Best Show Ever

Check it out!

2007-04-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

www.yaeloestreich.com

Me & Yael Oestreich

2007-03-19T22:37:00.000-04:00

Check it out. It's a picture of me and the beautiful Yael Oestreich!

I'm Clueless

2006-01-31T09:46:00.000-05:00

Much like Atlantis, New Orleans is something of a mythical city. It's got distinctive food, people, smells, and of course, very distinctive language. Or whatever it is they speak down there. Oh sure, it's quaint, in a way. Like "Oh how cute! That waiter just told us the specials but I have no idea what he just said!" But let's just say that if your friend has been stabbed and the only person who can give you directions to the hospital is a cabbie, well things aren't looking too good for you and your buddy.

Don't get me wrong. I love New Orleans. Especially the music. There's clearly something in the air that makes their version of blues slow down to a funky plod. Maybe it's the words that accompanies the music. I mean I've heard "Iko Iko" hundreds of times, yet, not once have I ever gotten an explanation on what the hell "Jock-a-mo" means. Same with "Hey Pocky Way." And the artists who have recorded these songs over the years always have the most unusual names. Nine times out of 10, they'll be called something like Bill Babineuxicaut or Lawrence Goulieuxaux. Or, of course, Mac Rebennack, better known as Dr. John.

"(I Walk On) Guilded Splinters" - Dr. John

I don't know the history of Guilded Splinters, but this dude seems to interpret the song as some sort of drug-induced masochism. I don't know about that, but I guess it doesn't seem to far off. After all, Dr. John recorded the song at the height of "Helter Skelter" and all that. What I do know is that the song is one funky monster, indicative of what bands like The Meters would perfect a few years later.

Of course, Widespread busts this one out pretty regularly, and it was always a nice segue in or out of Drums aka "The Nance Dance" (when they used to do THAT more regularly). Some of the betters ones I've heard have been with the Dirties, but this one here features Dr. John on keys.

"(I Walk On) Guilded Splinters" - Widespread Panic 5/2/99 Atlanta, GA

Finally, here is one more version of the song recorded by a dude who has a much less cooler name than Dr. John, Mac Rabbenack, or JB: Johnny Jenkins. This track has been sampled by Blackalicious and, most famously, on Beck's "Loser," (andother dude with some seriously out there lyrics. "In the time of chimpanzees / I was a monkey"? Rrrrrright.)

"(I Walk On) Guilded Splinters" - Johnny Jenkins

Buy yourself some Dr. John right here.

And good luck finding any Johnny Jenkins. He looks like one elusively bad MF.

harDCore

2006-01-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

I have been pretty vocal to people who'll listen to me about Umphrey's McGee. If I had to grade them on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being WSP/Phish and 1 being New Kids On The Block/String Cheese Incident), I'd give them about a 6.5. I'd say about every fourth song/jam I hear them play gets my toes a-tappin'. And 9 times out of 10, that song is a cover. To quote Brian Fontana, "60% of the time, it works EVERY time."

Which brings me to today's post. I gre up in the mean suburbs of Washington, DC where DC Hard Core ruled. Welll, it did if you hung out at surf shops, watched skate videos, and ate Double Stuf Oreos until your blood sugar rose to Richard Simmons-type levels. Now, I'll admit, I was never the biggest DC Hard Core guy, but when a friend of mine played Fugazi for me, I was hooked.

"Waiting Room" - Fugazi

Umphrey's does a pretty good cover of this as usual, although, I'd still prefer Ian McKaye singing it any day over Brendon.

And if you don't have Fugazi's seminal album, "13 Songs," well, shame on you and your jamband-centric mind.

Welcome To The New Era

2006-01-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

I'm back with a new exploration in '06. And while it may not be as exciting as Derek Small's Jazz Odessey, I think it'll be an interesting twist on the jamband music blog. (Justin over at LiveMusicBlog.com has lots of great information, insight, along with links to live audio posts and poscasts, for example.) But I got to thinking about all the obscure covers that we hear jambands do. I mean, along with being some amazing musicians, a lot of the players are veritable encyclopedias music knowledge. The songs they choose to cover oftentimes are ones most of us have never heard of. Sure, "Watchtower" gets covered a ton, but more often than not, it'll be a relatively unknown soul tune that sends us googling "Ya Mar" the next morning.

So without further ado....

"Get Out My Life Woman" - Allen Toussaint

Jerry covered this one on his amazingly, appallingly underrated live album from the early 90s. Both his version and Allen Toussaint's version drip with smirking, bitter emotion. Toussaint is one of those wonderful songwriters who get a far too little recognition for their influence on a wide range of music. He's the kind of artist who would probably be listed on Top Ten lists of guys like Jerry, Trey, and Jojo Herman. And you say to yourself, "Who???" Then you'd go listen to his stuff and you'd say to yourself, "Wow! That sounds just like 'Moma Dance,' except that it was recorded in 1968!"

Hey! Jazzfest!

2005-11-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

Woo-hoo! Great news! Jazzfest is back! Nothing like wading thru hundreds of yards of filth muck to wait in line for a bowl of Crawfish Monica in 100 degree heat, all the while listening to the sweet sounds of Big Joe Robideaux and the Crescent City Stompers! (And that was BEFORE Katrina came along...HI-OH!!!) Now, don't get me wrong. I am rooting for New Orleans to come back more than anyone. I look forward to Jazzfest with more vigor than the everyday Chelsea resident's countdown to the Tony Awards (once described to me by a gay friend as the "Gay Super Bowl"). But I have just one, tiny question for Jazzfest organizers: Can I crash on your couch? And borrow your canoe? Because something tells me that Afghanistan's French Quarter will be in better shape than New Orleans.

Anyway, a few years ago, a guy I worked with (who I despised) told me about a band here in NYC called Afroskull. He had overheard a friend and I talking about Galactic and thought we'd like them. "They've got the horns, the beat, the whole New Orleans thing going," Satan told us. Now, since I despised this guy with such passion, I literally refused to listen to the band....until now. And damn if he wasn't right. They aren't breaking a whole lot of new ground, but they have a tight, fun sound that makes seeing a show of their's on my To Do list for 2006.

"Space Chicken" - Afroskull, 2/4/05 New York, NY

Download the whole show here.

Did someone say "God Street Wine"???

2005-11-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

I figured I'd do a little snooping around to find out a little more about the openers for the World's Most Anticipated Shows next weekend here in El Gran Apple. I came up with this:

"Caffeine Nation" - Dr. Uhall, 7/7/05 New York, NY

And the verdict is....Eh. It appears to me like Umphrey's appearance on the pages of The Rolling Stone is starting to smack bands across the kisser. But it also seems like our little scene is going through some nostaligia of our own. Dr. Uhall sounds to me a little like a band we old-timers used to call "God Street Wine" (who the old-timers before US used to call "Steely Dan.") On top of that, listening to TLG a lot recently has me thinking that at times, those dudes can sound like that old-school Phish that hooked a lot of us in '92-'93. Tell me what you think:

"Zoom Zoom" - Tea Leaf Green, 1/10/04 Tahoe City, CA

Check out more Dr. Uhall here.

And do your ears a favor by downloading the whole TLG show here.

The Past Or The Present?

2005-11-07T11:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, but I have been swamped with all sorts of work and personal stuff. Basically, friends, the future is unknown so you gotta live for today. (I have no clue where that came from, but let's go with it...) That being said, I am posting something from a band I know very little about and a track from them I have never heard. The first time you hear it will be the first time I hear it. So we're all in this together, see?

"A Wonderful Day" - Brother's Past, 9/10/04, Madison, WI

All I know is that a friend of mine was working with Brother's Past a little more than a year ago. He was really psyched about them and where they were headed. So I'll give them a little support.

By the way, is it just me, or does it seem like some of these bands have been around for FOREVER and then all of a sudden one day - BAM! - people are going to their shows. I feel like RAQ has been around since at least 1986. And don't quote me, but I think that ALO's first gig was opening for Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Anyway, speaking of things that happen in Madison, WI...

Download Brother's Past whole show here.

Nugs

2005-10-27T17:42:00.000-04:00

I just happen to see that Nugs.net has changed their site a bit. I definitely see it as an upgrade. I realize that Brad has to make some money somehow, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna do it by giving us the stuff for free. So a little while back, he partnered up with the people who give us LiveWidepreadPanic.com and other sites to help them get their product out. That being said, he hasn't totally sold out to the cyber-Man, yet. He still has the free stuff on there and it's not too tough to find, either. Even better, he seems to have the capacity to host his entire archive now, too. Bonus!

Nugs.net has been around for a while and Brad is definitely viewed as one of the grandfathers of downloading shows on the www. He first caught my attention with Dead shows, but when he posted Phish's show from the Keswick in '92 I went to that I had to email him and thank him for his work. I know it ain't easy doing that stuff and a lot of times, people take this stuff for granted.

"Sleepy Monkey" - Widespread Panic, 7/22/01 Wilmington, DE

This "Sleepy Monkey" is from one of the best WSP shows I have ever been to. The whole show is about as solid as it gets. It was at a venue called Kahunaville which was indescribable. The place made Dave and Buster's look like the Four Seasons. The show also confirmed a long held belief in the Panic Community: NEVER MISS A SUNDAY SHOW.

I'm Old

2005-10-19T10:18:00.000-04:00

I'm an older gent, so I don't get to shows as much as I'd like to, but that doesn't keep me from scouring the good ol' dubya-dubya-dubya for what's hot. That being said, I missed My Morning Jacket last night at Webster Hall, a venue that has been earning over more and more fans recently, even among the indie rockers who once took to it about as much as Jerry did to a sprout and fig salad. I hear the show was damn good, though. I downloaded a set from the 9:30 Club yesterday to see how the new material sounds live. I wish I could say "Radically different." But, well, I can't.

"Lay Low" - My Morning Jacket, 10/15/05 Washington, DC

I have tried to really like these guys, but something is keeping me from doing it. I saw them at Irving Plaza last year and it was good for a while, but then started to get a little monotonous. I dig the new direction with the keys and all, but the Neil Young/Reverb thing needs to shaken up a bit. Hey Jim, let's dial that back from where you are now at 11 to, say, 4? 5? Live Music Blog digs the new stuff. So what do I know?

My other gripe is that these dudes only played, according to my ITunes, for 1.7 hours. That INCLUDES two tracks called "Intro" and "Crowd." What's up with that? They have another prior committment or something? With 4 full LPs, a new EP every 3 months under their belt - and the chops to let some of these tunes breathe - there's really no reason for them to be playing for less time than Destiny's Child. Not that I've ever seen them live or anything.

Here is the whole MMJ show.

This Is Red Rocks! This Is The Edge!

2005-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

OK, so like every self-respecting 'head in the 90s, I dissed U2 as bloated, borderline-Broadway-esque crap. I found Trey's (or was it Mike?) mockery of the Old Dubliners on "Junta" hilarious. But after weeding thru that version of Icculus recently, I came to a realization: That song blows. And you know what? U2 ain't too bad. I remember in high school being so much of a music snob that I turned down a ticket to see The Joshua Tree tour at RFK in DC. I told my friend that I didn't like their new stuff as much. Bad move. So now, almost 20 years later, I finally found what I was, um, looking for.

Yes, I went to go see U2 last week at MSG and it freakin' rocked. Sure, Bono talks too much. But you know what? He's a rock star. That's what rock stars do. So I didn't blink when I found myself whooping and whipping to everything The Man With The Fly Shades said. And in between solliquies about poverty and debt relief, U2 played some of the greatest pop/rock anthems ever-written.

"Where The Streets Have No Name" - U2 Boston, 5/26/05

I was never a huge fan of this song, but after seeing it live, I have found a new respect for it. By the way, It's good to see that bands like U2 are finally realizing that live music bittorrents are not evil.

Sign up at U2torrents.com and check out some more of their shows from their entire history.

A Quickie While He's Away

2005-10-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

Here's a little Nooner for you all. I just happen to read recently that The Mother Hips, a pretty damn good band who flew under the radar on the scene for years and have broken up and reunited for various reasons **coughSMACKPROBLEMcoughcough** (Sorry...I got something stuck in my throat there. Where was I? Oh yes...) are once again reuniting for a slew - Yes, I said "a slew" - of shows including some on what their booker may consider "Mars," but I like to call "The East Coast."

"Grizzly Bear" - Mother Hips, 3/30/01 San Juan Capistrano, CA

I saw these guys once when I somehow found myself in Salt Lake City. The show was OK and I really developed an appreciation for them later on. But one thing I should say is that they drew by far the most beautiful women in all of Salt Lake City. I mean, these were some hot, drinkin' Mormons! Take your average Disco Biscuits crowd. Now think of the complete opposite and that's who was in attendence that night. Whoa, mama.

Anyway, download the whole show here.

Something special on our hands

2005-10-07T11:56:00.000-04:00

I figured I have been listening to Tea Leaf Green enough at this point to arrive at the "OK, I know what they can do NOW, but what did they sound like when they were starting up?" stage of my current love affiar with this band. And the answer: Well, they rocked it. Back when I was first getting into Phish (and I hit the same point I'm at now with TLG), I asked myself the same question. Of course, this was pre-internet, so you couldn't just get online and find out for yourself. There were rumors that Phish were absolutely ATROCIOUS in their first few years, that Nectar simply took pity on them, etc. Well, that may have been true - at least to ROTC students in 1983 - but it's clear that by around '85, they were starting to "get it." With an emphasis on the "starting to."

"Ride Together" - Tea Leaf Green, 7/6/01 High Sierra

So I figured that early TLG shows would probably be as spotty as those early UVM dorm shows Phish played. Um, no. Jiminy Christmas! Take a listen to that "Ride Together." It's a monster. It's clear that what we have here is a band that can roll out of bed and blow the pants off of everyone in the audience on any given night - and always has been able to. I mean, honestly, I'm starting to get pissed. How did I not hear about these guys before? This set at High Sierra is from TWO THOUSAND-FRIGGIN'-ONE!! 2001!!! In the meantime, Umphrey's has ascended from South Bend bars to Rolling Stone darlings to sharing the stage with Phil Lesh, but Tea Leaf has just started to take off? If I had been at High Sierra in 2001, and saw Tea Leaf's set, I would have walked away thinking the same thing I did when I saw Widespread's set at the HORDE in Red Rocks in '93: "I don't care WHO comes after this band, they are the best band to hit that stage tonight." Oh, but I'm sure String Cheese probably just WOWED the thousands that night with another blah set of second-rate bluegrass and songs about jellyfish. And the crowd hoola-hooped their approval.

OK, I have taken my medicine. I am calm now. For those of you in the NYC area, the band has booked two shows at a TINY venue called Coda in mid-November. If you want the opportunity to tell your Cheesehead and Umphreak friends who finally see the light in two years that you saw them at "this TINY venue called Coda," get your tickets here. Be sure you get tickets for both nights. I can promise you that next time around they'll be playing the Bowery. Also, from what I can tell, they are being shopped around to labels, with some thinking that ATO is the front-runner (that's Dave Matthews' label). Now, don't be a hater and turn your back on these guys just because they're going to get signed and end up on mainstream outlets (i.e., VH1, radio, etc.) Show the scene some love and go and support them.

That's all for today. Just had to get that off my chest. Oh, here is that whole set.

I Can't Explain

2005-09-23T17:38:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I am in this mood today, but I am. Fridays put me into a groovier mood, I guess. So what do you get when you take a guy like me who doesn't know what to post and add it with a Friday? You get Lotus. A band I have not seen. I've checked them out online a few times. Seems like they could be a good time, especially if they're taking the stage post-midnight. No, they're not charting new waters and I'd definitely have a hard time differentiating between them and STS9. But you know what? Sometimes this kind of groove is just what you're looking to listen to.

"Greet The Mind" - Lotus 4/12/05, Boston, MA

This little disco number that turns up the heat is a standout of this nicely recorded first set. It would definitely get me to bust out my dancing shoes at one of their shows. One other funny note about this show is the rebel yells you hear from the crowd sprinkled throughout the show. Yes. Rebel yells. In BOSTON. You people say that NEW YORKERS are everywhere. You take a band who could have all been born on the North Pole, but damn, as soon as they move south of the Mason-Dixon line and immediately their fans turn into Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and Jeff Foxworthy all rolled into one. Case in point: Widespread Panic. Anyone out there know where John "JB" Bell is from? That hotbed of the Confederacy called Cleveland, OH. But the way the fans react to him (and by the way he talks), you'd think he'd won the Nextel Cup, or something.

Anyway, you can download the whole Lotus show here.

Go figure

2005-09-19T17:18:00.000-04:00

I'll admit it. I was never the biggest Cream fan in the world. I guess when I first got exposed to them as a teenager, I didn't really see what the big deal was. (Then again, to met at that age, anything Johnny Rotten ever did was nothing short of pure, unadulterated genius). Overall, the power trio thing left me with a feeling that something was missing. But it wasn't just Cream. Jimi's music never blew me away, either. Don't get me wrong, the man is/was a fine guitarist and I couldn't name a guitarist I admire today who wouldn't list him among their Top Three of all-time. But The Experience's songs, as with Cream, fell way too much into the Blues Ocean for me to ever get too excited about. Sure, there are standouts for me from both acts: "White Room" (particularly that solo), "Voodoo Chile," and a handful of others. But I just felt that both of those bands have been heaped with so much praise and adulation over the years that NOT calling them "overrated" would mean that you were either a) related to members in the band, b) sleeping with members in the band, or c) somehow deriving your income from members in the band.

That being said, I got tickets to see Cream at the Garden in October. I may not crank "Disraeli Gears" everyday, but I know key moment in rock history when I see it.

"Crossroads" - Cream, 10/4/68 Oakland, CA

(One quick other note about "Crossroads": Apparently, when a DJ got a hold of Cream doing a live version of "Crossroads" back in the late 60s, he introduced the song by saying something to the effect of "If you think Eric Clapton is human, well then you better take a listen to this...")

Hop on the train...

2005-09-14T10:27:00.000-04:00

To steal (two different) quotes from Ron Burgundy, "Everyone! I have a very important announcement! Come here and look at how good (they are)!" What else can I say? My first post on this site back in June featured this Bay Area band, and back then, I warned you: Tea Leaf Green is the future. Last weekend, these dudes rolled through NYC (sans me in attendence...I'm such an IDIOT!!) crushing everything and everyone in their path. So, today, I announce to you that there is nothing else I can do but post tracks from the show at the sold out Knitting Factory. But where on the Planet Of Green Love to start? Holy crikey! You think these dudes were chompin' at the bit backstage to come and rip it up, New York style? Check this out, the 3rd track of the set:

"Asphalt Funk" - Tea Leaf Green, 9/10/05 New York, NY

You just knew this was going to be a HOT show, even before they took the stage. When the Knit announced the show, they gave it an 11:00 slot on a Friday night. But as anyone who has ever showed up on Friday night to catch a show that starts at 11:00 pm at the Knit knows, 11:00 means, uh, let's say, oh 12:30-ish? And when you throw the word "jam" into the definition of what the headliner sounds like, well, then your chances of getting out of there before 3:30 are about as good as Dave Schools turning down a slice of Meat Lovers. And sure enough...all reports are that the show went to 3:30. By mid-show, Tea Leaf had shifted from Allmans to Particle, as evidenced by:

"The Invasion" - Tea Leaf Green, 9/10/05 New York, NY

People can't seem to stop talking about this show. I felt like their show at the Block Party at Jazzfest this past year was a coming out for them. Well, add this NYC show to their cotillion, as well. FOUR encores??? You think they didn't know this was a big one for them? Please. Next stop: Bowery Ballroom. Check back in a year. If they aren't selling out Irving Plaza by then, then that means the place must have burned down.

"Sex In The 70s" - Tea Leaf Green, 9/10/05 New York, NY

And, please, do yourself a favor. Go see them. I don't ask you for much. Download the whole show here.

Etree

2005-09-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

I love etree. When I have the time, I hit it up four or five times a day. I sift thru it. I study it. I find it fascinating. I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time wondering about things like "Who really needs every single Indigo Girls show from the past 15 years? Did their shows really vary that much? Did they have any other songs other than 'Closer To Fine'?" But that's what's so great about etree. You can get all sorts of questions answered. (Apparently, the IG's DID have more than one song. Ditto for Blind Melon.)

But my favorite part of etree is checking out which bands get downloaded the most. The usual suspects are there: Phish, Dead, Dave, etc. With these bands, as soon as a new show gets posted - either from the previous night or one from the archives - almost immediately there are upwards of 25-30 seeders. But then there are the other bands, coinicidentally posted in a section that etree calls "Other." (Makes sense). I love checking these bands out. Sometimes just for the names (e.g. Electric Apricot). Sometimes for nostalgia (e.g. Allgood). And sometimes for the novelty (e.g. Joss Stone!). Then there are the times when there is a collision between a large amount of seeders with a band that falls into the "Other" category. And that's why I decided to download a Dire Straits show recently.

"Sultans Of Swing" - Dire Straits, 6/20/92 Bedfordshire, England

Like most people who grew up in the 80s, I know a little about Dire Straits. It was called "Brothers In Arms." As I got older, I learned a little bit more. It was called "Sultans Of Swing." And that's where I really was able to appreciate the briiliance of Mark Knopfler, who is truly a great musician. I found this show under "Other" and saw that it was being seeded by about 30 people. I figured, what the heck? I'll check it out. And you know what? It's damn good. I find myself listening to it a lot. It rages at times. It's bluesy at times. And sure, it borders on "smooth jazz" at other times. But it always comes back to Knopfler's amazing guitar work. He's so underrated that sometimes he makes me want to punch Clapton in the face.

Try downloading the show here.

FINALLY!

2005-09-06T16:25:00.000-04:00

File this one in the "Better Late Than Never" department. Yes, yes, I have become one of those guys who wants instant gratification, especially when it comes to live music downloads. In college, I used to consider myself lucky if I came across a Phish tape that had been recorded within the past year. But oh how a decade of technical advancement will change a music freak like me. If I don't see a show up on the various sites (etree, archive.org, etc.) within 12 minutes of the final notes being played then I start planning my tri-state killing spree. And when the words "late night" and "Bonnaroo" are involved, well, then that lag time gets cut to 6 minutes. That's why I have been moaning to many people over the past two months, chanting the same mantra: "WHERE THE HELL IS THAT SECRET MACHINES SHOW FROM BONNAROO????" I can finally find peace and zen in my world because someone has posted it. And to them I say a big, fat, funky-fresh "Thank you."

"First Wave" - Secret Machines, 6/11/2005 Manchester, TN

Secret Machines are, without a doubt, the only I band I will tell everyone - I mean, EVERYONE - that they must see live. Umphrey's is just not going to be most people's cup o' tea. String Cheese? Please. Even Widespread I know is just not for everyone (blaspheme!).

Try getting the torrent here.

Fingers crossed

2005-08-31T10:35:00.000-04:00

I love New Orleans. I really hope it is still there when Jazzfest rolls around next year. As a tribute, I am posting a track from Galactic, a band that has become one of the only musical fixtures in NOLA who is not serving six years in prison.

"Tiger Roll>Space Heads" - Galactic, 7/19/03

Try sending a little love towards the Crescent City today.

Great name

2005-08-24T13:38:00.000-04:00

"Street Sleeper" - Grand Theft Bus, Ottawa, ON 7/13/05

Band names are great. I think a lot of times bands don't see the importance of a great band name. Widespread Panic is a good name. Particle is a great name, especially given the kind of music they play. On the other hand, String Cheese Incident often has to go on record in the press to more or less apologize for their abomination of a name (but oddly never for their lyrics). The jamband scene is riddled with horrible band names. To wit, Deep Banana Blackout, Psychedelic Breakfast, Granola Funk Express??? How pandering to an audience can you be? "Hey! We need a band name that shows that we like to smoke the pot, play Frisbee Golf, but we can also get down." "How about Smokin' Grass?" "Perfect!" (Live Music Blog has also addressed this subject. I think this calls for some kind expose somewhere: Rolling Stone, E!, A Current Affair...SOMEwhere!)

Then there are the truly odd names. Like Umphrey's McGee. Or Tea Leaf Green. And Grand Theft Bus. You remember a name like Grand Theft Bus. I have no idea where it came from, but it probably had something to do with reading a police blotter in a local newspaper.

Anyway, check out Grand Theft Bus. If you don't like the name, do it because you want to support the music scene of our friendly neighbors to the North, Canada. (The music is good, too. The whole show is pretty strong. I wouldn't drive 10 hours to go see them, but it'd be worth $10 to check them out.)

Download that whole show here.

It's not Phish, but...

2005-08-17T13:03:00.000-04:00

...if you close your eyes really tight, you may think it is. Sure Raq sounds a bit like Phish stuck in 1998, but hey, is that a bad thing? I work with a band who people sometimes mock for sounding too much like Radiohead. My response is that it's better than sounding too much like Third Eye Blind.

When I want a good intro to a band, I usually go straight for the covers. If I like what I hear, I'll start poking around the other stuff. Like when I first saw Umphrey's McGee, they laid down this sick cover of "The Stranger" by Billy Joel (with some help from Fareed Haque). It sounded good enough to me that I went and ranted about the band to anyone who'd listen. Of course, I've pulled back a bit from that ranting in recent years, but I digress...

Raq has been around for quite some time. I figured they'd be one of those bands who rear their heads for a year or two, then move on and become investment bankers. But these guys have stuck with it. So I give them an A for effort and said to myself, "Self, it's time you take a listen." So I did. And I found this...a pair of cheap sunglasses with a nasty groove in them.

"Cheap Sunglasses" - Raq, 1/24/04 Denver, CO

Download that junk here.

Take a step forward...

2005-08-11T14:50:00.000-04:00

"....now take a step back. I'm sorry. Take a step forward. Now take a step back. Step forward. And back. And now we're cha-cha!" Easily my second favorite moment in history involving the words "Take a step back." This one is a quote from "Real Genius," a fantastic movie that came out in this very weird period in the Summer of 1985 when it seemed like there was some Unified Decree from all of Hollywood that said all movies had to involve computers. ("Weird Science" also came out within a few months). What's my point? Well, there is a character in the film named Lazlo Hollyfeld who is this odd dude who spent way too much time programming computers for the government or something like that, and now lives in the bowels of the dorm at some college that has a name that is very close to "California Institue Of Technology." But clearly, C.I.T. wouldn't let them use the name, so they had to change it in the movie. I love it when they do that. You know, like in some teen movie where the ridiculously hot - yet somehow also brilliant - chick has waited her whole life to go to Harfort University.

Anyway, when I stumbled across a band called Lazlo Hollyfeld on Live Archive, it was like a sign from God, or at least a sign from Val Kilmer. So I gave them a test drive. Not bad, either. Kind of like if you split the difference between STS9 and Particle, although they definitely never really build up to one of those serious vein-popping jams like Particle does.

"Everything You Know Is Gone" - Lazlo Hollyfeld 7/29/04, Buffalo, NY

You can get the whole show here.

My bad

2005-08-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

I know that I have been off my game worse than Bobby Weir recently and I promise that I'll do some more digging and hook you up with something good.

In the meantime, here's a little something in honor of our man, Jerry, who, if you're reading this, you know is dead. And he died 10 years ago. Of course, very little is being made of this anywhere in the national media. They wouldn't want to take precious media time away from Simpson/Lachey divorce rumors. I don't know about you, but I remember where I was when I heard that he had died. But I have to say there is nothing more boring than hearing about where someone was when some big event happened. "Oh really, you were eating a bowl of oatmeal and waxing your pubes when you heard the Space Shuttle exploded? Wow! How fascinating!!!" That being said, if you DO have an interesting story, by all means post them in the comments section below this post.

Anyway, this "Alabama Getaway" is from a show in Lewiston, Maine - home of Bates College - that my friend who went to Bates told me about. Apparently, this show happened during Bates' move-in day in 1980. Well, this town of about 6 people had no clue what had hit them. All of a sudden, there were students, parents, professors, and, of course, lots of wookies invading the tiny hamlet. Needless to say, I don't believe the Town of Lewiston ever returned a call from anyone named "Rifkin" ever again.

"Alabama Getaway" - Grateful Dead, Lewiston, ME 9/6/80

And do yourself a favor and download the whole show here.

Not too shabby

2005-07-18T15:02:00.000-04:00

About a year ago, a friend emailed me from Boulder about Rose Hill Drive, who had heard about, but hadn't heard any music from. This past February, I was in Vail and they happened to be playing for one of Vail's outdoor (!) winter concert series. I was just wandering the pre-fabricated "old" streets of downtown Vail and I heard the sounds of what I figured was just a classic rock cover band. Sure enough, they were tearing into some sort of Led Zep tune, but I mean, they were TEARING into it. Plant, Page, Bonzo, and JPJ probably would have been impressed.

Well now these kids are really starting to draw some heat, which is good, because, frankly, this scene needs a true, classic rock power trio. And yes, that is meant as a blatant rip on Gov't Mule, who blow donkey balls. Rose Hill Drive are here. And until Cream makes that inevitable world tour official, this is who we've got.

"Four Day Creep (Humble Pie cover)" - Rose Hill Drive, 4/26/05 North Charleston, SC

Download the whole show here. This show was contributed by Bobby Hurley who, despite being one of the most despised guards in the history of college hoops, happens to be the king of contributions on Digital Panic.

Where are the other 69 Volts?

2005-07-14T11:04:00.000-04:00

Look, this is ridiculous. Trey's band on his most recent tour rendered one of the planet's most amazing guitarists utterly useless. Those dudes were just a bunch of studio musicians, none of whom could carry Russ Lawton's jock. So, please, Trey, in the name of all that's good and "The Truth," dump the Parade. I have a better band for you to team up with: These three jazz cats named Billy, John, and Chris. Oh, in fact, I believe you have played with them before. Hmmmmm....time to start a petition?

MMW - Albany, NY 12/1/00

Am I missing something?

2005-07-11T14:32:00.000-04:00

I listened to a Matisyahu show and it blew. It blew hard. Granted, I've never been a huge reggae guy, but I think I can tell the difference between good reggae and, well, HIM. In fact, I think I am going to coin a new phrase for full-on sucking onstage: "Matisyahuian." For example, "String Cheese's show last night was positively Matisyahuian." Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Leave the reggae to Jamiacans. Period. I thought this was resolved back in the 70s. I mean, do you think Clapton's version of "I Shot The Sheriff" is even in the same musical universe as Marley's? (If you do, you are banned from listening to music ever again.) Bob was talking about class struggle, political protest, and all that good stuff. Slowhand sounds like he is protesting against his dealer being out of "China White."

That being said, I am trying hard to really, really like Umphrey's McGee to the point where I'll say, "Hey, I really want to hear that Umphrey's show again." That hasn't fully happened yet. I know there are good ones out there, so I have been scouring Live Music Archive to see if I can find the hot shit. This one had 25 reviews, so I checked it out. There are a few raging moments, including this one. But I have to say, I don't think I'm buying it. Their set at Bonarroo last year was still, by far and away, the best I have seen them. With a truly "killer" band, you won't be able to make that determination so early in their career. We leave the "best show ever" debates to at least 5 years after they start consistent touring outside of their home area.

"The Fussy Dutchman" - Umphrey's McGee, 3/26/05 Chicago, IL

Then again, they also throw this at the fan, too. (And yes, I mean that to be a pun. But in case you are dense, I am saying that this is a piece of crap.)

If you like it, you can download the show here.

Mr. Sparks

2005-07-07T10:09:00.000-04:00

OK, at the risk of exaggerating, I'm going to make a bold statement: Melvin Sparks is the best guitarist I have ever seen. The man gives so much with so little effort that it's frightening. I mean, if you have ever seen him live, you know what I'm talking about. He kind of reminds me of "It" from The Addams Family. You know, that hand that exists on it's own without a body attached to it. Melvin's left hand is all over the neck, while the rest of his body is just this mass of grooving, smiling love, just sittin' on a stool. I have seen him by himself a few times and I have seen him sit in with all sorts of acts. When he played with the 20th Congress last year, I swear Cheme was going to blow a gasket. He must've said "Oh my God!" about 116 times during a 10-minute solo. Bob Walter looked like he could barely keep playing. So it goes without saying that you should absolutely, 100% NOT miss Melvin Sparks if he comes to your town. And if you get a chance, talk to him. He's exactly how you'd expect one of "those old jazz cats" to be like - right down to the old "paperboy" hat.

"Pick Up The Pieces" - Melvin Sparks Band, Portsmouth, NH 5/28/04

Download the whole show here.

Between an (indie) rock and a hard place

2005-07-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

Alright, a little something different (for now). I'm gonna see what you think of trying a little indie rock on for size. But first, a few quick words about the indie rock scene. There are lots of good indie bands out there worth checking out that don't attract as many wookies as, say, String Cheese. Stephen Malkmus is a fantastic live show. Secret Machines are indescribable. Of course, just like the jamband scene, a handful of the fans can tend to be annoying. But indie rockers won't bug you endlessly for "pharmies", but they'll sure as hell make you feel like crap if you've never heard of some random band from Portland who put out one EP 15 years ago on Merge Records. Anyway, the two acts below, are more indie, but that doesn't mean they can't write a good song or two. Ben Lee is Australian and I heard this song on the radio (XM, that is) the other day and loved it. I'm sure it is probably the indie rock equivalent of "Touch Of Grey" or "Bouncin' Round The Room," but hey, it's catchy as hell.

"Catch My Disease" - Ben Lee Denver, CO 3/21/05

Download the whole show here.

As for Spoon, I saw them down in Austin for South By Southwest. They've been around since the 90s and were the "Surprise Artist" one night at some showcase. People seemed pretty happy. I think the jamband equivalent would be if, say, Galactic played a surprise show in New Orleans one night.

"Everything Hits At Once" - Spoon, Englewood, CO 6/14/05

Download the whole show here.

One other quickie

2005-07-05T09:53:00.000-04:00

I have been pretty vocal (to anyone who'd listen) about my indifference to Pink Floyd over the years. But I have to say, after watching Live 8 over the weekend, I am sold. Tell me where/when they are playing and I'm there. Sure, the vocals were a little shaky, but together, these guys' ages add up to roughly 912. And if you didn't get a chill when Gilmour gave that little wink to Mason, well, then you're a Communist.

Stream their set here. I'd say start with "Comfortably Numb."

Great new band

2005-07-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

There's this band that's making some noise down in Georgia that you may want to check out. Here is one of their songs that they call "Arleen." Oh and as a bonus they have the guy who did "Rockit" playing keyboards with them.

"Arleen" - Widespread Panic, Manchester, TN 6/12/05

Try downloading the whole show via BitTorrent here or here or at Grand Puba here.

(By the way, at this point in time, nothing puts the brakes on a set faster than having Bob Weir sit in with you. I mean, I have all the respect in the world for the man as a pioneer of the scene. But come on...if Roger Clemens was throwing a no-hitter through 8 innings right now, would you replace him with Joe Niekro?)

I'll admit when I'm wrong

2005-06-30T12:53:00.000-04:00

I was wrong to dismiss Perpetual Groove initially. I admit it. (Maybe I was just bitter because my high schhol band, Perpetual Kaos, never made it. And we ripped, man! The "A" in "Kaos" was an anarchy sign! We did all Sex Pistols covers. I sang in a British accent. Yeah, we ruled BCC High School.) But in my defense, I downloaded a show of their's about a year and a half ago and I couldn't have been more underwhelmed. Well, now it looks like these guys may start to be congealing into a nice goo of a band. They apparently turned lots of heads at Bonnaroo this year, and I'll be sure not to miss them if they ever make it across the Verrazano Bridge. This tune, which I guess is their response to "NICU", is called "TTFPJ." Sounds like some kind of oral disease. This jam borders on Particle, but has more rock running through it than your average "Roads A Breeze."

"TTFPJ" - Perpetual Groove, Raleigh, NC 1/27/05

Download the whole show here

Somebody call Indiana Jones

2005-06-29T16:59:00.000-04:00

From what I've heard recently, finding a good Ryan Adams show (i.e., heavy on the music, light on the drunken ramblings) has been harder to come by than the Ark Of The Covenant (that's what Indiana Jones was looking for in "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", for our younger viewers). But this tune, "Easy Plateau," from a recent show sounds like a pretty damn good jam to me. I have to admit: I have never seen Ryan Adams live. I prefer my alt-country more on the "alt" side than the "country" side. Even his new association with Phil Lesh hasn't really gotten me all that excited. But if his whole shows can be like this one, then I'll have to reconsider.

"Easy Plateau" - Ryan Adams, Buffalo, NY 5/14/05

Download the whole show here

So true, so true

2005-06-29T15:39:00.001-04:00

Michael Franti says it right: All the freaky people indeed DO make the beauty of the world. Cheesy? Yes. Fun to hear? You know it, brother. Is a Spearhead show that much better because there are actually, you know, WOMEN at the shows? I'll leave that up to you. Just take it from me: If you're looking for the hot hippie chicks, skip the Disco Biscuits and head for the Franti shows. The vibe is great. The music is stellar. And seeing as though you don't have to sit through (too much) of the John Mayer-type "One man and his guitar" routine, it's a show that'll appeal to ALL the freaky people, regardless of gender.

"Stay Human" - Michael Franti and Spearhead, Denver, CO 1/15/05

(Find the full show here)

OK...this is fun!

2005-06-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

Just because I am in a bloggin' good mood, I decided to post another one.

"David Bowie" - Phish, Philadelphia, PA, 12/15/95

This was the last Phish show I saw until "It" in 2003. I think the thought of having to see them in such big places upset me at that point. And besides, the Widespread scene wasn't overrun yet, and you could still see them in smaller venues. So I went and hopped on the Panic Train (and never hopped off). But before bidding Phish farewell for a few years, I went to see them in Philly. I turned to my friend after this "Bowie" and said, "I think I just had a religious experience." About a year later, Phish's music would transform from full-on rock, to a trancey, groovy funk (which I like, too). But you gotta admit, in those mid-early years, when Phish rocked, they ROCKED.

The point of all this

2005-06-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Why the hell am I doing this? There are so many damn blogs out there with so much music. But I'm sorry, I just don't really care about DJ Screwdaddy's remix of some Coldplay song or a track released in 1972 on a random Danish electronic label. Where can I find what is going on NOW? No...I mean right NOW.

OK, OK. That's not the only reason. There also didn't seem to be a good, true jamband blog, so I figured I'd see if I couldn't start one up. So that's what you'll find here. Just some kickin' jams from the kings, queens, knights, rooks, and anyone else who I deem to fall into the jamband genre. Usually the links will be from live shows, and more often than not, you'll be able to find the show here to download the full show.

So without furthur adieu...Ladies and gentlemen, my first post.

"Freedom" - Tea Leaf Green, Petaluma, CA 3/11/05

A killer song from a killer band. Mark my words now: Forget Umphrey's McGee. Their stuff is just too proggy for the mainstream. Tea Leaf Green is poised to hit it bigger than anyone else currently on the scene. TLG has the songs, the jams, the stage presence, and the overall vibe that Phish had at their age.