A group of AC/DC fans want them to bust out some rarities & have issued a formal complaint against the band to try to get them to mix it up. I’m just surprised the band doesn’t get bored playing the same show every night.

Here’s a look at six other stories of interest…

• Dave Grohl isn’t happy about the Foo’s’ Greatest Hits release
• U2 was joined by Jay-Z on Thursday night at the Berlin Wall
• Umphrey’s schedules a Stew Art event at the Higher Ground
• Neil Young will release a live album featuring a show from ‘92
• JamBase has a review of the moe. Halloween show in Albany
• Bob Seger raids the vaults to find material for Early Seger, # 1

Finally, we were very surprised to hear that the Derek Trucks Band is going on hiatus next year. As you may recall, the Allman Brothers Band coaxed Trucks into a full year of touring with them by saying they’d take it easy next year allowing Trucks to devote ‘10 to his solo band. We wonder whether the Allman Brothers Band will reconsider slowing down next year or if Trucks has something completely different up his sleeves.

Mixing Sublime’s, What I’ve Got and Cheap Trick’s, I Want You to Want Me, with Hook, The Mountains Win Again, and of course everyone’s favorite, Run-Around, John Popper invited old friends Jamie McLean to the stage for Mulling It Over (just weeks after his sit in at Sullivan Hall with former Spin Doctors lead Chris Barron) and the lovely Falu to join in on The Path.

With the evening winding down and news of the World Series victory spreading through the crowd, John and bassist Tad Kinchla (in an appropriately attired in a Yankee cap) began the encore with a Led Zepplin tease into a “Let’s Go Yankees” chant, before finishing up with Forever Owed and But Anyway and releasing the delirious crowd into the crisp night.

Set: How You Remember It> What’s For Breakfast, Girl Inside My Head> Slow Change, What I Got> Mulling It Over*, You, Me & Everything> NY Prophesies, The Mountains Win Again, The Beacons> I Want You To Want Me, Carolina Blues, Look Around, The Path**, Just For Me, Nail> Hook, Dropping Some NYC> Crash Burn> Dropping Some NYC, Run-Around

Encore: Forever Owed, But Anyway

* with Jamie McLean on guitar
** with Falu on vocals

READ ON for more of Jeremy’s Traveler photos…

Another time I won tickets to see The Tubes from a local radio station. The show was in a small club in downtown Portland. About halfway through the first song I noticed that it was not Fee Waybill behind the oversized shades, but a Waybill-wanna-be. Bad surprise. Glad I didn’t spend money for those seats.

There was another time the surprise just made me a tad less than comfortable. Sitting in the third row for the Mark Farner Band I was all set for a night of Grand Funk Classics, of which there were plenty. But, after opening with a few early ’70s gems, Farner said he wanted to show us where he had been for the last few years. What followed was about an hour of Christian church songs with a boogie beat, I mean Onward Christian Soldier kind of stuff. Well played, good music and all, plus I got my Grand Funk fix before the night was through, but just not how I expected it. I suppose the Mark Farner Ministries t-shirts I saw in the front row should have been a dead giveaway.

Those surprises came years ago, before the internet really, which dates them back far enough. Nowadays with the sweep of a mouse you can find out everything you want about a touring act in a matter of minutes. When I heard that Loggins & Messina were coming to town I did a little research before shelling out the ducats. I found a lot of raves about their 2005 Sittin’ In Again tour, but very little about their current outing. Just like with movies sometimes, no previews may be a bad sign.

READ ON for more from AJ on Loggins and Messina…

But it’s Loggins and friggin’ Messina. I’m going anyway. I haven’t had a chance to see them since the mid ’70s. So now I’m in my seat about fifteen minutes before the opening act is scheduled to start. The stage is set with a riser across the full length, set back about fifteen feet. Behind where the musicians will be, there are four, erector set looking arches, pointing to a circular video screen suspended above the drummer, center stage.

The screen was running a tape loop of ads for past and current works from tonight’s artists, complete with web site addresses and twitter screen names. At the bottom of each frame were the italicized words, Available at all merch booths. Another bad sign. Maybe I should start preparing myself for a schlock-fest of oldies and rehashed soundtrack tunes. Now comes the surprise. They were everything I would have wanted from a Loggins & Messina show plus a Beatles tune! These two haven’t missed a beat in thirty years.

Let me back up just a hair. The Gabe Dixon band opened the show, right on time. Dixon is L&M’s keyboard player, but here it’s just a piano and microphone for him. Accompanied by one man band John O’Ritz (He used a guitar with no strings as a percussion instrument on more than one occasion), Dixon masterfully handled a seven song set of mostly introspective, melodic story songs.

His influences are many; Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby to name a few, and he did them proud. His songs are well crafted tales of woe, heartache and long distance romance, with just a touch of whimsy here and there to keep it interesting. After intermission and the subliminally implanted trip to the merch booth, I took my seat to see what the real Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina had left in them.

With cowboy hats and acoustic guitars, they took their place onstage, seated atop stools to open the set with two gems, Danny’s Song and The House At Pooh Corner. With minimal accompaniment by the rest of the band (Steve Distanislao on drums, Dixon on keyboards, George Hawkins on bass, Big Jim Wheeler on horns, Gary Oleyar on violin and Steve Nieves on sax, flute, percussion and just about any other instrument he could get his hands on) L&M led the audience sing along through the first verse of each song. Then they harmonized, like one voice, and brought that lump in the throat you get every once in a while when things come together that perfectly. They then switched to their electric guitars, lost the stools and started to party. There were so many highlights it was almost embarrassing.

Early in the set, they played the evening’s only non-Loggins & Messina song, Two Of Us by the Beatles. They picked a good one there. “You and I have memories, as long as there’s a road that stretches out ahead”. Hearing their two voices blend for this oh so poignant lyric brought lump number two. I swear they were hitting notes that I thought were difficult when we all were thirty years younger.

They switched out their guitars and passed the songs back and forth. Long Tailed Cat saw the band stretching their chops a bit for the first time, especially Oleyar’s fiddle. Wheeler and Nieves stalked the stage during Listen To A Country Song/Holiday Hotel, dueling it out center stage, one bad ass riff after another, till they finished the medley with a blues crescendo of horns that garnered them the first of many standing ovations.

After a teasingly soulful and short Georgia On My Mind acapella verse from Loggins, the band lit into Back to Georgia and boogie-woogied the crowd back onto their feet behind some of Messina’s best guitar work since the Poco days. Speaking of Poco, we didn’t hear any of their songs. Nor did we hear any of Kenny Loggins solo work, new or old. They mentioned between songs that they had new albums available at the merch booth and left it at that. There was no room for anything that didn’t bear the unmistakable sound of Loggins AND Messina.

Next up was what L&M fans refer to as ‘the Trilogy’. Just as no Led Zeppelin fan can imagine hearing Living Loving Maid without first hearing Heartbreaker, nor vice versa. While a separate song, their very essence is in their inclusion with each other, in other words, they just sound better together. Loggins & Messina’s Trilogy consists of Loving Me, Make A Woman Feel Wanted and Peace Of Mind.

Messina noodled a bit, and then the band joined in at the outset of Loving Me. The crowd rose as one, arms raised and most singing along. The band also kicked it up a notch, with the horn section again stepping in and tearing it up. MAWFW changed the tempo and had those still standing really dancing in place.

But where tonight’s trilogy really excelled was during the final tune, Peace Of Mind. With Loggins on the mellow vocal lead, Wheeler and Nieves stepped to the mike with a couple of flutes and set the mood. Throughout the song, Loggins vocals increased in intensity. The last third of the song saw Loggins on his knees, bent backwards, bringing it up from deep, deep. Like a gospel singer in rapture, Kenny scatted and filled and practically wept till the very final line. The band stops cold, Messina stepped to the mike to join Loggins for the final “Peace of mind” and the third lump appears.

After the band caught their collective breath during Be Free, they fired up Angry Eyes. For the next sixteen minutes and forty two seconds (damn right I timed it) they reminded me of why they were so much fun to see in concert. While Loggins kept a steady rhythm, Messina traded licks with pretty much each of the other musicians, giving the whole band a chance to riff off of each other.

Having been steadily playing on this tour since August, they have honed this to an intense jam full of energy. Messina changed to Mandolin for a while. There were more flutes, fiddle and assorted percussion instruments. Amazing stuff. Band intros preceded the set’s closer, You Need A Man from 1973’s Full Sail release. This they also stretched beyond the 15 minute mark before the big finish and the taking of bows. It was then I noticed, from my perch in the balcony, that the aisles were indeed full of dancers.

Since my bad back was telling me it was time to shift around, I decided to join the dancing masses, if for nothing other than a cover to get better pictures, but to also enjoy the show from where I like to enjoy shows best: Up front! I managed to get to the rim of stage right. Pulled the camera out and, with perfect timing, out came the band for their three song encore.

From either side of the stage, roadies appeared with kettle drums. Nieves to one side, Wheeler to the other, they hammered out the first notes of Vahevala. Again the jam was on, as the band clocked this one in at almost half an hour. And when that song ended, without missing a beat, they kicked into the early seventies anthemic, Your Mama Don’t Dance. A party favorite of mine since high school, this performance was equal parts intense rocker and nostalgic sing along. Loggins and Messina high fived the audience when they could reach, in between their respective solos and musical responsibilities.

The band came out one more time for a really well played version of Nobody But You. Then, with more high fives and the requisite full band line bowing, they were off for the next town in a tour that has until late November to enjoy the party. I say this because, in my new found close proximity to the performers, I could see that their smiles were every bit as wide and sincere as those on the audiences faces.

If I have a regret about this show, it’s that I didn’t bring the wife. I mean, I know the Dylan show was less than a month ago and all, and she really liked that. But she really would have enjoyed this show. Maybe not the sneaking down to the front row part (she’s more of a “I’ll stay here, you tell me how it was.” kind of gal), but definitely all of the music. Might have even sung along, you never know.

Rock On Through the Fog,

A.J. Crandall

Click here to view the embedded video.

Christopher Walken - Poker Face

Friday, November 6 [all times Eastern]:

• David Letterman: Ralph Stanley [CBS 11:35PM]
• Conan O’Brien: The Pixies [NBC 11:35PM]
• Jimmy Kimmel: Chickenfoot [ABC Midnight]
• Carson Daly: Peaches [NBC 1:35AM]

Saturday, November 7:

• Austin City Limits: Elvis Costello [PBS Check Local Listings]
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Live in LA [Palladia 11AM]
• Storytellers: Pearl Jam [Palladia 4PM]
• Saturday Night Live: Taylor Swift [NBC 11:30PM]

Sunday, November 8:

• AC/DC: Live From Circus Krone [VH1C Noon]
• Classic Albums: Def Leppard - Hysteria [VH1C 2PM]
• Spectacle w/ Elvis Costello: The Police [Sundance 5PM]
• Bruce Springsteen: Live in New York City [VH1C 11PM]

I suspect a lot of folks probably already know the story of the Indestructible Beat, but it’s essentially a collection of South African mbaqanga music compiled by a pair of visionary ex-pats named Trevor Herman and Jumbo Van Renan in 1985.

Within seconds of listening to any number of its songs, the aircraft carrier-wide influence of this music becomes painstakingly obvious. With Graceland released just one subsequent year later, Paul Simon typically takes credit as the most famous alum of the School of the Beat, but other graduates who borrow influence from this album include the heavyweight likes of David Byrne and Peter Gabriel. More recently, the wildly popular upstart Vampire Weekend even referred to their own sound as “Upper West Side Soweto.”

READ ON for more on this incredible compilation…

According to a few different Internet sources, Paul Simon actually spent time in Johannesburg during 1985, so odds are the Indestructible Beat of Soweto played widely throughout South African clubs and boomboxes during his stay and the parallels of the this music perambulate all eleven songs of Graceland.

The music of the Indestructible Beat of Soweto comes from the Soweto region of Johannesburg, an acronym which translates to “southwestern towns.” The Soweto region historically tended to be synonymous with apartheid, the uprising there-against and poverty within the region. The Soweto region became its own municipality in 1983.

Given the historical significance, difficult social conditions, and impassioned people of Soweto, it comes as no surprise that the music stemming from this region resonates with vibrant energy and raw emotion. The music is perhaps more about a cultural identity for the region and its people than it is pure musical expression.

The sound on the Indestructible Beat acts like a syringe of serotonin shot straight to the brain. Musically, this is not your run-of-the-mill plodding Putomayo world music sampler available for sale at your nearest Coffee Bean, but rather an inspiring combination of songs that actually inflicts happiness. In fact, this might be the catchiest music in the world. Resistance is futile.

The sound varies fairly widely from track to track, but the universal characteristics of this mbaqanga music seem to be heavy doses of vocal harmonies (some beautiful African singing, others just bizarre deep squawks and sound effects), funky attacks on basic major key song structures, generous portions of rhythm via hand drums and voice beats, and any number of instrumental melodies playing in harmony, often repetitively. The collection blends fluidly into a distinct work.

While we talked about the influence this music had on other genres, within this music we hear familiar borrowings from reggae, calypso, bluegrass, pop music, and hip hop as well. Overall, the music comes across very urban and very stylish, not at all tribal or unsophisticated like  much so-called “world” music.

The famed longtime music critic for the Village Voice, Robert Christgau, went as far as to call the Indestructible Beat of Soweto the most important record of the 1980s and gave the album an A+ rating. While this may sound like strong hyperbole at first glance, if you think about the impact of an album like Graceland flowing across generations to new music like Vampire Weekend, it becomes evident that this album perhaps really does maintain an Indestructible (and highly addictive) Beat; a beat that will undoubtedly penetrate popular music for generations and beyond.

Sign Language Interpreter Rocks out to Bathtub Gin:

Phish @ Festival 8 Acoustic Set Playlist:

READ ON for the Exile playlist, more sign language clips and a purported Team Hood shot video of Torn and Frayed…

Sign Language Interpreter Rocks out to Loving Cup:

Exile on Main Street playlist (awaiting final songs):

Sign Language Interpreter Gives Squirming Coil a go:

team h00d shot - Torn & Frayed:

Thanks to DaveO and the folks on YouTube who shot these vids.

• Previously on HT: Festival 8 Coverage

Everyone inside the Auditorium Theatre knew that they were in for a special night. It was the first time that Philadelphia’s Disco Biscuits were playing a Halloween show in Chicago. This was a big deal.

The venue was absolutely stunning - an old opera house that has been open for almost 120 years. Huge murals are painted on the walls that are surrounded by intricate, ornamental carvings. The sound is loud and crisp and there are great sightlines from virtually every seat in the house. There are multiple balconies with the highest one making the performers look like ants on stage. No fans ventured that high unless they wanted to. The orchestra level and first balcony were completely filled with kids in their wildest costumes. They anxiously awaited what tricks and treats the Disco Biscuits had up their sleeves for the night.

After Holy F*ck and The Glitch Mob opened things up with some early dance parties, the Biscuits took the stage dressed as “classy zombies,” with their costumes complete with suits and lots of fake blood. As they looked out over the crowd, it seemed as though even they were amazed that they were playing in such an awesome venue. The group opened the show with a stand-alone instrumental, Strobelights and Martinis, which seemed very appropriate with its dark theme. This version was solid, but straightforward without much of a jam.

READ ON for more from the Disco Biscuits’ Halloween show…

Next came a new song called Pimp Blue Rikki in which guitarist Jon “Barber” Gutwillig sings over a slow repetitive riff. The jam was short without venturing beyond the song’s boundaries before an awkward abrupt ending. Flash Mob was next, which is another instrumental that has only been in the band’s repertoire for a few months. Marc Brownstein puts down his bass and cues eerie samples of a woman’s voice on his laptop. The pace is slower and can easily be confused with a Sound Tribe Sector 9 song. Another short and sweet jam with nothing to write home about.

The music basically came to a stop as the four noodled their way into the opening notes of Mindless Dribble. Now was the chance for the band to get into their groove after what seemed to be a pretty sluggish start to the set. The crowd pumped their fists in the air as they sung along to the chorus. After the bouncy Apple Butter Toast section, the boys quickly got down to business. Barber led an explosive jam with some great interplay by Aron Magner on keys before slowing things down into a segue of Caves of the East.

This was another appropriate instrumental with a truly dark and evil theme. Tonight, the band did not include the hip-hop samples that previous versions this year had. Instead, the Biscuits got creepy with Barber producing some spacey effects with his pedal board. This was unmistakably a “Halloween Caves.”

As the band moves out of the Caves, the tempo speeds up and the fans anticipate the return into Dribble. Again, the four were completely locked in as they prepared to finish the song. After the ending of Dribble, they kept the energy soaring with a wonderful transition into the ending of Confrontation to close out the set. This was easily the highlight of what was a pretty average, but solid, first half.

After a huge dance party during setbreak provided by Bethany Lokken and Ben Silver of Chicago’s own DJ crew, Orchard Lounge, the band came back on stage with copies of their new EP, On Time, to hand out to the crowd. They opened the set with Stone > Devil’s Waltz to give the fans a glimpse of their older, classical side. Both songs were well executed, but did not include much improv at all.

After Waltz, Brownstein said, “That was one of our oldest songs and now here’s one of our newest.” On Time: no surprises there. Even though the song is complete with poppy auto-tuned vocals ready for the radio, it has gotten a pretty good reception from the fans. It’s hard to deny the catchiness even if it is quite a deviation from the Biscuits’ normal songwriting.

The jam that followed was on point and with a purpose, as they tore through it in typical Bisco fashion. The transition into the beginning of Confrontation was a bit shaky, but the band quickly made up for it with the improvisation that followed.

Without losing a beat, Marc dropped the signature bassline of Spraypaint and the rest of the band followed suit. After Barber sung the first few verses, they begun the jam without finishing the rest of song. Starting off quiet and patiently before building into the instrumental, Tempest, with Allen Aucoin providing the backbone on drums under Magner’s spacey synth leads. As quickly as it came, Tempest was done, and the Biscuits continued to tear through this segment with a drop into Tricycle that seemed to come from nowhere.

Even though the song only has the same few lines repeated over and over, it is a crowd favorite and never ceases to lack in energy. This too ended quickly and the boys seamlessly segued into another patient jam - one that was fun with all the members backing down to let Allen drive it home with a bouncy beat. Barber picked up the tempo and led the band into a scorching finish to Spraypaint.

Finally, the band stops to let the crowd catch their breath after a non-stop marathon dance party that clocked in at over 50 minutes. However, the set was not over. It was Magner’s time to shine as he sung about “livin’ as a private eye” in Spy. After this inspired rendition, another song starts up. It takes a minute for the crowd to realize that the Biscuits are paying tribute to Chicago’s Smashing Pumpkins as Barber sings I Am One to close the set, all the way back from 1990. The crowd exploded in approval as the band exits the stage one last time before the encore.

The boys started up the beginning of Save the Robots and everyone knew that this was not going to be a run-of-the-mill encore. This was a dyslexic completion of the song as they played the ending the night before in Minneapolis.

The jam dropped quickly and they wasted no time getting down to business. The crowd, which was roaring with excitement, would be surprised one last time as the band transitioned perfectly into the ending of Run Like Hell to complete the version from Kalamazoo, three nights prior. A very solid finish to the evening.

Overall, the second set and encore were much more focused than the first. Spraypaint > Tempest > Tricycle > Spraypaint featured the best improv of the show and gave a perfect example of what this band is capable of when they are 100% locked in. However, nothing was going to take away the fact that the Disco Biscuits were playing an absolutely gorgeous venue in arguably one of the country’s best cities.

Everyone inside the Auditorium knew that it was a special evening to witness and they truly seemed grateful for the opportunity. They were respectful of the venue and its staff members and not once did it seem as though they were being burdensome. Let’s hope the Disco Biscuits family are invited back next year!

The Biscuits currently have seven more shows on their fall tour, including five dates in California. Then, they head back to Jamaica once again for Caribbean Holidaze with Umphrey’s McGee before another five-night New Year’s run in New York City at the Nokia Theatre. Also, keep an eye out for the new album, which is supposed to be released sometime in early 2010.

Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
The Glitch Mob, Holy Fuck and Orchard Lounge opened.

Set I: Strobelights and Martinis, Pimp Blue Rikki, Flash Mob > Mindless Dribble > Caves of the East > Mindless Dribble > Confrontation*

Set II: Stone > The Devil’s Waltz, On Time > Confrontation* > Spraypaint > Tempest > Tricycle > Spraypaint, Spy, I Am One**

Enc: Save The Robots# > Run Like Hell##

Notes: * Dyslexic. ** First time played. # Dyslexic completion of 10/30 version. ## Completes 10/28 version.

Source: PhantasyTour.com via Jambands.com’s Box Scores

• List Time: Top 10 Music Cliches
• Wilco’s loft featured in the new issue of Loft Life magazine
• Cover Alert: The Low Anthem tackles Bob Dylan
• Knitting Factory to take over booking Greenpoint’s Warsaw
• Roger Daltrey claims The Who is getting the Rock Band treatment
• New Peter Gabriel album to feature a diverse selection of covers

Finally, while everything was coming up The Beatles this September - between the long awaited remasters and video game - the Fab Four’s catalog was still missing from digital retailers. Well, in a step that might signify that they will soon be headed in that direction Apple Corps. and EMI will release a limited edition USB drive featuring the entire Beatles in Stereo remastered set as 320 Kbps MP3s on December 8th. All 14 albums and 13 “mini-documentaries” will be included on the 16GB USB drive, which will be shaped like the iconic Apple logo with “The Beatles” written on it with only 30,000 of them to be produced. Very cool concept.

Queen - We Are The Champions