Happy Thanksgiving from Me, Arlo and, of course, Alice...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Phish: The Biography
It is possible I am more excited about this than the actual Phish reunion itself. Then again, I am a jamband writer/dork, and I did once cancel a playdate in kindergarten to watch Transformers:The Movie by myself the day it came out on VHS. As I posted on Relix and Jambands.com:
Over a decade after the release of Richard Gehr’s The Phish Book, author Parke Puterbaugh has nearly completed Phish: The Biography, the first narrative history of Phish. The biography is culled from numerous interviews Puterbaugh conducted with Phish and its organization while serving as the band’s official in-house writer for almost ten years. The noted music and travel writer has also contributed to Rolling Stone, USA Today, Outside, Men's Journal and Stereo Review, among many others. He has also served as a freelance curatorial assistant and writer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland since its inception.
The behind the scenes narrative is expected to hit stores in May through The Perseus Books Group, before the band presumably plays its first summer shows since 2004. As of press time, the group’s only confirmed appearances will take place at Hampton, VA’s Hampton Coliseum from March 6-8.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Joe and Marco
A random thought before I start my week…
I had this moment at Marco's show Saturday when I realized that Phish will forever my band and the Disco Biscuits my musical family, but the Duo is truly the soundtrack to my 20s in New York. Not only because I feel like I've seen Joe and/or Marco at least once a week since I moved here, but because their mixture of avant-jazz, rock and jam somehow manges to keep divergent elements of the Tonic, Knitting Factory and Wetlands scenes (respectively) alive in the 21st century. They're the missing link between the New Deal and Galactic, indie-rock and funk, twenty-something freedom and thirty-something responsibility. Plus, the way they structure their songs---the loose themes and instrumental passages, tied together by reoccurring hooks and melodies, which ebb and flow before fading into the night---seem to parallel how I've bounced my way through this strange scene in this strange city at this strange time of my life...
Here's someone else's vision of some of my favorite nights...
Benevento, Fishman and Mathis
Benevento, Russo and Barr
Russo, Hamilton (x2) and Metzger
Russo, Benevento, Lesh, Anastasio and Gordon
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Twitter Typos
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Ryan Adams Delivers Stealth Afternoon Gig
This was a fun afternoon distraction...
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals celebrated the release of their new album Cardinology with a secret show at New York's Café Select this afternoon. After several online hints, Adams confirmed the show on his blog around 3:30 PM, shortly before heading down to the tiny café for a 4:30 PM performance. The Cardinals then huddled in a corner of the intimate café for a stripped down, acoustic performance for approximately 75 fans. As expected, the first part of Adams and the Cardinals' set consisted of material from Cardinology---"Born into a Light," "Evergreen," "Fix It" and "Magick"---but Adams later opened up the floor to requests and offered two cuts from 2005's Grateful Dead-inspired Cold Roses: the rare "If I am a Stranger" and a timid "Cherry Lane." Adams then entertained a few additional requests, before closing with another Cardinology track, "Let Us Down Easy." "It was very hot in there, I liked it," he said. "People were nice and the vibe was nice." On several occasions he also joking apologized to the crowd for ruining their lunch.
The entire performance was webcast on Adams' daily blog, Foggy. "I think I am neurotic, I spend too much time alone," Adams posted shortly after his gig. "Maybe I'll nap, gonna set an alarm and then do the secret electriSunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Other Helping Phriendly Book
I’ve been told---by, you know, all my friends in ‘Nam---that you can tell a lot about a man when he looks death in the eye, and I’d say the same thing about my generation’s other great Judgment Day: Today, Tuesday, October 14, the day the winners of the first Phish Ticket Lottery since 2004 were announced.
But, instead waiting for the Doniac Schvice in the mail, looking for tickets on rec.music.phish or--- gasp---calling their pals on the phone, these days my Phish-revivalist friends are discussing their stories in the comment section of their favorite blogs, texting for extras and, mostly, letting their bros and brahs know what’s up via the Millennial Generation’s answer to the Shakedown Street lot: Facebook.
Jennifer please help out the XXXXX phish tix fund (neither of us won the lottery) :( :( :(
Mark will buy you a new car, pefect shiny and new...
Deanne is still waiting... still waiting...
Jen will be joining everyone else online at 10AM on Saturday.
Heidi is still waiting....
Allie feels absolutely blessed to be going to
Marc is stoked.
Scott is wondering if Trey will need his trampoline back?
Aaron got phish tickets!
Sam is did anyone anywhere win the phish lottery.
Christopher has hotels for trade for Phish Tickets.
Mikey is bummed out he didn't get phish tickets.
Jamie did not get tickets.
John has an extra ticket for Trey at Roseland for this Thursday - let me know if you are interested & we can work out the details.
Aimee is disappointed but not surprised:/.
Tara who's got my extra?!
Bryna is putting my rejection aside and getting ready to rock out with the scissor sisters!!
Teddy is listening to the Boss: ride the line of balance and hold on by just a thread...
Deanne is still in suspense.
Chris Denied.
Patrick is happy to have water again. If you love something .. break a water main. If it comes back its yours. If it doesn't it never was
Adam got tix!!!!
Dan wishes he could vote for Fishman.
Jen never has phish luck. EVER.
Jaime GOT PHISH TIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eric is missing the good ol' mail order days of postal money orders and snail mail to
Matt GOT MOTHERF*CKING PHISH TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Thanks Dre).
Matthew is thinking that mail order tix are just urban legand, much like the unicorn and the G spot.
Scott is feeling quite rejected.
Erik has been denied by the phish and is OK with it.
Carlin is considering finding
Drew will be at a ticketmaster outlet near you this saturday morning. rsvp to reserve your coffee, gooballs, and lot dog.
James ready to do battle Sat AM for tix.
Well, that’s it for now, unless you count such choice text messages as “we’ll be in the bldg somehow” and “we were both denied see you sat morning!” or Gmail favorites like “my mom was denied, those bastards” and “praise the lord, but we are still playing like we didn't get any and have to get all of us in.”
As my friend Bill once said, the world was a far lamer place without Phish. See you all Saturday morning!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Phish Returns: Hampton Comes Alive In March
As dramatically announced via video, Phish will reunite for a series of shows this March. The quartet's first full performances since 2004 will take place at Hampton, VA's Hampton Coliseum on March 6, 7 and 8, 2009. Earlier this month the band also played a surprise three-song set at the wedding of longtime road manager Brad Sands. The group is expected to announce a handful of additional dates in the near future.
Hampton Coliseum's intimate size and general admission seating has made the venue a fan and band favorite since the group first headlined the room in 1995. Since that time Phish has filled the Coliseum on eleven additional occasions, most recently on its farewell tour in 2004.
This is not the first time the group has selected the room for a special event. After returning from hiatus in 2002, three of Phish's first four shows took place at the spaceship shaped arena, and the group booked a last minute Hampton, VA show after announcing its breakup in 2004. Phish's November 20 and 21, 1998 performances in the room were released as the box set Hampton Comes Alive.
Rumors of a Phish reunion have reached new heights in recent months after the four musicians accepted a lifetime achievement award at New York's Theatre at Madison Square Garden last May. Since that time the players have appeared onstage in a number of different configurations, most recently when Mike Gordon sat in with Page McConnell at South Burlington, VT's Higher Ground this past Saturday. Trey Anastasio has also tested out a number of new possible Phish songs onstage, most notably his co-compositions with longtime lyricist Tom Marshall "Alaska" and "Backwards Down the Number Line."
Anastasio announced Phish's breakup on May 25, 2004, and the group played its final show on August 15 of that year. At the time of his original announcement, Anastasio said, "Last Friday night, I got together with Mike, Page and Fish to talk openly about the strong feelings I've been having that Phish has run its course and that we should end it now while it's still on a high note. Once we started talking, it quickly became apparent that the other guys' feelings, while not all the same as mine, were similar in many ways -- most importantly, that we all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act. By the end of the meeting, we realized that after almost twenty-one years together we were faced with the opportunity to graciously step away in unison, as a group, united in our friendship and our feelings of gratitude."
A limited number of tickets for Phish's upcoming shows will be available through the group's secure online ticketing system. In addition, the group has issued the following statement regarding ticket scalping:
Phish Tickets has a zero tolerance for scalping and insists that all patrons of our service abide by our policy stated herein. Tickets made available through this site are intended only for fans who are actually planning on attending the shows requested. It is strictly prohibited to resell any tickets obtained through Phish Tickets for more than the purchase price. If you are found to be reselling, trading or brokering tickets that you purchased through our site for profit, Phish Tickets may at its discretion cancel your ticket order and all other pending orders in your name. This cancellation will result in a refund of the total price for the tickets minus a $7.00 per ticket processing fee and any shipping fees that have been incurred with respect to the order. We reserve the right to investigate all orders suspected to be in violation of this policy.
We urge you not to purchase tickets through brokers or "scalpers." These tickets may be counterfeit in which case you will not only be overcharged but will also likely be denied entry into the show.
Meanwhile, Anastasio will also kick off a solo tour at New York's Roseland Ballroom on October 16.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Natalie Post-Devendra
Though pretty much every blog I write seems to include at least one obtuse Phish fact, My Morning Jacket geekout moment and/or self-depreciative National reference, I like to think we cover a lot of non-musical ground on www.greenhauseffect.com. Don’t believe me? There are the crazy girl stories, the poor man’s Seinfeldian references, the Bush-as-Wilson political bashings, the woeful tales of gentrified neighborhoods I don’t live in and, of course, the Natalie Portman sightings. Which is why I feel obligated to report that my Princess Leia (or a least Queen Padmé) recently parted ways with her post-jam beau Devendra Banhart.
The first-ever Greenhaus Effect.com link to People.com reveals, “Natalie Portman and her folk-rocker boyfriend Devendra Banhart have broken up, a source confirms. Portman, 27, began dating Banhart, also 27, after starring in his "Carmensita" video, which was shot last March. A short time later, they took their romance public when they were spotting kissing on the streets of
For those keeping score at home, we’ve already physically bumped into Natalie Portman twice since the Greenhaus Effect aged from a poorly updated column into a poorly updated blog. The first time she sat next to me at a Sigur Ros after party (without hair), and the second time she ran towards me like Bo Derek in 10 (with hair) at Outside Lands, only to hug the hippie dude to my immediate right. Of course, on second look, that hippie-dude happened to be Devendra, but still the jury is in: clearly Natalie and I have a lot in common. I mean, according to People, the source for all celebrity truth, her recent dates include evenings filled with New York sushi, indie-rock shows and Israel, which would probably be my J-Date tag if my minor league team of crazy girls wasn’t already full (though I’d still be happy to add Natalie as a pinch crazy girl hitter).
I guess part of me is sad I probably won’t be seeing Natalie at freak-folk filled festivals anytime soon, but maybe it is time to turn my
Monday, September 22, 2008
Stadium Rock
Given that I often refer to baseball as “the sport with the little white ball,” I don’t have any business writing a eulogy for Yankee stadium. I’ve only been to The House That Ruth Built a handful of times over the years and, in all honestly,I probably have a closer connection with the kosher hotdog vender than any particular player. In fact, if I had to pick a New York sports team to root for I’d go with the Mets since they've always felt like the long suffering Jeff Tweedy to the Yankees’ Jay Farrar, which is to say the perennial underdog one hopes will eventually prevail.However, my brother is a huge Yankees fan and I was lucky enough to go with him to the sixth game of the 1996 World’s Series, which I’m told is kind of a big deal (OK maybe I know a little more about baseball than this blog lets on).
I’ve always felt bad that I scored a ticket to that game given its historic connotations, kind of like a non-Phish fan probably felt attending the Clifford Ball, Big Cypress or Amy’s Farm. Like a band, a baseball team can only have so many “on” nights, so many life-changing moments, so it's a shame to waste one on someone rooting for the National Anthem.
Yet, that night will always stick out as the night I finally got baseball…or at least its appeal. I’ve always felt that watching sports is kind of like, as the saying goes, dancing to architecture, and I never really understood its narrative story. But that night I finally felt its power: the kinetic group energy, the stadium-size relief when we(?) finally won and, most importantly, the little light bulbs flickering throughout the crowd…inspiring young minds to follow their dreams, strive for greatness or, at the very least, call their parent’s brokers for better seats the next season.
In retrospect, that was also probably the night my then twelve-year-old brother became a lifelong Yankee fan…the type of fan who will always look to Game Six as a reference point for power of the collective group experience. I usually spend baseball games catching up on my beauty rest, but something was different about that night: We stood throughout that entire final inning, and I didn’t even feel my feet. I was excited, my brother was excited and, most off all, I was excited for my brother. We were witnessing history, and we were witnessing it together.
That’s always been the true magic of baseball for me, what happened in the audience, not in the field. It is one of the few sports the rich and the poor can enjoy side by side---or at least in the same stadium---one of the few things in life grandparents can enjoy with their grandchildren. A lot of that has to do with the stadium, the original clubhouse, the original cub.
I’ve mourned Wetlands, I’ve mourned CBGB and I would have mourned the Fillmore East if I was old enough to remember it. That's why I mourn Yankee stadium and that's why I love what Bob Lefsetz wrote in his music industry letter this week:
Baseball parks don't change, they're not subject to fashion, you build them and they remain, frozen in time, a modern team playing in a bygone era.
Baseball teams are actually more like orchestras than rock bands, which is why they survive through the generations. Players come and go, rise through the ranks and eventually fade into the ether, making room for the next promising rookie. But the fans stay the same, watching a team as it goes through its inventible highs and its lows. I remember the Yankees' lean years in the 1980s, how they came from behind and finally won the Word Series in 1996. They continued to win, and I’ll always remember them as the team of my teenage years, even if they were never “my team” so to speak.
That’s why I’m sad that, like Seinfeld, the Clintons and so many heroes of the 1990s---the first decade I witnessed from start to finish---they eventually outlasted their time and lost that inspirational spark.
My brother tells me that the Yankees’ performances this year have been “pathetic,” which is a sad end for one of
I asked my brother if he thought they’d keep the old stadium intact as a memorial, to house the memories in a safe location, and he told me that they were going to turn it into a park, which seems like the appropriate next step in that “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”-kind of way. And one day when I’m forced to bring my kids to see the Yankees play the Braves, I can tell them I saw that same game in a different stadium, when they players on the field were still just faces in the crowd.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
-Pete Seeger, 1961
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Hippies Win Again
It is no secret that Saturday Night Live is most successful when it focuses on politics, not silly characters. Indeed, it is safe to say that many younger viewers probably remember the fumbles of politicians like Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush and Bob Doyle by the the caricatures Chevy Chase, Dana Carvey and Norm Macdonald created more than whatever archival footage is currently shown in history class. So it is no surprise that the sketch comedy is going through something of an artistic revival this season, just in time for the 2008 Presidential election and in time for Tina Fey to take on the seemingly custom designed role of Sarah Palin.
That’s right boys and girls and Sarah Palin supporters, a jamband is responsible for SNL’s biggest ratings since the middle of George W. Bush’s first term. That means they smoked the pops stars, the hipsters and even the politicians and, if you think about all the fodder Dubya has given the media since 2002, that’s a pretty impressive feat. Too bad Trey and Tipper Gore never got their side-project off the ground....
According to reports, the episode generated the show’s highest ratings since December 17, 2002, when Al Gore hosted the program. I remember that episode well and it was quite funny, especially a skit where Gore visits the set of The West Wing.
Since President Gore was riding high on his An Inconvenient Truth celebrity cachet, it is no wonder the episode received such high ratings. But one can’t help but wonder whether the episode generated such record ratings not just because to dealt with politics at the perfect time, but because it also featured the reunion performance by my favorite Vermont quartet featuring both members of 70 Volt Parade and Ramble Dove:
Phish
That’s right boys and girls and Sarah Palin supporters, a jamband is responsible for SNL’s biggest ratings since the middle of George W. Bush’s first term. That means they smoked the pops stars, the hipsters and even the politicians and, if you think about all the fodder Dubya has given the media since 2002, that’s a pretty impressive feat. Too bad Trey and Tipper Gore never got their side-project off the ground....
Monday, September 08, 2008
After the Goldrush Part II: Since Arcade Fire
Surgeon General’s Warning: The blog contains more self-indulgent introspection and/or Kevin Arnold-like inner musing than even the average National song. It is not recommended if you consider sappy a bonus four letter word and/or actually have real problems to worry about. But, hey, every once and a while I’m allowed to look at my life and in that "glass of chocolate milk is half-empty/half-full" kind of way, right? We’ll be back with some more jamband indie-rock outings later in the week…
If you are reading this on or after September 8th, that means it has been five years since I first stepped foot at Relix Magazine. That's right my good friends, casual onlookers and people who stumbled upon this page by mistake while googling Trey: it has been five years of obtuse Phish references, gratuitous post-jam remarks, and failed attempts to convince you that our magazine is pronounced Relix, not Re-lix.
I remember being so scared when I first started, so nervous, that I had to stop by a local diner to get a soda to calm my nerves before my interview. This was, after all, the magazine I hung on my wall throughout college, and I remember sitting at a small table, peering around, wondering if any of these customers were my possible future co-workers. I applied that day and scored the internship that led to my current (and only) post-college job two days later. My editor Aeve gave me the good news during an Addison Groove Project concert at B.B. King’s on September 8---a Monday, just as it is this year---and just two days later I settled into my first cubicle.
I didn't really know how to feel at the end of the Arcade Fire show, disappointed about Arcade Fire's performance, or excited that I had a great day, but I sure didn't feel like waiting 45 minutes for a bus home, so I decided to walk back to
For a second it was almost as if I was frozen in time and the last decade had not happened and tried to remember what I was like not only when I moved to New York, but when I left for college. My apartment is sandwiched right between NYU and the
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Better than The Wedding Singer: Phish Reunite
From the news/geekout Phish reunited this evening at the wedding of longtime road manager Brad Sands. The four musicians took the stage during the private New York ceremony for a three-song performance that included Phish chestnuts “Suzy Greenberg,” “Julius” and “Waste.” Police drummer Stewart Copeland also sat in with Sands’ wedding band on the Police’s “Can’t Stand Losing You” and The Meters’ “Fire on the Bayou.” Sands served as the Police’s road manager throughout the group’s high-profile reunion tour. Phish last performed together in Coventry, VT in August, 2004.
The stealth reunion caps off four months of rumors that began when all four members of Phish appeared onstage together at the Jammys. Since that time the musicians have appeared together in various configurations, most notably when Trey Anastasio and Jon Fishman joined Mike Gordon and his band onstage at the Rothbury music festival in Michigan this past July.
In June, keyboardist Page McConnell also posted the following note on Phish.com:
Given that I might not even see some of the guys for the next six months, I would say that the announcement of a reunion is premature. However, later this year we hope to spend some time together and take a look at what possible futures we might enjoy. In fact the only real decision that has been made is that when we do get together, it will only be the four of us, hopefully with no distractions. I am really looking forward to that.
I want to say just a few more things. The prospect of Phish reuniting is something I consider very seriously, and I think about it a lot. And lastly, as always, there is plenty of misinformation floating around. Try not to focus too much on secondhand sources and random gossip. If there is anything real to announce, it will come from the four of us as a group.
Oddly enough, the only time Phish performed together during their 2000-2002 hiatus was at the wedding of Jason Colton in 2001. Colton is a longtime member of the group’s management team. As of press time, Phish has no confirmed plans, though Trey Anastasio is scheduled to kick off an extended tour at Port Chester, NY’s Capitol Theatre on October 16.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
I blog, Ryan Adams Responds
As I am sure any loyal reader of the Greenhaus Effect Dot Com its aware, there are few things I love as much as outing indie-rockers as closet jamband kids. And since the launch and of this occasionally updated blog, we’ve exposed the jamband roots of a slew of bands with either a witty and/or ironic name, including Feist, the Decembrists, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, 311, Clap Your Hands Say Last Year, MSTKRFT, The National, TV on the Radio, Incubus and Maroon 5.But one of the few artists who has come out of the jamband closet on his own is style-shifting, taste-making, indie-punk-jam-rock cowboy Ryan Adams: He wears Grateful Dead t-shirts onstage, regularly plays with Phil Lesh and even performed at our Jammy Awards in 2005. When not rocking through tunes from his much-harder Gold or making the tabloids by dating Mandy Moore, he also jams in the most literal sense: letting his country-rock songs slide into bits of freeform improvisation before segueing into the ether. In fact, I’m tempted to say that Cold Roses is the best “Grateful Dead” album made since the 1970s and certainly more of an extension of Workingman’s Dead/American Beauty/Garcia than their immediate studio successors, Wake of the Flood and From the Mars Hotel…which is probably why Phil added many of Cold Roses' best songs into his rotation between 2005 and 2007.
Ryan Adams Retires Songs, Summons Reckoning
On Saturday, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals played a sold-out show at
In a post titled “New/Old Jam Report,”
The s.f. gig, at our lil’ lovely home away from home west coast- was a saying fare-the-well of sorts to our beloved last tour jams. now we enter new area’s/ new songs….things you will hopefully be happy to glimpse now, in their early stage powers- before they get, well, weird and lovely. also, from the old-stock, we have selected some surprises, some things electrified from the “Blue Cave (Cardinal-speak for acoustic/fragglerock/ G-D-Reckoning style set-up) and well a few things to amp things up.HEADS UP.we are the middle act on a THREE BAND BILL…..and have been given a generous hour, giver or take some…so, it will be LESS TALK/ MORE ROCK- and some tightening up you might not be used to if you are a regular….otherwise……if you are a CARDINALFAN and seen us a few clicks……hang on,cause this is where we brake off the braces and step by step, learn to channel more energy into a smaller bracket of time….and old jams in old tunes are now FREE ZONES……so, you know when we make the scary noise- and then it get’s all tripped out and pretty…..well, we don’t know what the fuck is happening there either…..and that is exploration…..and that is the new game.
In other news,
But, apparently, Ryan isn’t as keen on the J-word as I thought since yesterday Josh found the following on his blog:
Ryan, if you are reading this, thanks so much for the shout out and please pardon my typos/gratuitous crazy girl references. We still love you like New York, Garth Algar hair and all, and hope that you will use the word jam as a verb once again in the near future. Until then, chin up, cheer up, and remember: don't get too deep, you might lose touch with the surface.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Trey Anastasio to Play Westchester
We interrupt your normal 4:30 PM coffee break for some late-breaking news from the Phish geekout camp. Trey Anastasio is playing
Friday, August 29, 2008
Dr. Dog Go Cold Turkey
We’ve been lucky enough to have the guys from Dr. Dog as our guests on Cold Turkey three times in the past two years. The first time was on a pier in
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Dead Come Back to Life
When it rains it pours, at least when it comes to hippie-friendly reunions. First David Byrne teamed up with Brian Eno for the first time since 1981, then Trey decided to give his left nut for some more Phish and now the Dead has confirmed its first plans to hit the road since 2004. Is it me or is it time for the post-jammers to beget the jam-revivalists? So breakout your hemp necklace, undust your older sister's recipe for goo-balls and pull that Pharmer's Almanac out from under your pillow because it's tour time!
Anyways, here is the news we posted on Relix.com and Jambands.com Friday. It was written by our chief San Francisco correspondent Rich Simon who I only finally met face to face at Outiside Lands after no less than five years of weekly e-mail corrispondence. Let's just hope a new president means new gas prices, otherwise I might be visiting Shakedown via IClips.
Dead Planning Spring Tour, Obama Benefit
Sources confirm that the surviving members of the Grateful Dead -- guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh,and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann -- are planning to tour in April and May of 2009. There's no word yet on the band's configuration -- previous configurations of "The Dead" and The Other Ones have included singer-guitar hero Warren Haynes, guitar ace Jimmy Herring, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, singer Joan Osborne, keyboardists Jeff Chimenti and Rob Baracco, as well as guitarists Mark Karan and Steve Kimock.
Also in the works, likely for October 13, is a second Deadheads For Obama concert, planned for the swing state of Pennsylvania.
The first Deadheads for Obama concert took place at the Warfield in San Francisco -- with Weir, Hart, Lesh, drummer John Molo, keyboardist Steve Molitz, guitarist Larry Campbell, pedal steel player Barry Sless, singer-guitarist Jackie Greene, and Karan -- on the eve of the California Democratic primary.
The Dead allied with Obama after Lesh's son began volunteering for Obama's campaign.
"This is the real deal," Lesh said of Obama then.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Dr. Dog
Is there a Dr. (Dog) in the house? Or at least Relix's boiler room? Stay tuned for the podcast and, until then, enjoy the Felice Brothers (streaming now on your right).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
LeRoi Moore: 1961-2008
A sad day for the scene for sure....here is the obit I wrote for Relix and Jambands.com
LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, from complications stemming from an ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, VA. The 46-year-old saxophonist was injured in an ATV accident on June 30, 2008 and has been off the road since that time. Though the saxophonist originally seemed to be recovering, he was readmitted to the hospital in mid-July. Moore recently has returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program and died at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.
Before helping popularize the second generation jamband movement, Moore was a local Virginia jazz musician proficient on such instruments as saxophones, flute, bass clarinet and wooden penny whistle. Along with Matthews, drummer Carter Beauford and bassist Stefan Lessard, Moore co-founded Dave Matthews Band in 1991. He appears on all six of the group’s studio releases, as well as the band’s numerous live documents. His co-writing credits include such DMB cuts as “Too Much,” “#34,” “Pig” and “Stay.”
Though Moore was the least visible member of the band offstage, he appears on an eclectic mix of non-Dave Matthews Band releases, ranging from Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead to Soko's In November Sunlight to Hootie & The Blowfish’s Musical Chairs and Code Magenta's self-titled release. In addition, Moore sat in with a wide number of musicians over the years, including five cameos with Phish between the years 1994 and 1997. Along with his bandmates, Moore also participated in Warren Haynes’ 1993 Ritz Power Jam, a seminal jam session that featured Haynes, John Popper, Noel Redding, Chuck Leavell, Bernie Worrell, Jaimoe, Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon, among others.
Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin has been subbing for Moore throughout Dave Matthews Band’s summer tour. The group took the stage as planned the night of Moore’s passing at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and opened with “Bartender,” a song whose opening lyrics include the lines “if I go/before I'm old/ oh, brother of mine/please don't forget me if I go." As of press time, the group has made no statement about its future plans.
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