Phish in C'ville review, Sharon Jones & Dap Kings, Hamaganza

Phish put on a great show at Charlottesville on Saturday night. The fun began in the parking lot, which was a somewhat subdued scene compared to a normal Phish lot, thanks to the 30 degree weather and light snow. Luckily by the time Phil and I arrived, Wyatt and Angie had arrived ahead of us and set up a tarp overhead and Wyatt's homemade propane fire pit. The fire pit is about two feet across and filled with glass beads that hold the warmth and are quite attractive. Besides keeping us warm, you tend to make a lot of friends when you have a source of heat on a cold, wet day so we partied with people from NC, MD and VA and had a steady stream of onlookers. The few hours in the lot flew by and around 7, it was time to go in. BTW, Wyatt plans on building and selling his propane fire pits (Lil' Cozys? Pixie Fires? They need a good name.) and if you tailgate or camp you will definitely want to get one. He probably could have sold about 15 or 20 that day.

We had great seats, one step off the floor and about even with the front of the soundboard, so we had excellent sound and a full view of the light show. We were also pleased to find that John Paul Jones Arena now allows you to bring beer back to your seats and you no longer are confined to a "beer garden" area. Though after a few hours in the lot, we decided to hold off until intermission to partake of the brew.

The band came out smoking from the start with "AC/DC Bag" and "Chalk Dust Torture". Then a new one, "Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan", which was good but failed to fully ignite. The set seemed to kick up a notch with "Divided Sky", their progressive rock-ish, mostly instrumental which has always reminded me of something a looser Yes would do. Next up was "Ya Mar", a fun reggae number that lightened things up after the heavy "Divided Sky". What also lightened things up was the naked guy who jumped on stage during "Ya Mar" and managed to avoid security for quite a few seconds as seen in this montage of the naked guy and the band's references to him the rest of the show:


Next up was a deeply funky version of Robert Palmer's (by way of writer Allen Toussaint) "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley". They went way into the swampy funk on this one, with bassist Mike Gordon propelling the band. Then a little twisted bluegrass number, "My Old Home Place" (which mentions Virginia) to get our hoedown on. Then a solid end to the rest of the first set with Cavern, Funky Bitch, David Bowie, The Wedge and a cover of Hendrix's "Bold As Love" with guitarist Trey Anastasio playing his ass off on that one.

Second set brought the funk back with their great riff rocker, "Tweezer", the "step into the freezer" line resonating with those who had spent time in the lot. They again went into a nice, deep funky jam that had the crowd rising up a number of times. This segued into the new song, "Light", which was bit of a letdown after the jams out of "Tweezer". However, they brought it all back together with a great jam out of "Light" which featured some excellent work on the lights (as always) from their longtime lighting director, Chris Kuroda. Also some amazing work throughout the beginning of this set from drummer, Jon Fishman, to keep a high energy beat going while providing fills and moving the beat in and around the other members. The jam went into "Piper" and then a truly uplifiting version of "Free". Here's the jam into "Piper" with a nice view of the light show:


Next up, a cover of the Stones' "Sweet Virginia" with drummer Fishman on the vocals. For those unfamiliar with Phish, Fishman usually takes a turn on vocals each show and though not the best vocalist there is some goofy charm to his singing. However, despite the singalong aspect of the song and the references to "Virginia", this one never really jelled and seemed more of a breather for both the band and the audience.

The band got right back into the thick of it with a great version of the crowd-pleaser "Harry Hood" into the rocker "Suzy Greenberg" that got the whole crowd dancing and pumping fists. They kept the rockin' vibe going with "Golgi Apparatus" and its sing along lyric, "I saw youuuuuu, with a ticket stub in your hand". Mike Gordon's bass dropped out for a bit during "Golgi", prompting Mike to do the bass parts vocally, which got big smiles out of Trey. Finally, a killer version of "Run Like An Antelope" in which Trey tied the whole show together by remembering the naked guy and changing the lyrics to "Run like a naked guy out of control". Only at a Phish show would (1) the band think to do this, (2) pull it off seamlessly and (3) have the whole audience pick up on it immediately and sing along.

The encore brought more "Exile On Main Street" (the band played the entire album on Halloween) Stones, with a fantastic version of "Lovng Cup" ("Oh, what a beautiful buzz") and then the tension and release of "Tweezer Reprise". "Tweezer Reprise" started with Trey playing the familiar riff and keyboardist Page McConnell doing runs on the piano and organ. Mike Gordon then dropped some deep bass bombs that hit you in the gut and shook your loins. The drums kick in and they build and build, closing the show on a high note.


All in all, an excellent show. 4 out of 5 stars. Can't wait until spring tour.

Onto this weekend in Richmond. If you are dying for some more Phish, check out Strange Design, the Dark Star Orchestra of Phish cover bands. Strange Design take setlists from Phish shows and "recreate" the show. They'll be at the Hat Factory on Thursday night. Tix are $13, doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 with local Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles, so you can get your Dead and Phish on at the same show. It's a hippie's dream.

Do you like soul music? Sweet soul music? Then get yourself to The National on Friday for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 the day of the show. Doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 with Greg Hester. Sharon Jones is a classic soul belter, who recently backed up Phish (it all comes back to Phish on this blog) on their Halloween version of the Stones' "Exile On Main St." album. You may recognize the Dap Kings as the band that backed up Amy Winehouse on much of her "Back to Black" album. If I hadn't just gone to Phish, I would love to go to this show. Should be a great show, especially on a Friday night. Here's the video of their song, "100 Days, 100 Nights". They even go with black & white to further the retro feel of their music:


The traditional Hamaganza charity event takes place Saturday night at the Capital Ale House Downtown. This is a now 14-year running fund & food raiser for the Central Virginia Food Bank. Admission is a cured or canned ham or $10. Anything goes at Hamaganza. Comedians, politicians, (which are sometimes the same thing), whistlers, jugglers, musicians of all types, dancing girls, Dirtwoman, you never know what you are going to see but its a lot of fun and its for a great cause. Doors open at 9. Who knows, maybe Phish will show up? Well, probably not but I had to work them in somehow.

I'll leave you this week with an absolutely mind-boggling, creepily psychedelic video of the new song from N.A.S.A. featuring Tom Waits & Kook Keith, "Spacious Thoughts". Smoke 'em if you got 'em.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Phish, Grand Illumination, Christmas Parade, Colbie Caillat

Lots of holiday stuff going on this weekend along with the Phish end-of-tour blowout in C'ville.

Phish will be at John Paul Jones Arena in C'ville on Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30 and I have heard they are starting on time so don't go in on rock n' roll time thinking the show will start at 8. Reports from this tour have been all good with long sets, many breakouts (tunes they haven't played in a long time) and inspired playing. I'm thinking this one should be a blast with a fired-up (hopefully. I haven't been very impressed with crowds at JPJ so far.) Saturday night crowd and the band playing well and excited for the end of the tour. They will be coming off of three nights in a row at Madison Square Garden in NYC so there is a small chance of a letdown but the band usually doesn't operate like that.

If you are going, I'll see you there. Phil and I will brave the parking lot scene despite the cold weather but if we need respite, Starr Hill Brewery is throwing a Phish pre-party at the Millmont Grille from 3 - 6 PM. The Millmont Grille is only 1/2 mile from the arena.

Here is the band playing Zappa's "Peaches En Regalia" from the first night at MSG:


Here in Richmond, there is tons of Christmas stuff going on. Tonight is the Grand Illumination downtown and there are a lot of activities surrounding that. The Grand Illumination itself runs from 6 - 7 PM at 10th & E Cary St. For a full rundown of events, click HERE.

The Richmond Christmas Parade will be running down Broad St from the Science Museum to 7th St. starting at 10 AM on Saturday. We usually bring the kids to this one but unfortuately the weather doesn't look like it will cooperate this year. Snow would be fine. Cold is OK. But rain and cold are not a happy combination and that's the weather services are calling for on Saturday AM. Keep on eye on that though, as it may change.

On Friday, Rise Against will be at The National. Tix are $35, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Landmines and After Midnight Project.

Colbie Caillat will be playing at The National on Tuesday night. Tix are $21 in advance, $24 day of show, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8. Though I can't say that I'm a huge Colbie Caillat fan, I did like the song "Bubbly" until they played it to death and she is just so damn cute. Click HERE to see lots of cute pictures of Colbie. But just so this isn't all about Colbie's looks, here's the video for her last single, "Fallin' For You", which features Bobby Moynihan, one of the new guys on Saturday Night Live, and Colbie looks really cute...oops, promised not to do that. You'll have to click HERE because they won't let me embed the video.

Have a great weekend! I'll see you at the Phish show!

Tony Jordan

The entire Last Waltz show

If you're looking for some great Thanksgiving listening, Wolfgang's Vault has made available the entire, unedited Last Waltz concert by The Band with special guests. The concert took place on Thanksgiving night 1976 and was the last time the original Band would perform together.

Here's the link: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-band/concerts/winterland-november-25-1976.html?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=091124

King Solomon's Marbles, 311, Furthur, Muppets

Turkey Day is here which means not much going on musically in town this weekend. Though if I recall my days working in bars, this was always a good weekend for the bars. A lot of people come home and want to go out with friends they may not have seen in a while. Also, if you've been cooped up in the house with your relatives for a few days, you may need to escape for a while.

On Saturday night, Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles will be at Cary St. Cafe. Show starts at 10 PM and cover charge is $7.

Speaking of the good ol' Grateful Dead, Bob Weir & Phil Lesh of the Dead will be bringing their new band Furthur to the area in February. The new band consists of Phil & Bob, Jeff Chimenti (keyboardist from Bob's band, Ratdog), John Kadlecik (formerly of Dark Star Orchestra), Jay Lane (drummer from Bob's band, Ratdog) and Joe Russo (drummer from Benevento - Russo Duo). They'll be coming to Hampton Coliseum on Friday, February 12 and the Patriot Center in Fairfax VA on Saturday, February 13. Though they have not posted ticket prices yet, the price for their show on 12/30 in SF is $45 so I expect it to be around there. Pre-sale for both shows starts Monday, 11/30 at noon, then official onsale date starts 12/11 at 10 AM. Reviews of the band's first four shows in the SF area have been good. I expect a pretty good show because there isn't the pressure to be "The Dead" and they can just stay loose. Here's the band doing "Cosmic Charlie" at their show at the Fox Theater a couple months ago:


Back to this weekend in Richmond. 311 brings their heavy reggae to The National on Sunday. Tickets are $45, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener State Radio. Here they are doing "Come Original" in Tokyo in September.


Finally, among all the usual things I am thankful for (family, good health, a job), I am thankful for the Muppets. They have been entertaining and teaching me my entire life and they continue to do so with this awesome version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The only thing this needs is more Pepe. Pepe rules! Though I must say, I didn't know Janice from the Dr. Teeth Band could totally shred.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tony Jordan

Megadeth, Jackass Flats, Alice In Chains

Thanksgiving approaches and there are only a couple shows on the agenda as the bands head home for the holiday. Kind of the calm before the storm of the holiday season and a number of good bands coming to town next month.

Dave Mustaine brings Megadeth to The National on Saturday night. Tix are $32.50 in advance, $35 day of show, doors open at 6 and the show starts at 6:45 with openers Arcanium, Suicide Silence and Machinehead. Its a tiny metalfest so you can bang your heads 'til your ear drums bleed.

If you are in a completely different mood on Saturday night, a bluegrass mood perhaps, check out Jackass Flats at the Capital Ale House Downtown. Tix are $7 and the show starts at 9. Here is Jackass Flats playing in WV in January:


The National just announced that ALICE IN CHAINS will be coming there on Friday March 5th at 9pm. Tickets on sale December 4th at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Tickets are $35.50 in advance and $40 day of show. Their new album "Black Gives Way To Blue" has recieved good reviews. Here they are performing the title track on "Later with Jools Holland" (which is an awesome show and is on Ovation here in the States by the way. That's Jools playing keys on this song.):


That's about it from here. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Dark Star Orchestra webcast live on Thursday

Gathering of The Vibes, the big jam band fest in Bridgeport CT, will be announcing some of their lineup at 7 PM on Thursday night on a webcast on http://govibes.com/. That's cool but what's really cool is that Dark Star Orchestra will play a live three hour show right after the announcement.

DSO is the Grateful Dead cover band that picks a setlist from a Dead show for each one of their shows and then plays that setlist. They'll be featuring their new guitarist, Jeff Mattson. Their old guitarist, John Kadlecik, is leaving DSO to play with a band formed by former member of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, called Further. So you know if the Grateful Dead is stealing members from DSO, that DSO are pretty damn good.

Also, Jeff Mattson's old band, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, will be playing on the webcast too. Donna Jean is herself a former member of the Grateful Dead so expect her to sit in with DSO.

As you can see, this is just one big incestual ball of fun.

DSO will be coming to The National on 12/29 with opener, Donna Jean Godchaux and the Tricksters, so the webcast is a good chance to check DSO if you are curious.

Aerosmith isn't breaking up....

...or maybe they are. Or maybe just for a little while. I'm so confused.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/11/rs-exclusive-joe-perry-aerosmiths-problems-far-from-over/

The Cult review, The Bridge, Rusted Root, Robert Earl Keen

The Cult put on a great show at The National last night but had some rock n' roll time faux pas. There was no opening band, but The Cult seemed to keep their schedule as if there was an opener, which was annoying. I figured if there was no opener and the show time was listed at 8, I’d get there around 8. Then The Cult would come on around 8:30 or 8:45 at the latest. They didn’t come on until 9:15 so there was a lot of standing around. I, and others I know, had to bust it to make it by 8. Would have been nice if The National could have changed the start time to 8:30 and/or if the band could have changed their schedule and come on earlier.

When the band finally came on, they started right in with their performance of their 1985 album, Love. I had forgotten what a great blend of hard rock and mystic psychedlia the album was. Highlights included Rain, Brother Wolf & Sister Moon, Phoenix, and, of course, She Sells Sanctuary. Throughout the show, they had some very cool movies playing behind the band. The films mixed original visuals with scenes from old silent films, horror films and samaurai pictures. Also, lead singer Ian Astbury (who played with the reformed Doors in the early part of this decade) has now moved into his 1970 Jim Morrison look. Shoulder length hair, full beard and a beer gut. However, he didn’t appear to be drunk like 1970 Jim Morrison, as he only appeared to drink Red Bull during the show.

After Love, the band took a 5 minute break, then came on for the "Greatest Hits" portion of the show, which consisted of seven songs, highlights being "Wildflower", "Fire Woman" (with the crowd singing the chorus), and the final song of the night, "Love Removal Machine". Though Ian Astbury didn't talk much during the night, he did comment on how great the room (that being The National Theater) was. The band was tight throughout the night, with lead guitarist Billy Duffy ripping off some great solos. However, they were done at 10:45 on the dot, no encore, another bit of lameness and the no encore was not due to the crowd, which was very enthusiastic, especially for a Richmond crowd. Overall, I'd give it three out of five. Would have been four stars but they're docked one for the late start and no encore.

Onto this week's shows, Americana funk band (an odd blend but it works), The Bridge, will be at the Canal Club in Friday night. Tix are $14 and doors open at 9:00 with Cornmeal and that popular band, tba, to open. Here they are performing an acoustic version of "Further On Down The Road" in Corvallis, Orgeon in September:


Saturday afternoon into the evening, you can rock out for a good cause at the Capital Ale House Downtown with Emmyfest II by Musicians for Mitochondrial Awareness. Tix are $10 and the show starts at 3 PM. Here's the lineup:
3:30 Stump Hole Water
4:15 Louis Ledford
5:00 Modern Groove Syndicate
6:00 The Atkinsons
7:00 The Big Guys
8:00 Loose Gravel
9:30 Moossa

If you want to learn more about Mitochondrial Disease, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_disease.

Local jazz jam boys Modern Groove Syndicate will be at Cary St. Cafe on Saturday night starting at 10 PM. Tix are $7. Here they are at Cary St. Cafe in January:


Sunday night, Kyle Hollingsworth, keyboard player of String Cheese Incident fame brings his appropriately titled band, Kyle Hollingsworth Band to Capital Ale House Downtown. The show starts at 9 PM and tix are $12. Here they are with their take on Paul Simon's "Kodachrome":


Rusted Root, who put on a great show at Friday Cheers this past summer, will be at The Hat Factory on Monday night. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener Mikey Wax. Here they are with some Halloween shenanigans, a little "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before going into "Driving One":


Tuesday night Texas troubador, Robert Earl Keen, comes to The National. Tix are $25, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener, Sons Of Bill, who impressed me when I saw them open for Jason Isbell this summer. Robert Earl is one of my favs and my wife too. She is getting to go to this one while I stay home and watch the kids so I'll expect a full report from her. We were in the process of looking for a babysitter but then her brother begged her to take him (she got some free VIP tix from a friend) so I'm hangin' with the boys. I owe it to her since she's let me see about 50 shows while she watched the kids.

There was a good article about REK in the Times-Dispatch today with all the latest on him. Here's the link: CLICK HERE. Here's a very young REK performing his classic "Road Goes On Forever" (celebrating its 20th anniversary) acoustic:


Finally, Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will be at The National on Wednesday. Tix are $23.50 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Trevor Hall. Here's "One Day" from his latest album, "Light":



Its late. I'm outta here. Have a great weekend.

Tony Jordan

Colbie Caillat at The National, Aerosmith looks for a singer

Just Announced - Q94 / Lite 98 Christmas Show with COLBIE CAILLAT Tuesday December 8th at The National ... Tickets go on sale THIS Friday at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Don't know much about Colbie other than she is cute and this song is kind of fun and, well, bubbly:


Apparently Steve Tyler has left Aerosmith. I actually might have cared once. I remember the kick I got from listening to the Toys From the Attic album and trying to decipher the lyrics of "Walk This Way" (when you are 11, some of the lyrics are a bit beyond one's experience to that date). I remember the thrill when we listened to "Live Bootleg!" on the last day of school in fifth grade and couldn't believe that Steve Tyler said "motherf**cker" in the middle of "Dream On". When they came back in the late 80s - early 90s it looked like they would restore some of their glory and I thought Permanent Vacation and Pump were steps in the right direction. But then came a seemingly endless string of power ballads, the pimping of Liv Tyler in the videos (sexy but dude, its your daughter) culminating in their jump the shark moment of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", a song better suited for Celine Dion or Meat Loaf. From that point on, they were dead to me. So maybe breaking up is the best thing then can do and we can remember them from everything pre-1990.

The Cult, Monsters of Folk, Larry Keel, Tony Rice

We've got some good shows in Richmond this week and I'll catch you up on Halloween happenings too.

Friday night, The Hat Factory will have Larry Keel & Natural Bridge featuring Tony Rice. Larry & Natural Bridge hail from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and plays mountain music with a modern twist. Bluegrass great Tony Rice will be playing with the band. Should be a great show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 (no announced opener so get there early), and tix are $15. Here they all are playing together in C'ville back in '07:


A couple music-related events during the day on Saturday. The 10th Annual Brunswick Stew Festival will take place from 11 AM - 5 PM at the 17th St. Farmer's Market. Here is the lowdown on that from Venture Richmond:
"The Brunswick Stew Festival, the cornerstone of the 17th Street Farmers' Markets annual events, is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. It will feature the bluegrass/country sounds of Native Son and the smooth rock, reggae and rap rhythm sounds of Richmond's own Proverbial. It will also offer children's programs along with Too Tall Torrie. The Brunswick Stew Festival was recently featured in Pat Willard's 2008 bestselling book, America Eats! and is listed as an example of "one of the best Americana-style festivals merging traditional country recipes, local beer and eclectic mix of music to mainstream America." Taste samples from the stew masters will be available for purchase from 11:00am-1:00pm. Larger-sized containers will be available to the general public after 1:00pm. For additional information please visit http://www.17thstreetfarmersmarket.com/ or call 804-646-0477. The event is presented by the 17th Street Farmers' Market and Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association (SBNA) along with partners at Cox Communications and Brown Distributing."

Also on Saturday from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Capital Ale House Downtown is the Screens 'N' Suds benefit. Here is what's up with that:
"On Saturday, November 7, Screens ‘N’ Suds will feature the art of some of America’s most celebrated concert poster artists, and the beers of some of Virginia’s finest breweries, including Starr Hill, Blue & Gray, St. George’s, and Legend. Nationally known poster artists Jeff Everett (El Jefe Design), Richard Biffle, JP Flexner (No Division Design Syndicate), John Foster, Ryan Kerrigan, and Richmond’s own Adam Stockton and Andrew Stronge will show and sell their limited-edition, collectible posters for bands ranging from The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear and Gov’t Mule to The Melvins, Helmet and Rancid in the Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall. Richmond’s own one-man band, Gull, alt-jazz duo Illbrain, and more will provide the soundtrack, while in the Ale House proper, some of the area’s best brewmasters will offer tastings and specials of their best brews. In addition to 100% of a raffle featuring rare, autographed concert and beer memorabilia, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit Young Audiences of Virginia (www.yav.org), an organization that brings no-cost, SOL-ready music and art education into Virginia schools. All event sales of the Screens ‘N’ Suds poster series will go to benefit the Central Virginia Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society."

Tuesday brings alternative-folk supergroup Monsters of Folk to the Landmark Theater (finally a new, real web site for the Landmark). Monsters of Folk are Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M Ward and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). This will be a 2 1/2 hour show in which they'll play songs from their new album as well as songs from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues. Tix are $35 , doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8. If you are going, get there early because there is usually a good size line to get through security into the Landmark. As of Thursday night, there are still good seats available. Here is their video for "The Right Place" sounding very The Band-like in this one. And that ain't a bad thing.


Next Wednesday night, a show I may be attending (holding off on buying tix in case kids get sick or rowdy), The Cult at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and there is no opener listed. The Cult hit it big in the 80's and early 90's. Lead singer Ian Astbury also sang with The Doors for a few years this decade. The Cult will be doing their entire Love album along with their greatest hits. Love was the album that first gained The Cult big exposure in the States with the hit "She Sells Sanctury". Here they are doing that one back in '85:



Just for kicks, here's Ian playing with the Doors:


Some cool shit went down on Halloween. Out in Indio, CA, Phish held their huge Festival 8 with eight sets over the weekend including their Halloween "costume" of playing the entire "Exile on Main St." album with Sharon Jones (of the Dap Kings and coming to Richmond in December) and a horn section. Here they are doing one of my favorite tracks from the album, "Ventilator Blues/Just Wanna See His Face":


Pearl Jam played the last show ever at Philly's Spectrum on Halloween and played Devo's "Whip It" costumes and all:


Hopefully some good music this week will help soothe me after my Phils couldn't pull off the Series win. But its been a great ride the last two years and hopefully they'll continue their winning ways next year.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan