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…
Last night at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, a meeting of the guitar gods took place when Warren Haynes sat in with longtime collaborator Joe Bonamassa. The two have shared the stage many times in the past at Joe’s gigs and at Gov’t Mule shows as well as other appearances. Warren came out to help on Crossroads, If Heartaches Were Nickels and Look Over Yonder’s Wall.
The two duel it out in true axeslinger fashion as we can see in videos of all three songs…
We love The Roots’ willingness to tackle music from a variety of eras and genres in their role as house band for NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Some of the best music they make takes place during commercial breaks. An example of this could be found on Tuesday, when The Roots teamed with soul singer Bilal for a take on a Steely Dan classic that went mostly unseen by the television audience.
Drummer Questlove propels the beat, guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas adds a swagger-filled groove with choppy rhythm work while keyboardist James Poyser lays down impressive electric piano licks all while Bilal shows off his incredible vocal range during The Roots and Bilal’s cover of Black Cow. Check it out…
Over the years we’ve shown off the impressive audio and video handiwork of Funk It Blog’s Randy Bayers. Bayers headed to the Crescent City for Jazz Fest and wound up catching 29 bands in five nights, and that doesn’t even include the time he spent at the actual Fairgrounds. All in all, Randy came through the festival with over 300 gigs of video. It’ll take him some time to process it all and post it on Funk It Blog, but recently he shared a sampler.
This incredible 25-minute video features a sampling of the impressive acts Bayers caught in New Orleans. Included among the bands featured are Dumpstaphunk, Dr. Klaw, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe w/ Zach Deputy & Jon Cleary, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, The Revivalists and G.A.B.E (George Porter Jr, Anders Osborne, Billy Iuso & Eric Bolivar). We’re especially in awe of G.A.B.E.’s take on Mr. Charlie.
While we wait for more of Funk It Blog’s videos to surface, here’s the sampler…
Here’s the tracklist of what you can see in the above video…
The Flaming Lips visited NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, where they not only performed Try To Explain off their new album, The Terror, but front man Wayne Coyne also sat in on a game of Pictionary with fellow Fallon guests Julie Bowen and Demi Lovato.
As if that wasn’t enough, The Flaming Lips performed a triumphant cover of David Bowie’s 1977 gem Heroes as a web exclusive. Watch the Lips’ impressive cover…
And here’s video of Try To Explain and Coyne playing Pictionary…
One of the many wonderful people I’ve met through running YEMblog is Drew Hitz, an accomplished tuba player who’s toured the world and literally written the book on the instrument. While he focuses on more classical pieces during his decade-plus long tenure as a tuba player in Boston Brass, he’s never hid his love for his favorite band – Phish.
Drew regularly tweets about Phish at his @drewphish account and yesterday shared news that gave us goosebumps. Hitz has been hired by the National Symphony Orchestra to play the Trey Anastasio symphonic gig on May 22nd at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C. We’re so excited for Drew to get this dream gig and apparently he’s already started practicing. Watch a brief clip of Drew’s tuba-only version of the You Enjoy Myself jam…
We all know just about anything musical that involves a submarine is destined for a Beatles reference, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. really goes into full on Fab Four mode with their video for Dark Water (off their newly released EP, Patterns). The video combines claymation figurines of the Detroit duo piloting a sub with a curiously interwoven storyline of a woman rehearsing for a stage production. It’s hard to believe Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. has only been a band for three years, as they have wasted no time in proving themselves to be more than just a clever band name.
Yesterday was Daft Punk Day on the internet as Random Access Memories finally hit the world wide web. It seemed as if everyone needed to make sure to get their two cents in whether they liked the album or just wanted to get it out there that they felt the album was all hype and no substance.
Connecticut’s the Stepkids got in on Daft Punk Day by releasing a jazzy cover of Random Access Memories’ first single – Get Lucky. The trio’s interpretation is incredibly smooth, but not in a cheesy Kenny G. type of way. We especially like the harmonies. Check it out…
One of the many cool traditions that Phil Lesh has instilled at his Terrapin Crossroads venue in San Rafael, Calif. is the Sunday Brunch. Diners at the venue’s restaurant are treated to mostly acoustic tuneage while they enjoy their meals. For instance, at this past Sunday’s Mother Day Brunch, Phil’s son Grahame led a few of his buddies through a set and was later joined by his father and Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik. Not a bad way to spend an early Sunday afternoon in the Bay Area.
Watch Grahame Lesh, Phil Lesh, Kadlecik and Connor O’Sullivan perform Brown-Eyed Women at this past Sunday’s Mother’s Day Brunch, held at Terrapin Crossroads…
One of the biggest tours of the ’70s was Paul McCartney & Wings’ Wings Over The World excursion. McCartney hadn’t toured since The Beatles called an end to their road days in 1966 and wound up taking Wings across the world in 1975 and 1976, performing a mix of Wings and Beatles tunes. Wings’ performance at the Kingdome in Seattle was recorded for a concert film that finally saw the light of day in 1980. However, the film, titled Rockshow, contained only portions of the band’s Kingdome show.
After all these years Macca has finally authorized the release of the full Seattle show from the original 35mm film and featuring restored and remastered sound. Rockshow will hit theaters worldwide starting on Wednesday. Watch Paul McCartney and Wings perform Silly Love Songs as a sample of what you can expect from the new version of Rockshow…
Rockshow is due out on DVD and Blu-Ray in early June.
Zooey Deschanel quite possibly made late-night talk show history last week, as the doe-eyed actress made two separate stops to the CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman to promote two very different projects. On Tuesday night Deschanel made her first appearance of the week for the standard chit-chat spot to promote her Fox sitcom New Girl, where she plays the adorkable Jessica Day. On Friday night she returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater, this time with her musical collaborator M. Ward it tow, to perform as She & Him.
The dapper-dressed indie-pop duo, who earlier in the week released their latest studio album Volume 3 via Merge Records, called in the reinforcements for their take on the record’s lead single – Never Wanted Your Love – as they were augmented by a pair of backup singers and a four-piece string section. Let’s check it out…
As we mentioned on Friday, Vampire Weekend’s association with Saturday Night Live dates back to 2008, when the New York City-based act was steadily gaining attention from the release of self-titled debut, which had come out in late January of that year. Last night in advance of the release of their highly-anticipated third studio album Modern Vampires of the City, which hits stores this coming Tuesday, Ezra Koenig & Co. were once again tapped to be the musical guest on the legendary late-night sketch show.
For their two-song appearance Vampire Weekend delivered the jittery Strokes meets Buddy Holly-influenced Diane Young, and bouncy Unbelievers with the help of a three-piece horn section and additional keyboard player. Let’s check them out…
We’ve been enjoying David Bowie’s new album and would’ve loved for The Thin White Duke to tour behind The Next Day, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Bowie isn’t just an outstanding studio artist, he’s also an underrated live performance. Our proof can be found in today’s Full Show Friday selection – David Bowie’s performance at the Loreley Festival in Loreley, Germany from June 22, 1996.
Bowie was backed by the talented quartet of Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Mike Garson (keyboards), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, vocals) and Zack Alford (drums) at Loreley. The ensemble takes us on a tour of Bowie’s best material over the course of 22 songs. Some of tunes are played in similar fashion to the studio recordings, while other songs are deliciously reworked. Highlights include Diamond Dogs, The Man Who Sold The World, Under Pressure, The Heart’s Filthy Lesson and Heroes as well as a cover of White Light/White Heat (Velvet Underground). Plus, we get to hear Bowie perform songs he wrote for other artists such as Lust For Life (Iggy Pop) and All The Young Dudes (Mott The Hoople).
Live at Rockpalast Festival, Loreley, Germany 22nd June 1996.
1. Intro - 00:13
2. Look Back In Anger - 01:00
3. Scary Monsters - 05:30
4. Diamond Dogs - 10:53
5. The Heart’s Filthy Lesson - 15:34
6. Outside - 20:51
7. Aladdin Sane - 26:05
8. Andy Warhol - 30:50
9. The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty) - 34:36
10. The Man Who Sold The World - 40:02
11. Telling Lies - 43:40
12. Baby Universal - 47:54
13. Hallo Spaceboy - 51:10
14. Breaking Glass - 56:32
15. We Prick You - 1:00:15
16. Jump They Say - 1:04:38
17. Lust For Life - 1:08:06
18. Under Pressure - 1:14:15
19. “Heroes” - 1:18:13
20. White Light/White Heat - 1:24:10
21. Moonage Daydream - 1:28:40
22. All The Young Dudes - 1:34:25
It’s hard to believe that Laura Marling is only 23-years-old. Over the course of three studio albums the folkie-chanteuse has impressed with wise-beyond-her-years songwriting earning her two Mercury Prize nominations, and a 2011 Brit Award for Best Female Solo artist. Marling, who has earned comparisons to Joni Mitchell, will release her latest studio effort, Once I Was An Eagle, on May 28 via Ribbon Records. Teaming once again with her longtime collaborator Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne), the 16-track effort is said to “traverse heartbreak, vulnerability, resurgence, confidence and lastly contemplation,” – themes that have been a constant throughout her work.
Earlier this week Marling released the music video for the album’s acerbic hell hath no fury like a woman scorned lead single Master Hunter – which cribs a line from Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe. The stunning clip features Marling stoically performing the tune as a sexual charged modern dance routine is performed in front of her. Let’s check it out…
While Eric Clapton jammed with the Allman Brothers Band at MSG for last month’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, it was not the first time the acts met up in recent years. Back in 2009 Clapton sat in with the Allman Brothers Band as part of their 40th Anniversary March Madness Run at the Beacon Theatre. Slowhand guested with the Allmans on March 19 and 20 for each show’s entire second sets.
Japanese company Mid Valley Records issued professionally-shot video of EC’s March 19 performance with the ABB on DVD and YouTuber Mal Barker has liberated the bootleg. Watch as Slowhand gets busy on such tunes as Dreams, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? and, of course, Layla.
1. Key To The Highway – Allman Brothers Band with guest Eric Clapton (lead vocal / guitar)
2. Dreams – Allman Brothers Band with guest Eric Clapton (guitar)
3. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad – Allman Brothers Band with guest Eric Clapton (lead vocal / guitar)
4. Little Wing – Allman Brothers Band with guest Eric Clapton (lead vocal / guitar)
5. Anyday – Allman Brothers Band with guests Eric Clapton (vocals / guitar) and Susan Tedeschi (vocals)
6. Layla – Allman Brothers Band with guests Eric Clapton (lead vocal / guitar) and Danny Louis (piano)
via Merge Records, called in the reinforcements for their take on the record’s lead single – Never Wanted Your Love – as they were augmented by a pair of backup singers and a four-piece string section. Let’s check it out…
, which had come out in late January of that year. Last night in advance of the release of their highly-anticipated third studio album 
on May 28 via Ribbon Records. Teaming once again with her longtime collaborator Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne), the 16-track effort is said to “traverse heartbreak, vulnerability, resurgence, confidence and lastly contemplation,” – themes that have been a constant throughout her work.
