All posts by Mike Vasquez

Articles, MP3s

Five from the Archive: Warren Zevon solo in 2000

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Warren Zevon Warren Zevon turned 53 early in 2000. He was doing a lot of touring that year to support Life’ll Kill Ya, which was released towards the end of 1999. He didn’t yet know he had lung cancer. That would come a little bit later.

Along with his acoustic guitar and an electronic keyboard, Zevon traveled the country in a camper, hitting a well-honed list of friendly towns, and all the faithful would show up. Zevon’s audience had dwindled over the years, but in 2000 he was in the early stages of a creative resurgence. And his playing was generally energetic and creative. He was on an upswing.

Thanks to the generosity and forethought of his son Jordan, much of Zevon’s available recorded live performances are available for free on the Live Music Archive. We’ve looked at some Zevon recordings from 1978 before. Today we’ll take a look at a few solo performances from 2000, starting with “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” from the Moore Theater in Seattle on April 22, 2000. A great recording and a vocally playful delivery of the song.

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Articles

I lick my brain in silence: Ween in Detroit!

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Ween at Royal Oak Music Theatre

Ween at Royal Oak Music Theatre

Royal Oak, Michigan, July 30, 2010

Friday night, among other things, was a Mollusk showcase. This is supposedly Gene Ween’s favorite Ween record, and I’ll have to say it’s mine, too. They kicked the night off with “The Golden Eel,” and the set included “Mutilated Lips,” “The Mollusk,” “Buckingham Green,” and “The Blarney Stone.” Christ, that’s like half the album right there.

But The Mollusk showcase wasn’t the only great thing about this show. For instance, there was a smoke machine involved. Who doesn’t love a smoke machine?

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Shorties

These covers smell Phishy

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Seeing Phish in Maryland at the Merriweather Post Pavilion got me thinking about one of my favorite musical topics: covers. And Phish is the master of the cover.

They are known for doing whole albums by other bands on Halloween. They’ve done Talking Heads‘s Remain in Light and Velvet Underground’s Loaded. In 2009, they did Exile on Main Street. I’m not sure if this cover is from that night, but it’s brilliant:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbdtsLSy0Y&w=560&h=315]

Follow the jump for a few more examples of inspired cover choices…

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Articles

Shocks my brain: Phish at Merriweather Post Pavilion

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PhishPhish at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Columbia, MD June 27, 2010

Phish wrapped up a two day stint at the Merriweather Post Pavilion last week. I was lucky enough to be in DC with some friends, and we managed to catch the second show on Sunday, June 27. We hired a guy with a van to take us to the show, so we didn’t have to worry about finding our way back to DC afterward. We offered to buy the driver a ticket, and he decided to stick around and watch the show with us.

In the group there were four of us who had seen Phish before, and five who had not. All but one of the five hadn’t even heard anything by Phish before that night. At least three of the five walked away as fans, ready to see the band again at the next opportunity.

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Articles

Glorious Noise Interview with the Founder of the All Good Festival

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All Good FestivalTim Walther is the founder of the All Good Festival. He also runs his own promotion company – Walther Productions – and manages Dark Star Orchestra, who we’ve covered here, and will also be playing All Good this year.

The jam band phenomenon (and the festivals that support it) has grown and evolved over fifteen years now, and All Good was at the beginning of it. We put together some questions for Tim about the evolution of All Good and this year’s event (July 8 – 11), which he kindly answered through an email exchange.

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Articles, MP3s

Five from the Archive: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

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Grace PotterI first saw Grace Potter & The Nocturnals at Rothbury last year. Before that, I only knew them from this cover of Neil Young‘s “Cortez the Killer”, which Grace did with, among others, Steve Kimock and Joe Satriani (who I loved in this). The video was from the Jammy’s, where they apparently get people from different bands to get together and, well, jam. On different songs.

So I hadn’t seen her with the Nocturnals before Rothbury, where I was right up front. It was in the afternoon, on a hot summer day, and it was non-stop rocking the entire set. Grace is an awesome presence on stage, either behind her organ or out in front with the band. I had a great time watching them play. Until the suntan lotion started dripping into my eyes. And temporarily blinded me. So I had to stumble off into a shady place and flush my eyes out until the pain stopped. But that’s another story…

This band is a touring machine, and finely honed because of it. Follow the jump for a sampling of covers they’ve played while touring across the country this past year, hitting seemingly every nook and cranny of the continental U.S. along the way.

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Articles

It’s all good: The All Good Festival

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All Good FestivalWhen I began thinking about putting this preview together, I thought I’d feature two or three bands I was looking forward to seeing at the All Good Festival this summer. But I couldn’t limit it to three. There are truly too many bands I’m really excited about seeing this year.

This is good news, because GLONO will be making the trek to West Virginia for four days of music, fun, and sun, July 8 – 11. Headlining the All Good Festival is Furthur, with Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. I’ve seen them twice already this year – read about it here and here – and couldn’t be more excited to see them a third time at All Good. Follow the jump for some more bands we’re looking forward to seeing.

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Articles

Two days at the shore: RatDog Does Hampton Beach

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RatDog Live in New HampshireBob Weir and RatDog at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom

New Hampshire, July 23 and 24, 2009

While I was driving up to Hampton Beach from Logan airport, I was thinking that I’ve done crazier things than fly halfway across the country by myself for a weekend to see two concerts, but it had been a while. Still, it’s a precedent I’m glad I set.

RatDog was playing two shows over the weekend at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, one of a handful of two day runs on their Summer 2009 tour. Tickets in hand, beachside reservations booked, I rolled into town on a cool, foggy morning.

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Articles

They say it’s your birthday: Phil Lesh still rockin’ at 70

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Furthur Live in San FranciscoFurthur & Friends at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

San Francisco, March 12, 2010

It was mostly mayhem outside the theater. My brother and I were trying to meet up with our compatriot, and it was taking longer than it should. There were tons of people hunting for tickets – looking for a miracle, as they say. I’ve never seen so many heads looking for tickets. For good reason.

The marquee read Happy Birthday Phil. It was Friday, March 12, and a big birthday party for Phil Lesh was about to get under way at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Phil Lesh was turning 70. 70! And believe it or not, he and his bandmates played over six hours of music that night.

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Articles

Taking it further: Furthur in Chicago

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Furthur Furthur at the Auditorium Theatre

Chicago, March 2, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, a buddy of mine emailed me: “This is it. This is the one.” The subject line was “Furthur.” He had just seen them play. Like me, he’s a little obsessed with this stuff. He goes to see the post Grateful Dead bands when he can, like I do, and goes to see the new kids on the block, too – Umphrey’s McGee, moe., etc. Since that email I’ve read similar comments in forums where like minded people congregate. On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, I got to see Furthur for the first of a two night run at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago – a theater steeped in Grateful Dead history. It was everything that I’d hoped it would be. Just a tremendous show. If you get the opportunity, go see a Furthur show this year. You won’t be disappointed.

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