Recently in Music Category

Believe

This has been stuck in my head for days, so figured I should push it out and infect it on all of you :) More real posts coming soon, I swear!

Believe - Savatage

So after all these one night stands
You've ended up with heart in hand
A child alone
On your own
Retreating
Regretful for the things you're not
And all dreams you haven't got
Without a home
A heart of stone
Lies bleeding

And for all the roads you followed
And for all you did not find
And for all the things you had to leave behind

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams
Don't turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
All I ask of you
Believe
Your childhood eyes were so intense
While bartering your innocence
For bits of string
Grown-up wings
You needed

But when you had to add them up
You found that they were not enough
To get you in
Pay for sins repeated

And for all the years you borrowed
And for all the tears you cried
And for all the fears you had to keep inside

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams
Don't turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe

I never wanted to know
Never wanted to see
I wasted my time
Till time wasted me
Never wanted to go
Always wanted to stay
'Cause the person I am
Are the parts that I play
So I plot and I plan
Hope and I scheme
To the lure of a night
Filled with unfinished dreams
And I'm holding on tight
To a world gone astray
As they charge me for years
I can't pay

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams Don't turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe

Believe

Welcome to the New Year

Been thinking a bunch over the last few days of what the new year is going to bring and more of what I would like it to bring. 2008 was definitely an up and down year for me, but I really want to try and make the best of 2009.

Music:

Last year was a banner year for me musically. At the beginning of the year, I set a personal goal for myself of being able to get up and play on stage with some of my friends at the various bars in Boston. This goal was set to try and get me playing my guitar more and really getting better at it.

I accomplished that goal many times over. I played at The Bell, Hennessey's (multiple times) and DJ's. I played with various bands and even solo once. This was great for me.

The other big thing that happened musically was that some friends and I started a band. It was rough going at first, but these days, we are really starting to get somewhere. We played at 2 parties at a friend's house, which were fun, but a bit of a mess at times (I've seen the video, so I know :). The big accomplishment was we actually played a real gig in a bar a few weeks ago. Huge deal for all of us, now we just gotta keep it going.

This year, I have a lot more plans for music. I really want to spend some time and perfect my sound, which means picking up a bunch of pedals, a pedal board, etc etc. I've got a bunch of ideas on what to get, now I just need to save up some cash and get it all set. I've already got one pedal coming this week and then it's going to be a game of ordering the rest of them.

In the same vain of the music geeking out, I also want to try and get some level of a home studio together. Nothing too major, mostly my mac and some other stuff. A keyboard/midi controller and some mics (instrument and vocal) are pretty much all I need here. Oh, and an external HD to save all the work I hope to do.

Once I get some of that stuff set, the big goal for this year is to "record an album". Now, I don't necessarily mean some great production, professional album, I just mean something for me. The goal is to write and record a song each month. The other part of that is that I want to work with a different friend each month, so it will end up being something fun and hopefully experimenting in a bunch of different types of music.

As for the band, I'd really like us to get good enough this year to be playing out regularly. This is a big goal in a lot of ways, but I think if we can really work hard, we will be able to do it. It would be great for a lot of reasons (not to mention a couple of extra bucks here and there), so I really hope we can accomplish it. I have the contacts, so I think if we can get up to speed, its something that's doable.

There are a couple of other things in the back of my mind musically as well. I'd like to take vocal lessons, but not sure if there will be the time or money for that. I'd also like to really learn a ton more songs and maybe get out and do a few solo gigs. Again, not sure if that will be possible, but you never know. Never bad to have some pie in the sky type goals.

Ok, this is already getting really long, so I guess I will continue this in some more parts over the next few days....

Friday ......

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 :)

Goal #2: Wild Stringdom!

Back in the day, Dream Theater's guitar player John Petrucci used to write a column for one of the guitar magazines called Wild Stringdom, so I thought the name was appropriate.

My second goal for this year is to really get back in to playing music. I've always played a little guitar, but its always been a hobby that was never really fully realized. I would get in to playing for a bit but then would get busy and stop for a while. I never really got anywhere with my playing.

Considering how much time I spend around music and musicians, this really frustrates me. I have decided that this year I want to be able to get up and play with those guys and have them trust I will know what I am doing. It would be a lot of fun to be able to do this from time to time.

The other driving force behind this is that I recently found out a friend of mine has a full practice space at his apartment. The last few times we have been at his place for parties, we have jammed out a few tunes and it really felt good. I now am hoping we can turn that energy in to a regular jam session that will do two things. First it will help me get my chops up, second, it will help me get used to playing with other people, which is a skill I have not mastered in the least yet.

I have been really good the last few days in trying to get myself in to a routine of playing. I have a list (and an iTunes playlist) of about 40 songs I know or want to learn. I've also been really good about spending at least an hour each night playing some of that list. Now I just need to keep it up and push it even further.

The next big step is to spend some time with my books and magazines on guitar and music theory, which fits right in with another one of my goals which you will hear about later.

Confusing Fans

The most confusing part of this video (Every Time I Die singer Keith Buckley singing Pantera's "Walk" with Fall Out Boy) to me is that Fall Out Boy fans know old school music like Pantera. They are all singing along.


Another Great Show At Hennessey's!!

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 :)

Jeff Buckley Tribute & More!

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.

Pussy!

So I heard Adam Curry mention Pussy: The Musical on the DSC. He even played the opening song last week some time. So, I finally decided to head over and subscribe. Well I am sure glad I did. Two episodes in and it's hilarious thus far. You should check it out!

SNL

Foo Fighters are the musical guest and play once, Jon Bon Jovi is the host and Bon Jovi plays twice. WTF?

Funny Music References on TV

I was watching Californication, the other night and was rather amused when Henry Rollins' character (or was he just playing himself) mentioned the books that Hank Moody (David Duchovny's character) had written during their interview. The books were South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, and God Hates Us All. I found this rather amusing as these are all titles of Slayer albums. I wonder if this was Rollins' idea or if this was something one of the writers actually wrote in.

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.

Go Buy This

Good friends, good music. Go get it :P

Sunset is a Battle at the BYC!

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.

The worst part ...

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.

Let's Fahkin Go!

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.

Rocco Deluca and The Burden

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

The Police @ Fenway Park - 07.28.2007

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.

Buckley Tribute at Henn

Sunset is a Battle TONIGHT!

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!

How did I miss this?

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!

Alice in King's Jane

From Dave Navarro's site:

Houston was awesome. Perkins and I joined Alice In Chains for a quick "Alice In Jane's" version of Mountain Song. At the end of the Alice set, Jerry, Perk, William, Mike and I rocked it, followed by a version of Man in the Box with King's X singer, Doug Pinnick.

If ANYONE has a tape of this (especially the Dug part), please please point me to it! (anything at skadz.com works)

Matisyahu

When I first saw Matisyahu on Jimmy Kimmel Live two years ago (yes, that's right, Jimmy had him 2 years ago), I thought, neat, but this is a real gimmicky artist here. Then, over time, I saw his name pop up a bunch of the jam band scene. He even did some shows with Trey from Phish. Things got a little more interesting for me then, but still, no real spark or connection or anything.

Recently, the radio stations caught on to him and he went from zero to sixty very quickly. Suddenly shows are selling out at larger venues, etc. I got a kick out of this, since I had seen him so long ago on Kimmel and now he was the hottest commodity on the market. I dug "King Without A Crown" when I heard it on the radio, but still, thought this guy was still a gimmick act.

Well, recently one of his shows showed up on bt.etree.org, the bittorrent part of the etree network, where all sorts of legally taped shows are posted. I said, what the heck, let's see what this guy is really all about.

Well, color me impressed. This guy and his band really have some skills. I've been listening to the CD I made a ton lately and really getting in to it. He's got a number of great songs and a band that just rocks. The most amazing part is that he does some old school beat boxing on one of the tracks and just lights it up. Then his band jams out for a bit and really show their skills.

I have definitely become a fan :)

Lollapalooza, Wow!

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.

AiC to Tour

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.

The Roo Is Coming Back

Just got this in the Inbox:

The initial artist announcement for this summer's Bonnaroo Music Festival will be next Wednesday, February 1st. This announcement will include an initial lineup of artists, as well as ticket on-sale information for the festival being held June 16-18, 2006.

I really want to hit this one year, maybe this will be the one, who knows.

Finally

The rock stars all come around to this whole Internet thing eventually, Greg Luttrell finally has a web site

A CD to add to the list

Raul Midon was on Jimmy Kimmel the other night and he definitely has some mad skills. Take him as a combination of like a Jason Mraz's guitar playing and then add in a much more soulful, R&B like vocals. Definitely someone to check out.

God Lives Underwater

No, not a new religion (though, maybe I could get some stars to convert and make millions). God Lives Underwater was a band in the mid-90s. I used to really dig them. Saw them at least twice, once over at TTs and once at Avalon. Maybe saw them more than that, my brain don't work as well as it used to :) I even have a t-shirt :) So, I was very saddened to read this article:

David Reilly, a founding member of God Lives Underwater, died Sunday of complications from longstanding stomach problems. Reilly was the band's vocalist and chief programmer, and he also played guitar and synthesizer on God Lives Underwater's four albums. Corporate Punishment Records released Reilly's first and only solo album, Inside, in 2004. Label President Thom Hazaert said in a statement, “I am honored and humbled to have had the chance to work with someone like him, an amazing artist and visionary, who in my eyes will always be one of the most talented people to ever walk the Earth. David will remain forever in our hearts and will be sorely missed by everyone at CPR.”

"Time To Geek Out"

Driving home from work on Wednesday, I was listening to WAAF, as I usually do (until I lose the signal) and Paul Marshall got to the Hairball portion of his show. Usually, he plays some sort of hair band from back in the day (Poison, Slaughter, Warrant, etc). On Wednesday, he started out the segment with, "It's time to geek out". I knew immediatetly I was about to hear some Dream Theater on the radio. He continued to say something like, these guys really aren't a hairband, but did well then and continue to do well today. He then made fun of geeks like me saying "Oh my God! He's playing Dream Theater on the radio". And then he played "Pull Me Under". Always good to hear a little DT on the radio, though it would be nice if they would play SOMETHING, ANYTHING besides Pull Me Under.

Sharon Osbourne shows her true colors

Blabbermouth has an article from Kerrnag! magazine where Sharon Osbourne admits to causing all the problems at Iron Maiden's last performance on Ozzfest:

Sharon Osbourne: "Of course I did. I had the PA turned on and off. And look it's not hard for someone to walk into a diehard Ozzfest crowd and say, 'Who wants to throw an egg at a rock star?' Who wouldn't wanna do that? I went out and bought 50 eggs and me and my daughter had a fucking blast. C'mon, it's rock 'n' roll. No-one died. They'll be waiting a long fucking time for an apology from me."

Since I'm not a nasty person, I won't use a four letter word that starts with a C, but she sure is one. This is the biggest lack of respect I have ever seen from someone.

Someone has started a website, Boycott Sharon, to try and get Sharon to apologize via putting a letter in Billboard. My opinion? Fuck her and her tour. She's made a joke out of Ozzy and her entire family and this is the last straw. I will NEVER go to an Ozzfest or anything which Sharon has any involvement in.

Headphones

I put in an order this morning for Shure E2c headphones this morning over at Amazon. I was going to purchase some cheapies to hold me over for a while longer, but I decided I'd rather just spend the cash and get some good ones once and for all. After reading Joi's review, I was definitely encouraged to get these. Shure has released a number of sets since then, but they are double to quintuple in price. I don't have that much money and I don't think I want to spend that much money on headphones :) Hopefully, they will show up by the end of the week and I can start rocking out at work again :)

I ain't afraid of no mashup

Cool Wiki Use

I was checking a great Phish tablature resource, Emil's Tablature last night and saw it has been converted to a wiki. They are using MediaWiki.

This is a great use of a wiki. It allows anyone to add fixes and updates to tablature and will hopefully become the most accurate tablature site for Phish. Very Cool.

Hairathon

In tribute to Marathon Monday, WAAF is doing a hair band marathon during Mistress Carrie's show today. Sweet!

If you didn't hear, WAAF is once again streaming on the Internet. Stream sounds awesome. Great to have AAF at work finally.

Back in Black

The Black Crowes are back! JamBase has all the details, including a full set of tour dates and who will be playing with them. Hope I can catch one of these dates.

Lots of Free Music!

The good folks over at South by Southwest have put up 2.6G of music of the artists playing at the festival. You can grab a torrent here.

From JamBase, Umphrey's McGee (my new favorite band) is going to be on played in the early part of Alias this week!

Roo Dates 2005

Got this e-mail last week, but been busy. Bonnaroo 2005 dates: June 10-12.

Some day I will get to this show.

Now this is amusing

Nine Inch Nails - Closer (Super Mario Bros Remix)

If you like NIN or video games, you should totally enjoy this. And yes, this is the uncut version of the song, so if you don't like bad words, don't download it.

Eminem's Mosh Video

Check it out here.

CB Out

Central Basement have announced that they will be doing a farewell show at The Rack on Saturday, December 4th.

I've known about this for a while now, so it didn't come as any surprise to me. I'm sad to see them calling it quits, but after talking to them, I totally understand their reasoning. Hopefully, this will lead to bigger and brighter things for all of them.

Rock Stars Can't Drive

Sounds like Clapton has been taking driving lessons from Billy Joel.

Clapton clocked at 216km/h:

ERIC Clapton won't be driving in France for a while. Police said today (AEST) they clocked the rock star speeding down a highway at 216km/h and suspended his license.

Phish Documentary

Vermont Public Radio will broadcast a Phish documentary on Wednesday October 27th from 7PM to 8PM. Looks like this will be cool. And you can listen to it from their web site.

What is IT?

Well, it was a Phish festival which was recently shown as a special and now is going to be disc one of a two disc DVD set coming out soon. The nice thing is I saved this on my TiVo when it was on PBS. It has since become regular rotation on my TV. Being that the fall season has yet to start, the TiVo is pretty empty these days, so I end up going back to this again and again. The best thing? This special ROCKS. Great tunes and some good interviews with the boys. Wonderful to put on in the background. So, if you are a Phishy kid and didn't see the special, go order the DVD .

Impressed

I have to say I am totally impressed. Ashlee Simpson, on MTV VMA pre-show performing live. Like, really live. Not the boring old lip syncing that most of the pop folks doing, but really singing. This girl has totally impressed me. I dig her songs from the radio, but seeing her actually perform live gives me a whole new respect for her.

And today's band of the day is ...

SLAYER!

Yes, I am on a bit of an old school metal kick lately. Hearing all the reports from Ozzfest yesterday got me thinking about Slayer, so I threw some in my bag last night.

The Senate - Phish Connection

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
United States Senate
July 8, 2004
S7823

TRIBUTE TO PHISH

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on August 15 in Coventry, VT, a beloved chapter in American music history will come to a close as the jam band Phish holds its final concert for legions of devoted ''phans'' and ''Phish-heads.'' We in Vermont are well known for our superb maple syrup, our wonderful ice cream, our award-winning cheese and our beautiful scenery, but after 21 remarkable years, the jam band Phish has certainly become one of our most famous exports.

The four musicians of Phish-Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page O'Connell, and Jon Fishman-met and started playing together as undergraduates at the University of Vermont in the early 1980s. The band quickly moved beyond its humble beginnings in a dormitory basement to playing a small nightclub in Burlington called Nectar's. While they toured for 5 years before releasing any commercial albums, the buzz around the band spread as their striking melodies and lively jam sessions endeared them to a growing legion of fans.

Phish released its first commercial album, Junta, in 1989. Since then, the band has put out more than 35 studio and live albums that have sold millions of copies. They have more than 200 original songs, and many of the songs die-hards love most were never recorded in the studio.

But the magic of Phish is not as much in its studio recordings as it is in its live performances. In an era when slick marketing techniques often overshadow the musical accomplishments of the artists themselves, this talented band from Vermont has provided a refreshing contrast by promoting free spiritedness and individuality in their music.

The band has always been unconcerned about releasing catchy singles and making millions of dollars from record sales. Instead they play long jams-oftentimes with songs lasting 30 minutes or longer-and tour year-round. Bucking a trend in the industry, they even encouraged people to
tape their shows for free and trade them on the Internet. For the members of Phish, it really is all about their music and their fans.

Every night on stage is a new and different showcase for the talents of the versatile and endlessly creative band members. Whether they are playing electric guitars, keyboards, drums, or vacuum cleaners, Phish's improvisational talent has never disappointed. Many fans-often referred to as ''Phish-heads''-follow the band from concert to concert living off veggie burritos, grilled cheese sandwiches and the charity of others.

Through it all, Phish has always considered Vermont home. In a tribute to their Burlington roots, the band's first album produced with a major record company was titled A Picture of Nectar. And the band's share of proceeds from sales of the popular ''Phish Food'' Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor goes directly toward environmental projects in Vermont's Lake Champlain Watershed. Now, as they prepare for their final show in Vermont, it is appropriate that they finish where they started.

Though Phish has sold millions of albums and become a huge success, in spirit they remain a group that is unpretentious and unfailingly loyal to their fans. Their admirable generosity has fostered a sense of community among those who follow the group. The band's break-up is a source of sadness to all of us who know and love them.

I congratulate Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Jon Fishman and Page O'Connell on their remarkable success. I am grateful for all they have done for Vermont, for American music, and for their fans. Most importantly, we sincerely appreciate their authenticity, their enthusiasm and their generosity.

While no one wants to see Phish stop playing after this summer, we can all take some solace that their music will live on, in these words from their song, ''Down With Disease.''

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way.
But when I think it's time to leave it all behind,
I try to find a way, but there's nothing I can say to make it stop.

The band of the day is ...

Radio Show Anniversary

So, I set up a RSS feed for a Yahoo search for Skadberg to see if somehow my name ever gets mentioned in the news. Well, this morning, I found this article saying:

"The Rhythm and Blues Serenade" with Frank Gengaro and Gordon Skadberg, 4-6 p.m. Sundays on WRHU (88.7 FM), marks its 14th anniversary this weekend.

Gordon is my uncle. It amazes me his show has been on the air that long. So, happy anniversary! Very strange seeing your family in the Daily News.

Phish Stats

Phishtistics

Cool site that you can get all sorts of information on Phish shows, when songs were played, when a number of songs were played, etc. Thanks to Lukas for the link!

The End of an Era

This weekend marks the end of an era for my good friends Central Basement. Friday and Saturday will mark their final shows with singer and founding member Michael. If you are around Boston this weekend, I encourage you to head down to The Harp across the street from the Fleet Center and enjoy one of the nights.

I've been seeing these guys for, wow, probably about 3 years now. Mike being the lead singer is what I have always seen and enjoyed. He put a lot in to the show and did a great job with the crowd. Always bouncing around, trying to get the people involved, etc. It was always a fun show to see. Probably a big part of the reason I used to go and see these guys weekend in and weekend out. I don't even want to think about how many times I have seen them over the last few years. Probably 200 or 300. Scary.

It's going to be very different when I get back from NY to see them with someone else singing with them. Though I guess I have seen this once (Central Stu!), but this will become a regular thing. Gonna be very different. Hopefully it will bring some new energy to the band and help propel them even further in their careers. Since these guys are all such good musicians, it would be reallky nice to see them go somewhere.

Well, I'm VERY sad that I will be missing this weekend's farewell and next weekend's welcome to the Central Basement singers, but if you will be in Boston, definitely go and have some fun for me!

A Sad Day

I'm still trying to figure out what it is with Phish and me being in San Francisco. It seems that every time I am out here something happens with the band.

A couple of years ago when I was here, Phish announced they were coming off hiatus. Then last year some time, they announced they were doing a tour. All good news. Well, this year it isn't.

According to this announcement, Phish is done. The tour this summer will be their last.

I'm still somewhat dealing with this. I learned about Phish late. A number of my friends had been trying to get me to go see some of the jam bands for a long time. Finally in 1999 or 2000, I went and saw Phil and Friends. I loved it! In 2000, I went with my buddy Don to 4 Phish shows, 2 in MA, 2 i n Vegas. After these 4, I was hooked. Bad timing on my part, as Phish went on hiatus after that tour.

Over the next 2 years, I spent lots of money and download time learning more and more about Phish. I went and saw TAB (Trey Anastasio Band) a few time. I continued to learn more about the band and listen more to the band. I really got in to them.

When they came back from hiatus, I went and saw them again, show 5. Then in December 2003, I got to see them again for their 20th anniversary show, thanks to Lukas. Show 6 and really the first show I knew a lot of the material.

This summer I was planning on going and enjoying a few more Phish shows. I have the possibility of going to 4. Two are definite, 2 are up in the air. I figure this would just continue my streak of seeing Phish on all of their tours and get me up to 10 or so shows. Well, now it seems like this is my last chance, so I better enjoy what I can.

As I said, I'm not so sure what I can say. I think I will enjoy these shows but they will also be very sad to see.

More on this later.....

Phish Festival

Phish has announced this year's festival. Two days, weekend of August 14/15 up in Vermont. Tickets actually went on sale this morning.

I think this could be cool, but I won't be going. First off, I already have tickets to two Phish shows this summer. Second, the $150 price tag is a bit steep for me, since I already have too much going on this summer. Third, I'm just not a big fan of camping :)

Hopefully, Phish will be smart enough to set up Internet feeds for thos of us who cannot attend.

Dave & Trey Go To Africa

Anyone see Dave and Trey on VH1's (inside)Out?

It was a very cool special. Not only did it show lots of interesting music collaboration, but also showed some great stories and information about Africa.

The thing that struck me most was definitely the musical collaboration. Watching people who couldn't even speak the same language being able to sit down and play together and make some great music was just incredible.

It's also inspired me to re-double my guitar playing and musical efforts. I really want to get to the level where I can sit down with just about anyone and play and have fun and really enjoy music. I love music so much as a listener, now I really want to be able to jump in the fray and enjoy it from the otherside and hopefully give joy to others.

New Phish Album Info!

From Phish.net News:

Phish will release Undermind, their latest studio album from Elektra
Records, on June 15. The album was recorded at the Barn with producer
Tchad Blake. The first pressing of the album will include a special bonus
DVD of the 26-minute short film "Specimens of Beauty," directed by
longtime Phish photographer Danny Clinch, that chronicles the recording of
the album in Vermont. The album's track list is:

Scents and Subtle Sounds (Intro)
Undermind
The Connection
A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing
Army of One
Crowd Control
Maggie's Revenge
Nothing
Two Versions of Me
Access Me
Scents and Subtle Sounds
Tomorrow's Song
Secret Smile
Grind

Prince on TV

CNN.com - Prince special on 5 channels at once - Apr 27, 2004

The MTV/VH1 family are all carrying it, I guess they worry you will switch to Pimp My Ride if they don't show it on all their channels. Will have to try and pick this up on TiVo when I get back to Boston.

CC to court

RollingStone.com: News: Clear Channel Goes to Trial

In a legal setback for the world's largest concert promoter, Clear Channel Communications, a U.S. District Court judge granted a jury trial to a Denver competitor that accuses the company of "monopolistic and predatory practices."

That's music to my ears. I'm sick of Clear Channel. I've thoroughly enjoyed Howard Stern musing lately about getting all the small concert promoters together under his name to try and take back the concert industry from Clear Channel. Now this seems like another possible step in taking them apart.

The music of today ...

So, the record companies today all blame pirating and whatnot on decreased record sales. Well, how the hell they think they are going to make money off of someone like William Hung? He has less than no talent, seems to be oblivious to the fact that fact and is pretty much the laughing stock of the world right now. Do they really think this is going to be anything more than a flash in the pan? Do they think they are going to sell millions of records or crap like this? It just makes no sense to me.

Rolling Stone fails Counting 101

RollingStone.com has a pictorial called The Immortals, subtitled "The fifty greatest artists of all time". Right under that it says 45 Photos. Eh? Doesn't that mean they are 5 pictures short? ;)

Put Rush in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

A change in singers

My good friends, Central Basement, who have been sidelined since an injury to their singer a few weeks back, have made an announcement about their future:

As you may already know, Michael recently had back surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. Michael is doing well and recovering, however it appears that this injury/surgery will make it difficult for Michael to perform from here on out. Michael has been dealing with pain in his back for many months, and getting through the shows dealing with his pain. While this surgery has reduced his back pain, it still will remain. After a long talk with Michael he has decided that due to this injury, he would not be able to perform like he wants to, jumping around singing, being the Michael that we all loved to watch. So Mike will be leaving the band at the end of May. There ARE NO HARD FEELINGS AT ALL, Michael is our brother, we love him and support his decision. This, of course, saddens us, but we completely understand. Mike will be playing shows in April and May with us and will then hang up his microphone.

So, they are going and looking for a new singer. I'm not going to try out, so the opportunity is all yours if you are interested.

Blue + Black?

Not sure what color that comes out to be, but in the spirit of The Grey Album comes Jay-Zeezer, a mashup of Weezer's the Blue Album and Jay Z's the Black Album. Neat stuff. [ via BoingBoing ].

New Korn Video "Single"

Fuck That

(The irony to me is that (c) 2004 Sony at the end)

On their Downloads page, they also did a remix featuring Howard Stern, but it seems to have been pulled (at least temporarily). Anyone have a copy of the remix they can send me?

Bittorrent - The Ultimate Hippie Application?

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!

More Randolph

Robert Randolph's "I need more love" is the background music for Bravo's commercial for the Independent Spirit Awards.

Cover Music

So, I was watching Spun this evening. It was pretty much a Requiem for a Dream rip off, but ok, I guess. Not as totally freaky as Requiem, but still showing the bad things that happen when you do drugs.

But, to my point. I was watching and in the opening credits, a song starts playing. I'm listening to this song and I know the lyrics, but am sure it's a cover. Then the chorus kicks in, "Six, Six, Six the number of the beast". Holy Shit! It's Iron Maiden. It's an acoustic slow tempo version of The Number of the Beast done by Billy Corgan. I so need to get my hands on this. From looking around Amazon it looks like it is on a Zwan import single. Going to have to pick that up.

I have to say, I really enjoy when a band does a cover very different then the original. It breathes new life in to the song. Just doing something like sounds exactly the same, but with a different band behind it is ok, but nothing special. Hearing someone take a good song and make it their own and have it still come out really good is awesome.

New Phish Album Coming

From The Phish.Net:

Fresh off its well-received, yearlong comeback following a two-yearhiatus, Phish will next month head into the studio to record withGrammy-winning engineer Tchad Blak, who has lent his distinctive touch toacclaimed albums by Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, Tom Waits, Soul Coughing andThe Bad Plus. Blake will then mix the album, tentatively scheduled forrelease this summer (most likely followed by a tour), at worldmusic-influenced pop star Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in England.

Sweeeeeet.

Digital Guitars

Wired 12.01: The 100-Megabit Guitar: Through all this musical history, the Les Paul has remained virtually unchanged, because no one would dare change it. Except for Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson's mercurial CEO. He wants to shove an Ethernet cable into it.

Sounds like it will at least be fun to play with. Being that I have been thinking a lot about composing on the computer lately, I think this would be super cool.

Late to the Party

Boing Boing comes a bit late to the party with their article String Cheese Incident takes on Ticketbastard. I posted about this here and here, 4 months ago.

Waste

Don't want to be an actor pretending on the stage
Don't want to be a writer with my thoughts out on the page
Don't want to be a painter 'cause everyone comes to look
Don't want to be anything where my life's an open book

A dream it's true
But I'd see it through
If I could be
Wasting my time with you

Don't want to be a farmer working in the sun
Don't want to be an outlaw always on the run
Don't want to be a climber reaching for the top
Don't want to be anything where I don't know when to stop

A dream it's true
But I'd see it through
If I could be
Wasting my time with you

So if I'm inside your head
Don't believe what you might have read
You'll see what I might have said
To hear it

Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me

So if I'm inside your head
Don't believe what you might have read
You'll see what I might have said
To hear it

Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me

Come waste your time with me

- Phish

Phishy Sadness

OK, my depression is getting deeper by the day.

Phish is doing a 4 show run being called their 20th anniversary run. The final show and the official 20th Anniversay show is tommorrow night in Boston. And guess who doesn't have a ticket?

So, I was sorta hoping, maybe, the shows wouldn't be all that great or they wouldn't be playing a lot of stuff I like. Well, that turned out all wrong. The first two shows have had amazing set lists. I even grabbed a copy of the second night already and it sounds just incredible.

Well, tonight was show 3, the final show before the big show tomorrow in Boston. Well, not only did the set kick ass, but the original fourth member of the band joined them for the second set and the encore! Holy Shit! I would have to assume he is travelling to Boston tomorrow as well. Someone said something about LOTS of guest appearances tomorrow, which would not surprise me in the least.

So, my depression continues to get deeper and my hatred of my friends who are going rages higher and higher. I figure it will culminate when I get a set list tomorrow night and a report on Wednesday from my friends.

Music Composition Software for Linux

I'm starting to think about writing some music. This would be an attempt at two things. First, it would help me with my guitar playing. Take some of the stuff I have started writing on guitar and turn it in to full fledged songs. The second piece would be to re-learn the music theory I used to know. If I was going to write some music, I would definitely have to re-learn keys and such. The nice thing is re-learning the theory is that I could apply it back to guitar and get better at that.

So, my question is, does anyone know of any music composition software for linux? Open source is obviously first choice. I'd just like something I could basically program music on. Ideas?

Guster Live DVD

One of my favorite bands, Guster announced in their e-mail newsletter that they have a green light on recording some shows for a live DVD. They will be recording at the State Theater in Portland Maine on Friday, December 19th and Saturday, December 20th. Tickets go on sale in the next few day. If you are in the area and want to see a fun show full of good music, I would definitely recommend going to one of the shows. Since they are filming, there will probably be lots of "special" moments. The favorite to this day is the first time I saw them and they played NIN's Down In It. The reason that was cool? Their instruments are 2 acoustic guitars and some bongos :)

Berklee College of Music has a new online site called Berklee Shares. This site is full of lessons from both faculty and alumni of Berklee. These are not just instrument lessons, but also lessons in song writing, production, technology, business, etc. The best part? It's all free and released under a Creative Commons license.

So, now I will have to delve in to these lessons and learn as much as I can. Hopefully, I can learn more than just some cool stuff on my guitar, but also some more about music in general.

[ via Lessig Blog ]

Feed the D!

CNN.com - Tenacious D: We'll starve for rock

Actor/singer/guitarist Black said the strike would end early on one of three conditions: if "The Complete Masterworks" goes platinum, if "hunger is solved" or if there is peace in Middle East.

I'm scared to see what would happen if these guys went too long on this, so everyone should go out and pick up their new DVD first thing Tuesday morning, so they make it to platinum quick.

DiscLive

I spent a while this evening talking to Jake Walker of DiscLive on #joiito.

DiscLive is a service which is basically in competition with Clear Channel's live CD service. Basically, the concept is that you can leave the concert you are at with a CD (or CD set) from the show you just went to within about 5 or 10 minutes of the show ending.

I think this type of service is an awesome service for all bands, but I think it works best with bands who do something different every night. Bands that do the same show every night, with the same songs and the same dance moves in the same order every night don't really offer much from having discs of each show recorded. Though, as Jake pointed out to me, some people would just enjoy hearing their favorite artist saying "Hello Boston!" or something.

I would definitely buy CDs from a service like this. I see it as a much better souvenir than a $30 t-shirt. Jake says they are selling discs for about $20-$25 a set. They have full color packaging and discs, so you aren't just getting some burned CDs and a piece of paper with the band's name.

I really think artists would buy in to this as well. Many bands are against bootlegs for 2 reasons. The first being other people making money off their music. Well, with this service, the band takes most of the cash, the company just charges a per disc service charge of about $6 per set. The second big reason bands give against bootlegs is quality. They don't like their music out there that sounds like crap, which is a very valid point. Well, this is recorded directly off the soundboard and with the addition of some ambient mics. So, you get good quality boots and great souvenirs.

I would much rather see a company like DiscLive thrive in this business than a giant like Clear Channel. A small company is going to strive to create the best product possible where someone like Clear Channel would probably just try to make the cheapest possible, largest profit discs.

Currently DiscLive is trying to work directly with artists and possibly just tour with an artist (one for now, hopefully more once enough money is there to buy and build more rigs). I think it would be awesome for a medium sized band who plays a different kind of show every night to take these guys out with them. Think of someone like moe or Gov't Mule. They play theater shows, but still have a good following and mix the set up pretty nicely.

I guess the one worry in the jam band community would be the lose of tape trading and the like, but at the same time, I would MUCH rather pay $25 for a perfect recording of a show than trade blanks for an ok version taken from someone's mics.

I'm going to try and keep an eye on these guys and see how they do. If you happen to be in a band that plays in venues around the size of 2500 people or so, talk with these guys and hopefully you can make many fans happy to go home with a great souvenir.

They're made to be broken

I'm breaking my one rule of concert going currently.

Tonight, I am going to see KMFDM over at Avalon with Tim. My one rule of concert going is to never listen to the band I am going to see the day of the show. I do this mostly because I don't want the CDs in my head when I go to see the band, I just want to be totally open to the music. Usually, I spend a lot of time the week before the show listening to the band, but day of, I avoid the band. Well, this week I have really only listened to the new KMFDM, WWIII and not the older stuff, so I decided I was going to blast some KMFDM to get me going today.

As always, rules are just made to be broken.

Wacky Music

My friend Brian Wherry made an entry for the Dream Theater Songwriting Contest and has made it available online. I listened last night and was (and still am) totally blown away. Everyone should check it out here.

RIAA Amnesty

Music group settles with 52 file sharers

Though the rest of the article just makes my blood boil, I love this line:

"RIAA says 863 song swappers request amnesty"

And they say there are 50 million people doing this? Is that the latest number? or is it higher than that. OK, so some math:

863/50,000,000 = 0.001726% of file swappers have asked for amnesty. Good work RIAA!

Gordon Cleared

Phish Bassist Gordon Cleared

Good. This could have been stupid and ugly.

Randolph on UPN ...

Not sure if I just didn't notice this in the past or what, but just saw a commercial for UPN and the background music was none other than Robert Randolph and the Family Band! It was the song Going in the Right Direction from the album Unclassified.

Very cool for him. Not that it gets him a lot of exposure, but at least it will be some extra (and some extra cash :). Anyone who is in to good jam band type music who doesn't own this CD yet, should definitely go right out and buy it. Robert and crew put together a good mix of rock, jazz, soul and gospel and throw in a bunch of jamming to just put together a great sound that is a lot of fun to listen to. And if you have the opportunity, DEFINITELY go see them live!

RIP

Phishy DVD

Man, I thought the third time would be the charm, but I guess not. Tried to watch the Phish Vegas DVD tonight for what would have been my third attempt at watching it, but alas, I will fail again, falling asleep on my keyboard at this point. Argh. Night world.

iTunes for Linux?

I definitely wish there was an iTunes for Linux. As I have been going along and trying to learn more and more songs on guitar, I have noticed I don't have some songs that I'd like to learn. It's difficult to learn a song without being able to listen to it a few times, even if I know the song well. So, it would be very nice to be able to go to something like the iTunes Music Store and buy the song for $0.99 and be able to learn it. If I have to buy the whole CD, it's a pain in the neck, especially if I just want one song.

What I don't understand is why Apple doesn't just do the port? It would really just be a GUI port, as OS X is based on Unix. How bad is the conversion from Cocoa to something like a GTK or a QT? It would be a big win for Apple, as they would very quickly get a lot of Linux users like myself to pay $30 or $40 for the software and then be able to start buying music. Supposedly they are doing a Windows port, but I think a Linux port (hell, even things like FreeBSD, Solaris, etc etc could have ports, its just a GUI port) would be quick and get more people using the service much more quickly than porting to Windows.

Update:
More evidence no one selling MP3s likes Linux:

Thank you for visiting BuyMusic.com.

In order to take full advantage of BuyMusic.com's offerings you must be on a Windows Operating System using Internet Explorer version 5.0 or higher.

Doh!

More SCI vs TM

RollingStone.com: News: Incident Fight Ticketmaster

I really hope they win. My buddies played a show a couple of weeks ago. Tickets were $12.50. It was going to cost me like $25 to buy ONE freakin ticket because of TM charges.

Phishy Trouble

Exclusive: Phish On The Hook

Very not good, but luckily it sounds like it will be worked out without any trouble.

Drummers need love too ...

and so do guitar players, bass players, keyboardists, etc. This set of pictures of Ozzfest from Rolling Stone pretty much just shows the lead singers of all the bands over and over again. There are like 5 pictures out of 57 that are not of the singer.

Hey guys, just because the little pop losers you follow are one person leads or even group leads and they sing, doesn't mean the same is true when its a BAND. The band is about the music, not just a singer.

Oh yeah, and what the hell is up with no pictures of OZZY from Ozzfest?????

Admit it Fred ....

CNN.com - Durst stalks Thora Birch in new video - Aug. 13, 2003

This is just a home video of yours that you put music to.

They may suck ....

but Primus are coming around!

RollingStone.com: News: Primus Reunite for EP, Tour

Fuckin sweet! Brian and I were talking the other day saying we probably wouldn't get to see them again, I guess we were wrong.

Best part of the article:

"Primus promises a career-spanning cross-section of songs over the shows' first set, followed by a second set featuring a complete performance of 1991's Sailing the Seas of Cheese"

This should be just excellent. I will now go back to waiting patiently for tour dates for Boston to come out.

.....

OK, they here yet?

If you aren't already ...

You SHOULD be listening to this:

cover

Unclassified by Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Just a purely incredible album.

SCI vs TM

| 1 TrackBack

String Cheese Incident Sue Ticketmaster

Hmmm, this will be interesting. Though, didn't Pearl Jam try to do this once and was rather unsuccessful?

RIIA vs The World

Canadians invading Rio

Yahoo! News - Rush Roars Back to 'Rio'

Nice! New Rush triple live CD and double live DVD!

What's up with all the bands doing shows from Rio? Iron Maiden released their Rio discs like 2 years ago.

This is confusing ...

CNN.com - Michael Jackson: Don't jail downloaders - Jul. 22, 2003:

"I am speechless about the idea of putting music fans in jail for downloading music. It is wrong to download, but the answer cannot be jail," Jackson said in a statement released Monday.

Ummmm, Michael Jackson said something smart. I am VERY VERY confused.

Das Gusterites

Michael J. Radwin just found out about Guster, a band I have followed for a long time.

I knew I was going to like these guys the first time I saw them back in, I think, 1996. They were opening for Buffalo Tom at a BU show. There were 3 guys on stage, 2 playing acoustic guitars, 1 playing bongos. For their last (or maybe second to last song) they did "Down In It" by Nine Inch Nails. I was totally blown away.

I would make 2 suggestions to Michael. First off, get their older stuff. They made some changes in their sound on the latest album, which I haven't yet gotten totally used to. Some of the songs have grown on me, but I don't yet love the album like I have loved the others.

The second is to SEE THEM LIVE. They put on a very good show, but also a very fun show. Ryan is freakin HILARIOUS up on stage.

So, from an old Guster fan to a possible new one, those are my suggestions.

PJ Bootlegs ...

Since I raved about how cool Live Phish is a while back, I thought I just must rave about Pearl Jam's similar service.

Riding in this morning to work, blasting CDs of the Pearl Jam show I was at two weeks ago, I was grinning. I JUST went to this show and already have fully mastered high quality CDs of the show. How cool!

Pearl Jam in the past has been releasing CDs of all of their concerts from their tours for the last few years. This tour they decided to do it on the fly. They opened up Pearl Jam Bootlegs where you are able to order any of the shows from the current tour right away.

I did this a week before the show I went to. A few days after the show, I got an e-mail with a link to un-mastered low quality MP3s of the show. Even though these were supposed to be low quality and were un-mastered, they sounded damn good. Yesterday, when I got home I had a package waiting for me, which had fully mastered high quality CDs of the same show.

Totally digging this service. I wish more bands did cool stuff like this. Now, I just have to go back in and get the other MA shows, as Pearl Jam pretty much played everything they know how to play between the 3 MA shows :)

Chills ...

Got CDs of the Pearl Jam show I went to a couple of weeks ago in the mail today. I've had completely legal and paid for MP3s for about a week, but the CD is actually mastered as opposed to the MP3s.

I am amazed that even after hearing it over and over again, I get chills up and down my spine hearing 19,000 people singing the "Don't Cry .." part of Baba O'Reilly. Just sounds damn amazing. So cool to hear that many people singing together, having the time of their lives.

New Dave

Dave Matthews Gets Personal on 'Some Devil'

Dave Matthews says his recently completed solo debut, "Some Devil," includes some of his most introspective material to date, revealing a side that his fans have not yet seen.

Can't wait to hear this!

Phishy Compliance

Jeffrey Zeldman mentions in Chopped Phish that www.phish.com has gotten an overhaul which is "made of valid XHTML 1.0, CSS2, and JavaScript. The underlying XHTML structure enables the site to work in web phones, text browsers, and other non-traditional devices.". That is awesome. Good to see the people who run a cool band's web site doing it right.

I checked out the site quickly, but so far it looks real nice. Hopefully will find some time this evening to dig in to it some.

And now something I should not admit ...

The other album I am totally digging on this week is Avril Lavigne's disc. It's happy poppy fun, but it actually has some good qualities in it. She's got a great voice and some interesting songs. She actually sorta raps (maybe it's Canadian rap (insert Dream Theater fan inside joke here)) on one track. Actually the song I am digging the most right now is the one that is the new single, "Losing Grip". A lot of good qualities in that song. The song I get the biggest kick out of "Things I'll Never Say". I'm not sure who thought it would be cute, but there are two sections that I just love. At one point she sings:

"If I could say what I want to say
I'd say I wanna blow you" [dramatic 5 second pause] "away"

and then another one goes:

"If I could say what I want to see
I want to see you go down" [dramatic 5 second pause] "On one knee"

Yeah, they weren't trying to sound sexual and get away with it on a teeny boppers CD or anything :)

But, in the end, I will admit it, I really like this disc.

My favorite band of the week ...

I have really been digging the Taproot disc this week. I started off really digging the song "Poem" when it was on the radio (well, I guess it still is), but always wondered if the rest of the album was very good. Well, I put an order in to BMG a couple of weeks ago and put this CD in (as well as 5 others). I am really loving this disc. It has elements of lots of types of music. It has the Nu-Metal sound in some respects, but is also really melodic in a lot of places. I get a Tool feel on a number of songs. Especially the ways some of the songs are arranged. The singer has a nice range. Reminds me of Aaron from Staind in some places (especially with the death metal like growls going right in to nice high pitched singing (think Mudshovel from Staind). Definitely woudl recomment this to anyone who is a fan of Nu-Metal, but I also think that people who like things like ProgMetal would enjoy this disc as well.

Saint Anger Pt 1

Going to try and keep a running update of my second or third listen to the new Metallica CD:

Frantic:
Starts off nice and heavy almost like old Metallica (when they were good). First thing I notice, the drums sound like crap, Lars sounds like he is playing in a tin can. I read somewhere that they thought the drums sounded crisp, if this is crisp, I don't like it. Next thing I notice is James's voice, sounds like he is almost trying to rap instead of sing. On the way home I heard Battery, why can't he sing like that anymore? The Frantic - tick - tick -tock part is HORRIBLE. He sounds like an idiot. I do like the break with the heavy bass, but there may be a bit too much in there. And the last Frantic-tick-tick-tick-tock where James loses his voice, just plain sounds silly.

St. Anger:
Again, starts off nice, again, the drums sounds like utter crap. And then what happens?!?!? What the hell is this slow crap? Also, I still don't like how James's voice sounds. He doesn't have that growl he used to have any more. Maybe that's what happens when you sober up. Why put all the heaviness in to this song to ruin by having all the verses be this slow crap. It also seems to be too, I don't know what the word is, poppy isn't it, but the 'Ya Flush it out, ya flush it out' part annoys me. The music sounds too muddy at the end. James's voice and Lar's drums (which STILL sound like crap) are way too high in the mix.

Some Kind of Monster:
Like the nice crunch beginning. The music is reminding me of old Metallica alot. Drums sound a little better on this one, but still not great. Not digging on this opening solo much though. Sounds kind of muddy again too. James again sounds like he is trying to rap. Sing, not like the pussy way you sang on some of the newer CDs, but the way you used to on things like MoP or AJFA. Argh. Maybe this is Metallica's take on NuMetal? I dunno.

Dirty Window:
Stop highlighting the drums, they sound like crap! LIke the opening riff to this one. A little more rock n roll, but not too bad. Definite tin can drums again. I think I have heard street drummers who pang on actual tin cans who get better tone than these drums. Still not a big fan of how James's voice sounds, but its a little better in some parts of this song. This may be the most solid song on the CD so far, though its more like new school Metallica, rather than old School METALlica.

Do you think they can jam a bit?

From this:

"Vermont rockers Phish will perform the U.S. national anthem before Game 4 of the Finals on Wednesday, June 11. The band released their most recent studio record, Round Room, on Elektra Entertainment last December. Known for their marathon concerts and devoted following, the band hits the road for a nationwide tour in July."

It would be nice if they jammed it out, but I would bet they are gonna do it accapella.

Don's comment "game starts 20 minutes late due to anthem>loving cup>tweezer reprise>anthem reprise." :)

Rahhhhhhhhhhhh

Iron Maiden with Dio and Motorhead
Worcester Centrum Centre Worcester, MA
Mon, 07/21/03
On Sale Sat, 05/10/03

!!!!!!!!

Metallica Article and Funny Quote

CNN article Metallica gets the 'ICON' treatment has a great quote from an MTV exec:

"How many artists have sold 85 million albums? That's very iconic despite how young they are," she said. "It's refreshing to have guys doing whey they have done since they started. They haven't reinvented themselves."

Uhhhhhh, WHAT? Metallica HASN'T REINVENTED themselves? Go listen to Kill Em All and then their last 2 pieces of junk and tell me you hear the same type of music on the CDs. Stupid MTV execs.

The Ball is Back!

Holy Shit! I just saw a commercial for Headbangers Ball. It's back on MTV2. It's going to be on Sat @ 10. I guess I will have to watch and see if its any good.

Free Concerts for All?

Creed Class Action Suit

Wouldn't almost every conert be free if we could sue the band for being drunk or having an off night? I mean, I remember seeing Guns N Roses in like 92 or 93 and Axl announced that Slash was out of his head on heroine. Can I go get my money back now?

This amuses me

An article about Madonna's site getting hacked after she put fake MP3s on the Net with her saying "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

I just find this amusing. Artists and the record companies in general REALLY need to find a better way to deal with this. Putting fake files out there will just lead to people getting annoyed with you and then doing something like this. If there was a better way to do this (like this album was available on mtv.com before it came out via their The Leak service. What this does (if I understand it correcly) is lets a person listen to the album right online via streaming media. To me, this is great. I get to hear an album, make sure it is as good as I could hope for, and then buy it right from that page. This avoids you buying one hit wonder CDs, but also helps people to decide they like a CD they were not sure about. Services like this, would help kill off some piracy in my opinion. There are lots of other ways to do it as well, but I think they have been talked about at such lengths, there is no need to go in to them now.

Also, how ironic is it that she put fake MP3s out there, but at the same time was allowed steaming versions of her CD go out via mtv.com a week before the CD came out?

JBT

Hmmmm, John Butler Trio put out a 2 disc live album recently, but its yet to be available online or in the US. It says soon, so hopefully it will be out soon here, definitely one to pick up. Don and I went to see these guys a while back and they kicked my ass all over the club.

DahDah DahDah

WWWIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

One last quick one

Johnny Cash covering NIN is just WRONG on so many levels.

Do you REALLY want to be a rock star?

NY Daily News - Entertainment - A music industry case study - Good piece about how much money starting musicians REALLY make.

Quote of the Day

"I could fucking care less if everybody downloads our album off the Internet. We're not in a position to be screwed by that at all. We have the one thing the Internet can't touch -- live music. If you can actually go out and play your fucking instruments, you won't be replaced by the Internet. If you're a good live act and you put on a good show, people will buy a ticket to see your show." - Fishman (Drummer for Phish)

The Sweet Sound of Music

In my never ending (and recently re-newed attempt) to get my apartment well set up, I finally set up my old reciever (which was replaced by my surround sound system last year) in my bedroom. I also hooked up my portable CD player to it. It was rather nice to play a mellow CD while reading and then going to sleep last night. I am such a huge music person, its nice to have it playing as often as possible. Now if I could only find the plug to my portable CD player, so I don't waste batteries when playing CDs in my bedroom.

Read this artcle. Read it over and over again until it sinks in and makes sense. And then read it one more time, so it really sinks in.

This is one of the best pieces I have ever read in favor of file sharing and the RIAA and MPAA's stance on it. It makes clear arguments, points to a number of different sources and just makes sense. Anyone who is interested in this, should definitely go read it.

Thanks to Doc for the link.

More Rock Star Friends ...

Just got this from my buddies Event:

New England based rock act EVENT will be releasing their third CD "Scratching
at the Surface" on March 11. A follow up to "Human Condition" again through
Inside Out Music in North America and Europe. EVENT provide listeners of all
types with pulse-pounding rhythms and groove laden hooks. The opening track
"Make Your Way" immediately reaches out and pulls you into this world of
cutting edge hard rock. Look for the band on your local radio and on tour in
the spring of 2003. for more info visit www.eventband.com and
www.insideoutmusic.com

Radio Free Europe ....

PCWorld.com - Digital Music Fans Get a Break in Europe

I think it's time for me to start thinking about moving to Ireland again. I can drink real Guinness and download all the music I want :)

Supoerbowl Pre-Game performace

Is it just me or was Michelle Branch lip syncing her and Santana's hit song? It sure seemed like it, performance sounded WAY too much like the recorded version. Beyonce did seem to be singing herself and Michelle seems to be singing now in this piece after her song, but it sure seemed to me like she wasn't really singing (or at least that wasn't what they were braodcasting) for her main song. It makes me lose a little respect for her, as I really think she has talent and to see her lip sync makes me think she may be a bunch more produced than she comes across.

Live Phish

God damn! I just signed up for Live Phish and they are offering a free download of the last show of the 2000 tour as a gift and to test out that things work ok with your system. Well, I am listening to the show and it sounds INCREDIBLE. It must be soundboard. I definitely will be using this service for at least the NYE show, if not the whole New Years Run. It's $35 for all 4 shows in MP3 format. The quality is good enough that there will be no problem burning these out on to CD and listening to them any time (which is allowed, don't worry RIAA, I am not doing anything ILLEGAL here). Definitely gonna use this service as they release the shows I have been to and the ones I go to. They are even doing CD liners and booklets for all the shows, how freakin cool is that? This is definitely the new abuse system :)

Wild Young and Free

A big congratulations goes out to my good friends Central Basement who celebrated their first CD release party for Extended Play at The Rack this past Friday night. The CD sounds amazing and hopefully this will lead to bigger and better things for the band. I'm hoping the tons of pictures I took on Friday came out ok. They should be up on the web site in the morning.

Phish Tickets ...

So, I got the good news call yesterday that we were able to secure 4 tickets for each of the Phish shows out in Vegas. Should be an amazing weekend. We got 2 tickets to the Worchester show through mail order as well. Going to be a very fun couple of weeks in Feb. Yay!

Gee Enn Arr

MTV.com - News -UPDATE: Guns N' Roses Tour Canceled

You would think after 10 years or whatever out of the scene and doing his own thing, Axl could stop being an idiot and get his shit together. Apparently not. What could have been one of the best returns in music in a long time has turned in to a just another Axl fuck up. Man, am I glad I didn't go and see them and add some more money to his pockets.

New Phish

First track off of the new Phish CD is available here. Go listen!

Interesting song. First off, it feels like two songs in one. The first half starts off with some nice piano work. It leads in to a minor jam which sounds pretty good. From here though, it gets kind of slow for the first verse. It stays a little slow like this for a while and then seems to die completely. Then it comes back with some drums and a real nice part for the rest of the song. All in all, interesting stuff. Hopefully the album will be real good.

Tori Tori Tori ...

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.

8 Mile

An article up on MTV.com says that Christina Aguilera showed up for the 8 Mile premiere. Very interesting. I just wonder why she showed. You think she finally gave in and is now all over Eminem? Who knows.

I really want to see this movie. I think it could be very good, especially with all the critics talking about how good it is supposed to be. I really think Eminem is a great artist in his music, so I think that he probably could pull this acting thing off pretty well, as well. Also, since it is based on his own life, I don't think it will be too hard for him to act the part.

Oh yeah, and Britttany Murphy being in it can't hurt, right?

If you can't be predictable ...

then what should you be? Axl Rose no-showed their first North American tour date in 9 years. Oh yeah, and a riot broke out after that. Ugh. Dumbass.

MTV's Coverage

Radio Killed the Radio Star?

This post has been stewing in the back of my mind for a while and I am going to try and get it out correcly here. I have noticed a trend on the radio lately (more lately because I actually listen to the radio now, as opposed to just CDs) that really bugs me. I hate the fact that they overplay artists and more so specific songs from artists. This has been going on forever, they get a hit song and just keep playing it and playing it. The trend that I notice now is that they don't move along when an artist tries to move on from that song and release new songs. One case in particular I have noticed lately is Avril Lavigne. She came out with the song "Complicated" some time earlier this year, I can't remember exactly when. Well, she has released a new single Skater boy (though it really is something like sk8ter boi or some such spelling), which I think is just as good, if not better than complicated (shows more of her raw edge than the rather poppy "Complicated"), but I still can hear "Complicated" at least 3 or 4 times a day in the hour an a half I listen to the radio. Why can't these stations just move on? As someone who really loves music, I woudl rather hear more than just one song by an artist and would like to really hear even more artists. I feel the more music we can listen to, the more people can see what is really good music as opposed to just listening to what the record companies tell us to listen to. Most of the music I listen to on a normal basis people who just listen to the radio have never even heard of, though it is some of the best music out there. Obviously you have cases where radio airplay means nothing to a band (eg Phish), but this is the exception rather than the rule, so I wish that more people could be exposed to more music and decide what they want. I know some of my favorite bands are bands that I either saw open for someone (eg Guster or was told about my friends (this list goes on forever as there are always music suggestions on the Ytsejam Mailing Lists). I just wish some of these bands could get the exposure they deserve so that more people could be exposed to them.

NP:Dave Matthew & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College

NYE ....

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

Phish Tour Plans

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."

Rush Review at Boston Herald

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

Phish News!

From the Phish News Mailing List over at phish.net comes some interesting news from the band today:

NEW PHISH STUDIO DISC: ROUND ROOM


Phish will release ROUND ROOM, their latest studio album, on December 10.
Pre-ordering has begun at http://www.phish.com/drygoods/

According to the Phish press release, "what started as rehearsals for the
upcoming and hotly anticipated Phish New Year's Run quickly progressed
into a full-blown recording session, the results of which are distilled
onto a new studio release, ROUND ROOM. Recorded in four days in October
by producer Bryce Goggin, the album ripples with raw, vital energy and
features a healthy dose of the band's trademark improvisational style. In
total, the album's twelve tracks clock in at over seventy minutes."

The album was recorded at Trey Anastasio's studio, "The Barn," in Vermont.
The tracklist is as follows:

1. Pebbles and Marbles
2. Anything but Me
3. Round Room
4. Mexican Cousin
5. Friday
6. Seven Below
7. Mock Song
8. 46 Days
9. All of These Dreams
10. Walls of the Cave
11. Thunderhead
12. Waves

Well, I guess the tour may get started earlier than hoped, as I expected they would do the New Years dates, go in to the studio, and then come back out and tour, but with the album already done, hopefully they will hit the road right away.

Rush @ The Fleet Center

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

Hiatus No More!!!!!!

The big news this week is that Phish is back! Or at least will be on New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden. This is awesome news for phans everywhere. At least this year I will not have to try and figure out what the hell I want to do for New Years. They will also be doing 3 dates in Hampton, VA the first week of the new year with more to be announced soon.

A bunch of other announcements came out as well. Phish plans on recording a new album in 2003 is the first one. The second is thet a live Phish DVD is coming out. It will be from the Vegas shows in 2002 which I attended which should be fun. It will be interesting for the phans to see Kid Rock up on stage with the boys.

Lastly, they announced the 4 next CD sets in the Live Phish collection. They will be 4 Halloween shows in which they covered a full album from another band. It should be very interesting.

Overall, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I think its time to tour :)

Pages

Powered by Movable Type 4.25

About this Archive

This page is an archive of recent entries in the Music category.

Movies is the previous category.

My Other Sites is the next category.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.