Phish – “Julius” Solo [YouTube]

I guess it’s only a matter of time before they officially reunite for a full tour. Maybe those March ’09 rumors on Phantasy Phish aren’t so crazy after all.

Thanks to Gibs and Jon W. for the heads-up.

Photo © Thomas Hawk

Relix is confirming a Spring 2009 tour by all of the surviving members of The Dead:

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.

While Ratdog and Phil & Friends seem to have found their niche in the post-GD touring world, nothing really compares to getting all the surviving members together on a stage. The big question is who will fill in on guitar duties. Jimmy Herring seemed pretty busy with Widespread Panic until they announced that they’d be taking some time off during 2009. So he’s a possibility. As much as I would love to see it happen, it’s hard to imagine Steve Kimock ever re-joining with The Dead. So, Herring seems like the obvious bet. But Mark Karan maybe? Warren Haynes? Larry Campbell? I’m sure we’ll find out more specifics soon enough.

Also, it looks like the band is planning another “Deadheads for Obama” show. Relix has now confirmed the show will take place on October 13 at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA, and it will also feature the Allman Brothers Band and an undetermined opening act. Warren Haynes and Jeff Chimenti will respectively fill in on guitar and keyboard duties for the band.

Photo © Penningtron

McCarren Park — Brooklyn’s hot spot for indie rock concerts and general summertime fun — has officially closed down. Well, at least as a concert venue. The hipster mecca has succumbed to local community forces and will return to its original status as a community pool. Sonic Youth closed out the venue with a final show this past Saturday, and brooklynvegan has the photos from the night.

The NY Times has a nice little retrospective on the short-lived Brooklyn venue. I’m not sure if there will ever be anything like it again, but I definitely think it has helped breathe even more life into the Brooklyn concert scene which can only be a good thing.

Summing up every catch-phrase of our modern era:

George Carlin – Modern Man [YouTube]

Mike Gordon has announced the release of his new solo effort, Green Sparrow, to match that summer tour he’s been setting up. The pre-order of the new disc includes a contest with an interesting grand prize:

One Grand Prize Winner will be the beneficiary of two tickets to any of the shows on Mike’s summer tour plus a bona fide Rendez-Mike™: A bass lesson, chess game, a vegetarian feast, it’s your call.

I think an evening with Mike could be a rather odd yet interesting endeavor. But I digress.

Big news, of course, was Phish announcing a new DVD release from the band’s performance at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC on July 22, 1997. Although I don’t really know this show all that well, word around town is that it’s pretty killer. Phish.com says:

Rather than cancel the gig, the band played on with the music mirroring the peaks in the storm’s intensity. Highlights include “Down With Disease” that slowly segues into “Mike’s Song” – the first and only time these two classic tunes were ever paired together in such a way-as well as “Taste,” complete with near Biblical thunder and lightning display.

Plus, being a summer ’97 show with a decent setlist like this, we figure it’s got to be a solid selection…

PHISH WALNUT CREEK DVD TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE
Runaway Jim
My Soul
Water In The Sky
Stash
Bouncing Around The Room
Vultures
Bye Bye Foot
Taste

DISC TWO
Down With Disease
Mike’s Song
Simple
I Am Hydrogen
Weekapaug Groove
Hello My Baby
When The Circus Comes
Harry Hood

Also, they’re offering a bonus disc “Phish: Left Nuts,” as an add-on with any pre-order of the DVD. Although I am not so sure about that name, the tracklist includes the following cuts from previous Walnut Creek excursions:

1. Runaway Jim – Walnut Creek 6/16/95
2. Free – Walnut Creek 6/16/95
3. Reba – Walnut Creek 6/29/94
4. Dog Faced Boy – Walnut Creek 6/16/95
5. Catapult – Walnut Creek 6/16/95
6. Split Open and Melt – Walnut Creek 6/16/95
7. Carolina – Walnut Creek 6/16/95

And last but not least in Phish land, Trey graduated from drug court in what we hope is the end of a long battle with illegal substances and the law.

While this whole thing has been embarrassing and a bit sad, this video captures something very heartfelt and honest from Big Red. Trey always sort of put his emotions out there for everyone to see, and I think it is this side of him that always kept fans supporting him, even while they criticized him for pulling the band apart. Here’s hoping he stays on track and feels re-energized as he heads back out on the road this summer.

2008 already looked like it would be a big year for My Morning Jacket, but I can’t say I thought they’d already be playing Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve. It looks like all the buzz around their latest release, Evil Urges, has really started to pay off.

If you’re a frequent LMB reader, you have probably noticed our love of MMJ for a while now. Since so many of the LMB contributors seem to dig this band, lately it has become a bit of an inside joke around these parts. Hey, almost a week had gone by without a My Morning Jacket post here at LMB. I guess we just couldn’t let that happen.

Hot off his recent live release, Original Boardwalk Style and a solid performance last night at Jammys, it looks like Trey Anastasio will be attempting a bit of a comeback this summer:

Trey will make his debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival this August as part of the 49th annual festival in Newport, RI. Playing a full acoustic set, it will be his first full performance in 17 months.

We briefly touched on the Newport Folk Fest lineup last week, but a comeback performance from Big Red certainly adds a bit of a twist to an already-interesting lineup.

Newport Folk Festival Lineup:

Saturday, August 2
The Black Crowes
Cat Power
Stephen & Damian Marley
Cowboy Junkies
Jim James (of My Morning Jacket)
She & Him (feat. Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward)
Jakob Dylan
Willy Mason
The Felice Brothers
Jesca Hoop

Sunday, August 3
Jimmy Buffett
Levon Helm
Gillian Welch
The Avett Brothers
Calexico
Brandi Carlile
Kaki King
Over The Rhine
Jake Shimabukuro
Kate Taylor
Richard Julian

Additional artists to be added soon!

Booker T. Jones
Christian McBride
Fab Faux
Galactic
Glenn Tillbrook of Squeeze
HeadCount All-Stars
Jake Cinninger of Umphrey’s McGee
James Carter
Joe Russo
Jon Gutwillig of the Disco Biscuits
Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident
Los Lonely Boys
Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits
Matisyahu
Page McConnell
Rose Hill Drive
Sharon Jones
Tea Leaf Green
Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd & the Monsters

For past Jammys shows, they have typically put together a slew of odd musical pairings so you can bet there will be some interesting conglomerations with the crew listed above. Plus, with Phish getting a Lifetime Achievement Award, the comeback of the Jammys may prove to be pretty solid; or it’ll at least serve to drum up some interesting Phish reunion rumors.

Voting has already begun for all the nominees and tickets are now on sale.

The Disco Biscuits recently got a Jammy Award nomination for their all-instrumental performance as “Tractorbeam” at Lancaster, PA’s Chameleon Club on 6/26/07. As a result, they decided to release a free soundboard recording of the show on the Live Music Archive. Although it’s a bit of a blatant way to drum up some votes, I like it when bands occasionally drop a soundboard for fans to freely download and trade.

Also, considering the Disco Biscuits are not exactly known for their crisp, amazing vocals, I think the Tractorbeam concept was a good one for this band. It allowed them to play around a bit more than normal with familiar songs and themes, a variety of fun teases, and some intense electronic improvisation. This show is solid, with the highlight definitely being an epic “Mr. Don,” explained in depth on the Archive posting for the download…

To celebrate the 2008 Jammys nomination for eMusic Download of the Year, we are very excited to release the performance of Tractorbeam from the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA on June 26, 2007. Tractorbeam was conceived as a different concert experience…something more akin to a DJ club set. Tractorbeam plays completely instrumental. The big highlight of the night was a mammoth rendition of Mr. Don. This wasn’t any ordinary version of Mr. Don, but rather one that went back in time. On May 7, 1998, The Biscuits played the Chameleon Club for the first time. They debuted two cover songs that night: The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood and Prince’s 1999. Also that night they played a version of Mr. Don that many fans still consider a benchmark jam that defined a very creative time period for the band. Coming back 9 years later, these songs resurfaced as spontaneous jams in the extended intro of yet another epic Mr. Don. Also of note, Mindless Dribble has a phenomenally psychedelic intro, reminiscent of classic versions of the song. We are pleased to share this live experience with you and hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to vote for the 2008 Jammys at http://www.jammys.com

For more Disco Biscuits Live downloads, go to: http://www.livedownloads.com/bisco

Sirius Satellite Radio and Grateful Dead to Create Grateful Dead Radio Channel [via PR Newswire]

This is yet another example of how the Grateful Dead niche continues to thrive and expand across generations. Although I’ve thoroughly covered much of their influence on today’s touring bands, news like this still tends to impress me.

Also, if you are not yet aware of the Grateful Dead’s own Tapers Section, it is a great (free) source of tunes and Grateful Dead history, updated weekly.

In other Grateful Dead-related news, Fader Magazine has dedicated its current issue to Jerry Garcia. The issue is available as a free PDF. Fader is also generously offering a free Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia podcast, available at iTunes or as an mp3:

• Jerry Garcia sampler – Fader Podcast [mp3]

The tracklist includes the following:

“Cryptical Envelopment” 3/1/69 – Fillmore West
“Turn On Your Lovelight” 1/24/71 – Seattle Center Arena
“New Speedway Boogie” 5/15/70 – Fillmore East
“Tore Up Over You/Legion of Mary” 4/7/75 – Keystone, Berkeley
“Candyman” 6-11-76 – Boston Garden
“Terrapin Station” 12-29-77 – Winterland, San Francisco