Phish at their MSG NYE-run in December (more by Robert Altman)

If you're into 21st century free-spirited drug culture in major arenas and stadiums during long-winded jam sessions, and being around lots of people who like 21st century free-spirited drug culture in major arenas and stadiums during long-winded jam sessions, then you'll probably be happy to know that Phish just announced a summer tour. The tour hits the NYC area on July 10 at PNC Bank Arts Center and July 12 at Nikon Theatre at Jones Beach. Most cities the tour stops in sees the band staying for multiple-night runs, and though that doesn't happen in the NYC area, it does happen upstate at the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center from July 5 to 7. And if you're into seeing Phish for three nights, perhaps you might be into going upstate too.

Phish's website has limited tickets available now via a ticket request period, and general on-sale begins Thursday, March 28 at noon for the Jones Beach show and Friday, March 29 at 10 AM for the Saratoga Springs shows (including a 3-day pass option). Ticket info for the PNC Bank Arts Center show is not available at the moment, but it will likely be one of those same two days (and same link).

All tour dates are listed, along with the tour announcement video, below...

Continue reading "Phish announce 2013 summer tour dates"

Wook down - night 1 @ MSG

Phish kicked off their four-night, annual New Year's run at Madison Square Garden on Friday (12/28) and will wrap it up tonight, New Year's Eve. Tonight's show is sold out though naturally there are plenty on Stubhub for those willing to pay at least $265 each.

The setlists of the first three nights, which are expectedly very different from each other, include covers of Led Zeppelin, The Velvet Underground, TV on the Radio, Stevie Wonder, Talking Heads, and other artists. You can check them all out, along with few shots from the crowd from last night's show (by Robert Altman), below...

Continue reading "Phish played 3 nights at MSG, will again tonight (pics, setlists)"

photos by Gretchen Robinette

Red Hook on 11/3

"While electricity is on in some of the buildings in the Red Hook Houses, almost none have heat. For the second day in a row RHI purchased and distributed 150 space heaters. Knowing this will never be sufficient for those who have been in the cold for over a week, the following groups are working diligently to create warming centers in Red Hook: Brooklyn Public Library Red Hook Branch (learn more here), Red Hook Community Justice Center (learn more here), Bumblebees R Us (learn more here), NYCHA Miccio Center, and the Community Assistance Commissioner from the Mayor's Office." [Red Hook Initiative, 11/7/2012]

Red Hook remains a huge mess after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. BV photographer Gretchen Robinette took a few photos out there on Saturday (11/3) which are in this post.

The New York City Housing Authority are still pumping out water and the DEP and Marine Corps are there assessing structural damage in the neighborhood. The Red Hook Initiative (RHI) has details of their most recent meeting and more information on how you can help. Blankets, flashlights, batteries and candles are needed desperately.

Yesterday we utilized volunteers, not only to help the business community with clean up, but to communicate about changes to Red Hook's polling sites and to mobilize and transport people to get out to vote. All week, volunteers have been reporting to the volunteer hub, Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (learn more here). [RHI]

If you're around right now (11/7), "RED HOOK INITIATIVE is understaffed! Go spend a rainy day with the lovely people over there. 767 Hicks St, BK." RHI also points out on their site that 767 Hicks is the only spot volunteers should be heading today.

UPDATE: "Volunteers will be needed in #RedHook [Thursday, 11/8/2012], report at 11AM + 3PM to 767 Hicks #SandyAid #SandyHelp".

Occupy Sandy has been one of the major helping forces since Sandy, in Red Hook and elsewhere. RHI is quick to also point that out. They wrote today:

Volunteers through Occupy Sandy congregated at RHI as soon as the storm subsided and spearheaded the relief effort for Red Hook residents. Because of their efforts, we have been serving close to 1,000 hot meals per day on RHI's four-burner stove along with tremendous support from individuals who have donated countless trays of warm, home-made food. Monday we opened space across the street at Calvary Baptist Church to help with meal distribution, while Occupy Sandy volunteers tore out a damaged rug and poured a new floor (yes, all in one day!). It is only because of Occupy Sandy that RHI has been able to react to the storm so quickly.

Join the movement. Find out how at Occupy Sandy's site or by following them on Twitter. Things are really getting scary again as the Nor'easter moves in.

videos games in the street in Red Hook (this pic via Jody Rosen)

Among those helping out Sunday was Phish's Trey Anastasio whose concert at the Capitol Theatre (like many shows there since Sandy) that was supposed to happen Monday night (after also being postponed from Sunday before the storm) got postponed again to a new date TBA

Red Hook's giant Fairway grocery store, which lost everything in the massive floods, says they're committed to re-opening and hope to do so in the next 6 - 8 weeks.

Restore Red Hook is working to restore all businesses destroyed by hurricane Sandy.

New Amsterdam Records still need help and info on the label's relief fund is here. Meanwhile, the label keeps going. Missy Mazzolli's new album, Song from the Uproar, is out now and there's a record release show this Sunday (11/11) at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets are on sale.

Norton Records, as mentioned, had much of their stock of vinyl destroyed in the flood. They are salvaging as much of the actual vinyl as they can, though the sleeves are ruined. There's video detailing the damage and how you can help. For more info on volunteering in Norton Records cleanup, click here.

Red Hook Winery lost their entire stock, with extensive damage to their facility.

Legendary Red Hook bar Sunny's (which was featured on this weeks all-Brooklyn episode of Tony Bourdain's No Reservations, watch below) took on two feet of water but has had lots of help with the clean-up and is hoping to be open soon. A message on their website says:

Sunny's is sadly closed due to Hurricane Sandy (or superstorm Sandy, however the news wants to call it.) We took on about 2 feet of water above the basemant. It's been great to have the love and hard labor of those who have come to Red Hook to help out and it is greatly appreciated from all of us who live here. We are hoping to be back in business by next Friday or Saturday. Keep checking in to see any updates. And if you want to help Red Hook please check in with the Red Hook Initiative 402 Van Brunt St. They are organizing relief. We'll be back. All of us. And more importantly The Rockaways, Breezy Point and Staten Island can still use much help. We are hurt but OK in the grand scheme of things, so please try to devote your attention to those who need it most.

Thanks and Love,
Sunny, Tone, Izzy, Francis and the two Chrises.

An article at DNAInfo says they're "hoping to have Sunny's up and running for a post-hurricane celebration party by Wednesday." That would be tonight (11/7), though we have no confirmation at the moment that their wish came true.

And as previously mentioned, proceeds from Buke & Gase' new single (including a nifty New Order cover) go toward Red Hook disaster relief.

More pictures, songs and videos below...

Continue reading "Red Hook still needs help, residents without heat, businesses destroyed (though Sunny's is reopening) -- more pics & info"

photo from last year (more by Ryan Barkan)

NYC hippies have all the luck:

Phish will play four shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden this December, marking its third consecutive New Year's run at the legendary venue. The series of concerts will begin on Friday, December 28, and conclude on New Year's Eve. Phish has played 23 dates at Madison Square Garden since December 1994.

"It's not the ball drop, but for tens of thousands of people, Phish's annual run of shows at Madison Square Garden...is the more significant year-end event in Manhattan," The New York Times' Jon Pareles observed. Reviewing Phish's 2011 New Year's Eve concert, American Songwriter noted: "[the] night saw the band going for broke...Balloons rained from the ceiling, and Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon levitated above the stage on platforms, and several dancers took to the air on wires..."

An online ticket request period is currently underway at http://tickets.phish.com. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, October 20, at Noon ET at http://www.ticketmaster.com or can be charged by phone at 866.858.0008. If tickets are still available, they may be purchased at the venue box office beginning Monday, October 22. Box office hours are Monday-Saturday, 9 AM - 6 PM. Tickets may also be purchased at select Ticketmaster outlets. For further details, visit http://phish.com.

Ticket prices for each specific date will include a free MP3 download of the evening's entire show (a fully mixed soundboard recording) that can be redeemed at www.LivePhish.com shortly after the band steps off stage.

Other NYC New Year's Eve options include Amanda Palmer and The Felice Brothers.

Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995, would have been 70 years old today (8/1) and, as you might imagine, there are some celebrations happening all over the country. Probably the world.

Here in NYC, you can head to Beekman Beer Garden tonight (8/1) to catch 7 Walkers (featuring Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead, George Porter, Jr. of the Meters, Papa Mali and Matt Hubbard) and Dead satellite musician Steve Kimock with Bernie Worrell, Andy Hess & John Morgan Kimock, and Yarn. Tickets for that show are still available.

Perhaps more interesting to regular readers of this site is a concert happening on Friday (8/3) that will be broadcast on the internet from Bob Weir's TRI Studios. Dubbed "Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday," the tribute features Cass McCombs; Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of The Hold Steady; Chris Tomson of Vampire Weekend; former Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Band vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux; Jim Lauderdale; and Sam Cohen and Josh Kaufman of Yellowbirds , plus more usual suspects like Mike Gordon (Phish); Joe Russo (Furthur); Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood/Ryan Adams & The Cardinals); Jeff Chimenti (Furthur); Jonathan Wilson; and Harper Sim. Amiable actor Luke Wilson will emcee the show and Bob Weir will be there too.

The tribute concert starts at 6:30 PM on Friday (8/3) and can be streamed via TRI Studios website or Yahoo Music. Bob Weir talks a little (very little) about the tribute in a video which you can watch below.

In other Dead news, on September 1 the band will release Spring 1990, an 18-CD box set featuring six complete shows from the tour of the set's title. If you don't want to plunk down $200 for that, Rhino will release a double-CD compilation culled from those recordings. You can watch a video of Bob Weir talking about that time period in the band's career below as well.

Continue reading "Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia: indie musicians participating in online streaming tribute concert +++ other music celebrations "

by Fred Pessaro / BBG (not vegan)

There is a risk of locally damaging thunderstorms Tuesday evening and again on Independence Day, which could not only impact daytime picnics and festivals, but also evening fireworks in the Northeast.
Just about every major city and small community has some sort of fireworks display on or around the Fourth of July in the Northeast (many displays have been canceled elsewhere, due to dry conditions). However, storms erupting in over a dozen states could impact activities and have some folks running for cover.
Another surge of humid air and a warm front/cool front combination could have the atmospheric volatility index on the rise for July Fourth from the Ohio Valley states to the mid-Atlantic and New England. [Accuweather.com]

It doesn't look like the rain will be a big deal in NYC at least, so that's good.

A good friend of mine once said "Who cares what's going on outside? Make your own fireworks." Here's a primer to figuratively do that on Independence Day 2012, all while avoiding any pesky arson indictments.

As discussed, the NYC fireworks are in the Hudson River this year, which means you can see them fine on the West Side Highway or in NJ or on your TV, but not very well from most of Brooklyn.

Spend the wee, early hours of July 4th (meaning, starting TONIGHT, July 3rd) getting down with the undead at the Zombie Rave at Webster Hall. DJs Alex English and Jess x Mischief will man the tables for the evening.

If you do choose the West Side Highway for viewing the fireworks, you won't need to go very far for a party right afterwards thanks to Pictureplane who is hosting a free July 4th bash at Westway (75 Clarkson in Manhattan) with DJ sets from himself, Physical Therapy, Heems (Das Racist) and a live show from Mykki Blanco. The event kicks off at 10PM, runs until 4AM and features free Budweiser for the first hour. More details can be found at the FB event page, and the flyer is below. Pictureplane no longer playing Cheap Storage and/or 285 Kent on the 4th.

As recently mentioned, Francois K, King Britt, FaltyDL and Infinity take over the daylight hours at Dekalb Market Brooklyn.

DIY Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium will celebrate their fourth anniversary with another July 4th blowout! The venue will host Afu Ra & The Shea Stadium All Stars, Dope Body, Roomrunner, Fuckton, Alan Watts, Ami Dang, Eleven Swords (mems. GDFX/Extreme Animals), Smhoak & Pals and The Jazz Massagers along with DJ sets from Beachballs, Magic Dan and the Impose DJs for the budget friendly price of $10.

In the spirit of summer, you can head to Secret Project Robot (389 Melrose Street, Brooklyn) for a "Sounds of Jamaica" dance party. The daytime event will last from 3PM until 9PM, and your vinyl "selectahs" will be Queen Majesty, Grace of Spades and Sweet V. Food and drink will be on hand and it'll only set you back a cool four bones. Details are at the FB event page.

If you aren't in the mood for a bit of reggae but still are in the mood to shake it, head to LP 'n Harmony (683 Grand Street) for a day-time-until-evening event (3-11PM) called "Beats & BBQ". For every drink you are entitled to a plate of BBQ (whaaaat) and tunage will be supplied by a bevy of DJs including Jose G (Face The Bass Radio), Ali Coleman (Voice of Voices NYC), Siren (Save the Robots), Ruby Red (Velvet Factory Production), Kyle McNeil (WBAI Pacifica Radio), Pinkie Tuscadero (Memoirs of a Party Girl), Ras (Hotter than July BK), and Herb Martin (Amadi). More details are available HERE.

I won't be anywhere near there (obviously), but you could spend tomorrow (or tonight) at Jones Beach with Phish. (both sold out)

July 4th is always a good day to fire up the grill and crank up some old tunes over a few cold ones. If you dont have/can't grill, accomplish two of those three at Mercury Lounge with Led Blimpie (Zeppelin cover band), AC/DC Done Dirt Cheap (wild guess?), and Guns N Hoses. Tickets are still available.

Brown Sugar lead a benefit at Acheron (57 Waterbury St, Bushwick) along with Creem, Deformity, Death Camp and Altered Boys.

The Spy Music Festival is still going and July 4th it's happening at The Stone with performances fromn John Blum (8PM) and Trevor Watts + Veryan Weston (10PM).

Wyclef (who may or may not also be playing the CBGB Festival later in the week) & Lil Jon will play the waterfront at Pier 92 on the Hudson (52nd and 11th Ave) as part of a day-long celebration (noon - midnight). Tickets are on sale, and pimp cups are optional.

Feeling anti-social? Trying to escape any impending rain? Stream all of The Roots's Philly 4th of July Jam featuring performances from the Philly Crew, as well as Queen Latifah, Common, Daryl Hall and Joe Jonas. You could also just go see it live in Philadelphia. Or watch the annual Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy.

Of course you can always count on the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island at noon, but did you know that there is the Crif Dog Classic at Roberta's that day too? (and it's going to stream at Sports Illustrated).

Looking for something in the "free" range? Noam Pikelny and Friends, The Sweetback Sisters, and Spuyten Duyvil will head to Madison Square Park as part of the Oval Lawn Series.

BBC DJ Benji B brings Deviation to Le Poisson Rouge at 10PM with Kode9, Lunice, and more

What did we miss?

Flyers below...

Continue reading "a 4th of July NYC event guide (fireworks, Pictureplane, a zombie rave, the Roots, Shea Stadium anniversary & much more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Bon Iver/The Shins

Oddly enough, 73-year-old Kenny Rogers--a last-minute Bonnaroo addition several decades past from his peak hit-making days--was among the day's breakout acts. Playing for one of his youngest audiences in recent member, Rogers offered a set of hits that included "The Gambler," "Islands in the Stream" and other songs most of the crowd had never seen live. Near the end of his show, Rogers also brought out the weekend's biggest surprise guest, cross-generational pop icon Lionel Richie, to sing on his own "Lady" and "All Night Long" (Richie considers Rogers his mentor and joined the veteran country star at SXSW this past March.) Every year The Mayor of Manchester also awards one Bonnaroo artist the keys to the city, and The Gambler received ths year's honor during an unexpected mid-set ceremony...

Bon Iver, who spent his early years in jam and roots-rock bands but functioned as Sunday's What Stage indie rock headliner, made a point to stretch out his songs a bit more than usual. At one point he called the audience "sunburnt," and he asked them to join him in a call-and-response jam. As more than a few artists pointed out throughout the weekend, hippiedom is still fully engrained in Bonnaroo's DNA. -[Jambands]

Pictures from the final day at Bonnaroo 2012 including Phish, The Shins, Black Lips (who play the 4Knots afterparty), We Are Augustines, The Antlers (who recently played Brooklyn), Kenny Rogers, Bon Iver, Kurt Vile & The Violators (who plays tonight and tomorrow) but not The Beach Boys (which we already posted) are below, alongside video of that surprise Lionel Richie appearance.

If you missed it, make sure and catch up on our coverage of Bonnaroo with pictures of day 1 HERE, day 2 HERE, day 3 HERE and our Beach Boys coverage on day 4 HERE.

Continue reading "Bonnaroo Day 4 in pics (Bon Iver, The Shins, Kurt Vile, Black Lips, Antlers, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie & more)"

The Black Keys (t-shirts) @ MSG last week (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

NJ.com reports:

As it turns out, Beyoncé Knowles will not be the first artist to sing at the new Ovation Hall at Revel Resorts in Atlantic City. This morning, the casino hotel -- which will celebrate its grand opening on May 25 with the first of three Beyoncé concerts -- announced an Ovation Hall show a week prior to the big date. The Black Keys, the Grammy-winning Akron blues-rock duo with a lovably grimy sound, will appear at Revel on May 19. Tickets for the Black Keys concert go on sale March 30 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

Technically, the Keys won't be the first act to play at Revel, either. The hotel is opening a second performance space called the Social, a smaller room than the 5000-seat Ovation Hall. (This is likely to be similar to the division at the Borgata -- the Event Center handles the really big acts, and the Music Box takes care of the more intimate shows.) Revel is planning a soft opening -- they're calling it an eight-week preview -- on Apr. 2, and the casino is marking the occasion with a Social performance by Danish noise-pop the Raveonettes.

It's shaping up as a big spring and summer for popular music in Atlantic City. In addition to the Beyoncé shows on May 25, 26, and 27, Phish are scheduled to play a three-night stand at the disused Bader Field Airport on June 15, 16, and 17. A week later, Metallica brings its Orion Music + More festival to the same location. Bader Field successfully hosted the Dave Matthews Caravan last June.

Beyonce tickets go on sale April 6 at Ticketmaster. The Black Keys play their 2nd of 2 shows at NYC's Madison Square Garden with the Arctic Monkeys TONIGHT (3/22). Pictures from the first are HERE.

UPDATE: and The Black Keys will be co-headlining a new NYC festival this summer too!

"Superfly Presents and A.C. Entertainment are excited to announce the initial lineup for the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The 11th annual four-day camping and music festival will be held on June 7 - 10 on the same beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville. A full list of confirmed acts follows, and more will be announced in the coming weeks. The final Bonnaroo 2012 lineup will total over 125 bands and over 20 comedians performing on 13 stages over four days.Tickets for the event will go on sale on this Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12 noon EST exclusively at bonnaroo.com."

Radiohead, Beach Boys, Phish, Little Dragon, SBTRKT, The Antlers, Bad Brains, Laura Marling, St. Vinent, Tune-Yards, Flying Lotus, and many more are playing Bonnaroo this year. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2012 lineup announced"

Beach Boys @ The Grammys

Though the Bonnaroo lineup won't be announced until later today (via Spotify), Knoxville.com has supposedly leaked some of it via a photo gallery which includes Beach Boys, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Phish, Foster the People, Alice Cooper, Ludacris, Black Star, Skrillex, Punch Brothers, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Flogging Molly, Feist and Aziz Ansari. We can't know for sure if this is all correct, but I did hear that the Beach Boys were playing, and many of those bands have been rumored for a while, and the Beach Boys have promised more dates, so... well, we'll see soon! UPDATE: Yep, they are!

If it is all true, I really hope that this time Foster the People stay off the Beach Boys' stage unlike at the Grammys, as you can watch below...

Continue reading "Beach Boys played the Grammys, playing Bonnaroo? (we'll know for sure soon)"

photos by Ryan Barkan

"i just want to say that i think glorified displays of people wasted out of their minds and passed out are really upsetting to me." - JD Samson

"Nothing turns me conservative faster than being on a train with a bunch of stoned Phish fans that just got out of Madison Square Garden." - Frank Hejl

"So many Phish fans looking for a miracle outside Penn Station." - Maura Johnston

"Now hundred of "fans" all over the arena hovering 50 feet above the crowd dancing." - Colonel Forbin

"The floating fans above the crowd would've had me freaking at Phish MSG. I mean, Jesus. What if one hurled?" - Ravenval

"It's not the ball drop, but for tens of thousands of people, Phish's annual run of shows at Madison Square Garden, which winds up on New Year's Eve, is the more significant year-end event in Manhattan. Always an immediate sellout, the concerts are both a tradition and a challenge. Phish has to provide its familiar joys but vary them enough to surprise fans who are obsessively meticulous tabulators.

Thursday night's concert was Phish in crowd-pleasing mode: uptempo, playing familiar songs and ready to keep fans dancing -- never getting too abstract or experimental. Its two sets were both CD-length, just under 80 minutes each, with the Rolling Stones' "Loving Cup" as a splashy, gospelly encore....This was just a big, happy Phish party. The musicians' fingers flew; lights splayed above the stage; glowsticks were tossed, in mass bursts, at big transitions; balloons bounced around; the year-end ritual was intact. Thursday's concert was a high-level holding action; the next one, as always, might be something else entirely." [NY Times]

Phish took over Madison Square Garden during New Year's Eve week once again. The Vermont jam band hit the venue four nights in a row up to and including New Year's Eve (12/28 - 12/31). Pictures from the second show, the same night the NY Times reviewed, are in this post. If you weren't there, maybe you paid to watch one of the shows streaming live in HD via the band's website (it was $55 to stream all four and it came with access to watch it again).

Were you there? Apparently JD Samson was. Did anyone see any of Trey's friends from the National in the crowd (or over the crowd)?

More pictures from night two (12/29), video of the hanging people getting put up into the air on New Year's Eve, and all four setlists (they covered TV on the Radio's "Golden Age" on New Year's Eve), below..

Continue reading "Phish played 4 New Year's Eve Week shows @ MSG, hung people from the ceiling (pics, video, setlist)"

Gogol Bordello - Dec 2009 (more by Paul Birman)

Once again, we're approaching the new year, and as always, there are tons of ways to celebrate in NYC with a number of different New Year's Eve shows.

Gogol Bordello are returning to NYC to play Terminal 5 on December 30 and 31. Tickets for both shows are still on sale and we're also giving away a pair. Details on how to win are below.

Deer Tick will play Brooklyn Bowl on New Year's Eve. Tickets are still available and also available is a combo package that allows you entry to see the Deer Tick show and the Lucero show which happens at the same venue one night earlier (12/30).

Los Lobos, who, along with Deer Tick, have members in the new supergroup Diamond Rugs, also play NYE in NYC at City Winery. They're playing two shows at the venue and tickets for the early show and the late show are still available.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will be in the NYC-area for NYE to play The Bell House on 12/30 (tickets) with Obits and Maxwell's on 12/31 (tickets). Comedian Kurt Braunohler opens both shows.

O'Death plays Spike Hill on New Year's Eve with The Woes. Tickets are still on sale.

A few similar electronic shows will happen on NYE, including AraabMuzik, Balam Acab, Light Asylum, Laurel Halo, and Run DMT at 285 Kent, a Laurel Halo DJ set at Zebulon and Nosaj Thing, El Topo (aka Nicolas Jaar associate Dave Harrington), and others at Glasslands. Tickets for the 285 Kent show and the Glasslands show are still on sale.

Another similar option would be the Cheryl dance party at Public Assembly (12/31) with a live set by Midnight Magic. Tickets are on sale now. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club is also throwing a sold out party in Public Assembly's back room.

There will also be DJ parties at Cameo Gallery (tickets) and Santos Party House (tickets).

Mister Saturday Night hosts a party at House of Yes.

Laidback Luke, who will set sail on the Holy Ship! cruise in the beginning of 2012, will be throwing a party at Pacha in Manhattan (warning: avoid at all costs). Another HARD-approved artist, Nero, will be at Webster Hall for an after-hours party, starting at 3:30 AM. Tickets for the party are on sale now (and is also probably somewhere you don't want to be).

Two Daptone Records affiliates will be in NYC on NYE. Charlies Bradley and The Budos Band play Music Hall of Williamsburg and Lee Fields & the Expressions with Sugar Pie Desanto will play The Bell House. Tickets for the Charles Bradley show and the Lee Fields show are still available.

For a different type of soul show, Fitz & the Tantrums are playing Gramercy Theater on NYE, but that show is now sold out.

The Stone is throwing their annual end of the year improv party with John Zorn, Thurston Moore, and others.

The Damnwells play two shows at Rockwood Music Hall.

Sandra Bernhard finishes a run of shows at Joe's Pub on New Year's Eve.

Barbes hosts Spanglish Fly.

Like he's done in the past, Chuck Berry will be playing two shows at BB King's on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the early show and the late show are on sale now.

For two shows that you definitely won't find BBG at, Phish play four MSG shows (12/28-12/31) and Matt & Kim play Hammerstein Ballroom on New Year's Eve with Super Mash Brothers and Body Language. Tickets for the Phish shows and the Matt & Kim show are still available.

In addition to Phish, another jam band option is Gov't Mule's two night run at Beacon Theater from December 30-31. Tickets for both shows are on sale now. Infected Mushroom is at Best Buy Theater.

The Fleshtones, Todd Youth All-Stars, The Waldos (featuring Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders' band), The Threads, Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls, and The Dead Tricks will play Bowery Electric on 12/31 with a "surprise rockabilly legend." Tickets are on sale now. The flier for this show is above.

Patti Smith will do her usual run at Bowery Ballroom (12/29-31) but all three shows are now sold out.

In other NYC proto-punk news, New York Dolls will NOT be playing Irving Plaza on 12/30, the show has since been cancelled.

What else?

Details on how to win Gogol Bordello tickets below...

Continue reading "New Year's Eve concerts & parties in NYC --- Gogol Bordello (win tix!), AraabMuzik, Phish, Chuck Berry, Patti Smith, more"

photos by David Andrako

National week at Beacon Theater continued on Friday night, 12/16, for the fifth night in a row. Shara Worden's project My Brightest Diamond opened the show and she later joined The National on stage as did Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman, Richard Reed Parry of the Arcade Fire, Conrad Doucette, Rob Moose, Nadia Sirota and string quartet yMusic... and Phish's Trey Anastasio who members of the National are working with right now. As Jambands.com points out:

"The Phish guitarist emerged partway through the group's set for "Blood Buzz Ohio," "Squalor Victoria" and "Murder Me Rachel." While onstage, the members of The National described the guitarist as "a hero of ours." Anastasio reemerged alongside Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry the evening's opening act My Brightest Diamond to play guitar on "Terrible Love." All of the night's guests then joined the members of The National for an acoustic sing-along based around "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks." National frontman Matt Berninger was particularly chatty throughout the show, jokingly describing Parry as a member of Kings of Leon and declaring "that's the sound of faces melting" after Anastasio's performance."

You can watch a video with Trey in it below.

More about Night One HERE. Night Two HERE. Night Three HERE. Night Four HERE. More pictures and the setlist from Night Five (though none of the opening set unfortunately) below....

Continue reading "Trey Anastasio & others joined The National on Night 5 @ Beacon Theater (pics & setlist)"

SPIN says:

Trey Anastasio is quietly working on a new solo album with help from a formidable cast of indie rockers, SPIN has learned.

Since winding up his fall tour, the Phish guitarist has been making a daily commute from his New York City home to Bridgeport, Connecticut's Tarquin Studios, recording with his band and members of the National and Mates of State for the last month. Peter Katis, who owns the suburban studio and has produced a string of indie rock albums there (Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics, The National's Boxer, Mates of State's Rearrange Us), is co-producing the album with Anastasio.

A rep for Anastasio didn't return a request for comment, but early reports out of the studio say the sound is a mix between Anastasio's eclectic, Afro-tinged rock and the kind of experimental indie pop produced by the Philistines Jr., Katis' own recently reformed band. Before entering the studio, Katis told Sonic Scoop that Anastasio "wants to do something totally out of left-field."

Anastasio and Co. are working on about 15 new songs, with recording expected to wrap up in January. They'll take a weeklong break later this month, when Phish hold court for four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, including their traditional three-set performance on New Year's Eve.

In related news, FURTHUR (featuring Phil Lesh & Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead) have started to announce a spring tour that includes EIGHT shows at Beacon Theater where The National play their first of six tonight (12/12). Tickets go on Internet Presale today at noon. Public Ticketmaster sale begins Friday. All Furthur tour dates and the poster, below...

Continue reading "Furthur playing 8 Beacon Theater shows on Spring Tour -- more than The National who are working with Trey"

DUMP playing Hot Tub @ Littlefield this past Monday (by DoneWaiting)

Tickets go on sale at noon for the eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows:

*12/20 Night One Buy Tickets Here!
*12/21 Night Two Buy Tickets Here!
*12/22 Night Three Buy Tickets Here!
*12/23 Night Four Buy Tickets Here!
*12/24 Night Five Buy Tickets Here!
*12/25 Night Six Buy Tickets Here!
*12/26 Night Seven Buy Tickets Here!
*12/27 Night Eight Buy Tickets Here!

Tickets are also still on sale to see Yo La Tengo as the Condo Fucks at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets for the four Phish shows at MSG go on sale Saturday at noon.

Mavis Staples, The Head and the Heart & Dawes have a show coming up at Beacon Theater. Tickets on sale at noon.

Speaking of holiday shows at the Beacon, Cyndi Lauper and friends are playing one too. On sale now.

By noon tickets will also be on sale for Yelle, Nada Surf, Devo and BOBBY.

One of those Devo shows is at the Paramount in Long Island where Cheap Trick also have a show coming up at. It went on sale today.

Ill Fits recently played some shows at CMJ. They play Mercury Lounge on December 7th with Ladybug Transistor and The Echo-Friendly. Tickets on sale at noon.

by world's biggest Phish fan BBG

Phish at MSG (more by Ryan Barkan)

I can think of literally thousands (millions?) of things that I'd rather do around New Year's Eve than go to a Phish show. Get kicked in the teeth by a burro. Fall down some stairs. Murdered. But obviously some people (and there are a lot of people) still care deeply for the Vermont jam band that spawned acres (or is it ache-rs?) of followers, drum circles, hackey sack games, etc.

Today is your lucky day. Phish has announced that they will play Madison Square Garden over four nights including New Years Eve, 12/28 - 12/31. Tickets aren't on sale yet, but you can request them via the band until Monday, October 24 at 11:59 AM. Check ticketmaster after that for general sale.

All tour dates are below, along with some video including one of Phish & Jay-Z covering Big Pimpin' and 99 Problems. I can now die complete.

Continue reading "Phish announce another New Year's in NYC run (by BBG)"

The Outside Lands Festival, which runs from 8/12 - 8/14 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, released their 2011 lineup in April (and now it's May, so consider this a catch up post). Tickets are on sale.

This year's fest will appearances from The Shins, Muse, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Phish (two sets), !!!, Erykah Badu, Big Audio Dynamite (who played Coachella and are also playing Lollapalooza), Girl Talk and many more. The full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Outside Lands 2011 lineup"

Trey Anastasio played a 2-set + 1 encore show at Terminal 5 in NYC last night (2/22). Video of his second-set closing cover of "Empire State of Mind" and the full setlist is below with a new set of Phish dates that were announced today....

Continue reading "Trey Anastasio covered 'Empire State of Mind' & other songs @ Terminal 5 (video, full setlist), Phish announced a tour (dates)"

Ekorre/Squirrel (by Lars Andersson)

Tickets are on sale NOW for the Peter Bjorn and John show at Santos (note that it is in the smaller room downstairs, or the "South Pole" as they call it on Ticketweb).

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Smith Westerns show at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets go on sale at noon for both Mountain Goats shows at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the two NYC J Mascis/Kurt Vile shows including the small one at Mercury Lounge.

Tickets also go on sale at noon for both Sebadoh shows happening at Bowery Ballroom.

Moving from Dinosaur Jr. to um, Phish... tickets go on sale on Saturday for a Trey Anastasio show at Terminal 5. Tickets (3/22 and 3/23) go on sale at noon for two Mike Gordon shows at Brooklyn Bowl.

photos by Ryan Barkan

Phish completed their three night run at Madison Square Garden late on Saturday night (1/1/11). One night earlier they spent the last moments of 2010 in a hot dog hovering over the crowd. The stunt, which was part of a routine that involved the performance of Phish rarity "Meatstick", included costumed dancers that filled the stage, streamers and foam hotdogs, and was initally done on 12/31/94 for New Years at the Boston Garden. It was revisited in 1999 and finally retired when the hot dog was donated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Phish borrowed the prop back from the museum for the MSG show.

Over their three night stay (which you may have watched from home since Phish offered a pay-per-view webcast of each night), Phish played a total of seven sets and did not repeat a single song. In fact, the band only repeated two songs during their entire five show New Year's Eve run that also included two shows DCU Center in Worcester, MA. Those songs were "David Bowie" and "Backwards Down the Number Line" (both played once in NYC).

Pictures, setlists and videos (including multiple angles of the flying hot dog) from all three shows, below...

Continue reading "Phish played 3 nights @ MSG in NYC, including New Years Eve (pics, video, setlists & a flying hot dog)"

photos by Tim Griffin

""This festival is super-cool," said Strokes singer Julian Casablancas from the stage at Austin City Limits on Friday night. "Lotta stuff." It's true: The festival, now in its ninth year, packs 130 bands onto eight outdoor stages arranged around the 350-acre Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup is a mix of huge rock acts (the Eagles headline Sunday) and big-name indie bands, plus DJs, country singers and the occasional rapper. With an expected attendance of around 70,000 a day, the festival similar in size, if not in spirit, to Lollapalooza. "Lollapalooza has that city energy. It's like the hot girl you want to take home," one organizer, Lisa Hickey, said. "ACL is more laid-back -- it's like your best friend." And unlike South By Southwest, the music and film showcase that takes over the Texas town every spring, ACL doesn't have much of a music-industry angle -- it's almost strictly for fans.

On Friday night, the packed lineup presented the crowd with a happy problem: Four big-name guitar bands -- Spoon, Sonic Youth, Vampire Weekend, and the Strokes -- all had sets starting within two hours of each other, and seeing each set in its entirety was impossible."
[Rolling Stone]

Of those big four, Tim managed to catch three, and a bit of Vampire Weekend's favorite band Phish from afar. Phish's set included a Velvet Underground and a Talking Heads cover. Full setlist at the end of this post.

Kings Go Forth pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures from the first day of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (where Ezra Koenig joined Miike Snow on stage), continue, with a bunch of setlists (including Spoon's which points out that Eleanor Friedberger played a Fiery Furnaces song with Spoon) (video proof too), below...

Continue reading "ACL 2010 Day 1 in pics (Strokes, Phish, Black Keys, Spoon, Beach House, Vampire Weekend & more) "

As rumored, Phish will occupy Madison Square Garden in NYC on New Years Eve this year, and they'll be there on New Years Day next year too (their first-ever New Years Day concert). The jam band have actually announced five new shows, three of which are at the Manhattan venue (they're their December 30th too), and another two leading up to that, in Worcester...

An online ticket request period is currently underway at http://phish.portals.musictoday.com/ and will end on Saturday, October 2nd, at noon ET. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on October 9th. Included in the ticket price for each date is a free MP3 download of the entire show (a fully mixed soundboard recording). Redeemable at LivePhish.com, the downloads will be available often within an hour of the band stepping off stage. Phish will also be giving ticket buyers free MP3 show downloads of each stop on its fall 2010 tour.

All dates, including the now-sold-out Halloween shows in Atlantic City, are listed below...

Continue reading "Phish announce 5 new shows, 3 at MSG, 1 on New Years Eve "

photos by Ryan Barkan

Jones Beach, 8/18

One of the best things about Phish Tour is getting to see and enjoy shows with so many friends gathered in one place. It's social multi-tasking. It's a big fucking party! I met up with some of said friends and we pre-gamed appropriately for such an occasion: Phish's 2010 Summer Tour closing run at Jones Beach. Hershey Park was a lot of fun, but wasn't completely satisfying. This being the end of the tour, I hoped the boys would have their Tour Legs on and be ready to kick some major ass, as per the 2009 MSG run. -[Jambands.com]

Hackey sacks were brought, bowls were packed, nitrous tanks were confiscated, and tailgates were ajar on August 17th and 18th as Phish played Jones Beach. The 18th was the night of the unfortunate balcony jumping. Pictures in this post are from both shows - the inside shots are from the 17th, the outside shots are from the 18th.

Phish is back on the road this fall, tie-dying the rest of the East Coast and NYC does not get a look in this go around, but Atlantic City gets four shows including Halloween, and there are strong rumors of Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve (and speaking of hippies at MSG, Further is playing there twice in November). Tickets for the new Phish shows go on sale to the general public on Sept 10th and 11th, but a fan "ticket-requesting" system is up and running until then. For the upcoming fall trek, all concert-goers will receive copies of the show they attended (in MP3 form). The band also recently posted a free-for-download live sampler entitled Live Bait.

More pictures and the setlists from Jones Beach and the new tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Phish played Jones Beach (pics), playing Halloween in Atlantic City & other dates (including MSG on New Years Eve?)"

"A Phish show is the last place you expect to have a sobering experience, but there we were during the setbreak, sitting down in the General Admission section savoring the "Antelope" that closed a stellar first set, when we saw the body drop. Though the distance between the mezzanine and the seats directly below it is approximately 25 feet, the body landed much further out, in row HH, indicating that the fan propelled himself outward. One security guard guesstimated that the total distance was about 50 feet. A witness told the Post, "He pushed people out of the way and he jumped; he didn't fall. It was intentional." Fortunately, as far as we know, he didn't land on anyone.

One concertgoer who claimed to know the victim told us late last night that the man, whom he identified by the first name Luke, is in stable condition. According to the Daily News, he suffered "massive head trauma" and is "clinging to life." Another fan told the Post, "I was sitting two rows behind from where he hit. He hit a chair and he broke the back of another chair. There was blood everywhere." After the man was carried out on a stretcher, security cordoned off the area with caution tape for the remainder of the concert, which continued on schedule. It's unclear if the band was told about the incident." [Gothamist]

Yikes... As Gothamist also points out, Channel 12 on Long Island reports that the man is in "critical but stable condition." It also says he jumped. It also says they seized 49 tanks of nitrous oxide.

TIME OUT NY: Do you listen to a lot of pop music?
Trey Anastasio (September 2009): I really liked MGMT when that record came out. I like Band of Horses, you know, [Singing] "I could sleep, I could sleeeeeep." That song really got inside me for a while. I was listening to Panda Bear.

Oh yeah, man. He's the best.
I couldn't stop listening to that record for, like, five days. I had it on my headphones...that "Comfy in Nautica"?

Yeah, man. Are you familiar with his band Animal Collective?
I didn't even know who it was! I heard one of the songs, maybe on Pandora or something, and I bought the album and I really liked it. I would be cooking in the kitchen and listening to "Comfy in Nautica." Really weird and layered.

You should check out Animal Collective. They're really creative...big Deadheads.
Really? Wow. I found it kind of to be a little Eno circa 1973. I just like the sensibility of it. That Band of Horses record really lodged itself in my ear for about a week. That "Ode to LRC" and all that. [Singing] "In the logbook of the LRC..." [Laughs]

Wow.
I'm always looking for a new band to fall in love with. I went through an MGMT thing for a while there. You heard that record, right? I love discovering new stuff. Oh, you know who I was listening to for, like, another week? It usually lasts like a week with me. Todd Snider. You ever listen to him? I'd never heard of him till somebody mentioned his name. I got two of his records. Peace Queer? I couldn't stop listening to that one for a while...like Panda Bear. So you've heard of Todd Snider?

today in NYC
* Chief @ Joe's Pub
* Phish @ Jones Beach
* Ken Mode, Castavet @ The Acheron
* Weekend, Mainland Fever @ Cake Shop
* Lee Scratch Perry, Lionize @ Highline Ballroom
* Uncles, B. Shropshire, Little Anchor @ Zebulon
* Eux Autres, Knight School, the Mad Scene @ Bruar Falls
* Tom Hamilton, Id M Theft Able, If, Bwana @ The Stone
* Beth Orton, The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger @ Maxwell's
* Bird of Youth, Dave Diamond, Caravan of Thieves @ The Living Room
* MGMT, Francis and the Lights, Amazing Baby @ Radio City Music Hall
* Sean Bones, Twin Shadow, New Numbers, You Can Be A Wesley @ Mercury Lounge
* Sped, Golden Girls, Automatic Fire, Diablo Royale, The Ruffian Arms @ Santos Party House

Unfortunately, East of The Wall has been forced to cancel their appearance at the Acheron due to a medical emergency, but KEN Mode and Castavet are still on the bill.

El-P's new video for "Time Won't Tell", below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"