A couple weeks back, a new iPhone app called Music Archive was released on the iTunes App Store that streams concert recordings from the Live Music Archive. I was pretty excited to see this at that time, and I know that many of our readers will also be interested in this app if they haven’t already heard about it.

I’ve not yet posted about it because I decided that I wanted to dig a bit deeper into its development. One of the things that struck me was that the developers are offering it as a paid app, but what they’re tapping into is a database of non-commercial content offered by a non-profit organization (archive.org). Not only that, when I first checked it out, I noticed that they hadn’t directly addressed the issue on their website or in the iTunes store. As such, I not only wanted to get a bit more background on how the project came together, but I also wanted to explore some of the underlying issues related to using the LMA’s non-commercial content for a more commercial enterprise like an iTunes app.

Since reaching out the developers — Josh Bergen and Brett Erpel — they not only answered some of my questions but they also gave me a free demo copy of the app. I’ve had a few days to give it a test-run. Although it isn’t perfect, it nicely taps into the LMA’s database of available MP3s and puts them at your fingertips with a slick interface. It’s pretty damn cool to have so many concert recordings at your fingertips. I’m sure they’ll continue to make useful tweaks and nicely improve the app in future versions.

Of course, we also had a nice interview-style exchange about the Music Archive app, which I’ve included it below:

Whit: How’d the Music Archive project start? How long has it been in the making?

Brett: Ever since getting a MacBook Pro I’ve wanted to make an iPhone application. I just never had a good idea that I could be passionate about. That all changed when I flew to Philly for a road trip with my brother to see Phish at Jones Beach in New York. We started talking about iPhone applications and he asked me what audio applications were in the app store. As I was checking he ask if there was one that could stream shows from archive.org. There wasn’t! My brother said he could see the light switch flip in my head. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of the idea especially since half the space on my phone was devoted to Brothers Past, STS9 and The New Deal shows I had downloaded from the LMA.

Once I returned to Florida I knew I needed someone to help me out with the heavier programming and that person was Josh. It didn’t hurt that he also had a Mac and is a closet hippy. We started working on Music Archive around July of ‘09.

Whit: I believe you guys said you did NOT work directly with anyone at the LMA. If that’s the case, how’d you get started?

Brett: Correct, we have not worked directly with anyone at the LMA. I did submit a question to the forum asking if there was a way in the advanced search to return a list of bands that had mp3 available shows (there isn’t that we know of). This was our first time writing Objective-C so a lot of the process was test and go, test and go until we got it right. It was definitely a learning experience.

Whit: Can you describe the technology behind the Music Archive? How does it work? RSS/XML?

Josh: Version 1.0/1 of Music Archive was built by parsing the xml/html directly from Archive.org’s site. 1.0/1 are using a dom style xml parser. It has proven slow and cumbersome. 2.0 will most likely be consuming JSON using a streaming sax parser.

MW: What has been the biggest hurdle in developing Music Archive?

Josh: The lack of an API for archive.org and the amount of data available. The iPhone and even worse the iTouch has a hard time parsing this much data. We’ve done a lot to try to alleviate the problems associated with this. In 2.0 we are going even further to make the user experience awesome.

Brett: For me personally it was getting use to an Object Oriented Programming language again. And all the intricacies of the syntax.

Whit: What do you have planned for future versions or additional features?

Josh: We have TONS of ideas! We are focusing on the features that people have directly requested: better searching/filter, pagination, faster results, viewing reviews and more.

Brett: And maybe some fun things like shake your iPhone for a random band, show or song!

Whit: What kind of reaction have you seen thus far? All positive? Any negative?

Brett: The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. Apparently a lot of people have been waiting for an application like this. The LMA is, after all, a huge untapped resource.

Nothing has been too negative. I have seen a few forum posts where people have said we are going to get shut down. And on the app store we’ve got five 1 star ratings from people having issues with the initial load which was due to having a poor network connection. One user, mikedeezenuteez, suggested that people spend their two dollars on a “heady veggie burrito instead”. This issue has been since been fixed and I hope mikedeezenuteez has gotten Music Archive to work.

Whit: I’m sure you’re aware that the LMA is a non-profit entity and all of the audio hosted there is trade-friendly specifically because it is non-commercial. While it’s understandable that you’d have to cover the costs of developing and launching the app, do you see any ethical issues offering a paid app that taps into non-commercial audio?

Brett: I can see how people could perceive there being ethical issues, but the way I see it is people are paying for a user interface that is easy to navigate and easy to find what you want. We stress that all the LMA’s content is available through any browser for streaming (including Safari on the iPhone) and that all content can be downloaded and synced to the iPhone for free.

Whit: Do you plan to address this at all on the app’s website or iTunes page?

Brett: We’ve updated our disclaimer on our website to better define what the user is actually purchasing when they buy Music Archive.

Whit: Do you think fans or bands might react negatively because of this?

Brett: The general feeling I’ve gotten from fans is that two dollars is well worth it to have this much music easily available. I really can’t speak from a bands perspective but I think Music Archive will actually help them in the long run. Having all this music instantly available to me where ever and whenever has helped me branch out and start searching for more bands I might like. And I hope other fans will feel this way giving more exposure to all bands on Archive.org.

Whit: Anything else you’d like to tell us about the Music Archive app?

Brett: Just that we’re thankful to everyone who has purchase our application. Josh and I both feel terrible when someone feels like they haven’t gotten their money’s worth. We are going to keep updating Music Archive until it is perfect. So, please keep sending in your questions, comments and ideas.

Go see live music!

~~~

First of all, a big thank-you to Brett and Josh for taking the time to answer all of our questions (and, of course, for the free app!). If you’re already sold on the Music Archive app, you can go and grab it from the iTunes App Store for $1.99.

Although it was exciting to hear about the launch of this app and even more exciting to think about the potential for future developments similar to it, I’m still a bit torn on the ethical side of offering this up as a paid iPhone app. If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you’ll know my background is on the geekier side of the tape-trading scene (hell, I wrote a friggin’ Master’s Thesis on the topic). Non-commercial tapers and file-traders/downloaders have always been allowed to openly trade and share music, specifically because it was/is a non-commercial enterprise. From the early days of the Grateful Dead taping trees to today’s sites like the Internet Archive and etree.org, the mission has always been about helping spread the music to other potential fans.

I do not doubt Brett and Josh’s intentions on this, as they seem like really solid guys who love live music and strongly support the Live Music Archive. In a sense, their argument regarding what it is you’re actually “buying” when you grab this app is pretty solid. These guys are offering a technology service and they need to cover their development and operational costs. It’s not cheap to develop this kind of technology or to deal with the cumbersome requirements and approvals process for Apple’s app store. In another sense, they could make the argument that building this app on top of the Live Music Archive is kind of like a community service. So, depending on their approach and the way they treat any future revenue, it might be considered an extension of the original tape-trader ethos.

But I’m not sure all bands, band managers, tapers, and tape-traders will agree. Despite the positive feedback the developers have received and their explanations above, it’s ultimately the bands and the tapers that get the final say on this. In fact, I specifically talked to a friend involved with one of the larger artists whose concert recordings are hosted on the LMA. He was ardently opposed to any commercial activity being associated with his artist’s presence there, yet he strongly supports the LMA in its current form. For now, he’s taking a wait-and-see approach, but he seemed firm that this kind of thing should not be allowed.

Overall, I feel like the ethics of this are still wide open for discussion. and if you dig deeper, it’s not all that difficult to come up with a number of unanswered questions:

• Are applications like this legal? Do they even comply with the LMA’s terms of service?
• What if one band wants to allow their music to be available on the Archive but NOT for the iPhone app?
• What kinds of services or apps are allowed to utilize the LMA’s content to make money?
• Aside from the legal questions, is it even ethical to make even one cent from the LMA?

I don’t think the answers from fans, bands, managers, or even tapers would be at all consistent across the board on this issue. And I don’t think Josh or Brett really need to be the ones to delve into this detail. Plus, if this app doesn’t lead to any significant downloads, it may never even become an issue.

While I may seem to be harping on this topic a bit, I’m actually less concerned with this specific application and more interested about the general idea of building apps and services on top of the Internet Archive. I actually thought of this same idea almost a year ago (albeit from a slightly different perspective). I say that not to boast, but just to acknowledge that there are likely to be plenty of other music geeks thinking about applications and extensions of the Live Music Archive.

The most important question to me is what happens if more developers continue to build off the LMA? Will the folks at the Archive need to clarify what can/can’t be done with the content that is hosted there? If it’s a totally open playing field, than there are all sorts of potential developments that might come out of it. But without getting any consent or direction from someone at Archive.org, it’s still hanging out there as an unknown. We’ll definitely keep an eye out to see how this one develops, but let us know what you think in the comments section.

Related posts:

• JamBase iPhone App v2 Released
• The Dead Release The Dead Tour 2009 All Access iPhone / iPod Touch App
• Live Music Blog.com on Your iPhone!

We Need a High-Quality Paid Webcast for Phish Concerts

After witnessing the evolving and ever-expanding online activity surrounding Phish’s recent reunion tour, I’m now thoroughly convinced that the Phish fan base is primed and ready for a high-quality and paid live video stream for the band’s next tour. If done properly and in innovative Phish fashion, it could create an untapped revenue stream for the band while allowing more Phish fans to engage with the band’s music – in particular those fans that can’t make it out to every show on tour.

Given the band’s recent history of wanting to scale down their in-house operations, I could see why you might think that a large-scale paid webcast would not be worth the large investment and effort it most certainly would require. But it’d be wrong to think so. There are some very compelling reasons why this should happen now and why Phish is the band to do it.

Phish, Red Light Management, please hear us out. We’ve really thought this one through…

Phish Fans Are Primed, Hungry and Creating Their Own Options
The key here is that this new viewing option would serve the fans who are not at the show, but who are just as engaged in the online coverage and setlist updates happening around the show.

I really think something special happened with all the online coverage and activity that emerged this Spring/Summer when he band reunited and did a full summer tour. From the initial reunion shows at Hampton in March through to the days/weeks following the band’s final show at SPAC, we saw numerous new sites spring up that helped feed into the online scene following the band on each night of the tour. In this day of Facebook, Twitter and social media mash-ups, Phish fans have really stepped up their game from the likes of PhantasyTour and Phish.net. We’ve taken advantage of all the technology and social media tools available to us and created some new online spaces for fans to congregate and dig into the band’s activity. Here are just a few of the new online options that recently sprouted up in honor of Phish’s reunion:

Phish Social Media Mash-ups:
Jamtopia’s PhishTwit
PhishTube
Hoodstream
PhuTube
JamBase’s Summer Tour site

Phish blogs:
Mr Miner’s Phish Thoughts
YEMblog
Dog Gone Blog

And of course, Phish’s own 3.0 coverage:
Phish on Twitter
Phish on Flickr

Plus with YouTube, Vimeo and a number of other online video sites, Phish fans have tons of options for online videos from the band’s summer tour. In fact, the Ustream mash-ups above — Phishtube and Hoodstream — are prime examples of why the band really needs to consider offering webcasts…if they don’t fans will continue to figure out ways to do it themselves (albeit with much lower quality of video and audio).

Either way, I think it’s clear that Phish fans are very hungry for more online media to consume. And, while the band’s own online coverage has been stellar thus far, nothing can really compare to high-quality live video from the show itself.

The Precedent Has Already Been Set…By Phish!
Some folks out there may have missed or just forgotten the Summer of 2004 (I wouldn’t blame you if you did or if you wanted to). While I remember some great shows from Alpine Valley, I also vividly remember heading out to some random Cineplex in the Northern Burbs of Chicago to attend a Phish Simulcast from the band’s Brooklyn show at Keyspan Park. If Phish can get a bunch of random heads to congregate into shitty suburban multiplexes at $15-20/head (price?), you’d think it’d be pretty easy to amass a much larger audience online.

Also, although the band has already set their own precedent with these cinematic simulcasts, over the past five years since then, we’ve seen a much wider expansion of concert and festival webcasts from sites like iClips.net, AT&T’s Blueroom, and most recently from larger online video sites like Hulu and YouTube.

An Untapped Market and An Evolving Fan Base
We all know the band has an enormous and insatiable fan following, with fans willing to travel the ends of the earth to see this band live. But what about the hordes of fans who DON’T get to every show? I had friends who hit every show on the West Coast this summer, but for various (and obvious) reasons, they didn’t hit any of the shows on the East Coast. Not just that, but what about fans who have kids or demanding jobs and can’t really pull off going to a show on a random Tuesday these days? Let’s face it, Phish’s fans have gotten older. And more and more, there will be fans that can no longer consistently go on the road for entire tours or even do multi-night runs of shows. Not only that, but what about the fans who simply aren’t able to afford or obtain tickets to a sold out show?

Instead of losing these folks out to PhishTube or having them spend the show watching setlist updates on Twitter, why not give them another option? All of these extra fans make up an untapped market of fans for each concert on the bands tour. Some of these fans may not be so rabid as to completely reorganize their lives around the band’s tour schedule, but they’re still engaged and they’d certainly be willing to drop some cash on a high-quality video stream.

Webcasts Could Be Bigger, Better and More Scalable
Simulcasts are so web 1.0…brah. The cinematic simulcasts were cool and all, but an online stream could potentially be so much better (more on this below). More importantly, the simulcasts were limited. They were only available in certain theaters, to a limited number of fans, and only so many fans were willing to make the trek to the local Cineplex.

And here’s where the webcast option really opens things up….it provides scale. The only limits are bandwidth and what fans are willing to pay. Plus, it’s potentially a much more direct source of revenue for the band than anything involving a few movie theatres throughout the country.

Watch Phish Live From Your Living Room
If fans are willing to congregate at their local cineplexes to pay for a concert webcast in a movie theater, putting that stream into their homes should really be the next logical step. Once you give these fans an high-quality option to watch a show from the comfort of their own homes, the possibilities expand dramatically. Just imagine the potential for “webcast viewing parties!” Hell, the band could play into it by running a contest to encourage and sponsor viewing parties throughout the country.

Features, Logistics and Other Considerations:
Of course, if you’re going to do this, you’ve got to do it right. In order to do this in fine Phish fashion it would need to include something a bit more innovative. A few thoughts:

How About Multiple Viewing Options?
I have no idea if this has ever been offered in a webcast, but it certainly should be. Instead of just providing a single view, why not give fans alternate viewing options? Give fans the ability to select different vantage points or camera angles, so they can better customize their viewing experience. Can you imagine it?

A couple quick scenarios:
–”Dude, wow, Mike is laying down a seriously funky groove, switch over so we can watch him”
–”Wait, which pedal is Trey using to get that weird “whale call” sound? Oh, it’s that Whammy pedal thing. Cool.”
–”I wonder what the band gets to see while they’re rockin’ out?? Switch to the cam behind them….sweet!”

And on and on.

Include Social Media to Bring the Online and In-Venue Worlds One Step Closer
Of course, in this day and age of social media this and twitter that, you’ve got to integrate some social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, so fans can easily link to their status updates and spread the streaming links/commentary out to the rest of the web. At this point, that’s probably a bit of a no-brainer. But how it could play out during the show makes it a bit more interesting. This is because it creates two distinct audiences watching the show, with everyone having the ability to update their social net statuses in real-time, while watching the concert. While much of this is activity is already taking place, adding the webcast in the mix exponentially expands the audience that’s commenting while they’re actually watching the show.

Offer An “All in Pass”
You want to really feed the obsessive fan? Why not offer an “all-in” pass for the entire tour of webcasts or other related packages? It’s not like there’s limited space in the Pavilion for the at-home viewers. Let us subscribe to a high-quality stream at a decent price and many of us will go all in. Oh, and we’ll probably buy other shit too (digital downloads, merch, etc…).

Okay, Those Are the Pros, But What Are the Cons?
Given all of the compelling reasons I’ve laid out above, I think the final question is what are some reasons not to do it? Here are some possible considerations:

Wouldn’t It Hurt Ticket Sales?
I could definitely see some promoters and managers throwing this one out there: “Won’t it cannibalize ticket sales?” For some other band, this could potentially happen. But for Phish, this is nonsense. For Phish fans, nothing compares to being at the live show. Although a high-quality webcast might be the next best thing, it would never replace the show as the one true way to enjoy this band in its element. As such, I firmly believe the fan base is ready and willing to pay for this, and that offering it will not affect concert ticket sales in the slightest.

It’s Already in the Works
Of course, one possibility is that you guys already have a webcast in the works and nobody outside of Phish and Red Light knows about it. We’ve heard a rumor of a webcast for Festival 8, but we’ve not seen anything official just yet. Until we do, I’m going to keep pushing on this.

It’s Too Big an Operation for the Smaller Phish Organization of 2009
As many of us know, one of the reasons that led to the band’s downfall in ‘04 was the sheer weight and largess of the overall Phish organization. Thus, it’s very possible the band just simply does not want to create another large line of business requiring more overhead, effort, and attention. But it doesn’t have to be handled that way.

Logistics and Possible Partners
The costs and logistics for a concert webcast are no small consideration. Although I know Phish could pull off a solid in-house operation, it might make sense to consider a partner for the technology and logistical issues. Luckily there are some good options:

iClips.net is already successfully running concert and festival streams. Although the site is still building up its audience and its technical capabilities, it had a big summer, covering a number of major U.S. music festivals, including All Points West, Lollapalooza, Mile High, Rothbury and Virgin Fest, among others.

YouTube
With its very recent forays into live webcasts, YouTube might serve as a larger, more substantial option for partnership.

Hulu
Hulu is another major partner that could take on a band like Phish for webcasts. Although their most recent webcast was actually a syndication of the iClips stream, they could definitely provide a much larger broadcast platform for the band and its fans.

Sponsor It
Given the potential size of this online audience, the opportunities to include online sponsors are also good. Potential sponsors might include companies like Netflix or Amazon (with their new Boxee app), that are trying to connect streaming web video to the living room TV set. They could promote and educate consumers on connecting their HD TV to their computer’s live stream, while sponsoring the contest above. Of course, although Phish wouldn’t necessarily need a sponsor. It just might be a good partnership to help spread out the costs and generate a bit more of a promotional push.

Ultimately, whether or not there’s a partner involved wouldn’t make that much of a difference to fans. We just want more Phish. And that really should be the bottom line for the band and management.

To re-cap:

• It’s a win win, creating a new stream of revenue and expanding the possible market for the band’s music.
• It feeds the obsession, giving fans yet another way to connect to the band’s live show.
• If created in innovative fashion, it could push the envelope and redefine the live concert experience.
• If there is any band that can pull this off, it is Phish.

So…Mr. Capshaw, Mr. Coulton, Trey, Mike, Page, Fish, and everyone else in the current Phish organization, what do you think? Can we make this happen?

Warmest Regards,

Sir Marcus Whitperson, Esq.
Lead Webcast Evangelationist

Related posts:

• An Open Letter to Phish
• Briefly: Phish @ Red Rocks, 7/30/09
• Friday Open Thread

Over the past few years, as this whole web 2.0 thing has really grown and progressed, we’ve seen a number of new sites launch that are specifically geared towards live music fans on the web. In a sense, all of them exist to help fans track and follow their favorite touring bands/artists in a variety of ways, but with a focus on their live shows rather than their studio output (which is amply covered by a slew of Music 2.0 sites and services).

While a lot of these sites have not yet emerged into the larger music business landscape, there’s no doubt in my mind that web technologies in general will continue to affect and disrupt the live music space, as they’ve already been doing quite drastically with the recording industry. Back when I was able to dedicate more of my free time to Live Music Blog, I was really interested in exploring this space in depth. Although Justin and I have occasionally posted about some of these sites — mentioning iLike.com and ShowClix or talking up the latest feature from JamBase — we’ve never really focused on them directly as a key topic. We’d like to change that. Since we are a site dedicated to live music, it only makes sense to look at the related web services and sites that serve all of US as a community of fans. I’d like to finally re-visit my original idea and dig a bit deeper into all the sites and services that form what we call “Live Music 2.0.”

In exploring the Live Music 2.0 landscape, we want to look at what all these sites are offering — or, in some case, what they’re not offering — and to try to get a sense for which ones our readers and live music fans in general actually use. We’d like to specifically dig down into some of the individual sites, point out new features, and look at the area where these companies can be most innovative. Also, where possible, I’d like to talk directly with site owners/founders to get some information straight from the source. Most importantly though, we want user feedback. I really want to know if anyone else out there is really using these sites for tracking their favorite bands. Have these sites really started to seep out into the masses of concert fans? Do live music fans even really know they exist? Am I only into this kind of stuff because I’m a live music web nerd? We’ll see.

In one sense, this is mainly an administrative note about a new site topic. But it’s also an intro to the overall concept to give a sense for what we’re actually referring to with the Live Music 2.0 label. Although the term can apply to a large swath of companies in the online space, the sites we are currently interested in exploring typically offer some kind of combination of the following:

Tour Dates and Tracking
• Ways to track your favorite bands’ tour dates and your personal live music calendar

Social/Sharing Features
• Integration with Twitter & Facebook, iCal, email alerts, RSS
• Widgets for listing on blogs, sites, and social networks

Favorite Artists and Import Options
• Ways to Import your favorite artists (upload your iTunes library, link to Last.fm profiles)

Portability
• iPhone and other mobile apps
• Widgets and calendar display

Ticketing
• Links to third-party ticketing services
• Their own ticketing options/outlets

Streaming Music and Artist Info
• Basic bio about artist/bands
• Streaming music and video(like more traditional Music 2.0 sites imeem, myspace, spotify etc…)
• Links back to artist pages, merch, music samples, etc…

Concert-Specific, Archival Content
• Setlists, Photos, Reviews, and other archival info
• Webcasts, live streams, and live downloads

Considering that Live Music 2.0 is a fairly niche concept, the large number of start-ups in this space is actually pretty staggering. I put together a quick-list below just to offer some examples:

• Bandsintown
• BlueHaze
• JamBase
• iLike
• Livekick
• Mojam / Wolfgang’s Vault
• ShowClix
• Songkick
• SonicLiving
• SuperGlued
• TourVolume

The above list by no means includes all of the sites that fall under the larger Live Music 2.0 umbrella. But what’s interesting is that while some sites have been around for more than a few years, we continue to see new/similar offerings popping up every six months or so. In fact, just today I learned about another new site called: Gigulate. Although I definitely think the concept of Live Music 2.0 is here to stay, I really don’t see how this many different players can exist in the same space for very long.

All of the above is really just a primer about the overall space and concept of Live Music 2.0. In future posts, we’ll dig into more specifics and see how the overall space is developing. But if you have any general comments about the sites you’d like to see us cover or about the overall space, be sure to add your comments below.

Much more to follow…

Related posts:

• Live Nation Goes Web 2.0
• Online Concert Scene Going Web 2.0 | Small Changes, Big Effects?
• download live music and concerts today

Editor’s note: obviously the news of Phish’s reunion announcement is burning up the internets and it’s starting to really inspire a lot of our readers and fans to send in thoughts on this momentous and epic occasion. Our buddy Andrew Justice down in Texas wrote this up and sent it my way.

With today’s great news about the Hampton shows, it’s once again an exciting time to be a Phish fan. I can hardly wait for the tour announcement, and in anticipation of renewing one of my favorite musical experiences, I have a few suggestions.

These are by no means intended to put constraints on the band (I think we all rather enjoy not knowing what’s going to happen when the lights go down), but rather observations based on eight years away from seeing a show, doing a lot of listening to all eras of shows, and my own personal opinions as a professional musician and admirer of the band’s musical communication and ensemble sound.

1. Rehearse – (and this is by no means sarcastic)
It is clear that, due to the heavy touring in the late 1990’s, band rehearsals became scarce and/or nonexistent. As expected, this eventually had an adverse effect on overall tightness and ensemble, and strikes me as contrary to one of the band’s central tenets from the beginning: to listen to each other. Since that goal was at the core of the Phish sound, it would seem vital to a successful reunion for both band and audience. Perhaps a return to (or creation of new) exercises like Including Your Own Hey or Zen Language Ball would be a good way to jump-start this. Either way, preparation cannot but make the new shows even more intense and enjoyable.

2. Consider returning to the old stage arrangement of Page-Trey-Mike-Fish
We know that 1999’s change to the lineup was an attempt to bring Fish more physically into the sound, but had the unfortunate effect of separating Trey from the rest of the band. The exchange of Mike for Trey after the hiatus seemed to solve some of those problems, yet the fact remains that the musical interaction never appeared to recover from the original change. The old lineup was not only distinctive, it also directed the sound in a fantastic way, with Page and Fish book-ending the guitars and creating a focused flow of music from the stage that I’ve never experienced anywhere else.

3. Take it [the touring] easy
We know that the band isn’t going to do something without being totally passionate about it, and that’s really fine with us. Speaking for myself, I’d rather hear a well-rested, balanced Phish than one who is touring too hard and putting pressure on themselves to deliver too much. Perhaps varying venues as well as schedules is one way to do this – after rereading The Phish Book and watching the Walnut Creek DVD recently, it’s clear the band really benefited from the Europe tours…and so did the audience. I don’t see why including smaller (or different) venues in the tour plans should create problems, especially if it has such a positive effect on the band’s sound.

I’d like to point out that these are all musician-functionality suggestions, i.e. they’re from the perspective of someone who hears something and directly relates to their own experience as a performer. I have specifically not touched on areas such as personal lives or the actual musical content (song-writing and styles), because those are the band’s own territories and the audience really has little to do with them. What’s important is the communication; what made Phish special was the way they connected, with each other and with the audience. These suggestions are directly related to that phenomenon, because it made seeing Phish an experience unlike any other, and I think there are a lot of people interested in revisiting that.

Otherwise, welcome back guys – I know it’s going to be insanely fun and totally worth the wait.

Related posts:

• Phish Friday: An Open Letter to Phish and Red Light Management
• Open Thread: Phish Fall Tour Opens Tonight
• An Open Letter to Chris Kuroda

About a month ago I realized that I had the opportunity to see over 20 bands in about the same number of nights; I figured it could be a cool little “feat of strength” while on vacation. But I ran into something much bigger and more powerful than myself: mother nature. The adventure came up five bands short but that’s the only thing that didn’t measure up. I spent a work-week in some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and just couldn’t pull myself away from the majesty of America’s Southwest in time to fulfill my endeavor.

I did see fifteen bands in eighteen days including an incredible festival day at Red Rocks and an amazing My Morning Jacket show at the Greek Theater in LA that wrapped up the whole trip. My companions and I missed a festival day at San Diego’s Street Scene but other than that the entire trip was a success. Read on for a little synopsis of the last half of 20 Bands, 20 Nights.

The last time you all heard from me was the Friday before the Monolith Festival. The next day I hopped on a plane to Denver then grabbed lunch before heading over to Red Rocks for the first time. The first day of Monolith was simply incredible; I caught six full sets and some tastes here and there.

Two definite highlights from the day were Holy Fuck in the late afternoon at the top of the venue and a killer White Denim show that was probably the highlight of the trip musically — photos and reviews forthcoming. Getting to see Red Rocks for the first time was special and I’m glad the music measured up to the greatness of that venue.

Sunday wasn’t as full of music as Saturday was but the final three shows at Monolith were pretty incredible. I parked myself at the mainstage from 7pm until midnight getting to see Band of Horses, TV on the Radio and Justice one after the other. Band of Horses was a perfect fit for watching the moon rise over Denver, they’re beginning to take advantage of their SC roots and play a real nice brand of alt-country.

As always, TV on the Radio killed and it seemed like most of the late Sunday crowd was there to see them. The new songs from the album played well intermixed with stuff from Cookie Mountain and Blood Thirsty Babies. Justice dropped the heat on a smallish crowd for a little over an hour and finished with an awesome “We Are Your Friends”; the crowd chanted the chorus for the entire walk to the car after the duo left the stage.

Early the next morning we cut loose from civilization and drove into the Rocky Mountains. About five or six hours later we arrived at Arches National park and stayed for two days in the middle of the wilderness. I still can’t get over the size and beauty of some of these places; if you’ve never been, get there.

The next two nights were spent on the banks of Lake Powell. Just as beautiful as the previous spot, it may have surpassed Arches only because we would wake up and jump in the lake in the morning to avoid the desert sun. The extended camping left us with a choice: we could spend the rest of the vacation in LA or split time between San Diego. We decided that LA would be an easier end to the trip and a more enjoyable Friday night so we cruised into the city of angels Friday afternoon and stayed the weekend.

It was tough to give up on this little undertaking but spending the day on the beach in Santa Monica was well worth it and being rested for an evening with My Morning Jacket was important. The Greek Theater is another really cool venue. Set up in the hills of LA, it is small and intimate. The sound is great and MMJ took full advantage. They played an amazing two and a half hour show and sealed themselves in my mind as the band of the moment. I’ve got some great photos and a review to follow but I’ve got to catch up on my life first so that’ll have to wait until next week. Until then…

Related posts:

• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | My End of Summer Music Tour
• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | Ten Days In…
• Monolith 2008 Recap: Day One Photos

Its Friday, ten days into my end of summer tour and I’m blurry eyed and a little hung-over from last night’s Black Moth Super Rainbow show, which started late and went well past my work-week bedtime. I am four bands down, sixteen to go. With a little help from the Monolith Festival I should be over half way point by Monday. Yet, I realized that I don’t want to think of this as a “task” or “race” after Justin’s realizations into his own relationship with live music yesterday.

This trip is going to be a great experience. That’s how I like to approach live music. Good or bad you are experiencing something that is genuine. Rare in today’s world. Last week I was really lucky to have a phenomenal ten days of music and the next ten hopefully will be better than the last. Follow the jump for one smooth week.

Though no traveling has come out of my experiment in quarter life stamina, I did see a few great bands here in Chicago and went to one amazing party. Though, I think my friend Chris had the best time — posing above. As with every great plan, there are changes, compromises and unexpectedness abound.

All three fell on my lap the first day of 20 Bands, 20 Nights. I was planning on seeing Andrew Bird over at Pritzker Pavilion but the weather wasn’t cooperating and midday a friend called and said he had tickets to Tributosaurus.

What or who is Tributosaurus, you ask? In their own words, “Tributosaurus are the civil war re-creationists of rock.” In english, it is a cover band made up of session musicians that cover a different band each month. They’ve recreated over 60 bands and this month just happened to be Hall and Oates. That’s all my buddy had to tell me; plan B initiated.

The fourteen piece band — yes, fourteen — killed all of Hall and Oates best tunes. This is no ordinary cover band, they are sharp and professional. A friend, Colby Baserra, even helped with vocals. I was definitely grooving to the smooth sounds of Philly’s favorite sons from start to finish.

The next night I went over to Park West in a veritable monsoon to see Mike Gordon’s “variety show.” It was all together a little strange but that’s what comes with the Cactus. I dig his newest sound and if I’m not mistaken it like he’s gearing up for a bigger more rock oriented tour with this old band he used to play with — what’s their name…oh yeah, Phish.

Saturday was definitely the highlight of my week. Stay Smooth X lived up to all of my expectations. I had the pleasure to hit the party with my girl and we cut it up on the dance floor at about 20% all night — stay smooth. The wig I was sporting unintentionally turned me into a B-list celebrity, which added to the fun. A big thanks to the Stay Smooth DJs for another glorious night of smooth music.

After a long Sunday of watching the first week of the NFL, I met up with Mitch at Martyrs for the Benevento/Russo Duo. The Duo, as always, put on a rocking show complete with some new tunes. They never fail to impress. Russo is a machine and Marco fills every open space with music. Can’t wait for Mitch’s review with photos from your truly.

The final show on this half was the aforementioned Black Moth Super Rainbow show at the Empty Bottle. First time seeing the experimental band from Pittsburgh and it won’t be the last. They kill it. I was floored from start to finish. The numerous sounds meld together so well — but more on them later. I’m off to Denver tomorrow for the Monolith Festival and will keep everyone posted with photos and then a review later next week.

Related posts:

• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | Tired and Five Bands Short
• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | My End of Summer Music Tour
• Tomorrow: Stay Smooth X @ Columbia Yacht Club | Preview, Interview

Sometimes it’s a hard thing for someone to admit that they’re a little burnt out. It’s not really socially acceptable or professionally acceptable, because the notion of realizing that someone is burnt out should come with an equal realization that a person has likely put themselves in the situations that they’re experiencing the burnout from.

See, all of a sudden I realized that I may be a little burnt out on the whole live music scene. Over the past year I’ve gone to see a bunch of shows that I never really ended up writing about, and as of late I’ve been a bit more critical in my approach to seeing shows and it’s taken a bit of the fun out of it for me. With the exception of seeing !!! (Chk Chk Chk), I’m not sure any concert has fully excited me lately. Outside Lands was pretty exciting, too, I guess. I just started to feel “over it.” I think I was just overexposing myself to it.

I went to see Built to Spill on Tuesday night at Slim’s, mostly on a whim when I knew a friend of mine had an extra. I had heard enough of their music (I thought) to know I would like to see what they do live, but after seeing a marginally interesting but mostly boring noise-rock opener — Quasi (with the drummer from Sleater-Kinney) — my patience for taking in live music for the uninitiated had mostly run out. I stayed for maybe half the set and just took off. Then last night, right before heading out to see The Bad Plus, I realized that I really did not need to go see The Bad Plus again after seeing them a few months ago right here in San Fran. I asked myself if I thought it would have the same feeling or even the emotional effect that I hoped to get out of a concert experience, and the answer became immediately clear to me — “No, it probably wouldn’t. Maybe it would, especially if they played “Tom Sawyer,” but it probably wouldn’t.” So I opted to skip the show. GG Justin’s brain.

I’m taking this as a sign for me to slow down a bit. Plus, I think it’s just a good excuse for me to get more involved with the actual publishing side of the house again instead of trying to live my life like a live music junkie. The problem with being a junkie is that you’ve always got to feed the monkey. I’ve hit my rock bottom. I need help, people! I want to want to love live music again, just like the 15 year old kid that used to catch rides with his older friends to Fireside Bowl to see bands like The Vandals and Earth Crisis. I want to stop being such a critic and I want to make this site all about having fun again. And so it goes on living and learning and cultural burnout and blah blah and blah…

Expect to see some great updates on the site over the next month or so as I let my attention shift back to being the man behind the scenes. I may not see you in the beer line as frequently, but you can always find me right here at Live Music Blog. Thanks for continuing to hang out with me.

Very sincerely,
Justin

Related posts:

• From the Editor: Take II, The Other Guy
• From the Editor: To the Future!
• From the Editor: Sorry ‘Bout That

It’s finally here! Stay Smooth X is finally here! The smooth music themed party is taking place on Saturday at Chicago’s Columbia Yacht Club on a boat! Inspired by the now infamous Yacht Rock web-based TV show, Stay Smooth is a party celebrating all that is smooth in music. You see, there was a time when Captain’s hats, dark rum and smooth music reigned supreme. And this Saturday night, we celebrate these times.

A few of you may be thinking, “Yeah, I’ve been to a Jimmy Buffet concert,” but you should bite your tongue. Buffet is mellow — maybe even kinda shitty — but definitely not smooth. Smooth is the color of Michael McDonald’s silver hair and the lush tones of his voice. Smooth is Donald Fagen wearing sunglasses, sneakers and a suit. Smooth is John Oates’ mustache. Smooth is Kenny Loggins.

The parties were created and are thrown by DJ’s Bald Eagle of the Life During Wartime dance parties and STV SLV of the The Hood Internet. I recently got in touch with Steve Reidell (a.k.a. DJ STV SLV) to ask a few questions about the party, his love of smooth music and other random stuff that I wanted to know. Read on for the interview.

Stay Smooth X will run you $40 for four hours of smooth music, three hours of open bar — and did we mention it’s on a boat? You can get your tickets right here.

When Steve is not ironing out the wrinkles of the music world, he is one half of the mash-up duo known as The Hood Internet. The group plays a bunch of parties here in Chicago year round and will be at the Monolith Festival next weekend. Stay Smooth X: Overboard! was really the focus but I couldn’t help ask about all the projects and some personal stuff, too.

First CD, tape, record?

CD: The Police Every Breath You Take – The Singles (1¢ via BMG Music Service)
Tape: AC/DC The Razor’s Edge
Record: probably “We Are The World” on 45

What’s your favorite live music venue and city to play?

Chicago is my city (on the real), and there’s so many good places here it’s hard to choose. Stay Smooth got started at Schubas, so let’s just go with that one.

Last show you attended other than one of your own?

I saw Radiohead at this year’s Lollapalooza.

Most memorable concert moment, either playing or attending or both?

Daft Punk at last year’s Lollapalooza was pretty spiritual, as was Broken Social Scene there the year before. It seems like I keep talking about Lollapalooza, which is weird because I totally prefer small venues to large festivals.

Worst concert moment?

My band in college played in Portland to a crowd of 0 people.

The Hood Internet has been gaining steam this year, playing SXSW and now Monolith on top of dates here in Chicago. What do you see as the main engine behind the growing success?

The actual Internet.

Mash-ups are an interesting branch of production, are they here to stay or a fad?

Fad. I mean — people like Steinski and Clubhouse have been on this kind of idea since the 80s, and people like Girl Talk are destroying the notions of what a mashup is and/or can be, but in terms of just A+B style mashups, people aren’t gonna be interested in those forever.

Do you credit Aerosmith with inventing mash-ups? Or Run- DMC?

Neither, though I do think they invented the idea of rap-rock, which was improved upon by the Judgment Night soundtrack, then totally destroyed by shit like Limp Bizkit et al.

You’ve played in live bands and as a DJ, which do you prefer when it comes to the live setting?

Getting a dancefloor moving is pretty fun, but I personally think there’s something far more gratifying and exhilarating about playing guitar.

How did the Stay Smooth DJ’s come about? Did the idea for the party drive the project or was it the music?

We were largely inspired by the Yacht Rock series and the music from it.

What, in your opinion, is it about smooth music that’s so appealing?

Michael McDonald’s background vocals (applies to most smooth music).

Favorite band from the era?

I’d have to go with the Dan.

Did you see Steely Dan this summer?

Didn’t see thiem this summer but caught them two summers ago when Michael McDonald opened — and did background vocals with Steely Dan for a handful of songs.

Who is the face of smooth music?

Hollywood Steve.

What one song incapsulates what you do as the Stay Smooth DJs?

Loggins/McDonald “This Is It”

This is the tenth installment of Stay Smooth, do you expect a record crowd, anything crazy planned?

Record crowd, hopefully. In terms of planning crazy things, are you aware this particular edition of Stay Smooth is on a motherfucking BOAT?

Which of the previous nine do you look back on most fondly?

Stay Smooth III: Camp Smoothatonka.

Should everyone dress up? Sailor hats, late seventies garb?

Absolutely. Our usual suggested code is as follows: “captain’s hats, jean shorts, short shorts, sailor shirts, knee high socks, friendship bracelets, sunglasses, beards and staches, feathered hair, chest hair and flip flops.”

On a scale of 1 to 10 – how smooth is Michael McDonald?

10.

On a scale of 1 to Michael McDonald – how smooth are you?

Background vocals.

What do you say when people ask you if this is a joke?

“Your face is a joke.”

What would you say if I told you that on Sunday morning I will have seen two Hall & Oates cover bands this week?

You’re having the BEST WEEK EVER!

If you could be a member of one of the bands you cover, who would it be? Why?

Steely Dan. Walter Becker or Donald Fagen, man, they totally get it, man.

For our readers who don’t happen to be familiar with the genius of smooth music what are five essential songs to get them acquainted?

See our Smooth Top 10 on this Time Out article.

Stay Smooth X: Overboard!
7pm – 11pm $40
Columbia Yacht Club
111 N Lake Shore Dr

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• Lollapalooza to Stay in Chicago for Five Years
• Preview: Brothers Past at Bowery Ballroom Tomorrow
• Monolith 2008 | Festival Preview

A month or two ago, I wrote a column forecasting some of the changes in the current state of live music and the path the industry may take over the next year or two in natural response to the current state of the overarching music industry. In it, I claimed that touring out West could become too expensive and difficult for some bands, relegating groups to regional tours only (at best). Against my own advice — or soothsaying — I am about to embark on a roadtrip through America’s Southwest, complete with a number of live music dates thrown in the mix. Over the course of approximately 20 days, I will see over 20 bands and try not to burn myself out while on vacation.

I’ll warm up my rock and roll legs here in Chicago where I have a “solid fan base,” catching five or six shows up through next weekend. I imagine this is what a smart band would do before a major tour; try and make some quick money with as little cost to the group as possible. Then next weekend, “the band” (me and my three buddies) will meet in Denver for the Monolith Festival. After a weekend of too much of everything, we’ll get in a rented SUV and start driving across the southwestern part of the U.S. Again, we are doing this trip with the rock dream in mind, which will definitely result in us driving long distances and not sleeping enough.

The “tour” ends in the great city of Los Angeles, a place where dreams are made. The final outing will be a glorious My Morning Jacket concert at the infamous Greek Theater on a lazy Sunday night. Who else am I going to see, you ask?

Here are the lucky twenty. And I must say, if this were its own festival and I was copying the lineup, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

Andrew’s End of Summer Music Tour:

Andrew Bird, Mike Gordon, Benevento/Russo Duo, Lymbyc Systym, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Vampire Weekend, Cut Copy, Foals, Atmosphere, Holy Fuck, White Denim, Justice, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, The National, Spiritualized, STS9, Cold War Kids, Man Man, and finally My Morning Jacket.

Related posts:

• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | Tired and Five Bands Short
• 20 Bands, 20 Nights | Ten Days In…
• Do Great Live Bands Need an Album to Tour?

There’s been an interesting story coming out of Canada over the last few days and it is unfortunately negative news for a lot of touring bands that come from the great white north. PromArt is a funding program for artists who seek to share their form in the international community with the purpose of spreading Canada’s culture across the globe. It offsets costs of touring internationally and a notable recipient was Holy Fuck in 2006 who used the grant to tour in the U.K. The band is now being named in press releases by the government explaining the reasons behind the retrenchment.

The program, which has helped give us a lot of great bands from Canada, was recently cut by the Conservative Tory government. In addition to the $4.7M PromArt program, a $9M program called Trade Routes was cut as well. Trade Routes funded cultural entrepreneurs who sought to develop export strategies for Canadian arts. Both of these pull backs are harmful to the entire arts community in Canada but is woeful because it sets a precedent of de-facto censorship and puts our neighbors to the north on a slippery slope.

Canada’s Leader Post covered the story well with some interesting quotes from an anonymous government official. In one notable instance he rationalizes the cutback, “I think there’s a reasonable expectation by taxpayers that they won’t fund the world travel of wealthy rock stars, ideological activists or fringe and alternative groups.”

Wealthy rock stars aside, it is fringe groups and ideological activists that help to promote new thought and keep the rest of society from falling into the monotony of state sponsorship. Free societies should have these devices as their disposal and Canada was progressive to fund them with government money. But now, arguments coming from the government seem to be entirely based upon the fact that the artists are outside of their notion of mainstream art. That is entirely disappointing.

From an economic perspective the funds helped Canadian artist compete on an international stage, which generated revenues for the country’s entertainment industry and most likely the country as a whole. From my musical point of view Canada was competing on a grand scale. The list of successful Canadian bands is presently great and their artistic credibility is deep. Though now, the spigot may have been turned off. The music industry, which is suffering generally, took a blow from this move by Canada.

For more information on this story check out some of these article and editorials:

Tories to cancel PromArt – Leader Post
End of Trade Routes and PromArt – CIRPA
Public Funds Take a Hit – Coolfer
Don’t Blame Us – CBC News

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• Cut Copy, The Black Kids @ Abbey Pub, Chicago 05/07/08
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