Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit have announced a summer reunion tour scheduled for late July and early August. The band will feature the old-school lineup of Col. Bruce Hampton, guitarist Jimmy Herring (Widespread Panic), bassist Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brother Band), keyboardist Matt Slocum and drummer Jeff Sipe. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 27 at 11am ET. The band has been on hiatus since 2011.
TOUR DATES
July 29 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
July 30 Boulder, CO — Fox Theatre
July 31 Bellvue, CO — Mishawaka
August 1 Denver, CO — Ogden Theatre
August 5 Birmingham, AL — Iron City
August 6 Nashville, TN — Cannery
August 7 Atlanta, GA — Buckhead Theatre
August 8 Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
August 9 Asheville, NC — Orange Peel
August 12 Raleigh, NC—The Ritz
August 13 Richmond, VA — The National
August 14 Washington DC — The Howard Theatre
August 15 Port Chester, NY — The Capitol Theatre
August 16 Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Bowl
Evans is no stranger to the funk scene as drummer for the wildly popular band Soulive, as well branching out with his own (now defunct) trio PlayOnBrother. When Soulive was in their freshman years, he was an integral part of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe almost three decades ago as one of their first drummers.
Alan Evans of Playonbrother
Denson has seen his share of success – touring and recording with Lenny Kravitz’s band, then playing saxophone and singing for jazz/funk legends the Greyboy Allstars. More recently, Denson joined Slightly Stoopid, while still maintaining his Tiny Universe. Denson and his band recently released their debut album on Stoopid Records titled New Ammo.
With decades of experience and success behind them, Evans and Denson are most certainly a force to be reckoned with. Fresh off another successful Brooklyn Bowl residency – Bowlive – Evans will be shaking the walls with Denson. Though we have seen our fair share of Royal Family Records collaborations, this one is sure to leave fans begging for more. Keep an eye out for show announcements in the very near future.
moe. continued to thrill crowds of .rons on their 25th anniversary winter tour as they packed houses and came home again to New York City.
moe. continued to thrill crowds of .rons on their 25th anniversary winter tour as they packed houses in New York City last weekend.
The weekend began Thursday night with the band — guitarists Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey, bassist Rob Derhak, drummer Vinnie Amico and percussionist Jim Loughlin — playing an intimate show at Le Poisson Rouge, a 700-capacity club in Greenwich Village.
Then the boys moved their Friday and Saturday shows to the Best Buy Theater, an arena in the middle of Times Square with a capacity of 2,100. The corridors around the venue formed a bit of a maze, but the theater area made for a great show with a floor section below the stage, a short platform behind that and maybe 20 rows of raised seating behind it
The Friday night show started with a first set that took its time with each song, extending all but “Annihilation Blues” over 11 minutes. Fans got a not-oft-played “Darkness” that segued into “Bring You Down,” a combo that thrilled the crowd. Annihilation jammed right into a “Meat” that brought the energy up, then down, then built it back up again to end the set on a raging note.
The second set started with “New York City” — obligatory but so much more meaningful when it’s actually played in the city it was written about — then on “Do or Die” Jim broke out his drum set attached to a chest harness and ventured over to hang out with Vinnie and Al for a bit.
Members of the crowd throw their hands in the air as they sing along.
“Kyle’s Song” segued into “Same Old Story,” which has only twice before been segued into. It’s been used more often to segue out of at the end, but the song is high-energy fun any way they play it.
The final four songs of the set turned up the heat with “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, then “Spaz Medicine” shifting into “Akimbo” into the ever-epic “Rebubula.” Boobs can occasionally fall into the rut of being a quick-hitter that draws a lot of audience emotion but doesn’t explore much, but this one took plenty of time to chill out before building to a frenzied sing-along at the end.
After the moe. show, most of the crowd filed out and ventured two blocks down to B.B. King’s, where Ha Ha the Moose was on the loose.
The hilarious moe. side project features Rob, Chuck and Jim wearing luchador masks and capes and taking on the persona of their alter egos, Dr. Guano, Jeff VonKickass and Sludge.
They played some old classics to a crowd so boisterous at points that it distracted band members. They also included some popular covers including “Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd and “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds, forever etched into our memories by its poignant placement at the end of “The Breakfast Club.”
They also reprised “Courtesy Flush,” which they debuted in January at moe.’s Tropical Throe.down in Jamaica. They ended the set with “Redneck Trilogy” and “In the Name of Freedom” and during the latter, Guano got an apt response when he questioned the audience what they would do in the name of freedom: “I would throw a music festival, even if no one came and I didn’t make any money,” the moe.ron said, referencing the lack of a moe.down this year.
After having a few hours off to romp around the city, moe. was back at it Saturday night. Saturday night’s show at the Best Buy sold out during that day. Highlights of the show included an intense “Runaway Overlude,” “She,” “Billy Goat” segueing into “Head,” plus Shannon and Terry Lynch of the Conehead Buddha horns joining the band on “Not Coming Down,” “Threw It All Away” and “Dr. Graffenburg.”
The full Conehead Buddha band played a great official after-show in the Lucille’s room of B.B. King’s Saturday night for anyone who somehow had energy left after raging the city that never sleeps.
moe. heads to Chicago this weekend and south to the Carolinas in April to finish out their winter tour. The band has yet to announce summer tour dates besides a few festivals (SweetWater 420 Fest, Summer Camp, Mountain Jam and All Good, plus the Dear Jerry show celebrating Jerry Garcia in May) but fingers are crossed that they’ll at least spend a weekend at the Saranac Brewery in Utica this June. Keep an eye on NYSMusic.com for moe. news as dates trickle in.
moe. jumped into their set and did not yield on the throttle the rest of the night at Binghamton’s Forum Performing Arts Theatre on Wednesday, March 11. The midweek throw-down featured two sets of neatly flowing rock produced by masters of the art that left the crowd craving more.
After an opening set by Cabinet, moe. came out to raucous applause from the Binghamton constituency. While the Buffalo-born-band only has one more scheduled Upstate date, it was hinted that another show is in the works. Regardless, they threw the kitchen sink at The Forum, seldom taking a break between mammoth jams. With Guitarist Chuck Garvey, drummer Vinny Amico and bassist Rob Derhak all adorned in silver-sequined jackets to celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary, they kicked the first set off with “Kids.” As band members got their feet underneath them and settled in, the tune picked up momentum and, at some point, unnoticeably transitioned into “Skrunk.”
“Skrunk” became “ZOZ” from 2008’s album Sticks and Stones which morphed back into “Kids.” Somehow, an hour was gone and having played only four seamlessly segued songs, moe. demonstrated why it has been on top of the jam scene long enough to celebrate a silver anniversary. Time signatures ebbed and flowed and, while the tone stayed mostly bright, there were periods of weirdness dispersed throughout the huge block of music. Percussionist Jim Loughlin captivated the crowd with his dexterity on the xylophones; harmonizing the percussion with Garvey on guitar and Al Schnier on the guitar and/or keys adds an extra layer of richly toned texture unique to moe. The three got into a deep groove when they returned to “Kids.” After a long ovation, moe. concluded the first set with a cover of “Godzilla” that helped gently return onlookers from the wild musical ride moe. just created.
Like the first set, the second was a fluid jam that lasted over an hour without ceasing. “The Pit” acted as bookends with an emphatic version of “Four” and energetic rendition of “Happy Hour Hero” as highlights in the middle. Throw in “Seat Of My Pants,” “Tubing the River Styx,” and a couple other tunes, and a 75 minute set was over without a single break to catch one’s breath. Again, seemingly in the blink of an eye, fans cheered boisterously as a tightly packed set flew by.
An encore consisting of moe. original “It” and a cover of “The Weight” featuring members of Cabinet was the finishing touch of a nonstop night of jamming. Between the dual-shredding abilities of Garvey and Schnier, the in-your-face bass proffered by Derhak and the one-two punch on percussion with Amico and Loughlin, moe. torched the Forum Theatre in many ways. The band’s creativity and talent created an incredible evening of rock in Binghamton that won’t soon be forgotten.
As we all have expected Phish will perform a three day festival – #10 overall – on Aug 21-23 at Watkins Glen Speedway in Watkins Glens NY. The site just popped up on the Phish homepage minutes ago. This is the same site as 2011’s Superball Fest. Stay tuned for more information shortly.
Phish has announced their latest archival release with their show from December 16, 1999 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC. This is the first release from Fall 1999, performed at N.C. State University, and one of the final shows before Phish performed before their historic millennium concert at Big Cypress just two weeks later.
12/16/99 was recorded by Paul Languedoc to digital multitrack, mixed/mastered by Jon Altschiller. You can order the album at LivePhish.com or with the LivePhish App
Set 1: Wilson > Chalk Dust Torture, Lawn Boy, Limb By Limb, Horn, Back on the Train, Roggae, Heavy Things, Camel Walk, Possum
Set 2: Sand, The Mango Song, Wading in the Velvet Sea[1] > Tweezer > Runaway Jim
Encore: Bittersweet Motel > Tweezer Reprise
UPDATE: Phish today announced a SiriusXM listening party for this release – check it out below.
This Thursday & Friday, Phish archivist Kevin Shapiro guest hosts “Gone Phishin” and will share with listeners a behind-the-scenes tour of Phish’s newest archival release Raleigh ’99. Sets start at 9pm ET each night exclusively on SiriusXM Jam_ON, Channel 29.
The Grateful Dead reunion shows were announced back in January and since have created nothing but an insurmountable volume of rumors, drama, stress and high anxiety with fans around the world. Three days in Chicago were planned. Just three days. The 50th reunion of the joyful music that the Grateful Dead brought to millions of people has been foreshadowed by the snowball effect of events that have evolved since the announcement. For those who aren’t remotely interested in these shows – they have no idea what people are going through. What has this event created? Let’s break it down.
Upon the announcement, hotel rooms and flights to Chicago were immediately booked. Some fans booked several different rooms at various hotels as a back up plan to help out friends and strangers in need – who may not have even decided if they were going yet. Price gouging? Damn well better believe it. Hotels that were $200 or less before the announcement suddenly shot up to $500 or more a night. Threads popped up all over the internet discussing rooms, planes, trains, road trips, you name it. At this point, ticket prices had not even been released yet. At least this situation could be worked out in time. The shows aren’t until July, right? No big whoop. At least people are working on their scheduled time off. That’s a start.
The next order of business was the announcement of the mail order fiasco. To those who have no idea what is meant by mail order, let me explain. Directions were indicated to send in an envelope with money orders requesting what days you would like for the shows in Chicago. To be clear, these directions were VERY SPECIFIC. Money orders had to have EXACT AMOUNTS. Exact directions needed to be followed to even get a shot at a ticket. Fan art on envelopes were created in hopes of scoring the free golden ticket into the show. The art work of magnificently designed envelopes starting popping up all over the internet. However, the highs of getting a ticket through mail order were quickly dashed upon the realization that requests may be up against hundreds of thousands of other envelopes. This is where the drama, and the waiting, began.
News of the Dead letter office in California receiving a record amount of envelopes started surfacing. People were scrounging news stories and internet postings to see if their designed envelopes were in a photo. However, this is also where reality started setting in. Not a recycled envelope? Whoops! You put the requested dates on the wrong side? Into the decline pile you go. Off by fifty cents on your money order? NEXT! Envelopes were dropped in the post office slots only for certain fans to realize the mistakes they initially made, which soon was followed by the dread of not having a shot at tickets. Well, there’s always round two with Ticketmaster, right?
The first confirmed decline letter was posted on the internet. The almighty hated “pink slip” of declination surfaced, and some were even auctioning them off on e-bay as souvenirs. The anxiety of, “did I get a ticket?” soon followed. The misery of checking the mail box began. The stress of finding a “thanks for playing” letter slowly started building immense tension with fans. Meanwhile, VIP and travel packages were posted on the internet, with prices and sale dates, which were scheduled to be up for sale prior to the public sale on Ticketmaster. Almost $2 grand for a VIP package? Holy hell. Who has that kind of money? There are only three shows, after all. Meanwhile, the pink slips started creeping in with more and more fans. The anger and drama of “how can this be?? I have NEVER been denied a mail order!” starting being thrown across the internet.
With an unforeseen amount of envelopes that were sent in, the initial sale dates had to be pushed back. Now fans were really getting on edge. What if prices change? What happened to the VIP package that was cheaper? The shows were now creating a multitude of soap opera quality drama for the ages. Meanwhile, those dreaded pink slips continued to pour in. When will fans find out if they’ve received tickets?? Why is there little communication? WHAT’S GOING ON????? AAAAHHHH!!! People were ready to pull their hair out.
The updated sale dates were released and fans who were still in limbo upon hearing if their mail orders were accepted or rejected were starting to get angry. Why had they not heard? One week led to two days which led to one day before the sale with still no word. With fans’ money tied up in money orders, what should they do? The confusion upon getting tickets, and the anger at not having heard from the Dead letter office created havoc and panic. Who the hell was running this anyway? The lack of communication and poor planning set in motion a wave of anger and criticism towards the shows. This is not what the Grateful Dead is all about. It was turning into a money hungry fiasco. Panic was running amok across the world.
The first online sale was for VIP and Travel packages. Now the true scramble for tickets, any tickets, began. Some got lucky, some didn’t. Even those who did manage to get through on the dreaded Ticketmaster site may have only managed a ticket or two and not enough for friends and family that were hoping to grab some. The Ticketmaster “circle of dread” began. Fans hoping to get a ticket were faced with staring at a screen that just circled and circled and circled in wait. Maybe you got the captcha wrong. Start over! The misery of getting tickets was deepening. The sadness of “maybe I won’t be getting tickets” started to set in. The super expensive tickets were gone in a flash. Some fans managed to get all the way through to the credit card entry and were kicked out. What in the HELL?? Anger, resentment and misery followed suit. There was still another chance tomorrow, right? Tensions started to get higher.
Oh no, what’s this? Stubhub has VIP tickets online? How? These should go to fans, not some money crazed scalper!! Anger started to build again. The wave of misery was in a constant ebb and flow. Well, there’s one more shot with the public sale, right? Alarms were set, phones were shut off, computers were ready to go for the last possible sale, and hope, of scoring tickets. Again, posts began flying across the internet of who should have gotten tickets, who deserved tickets, who felt they were entitled to tickets, and who didn’t get tickets who should have at the last-minute started. The drama was all over the place. It was like a train wreck. People didn’t want to get caught up in it, but couldn’t help themselves. Trying to look away from an internet thread without responding was like trying to pass on a free ticket. People just couldn’t help it because it was becoming very personal. Everyone has their reasons for needing to see these last shows. Everyone wants one last enjoyment with the band and to relive what the Grateful Dead once was. However, it was becoming maddening.
One more shot at tickets was left. The general public sale with Ticketmaster was the last hope for so many. Once they went on sale, the scramble began. Once again, the “circle of dread” fell upon so many computers and phone apps. The high of “I got through!” was quickly followed by “GODDAMNIT, #*@#$”, as the site experienced load difficulties for many as purchases were about to be made. At this point, many fans still had not heard if their money orders were accepted or rejected. Once again, money was tied up and the hope of getting a mail order ticket was fading fast. Tickets were impossible to get. The seats to the side and behind the stage were opened up, which led many to believe they would have a good shot. Those hopes were quickly killed. SONOFA!!!!! The pain of not getting a ticket was too much. Tears, anger, fights with loved ones broke out. The drama had reached an all time high. The stress of getting just one ticket was getting unbearable. People were losing friends due to arguments involving scalpers, and the idea of even buying a ticket from a third-party seller led to frustration. Once again, the wave of anxiety set in.
Now that the ticket sales have come and gone, there’s still hope. Maybe someone ordered too many on Ticketmaster and they will release extras? The constant checking on Ticketmaster has become a ritual. Cashortrade? That’s a hope. However, right now, with resale prices on third-party sites in the thousands, people are starting to give up. Anger and disappointment has set in. The only way fans can control these tickets is by not buying from scalpers. At least that’s the hope. However, everyone knows that if someone has the money, they will go for it because, why not? These are the last three shows. Allegedly.
To all the fans out there – the pain of getting in the building is felt. You are not alone. We are one big Grateful Dead family. Keep the focus of the music alive by helping others out. This is a once in a lifetime event. Try not to get caught up in the negativity that has grown from this. The madness won’t end until the last song is played on stage. Until then, keep the faith and don’t give up. Just try to smile, smile, smile. After all, isn’t that what Jerry would have wanted?
Widespread Panic will open its summer tour in Lewiston before a short Northeast run heads south and west. The Georgia-based bluesy jammers are set to play at Artpark Amphitheater in Lewiston — near Niagara Falls — on Tuesday, June 16.
That’s the band’s only New York stop, but they’ll be nearby when they play Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston on June 17, Jay Peak in Vermont June 19, and Pittsburgh June 21. As an added rage rested treat – special guest Umphrey’s McGee will open the Jay Peak and Philly shows. After that, they head south and west to a variety of locations, with longer runs in Texas and Colorado.
Panic is also on the Lockn’ Music Festival bill in September. The band is about to embark on a spring tour that winds throughout the U.S. and includes a two–day Brooklyn run in April.
Tickets for Widespread Panic in Lewiston will go on sale March 28 online or by phone at 888-223-6000. The other Northeast summer tour dates go on sale March 13 and 14.
For the second of a three video set to celebrate the second anniversary of their formation – NYSMusic is elated to give fans a first look at Mister F’s “Answer the Dog.” The Snow Day Sessions will be a three song EP and will be released on the F’s Bandcamp page following the third video release which drops next Sunday. “Answer the Dog” features a special guest sit in from saxophonist Matty Carl of Shwizz. The F’s Scott Hannay provided us with some background:
“Once upon a time, on the road in Chicago, we had some friends of ours go wait in line for a whole bunch of legendary Hot Doug’s hot dogs. We were all pretty amped. However, Matt fell asleep before they could return with the dogs, phone-in-hand. We went all Indiana Jones on him and carefully switched the phone for his hot dog, and put his phone by his ear. We called the phone to see if he would answer the hot dog. He didn’t ‘answer the dog’, but we suddenly had a title for the brand new untitled song we’d played just the night before.”
Catch Mister F next in NY on April 4 at Upstate Concert Hall supporting Twiddle and Kung Fu, and now, let’s watch the video for “Answer the Dog.”
Fear not, ye Deadheads who failed to get tickets to Chicago. Another event to celebrate 50 years of the Grateful Dead is in the works, and it’s going to be one hell of a show. Dear Jerry: Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia will be held Thursday, May 14, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Former Dead members and bands that were influenced by the Dead will gather to pay tribute to the legendary frontman.
The bill is currently comprised of the following acts: Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & the Kids, Bob Weir, Bruce Hornsby, Buddy Miller, David Grisman, Eric Church, Greensky Bluegrass, Jimmy Cliff, Jorma Kaukonen, Los Lobos, Moe., O.A.R., Railroad Earth, The Disco Biscuits, Trampled By Turtles, Widespread Panic, Yonder Mountain String Band and Communion featuring Phil Lesh, Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford, and Jason Crosby. And if that’s not enough – even more performers are slated to be added.
The venue parking lot will open at 3:30 p.m., doors will open at 5:30 p.m, and the show is set to begin at 7 p.m.
Keith Wortman and Don Was – who are responsible for large-scale concert events to honor other musical greats like Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Dr. John, Gregg Allman, Mavis Staples and Emmylou Harris – are putting together the concert. Wortman is the executive producer, and Was is the musical director, and he’ll lead an all-star band that will back the performers. The Jerry Garcia family is co-producing.
“It’s exciting to have so many phenomenal artists performing in this special musical tribute to my dad, Jerry Garcia!” Trixie Garcia said in a press release announcing the event. “‘DEAR JERRY: Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia’ speaks volumes to Jerry’s lasting influence in the ears and hearts of his fans and fellow musicians. Join us in celebrating the legacy that inspired so many.”
The concert will be filmed and recorded for distribution on both traditional and digital media.
There’s merch available already and the concert organizers are encouraging people to tweet “Jerry moments” using the hashtag #dearjerryconcert.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, March 13, via Ticketfly.com or by calling 877-4FLY-TIX. They can also be purchased in person at the venue box office. Those who have a Citi card will have access to a presale that will run from noon March 10 to 10 pm. March 12.
A percentage of the proceeds will go to the Rex Foundation, which has a broad mission to help underprivileged and indigenous people as well as promote a healthy environment and the arts. The nonprofit organization was formed in 1983 by members of the band with help from family and friends.
After the moe. show, most of the crowd filed out and ventured two blocks down to B.B. King’s, where Ha Ha the Moose was on the loose.
After having a few hours off to romp around the city, moe. was back at it Saturday night. Saturday night’s show at the Best Buy sold out during that day. Highlights of the show included an intense “Runaway Overlude,” “She,” “Billy Goat” segueing into “Head,” plus Shannon and Terry Lynch of the Conehead Buddha horns joining the band on “Not Coming Down,” “Threw It All Away” and “Dr. Graffenburg.”
12/16/99 was recorded by Paul Languedoc to digital multitrack, mixed/mastered by Jon Altschiller. You can order the album at
