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We shall go on to the end,
We shall fight in France,
We shall fight on the seas and oceans,
We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
We shall fight on the beaches,
We shall fight on the landing grounds,
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills;
We shall never surrender

And then Aces High begins.

I think this is what is going to get me through this week. (Yes, I am going to see Iron Maiden on Friday :)

Hennessey's Upstairs has another incredible show coming up this week. On Wednesday, they will have Rose Hill Drive with Township.

I saw Rose Hill Drive last time they played Hennessey's and they rocked. They are a classic rock band and they rock out real hard. It felt like seeing Led Zeppelin in a small club. Just remember to bring your ear plugs :)

Got nothing to do for Halloween night? Come see some great musical tributes. Head over to Hennessey's Upstairs to see:

Joe Carson Band as Jeff Buckley
Girls Guns and Glory as Ryan Adams
Cassavettes as Neil Young
28 Degrees Taurus as The Velvet Underground
The Main Drag as Elliot Smith

Doors are at 8:30. I've see the guys do the Jeff Buckley Tribute before and it is incredible.

Two items have appeared on Blabbermouth over the last few days that have caught my attention.

First, I saw It's Official: LED ZEPPELIN To Reunite For London Concert. Yes, this would be awesome, sadly, it is only one show in London. Now, rumors will be flying for a while about a full tour, but who knows? I would like to see this and if it comes to the US, I guess I will probably have to spend the cash (if I can get in to Ticketmaster fast enough).

Then, I saw LOVE/HATE To Reunite For U.K. Tour. I don't know why, but I totally dug these guys back in the early 90's. I recently found out that their music was available for free on the Net and totally rocked out to them for a couple of weeks. Now I hear they are getting together, but again, in the damned UK. Wish I could see this one.

Sunset is a Battle is playing at The Bullfinch Yacht Club on Thursday. Bands start at 8:30. They are the third band on, but that is subject to change. You definitely should come out and check them out (and then afterwards, NIV at the Bell.

of the bands you like getting more popular is that they start playing worse and worse venues. The first time I considered going to see Umphrey's McGee, they were playing at The Paradise. The Paradise is probably my favorite place in Boston to see a band these days. I have a certain spot I always stand in, the beers are cheap, the sound is good and the place is small enough that you feel like its a very personal experience. Sadly, I missed the show, I think I was heading out of town or soemthing.

A few months later they came back around and played at Avalon. I like Avalon as long as it's not overcrowded (I used to like it a lot more, but all the expansion has made it a less and less desirable place for me. I have seen Umph 3 or 4 times there in the last few years. I've dragged different friends to each show and they all had fun. The last show they played there was starting to be on verge of overcrowded (and crowded with the "wrong people").

Well, I got the sad new today that the next Umphrey's show will be at the end of October at The Orpheum Theatre. Now, The Orpheum is ok for some shows. And in general, it's not a terrible place to see a show, BUT it's definitely one of my least favorite places. This is for a bunch of reasons. Number one, it's a seated venue. I had seated venues. Number 2, you aren't allowed to bring beers in to the Theatre. So, you have to shotgun beers before the show starts and during intermission if you want to drink. Third, I just don't think it's a great place. It really needs a wicked overhaul (sitting underneath the balcony when people are dancing on it is a terrifying experience. I have seen that thing move a good foot during some shows).

I _MAY_ consider heading up to Burlington to see the 2 shows at Higher Ground just to enjoy Umphrey's as they should be enjoyed. Sadly, my "couch" up there just recently moved to Boston (after a long time talking about it), so I don't have crash space, so it makes the whole thing a lot more expensive (and well, it is week day shows).

So, who knows? I think it's awesome that Umphrey's is getting big enough to play places like The Orpheum, but in the same breath, I'd rather be seeing them at The Paradise.

This Friday, August 17th, the Never In Vegas boys hit Parris in Fanueil Hall for the first time ever. You all show be there, it will be an amazing time. These guys always put on quite a show and Parris will be a great room for them to get everyone going.

Go read my latest post over at Metroblogging Boston to see what I am up to on Friday (and so should you be)

I will start this off with an admission, I'm not really a Police fan. A buddy asked a couple of weeks ago if I would be interested in going and my answer was, if you can't find anyone else to go, sure. I went in to this show, expecting very little. Heck, I even bought The Police (a greatest hits compilation) the Sunday before the show (for my drive home from New York) just so I would know some material.

In the end, I realized I knew a lot more Police music than I thought I did. I think I knew about 14 of the 28 tracks on the 2 CD set, so I felt a little better after listening to it. Plus, I learned some music I didn't know, so I felt even more prepared to head to the show.

The day started off rather crappy. It was pouring pretty hard during most of the day, so I was not very hopeful to stay dry for the show. When I left to house to meet my friends, it was pouring as hard as I had seen it all day. While walking to the ferry, it slowed down a bit and by the time I got on the boat, it was just drizzling. When I disembarked, the rain had stopped and there was a big ball of fire in the sky. Things were looking better.

We got to Fenway and took a look at our seats. We were in the front row between Pesky's Pole and first base. We were basically a couple of feet away from the $250 seats, yet we had paid only $95 :) So, yes, awesome seats (thanks Brian!)

Fictionplane (Sting's son's band) opened the evening. They were ok. They won the most respect from me when they said something along the lines of, "We are like the 5th band to play Fenway Park and we totally don't deserve this". At least the were honest. They played a bunch of typical poppy rock songs. Nothing I am going to run out and buy, but I might see them over at The Paradise next time they come around for $10 :)

Around 8:20, with blue skies above, The Police hit the stage. They opened up with "Message In A Bottle". This surprised me. This is a huge hit and they are opening up with it. Well, I guess I kind of forgot, unlike a lot of old bands out on tour, The Police don't have a new CD to pimp, so it was greatest hits the whole night, so why not open up with one of the biggest?

For the next hour and 20 mins or so the band took everyone through a tour of some of their greatest hits, mostly songs that everyone could sing along with and just enjoy. They left the stage around 9:40 after an extended version of "Roxanne", to return just 2 minutes later with an encore of King of Pain, So Lonely, and Every Breathe You Take. They left the stage again and after a couple of mins came back out and finished the show off with a rockin version of Next To You.

As I said at the beginning, going in to this not being a big Police fan, I had very low expectations. Well, I was BLOWN AWAY. For a bunch of senior citizens (or at least soon to be) who haven't played together in almost 25 years, these guys sure put on quite a show. Most impressive of all to me was Stewart Copeland. I've heard great things about him as a drummer for a very long time, but seeing it live really reinforced that notion for me.

After the show, we just went home, as some of us had to get up at 5AM for Sunday morning maintenance windows (I swear, I love my job :) All in all, an awesome night and thankfully Mother Nature was in a good mood and kept the rain away while the band kicked everyone's ass.

One of my favorite local bands, Sunset is a Battle are playing Hennessy's Upstairs in Faneuil Hall. The Don't will be opening up. Show starts around 8:30. Come out and have some fun on a Wednesday!

Update: Sadly, the show tonight got cancelled due to the horrible weather outside. The good news is that it has been re-scheduled for June 12th! So, make sure you are there, hopefully it will be a much nicer day!

Oh my! I am a bit relieved this morning. I went and bought my tickets for Robert Randolph & The Family Band this morning and afterwards was poking around My Ticketmaster.

One of the bands I have listed in the favorite bands section is Ozomatli. When I clicked over to their name there was a show in my area! Ozomatli is coming back to tear the Paradise up on April 21st.

Last time I saw these guys at the Paradise, I think I lost about 5 pounds. It was packed, hot, and off the hook. These guys are a band you cannot miss if you enjoy a good time (and who doesn't enjoy a good time?). The tickets went on sale 2 weeks ago, so I am relieved that I was actually able to get some. So, now, go get yours and come ready to party!

to your question. You should come up to Boston on the 25th and see PT and go to the game on the 19th. Then after the show (it's a 6PM show, they need to open the club for the dance crowd by 10ish), we can go throw back a pint or 12 :)

On Saturday night, I headed out to Dante's @ Firefley's to check out Slip Kid. Slip Kid is a Who tribute band consisting of Gary Cherone (Extreme, Van Halen), his brother Markus, Paul Mangone, Dana Spellman and Jeff Calder. I was really looking forward to this since I had heard good things from a lot of different people.

Tom and I got to the venue about 9 and the parking lot was PACKED. After getting inside, it seems that many of the cars were for the restaurant. After about 15 mins of waiting, we got a spot and headed in. A band was setting up (which turned out to be Flesh or most of the members of) when we got in. Soon after heading in, they began. They were pretty good, but I wasn't overly impressed. Markus joined them for the last song or two.

A little while after they headed off, Slip Kid came on. They did two sets of great renditions of Who music. Though the band sounded awesome, I was a little disappointed in the sound. Not sure if it was the room (which I was VERY not impressed with) or the mix, but it wasn't great. I've got a copy of the set list which I will put up at some point later, but pretty much they touch on all the hits as well as a number of other songs.

I just posted my review of last week's Iron Maiden show over at Boston Metblogs

Three good shows in one week in November!

First, on Sunday, November 12th, Primus hits the Orpheum. They are touring for their greatest hits CD, which means it should be a good mix of music from the many years of Primus.

Second, on Monday, November 13th, Los Lonely Boys with Ozomatli at Avalon. Both are great bands, but I have to say Ozomatli was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Lots of energy, lots of fun. Hell, the band did a drum circle in the middle of the floor at a VERY FULL Paradise.

Third, on Wednesday, November 15th, Robert Randolph and the Family Band return to Boston. They are playing the Roxy with Van Hunt opening up. The Family Band always puts an amazing show on. Lots of danceable grooves (usually including a ton of girls from the crowd getting on the stage for "Shake Your Hips").

Two and three go on sale Saturday morning. Primus goes on sale a week from Saturday.

If you are looking for something to do this evening, some friends are playing over at Bulfinch Yacht Club (234 Friend St. Boston, Massachusetts 02101). I've never been there before, so I look forward to checking it out. My friends that are playing are Sunset is a Battle and Junction 18. Both are local rock bands. Should be a good time, so come down and hang out!

Iron Maiden is headed to Boston. They are playing Agganis Arena on Oct. 06, 2006. I'll be there.

So, while I was away on my east coast tour (more on that later), the Alice in Chains show in Boston went on pre-sale. Well, since I was away, I didn't get in on it and it quickly sold out. Actually, the whole thing sold out within the pre-sale, never even made it to general on sale.

So, the question for today is, does anyone have an extra they want to sell me for actual ticket value? I looked on ebay and tickets are going for as much as $200/pair. Yuck.

Lollapalooza announced their lineup today and it's incredible. For those of you not paying attention, Lollapalooza changed formats last year from a tour to a festival. So, it's 3 days in Chicago now instead of an afternoon all over the place.

So, this year's lineup has been announced and it's a crazy mix of popular music, jam bands and small alternative bands. Some of the highlights for me (no surprise most of the jam band varierty) are Umphrey's McGee, The Disco Biscuits, Matisyahu (more on him later), The Flaming Lips, Death Cab, Particle, and the Duo. With all the different types of bands and music, there is some great potential for some amazing collaborations, hope that some cool stuff comes out of this.

An easy to read full list of artists is here on jambands.

From BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding Alice in Chains:

The band members told Launch that they will probably play a handful of U.S. club dates in late May, followed by European festival appearances over the summer and a full North American tour in the fall. Guest vocalists will most likely be used throughout the entire schedule.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE COME TO BOSTON.

Just found out that my boys, Umphrey's McGee are headed back to Boston. Information is:

Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 7:00 PM
Avalon
Boston, MA

On Sale February 25, 2006 - 10:00AM

Wooo!

When the Bonnaroo lineup initially came out, I have to say, I was less than impressed. It was a good lineup, but nothing that is going to keep me out in the elements for a weekend.

Then, addition 1 came out, and Umphrey's and The Disco Biscuits were added. I've turned in to a huge Umphrey's fan and this made it more tempting.

Then a wonderful thing happened in Artist Additions 2. Oysterhead was added. I would LOVE to see these guys. Since they haven't played together in a while, I wonder if they will spend some time in the studio before heading down to Tenn. Could mean lots of new stuff and probably means a lot of free flowing jamming. And with the three incredible musicians that comprise Oysterhead, it could be amazing to see live.

In the end, I doubt I will make it to Tenn, as the big trip for this year is looking to be Ireland. But, I really can't wait to hear this show once it gets pushed out on to the sites.

Looks like Umphrey's McGee is coming to Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont in Fenruary. Hopefully that means they will be playing this area as well. Otherwise, I think it's time for a road trip to go visit Marc!

If you aren't listening to Umphrey's, why the hell not? They are one of the best bands putting out music today.

Marc drove down from Vermont on Friday afternoon and we headed over to Harborlights (err, the Bank of America Pavillion) to see Gigantour. The one bad thing about the Boston date is that it was a single stage show, so we missed out on Symphony X, Life of Agony and some others.

When we got there, Nevermore was on the stage. I ended up bumping in to some folks and didn't really pay much attention to them. Next up was Dillinger Escape Plan. I had heard a number of good things about these guys coming in to this show, so I was somewhat psyched to see them. Sadly, they totally disappointed. There were a couple of times when I thought they may start doing something good, but mostly it was a lot of screaming and jumping around.

The next band on the stage was Fear Factory, who I was very excited to see. For some reason, I thought all the original members were back, but it was very obvious that Dino was not on the stage. He is very, ummm, noticable :) Doing some research after the show, it turns out three original members got back together, with the bass player moving to guitar and then they added a new bassist. I have to say, I was disappointed with their set. What I've heard of their new album, I have been less than impressed with and it didn't really get any better live. The worst part of their set was when they started off doing Pantera's Walk and then stopped and the singer said something like "We miss you Dimebag" or something. Rather weak.

Next up was the real reason I was at this show, Dream Theater. Marc and I actually headed to our seats for this set. We were in like the 10th row, right below the speakers, so it was VERY loud. Their set was pretty good. Too much of the newer stuff for my tastes. I would have like to have heard a little more old stuff. More because I know it better than anything else. They did seem to be having a lot of fun up on the stage. The most amusing part of the evening came during their set. As we were standing in our seats, Mike and John P's wives, along with what seemed like about a dozen kids and another woman I didn't recognize were 2 rows in front of us. The kids cracked me up waving to their dad's up on stage. John even waved back at one point. Marlene left and a few minutes later, Max was crawling around on the drum kit taking pictures of Mike. If you noticed Mike looking down or back during the set, he was hamming it up for his kids. Overall, they sounded ok, too loud where I was, but ok. I'll be patiently waiting for a US "Evening With" tour, so I can hear a lot more than a 75 min set.

After DT, we headed back to the back to hang out and watch the headliner Megadeth. Overall, they put on a good show. The sound didn't sound great from the back, but that may have been because my ear drums were a bit blown out from DT. Heard some good older stuff mixed in with a bunch of the newer stuff. Marc and I were laughing our asses off about the large amount of pyro and explosions :) The comment of the night came from Matt from Event when at the end when the raining sparks pyro happened. Matt said, "Now it's a Poison show".

Overall, I enjoyed myself. I think I would have enjoyed a DT show more, but it was a good time. Good to see some friends I haven't seen in a while as well.

Holy Shnikes Batman

• Dave Matthews & Friends
• Jack Johnson
• Widespread Panic
• Phil Lesh & Friends w/ special guest Ryan Adams
• The Meters (Art Neville, Zigaboo Modeliste,George Porter, Jr., Leo Nocentelli)
• Trey Anastasio
• The Flaming Lips
• The String Cheese Incident
• Primus
• Ween
• The Shins
• moe.
• Spoon
• Gov't Mule
• Digable Planets
• North Mississippi Allstars
• Michael Franti & Spearhead
• The Decemberists
• Atmosphere
• Blackalicious
• The Magic Numbers
• Lyrics Born

And don't forget, this doesn't include the late night shows.

Last night I headed over to The Paradise to see Liz Phair. I met up with Lukas and his friend a little after 8 and we headed in.

So, I go to the Paradise on a pretty regular basis. Probably once a month or maybe a little less. I have certain routines I am used to there, where I stand, what I drink, etc. Well, when we walked in to the main room, these all went out the door, there were chairs on the floor. This was a very strange sight. The seats were already full, so we decided to head up to find a place to stand. Luckily, Lukas bumped in to some friends, so we ended up with a great place to stand, just one level up and on stage right. We had a perfect view of the stage.

When we arrived, Mat Kearney was on the stage. Just him and an acoustic guitar. He had a nice voice and sounded pretty good. I think I would have enjoyed seeing his whole set rather than just the last few songs, but he definitely had some potential.

A few minutes after 9 Liz came out with a guitar player. It was incredible being about 15 feet away from her. She played a great set over the course of the night. I think I've got a good list of the songs (below). She really seemed to be enjoying herself. She apologized early for flashing the front row (she was wearing a skirt and sitting on a stool). At that point, I was wishing to have been sitting in the front row ;) She actually was heckling the crowd at one point during Rock Me and seemingly cracked herself up enough to lose track of where she was in the song. She talked a lot over the course of the night. As people yelled songs, she would say, yeah, that would work, sadly, we haven't work on it yet. This was the first show of the tour, so they were seemingly just getting in to the flow of things. She polled the crowd at one point on which of two songs they wanted to hear. She was playing this strange looking guitar that didn't have a body, but had the outline to one. At some point, someone mentioned something about how she was balancing her breast on top of the guitar. She said something like, you can either use the smoosh method or else this method, and the guitar has this great curve there ready for it.

A very interesting part of the evening was her mentioning on multiple occasions that she would be doing a podcast in the near future. That should be real interesting. Guess I will have to keep an eye on her site to see when that starts happening. Seems like this is becoming somewhat popular with some artists.

It was definitely a great night. She played for a little under 90 mins. Good mix of new and old stuff. She really just seemed like she was chilling out and having some fun. Almost seemed like a bunch of friends sitting around an apartment jamming out some tunes. Very glad I was in attendance to see this. If I had some more cash, I'd even be tempted to try and go back tonight for the second night (which is most likely completely sold out like last night was).

So, the set list started like this:

polyester bride
girls, girls, girls
extraordinary
mesmerizing

And ended like this:

why can't i
fuck n run

In the middle (in no order) were these:

rock me
wild thing
supernova
6' 1"
divorce song

She also did 3 new songs. Two from the new album and one that got cut. One was Somebody's Miracle, the title track. The other two, I can't quite remember the names to. If anyone has an exact set list, that would be awesome.

Overall, a great time.

Someone got a great shot of Liz on stage here

Headed to Great Woods yesterday to see Big Summer Classic.

We arrived at the venue around 11:30, since doors were at 1 and the first band started at 1:30. We were in the second row of cars. This was a bit scary. Usually getting there an hour and a half before a show, the parking lot is pretty packed up. Not this time.

We hung out until about 2, drinking beers and making some food. At 2, we took a wander around and the parking lot was still pretty empty. A little bit later, we decided to head in. First surprise, you are allowed to bring your own sealed water in to Great Woods now, nice. Second surprise, no pat down. This was very strange considering it was a "hippie" show, you'd think they would have been looking for drugs and whatnot. Guess they were just happy that people were coming in (considering how empty the lot was).

It was VERY empty inside. It was almost like we were trespassing. We had already missed New Monsson. A little bit after we got in, Yonder Mountain String Band kicked off. These guys started off pretty hot, but got repetetive after a bit. Don't think I could sit through these guys for a full show.

Next up was Michael Franti & Spearhead. These guys put on a pretty fun show. Franti yelling "HOW YA FEELIN?" every minute or two got amusing quick. They are a good mix of rock and an R&B kind of feel. I dug em. They did a bunch of their own stuff and also did a pretty sick version of Sublime's "What I Got".

Next was Keller Williams. I enjoyed much of his set. He did a little U2 along the way and a lot of his own stuff. The parts I didn't like were where he programmed a lot of stuff and then went about his thing. I think I would have just more enjoyed him playing. He did bring the drummer from Umphrey's and the guitarist from New Monsson out for a couple of tunes, which sounded real good. Also, Martin Sexton came out for a few songs which were real good.

The next band was the one I was most looking to see, Umphrey's McGee. I have been listening to all sort of their stuff for a while now, so to finally get to see them live made me very excited. Well, they did NOT disappoint. Holy shit. These guys just ROCK. They are a good combination of Progressive Rock and Jam Music. You can tell they have listened to Dream Theater once or twice :) I was blown away. I can't wait to see a set list. They threw in "I've Got a Feelin'" by The Beatles for their cover. Michael Franti joined them for a tune too and did some nice freestyling.

Last was String Cheese Incident. Don had talked them up big time, so I was really hoping for something good. They didn't disappoint. Lots of fun, lots of different feels to the music. They covered Yes's "Roundabout". We cut out at the encore, so I have no clue of the collaboration at the end.

Over the course of the day the place filled in more and more and by the time SCI was on, it was actually pretty damn packed. Overall, great show, long day, but definitely something I would repeat. Now, if Umphrey's can just do a Boston show where I can see them for a full 2+ hours, I'll be real happy.

Now that I have a ticket to this, I'll mention it here. Didn't want it to sell out before I got my tix :)

So, I noticed when reading all my local concert news e-mails (ticketmaster, teaparty, etc etc) that Liz Phair was coming to The Paradise next month. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that, since Avalon looked close to sold out last time I saw her.

A small venue like the Paradise should make it a pretty special show no matter what. Then I looked at their web site and there is a blurb about the show which says:

Join Liz for an intimate acoustic evening of songs from Exile in Guyville, Whip-Smart, Whitechocolatespaceegg, and her recent selt-titled release. Also, catch a sneak peek of some new material from her forthcoming album (due out in September)

Woah! An acoustic show? In a small venue? This should be fantastic. The show is July 26th. Tickets were still available as of yesterday afternoon, I'd grab em soon, The Paradise isn't that big :)

I'm hearing Trey Anastasio will be hitting Harborlights on July 20th.

Now there is a Vegoose website!

Details on their web site.

Seriously, can ANYTHING else go wrong this week? This week has sucked completely from weather to work to everything else and now one of the things I was trying to keep as a coming ray of sunshine gets cancelled. ARGH. This summer is starting off with a big old SUCK.

Last night, I headed over to Axis with Bogie to see Dredg. I had heard a little of their music before the show, but was somewhat going in blind. We got in around 7 and the place was still semi-empty, but there was a long line for Will Call. After grabbing some beers, we settled in to some space behind the soundboard, which is usually the best place to hear the music, as you are getting the same sound as the sound guy :)

The first band to the stage was Day One Symphony. These guys were very Radiohead influenced. I saw spots of brilliance, but overall, these guys were just ok. I think they have a ton of potential, but they need some more coherence. It seemed like a lot of their songs started and ended weak, but had some great middles. These guys played about 20 or 30 mins.

The next band out Circa Survive. They came out real heavy and I was looking forward to hearing something great. And then the singer started "singing". I can't really call it singing. He was more screaming, very off-key. Bogie actually turned to me and asked if it was a joke. The stranger part was they had fans in the audience. I gave them a second chance, thinking the singer might just have had an off night, I listened to some of their stuff on their web site today. It's better (and not as processed as I thought it would be), but still doesn't thrill me.

Then Dredg came out. These guys ROCKED. A lot heavier than I thought they were going to be, but at the same time very melodic. Their singer has an awesome voice. Their sound really is comparable to anyone out there. Maybe Devon Towsend's Ocean Machine, but it's also a bunch different. You have to check them out. The funny part was the singer apologized for his voice starting to go out. I laughed since I thought he sounded great and the previous singer sounded like he should have been apologizing.

The crowd at this show definitely made me feel old. At least half, if not three quarters of the crowd didn't have wristbands, meaning they were under 21. Note to the youngins: Take a shower before you go out at night. Some kid was standing by me who must have been playing sports or something during the day and then threw on a sweatshirt and came to the show. He STANK.

The sad part of the evening was after 3+ hours of being on my feet I was hurting. It sucks getting old.

So, the first rumor is the show this fall in Vegas from the folks who brought you Bonnaroo and Zooma is going to be Vegoose. Supposedly there is going to be an announcement in June with tickets going on sale in July. The rumored location is Sam Boyd Silver Bowl and the surrounding soccer fields.

Now, those are all great and hearing some possible details are pretty nice. But this is the best part of the current rumor mill:

"Confirmed" Acts:

• Dave Matthews Band
• Widespread Panic
• Trey Anastasio
• Phil Lesh and Friends
• Pearl Jam

Now, that sounds like a cool weekend already :) And well, it's Vegas Baby!

I mentioned some rumors before and they seem to be continuing. The rumor now is Halloween weekend in Vegas. Shows scattered through the city over 2 or 3 days. I think my cash flow may be much better by then, so I think I may have to drag some friends and enjoy Vegas and some jams.

And a lot more. Trey and Ben Haper will co-headline the Zooma Tour this summer. This is put on by the folks behind Bonnaroo and seems to be being touted as a travelling mini-Roo. And even more money dumps from the wallet.

More money out the window .....

BIG SUMMER CLASSIC 2005 JUST ANNOUNCED:

The traveling festival features headliners The String Cheese Incident plus touring heavyweights Keller Williams, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey's McGee and New Monsoon.

There are some rumblings starting on the interweb about a fall Bonnaroo in Vegas this year. Now that could be scary (and a boatload of fun). Anyone else heard this?

According to the dates in my previous post, Dave Matthews Band are playing Boston on 07/09 and 07/10. A friend notes the Red Sox are out of town that weekend. Looking closer at the schedule, the Red Sox are out of town the entire week before and the All Star Game is the following week, so they don't return until the following Thursday. This gives crews plenty of time to set up and clean up from a show. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

[via JamBase] Dave Matthews Band have announced a HUGE summer tour.

Headed to Avalon tonight to go see Tesla with some friends. They are on an acoustic tour to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Five Man Acoustic Jam. Never seen them before, so I am totally psyched.

According to Ozzfest Unofficial Updates, the Ozzfest 2005 lineup, may look like this:

MAIN STAGE
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Anthrax ("Among The Living" lineup)
Black Label Society

SECOND STAGE
Rob Zombie
Mudvayne
Killswitch Engage
A Dozen Furies

Also a possiblity of Life of Agony being involved.

I definitely will be checking that out if the lineup ends up like that. Between Maiden, old Anthraz and KE, this show is shaping up to be incredible.

Just before we rang in the new year, I saw one last show. I headed over to The Paradise in Boston to see the Benevento/Russo Duo with Mike Gordon of Phish playing bass.

The Duo is an Organ and Drum duo. Adding in the bass of Mike was very cool to hear. Though they probably played a bunch of original stuff, I don't really know there music all that well. Most of it just seemed like they were jamming around.

They did a number of cover's including Yes's Roundabout along with Foam by Phish. They also finished with Phish's tune Mike's Song as the encore. For this one, it was the crowd on vocals (though I hear Mike has been singing it at some shows).

The show was very cool. Interesting music and a cool crowd (as is usually found at jam shows). If you'd like to hear the music they created, you can download it here.

Torrentocracy posted a few quick video clips of Umprheys McGee with Phil Lesh in a torrent from a show a few weeks ago in CA.

Umphrey's McGee is a band I've been listening to a lot lately, so really wanted to check this out. Anyone happen to have this show in full? I'd love to hear it.

Two statements released about Coventry:

One from Dave Werlin President of Great Northeast Productions, Inc.

One from John Paluska Phish's Manager

I feel bad for all these folks. They tried so much to be apologetic for weather which was not something they could do anything about. If I was held responsible for weather I am pretty sure I would be insane by now (well, more insane than I am).

It does sound like they are trying their damnedest to make up for it. Yes, it''s not Phish live, but at least its a peace offering.

Hey folks. A lot of people over time have posted comments to some earlier posts about Bonnaroo. I would love it if people could post their reviews, comments, set lists, links to other sites talking about it, etc here, so I can get a nice collection together and hopefully an area for all us poor souls who missed it to get as much info as possible. Thanks!

Man, my sister just picked the wrong weekend to get married, I really want to go to Bonnaroo. They have now put up a line-up, which looks like its just going to be nuts. The midnight to 3AM Robert Randolph and the Family Band looks like a lot of late night fun. The 3 1/2 hour Dave & Friends I would assume is going to include a lot more friends than normal. And the final set is Trey on Sunday night. I want to know what the line on Phish coming out and doing a bunch of that set with him. Obviously, lots more fun in the schedule as well. Check it out on the Bonnaroo Web Site.

Next, they announced that there will be wireless Internet access on the show grounds. That's totally cool. Now, I doubt there is going to be much power, but with a bunch of batteries, you could stay in touch with lots of people and even blog the whole show right from the grounds. That's totally cool.

As I mentioned, its my sister's wedding weekend, but I would love to hear about anyone who will be going and blogging over the course of the weekend, so I can continuously hear about what's going on and how the shows have been.

Yet another tour this summer. KISS and Poison. Hits Great Woods on 7/16.

Velvet Revolver (aka Guns N' Pilots) hits Boston on 5/29, venue TBA (please be Avalon). (Dates at RollingStone.com)

Phish's Summer Festival (Aug ) seems to be being planned for Newport State Airport in Vermont according to RollingStone.com.

Also headed out on tour is Amfibian (Phish lyricist Tom Marshall's band). Only VA, VT and NY dates thus far. Check out their web site for more information.

Phish Summer Tour Dates have arrived! 11 shows thus far and 7 of them in the travel area. A weekend festival to be added and that should be easy to get to too.

Other interesting things found at the Phish site? Well, how's about the tour dates in RSS and iCal format? Oh yeah and the main news section in RSS. Excellent.

I'm looking forward to some fun this evening. Heading up to Macnhester, NH to the Black Brimmer with some friends to see what I have dubbed Central Stu. My friends Central Basement who are currently without singer, are playing with Stu Sinclair taking up the vocals. Should be very interesting to see the synergy between the two. I guess this will also serve as a small peek in to what Central Basement may be once they get their new singer.

Went to see Liz Phair over at Avalon last night. Gnome-girl was SUPPOSED to be here for the show, but couldn't make it out, so Keith from CB came along with me.

It was a great show. When I went to see Liz a few months back, I was just starting to get in to her, but this time, I really knew most of the stuff she played, which made it even better. The rockin version of flower to start it off was excellent. It seemed to me that she was pretty much trying to play the whole mix CD that GG made me a while back, but maybe that was just because I was thinking she should have been there with me. The pink AC/DC t-shirt she was wearing definitely made me laugh.

Here's a setlist from a show last week or so, which seems pretty close to the setlist from last night:

Flower
Polyester Bride
Rock Me
Johnny Feelgood
Uncle Alvarez
Bionic Eyes
Divorce Song
6'1
Chopsticks
Extraordinary
Love/Hate
Help Me Mary
Red Light Fever
Never Said
Favorite
Stratford-On-Guy
Why Can't I?
Supernova

Encore:
Mesmerizing
Fuck and Run
H.W.C.

Went to see Bob Dylan at Avalon last night. I was totally psyched to go. Getting to see someone as great as Bob in a small club venue (capacity approx 2000) is a big treat.

I'll start with the complaints. First off, the stage setup SUCKED. Dylan was far off to the left playing keyboard most of the night. Why in HELL was he not dead center? I ended up coming in and heading to my normal location (through the biggest crowd I think I have ever seen at Avalon) and basically could not see Bob the entire night. That sucked.

Number 2, no guitar??? Bob didn't play any guitar all night long. That is no good. I would rather have had him at least play a couple of songs. Even better if he did a couple of songs solo.

Now that those are out of the way. WOW. What a show. Bob's voice sounded awesome. You could almost even understand him :) He was projecting well too. It was very interesting to hear how he plays his own songs these days. Very different than the album versions you are used to. I definitely didn't recognize some songs until a certain hook in the vocals or something.

Overall, an amazing show, great to see Bob in a place that small.

Setlist:

1. Maggie's Farm
2. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
3. Lonesome Day Blues
4. Just Like A Woman
5. Things Have Changed
6. Tell Me That It Isn't True
7. Highway 61 Revisited
8. Can't Wait
9. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
10. High Water (For Charley Patton)
11. It Ain't Me Babe
12. Honest With Me
13. Saving Grace
14. Summer Days

Encore:
15. Cat's In The Well
16. Like A Rolling Stone
17. All Along The Watchtower

As I have mentioned earlier, Dave Matthew Band is planning on doing a festival show this summer. Well, someone has come along and created a fansite dedicated to the show.

RollingStone.com: News: DMB Plot New York City Fest

Must go to this. Hopefully we get both DMB and Dave & Friends. That would kick ass.

The Dream Theater Information Network: Dream Theater in LA LA Land

Holy shit! This sounds like one of the best shows ever. Too bad I couldn't be there. If ANYONE has a copy of this show, I very very very much want a copy.

Saturday night, a bunch of us gathered over to my buddy Don's house for a farewell. He's moving out of town after many months of unemployment and the future not looking bright. So, the party started at Don's and then we headed over to Harper's Ferry to see The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

I'd never seen DDBB, but had heard good things. Three guys got up on the stage and started playing. I was confused for a moment, as I thought this may have been the whole band. Moments later, the rest of the band joined them on stage and the fun began.

The show was great. They played a lot of what I assume were their own songs or maybe some New Orleans standards. Later in the set, we got some covers I knew including "Use Me" and "Superstitious". Overall, lots of fun. The band seemed to be just having a blast up there.

I've thrown a bunch of pics up on my moblog, though they came out super SMALL as I had the camera on Low Res instead of Hi Res.

Holy SH*T! Bob Dylan is playing Avalon in Boston. Avalon is a club that holds about 1800 people. Damn. This could be the show of the year for me. Info here.

I've been thinking about this for a long time and just never gotten around to posting it, so here goes.

So, a few months ago, I was looking on Lukas's LivePhish (not the official site, but a message board) that one of the recent shows was at bt.etree.org. I looked at this site and was amazed. People were posting all sorts of show from jam bands (and some others) up on the Internet. I always knew there was a trading community in the area of concert taping, but didn't really realize it had moved to the Internet as much as it had. Especially with high quality recordings being so huge, I would think it would be very hard to move the data around. This is the first piece where BitTorrent comes in.

BitTorrent allows a person to upload the data to a couple of users. As the peers get the data, they then are able to upload data to other users. It basically begins to weave a web of peer to peer data that can quickly disperse the load on one person's Internet connection to many people. This can expand quickly and have lots of people able to get the data quickly. This makes sending out shows much easier for the initial taper of the show.

So, why would I call this the ultimate hippie application? Well, it's based on the same principles a lot of hippies tend to follow. It's all about sharing and helping out. People are getting something from the one taper, but then are trying to help out everyone else by allowing people to download pieces from them. You could almost call it digital karma. You help people out and the next time around, if they get to the show before you, they will help you out. It all comes back in the end. I know this from experience, I actually had a show that I had yet to finish downloading and a quick message to the board and someone opened up a window and I was able to finish downloading the show. In turn, I always leave windows open after I finish downloading so others can continue to get good music from me.

Some of the site I like to visit on a normal basis are Sharing The Groove Message Board, bt.etree.org and recently Live Music Archive at the Internet Archive. If you are a fan of live music, these are definitely some places you should check out and as one of the sites is named, Share the Groove!

Went to the Orpheum on Friday to see OAR (Of A Revolution) and Robert Randolph and the Family Band with Don. I was there to see Randolph, but it seems like OAR was definitely the favored band. The supposed schedule was OAR to open and Randolph to end the show the second night, so we figured we had lots of time. We met up early at the bar and then headed over to The Times to see Greg for a while.

We got to the Orpheum right around 8. The entranceway was packed with youngins. I would have to say the average age was 19 or so. Don and I grabbed some water and reached our seats as Randolph hit the strage. Guess all the reports of him going on second were wrong. Glad we didn't wait too long to get to the show. Randolph put on a great set. Shake Your Hips had the normal girls on stage, which I was unsure they could pull off at the Orpheum. A bunch of covers too. Purple Haze, Good Times, Bad Times and Billie Jean. Good set, but I definitely miss some of the older stuff like The March and I Don't Know What You Come To Do.

During the break, I headed out to smoke. More notice that it was a damn young crowd. Came back in and OAR started a few minutes later. I really didn't know OAR at all. They were definitely pretty good. I definitely think some of my friends could be this band if they just got away from some of the pop stuff. They had a Dave Matthews with more reggae vibe. I definitely enjoyed them. They covered Sunday Bloody Sunday, which sounded pretty damn sweet. We left during Crazy Game of Poker (I think). We missed Randolph joining them on stage (I would have been really annoyed if I missed it the night before with a Fool in the Rain closer with both bands).

Definitely a good show overall. I wish I could find someone who recorded both bands on Friday. I got a copy of OAR from Thursday which is pretty cool. I may download some more of their stuff to see if I can get more of a feel for them. Oh yeah, and I need the set list for Friday for Randolph.

Oh yeah, this is my first post trying out BloGTK, let's see how it works.

Back again, Geddy's Back, Tell Some Friends.

Rush announced dates for their 30th Anniversary Tour today. August 12th here in Boston.

2004 Bonnaroo Confirmed Artists:

The Dead
Dave Matthews & Friends
Bob Dylan
Trey Anastasio
Willie Nelson
David Byrne
Primus
Wilco
Burning Spear
String Cheese Incident
Ani DiFranco
moe.
Gov't Mule
Los Lobos
Galactic
Yo La Tengo
Femi Kuti
Medeski Martin & Wood
Gomez
Yonder Mountain String Band
Damien Rice
North Mississippi Allstars Hill Country Review
Beth Orton
My Morning Jacket
Gillian Welch
The Del McCoury Band
Taj Mahal
Sam Bush Band
Vida Blue feat. the Spam Allstars
Los Lonely Boys
Grandaddy
Kings of Leon
Bill Laswell's Material
Soulive
Neko Case
Calexico
Leftover Salmon
Cut Chemist
Chris Robinson & New Earth Mud
Umphrey's McGee
Maroon5
The Black Keys
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
The Bad Plus
Marc Broussard
Donovan Frankenreiter
Blue Merle

DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! I think I may have to get over my fear of company and go enjoy this.

Tickets for the 2004 Bonnaroo Music Festival will go on sale Saturday, February 21st at 10:00 AM Eastern Time through http://www.bonnaroo.com

From Phish.com:

PHISH will play three shows at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas on April 15, 16 and 17. These dates will be Phish's only shows before the summer.

Vegas Baby? Vegas? Who wants to fly me out? I may have to go to this, well, if I can figure out the cash.

This is currently a RUMORED list of Phish 2004 Tour Dates for everyone's information. Do not ask me about anything, this is just something I found and thought I would pass along. I don't know if therre will be more, I don't know why they aren't playing your town, etc etc etc.

Also, album is rumored to be out May 20.

If these hold true, definitely expect to find me at the Worchester shows and Vegas SURE looks like it would be a good time in May.

Dates for the Bonnaroo Music Festival 2004 have been confirmed as June 11-13.

I've missed this two years in a row and have heard nothing but good reviews. Amazing musicians both years and probably a whole new set of good ones this year. I just don't think I can do the camping. Just not my style. Definitely not much of an outdoors person. Who knows, maybe the lineup will just plain be not miss this year.

Argh! Life Of Agony is going on tour with their original lineup next month. They are playing Worchester instead of Boston. Sucky. I've seen these guys a few times and it's always been an amazing show. I still tell a story from one of their shows every time mosh pits come up. I really hate that a lot of the heavier bands that I like seem to be playing out in Worchester insead of playing Boston these days. I've missed a number of shows I would have enjoyed lately because of this. It's just not worth the drive and the huge hassle of trying to park back in the South End when getting home late at night.

On Tuesday my friend Joanna and I headed over to the Fleet Center to see Dave Matthew's solo band. We met up for dinner and drinks beforehand, so we skipped the opener. Show started a little after 8 with Dave and Tim Reynolds doing an acoustic performance. They sounded awesome. Bartender for an opener was great. They played 6 tunes and headed off. After about a 15 minute break, the whole band headed to the stage. They played all the songs on the album, as well as a few covers. The songs from the album sounded better live than they do on the album. The covers were well picked and came off great. Due to Trey from Phish and Tim being in the band, we got some jamming in, as well. Totally dug it. The band left the stage and about 10 minutes later came out Dave and Trey. I freaked at this point. I had been hoping that we would see a Waste some time along this tour and I figured I was about to get it. Well, they started off with Everyday, which sounded good. Obviously, they are still learning some of each other's parts. Then, to my joy, they did Waste. Waste is an excellent Phish song which Phish played 2 weeks beforehand at the 20th anniversary show. Sounded excellent with Dave and Trey trading off the verses. The band then joined them for one encore and the night was over. Definitely an awesome show and thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I already have it on my computer :) Sounds excellent. Now, I just need to get the MSG show, where Dave and Trey did Bathtub Gin!! The set list:

Dave and Tim:
Bartender *
Crush *
Pay For What You Get *
Where Are You Going *
Typical Situation * -->
Dancing Nancies *

Dave and Friends:
Dodo
Trouble
Up and Away
Solsbury Hill #
Gravedigger
Up On Cripple Creek @%
Oh
American Tune +
Stay or Leave
Oh Sister ^++
Some Devil **
So Damn Lucky
Tell Me Something Good ~
Save Me
Hey Bulldog $=
Encore
Everyday ***
Waste ***
Will It Go Round In Circles &

Notes:
* Dave and Tim
# Peter Gabriel cover
^ with Emmylou Harris
++ Bob Dylan cover
% Trey on lead vocals
+ Paul Simon cover
@ The Band cover
~ Stevie Wonder cover
$ Beatles cover
& Billy Preston cover
= with Buddy Miller (Emmylou's guitarist)
** Dave solo
*** Dave and Trey

So, I whined and complained a couple of weeks ago about not being able to go to Phish's 20th Anniversary show here in Boston. No tickets was the problem. The first 3 shows of the run were excellent and was very unhappy to be missing the show here.

So, Tuesday was a long day at work, was in the office almost 12 hours. We actually left the office a bit earlier than expected. I got home right about 7 and as I was putting my stuff down I felt my phone vibrating on my belt. It was Lukas calling to tell me Vieve wasn't feeling good and asking if I wanted to go to the show. Of course I said and walked right back out the door to go meet them down at the Fleet Center.

We got in right before 8, grabbed some water and a quick hot dog and waited for the show to start. The show started a few minutes after 8, which we were surprised about since it seemed like they were letting people in VERY slowly. There were many rumors about this show going around. They included things like 3 full sets, lots of guests etc. I spent a lot (too much probably) of the show waiting for something big to happen, but nothing really did. But that was ok. The show didn't live up to the hype, but it definitely was a good show.

This was my 6th Phish show, 4 in 2000, 2 this year. When I went to the 4 in 2000, I didn't really know Phish all that well, but had been slowly getting in to the jam band scene by being dragged to lots of shows by my friends. I had seen Phil & Friends a number of times by then and had gone to see a bunch of smaller bands as well. The shows were cool, but not knowing much of the music made them a little harder to enjoy. Since seeing the 4 shows and totally enjoying them, I got really in to Phish. Now own many of their albums, have a bunch of bootlegs, etc. The show earlier this year had me very psyched. The band had taken a 2 year hiatus and now they were back and I really knew their stuff much better. Well, the show wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped. The band spent much of the first set playing music from all of their side projects, which was cool, but again, I didn't know a lot of the music which made it harder to enjoy. Well, this show finally was a show where I knew a ton of the music. Though I wasn't super familiar with a couple of the songs, I totally knew most of them which made the show a lot more enjoyable.

So, a good show, yes, the show everyone thought it was going to be, not really. The neat part about the show was in between the 2 sets they played a 20 or 30 minute video of 20 years of Phish. It was funny seeing them back in the old days looking funny and playing scary music. Showed a lot of clips of "famous" shows, etc. Very cool. I wonder if they released that on the net. Will have to check. I do miss Trey talking. He told a great story at the Vegas show in 2000. I wish he did that more often.

So, big thanks to Lukas for hooking me up at the last minute, definitely made my night.

The set list:

Set 1 (1:10):
Harry Hood*
Cavern
Birds of a Feather
Ya Mar**
Horn >
Piper
Anything but Me
Water in the Sky
Down with Disease

Set 2 (1:29):
Rock and Roll ->
Weekapaug Groove ->
Tweezer Reprise# >
Frankenstein ->
Kung ->
Frankenstein
All of These Dreams
The Wedge
Boogie On Reggae Woman >
Cities
Maze
Waste

Encore (0:11):
Bug

Notes:
* - lyrics flubbed
** - ended with "Banana Splitz" theme
*** - screen lowered behind band
# - first line of"Mike's Song" ("Trapped in time, and I don't know what to do") sung inplace of the first line of "Tweezer Reprise"
## - mini vocal jam anddelay loop; Trey drops to ground each time "stand up" is said
### - withmini "duel" between Trey and Page during Page's organ solo

Don and I headed over to Avalon to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band. This was going to be my fifth or sixth time seeing the band and I knew I was in for a good time, I just didn't realize how good a time.

Los Lonely Boys opened up the show. We made sure to get in to see them, as they had been recommended by a co-worker. I liked them, though I feel they need to concentrate a little more. They seemed to play a little of everything. The guitar player needs to shred a little less and play a little more soulful at times.

After a short break, Marcus hit the stage and started out the beat. Then Danyel hit and started laying down a familiar bass line. Jason, the new keyboard player, hit the stage next to get the song really going. I know this song! Robert came out and started playing the vocal line to Billie Jean on his guitar. Interesting song to start with, especially what is going on with MJ these days.

Now that its almost a week later and there were a few drinks involved in the evening, I can't completely remember what was played. Shake Your Hips had the stage filled with women from the crowd doing the hip shake. Hopefully I can find a set list some time.

Overall, am amazing show, as was expected. These guys continue to impress me each and every time I see them. If you haven't seen them, you are definitely missing out.

So, last week I went to see Primus at the Orpheum in Boston with Brian and some of his friends.

Going in, I liked that Les had brought the 2 set idea that he picked up from the jam band scene back to Primus. I especially liked that the second set was going to be B000001Y57 in full.

So, the show starts up, and I see what as become to Primus. They have become a jam band. Well, almost. Les really tried to bring the ideas from the jam band scene back to Primus. At time, it worked well. Others, I felt like it wasn't. I feel that Larry missed opportunities at points to really take Primus in to the jam band feel. There were times I felt that Les was laying down something really nice and Larry could have just gone off and really taken a spotlight in the jam, but he didn't.

The first set was alright. I forget that SO much of the music I like of Primus is on Seas of Cheese. The Mr Kringle ending was a good way to end the set on a high note. My favorite piece of the show was American Life with the BEST jam of the night in to Jerry Was A Race Car Driver, a Primus classic. The overall presentation of the Seas of Cheese was really good, though at points, the pieces I expressed above came out. An attempted jam just turned in to Les having some fun on the bass with Larry laying down some random notes. The encore was a severe let down with Mary the Ice Cube from the new CD. It's a slow drifting song, instead of a nice strong ending. But, as the song says, doesn't nothin ever last forever?

The one thing I did learn the night of the show is that Primus is doing the Phish thing and is putting all their shows online at Primus Live. Gonna have to pick up the show once it comes out (a little slow, as opposed to Phish who has them up in like 2 or 3 days).

I had a site that had the set list, but it was somewhat weak (missing the teases and such), so if anyone has a good set list, send it along.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band are coming to Boston on Wednesday. I've been very excited for this show for a while, but haven't spent the cash on tickets yet figuring I could just get them at the door. I was going to order them this weekend, but never got around to it. Well, I am glad I didn't. I just got word from jambase.com that I won tickets! Woo!

The extra nice part is that now that I won't be spending money on those tickets on Wednesday, I am going to grab my buddy's extra ticket for Primus tomorrow night.

Two nights of great bands will make this very long week ahead of me at least a fun long week!

I went to see KMFDM last night at Axis with Tim. There was an opening band called Bile or something who were on stage when we got there. They were not all that great, though Tim claims their older stuff is better. Though PIG was supposedly going to play, I heard that someone was sick or something. I'm still not 100% sure of what was supposed to go on, as Raymond from PIG came out and did almost the whole show with KMFDM.

KMFDM started off the show with WWIII with the same intro from the new album. The set list was ok. There was too much off the discs I'm not a huge fan of/haven't listened to much, like XTORT, Adios and ATTAK. They did play some good stuff though. I was disappointed in the lack of songs like Anarchy and Drug Against War. The worst part was the one song encore when they were supposedly scheduled to play for another 20 mins or so. The band did sound good all night though the vocals were a little low in the mix for much of the night.

Lucia Cifarelli is totally cute, she was fun to watch :)

CNN.com - Concert-goers riot after show canceled - Oct. 15, 2003

Why do Canadians always riot when shows are cancelled?

RollingStone.com: News: Matthews Takes Friends on Tour

Now this is freakin cool. Dave, Tim and TREY! This is a must not miss.

Dave Matthews and Friends tour dates:

12/12: University Park, PA, Bryce Jordan Center
12/13: Providence, RI, Dunkin Donuts Center
12/15: Philadelphia, Wachovia Center
12/16: Boston, FleetCenter
12/17: New York, Madison Square Garden
12/19: Hartford, CT, Hartford Civic Center
12/20: Rochester, NY, Blue Cross Arena
12/22: Rosemont, IL, Allstate Arena
1/12: Seattle, Key Arena
1/14: San Diego, Cox Arena
1/15: Los Angeles, Staples Center
1/16: Oakland, Oakland Arena

Dave Matthews Band plays Central Park

Dave played Central Park last night for a charity gig to raise money for NY's schools. My sister went (for a hefty fee was actually going to be in a VIP section), I will have to call her and see how it was. Set list looks very nice.

Setlist
Don't Drink the Water
So Much To Say -->
Anyone Seen the Bridge? -->
Too Much
Granny
Crush
When The World Ends
Dancing Nancies
Warehouse
Ants
Rhyme & Reason
Two Step
Help Myself
Cortez the Killer *
Jimi Thing *
What Would You Say
Where Are You Going
All Along the Watchtower

Encore
Grey Street
What You Are
Stay

* Warren Haynes on guitar

That asterik there is the most important part. Warren joined them?!?!?!? AHHHH!! I was almost supposed to be in NY this week and was going to try and go, but WARREN coming out blows my mind, that must have been sick. If ANYONE has a recoding of this show, I would love to hear it, especially those two songs. I can't believe CNN didn't even MENTION him coming out.

Phish Plan Holiday Shows

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long Island, Philly, Boston, hear I come!

The Boston date is slated to be a 20th anniversary show too. That show should be just amazing. Gonna fight tooth and nail to grab tickets for that one.

And if somehow I hit the lottery in the next few days, New Years in Miami!

So, anyone got a nice perl programming contract that is gonna make about $1300 they want to throw me? Really, it would help :)

New World In Concert Tickets

I do not like this one bit. More when I really have some time.

I went to see Tori Amos on Sunday with Nick, Timmy, and Renee on Sunday. The show was at the Fleet Boston Pavilion. It was a perfect night to be heading to the tent on the water, just gorgeous, no humidity, 60s, excellent.

We missed much of Ben Folds. Saw his last 2 or 3 songs. Sounded pretty good, but I am not really in to his stuff (more that I don't own it than not liking him). We got some drinks and food and headed to the seats. We had amazing seats, 5th row, stage left. Tori came on around 8:40. She played straight through until just about 11, with just 2 short breaks before the encores. Amazingly long set.

The show itself was ok for me. I thought Tori sounded great, but my big complaint was song selection. She played a lot of b-sides and things. Though I feel I know Tori's stuff VERY well, I got lost at many points during the show. It was very strange. She seemed very calm and just like she was having fun. She didn't get as intense as I have seen her in the past, jumping around on her piano stool and whatnot.

Good show overall, wish the song selection was different.

Setlist (thanks to this site:

Wampum Prayer
a sorta fairytale
Professional Widow
Father Lucifer
Cornflake Girl
Rattlesnakes
Upside Down
Lust
Wednesday
Leather (just Tori)
Seaside (just Tori)
A Case Of You (just Tori)
Bells For Her
Siren
Sweet Sangria
Liquid Diamonds
Take To The Sky
I Can't See New York
Precious Things

1st Encore:
God
Suede

2nd Encore:
Tombigbee
Glory Of The 80's
Your Cloud

Heading to the House of Blues in Cambridge tonight to go see Restafest. Well, that's what I am calling it. Actually, its a night of music from Studio Bopnique which is Anthony Resta's studio. My friends Central Basement and The Chad LaMarsh Band are both playing. Should be a good time and hopefully it will be a big exposure opportunity for both bands (well, for all the bands that are playing).

Well, I just realized thats what it is. After seeing Liz last night, I am also going to see Tori on Sunday.

I went with Lukas to see Liz Phair last night. I have just recently started listening to Liz via the mix CD that GG gave me when I was out visiting.

Wheat (who don't have an easily findable web site) opened. They were pretty much generic pop rock. I wasn't impressed at all.

Liz came out around 8. She played a good variety of songs from her albums. She played for about an hour and did a two song encore. I wasn't happy with how short the show was, but I knew it would be an early due to the club night later.

I was very impressed with how she came off. She still seems like a nervous little girl on stage even though she has been doing this for like 10 years. She even made the comment that she stopped after each song to see if she had done ok. It was definitely very cute. Speaking of cute, she looked plan hot. She had a little see through dress on which just looked amazing. Her singing sounded really good. Just like the albums. I worry sometimes that some music has had too much work done on it in the studio, but Liz showed that hers definitely does not.

Overall a great show, had a blast. Definitely has increased my liking of Liz's music. I may have to just go out and buy some of her CDs now.

Here's the setlist from Lukas:

6'1"
Polyester Bride
Rock Me
Never Said
Glory
Help Me Mary
Divorce Song
Red Light Fever
Uncle Alvarez
Perfect World
Why Can't I?
Johnny Feelgood
Flower
Extraordinary
Supernova

encore:
Little Digger
Fuck and Run

The one note I will add. Before she did Flower, it looked like they were about to go in to Extraordinary, Liz kind of stopped the band and said "Can I do something? I've got my hand raised here" and then did Flower by herself. Very cool.

Big thanks to Lukas for the ticket, here's his review.

I went to the Fleet Boston Pavilion last night to see what could have been th ebest concert line up I have ever seen. I was psyched for the show and knew I had good seats, so it was fixin to be a good time.

Fates Warning started right at 8 (after a false alarm from Bogie that they were on before 7). They played a very quick set, but they sounded real good from the back. The highlight was them playing OSI's Shutdown with Mike Portnoy assisting on drums.

Quuensryche came out about 20 mins after they finished and ripped it up. After an EXTREMELY disappointing show last time I saw QR, I was not expecting all that much. QR did an excellent job of proving me wrong. They played songs from all over their catalog. Highlights were the O:M set of songs which they played right in a row ( I Remember Now, Anarchy X, Revolution Calling, Speak, Eyes Of A Stranger > Anarchy X-tra) and the Best I Can closer was just EXCELLENT. That is one of my favorite QR tunes and they pulled it off flawlessly).

So, two sets in, I had already seen a pretty damn good show, and the band I came to see was still to come on. Dream Theater came on and started out RATHER disappointing playing Pull Me Under. Sure, I like this song, but after hearing it at almost every DT show I have been to (which is like 30 or so), I am sick of it, I don't want to hear it any more. After that, they played a good variety of stuff off all their albums (set list below). They did miss WDADU (and I was hoping for maybe a Your Majesty, since the French folks were in the house), but otherwise a pretty good selection. I would also like to see Hollow Years replaced, just not a big fan of that song either. So, basically, play Raise the Knife instead of PMU and Speak to Me instead of Hollow Years and it really would have been a kick ass set. The band did sound good though, real tight. The best part of their set, was due to time constraints, they sped up Met Pt 1 by like 50% and FLEW through it. It almost sounded like it was ready for radio. They really showed off how good they really are when they can take a complex song and play it EVEN faster than they normally do. They slowed it back down for the verses, but the last section of singing, James got in sync and flew right through it with them. It was just sick.

After DT finished, BOTH DT and QR hit the stage TOGETHER and played The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again. This sounded SWEET. James and Geoff trading verses, all three guitar players and Jordan each getting a nice solo. Just a great way to finish off a show.

I did have after show passes (don't I always? ;) but was not feeling great and all I would have been saying is hi and how are you to the guys, so I bailed. Headed straight home (now that is a miracle) and went to bed.

All in all, a great evening, filled with great music. Got to see a buddy of mine who was involved in the Providence club fire a few months back and was happy to see him doing well. Saw a number of other folks I haven't seen in a while as well. So, fun fun. Glad I wasn't too sick to go.

Dream Theater's Set List:
Pull Me Under
Under a Glass Moon
The Great Debate
Home
Hollow Years
A Mind Beside Itself (Erotomania, Voices, The Silent Man)
Metropolis Pt 1 ("Radio Edit")

Won't Get Fooled Again (w/ Queensryche)

I went to see Pearl Jam at the Tweeter Center last night. We got down to the parking lot good and early even with a ton of traffic getting down there. The first problem of the night, it was raining when we got there. It was initially just a drizzle, but got pretty heavy after a bit. After about an hour of sitting in the car, the rain finally let up enough to spend some time outside. I met up with a number of friends and we hung out, had some beers, cooked some food, etc. Around 8, we headed in to the show. We wandered around place for a bit, grabbed some waters, and hit our seats. We had seats in the new not covered seats at the venue. I had never sat in these seats before, and they weren't all that bad. We kept hoping that the rain would not return. Around 8:45, the band hit the stage. They came out strong and kept it going throughout the show. The set went about 75 minutes. Lots of radio friendly songs and a number of other tracks. Patriot was done differently than I had seen it in the past and it was a very cool version. After about a 10 minute break, the band came back out and did an encore. From Crazy Mary with an AWESOME jam into Alive with the whole crowd the place was electric. The band left the stage one more time and returned to the stage and had the house lights put on. They came out and did Baba O'Reilly which was just incredible. The whole crowd was singing along. Then, they finished off with Yellow Ledbetter. All in all, an amazing show. Eddie was RATHER drunk, but still was totally on. My favorite comment of Eddie's "live life for the moment, but go to sleep". It seems he had been partying straight through from the night before. During Alive, Eddie said something along the lines of "You guys sing, you sound better than me anyways". Fun Fun :)

The set list in full:

First Set: Release, Animal, Gods' Dice, Do The Evolution, Insignificance, Love Boat Captain, I Got Shit, Low Light, Rival, Lukin, Not For You, Daughter, You Are, In Hiding, I Am A Patriot, Once, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Driven To Tears, Corduroy, Soldier Of Love, Crazy Mary, Alive;
2nd encore: Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

The after show parking lot situation sucked as always. Got home around 1ish or so.

Bonnaroo Fest Goes Off Without a Hitch

This is most excellent to hear. Maybe someday I will actually go to this show, but the whole camping, no showers, no nice comfy bed thing and I don't really get along with each other. Once I get back to the office next week I hope to get a great report from a co-worker who went down.

A nice little article at CNN about the Bonnaroo Festival this weekend in TN. I know one person going, wish I could have made the trek, but camping and I don't really agree with each other all that much :)

The Bonnaroo NE festival was cancelled today. No suprise at all after what happened with Field Day. The amusing part was the prganizers up until now swore up and down that they were not going to be affected by the goings on with Field Day. I laughed every time I heard that and now i laugh last :) Glad I didn't spend the almost $200 to go :)

Yay! Just got Tori tickets for her show in August and got the fifth row! Woot!

Woot! We just scored 24th row tickets to Lollapalooza in Boston this summer. Yay!

All I have to say is GODDAMN! This show was HOT!

Don and I arrived at the show around 9:30 or so, there was supposed to be an opening band going on around then, but none was sighted. Finally around 10:50, the band hit the stage. They started off strong and never stopped. They played A LOT of new material that I had not heard before, plus included either 3 or 4 of the six songs available on their live disc.

About the third or fouth song, they did Shake Your Hips and Robert called a number of girls up to the stage to dance with him. He did it again late in the set. I knew at that point we were in for a good time.

About the fifth song of the set, he called 'Lil Joey' from the Blind Boys of Alabama, who played in Sommerville this evening, up to the stage. I thought he would play a song or two and take off. Instead, he stayed for the rest of the show. He added some nice guitar on all the tracks and even some vocals on some.

The strangest thing of the evening was seeing Robert play some normal guitar. He normally plays pedal steel guitar. It was very intersting to see this.

One of the things I love to judge a band on is if they seem to be having fun. These guys look like they are having a BLAST. They were laughing and smiling and just having a good time. Its great to see a band who really LOVES what they are doing. You know they are up there saying to themselves "I get paid for this!".

All in all, an amazing show, glad I went. I definitely hate Lukas and Ethan due to the fact that the Nassau set list looks GREAT, but I had a wonderful time tonight myself, so that lets some of the hate burn off :)

Though Lukas and Ethan are lucky enough to be heading to my home arena to see Phish again tonight, I still get to have some fun. Don and I are off to The Paradise to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band. I'm psyched up for this show, even though I am half asleep right now. I have not seen these guys in almost a year, so it will be good to hear some of their music, especially new stuff, since they are supposed to be having a CD coming out RSN.

Since I have to work on Sunday, it's going to be an early day at the office today, so hopefully I can get a little nap in before the show and it will really be a fun night.

Last night I headed over to Worchester to see Phish. As I mentioned earlier, this was the first time I have seen them in a long time. Don and I had horrible seats behind the stage, but I was there for the music, not to stare at the boys.

Brian picked me up at work around 4 and we headed out. We went to the pub across the street from the Centrum. We had hoped to grab some dinner, but there were no seats. We had a few Guinness and finally decided to grab some Potato Skins. The place was getting crowded and I was supposed to meet Don around 7, so we headed out. I called Don and he said he was probably 10 or 15 mins out depending on how bad the traffic continued to be. Don FINALLY showed up an hour later and we headed in almost 30 mins after the show was supposed to start. Luckily it hadn't.

The show started off rather hot with "You Enjoy Myself". This got me all psyched up. The show turned from there and got rather slow in my opinion. They were playing a lot of songs that I didn't seem to know. The set continued rather slow for a while. They finally busted out 'Maze' and ended the set nicely with that. I was hoping for a better second set at this point.

The second set started off with Stash, which is a song I dig. It only got better from there. They seemed to keep building on the energy from the song before. They really got going with Waves in to Prince Caspian in to Frankenstein. At the end of Frankenstein, they switched to Golgi on the dime. They left the stage at this point. They came back on and did Loving Cup, which had the crowd going wild. This ended the show.

The second set BLEW the first set away. I definitely would have liked to hear some other songs I really enjoy, but that second set made it a good show.

After the show Don and I got right out and got home. When I got home, I checked online for the set list. It was then I figured out how special a first set we had. The band decided to cover songs from each of their side projects. I wish I knew some of this material a little better, I think it would have made the first set a bunch better.

All in all, a great show, but not as amazing as I could have hoped for. And now the setlist:

Set I: You Enjoy Myself* > Clone**, Roggae, Drifting***, Blue Skies****, The Moma Dance, Final Flight^, Maze

Set II: Stash, Ghost^^ > Makisupa Policeman^^^ > Ya Mar, Guyute, Waves, Prince Caspian^^^^ -> Frankenstein, Golgi Apparatus%

Encore: Loving Cup%%

* - vocal jam included the word "Clone" and the start of the song "Clone"
** - first time played - written by Mike Gordon and originally performed by Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon
*** - first time played - originally performed by Trey Anastasio
**** - first time played - originally performed by Pork Tornado
^ - first time played - originally performed by Vida Blue
^^ - with "Low Rider" tease / jam
^^^ - with the lyrics "Woke up this morning... and my hotel was burning down" - believed to be in reference to a hotel fire at the Radisson in Cincinnati
^^^^ - unfinished
% - with "Frankenstein" teases
%% - ending dragged out to finish the show

For the first time in almost 2 and a half years, I am going to see Phish. I haven't seen them since Vegas on their last tour before their hiatus. Now, I am not a huge Phish follower like some people I know, I have only seen them 4 times (all on that last tour).

As I have been thinking about this show over the last few days, I have come to realize how much those 4 shows, along with some others around that time have really changed the music I listen to. Change may not be the best word, expanded would probably be a better one. Some time in the late 90's, I had some pressure from a few different friends, mainly Mike and Don to come to see several "jam band" type shows. Mike finally got me to go see Phil and Fiends. I had a blast. I saw a few more Phil shows and then saw the 4 Phish shows. Seeing these shows and having a good time at that convinced me to see more similar shows. Over the years, I have gone to see bands like Gov't Mule, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, The Other Ones, John Butler Trio, and many others (mostly Don-suggested shows). Actually, these "jam band" shows have become more my normal show than anything else. I still go see Dream Theater any time they are in town, but other than that, I don't attend a ton of shows any more that are not "jam band" related.

Due to seeing all these shows, this music has become more and more of what I listen to. It's done a good job of expanding my tastes. Well, hopefully I and everyone else going this evening will have a good show.

My friends, Central Basement just found out they will be opening up for Avril Lavigne at the Orpheum in Boston for a special Kiss 108 show this Wednesday. Congrats guys!

Yes, yesterday was a busy day. After driving down to Long Island from Boston starting at 9:30 and getting in at 3:30, I jumped on the LIRR to MSG to go see Dave Matthews. I almost backed out due to being so tired from the drive and the CD release party the night before, but then remembered the tickets were at will call and there was no way else for anyone to pick them up. So, my sister and I headed in to the city, met up with her boss and his brother, each of their wives and my sister's boyfriend (yeah, odd man out I was). We had some dinner and then headed in. I was hoping to catch the opening band, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, but only caught the last 5 mins or so of his set. In the end, it didn't matter.

Dave came out playing some of the big stuff, as well as some oldies, but goodies. He did a kick ass version of All Along the Watchtower with a great jam in it, way early on in the set (about an hour in) and I was rather confused. I felt that would have been an awesome way to end the night and I knew he wasn't going to stop that early. He did 2 more songs and then called out Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. They did So Much to Say right in to Too Much, both sounding awesome. Then the strangest thing I think could ever happen at a Dave show happened. He uttered the words, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Godfather of Soul, JAMES BROWN!". I was floored. Out come James and friends and they bust in to a 15 minute jam of Sex Machine, which included both a Carter and Karl solo, and James and Dave dancing together. Ridiculous stuff. I don't think I have ever heard an arena so loud. Right at the end a bunch of cannons go off and shoot white confetti in to the air, so it looked like it was snowing. Amazing stuff. The band comes back after about 5 minutes for an Encore. They all put on Santa hats, tease Christmas Song and then bust out in to Halloween. Of course, being a show of this magnitude, they finished off with Ants Marching. Overall, an amazing freakin show. Most definitely the best Dave show I have ever seen. The set list was as follows:

Drive In Drive Out *
Granny *
Christmas Time Is Here (tease) *
Dont Burn The Pig *
What Would You Say *
Grey Street *
Fool To Think *
Loving Wings (tease) *
Where Are You Going *
Seek Up *
Digging a Ditch *
Watchtower *
Grace Is Gone *
The Space Between *
So Much To Say *+ -->
Anyone Seen the Bridge? -->
Too Much *+ -->
Sex Machine *+~
Encore
Halloween * -->
Ants Marching *

* with Butch Taylor on keys
+ Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
~ James Brown and Friends

Wow, good way to start Christmas week. And yes, the tired feeling I had was gone about 2 songs in.

Fear my photography skills.

I found out while home this week that my sister's boss is going to the Dave Matthews show we are going to in a few weeks at MSG. His mother has access to an executive box. He has said he is going to get us in to the box for the show. This rocks, as my original tickets kind of sucked. Yay boss!

Last night I went up to Lowell to see Tori Amos play at the Tsongas Arena. Overall, great show.

The Arena
Well, never having been here, I did not know what to expect. We got there right at 7:30, the time the show was supposed to start, as we didn't care to see the opening act. After we parked. we headed to go inside, but found that there was a line WAY around the corner. That sucked enough. Line moved pretty quickly though, but then as we got to the door they freakin took my cigarettes away. I hate this new trend of "let's not hire enough security to make sure no one smokes, instead lets take away everyone's cigarettes", it's bullllllshit. I definitely wasn't getting back in line after putting them in my car. We get inside and then they don't want to let us take food and drink down to our seats. We were, after finding a very not easy way to feed, able to get waters down to the floor with no questions.

The Show
Well, we were in the fifth row, center. so, the seats, well, kicked ass. When Tori came out we had a perfect view of her playing both her piano and keyboards. We couldn't see the drummer, but that wasn't who I was there to see.

I go to see Tori because I love her music. She is a great artist. I find it amazing that she can sing the way she does night in and night out. She sounded awesome at the show last night. I also really like that she has the talent to be able to play around with songs and do some improvization at the same time. Just amazing. I thought the set list was great. Always disappointed when Winter and Precious Things are missing, but still a great list overall. It was:

Wampum
Sorta Fairytale
Sugar
Crucify
Bliss
Crazy
Take to the sky
Black Dove
Wednesday
--- roadside cafe ---
Silent all these years
cloud on my tongue
Famous blue raincoat
Strange
--- end cafe ---
Taxi ride
Little Earthquakes
Caught a lite sneeze
Pancake
Can't see New York
Spring Haze

Encore 1
Corflake Girl
Your cloud
tear in your hand

Encore 2
Sweet Sangria
Hey Jupiter

Overall, I had a blast.

If only I had the cash to be the guy that this shirt could be talking about :)

Told ya so, from the Phish-News List:

Many of you have sent questions, so just to clarify: "Phish will hit the road several times in 2003, including a run of dates in the second half of February that spans both coasts - details to follow in the coming weeks."

The Boston Herald has a review of last night's show entitled Excess not too much for Rush. Pretty good review. Check it out.

Went to see Rush at the Fleet Center last night. Bogie and I had pretty good seats (19 row in the middle second section, 26 rows from the stage). All in all it was a good show. I think listening to a lot of jam bands these days has spoiled some of my concert expectations these days. Rush is amazing and puts on an amazing show, but the songs are all almost note for note what you hear on their CDs. I have gotten very used to lots of improvisation and jamming, which they do not stray in to all that often.

The setlist was pretty much the exact setlist from the Saratoga Show from this summer with Freewill and The Trees added on to replace some of the older songs.

The sound in the Fleet Center, at least from where I was, was not the greatest. The sound in there tends to bounce around a lot. I definitely feel I should have used ear plugs, it sometimes helps some of that. It did sound ok, but not wonderful.

All in all, a good show, though I think it would be cool to just see these guys jam out.

The setlist was:

-Intro (Three Stooges theme)
1. Tom Sawyer
2. Distant Early Warning
3. New World Man
4. Roll The Bones
5. Earthshine
6. YYZ
7. The Pass
8. Bravado
9. The Big Money
10. The Trees
11. Freewill
12. Natural Science

Intermission

13. One Little Victory
14. Driven
15. Ghost Rider
16. Secret Touch
17. Dreamline
18. Red Sector A
19. Leave That Thing Alone
20. The Rhythm Method (Drum Solo)
21. Resist (Acoustic)
22. 2112 (Overture, The Temples Of Syrinx)
23. Limelight
24. La Villa Strangiato
25. The Spirit Of Radio

Encore:

26. By-Tor And The Snow Dog/Cygnus X-1/Working Man

Comments: with Greg Rzab & George Porter, Jr. and Danny Louis

1st Set:
Wandering Child (1)
World Gone Wild (1)
Painted Silver Light (1)*
No Need To Suffer (1)
Empty Pages (1)
Rocking Horse (2)
Thorazine Shuffle (2)
Down And Out In New York City (3)
Sco-Mule (3)
Mule (2)

2nd Set:
Larger Than Life (1)
If 6 Was 9 (1)+
Devil Likes It Slow (1)**
World Of Confusion (1)
When Doves Cry (2)> Beautifully Broken (2)> When Doves Cry (2) > Beautifully Broken (2)
Effigy (2)
Banks Of The Deep End (2)
Pygmy Twylyte (2)> Blind Man In The Dark (2)

Encore:
Soulshine (2)***

Setlist Notes:
(1) Greg Rzab on bass
(2) George Porter, Jr. on bass
(3) George Porter, Jr. on bass and Karl Denson on sax
* with Nantucket Sleighride tease
** with Pass The Peas tease
*** with Jessica tease
+ first time played

Don and I went to see Gov't Mule over at the Orpheum last night. We had excellent seats, 7th row from the stage on the left hand side. We basically were 15 feet from Warren the whole night.

It was a great show overall. I actually wore earplugs (I think it was the first time I did it for a whole show) due to two facts. First off, I was right next to the speakers and second, I am going to see Pork Tornado tonight over at the The Paradise Rock Club and wanted to actually be able to hear the show. Wearing the lugs killed some of the highs, but overall, it still sounded pretty good.

Some highlights of the show included:

• Karl Denson joining in on 2 songs before his gig up at the Paradise
  
• When the Doves Cry played around one of the songs
  
• Being at the tour opener!
  

The only real letdown of the night was the fact that Jason Newsted, who Don swore was going to be playing some of the set never came out. I was really hoping to see him.

I definitely enjoy the two different bassists. I liked that they were very different players. The first guy was blues and rock bass player. Very good player, hit all his notes, but didn't seem to have a ton of groove in him. The second bass player was much more of a funk and jazz player. Grooved right along with the songs. Both had lightening fast fingers too, probably the second guy more than the first.

Warren sounded real nice all night. I forget how awesome a voice he has until I see him live. I always think of him more as a great guitar player, but he can really sing excellently as well. He did seem to have some equipment problems over the course of the evening, but nothing all that major. And hell, it was the tour opener, it expected.

Matt sounded great on drums. Nice little solos at some points. He's just a solid drummer as far as I could tell. Nothing all that fancy, but definitely kept the pace going.

The keyboard player didn't really shine all that much in my eyes. First off, I could not hear him for a lot of the songs because of the ear plugs and second, he seemed to wander too much on his solos. I dunno, maybe it was just me.

Again, great show overall. Much thanks to Don for the ticket which was 1/2 of my birthday present (the other is the show tonight!). Hopefully I will get and post the set list at some point laster today.

I went to see John Butler Trio with Don this past week. He won tickets on Jam Base, so he invited me to go. Neither of us had seen him before and really hadn't heard any of his music either. So, we were basically going in blind. Don said he had heard some good things on some of the jam band mailing lists, so there was at least some potential.

Psychedelic Breakfast were the openers. I know we missed some of their set, but I'm not sure of how much. These guys were pretty good. They seemed a little more straight ahead rock with some jam elements rather than an all out jam band. My biggest issue with this band was that the guitar player overplayed A LOT. He played like he was in an old school heavy metal band while soloing instead of just grooving to the music. Other than that, they were pretty good.

John Butler Trio came out with some stand-up bass, slide guitar, and drums to start the set off. Seemed a little slow and mellow, so I got a little worried. I was definitely not going to stay for two hours if it was going to stay at this level. Luckily, it did not. They picked up real quick. Some nice songs, excellent singing, and some good jamming (though after hearing the CD, some of it seems a bit rehearsed). John is rather political, so he had some banter between sets about some of the meanings of his songs, and who/what they pointed at. I definitely enjoyed the show and ended up grabbing Three, the first full length disc from this trio. This disc delivers. It was definitely as good as the show was.

I think John may be on his way to joining an elite group which includes people like Dave Matthews and Bob Dylan. The group is called Noone Can Understand What I Say Between Songs. He isn't there yet, but at a couple of points, I had to really listen to him.

I went and saw a few of my favorite bands a couple of weeks back (09/12) at the Fleet Boston Pavilion. First off, I have to say that I love this venue. This is the second show I saw there this summer and probably my 6th or 7th overall. This place is located right on the water. The seats are all pretty good. The other nice thing is that they have a set of tables at the back of the seats where you can sit and hang out, but still hear and see the show perfectly. Very cool.

We got to the show good and early assuming that King's X were actually going to go on early if both DT and Satch were going to get their supposed hour and a half sets in. I ended up waiting outside until 7:30 (when King's X went on, which was actually on time) trying to meet up with a friend. I didn't meet up with him, but luckily he got in anyways. I ended up watching KX from the back with Carl. They sounded good, but I didn't like that they only played like 6 songs. I REALLY like these guys and would much rather have seen them put on an hour set.

During the break, we went up to the seats. We had third row dead center. They were excellent, you could almost reach out and grab the bands. Joe Satriani came on next. I stayed up at the seats for about 3/4 of Satch's show and caught the rest from the back. Satch's sound was excellent. He played a variety of stuff, but mostly it was a greatest hits show. He played for about an hour, if that.

Next up was Dream Theater. As many people know, these guys are probably my favorite band. I've seen them a ton of times (probably around 30, I need to figure that out at some point). Their sound was sorta muddy throughout most of the set, but they came off pretty good. WAY too short a set for my tastes. I would rather have seen them play a 3 hour show. I think in the end they played about an hour as well.

After the show, I had aftershow passes from Mike. Bogie and I headed to the meet and greet area. We met up with Matt from Event and his girlfriend there. Matt gave me a 3 song sampler of their new CD. Very good stuff. I think these guys have finally gotten their own sound down and I really like it. We got to meet the band. I chatted with most of them for a minute or two. The guards were really trying to push us out (even while I was chatting with James and Bogie was chatting with Mike).

After the show, Nick and I headed over to the Bell in Hand to check out the end of Central Basement's set. They were in a wacky mood, which was funny. This, of course, was not a good idea as I was exhausted the next day, but it was a fun night.

I went to see Phil and Friends on Saturday at the Tweenter Center in Mansfield, MA. Don and I headed down to the show around 1:30 as it was a 4PM show and the lots would be open by 1.

This show was very badly planned for Don and I, since I was up in the air about going. Normally we are very prepared for shows and have a full list of things we want to have. This time, we actually had to stop in the store in Mansfield to get some more supplies.

Once we got to the lot, we set up our chairs and our cooler. The side of the lot we were in was rather slow. There were some people, but nowhere near as crowded as I would have assumed. I think maybe some people went in early to catch the opening acts. The opening acts were Mickey Hart's world music band and Robert Hunter. We decided to skip them and enjoy the lot. The lot was pretty slow, but it seemed like a pretty good crowd. We made a friend who came over and sat with us for a while, since he was waiting for his friends to show up. We chatted music and other such stuff. He eventually went to find his friends and Don and I went out in search of tickets.

Yes, in search of tickets, we decided to do this show a little different than normal and try and skip the Ticketmaster fees. We headed to the front of the venue and found no one offering tickets. We headed down to Shakedown, and there were people selling a lot of what you would expect at a Dead-like show, but still no tickets. So, we headed over to the box office. We asked the guy if he had tickets in the shed, he said, sure, and pointed to them on the seating chart. They were dead center, 20 rows back. Sweet! That worked out rather well.

We headed in to the show about 6:30 and wandered around for a bit. We checked out the merchadise. I actually went and bought a $30 t-shirt, but I liked it. I don't have a lot of "hippe-wear", so getting an additional tie dye every once in a while isn't a bad thing.

When we got to the seats, we found we were in with the lifers. I think I was the youngest person in the area by at least 10 years (not including Don). I get a kick out of these people, since they seem like nice older people, but are sitting and smoking weed and dancing away once the band comes on. Very amusing, but I totally dig them.

The show itself was ok. Mickey Hart played the first 30 minutes or so with them (I guess Phil also came out for the last 2 songs with Mickey). That part of the show was quite possibly the best of the show for me. Some of the newer stuff does not lend itself as well to dancing around and is kind of slow. The second set was very much a spacey jam for a lot of it and the band seemed to lose itself a few times over the course of it. Though I could appreciate the muscianship up there, I didn't dig the show as much as I have in the past.

After the show, Don and I just headed to our respective houses. I was exhausted from a long night the night before and then a full day.

The setlist was:

Set 1: *Jam>
*Crazy Fingers>
*Uncle John's Band> *China Cat Sunflower>
*I Know You Rider
Patchwork Quilt
The Wheel>
The Real Thing
*with Mickey Hart

Set 2: Jam>
Darkstar V1>
Again and Again>
Spacey Jam>
The Eleven>
Darkstar V2>
Spanishy Jam>
Lady With A Fan> Jam>
Morning Dew>
Terrapin Station> Jam
She Said, She Said

E: Box of Rain

Last night I went to see Rush at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. My buddy Brian and I went and had eigth row
seats. His parents are patrons of SPAC, so they are able to get tickets early for shows. Though we ended up not
being the REAL eighth row, due to about 4 rows of folding chairs in the orchestra pit, they were still amazing seats.

Brian had headed down to his parent's house on Wednesday to spend some time with the family, so I got up Saturday
morning and drove down to his house just south of Albany. This drive will produce some more rambling later on,
trust me. I got down there around 1:30. We hung around the house for a while and then drove up to Saratoga. We
checked out the state park to see if we saw any gatherings of fans which Brian had heard rumors of on the net. We
found none, so we headed in to town for a bit and wandered around. Lots of little stores that our mom or sister
would enjoy, but nothing that reall thrilled us. We then headed over to Bruno's where my cousin works
to grab some dinner before the show. After an EXCELLENT meal there, we headed over to the show.

Brian's parent being patrons once again worked in our favor, since we were allowed to park in the patron's lot
which is right next to an alternate entrance and away from the rest of the lots. We wandered around the grounds
for a couple of minutes and then headed in to the show.

The crowd at the show was VERY interesting. Having been a Rush fan for many years and meeting many others
(mostly through the Ytsejam), I think I expected a lot of people who really knew music and generally listened
to good music most of the time. I was wrong, I guess. There was a fair amount of white trash there, a number of
frat boy types, a bunch of groups of teenagers who seemingly not fans, and then the group that I expected. It
always makes me wonder when I see people at shows who don't seem to belong there. I would never go to
a Backstreet Boys show or something and not expect to get lots of strange looks. Though I do like to go to
a wide variety of shows, I still think I fit in to some extent at all of them.

Brian and I located our seats and sat down. We chatted with a guy sitting next to us about some summer shows
(definitely one of the types I expected at the show). Soon after we sat down, the lights went down and the
band came out. Since I don't want to ruin the setlist for anyone reading this who doesn't want to know, I'll
just say it was FREAKIN AWESOME. You can find something which is pretty close to what we heard
over on Rush At Resist.

The band definitely sounded very good and we're all in sync. Alex seemed a bit wacky with his dancing around
at points, but it was amusing. Neil was in the back, looking all too serious, but kicking ass every second of the
show. Geedy had some good banter for the crowd and seemed to be having a great time up there. Actually,
besides Nei l and his constant stone face, the band looked like they were having a blast. All in all, that guy,
that guy, and the most handsome man in the world and leader of the band sounded great, you definitely could
not tell they had been off for 5 years.

The band played 2 sets, the first went about an hour and twenty minutes (7:40-9) and the second went about
and a little more than an hour (9:15-10:25) with a 10-15 minute encore. The video screen and lights at the
show were awesome. I would say they were almost worthy of Phish at points. One of my favorite was the
video just before the beginning of the second set.

After seeing the show, I am definitely considering heading to the show here at Great Woods ... errr ..
The Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA, even if I am heading there on Saturday for Phil and Friends.

I went to see the band moe this weekend. Les Claypool's Flying Frog's Brigade opened up for them. I was there more
to see Les than moe (as I am a huge Primus fan). The nice part of the show was that Les and crew ended up playing
for over an hour and a half, so I got my money's worth before moe even came on. The bad part is I am still unsure
of how I feel about the Frog's Brigade. I definitely like Les and having him come out with moe for a bit proved
to me that he can handle the "jam band" situation well. I just am iffy on the rest of his band. Actually, its more
just the sax player I am iffy on. I think the percussionist and drummer (HERB!!!) were excellent, the guitar
player didn't thrill me, but at the same time, he didn't seem to be there too, but the sax player, man, I just can't
seem to be very happy about. I basically don't like all the distortion and effects he puts on his sax. Why can't
he just play sax and enjoy it instead of making all this wierd noise with it? I also think some of the stuff that
they put out is not in the normal "jam band" genre and that takes away from it somewhat for me.

Having never seen moe before, I went in with no opinions whatsoever of them. I came out with a very good
opinion of them. Someone had said to me they felt like the bass player was trying to do too much, but I
thought it worked well in the context of the music. When Les came out for the last song of the first set,
I really felt the double bass solo really shined. I definitely dug their music and will go to see them again in
the near future if possible. Another nice thing was that they teased The Who alot of the night including doing
a verse of Pinball Wizard near the end of the set.

The best part of the night was that it was GORGEOUS out. My buddy and I were up near the front for Les,
as it was general admission (with seats) and then just hung out at the tables in the back during the moe sets.

Definitely an enjoyable night, but I am still iffy on how I feel about the Flying Frog's Brigade.