With Record Store Day, or “Waiting in Line for Limited Vinyl Day” as I like to call it, right around the corner, this week’s B List features my Top Five picks for RSD 2012. Now in its fifth year, the impressive list of limited edition, largely vinyl releases continues to grow. Get to your local independent record store early Saturday if you want to have a chance at getting the wax you really want. At this point, I’m hoping to get even one of the entries on my list.

I tend to flock toward LPs rather than 45s and releases that are particularly exclusive to RSD. Reissues and compilations are cool, but I get most excited for new music and first time on vinyl product over stuff you might find elsewhere.

1. Phish – Junta (5,000 copies)

Phish stepped it up big time this year with the remarkable Junta 3-LP set. Their first proper studio album getting its first proper vinyl release, it’s one of the most extensive releases of any for RSD this year. Let’s hope these end up in the hands of fans before making it to Ebay.

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Record Store Day (@recordstoreday) is this Saturday and the folks behind the annual event taking place at independent record stores across the globe have begun showcasing some of the special releases set to be issued. In a handful of tweets they’ve started sharing links, images and other details about the limited edition (mostly) vinyl products. We shared some details on the Phish Junta Record Store Day package earlier this week, and as you’ll see below the @recordstoreday account is already fielding questions about the 3-LP set.

@jimmyfallon #RSD12 #Tebowie #meanttobe http://t.co/zI1eMZ1c

Monday, April 16, 2012 2:42 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@recordstoreday

Record Store Day

Hey @PreteenZenith, that #RSD12 release you got there sure is pretty. @goodrecords http://t.co/mYg2kTcX

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:06 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@recordstoreday

Record Store Day

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On Saturday Phish will issue Junta on vinyl for the first time as part of Record Store Day 2012. This will be the second year the band has participated in Record Store Day after releasing their only live recording on vinyl, Phish: Two Soundchecks, as part of last year’s event. That 7-inch was limited to 2,000 copies and featured just two tracks taped during summer 2010, while the Junta package sees the band going much bigger with this year’s release.

The 5,000 individually numbered, limited edition 3-LP Junta packages will be available at independent record stores across the country. Of those, 2,500 will be randomly distributed with a limited edition Jim Pollock poster designed specifically for the Record Store Day set. We checked in with the staff of JEMP Records and were able to get some details about the extensive Junta release and their participation in Record Store Day.

HT:  This will be the second consecutive year that Phish will partake in Record Store Day, what is it about Record Store Day that makes Phish want to be involved with the event?

JEMP: The spirit of JEMP Records is independence and the stores that participate in RSD mirror this sentiment.

HT:  Starting with last year’s Record Store Day 7-inch Two Soundchecks, and the Party Time, White Tape SBIX and Black Friday Record Store Day releases, now a 3-LP Junta set, Phish has ramped up its vinyl output over the past year. What can you say about the quality of a vinyl pressing that sets it apart from other media?

JEMP: There’s a certain tactile nature to vinyl that’s wholly appealing as a medium and the ability to dig back into the archives to showcase some tucked away content — artwork, photographs – fits well with the dimension of a vinyl release.  In the case of “Junta” we were able to do a pure analog transfer from the original master reels by working with Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. They built their own system that is unique in that there is no digital conversion in the process. So the audio result is as close as you can get to listening to the master reels.

HT:  What made Junta the choice for this year’s Record Store Day?

JEMP:  Last year we started with The White Tape, this year we went with Junta…

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[Originally Published: April 15, 2008]

Eighteen years ago today I experienced one of the most life changing events of my existence on this planet. On April 15, 1994, I went to the Beacon Theatre to see a quartet from Vermont. Little did I know that I’d spend the next 18 years following Phish to the ends of the earth, and wind up meeting nearly all of my best friends through a mutual love of this band.

Let’s first start with how I found the band. During the summer of 1993 I attended beautiful Camp Westmont in the hills of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Two of my Westmont bunkmates spent that whole summer turning me onto the Grateful Dead with little success. After a while they finally got sick of all their Dead CD’s and threw on Phish’s Lawn Boy. The minute Reba came on the boombox my interest was immediately piqued. I loved the quirky lyrics, crazy compositions and the intense guitar work of Trey Anastasio.

When I got home from camp I went out and bought myself a copy of Lawn Boy. I’ll never forget the moment I first pressed play and The Squirming Coil hit my ears. I remember the huge smile that spread across my face, as after many years of looking I finally found a band that hit every level of emotion in my soul.

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In a scene that would make Will Ferrell proud, the Burlington Free Press reports that roughly 1,600 cowbell-playing revelers lined Church Street in Burlington to form what Ben & Jerry’s claims is the World’s Largest Cowbell Ensemble. The ice cream makers put the event together to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Phish Food and to raise funds for Vermont Flood Recovery through the WaterWheel Foundation. Those assembled rang their cowbells along with four tunes performed by a  band fronted by Phish drummer Jon Fishman, one of which was Blue Oyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, natch.

[Photo via @benandjerrys]

Lead cowbeller Fishman, sporting a “More Cowbell” t-shirt, was backed by Pork Tornado band mates Aaron Hersey on bass and Phil Abair on keys as well as drummer Russ Lawton of TAB, guitarist Bob Wagner and local singer/songwriter Joshua Panda for takes on Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers, BOC’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and an encore of Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys. Meanwhile, Mike Gordon signed his new Steamroller Wheelies: A Restoration Convoy CD earlier in the afternoon at the scoop shop.

As of press time, the new record hasn’t been made official yet…

Whether the roughly 1,600 cowbell-whappers took part in an official world record remains to be determined, according to Beth Montuori Rowles, executive director of the WaterWheel Foundation. She said Ben & Jerry’s documented the event and will send it on to the Guinness World Record people for their review.

[Burlington Free-Press]

Proceeds from the tickets sold, which included a cowbell and t-shirt, went to WaterWheel.

Watch the World Record Breaking Event Band perform and a local news report…

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Today Phish has announced the second leg of the band’s summer tour, which brings them a handful of venues they’ve never played before and a few old favorites. The second leg kicks off on August 15 at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California and continues at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco for three shows at the indoor arena before concluding a few weeks later with a three-night stand at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park near Denver over Labor Day Weekend.

Here’s the full list of leg two tour dates…

8/15 Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA
8/17 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
8/18 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
8/19 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
8/22 Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO
8/24 Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, Pelham, AL
8/25 Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta, GA
8/26 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte, NC
8/28 Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, MO
8/29 Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK
8/31 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
9/1 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO
9/2 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO

As usual, the band has prepared a video announcing the dates…

Phish – Summer 2012 Leg Two Announcement

A lottery for tickets is currently underway through Music Today. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 27. A bit of unfortunate news was included in today’s announcement, as Phish revealed, “No additional Phish dates will be announced for Summer or Fall of 2012.”

• Previously: Phish Summer Tour 2012 – Leg One – Venues

Here’s a look at the venues Phish will play during the second leg of the tour…

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Phish bassist Mike Gordon has just released a compilation of collaborations with fellow musicians called Steamroller Wheelies – A Restoration Convoy to raise funds for Vermont Flood recovery. On this compilation, which is available for download at LivePhish.com or on CD through Dry Goods, Cactus presents tracks from various projects he’s either developed or participated in over the years, beginning in 1999.

The list of musicians who participated in at least one track is lengthy and varied. It includes Mike’s Phish band mates Page McConnell and Jon Fishman, Marco Benevento, Joe Russo, Chris Thile, Little Feat, Danny Barnes, Russell Batiste, Fonzworth Bentley, Scott Murawski and Oteil Burbridge.

“The repairing of Vermont is about bringing different kinds of people together, so I wanted to do that musically with this group tracks that were recorded over the years with interesting and unique musicians, but not widely released to the public,” says Gordon.

Here’s a full track listing, including the artists involved…

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[Originally Published: July 22, 2010]

The phrase “the show must go on” originally referred to Broadway and show biz, but the cliché also rings true with live music. Considering we’re talking about rock stars playing demanding, high-energy music it’s no surprise that a number of instances of bands playing one man short have come up over the years. It’s actually more of a surprise that it doesn’t happen more often.

For this week’s B List we look at ten cases where acts we cover have performed without the services of one member. Some gigs were train wrecks while others wound up being great shows. Here’s what we came up with…

1. moe. – 07/09/2010 – Minus Al Schnier

This gig was the impetus for this list as Al Schnier was unable to perform at a recent moe. gig in Peoria, but his band mates went ahead with the show and delivered a solid performance heavy on Chuck and Rob songs. moe. offered fans refunds, but we bet there weren’t many takers.

Set One: Bullet> Awesome Gary> Billy Goat> Timmy Tucker> Zed Nought Z, Buster
Set Two: Captain America> Blue Jeans Pizza> Sensory Deprivation Bank, McBain, All Roads Lead to Home, St. Augustine, Don’t Fuck With Flo> Plane Crash
Encore: Stranger Than Fiction

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For this installment of The Number Line, we’ve enlisted the help of Daniel Saewitz, the creator of PhishVids.com to share some statistics about his fantastic site. If you’re unfamiliar with PhishVids, it’s a portal where you can search for Phish Videos by date and setlist. For instance, want to see if there are any clips from the quartet’s October 26, 2010 performance at Manchester, New Hampshire’s Verizon Wireless Arena? Simply head to the 2010 page and then scroll down and click on 10/26 and you’ll see the setlist for that show. When you click on a certain song, you’ll see a list of all available videos of that tune as well as the uploader, length and number of views.

Daniel launched PhishVids.com in 2010 and has indexed thousands of videos ever since, providing a great resource for the fanbase. The following data provides a look at PhishVids.com by the numbers…

524,081 – Total Page Views
40,694 – Most Viewed Year (2011)
11,169 – Total Number of Videos Indexed
3,526 – Most Viewed User (Silverchair97)
2009 – Year With The Most Videos Indexed (3,481)
1989 – Year With Least Videos > 0 (21)
1,668 – Total Number of Users Who Have Uploaded Videos
832 – User With The Most Uploads (Silverchair97)
462 – Total Number of Shows Indexed
246 – Song With The Most Videos (You Enjoy Myself)
155 – Show With The Most Videos (10/31/2010)
105 – Shows With Only Video
67 – Songs With Only One Video Indexed (Spreadsheet)
6 – Years Phish Has Played w/ No Videos Indexed (’83 – ’86, ’88 and 2002)

Thanks to Daniel for all the time and effort, at his own expense, he’s put into PhishVids.com.

We get the feeling that Atlas Sound/Deerhunter mastermind Bradford Cox won’t be featured in the  Indie Outing (the secret jambands roots indie rockers) blog on Relix anytime soon. At an Atlas Sound show on Friday night in Minneapolis the self-described punk rocker responded to an audience member’s request for My Sharona by inviting the opening bands up to help him with an hour-long freakout on The Knack’s 1979 smash. Cox, who took the stage wearing a ski mask, ranted about the death of folk music, simulated fellatio on one of the musicians, ordered an audience member to strip and told the crowd members to pick up their chairs above their heads and shake them by the time the song was through according to blogger Sally Hedberg of City Pages.  Hedberg called it “an unending cover that length of a Phish concert,” to which Cox responded “I am terrified and horrified and shocked that anyone would mention Phish in any article related to me” as part of a lengthy diatribe to Pitchfork about the “incident.”

In fact, Cox thought the show went great and called it “one of the best performances I’ve done since Deerhunter started” during his incredibly entertaining chat with Pitchfork. ”No one else fucking allows themselves to become unhinged. If it’s frightening to people, then those people seriously need to look at the mediocrity they subscribe to.” Bradford doesn’t seem to understand the stir he created. “It’s not like fucking Lana Del Rey carved an upside down cross on her cheek and defecated all over herself on stage at fucking Bonnaroo,” he told Pitchfork. The ironic part is that Cox was aiming to give attendees a spontaneous experience that goes beyond playing the same songs the same way night in and night out, the same thing Phish fans strive for from that band.

Here’s a playlist of  My Sharona videos shot by someone Cox describes as a “narc”…

Since Dave Calarco, a.k.a. Mr. Miner, author of Mr. Miner’s Phish Thoughts: An Anthology By a Fan for the Fans and Phish Thoughts blogger, has seen and reviewed nearly every Phish show since the band returned to action three years ago, we asked him to share his take on the venues the quartet will hit on their summer tour. While our look at the venues focused on the history of Phish’s appearances, his piece contains tips of how to make the most of your Phish experience in each room.

Words: Mr. Miner

With this summer’s Phish dates just announced, the excitement in the fan community has skyrocketed, as everyone has begun to plot and scheme their own summer plans. On the heels of a triumphant year of game-changing music for this era, 2012 is filled with anticipation to see what is next for the band. Will they delve deeper into abstract jamming—a hallmark of 2011—or will they veer off that road? All that remains to be seen, but the one thing we know for sure is where the shows of the first leg will take place. Aside from Bader Field, this tour is comprised of venues that hold a significant amount of Phish lore. But let’s forget about the band for a moment, and take a look at the places where the magic will happen. Below are some tips from personal experience that might enhance your enjoyment at each stop along the way.

DCU Center, Worcester, MA

Phish will kick off this summer indoors in a building they have visited more than a few times. A staple of northeast runs during the late ‘90s, Phish returned to “The Centrum” for first time this era in December 2010, and the venue had changed for the better. Instead of a floor jam packed with seats, the arena had decided to implement a GA policy—the staple of an intimate-feeling indoor show. These upcoming shows have the feeling of something big, as the band will return to a classic indoor arena on the heels of a meh-tastic New Year’s Run with a pattern of blowing out the beginning of tours this era. If I had to choose two shows to go to in on this tour, these would be the two. Though many fans have lamented indoor shows in the summer time, I find the prospect incredibly inviting.

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This evening at 9PM ET myself and fellow HT contributors Wade Ellis Wilby and Eric Wyman will host a listening party and discussion called Game Tapes Forum on Turntable.FM in which we’ll listen to and talk about the second set of Phish’s performance at Deer Creek on July 10, 2000. The aim of Game Tapes is to check out unheralded sets of Phish from the past that often get overshadowed (often for good reason) by the shows played in the days before or after. Join us in this room to participate.

While we’ve known Phish would tour this summer since December, the when and where of Phish Summer Tour 2012 has been unconfirmed until now. Phish has just revealed their plans for the 19-show first leg, which kicks off on June 7 at the DCU Center in Worcester and runs through a three-night stand at SPAC on July 6 – 8.

This tour finds the quartet returning to a number sheds they generally hit each summer but skipped in 2011, namely Deer Creek, Alpine Valley, Jones Beach and SPAC. Atlantic City’s Bader Field is the newcomer to the pack and will host its first Phish shows on June 15 – 17. CID Entertaiment is offering travel packages, long distance shuttles and hotel deals for these shows.

According to a press release, additional summer dates will be announced this spring.

Here’s the full list of tour dates announced today…

June 7 and 8 – DCU Center, Worcester Massachusetts
June 10 – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Manchester Tennessee
June 15, 16 and 17 – Bader Field, Atlantic City New Jersey
June 19 and 20 – nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth Virginia
June 22 – Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati Ohio
June 23 – First Niagara Pavilion, Burgettstown Pennslyvania
June 24 – Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls Ohio
June 28 and 29 – Klipsch Music Center, Noblesville Indiana
June 30 and July 1 – Alpine Valley, E. Troy Wisconsin
July 3 and 4 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh New York
July 6, 7 and 8 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

A pre-order lottery for tickets to every show on the band’s docket has started via Music Today and you can put your entry in through March 12 at 11:59AM ET. Once again Phish has offered different prices for pavilion seats and for lawn seats at these summer sheds. While face for lawns is $45, pavilion seats will go for $60. The public onsales are set to take place on March 16 and 17.

Phish Summer Tour 2012 Announcement from Phish on Vimeo.

Here’s a look at the venues Phish will play during the first leg of the tour…

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Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana recently signed on with the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for a two-year residency at the casino’s House of Blues that will include 80 shows per year. Santana spoke with the L.A. Times about the run, which will feature performances billed as “Greatest Hits Live: Santana – Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today” and shared insight about how the shows will be structured.

The 64-year-old axeman told the Times that he plans to “create some experimentation” by stepping into the “unknown” during a setlist-less mid-show segment for which he will call upon some friends. “To me, the unknown is inviting African musicians to join us, or Buddy Guy or Derek Trucks or Ben Harper, people from Phish, Warren Haynes — that’s what ‘Tomorrow’ is bringing to the House of Blues.” Phish opened for Santana during the Summer of 1992 and again for a swing through Europe in 1996.

“I call it a living laboratory,” he said. “We play the beginning [of a set] and we play the end, but in the middle, we’re going to create some experimentation so you can witness a backward flip into the unknown. In other words, there’s no set list in the middle. We will create something so you can just close your eyes and go on a journey with us.”

[LA Times]

This isn’t Santana’s first foray into the world of Vegas shows as he finished a two-year run of shows referred to as “Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through The Hits” this past November at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s The Joint. Las Vegas’s House of Blues, with a capacity of 1,500,  is much smaller than The Joint, which holds 4,000. Carlos tells the Times he looks forward to staying put in Vegas and aims to return to the studio for a grand total of three albums.

As you can imagine, tickets won’t be cheap. Members of Santana’s fan club will be able to purchase tickets for $172.50 a pop through the fan club’s website. Tickets for the first batch of shows, which kicks off on May 2, go on sale through the fan club this Monday, February 27, at 10AM PST.

UPDATE: February 25 – YouTuber Cleantones has taken this video and given it a makeover using soundboard audio. We’ve changed out the old video for the new one in this post.

This past Friday, February 17, marked the 22 anniversary of Phish’s headlining performance at the University of Massachusetts’ Student Union Ballroom in Amherst, Mass. To celebrate the occasion, one of the producers of the event, Positronic Dave of Positronic Design, has uploaded nearly an hour and 45 minutes worth of footage from that evening to YouTube.

[via BluebirdDaze]

Containing nearly the whole show, this video gives Phish fans a glance at the band’s formative days and their early touring setup which saw LD Chris Kuroda utilizing an extremely basic light rig consisting of three banks of eight par cans each. The musicians each had much less equipment then they would even a short two years later, but that didn’t stop them from displaying the talent and originality that would propel them to big things in the future. Highlights include a gorgeous version of Harry Hood, an intense You Enjoy Myself complete with a vocal jam based on The Ocean by Led Zeppelin and a ferocious Trey solo that ends the Oh Kee Pa Ceremony > AC/DC Bag pairing. Take a look…

Phish – //Possum, Bathtub Gin, Divided Sky > Sloth, Bouncin’, YEM, Golgi, Reba, Oh Kee Pa > AC/DC Bag, Squirming Coil, Harry Hood, Carolina, Mike’s > I Am Hydrogen//

Timeline

00:00:00 Possum (cut)
00:02:08 Bathtub Gin
00:09:29 Divided Sky >
00:21:19 The Sloth
00:26:09 Bouncing Around the Room
00:29:55 You Enjoy Myself
00:45:53 Golgi Apparatus
00:50:48 Reba
01:03:35 The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony >
01:05:17 AC/DC Bag
01:12:09 The Squirming Coil
01:18:03 Harry Hood
01:30:27 Carolina
01:33:36 Mike’s Song >
01:40:53 I Am Hydrogen
01:42:29 Credits

According to the description left by the uploader, the band gave their permission for the show to be filmed. Widespread Panic and Gene Matthews opened for Phish that night for a triple-bill that was produced by David Caputo of Positronic Design, The SEO Company in association with The Weekly News and UMass Radical Student Union and Social Thought and Political Economy Department (STPEC).

Thanks to Dave for sharing a glimpse at an important time in the band’s development.