The Disco Biscuits in the Mike-Mike

Last Wednesday I spent an afternoon in the studio with the Disco Biscuits. After interviewing the group regularly for almost three years, I feel like I’m finally at the point where we are comfortable enough to have a real, deep, unguarded conversation which is nice for any “journalist.” I sometimes feel like the Almost Famous life is wasted on me since I don’t smoke weed or play an instrument. But, since I still have Cameron Crowe’s haircut cira-1976, Magner did invite me to play keyboards with the band while he fixed his microphone levels. So, here is my first (and only?) jambands.com-approved sit-in with the Disco Biscuits. I sure hope my performance makes the album’s final cut. Jammys 2007 anyone?

I’m a Black Belt in Karaoke

I’m not sure why I never got into Karaoke. Since I pretty much spend my entire day walking, err bouncing, around singing to myself anyway, logic would suggest that Karaoke would be my sport of choice. But, for whatever reason, I prefer to listen to music in solitude, with only an imagery audience to observe my disheveled dance step.

Friday night, however, my friend Jen tricked me into a half-night of Karaoke with some of her teacher friends. It seems that New York City public school teachers are much like any other urban workers, meaning that they tend to end their work week downtown intoxicated, complaining about their colleagues with their colleagues (and all this time I thought they were FOILing quadratic equations, go figure)

Apparently at least some teachers also like to sing to one another, so, while the east village temporarily relocated to New Jersey for a Yo La Tengo concert, I found myself on St. Marks Place, singing with a group of people who in any other setting would have surely given me detenion. Even though my music taste is pretty specific, I'm usually able to wing a good music conversation in any setting. I have , after all, suffered through concerts by such diverse artists as Rod Stewart, the Sugar Hill Gang, Backstreet Boys and Bright Eyes (wow, my music journalism cred just vanished quicker than a plate of bangles at brake-fast).

But, scared that I'd out Jen as a closet hippie, I sat silently, nodding along as a group of obviously intelligent people recited the “Barbie Song” as if it were a missing passage from Beowulf with the aid of their friend Jack (Daniels that is).

It’s odd how genre stereotypes inadvertently play into everyday life. It’s somehow socially accessible for a group of academics to publicly spoon with a bottle of whiskey, yet mentioning the three-letter j-word could very well have cost my friend Jen her job.Perhaps in couple of years Trey will be so far removed from jam-nation that good natured, but square thinking , teacher types will spend their Saturday’s singing the words to “Shine.” I already noticed that “Heavy Things” has creeped its way into the Karaoke machine---and if that’s not a sign of the hippie-rock apocalypse I don’t know what it.

As for me, I’m going to go to bed now and mouth the words to “Airplane/Primitive,” an awesome track off the Slip’s new album Eisenhower. Its opening line has been stuck in my scull since I first slipped in the disc yesterday: “It’s the day before the rest of my life.” And, if that’s not a great High Holidays message, I don’t know what is.

L’Shana Tova

Lazy Saturday

Some random shots I stole from the summerSunrise, Sunset
Good Vibes at All Good



Brazilian Girls at Camp Bisco...Sabina sure is crazy (if only she were jewish)

Wow Heady J

They say a picture tells a thousand words right? hehe

Home for the (Jewish) Holidays

Coming home to Armonk is always a cathartic experience. There is something calming about sleeping in my own bed, surrounding myself with my old memories and, since I always forget to bring a change of cloths, draping myself in my old belongings.

My bedroom is a worm-like portal into a not-so-distant past: my shelves are
lined with old soccer trophies, SATs prep books and dated ticket stubs (which, somehow, managed to make it this far un-crumpled).

Time literally stands still. My cell phone doesn’t work and my alarm clock has long since run out of batteries. When I toss-and-turn at night, I have no idea how late it is or how long until my Dad will wake me up for temple.

Since my family moved into a new house when I was in high school, my true
“growing up home memories” are already tucked in distant corner of my mind, locked away awaiting some late night blog entry. Instead, returning home reminds me off my. adolescent years and the gentrified, 21st century planned community my family now calls home. It’s funny how time changes your perception. Earlier this summer, I took a train to Westchester to have lunch with an old friend I see far too little, whose wedding day approaches with rapid speed. As Metro North zipped through suburbia, I felt a strange disconnect to my surroundings, like I no longer belonged. I'm the type of person who enjoys life more in retrospect, but I've reached an odd stalemate with my adolescent aggression: not quite far enough from home to feel nostalgic, too far removed to remember why I was angry.

When builders first excavated the lot of land now known as Thomas Wright Estates. they found a somewhat magical spring emitting from the side of the street. People came from all over for a slip, filing in line and filling their jugs for future healing. Then, one day, someone discovered a broken city pipe not so far away, the line connecting an imaginary fountain or youth to a harsh, suburban reality.

In the 1970s, my adult neighbors smoked pot and made babies at Watkins Glen. In the mid-1990s, they knocked down trees and built houses in Armonk. They are part of a generation of suburban settlers, the nouveau riche. Like many, they arrived to give their kids a better life, but I'm not sure how many of them remember that. I don’t blame them. It’s hard to look backward while trying to figure out how to move forward.

Trey is Eric

Last year I was lucky enough to see Cream’s high-profile reunion. A few weeks later, I had the utter misfortune of seeing Trey play with 70 Volt Parade. Immediately, I was struck by the many parallels between the, at first glance, vastly different guitarists. Both cut their teeth in improv-oriented bands. Both eventually traded in their tie-dye for blue button-ups (both literally and metaphorically). And, apparently, both look their they are going to organism onstage. Take a look for yourself:



Which begs the question, is Trey aging into Eric? At some point, Cream-heads who followed Clapton and (tagged London’s streets with the phrase “Clapton is God”) must have cried mutiny when Slowhand slowed down his sound. But, who knows, maybe one day Trey will pen his own “Tears in Heaven”-style adult contemporary hit (and hopefully it will swallow better than “Shine”)

Lost in Gentrification

If you look closely you can already see them digging the grave. It’s roughly one block long by one avenue wide, just large enough to fit a one-story club between its thick wooden walls. As of now its placard reads A&D Construction but, by the time this column goes to print, it might very well also read CBGB: 1973-2005. Another victim of urban renewal, another byproduct of progress.

I never felt any sort of sentimental attachment to CBGB, and I can count the number of times I passed under its red-and-white awning on a single hand (and that's even after hippies and hipsters began to mingle on Brooklyn’s gray colored L train). But it’s still comforting to know that it’s there, propelling another generation of punks into larger pogo halls across the country. Honestly, I feel guilty mourning something that isn't mine---that I don't emotionally 'own.' But then again CBGB has always been one of New York's most populist clubs.

September marks the two-year anniversary of my return to Manhattan after four years in the wilderness of upstate New York academia and a summer of suburban soul searching on the road with Phish. Like many, New York City has always held a certain voodoo in my life, this huge impersonal place made tangible mostly by the West Side highway bottleneck and the dirty downtown clubs that have become mini-Meccas for those of us who grew up in the City's suburban shadow. Four years ago, I spent a summer squatting in an NYU dorm and tried my hardest to touch, see and mostly hear as much of New York as I could. Like a dog staking claim to his territory, I visited every club worthy of a Village Voice plug including the graffiti covered venue located at 315 Bowery. I vividly remember my first trip to CBGB. I had no idea who I was going to see and, really, it didn't matter because most likely I wasn’t going to like the music anyway. But by simply passing under CBGB’s awning, I felt a part of the club's history, music's history, New York's history. I'm not sure, but I think I got excited about pissing in the club's sticker covered bathroom. It seemed pretty hardcore at the time and pretty young and stupid now---kind of like the punk scene in general.

I often revisit that summer, not so much because of my trip to CBGB, but because of my time at another club, The Wetlands. If I had known what September 2001 would bring, I try to tell myself, I would have viewed the club’s closure in a different light but, in reality, it’s impossible to separate that month’s tangled emotions. Even now the Wetlands’ untimely demise remains a tangible sign of change, both in my life and in New York in general. At the time, in the Skidmore News precursor to this column, I remember likening the World Trade Center to a skyscraper-size nightlight, providing a watchful eye as I struggled with insomnia in a deeply impersonal city. In the months following September 11, it was hard to look at that empty space in the skyline, yet, I felt drawn to it. It was easier to wade through the aftermath of the Wetlands' impending closure, which, at the time, seemed like the end of the world and certainly the end of the jamband scene. Like CBGB, it didn't matter who was playing the Wetlands on any given night, it just mattered that you were going. Some have criticized such scenester motives as the sign of a bad music fan. But I’ve always seen it as a characteristic of a great New Yorker, trying to absorb a bit of his city before it is inevitability swept away by gentrification.

It’s easy to get lost within the maze-like web of clubs and concerts which adjoin New York’s divergent downtown districts, like a giant game of connect the dots. Indeed, musical trends seem to bounce around the Bowery at pinball speed, sparking cultural revolutions before gently gliding into newer, emptier alleyways. It’s an age-old story which has unfolded simultaneously in cities around the world: music, art and activism join forces to form something loosely defined as a scene, before falling prey to money, rent, boredom and newer trends. It’s happened to just about every niche---to such an extent that the terms post-punk, post-grunge and even post-rock are now easily digestible parts or even in an amateur music critic's vocabulary. Sometimes I fear that jam is the next term to secure a plot in the genre graveyard. But then I remember that there’s a reason clubs like CBGB are more often than not called wombs. At some point every style is forced to find its own way. Richard Gehr once said that “the history of rock/roll is among other things, a half-century litany on death.” For a medium driven by individual destruction, it’s odd that styles don’t really die so much as they adapt and morph to meet modern trends. This summer, Green Day became the first punk act to headline a stadium show without the help of a radio station or festival-size bill. Perhaps the punk movement has finally grown too large to fit within CBGB’s walls.

At the beginning of August, I took what could very well have been my final trip to 315 Bowery to see RANA --- the love child of the Wetlands and CBGB. I once heard that CBGB’s only rule was that no covers were allowed. I wonder what Joey Ramone would say if he knew that a band formed by four former Phish heads opened their final CBGB show with a Neil Young cover. More than anything, he’d probably be confused having missed out on all the gradual changes that turned CBGB into what it is today. But I think he’d also be pleasantly surprised that his favorite club’s vision has evolved along with the music he helped create.

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of change, mostly because I’ve also always feared it. Sometimes it happens suddenly, other times it happens more gradually. It seems fitting that I first heard the term gentrification used in a editorial discussing the demise of the New York City rock club, a trend which, in the past few years, has absorbed Brownies, the Cooler, Fez, Tramps, the Bottom Line, Tobacco Road, the Wetlands and now, most likely, CBGB. Like a scene out of Lost in Translation, it all happens so quickly that it’s hard to pinpoint individual events, but, in the end, it’s easy to realize something is different. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this time to mention the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. Like that day in September, it rightfully overshadows one single club’s struggle. It’s also easy to understand its gravity by looking at the Big Easy’s entertainers, musicians and, yes, clubs whose futures lie in a state of permanent flux. Set against such weighty matters, gentrification seems strangely beautiful. But it’s a sad beauty---a sign of a healthy city evolving, if not always in the right direction.

As I walk to work everyday, I try hard to notice the subtle changes that define my neighborhood --- new storefront here, an out-of-business sign there. Change is a scary thing but, more often than not, it’s also out of our control and its effects will eventually become a natural part of life. Sometimes during lunch, I take a lap around the block which surrounds Relix and look towards the edge of Manhattan. It’s hard to grasp that thousands of individual stories are simultaneously unfolding within a single, evolving skyline. It’s easier to look at the jackhammers digging holes to bury the past as I continue to wander, lost in gentrification.

My Night with Natalie Revisited

Since everyone in my office is obsessed with Garden State this summer, I thought I'd bring you this not-so-classic cut from the Greenhaus Effect archives, remastered for your spell check's pleasure.

Above: She's Like Every Girl I've Ever Dated, But Hotter

I’m not quite sure if I’m in love with Natalie Portman or her character from Garden State, but either way she’s high-up on my list of celebrity crushes. But, unlike most unobtainable Hollywood hotties, Natalie (yes, we’re on a first name basis) always seemed to exist somewhere on the fringes of my very tangible social circle. She attended Harvard with my best friend, danced at a wedding with a co-worker and, most importantly, falls comfortably into my limited area of female expertise: short, Jewish and neurotic (oh come on, she grew up on Long Island after all.)

Since I’ve always fashioned myself something of a Zach Braff character, I imagined our first encounter would be somewhat cinematic, set against the Shins’ “New Slang” or awash in Simon and Garfunkel’s “Only Living Boy in New York.” So, you can imagine how off guard I was when I found myself sipping Icelandic vodka just one seat away from Ms. Portman at the overstuffed, over priced, Maritime Hotel. It happened last Thursday at a Sigur Ros after-party, sometime during a heated jamband debate with two of my closest cubical neighbors. While on some (in-retrospect) embarrassing Disco Biscuit-tangent, I noticed my friend’s eye moving slowly to my right and then down to my shoulder. After a few seconds of self-conscience confusion, I glanced over only to find out that I had been sitting next to the one and only Natalie Portman for the past fifteen minutes (and apparently she didn’t find my Disco Biscuits dissertation attractive--dam). Before I could utter the words “carrying is creepy,” she moved across the room, leaving Elizabethtown the lone cinematic depiction of my Garden State dream.

After finishing my vodka, I cut my losses and walked home to find my narcoleptic/or alcoholic roommate passed out on the sofa and my IM flickering for attention. As if walking into a bonus track on the Garden State DVD, my computer displayed cryptic message from a female friend which once accused Zack Braff of plagiarizing her personality (and I don’t disagree), beginning a weekend chase which also culminated with a GS-quote (alas, “We're not gonna make out or anything, okay?/Oh, I'm sorry. I just totally ruined that moment, didn't I?”)

I don’t need to recreate Garden State, I’m living it. Except for the whole paraplegic mom plot, my parent’s only disease is Jewish guilt.

On a somewhat related tangent how, have you enter noticed that things tend to sound just a touch deeper when set against the Shins’ “New Slang.” Turn it on and chew on this: I’m not sure what the meaning of life is, but I’m pretty sure the Shins scored its soundtrack.

Dreams

Above: I know, i have great morning hair (a cyber-hippie checking his e-mail at Gathering of the Vibes)
I’ve been having very vivid dreams recently. In fact, if my handwriting were anywhere near legible, I’d place a pen and paper near my pillow since I’ve been at my most productive between 6 and 8:17 AM (the two hours and seventeen minutes before my alarm emerges from hibernation). I’m not sure if its festival jet-leg or the result of too much ice coffee, but my internal alarm clock has been all jumbled recently, waking me up when I want to sleep and soothing me to sleep when I want to work (or at least procrastinate). But, the other day, when I was sleeping I had an odd, sober stoner thought. During one of my final morning REM dream sequences, my alarm popped off, sending a signal into my brain. Instead of waking me, however, my alarm morphed into a smoke detector buzzing through my mind. In my dream, I spent hours trying to turn off the smoke detector (perhaps the truest sign yet that I am indeed addicted to second hand smoke), before I eventually gave up and continued on with my thoughts. At about 8:35, I finally woke up meaning that my dream actually lasted around eighteen minutes instead of three-hours (just like Ms. Rothman’s math class). And, while I won’t get all Waking Life on you, I thought it was pretty cool that I somehow managed to actually time my dream (even if it caused me to arrive at work a bit late). Now if only I could figure out a way to wake up quick enough to see what I look like when I’m sleeping.

Hurricane Emily

Much like GRAB (the occasional union of Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon and the Benevento/Russo Duo) there was much anticipation leading up to Emily Tour (the Garden State-like 5’2 neurotic Jewish girl I met at All Good) before Camp Bisco. And, much like Mr. Anastasio’s performance with GRAB, Emily Tour ultimately failed before I ended up falling into the same old habits (i.e. not making a move quick enough, therefore setting off a chain reaction of neuroses resulting in clinic approved crazy girl activity). In the end, the only person I can blame is myself (and Hurricane I for cursing me into a life of craziness back in ‘04), so I ended up just forgetting about Emily and enjoying Camp Bisco for its music (now that’s a novel concept).

But, for some unexplainable reason, I decided to visit Emily’s My Space page after returning home from Camp yesterday only to find my image replaced with some other dude who, apparently, accented into her top eight quicker than I could say Hurricane Emily. If I had a My Space account I’d swap her out for some equally endearing Garden State-like 5’2 neurotic Jewish girl (cause g-d knows my none-existant My Space wall would be full of them). Yet, now, I am forced to redirect my frustration towards Tom and his social networking service for rubbing my face (or at least my mouse) into my misfortune. Alas, Hurricane season is upon us once again. Who would of thought we’d make it to S this early in the year…..

Earplug Alert!

2006-08-21-Gov't Mule @ Virgin Mega Store

2006-08-22-CSNY @ Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY

2006-08-23-The Shins @ MccCarren Park Pool

2006-08-24-26: CAMP BISCO, Hunter Mountain, New York, Ny

Earplug Alter!

Wednesday: John Scofield @ Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY

Thursday: Gnars Barkley @ Central Park SummerStage, New York, NY

Friday-Sunday: Gathering of the Vibes: RatDog, Hot Tuna, Yonder, NMA et all

Return of the Earplug Alert!

Today: Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ Lincoln Center (Free!)

Wednesday: Jonah Smith @ Rockwood Music Hall

Thursday: Mission of Burma Film @ Lincoln Center

Thursday: Toubab Krewe @ SOBS

Friday: Steel Train @ Knitting Factory

Saturday: MMW @ Oyster Bay Arboretum

Sunday: Apollo Sunshine et all @ McCarren Pool

Sunday: CSNY @ Woodstock

Back to Blogging

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this here blog. I guess it has something to do with the summer season, which finds Relix going monthly, music festivals going daily and my post-suburban hormones going through the roof. And, while one might argue that those are ideal blogging conditions, I decided to let time mentally filter my public(ish) persona. Anyways, my summer has been eventful to say the least. Since June, when the Greenhaus Effect slipped from a daily, typo-plagued recap of all things Mikey (call it the Jambands.com of my blogging world if you will) into a state of semi-hiatus inactivity (call it the Disco Biscuits of the blogging world if you will), I’ve covered a ton of ground---mostly festivals (Jam on the River, Mountain Jam, Wakarusa, Bonnaroo, High Sierra, G.R.A.B. Tour, All Good, 10,000 Lakes, Randall’s Island…) and weddings (Seth and Jenny/Evan and Evan/Eve, Alexis/some random dude she met last Wednesday)

It’s been good, albeit busy, and most of my best adventures are available in audio form at www.relix.com/radio. That’s it for now, though I swear on my favorite Phish show that the Greenhaus Effect will return to its daily, self-depreciative glory. Until then, enjoy this picture of Benjy and I Dave Vann sent over last week. I think I’ll make it the inside cover of my second album, Same Day, Different Typo

Back Briefly

I know I've been a bit out of touch recently. In case we haven't met face to face here is a brief recap: I spent the early part of June in Philly and Hunter, NY podcasting, the middle part of the month in Kansas and Tennessee podcast and the later part of the month in California---yup you guessed it---podcasting. I will have more updates later as I try to get this thing going daily again, until then, go Cold Turkey (www.relix.com/radio)

This Feelings Called Cold Roses

If I has to choose, I’d say Ryan Adams’ Cold Roses and Brothers Pasts’ This Feelings’ Called Goodbye were my top studio albums of 2005. Oddly enough, both fall somewhere between jam and indie (Ryan is a hipster who wants to be a hippie; Brothers Past are hippies who wish they were hipsters, go figure). Also oddly enough, I got to see both bands play last night in New York. The BPs played a solid show aboard the Rocks Off Boat, while Adams found himself playing to an intimate crowd at the Bowery Ballroom just before 2 AM. Both were well attended---Adams' being the most crowded show I've ever seen at the Bowery---proving once and for all that hippies and hipsters can make nice in the big, bad city.

Bonnaroooooooooooo

Above: Jon Bahr's vision on Bonnaroo....

It's been a while. I case you missed me, here is a look at where i have been....

It takes a few days to truly settle in: the blurry-eyed enthusiasm, the unpredictable collaborations, and, yes, the deodorant masked odor that can only be described as “feteroo.” But, before you know it, Bonnaroo is in full swing and Thursday night’s festivities feel as distant as last year’s SuperJam (not to mention last Wednesday’s shower).

As the final note of Friday night’s late night sets gently segued into Saturday, Manchester awoke with temperatures nearing the 90s and predicted rain on the horizon. Yet, throughout Centeroo’s maze of dust balls and bobble heads, the afternoon’s conversation quickly shifted to less weather-related forecasts: a possible late-night performance by Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon, a surprise appearance by Southeast icon Travis Tritt and, above all else, Radiohead’s first American festival date since George W. Bush’s first term.

Saturday’s schedule mixed new faces (Mute Math, who offered a set of its carefully calculated future-rock in the Troo Music Lounge), old friends (Les Claypool, one of the only artists to appear at every Bonnaroo since its inception) and first time visitors who performed like Bonnaroo stalwarts (we tip our hats to Blues Traveler, who helped lay the groundwork for the weekend’s festivities by spearheading the traveling H.O.R.D.E. tour). While firmly rooted in the idea of escapism through its success, Bonnaroo has blossomed into a fully functioning society. With relative ease one can register to vote, update a My Space profile or catch the final goal from the weekend’s eagerly anticipated World Cup matches (the US tied Italy 1-1). Falling just short of commanding its own ZIP, Bonnaroo’s city has also expanded to include a number of stylistic boroughs. In fact, depending on one’s interests, Bonnaroo can be broken down into several genre specific mini-festivals, each characterized by is own headliners, surprise guests and late-night offerings.

A fan of New Orleans’ trademark funk/soul could start his day with an early-afternoon set by the Neville Brothers, enjoy a traveling Big Easy tribute curated by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint (highlighted by the pair’s Katrina eulogy “The River in Reverse”) and stay up until dawn with Louisiana icons like Dr. John, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Rebirth Brass Band. Similarly, indie-rock aficionados had the opportunity to catch a high-energy set from New York/Philadelphia darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Swedish psychedelic swirls of Dungen and the late-night burlesque of the Dresden Dolls. The Magic Numbers and Gomez fought for the somewhat oxymoronic title of England’s best Americana act; the former favoring harmony laced California-pop, the later blues-inspired fish n’chips rock.

For fans who favor improvisation, DJ Logic jammed with MMW, Rusted Root teased “Watchtower” and Claypool rolled out his sitar-happy “Fancy Band.” World music fans were also in luck, whether it was the infectious dance-beats of blind African sensations Amadou & Mariam or the cross-generational, multi-genre beats of Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. The younger Marley also offered two of the afternoon’s most memorable anthems (while proudly uttering the j-word): his father’s “Jamming” and his own “Welcome to Jamrock.”

Perhaps the weekend’s most enjoyable left field addition, Cypress Hill inflated a festival- size Buddha onstage near the end of its set, simultaneously encouraging its audience to pull out that “sticky green stuff.” Its hit-filled set also featured a number of cuts from 1993’s Black Sunday, including “Insane in the Brain” and “Hits from the Bong.” Though a far cry from the hippie-ethos of “peace, love and understanding,” the group’s stoner raps felt strangely familiar. Falling squarely into a genre of his own, Beck danced alongside miniature mannequin and offered a showstopping rendition of “Where It’s At.” Earlier, Beck nodded to his onetime backing band, the Flaming Lips, performing the art-rocker’s “Do You Realize?” The semi-acoustic Sonic Stage also offered its share of highlights, ranging from Tom Hamilton’s rendition of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” to moe.’s “Happy Hour Hero.” Recalling its on-point performance from Friday night, the Disco Biscuits managed to sneak, not one, but two segues into its abbreviated 30-minute Sonic Stage set.

Of course, Bonnaroo has long served as a launching pad for tomorrow’s festival favorites and Saturday’s lineup featured a number of able bodied contenders for next summer’s big thing. Steel Train – who graduated from its Thursday night showcase to a coveted Saturday afternoon spot – veered toward to eclectic, shifting from the lullaby-like harmonies of “Road Song” to the Arcade Fire energy of “Alone on the Sea” with striking ease. Somewhere in between, the quintet also snuck in a choice cover of Wilco’s “I Got You,” a staple on Steel Train’s spring tour. Welcomed in any number of crowd shots like fro’d Waldos, the group offered a campground busk following Saturday’s main stage festivities. Likewise, Recent New Groove Jammy winner Grace Potter showed off her band, the Nocturnals, opening the day’s activities in That Tent and her rapidly maturing vocal abilities with a duo performance alongside Scott Tournet for XM Radio.

Since Bonnaroo’s initial artist announcement, all eyes have been on Radiohead, perhaps England’s most important export since Pink Floyd. Offering a well-balanced mix of classic anthems (“No Surprises”) and material from its forthcoming solo project (“Body Snatchers”) Radiohead turned the weekend’s intense performance, opening with Hail to the Thief’s “There There” and closing its proper set with its signature ballad, “Karma Police.” In certain ways, Tom Petty and Radiohead are a study in contrasts. One is the embodiment of summertime idealism, the other industrial realism. Petty speaks in broad guitar strokes, Radiohead minimalist paranoia and synthesized beats. Yet, both acts produce equally anathemic music, seemingly designed for a festival of Bonnaroo’s magnitude.

Bonnaroo’s first English headliner, Radiohead’s appearance continued a cross-pond dialogue stretching back since the 1960s. Performing its lone festival date on a stateside theater tour, Radiohead arrived with a subdued light show, characterized by primary hues and dim backlight. Fans added their own colors, however, throwing glowsticks and sparking lighters during decade old hits like “The Bends.” It wasn’t until the frantic buildup of “Paranoid Android” that Radiohead unveiled the Andy Warhol kaleidoscope characteristic of its past arena-outings. Yet, perhaps the group’s naked performance was a blessing in disguise, stripping the space-rock stars down to the core unit that still serves as Radiohead’s bedrock.

If Friday night’s debauchery felt akin to a wookified Gettysburg, then Saturday evoked the spirit of New Orleans during Mardi Gras (or Spring Break). Previewing their upcoming summer tour, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon took the stage with the Benevento/Russo Duo for Saturday’s high profile SuperJam. Anastasio, who flew back to Bonnaroo after opening for Petty in St. Louis earlier in the evening, arrived in top form, as if driven to win back fans who questioned his direction since Shine.

Opening with a reworked version of the Duo’s anathemic sing-along “Play Pause Stop,” the title track from its forthcoming studio disc, the group mixed new originals like “Dragonfly” with material from each player’s solo canon. A year after many claimed the former Phish guitarist “jumped the shark” with a cover-heavy late night set on the Which Stage, Anastasio appeared focused and energetic, rearranging solo cuts for “Mr. Completely” and “Goodbye Head” for his new project (unofficially referred to by many as G.R.A.B.).

For those who have spent the weekend debating the merits of hippies versus hipsters, the quartet’s set offered a comfortable middle ground: using the Duo’s hard-edged rhythms to focus the Phish pair’s improvisations, G.R.A.B. sounded hip, yet comfortable. Marco Benevento, who utilized a Page-like baby grand piano in addition to his own keyboard toys, proved to be a particular force, shifting the group into fresh atonal territory throughout the night. Lost in the excitement, the group’s future touring mate Phil Lesh stopped by early on in G.R.A.B.’s set, leading the all-star collective through “Casey Jones” and “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.”

Meanwhile, several of New Orleans most important names filled This Tent with an evening long New Orleans tribute, tied into Bonnaroo’s annual float parade.

Draped in a full-on Night Tripper regalia, Dr. John opened his set with “Wade: Hurricane Suite,” handing over the stage to the Rebirth Brass Band and a Skerik-enhanced version of Dumpstaphunk (both Tony Hall and Raymond Weber, who perform in Anastasio’s solo band also traveled back to Bonnaroo with guitarist for their late-night performance). Meanwhile, moe.’s Chuck Garvey and Jim Loughlin teamed with Umphrey’s McGee’s Ryan Stasik and Joel Cummins for a costume-clad Masquerade Ball, recruiting Addison Groove Project’s Rob Marscher for the final portions of its set.

Saturday’s festivities not only firmly establish Bonnaroo as America’s answer to Glastonbury, but confirms that English and American acts will continue to swap ideas and push each other further into the 21^st century. As Thom Yorke said from the stage, “This is what I call a music festival.”

Me and MMJ: Click the Image to Find Me Like Waldo

Viv

Viv has been my best friend since 7th grade. She kind of beats to her own drummer, so I decided to make her first blog entry a bit off the wall or, um, more percisely off the page. I like visiting her in Park Slope because I feel like I am going on a mini-vacation, even though it only costs me $4 per trip. On Saturday, we went to the Brooklyn Museum for First Saturdays, where hipsters try to understand art through alcohol and the bar Great Lakes, where Trey, apparantly, also tries to understand hipsters through alcohol (and the Duo).

Vince Welnick: 1951-2006

One of the first interviews I did after college was with Vince Welnick, who played keyboards in the Grateful Dead from 1990-1995. On June 2, he passed way.

http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2003_11_28.03.phtml

Here is an obit I wrote for Relix:

Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick died of unknown causes on June 2, 2006. He was 55. Welnick, who played keyboards in the Grateful Dead from 1990 through 1995, cut his teeth performing in the California shock-rock band the Tubes in the 1970s. During his tenure with the Grateful Dead, Welnick contributed a number of original songs to the group’s canon, most notably “Samba in the Rain.” Bruce Hornsby helped usher Welnick into the Dead, playing piano by his side through 1991. While Welnick did not participate in any of the Dead’s studio sessions, his work can be heard on both the experimental live albums Infrared Roses (1991) and Grayfolded: Transitive Axis , as well as a handful of Dick’s Picks releases. Following the passing of Jerry Garcia, Welnick urged the group to continue on, though his bandmates ultimately decided to retire the Grateful Dead name. While Welnick did not participate in tours under the Others Ones or Dead monikers, he did perform in both RatDog and the Mickey Hart Band. He also formed his own group, the Missing Man Formation, which featured Steve Kimock (guitar), Bobby Vega (bass) and the Tubes’ Prairie Prince (drums). More recently, Welnick clocked in time with Dead-inspired outfits Gent Treadly and Jack Straw. He is the fourth Grateful Dead keyboardist to pass, following Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Keith Godchaux and Brent Mydland.

Welnick was not without his demons. In 2003, the keyboardist told Relix magazine, “I tried to off myself in the RatDog bus in ‘95, right before Christmas, right after The Dead died. I pretty much hit bottom there and I'm sure that hasn't helped my popularity with Bobby. I think that shook him up so much, and the other members of the band so much, that it contributed to why I am no longer being called to participate.” But Welnick did avoid certain trappings: “I coughed a pretty good attitude [laughs], but I didn't get into heroin,” Welnick says. “I never used needles, never used freebase and that kind of stuff. I drew that line as a kid. No needles, no freebase, no heroin and never broke that promise to myself.”

Welnick, who was set to play a number of festivals and solo dates this summer, leaves behind a wife, Lorie

Cold Turkey Turns 50

A shameless plug to start your weekend:

In 2005, respected rock scribes Benjy Eisen and Mike Greenhaus ventured past the written word and into the world of podcasting. Each week these nocturnal road warriors dig into the festival trenches, bringing you exclusive live sets, backstage interviews and rare recordings on Cold Turkey. You can hear them ham it up each week with everyone from Les Claypool to Matisyahu to My Morning Jacket at www.relix.com/radio. As part of Cold Turkey’s 50th Episode Special, Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux has personally combed the vaults, bringing the best soundboard recordings you’ve never heard right to www.relix.com/radio.

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Check out these Classic Cuts of Cold Turkey:

American Babies featuring members of the Disco Biscuits and Brothers Past.

Exclusive Langerado Press Conference with Art Neville, Michael Franti, the Flaming Lips,
MOFRO and More!

The Del McCoury Band’s Thanksgiving Turkey!

G. Love Live at Langerado!

Michael Franti: Solo Acoustic Spearhead.

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Plus catch Cold Turkey at the following festivals:

Wakarusa	Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
High Sierra Music Festival	The All Good Music Festival
10,000 Lakes Festival	Lollapalooza
Gathering of the Vibes	Camp Bisco
moe.down	and more!

I Want to Text You Up

On Wednesday, my mom discovered the text message. I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Since it entered my world sometime in 2005, the text message has had its pros and cons for sure. On the one hand, it’s an easy way to locate lost comrades at crowded concerts, a surefire way to avoid longwinded phone conversations and, most importantly, a digital diary of last night’s drunken debauchery. But, at the same time, when placed in the wrong hands, the text message can be a rather dangerous device---some people will never understand that every thought that crosses their mind doesn’t need to be documented and delivered (don’t worry mom, that thought was directed at JFS not you). Plus, frankly, its kind of weird that my mom is delivering her daily parental reminders through a medium which cut its teeth advancing the booty call into the 21^st century. If only Seinfeld was still around to define cell phone edict for my generation.

Jam on the River : All Sorts of Inappropriate Angles

Above: I think this is what it would look like if the Biscuits played the Roman Coliseum

Above: Barber as James Dean (Stellaaaaa)

Above: I think I have seen more Biscuits shows with Eric than any other friend. We once did an interview together on the Bisco Bus. Sammy drank straight from a bottle of Wild Turkey the entire time

Above: The Besack Family is Serious (I mean Sirius) about Jam on the River

Above: Local Band Does O.K.

Above: My Favorite Part of Tour

Egg and Cheese Utopia

One of the benefits of eating the exact same thing every day is that you become something of a food connoisseur, albeit one with a limited range of expertise. Before Relix moved its headquarters uptown, I ate one of Rauel's egg and cheese sandwich every single day. Having now tried almost every egg and cheese Manhattan has to offer south of 14th St., West of Avenue B and east of Hudson St. (a wider sampling than it sounds), I still think its the best New York has to offer. Even though Rauel used the same ingredients as everyone else in the city, he figured out the secret to the perfect egg/cheese combination: cooking his cheese in his egg. Genius! Most people wait until the last minute to place cheese on their egg, resulting in a poorly melted product. Imagine what we could all accomplish if we all worked 11 years without getting a day off like Rauel.…….

Like, say, alt-rock bands in the late 1990s, it’s increasingly hard to keep track of all the jam & indie bands popping up on the underground rock scene these days. In fact, being a New Yorker with an attentive eye, I’ve found that the easiest way to document a band’s rise is by paying careful attention to the promotional posters plastered to the construction sites I pass on my way to work everyday. As the seasons change, new faces arrive, grow in size and, one Sunday night without explanation, disappear before I digest my Monday morning coffee.
Hopefully, these signs will have a bit longer staying power

Caity Tour

Caity trying to hide from an impending blog appearance. Either that, or doing the vogue.

Jammyland

The Headiest Place on Earth

A Visit to the BK

Seeing a concert in Brooklyn while the National is playing Manhattan is kind of like visiting Buckingham Palace when the Queen is away on summer holiday.

Phishin' for Music

In high school, one of my favorite pastimes was wandering aimlessly around my town's record store. I made lists of CDs I hoped to purchase, studied jewel cases that caught my eye, and figured out all sorts of new ways to piece my body by conversing with the store’s cashiers. Since the rise of the mp3, however, CD shopping has become a distant memory, a fading friend I no longer visit. But, before Dark Star Orchestra, I had some time to kill so I ventured across Times Square to visit the Virgin Mega Store. They'd already sold out of this month's Relix, but still had plenty of Phish in stock (go figure). Junta was actually stuck behind Round Room and Undermind, so I took it upon myself to reorganize the Phish section. Maybe some budding stoner will wander by and kick-start his collection, the right way. As for my personal Phish collection, It kind of grew like this:

A Live One (a gift from mom and dad for Chanukah)

Junta (purchased two days latter when I realized A Live One didn’t contain “Fee)

Hoist (I still hope to place “If I Could” on my wedding mix)

Lawn Boy, A Picture of Nectar and Rift (I joined once of those CD club to buy these simultaneously…kind of like Damn Yankees for music-dorks)

Billy Breaths (I had no idea what happened to Phish; now it’s my favorite album)

Story of the Ghost (I ran out of school during third period to buy it and spent all sixth period obsessing over it; I don’t think its hit my player this millennium)

Farmhouse (the first time I heard Sam Goody spin Phish through its PA)

Round Room (I heard it as the MP3s leaked to the web before I purchased the album)

Undermind (We got an advance at Relix; It was dark, dangerous and the beginning of the end).

It's A Small World After All

As a child, my parents encouraged me to ride It's a Small World whenever we visited Disney World. Its message seemed good-natured enough: despite our cultural differences, we are all just a bunch of Mattel manikins singing the same catchy song (which is conveniently
available for $12.99 at the end of the ride).

Years later, I its think its message still holds true. Maybe it’s because I've never lived outside New York for more than a summer tour, but the more people I meet, the more everyone seems the same. It’s a comforting feeling, though, to know that we're all in it together, though no one seems able to point-point exactly what it is exactly

Anyways, here are some random, small world reflections from the past week:

There are two tyes of New Yokers. Those who wait patiently for the subway to come and those who impatietly pull their necks trying to see its headlights in the distance. I definately fall into the latter catagory.
As I child, Planet Hollywood and its musical cousain, the Hard Rock Cafe, were destinations, reasons to venture into the city. Now, they are reasons to avoid human congestions on the sidewalk. Perhaps oneday my original copies of Relix will make it onto the wall---in the kosher section of course.

Most companies only encourage drunken interaction among co-workers on holidays like Christmas. At Relix, we encourage drunken interaction among co-workers on holidays like Tuesday. I took this picture at our Green Apple post-party last week. Since entering the Relix world is kind of like being inducted into a fraternity, we feel the need to assign everyone little nick names upon entry. Behind her back, I've started calling Jenny, the newest member of our dysfunctional family, Heady Jenny. She's really not that heady and it says more about how far Relix has drifted from its original hippie-rock tag, but it has a nice ring to it anyway. Heady days indeed.

I've discovered that the mozerilla and tomatto sandwhich is essentially pizza for adults I bumped into Ian at Sarah's graduation party Saturday. I'm not sure how I met Ian, but he seems to be friends with everyone I know and apparently reads my blog. At 1 Am, while trying to explain the difference between a goy and a shikza to some girl (see below ) Ian wandered into this party and I decided to document our encounter. So here is Ian trying, unsuccessfully, to hide from my blog.

Lunch Break

Sometimes---just somtimes---I love my job. I got to see Ambulance LTD in studio today. Amazing show, bad photo.

Earplug Alert!

Once again too many shows, too little time. In an ideal world we’d meet up a lot this week

5/18: New Riders of the Purple Sage @ Canal Room

5/19: Tom Verlaine @ Bowery Ballroom

5/20: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Antibalas @ Irving Plaza

5/21: The National @ Webster Hall

5/22: Gov’t Mule @ Bowery Ballroom

It’s All in the Wording

Someone pointed this out to me recently: the main difference between being a “goy” and a “shikza” is that hooking up with a “shikza” has a mysterious “appeal” while marrying a “goy” is a surefire way to be written out of a Jewish will. Either way, I think I'll stick to what I know---or at least who I know will drive me slightly insane for many Rosh Hashanahs to come.

6/13=4/20?

6/13 is shaping up to be the new 4/20. In addition to packing for Bonnaroo, there are now four equally cool New York shows to choose from on a single day:

Widespread Panic @ Irving Plaza
Radiohead @ Theater at MSG
moe. @ Central Park
MMW @ Capitale (extra heady benefit as part of the Marijuana Policy Project's annual gala)

Since I don't smoke pot MMW is out and since I haven't recently had my heart slashed into a million pieces I can live without Radiohead. I'll try to get into Widespread Panic, but still feel kind of like a carpet bagger. So, I guess it's moe. for me, which works out just fine since the group's last Central Park show is still one of my favorite memories from 2001 (by the way, I lost my friend Tim at that show and still haven't found him...I guess he was swallowed by a moe.ron)

Happy Mothers Day

Above: Mommy and me. Neither of us has aged a day since 1987!

Of all the Hallmark Holidays out there, Mothers Day is the most genuine or, at least, most justified. My mom is the best: she corrects my typos, mixes my chocolate milk and takes it as a sign or endearment---I hope---when I say I aspire to marry a neurotic Jewish woman from Westchester. When I was a baby, my mother used to lull me to bed with folk anthems by Peter, Paul and Mary and Joni Mitchell. I may not have learned how to tie my shoes or properly part my my hair, but I certainly remember those lyrics she used to sing. In fact, I think I subconsciously plagiarize them on a daily basis...

The Circle Game:

Yesterday, a child came out to wander
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Then, the child moved ten times 'round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, "When you're older", must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came,
and go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now.
'Til your drag your feet to slow the circles down"

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and 'round and 'round
In the circle game
And go 'round and 'round and 'round in the circle game.

Hello Old Friend

I should probably try sleeping at night....

Earplug Alert!

Some fine shows this week. Not sure how many I will make, between Dad's birthday tour and Sarah's graduation tour, but that shouldn't stop any of you (except maybe Dad and Sarah) from hitting up any of these show. I strongly urge each and everyone of you to see American Babies Thursday. It'’s Tom Hamilton's new band, featuring the below mentioned Russo on drums. Simply put, the best new music I've heard this year. Stop reading and go see it now (come on, you know how these blog entries end anyway, blah blah blah Phish tour, blah blah blah crazy girl tour, blah blah blah blah life lesson tour)

5/10: Phoenix @ Bowery Ballroom

5/11: American Babies @ Knitting Factory

5/12-13: Dark Star Orchestra @ Nokia

5/14: Rana, Apollo Sunshine and the Brakes @ Knitting Factory

PS whose coming with me Thursday>?

The Birth of a Hangover

Even though I took them off my list of favorite bands sometime during the 1990s, the Counting Crowes still penned my favorite line in rock-and-roll history: “She Knows she is more than a little misunderstood, she has trouble acting normal when she’s nervous.” I think it captures an important element of the human condition, or at least, of my condition. A friend once told me that I fall “somewhere between the guy who gets the girl and the guy who is afraid to ask depending on my mood.” She’s right. I know I’m more than a little understood, I have trouble acting normal when I’m nervous.

So why do I bring up a drunken Saturday night from November 2004 up on this drunken Monday evening in 2006? Well, it’s because Elliot Smith owns my second favorite line in rock-and-roll history: “A Happy Day and then you pay/Feel like Shit the Morning After.” Nursing an impending hangover on my sofa tonight, Smith’s words have never sounded truer

I had a good day. I wrote some cool news items (Jam Cruise!, Derek and Eric!) uploaded a new CD (Say Hi To Your Mom) and managed to solve a rather difficult math equation (3/4^th of Ambulance LTD + ½ of the Benevento/Russo Duo= 1 Happy Mike Greenhaus). Fine, I’ll give her credit: the JFS variable---lets call her XY to the indie-rock degree---is also in the positive denominator.

It was the type of day when the rock-and-roll deities shined down on me. Who else would think to place Joe Russo on a bill with members of Ambulance LTD. But, somehow, I found myself at Sin-e tonight, sipping draft beer and watching Joe Russo and Matt from RANA open for the remaining members of Ambulance LTD. It’s odd that I’ll be seeing Russo in an amphitheater before my 25^th birthday, but I still find it fascinating that I’ve been able to see his progression from Fat Mama to Phish in just a few shorts years.

And, as my head begins to beat, and tomorrow I know I will pay, today I had a happy day.

1/9: Transfer is Available to...A Trial Seperation

The 1/9: Some marriages were never meant to last.

I Feel the Feeling I Forgot

I hadn’t pressed refresh that many times since Phish announced its final tour date. In fact, I think I forgot the feeling entirely: the excitement of piecing together an entire summer simply through rumors, the anticipation of waiting for a webpage to solidify those rumors into an official announcement, the fear that other “trivial” plans would conflict with that tour.

It’s always a great time of the year, tour announcement day. Friends emerge from the woodwork, AIM windows flicker at epileptic speed and the giddy, adolescent bounce I all too often suppress launches into full Greenhaus effect (sorry for the poor pun, I seriously haven’t slept since 1997). If you’re compulsive like me, you reach the point where you’ve pressed refresh so many times you start to notice the little details on a webpage slowly changing, sculpting.

And then, when you least expect it, you click refresh one final time and the rollercoaster begins. The dates are in, the message boards are alive, Phish is reuniting---kind of---backed by the Benevento/Russo Duo. Random thoughts run through my brain: I could take a day off from work here, make a long weekend there; fly home from California through Hartford to catch an extra show, run out of a friend’s wedding early to make it to Bethel by set time. Within seconds, three weeks of my life took shape.

For about ten minutes nothing else seemed to mater: not the overdue article sitting idly my screen, not the companionship of a new female friend and certainly not the half-empty glass of chocolate milk on my desk. I called Benjy, assuming he too had already sublet his house for the summer, posted a news bit on Relix and, actually, MapQuested the possibility of making it to Bethel, NY without missing a beat (ya know Eve and Evan would understand)

But, then, something really odd happened. Instead of lying awake all night, plotting my summer journey, my mind began to drift and an odd emotional reality set in. I began to think about life’s other obstacles, as well as its gifts. I didn’t want to rearrange my entire summer, to skip out on my other plans. In fact, it had already been a pretty darn good day in the life of Mikey Greenhaus. I had lunch with an old friend, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and geeked out about Garden State.

When former classmates ask me what I’ve been up to since college, my stock response is that I segued from Skidmore to Phish tour to crazy neurotic Jewish girl tour to, finally, work tour. It’s a pretty natural progression, I guess. In general, I’m the type of person who needs something to obsess about, to be excited about . Otherwise, my mind begins to wander. I think Phish was the training wheels for that style of aggressive procrastination.

Oddly enough, jam-nation is the one place my latent Westchester cutthroat ambition shows its ugly I-Banker head. I’ve never been good at working my way up the corporate ladder, but I’m always able to get tickets in time, to organize an expedition onto the floor.

About a month after Phish parted ways, I took a girl to see Trey perform with the Vermont Youth Symphony. I consider it one of the defining moments in my concert going career (and no I did not get laid that night. Alas!). Trey played “Flock of Words,”I looked left and sadly smiled. An odd-pressure had been lifted, the fear that I’d miss the show, the night they broke-out the song. But, at the same time, other bands, other people, would still make me feel the same way. Happy.

See you all at Jones Beach on July 7.

I'm floating in the Blympalot
I feel the feeling I forgot
Swimming weightless in the womb
Bouncing gently round the room
In a minute I'll be free
And we'll be splashing in the sea

I feel no curiosity
I see the path ahead of me
In a minute I'll be free
And we'll be splashing in the sea
We hear a tiny cry
As the ship goes sliding by
-Phish, 1995

The Hiatus is Over

After a six-month hiatus, I finally relaunched my Greenhaus Effect Column just before a Jammys. I guess I should feel embarrassed about the six-month lag, but, then again, every good jam-scene denizen deserves a good hiatus. For those of you who stumbled upon this page post-hiatus, my column is kind of like my blog only instead of using my weekend activities as fodder for self-depreciation, I use my drunken exploits as fodder for self-examination. Enjoy

www.jambands.com/Columns/MGreenhaus