Hidden Track

Like most other secular Semitic folk, the neurotic Jews that run Hidden Track typically associate the Christmas holiday with Chinese food, blockbuster movies, casino trips with the Asians and beach-dominated Caribbean vacations. Sadly we’re not publishing this post with the sand ‘neath our feet, so we’re loading up the molester-white van and taking you all to Jamaica, to a musical resort that Dave Chappelle tells me is “right near ‘da beach.” Boooyeeee.

Mid-December brought the respective and crossover fanbases of Umphrey’s McGee and the Disco Biscuits down to the Greater Antilles for an all-inclusive Caribbean Holidaze music vacation. Fans shuttled back and forth between the Hedonism III and Breezes resorts, the former of which featured early afternoon and evening sets from the two aforementioned bands, plus the stellar Benevento/Russo Duo, Keller Williams, Mad Professor, Tom Hamilton and the Beatles-Floyd supergroup known as Brain-Damaged Eggmen.

Our friend Dave Vann knows his way around an f-Stop, and he agreed to snap some photographic evidence of bands melting faces and fans raging their tits off. So read on after the jump for a full photo gallery from Caribbean Holidaze, featuring pictures and YouTube videos of all the live acts, the gorgeous scenery and a climate many of us long for at this very moment. And since we weren’t there ourselves, feel free to leave a first-hand report or observation in the comments…

First things first, this is what we’re dealing with — this was the nightly view:

Click to enlarge all photos

Second things sixth, this was the view of everyone in the crowd at the Umphrey’s McGee night set one evening. This may have been the worst lost bet of all-time, Mr. Stasik:

Hey, look, freaky fuckin’ firedancers:

Enough chicanery, let’s take a look at some Disco Biscuits’ shots:

Tom Hamilton of Brothers Past and American Babies sat in with the Biscuits, and one of the tunes they played together was Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er:

Tom playing solo acoustic:

A hearty welcome to all guests…rum punch greetings:

Umphrey’s Soundcheck:

Umphrey’s McGee gets it on:

Here’s a fun clip of Umphrey’s McGee playing Toto’s Africa:

Jennifer Hartswick joined Umphrey’s on stage for You Got The Love:

Peter’s son Andrew Tosh sat in with UM for Legalize It, first time played:

UM Family Portrait:

Cloud 9 organized the event, and they teamed with the resorts to provide a wide array of non-musical activities for the guests. There were day excursions, zip lines, scuba diving, snorkeling, a tour of Bob Marley’s countryside home, and of course, the trapeze:

One of my favorite acts ever, the Benevento/Russo Duo warmed the crowd:

Marco played Journey on a piano in the hotel lounge:

Oh yeah, Keller Williams was there:

As previously mentioned, the Nine Mile Marley Tour took guests to Bob’s home and community — there are plenty more shots in the full gallery link at the bottom:

Brownstein & Friends take the Marley tour:

Members of Umphrey’s and the Biscuits have teamed up several times now for the Brain-Damaged Eggmen, a tribute to the Beatles and Pink Floyd, closing out the festivities with the Hey Jude encore that’s come to define the supergroup:

The two host bands went their separate ways after the much-celebrated Caribbean Holidaze vacation, and you can catch each of them in the ramp-up to New Year’s. Umphrey’s plays three shows at the Aragon in Chicago, while the Disco Biscuits play two shows at the Hammerstein in New York before moving onto the Electric Factory in Philly and Camden’s Tweeter Center on the 31st.

• CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF DAVE’S HOLIDAZE PHOTOS
• CLICK HERE FOR MORE YOUTUBE VIDEOS FROM JAMAICA