Store Day 2013 – Grateful Dead / Bob Dylan / Zappa + JEMP Talks To HT About Junta

[Hat Tip - Jay Kocyla]

This morning a Phish Update email went out to subscribers detailing Live Phish shows that have been added to digital services such as Spotify, iTunes and Rhapsody and also promotes the handful of shows keyboardist Page McConnell will play with The Meter Men. Listed among those shows is a gig that hadn’t officially been announced – a March 23rd performance at Union Transfer in Philadelphia.

While the venue, Page and Phish.com have yet to put up details on this show, the Phish Update email mentions that tickets for the Philadelphia gig on on sale tomorrow, February 16. Keep your eyes on the Union Transfer website for an official announcement.

As per Phish Update, here’s the full list of Page McConnell and Meter Men dates…

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The Meter Men and Page McConnell have added another date to the group’s upcoming touring docket. Zigaboo Modeliste, George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli and the Phish keyboardist will play the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City on March 22nd.

Tickets go on sale February 23 at noon EST via Ticketmaster.com. This gig comes in addition to a March 9th appearance at the Gasparilla Festival, April 27th and May 4th gigs at Republic in the Crescent City and at the Fairgrounds on May 5th. The group will also play the Ogden Theater in Denver on May 10th.

We’re glad to see that The Meter Men with Phish keyboardist Page McConnell keep on expanding their schedule. Not only has the quartet announced a second show at Republic in New Orleans during Jazz Fest – this one takes place during the first weekend of the legendary festival – but the group will also perform at a festival in Tampa, Florida next month.

McConnell along with Original Meters members Zigaboo Modeliste, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter Jr. are set to play the Gasparilla Music Festival in Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park and Kiley Gardens on March 9th. Best Coast, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Dawes and Lord Huron are among the other acts on the bill. Tickets are available now for a mere $25.

As for the Jazz Fest late night, Page and The Meter Men have added a April 27th performance at New Orleans’ Republic. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, February 9th, at 11AM CT. This gig comes in addition to a May 4th gig at Republic in the Crescent City and at the Fairgrounds on May 5th. The group will also play the Ogden Theater in Denver on May 10th.

[Hat Tip - Letty Towers]

It appears New Orleans won’t be the only place The Meter Men and Page McConnell will play this spring. In addition to previously announced performances at the Jazz Fest Fairgrounds and late night at Republic, the quartet will visit Denver for a show at the Ogden Theater on Friday, May 10th.

The Meter Men features three Original Meters members: guitarist Leo Nocentelli, drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and bassist George Porter Jr. Leo, Zigaboo and George paired up with the Phish keyboardist for a short run last fall. Tickets for the Denver show go on sale this Saturday at 10AM local time.

[via Getting Back On The Train]