The Dead wrapped up their 2009 tour with two solid shows back home at Shoreline Amphitheater and then an end-of-the-tour barn burner at The Gorge in Washington. The tour started a little ragged back in April, but after the band worked out the kinks, they appeared to be in fine form. Each night of the tour featured a “dream show”-worthy setlist and made me almost nostalgic for an old school predictable setlist – devoid of such treats as “Viola Lee Blues” and “New Potato Caboose.”
All kidding aside, Warren Haynes has proven himself to be truly the hardest working man in show business. He became the nucleus of this new Dead machine, and his playing could be gently delicate in an “ice petals revolving” kind of way one moment and then full-on warp-drive ferocity the next. Also Jeff Chimenti proved himself night after night sitting at the keys. His tasteful, crystalline playing was spot-on. Hope he’s got good life insurance.
You can get soundboard recordings of the tour from Dead.net and finally the “core four” have allowed the Live Music Archive to host Audience recordings of concerts from the 2003-2004 incarnations of The Dead as well as the Barack Obama benefits last year. There are some sweet sounding AUDS out there and its fun to have access to those ‘03 and ‘04 shows with Jimmy Herring and Joan Obsourne.
Perhaps one day some soundchecks and rehearsal tapes will also surface, but for now, let’s look at the following bits of archaic lore… (more…)
Man, I miss California. I really do. I don’t miss paying exorbitantly high rent. I don’t miss the collective panic that sets in whenever it rains and being in a mountain shack without power for ten days. I just miss the West – my ancestral homeland. Feeling that unconscious sense of being where I belong- ocean before me, mountains behind me, and good Mexican food.
Northern California band Izabella do a great job at helping to ease that feeling of displacement. A warm, sweet and heady blend of jam rock, funk, and soul that is totally steeped in the warm vibes and deep roots of the West Coast.
Now with a solidified line-up of Sean Lehe on guitar and vocals, multi-instrumentalist Brian Rogers on percussion, guitar, bass and lead vocals, Murph (no, not that guy!) on bass guitar, Sam Phelps and Jeff Coleman as the four-handed keyboardist and Lucas Carlton on the skins, Izabella is the culmination of years of jamming in the garage with various bands, jazz combos, burgeoning jam units. Juggling the daily obligations like families, day jobs, school while playing out as much as humanly possible. It’s a dedication and a musical relationship that reinforces the band’s groove on record, and is the electric undercurrent in their live performances – over 200 since late 2006. (more…)
It was a cold, cold morning in Bigfoot County. I was brewing some coffee on an old pot belly stove, when Ol’ Trapper Pete came by with a oilskin parcel from the Gold Country.
Inside the parcel I found an old book, a quantity of dried herbs, and what appeared to be a wax phonograph cylinder. I bid Ol’ Trapper Pete farewell, put down my coffee and settled back into my rocker on the porch. I examined the curious old book and discovered that it was indeed, the journal of my Great-Uncle Philo “Broken Arrow” Jones, famous Frontiersman and Adventurer.
The Edison cylinder was inscribed with the mysterious words “MOONALICE.” (more…)
I love the new Bob Dylan album. I do. Because the older Bob Dylan gets, the more he sounds like Tom Waits. Seriously, though, Together Through Lifeis another solid, rich album. You can check out the zydeco vibe on “It’s All Good” in the mix down below. Also you’ll find some new Neil Young, some old George Harrison and a couple artists covering the Grateful Dead, including Jane’s Addiction.
Rhino has just released A Cabinet of Curiosities, the ultimate Jane’s Addiction “live, rare, and unreleased” package. A little wooden curio cabinet filled with voodoo dolls, lyrics, reproductions of old fliers, along with the discs (a regular edition in a plain ol’ cardboard slipcase will be released next month). You’ll have to supply your own eyeliner and Nag Champa incense, though.
I got into Jane’s Addiction during the heady summer of 1991 (or was it 1990?) A friend had taped Ritual de lo Habitualfor me and while at first I didn’t like “that weird LA shit,” I had to admit it was growing on me. I was having a cigarette (it may even have been a clove cigarette) and listening to side two’s centerpiece, “Three Days,” unfolding like the warm summer evening outside.
Two girls heard the music and came to my window — they crawled into my dorm room and we all sat down on my futon and got acquainted. We instantly became friends. We shared all our stories and some grass. Staying up all night talking, laughing, and playing that tape over and over endlessly. In the morning the three of us watched the sun come up and we ate waffles together. (more…)
Once upon a time, in my 16th or 17th year, I had but two concerns; one, whether or not the punk chick with the red bob at Rainbow Records had a boyfriend; and two, which was slightly more dire, was which band logo I wanted to have my friend Ron airbrush onto the back of my leather jacket.
If you wanted to get a fuggin’ perfect Crimson Ghost or GBH logo on the back of your leather, Ron was the guy to do it. His dad had an old truck camper in the side yard and Ron had turned it into his workshop. He had a box full of chains, spikes, and needlenose pliers to turn your jacket into the ultimate garment of bad-assery.
Had Isis been around then, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. ISIS in big red block letters. ISIS without a fucking doubt. Just thinking about it now makes me want to go get a leather jacket, go visit Ron in the clinker, and have him do his magic once again. (more…)
The Grateful Dead collection at the Live Music Archive contains not only thousands of Grateful Dead concerts, it also holds a good number of band rehearsal, soundcheck, and studio session recordings. As the latest incarnation of The Dead kick off their 2009 tour, I wanted to take a look at some of these hidden gems.
Today we’re looking at a couple soundcheck jams from the ’90s, and a rehearsal from 1976. In future installments we’ll look at some of Keith Godchaux’s first rehearsals with the band, some more backstage antics in the later days, and a look at what studio outtakes are still in taper circulation, ie: the stuff Rhino left off the studio album reissues.
March 17th, 1995, The Spectrum, Philadelphia Of course by now, virtually no stone has been left unturned in the Dead’s back catalog. Between Phil Lesh and Friends, Ratdog, and Mickey and Billy’s various projects, we’re pretty far removed from the days when rumors of “they soundchecked ‘St. Stephen’!” ran like wildfire over motel payphones, archaic BBS systems or in actual Grateful Dead fanzines.
When the Grateful Dead had settled into a fairly rigid template for songs and sets, any deviation from the formula or “break out” of an old tune was cause for much celebration and a renewed enthusiasm within the group-mind of band and audience. The best-known example of this is the great Hampton Coliseum ‘Dark Star’ breakout of 1989. The band’s signature psychedelic showcase had fallen in and out of the repertoire since the 1970s and was back in rotation throughout the early 1990s.
But while fan favorites like “St. Stephen” and “Cosmic Charlie*” never reappeared, in the otherwise bleak year of 1995, the Grateful Dead did blow collective minds when they broke out “Unbroken Chain” at the Philadelphia Spectrum on March 19th.
“Unbroken Chain” originally appeared on the band’s 1974 sleeper From the Mars Hotel — a proggy Phil Lesh composition with lyrics by his longtime collaborator Robert M. Petersen. The song was one of the handful of songs on the album that were never performed live. It’s a complex tune filled with unusual chords, myriad changes and a funky, funky bridge.
This remarkable tape recorded two days prior to showtime illustrates Phil’s enthusiasm and intensity for teaching his bandmates the material. He even uncharacteristically bitches out a roadie at one point. Even Jerry is on-board and enthusiastic about breaking out this long, lost gem. (more…)
Spring is here. Blue skies, green grass, allergens. Rainy afternoons and cool evenings.
Spring, of course, is time for renewal, and I like to think of it as a time for some mental housecleaning as well, so I’ve selected some music that I feel is somewhat transitive and uplifting. A little more meditative than usual. Hopefully it will take you places.
Welcome back to Test of the Boomerang. Happy Spring Equinox!
The folks over at Lostpedia offered up an interesting tidbit about the recent Lost episode “La Fleur.” Could the names of the three Dharma-ites at the beginning of the episode — Jerry, Phil and Rosie — be a reference to Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and “Rosie”?
Phil and Jerry, brownie eating 1970s hippies, seem to be references to Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. Rosie may be a reference to the reoccurring symbol of roses in Grateful Dead songs and art…
“We now return our souls to the creator, as we stand on the edge of eternal darkness. Let our chant fill the void in order that others may know. In the land of the night the ship of the sun is drawn by the grateful dead.”
Even the most casual viewer of Lost can see that the show is rife with symbiology and archetypes found in myth and folklore, like the Grateful Dead’s music and lyrics — song-poems culled from the shadows of the American campfire as well as the cosmic realms beyond. A familiar tale of survivors waiting to be rescued turns into something far more complex. A jugband from Palo Alto decide to go electric and it becomes one of the longest and strangest tales of them all. (more…)
No test this week, folks, as I am going out to California to visit friends and family and show off the newest member of our tribe. I’ll be back soon with more kind sounds and commentary. Until then, enjoy these street musicians jamming on “Shakedown Street” in Jerusalem.
Sherman, set the Way Back machine for that balmy summer of 1996! Jerry Garcia had been gone a year, and a lot of lonesome folks had hitched their wagons to the sound-carnival that was Phish.
The Vermont foursome rented out an abandoned air strip in upstate New York for a weekend of music, music and more music. They called it ‘The Clifford Ball‘ and it became the blueprint for every summer festival that would follow in its wake.
Rhino has released a seven-disc set of the whole shebang just in time for Phish’s 2009 reunion. If you didn’t score tickets to Hampton, this just might help ease the sting. Trey, Gordo, Paige, and Fishman have never really been much to look at, so the important thing here is the music. In 1996, arguably, Phish were at the height of their powers. There’s a fantastic mix of new (at the time) and old songs here. The band is tight, in the pocket, and totally playful. Every note played that legendary weekend has been captured in a brilliant 5.1 stereo mix. From the soundcheck to the mini acoustic set to the 3 a.m. improv jam the band performed on the back of a light-encrusted flatbed truck.
It’s all wrapped up in a very cool package that includes some Clifford Ball postcards and stamps. Fire up your own kind veggie burritos, put some Magic Hat #9 in the fridge, and camp out in your living room with this great package from Rhino. (more…)
