Long-time readers of the site might have noticed that we have brought back one of our favorite columns, Phish Friday, with a renewed vigor and a set of contributors that clearly possess more knowledge on those nerdy cats from Vermont than I ever could given that I saw my first show in 1999. My buddies have simply had enough of the column being dead and unhonored, especially considering Phish has returned to the road in 2010 with a renewed vigor that nobody could have ever anticipated. (Note: wishful thinking for a return to form and experimentation and “bust-outs” does not count as suspicions or hypotheses confirmed. I’ll venture to guess nobody called a “Fuck Your Face” ANYWHERE before this tour started. I digress.)
So with this return to form, my friends took me to task and came up with a list of 14 shows that I needed to hear before the start of the second leg of the summer tour, three shows at the Greek Theater right across the Bay. So far, these are the only shows I have booked for the year and I’m anxiously awaiting some news further confirming the Halloween run out East so I can get booking and saving my money. But I was fortunate last year having caught the major runs that actually mattered to people and the band, like four nights at Red Rocks plus two nights at the Gorge plus three nights in Indio for Halloween, so I’m still pretty happy with the idea that I managed to snag mailorders to the only three shows I could feasibly attend this year given a lack of funds and time.
And what a party it’s going to be! We have crews upon crews of Phish fans descending on the Bay Area this weekend and it’s going to be an absolute madhouse. I’m hoping to meet and hang with our friends from Coventry Music, and I’m checking in with the This Week on Lot crew tomorrow for a chat about the shows. Screw Shark Week, this is GREEK WEEK, baby. READ MORE
I’m working on my review from last night’s Primus show, and I just stumbled upon the explanation for why we got such an intimate, club show ahead of the Primus summer tour with Gogol Bordello. Turns out that Les and Larry have already put the finishing touches on New Year’s Eve plans in the Bay Area, with a two-night run set for the Fox Theater in Oakland.
Q: Why aren’t you bringing the show to San Francisco, which is basically the hub of all freaks?
A: It’s one of those business things. Because of the New Year’s show – we’re doing two nights at the Fox Theater. It’s my 20th New Year’s in a row. That’s going to be an oddity faire in itself. The promoters say you can’t play too close to New Year’s so I basically have to stay away from August.
The band is energized and inspired to bring these old Primus songs back to life, which was evident last night given how much they switched up the setlist over two sets. I would highly suggest this as a run to put on your radar.
The Couch Tour continues this weekend with Mountain Jam 2010, featuring webcast sets from Dr. Dog, Les Claypool, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Avett Brothers, Yonder, Gov’t Mule, and the surprise “final” webcast set featurin Levon Helm and Friends. You think they’ll play “The Weight?”
Go here to watch the action live starting on Friday.
Friday, 6/4
4:00 – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
5:30 – Dr. Dog
6:45 – The Avett Brothers
8:15 – Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
9:00 – Gov’t Mule
1:00 – Les Claypool
Saturday, 6/5
4:15 – Yonder Mountain String Band
5:30 – Toots & The Maytals
6:45 – Dave Mason
7:45 – Drive-By Truckers
9:00 – Gov’t Mule
1:00 – Dark Star Orchestra
Sunday, 6/6
2:30 – Michael Franti & Spearhead
4:00 – Matisyahu
5:15 – ALO
6:15 – The Whigs
7:00 – The Bridge
7:30 – Levon Helm & Friends: Warren Haynes, Donald Fagen, Ray LaMontagne, Sam Bush, Steve Earle, Patterson & David Hood, Jackie Greene, Allison Moorer and more!
* All times EDT
It was a little over three years ago that I first attended Jam in the ‘Dam, the greatest tiny music festival you could ever wish for as an American jamband fan (or as a Dutch jamband fan, for that matter). For three nights I got to see my four favorite bands at the time — The Duo, STS9, Disco Biscuits and Umphrey’s McGee — at the legendary Melkweg club in Amsterdam, and it still comes to memory easily when I think of how great my first trip to Europe was. I met a guy named Harm, my first real “anonymous” international fan incident. Here’s what I said about it at the time:
I got to meet Hans, the man behind Here comes the flood. I’ve been enjoying his blog since the very beginning of the Live Music Blog and it was really cool to shake his hand. He had a friend with him named Harm who asked me how my feet were doing, and that was quite a surreal moment for me. Wait, people actually do read this blog? I met him on my way out of the Disco Biscuits set onto the Duo, and we never crossed paths again during the evening. No big deal, though, I’ll FOR SURE be back to Amsterdam one of these days and Hans and I can go for a bike ride then.
After a year off from the festivities, they just announced their lineup and dates for the 5th Anniversary taking place March 21-23, 2010. The lineup big-dog is Umphrey’s McGee, once again, and they’ll be joined by Yonder Mountain String Band, Les Claypool, New Mastersounds and The Bridge. Read on for the full announcement from the promoters.
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The second incarnation of Rothbury Festival is back on the Fourth of July weekend with a lineup that will satisfy any jamband fan living in these great independent states, and I’m just now getting around to posting the lineup for everyone to see (not that you haven’t already seen this elsewhere). I’m already booked for High Sierra or I would be hitting this festival myself, but lucky for us the fine folks behind Rothbury Festival are sponsoring the site for the month leading up to the festival. And we get to celebrate that by giving away a pair of tickets for all 4-days of the festival. READ MORE
I’ve got a set of festival announcements that I wanted to post and comment on a bit, as the festivals that have been announced this year are all looking pretty amazing from where I’m sitting. There’s so much uniqueness in the way festivals are occurring these days, with Carrie’s post called Festival Fever fully summarizing the sentiment I’ve long tried to express through the content on the blog overall.
In deciding to see a festival these days, aside from the line-up, a big part of the draw is the festival setting. Castle, pirate ship, barn, or mountaintop equals yes. Expo Center, mini-mall, or dusty-field-with-faint-smell-of-manure is probably a no. The setting cannot be underestimated. After all, you are basically trapped in one location for 10 to 12 hours.
I think the boys putting on Wakarusa were especially aware of this consideration, especially given the police troubles in the past when the festival was still being held in Lawrence, KS. But this year, they’ve moved locations and they’re setting up shop at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas. The festival is set for June 4th-7th, and the lineup features The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, and STS9 as the top of the bill. Read on for the full lineup.
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