Judgement Day for Trey

WCAX TV reports that Trey will in fact be in court today, where he will most likely accept a plea deal that does not include jail time. Stay tuned for the whole story as it develops...

UPDATE: It's official: Trey Anastasio plead guilty to a felony drug charges today.

He accepted a plea deal in which he "won't be sentenced for another year because he was ordered to participate in drug court in Washington County. After he finishes drug court and if they consider him "successful," he will be on probation for five years. If not, he will spend one to three years behind bars."

Jambands.com further reports that "according to Anastasio’s attorney, his touring will be on indefinite hold, though his lone confirmed appearance at July’s 10,000 Lakes Music Festival will still likely take place."

One Thing That Makes moe. Great

The Press-Enterprise had a great article about moe. and the how much owning their own production company, Fatboy Productions, maximizes the quality of both the group's music and their shows.

I last saw moe. 3/1 at the Tabernacle. Tea Leaf Green opened. It was definitely worth the six-hour drive to Atlanta.

Spring Hookah in the Hills

According to the Athens News, "it's gonna be jam-band heaven this weekend out in the hills" when ekoostik hookah returns to Athens, Ohio to headline the two day Spring Hookah in the Hills 2007.

Phree Phish Downloads

Can't get enough live Phish shows? Tired of waiting for the next official release? Try this PT thread and this amazing website with links for downloading a ton of Phish shows that have yet to be officially released (with many high quality soundboard recordings) through sendspace.

I am not a lawyer (yet), but my understanding is that these downloads are completely legal. (If you're really that interested in the explanation, contact me at partyinpeepsblog@gmail.com)

WARNING: These websites are addicting. If you are not prepared to sacrifice a few gigs of memory over the next couple weeks, I would advise that you stay far, far away.

The Best of The Band's Musical History

This is a real treat: The Band will be releasing "The Best of a Musical History" on April 24. The album, a greatest hits so to speak of their 2005 career-spanning box set, "A Musical History", will be released in CD and Deluxe Edition CD/DVD versions.

Click here are the full CD and DVD track listing.

Etown Rocks

Michael Franti & Spearead, the John Butler Trio, and Mavis Staples will headline this year's Etown Rocks, taking place at Red Rocks on June 30. "Billed as the concert for a better world, etown will be bringing together musicians who are on the cutting edge of the musical world while also committing themselves to progressive causes."

Silverchair Owning Australia

I was a little shocked upon seeing Silverchair on the Lollapalooza lineup yesterday; apparently I'm just in the dark.

According to Reuters, Silverchair is just tearing it up down under. "Four weeks after becoming the first local act in 40 years to achieve three No. 1 singles, Silverchair has hit a milestone on the albums chart.

"Young Modern" debuted at No. 1 this week, making Silverchair the first Australian band to achieve five straight No. 1 albums. And the Newcastle-based rock trio did it on five consecutive releases, each opening at No. 1."

New Phish News?

As of this moment, Phish.net, which usually doesn't engage in the fake rumor douchebaggery that goes on at other sites, has posted only the following: "4/9/07 - NEWS."

It's probably nothing, most likely a wrap-up of Trey Anastasio's legal troubles. Maybe Page McConnell is going to announce some more tour dates. Who knows? Maybe Mike and Fishman randomly bumped into each other near their respective Walden Pond hideouts and decided to make an album. We'll see tomorrow.

Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Now...Bohemian Raspberry!

Ben & Jerry, have announced their newest musically-inspired ice cream: Bohemian Raspberry.

According to NME, "Queen guitarist Brian May welcomed the icy merch, saying: "It's Queentastic! Rhapsolicious! So cool it's not funny! But only if the next one is 'We Will Chock You'!""

Hopefully the ice cream isn't as bad as May's jokes.

No Pink Floyd Reunion Anytime Soon

Despite a bunch of Pink Floyd reunion rumors floating around recently, especially with the possibility of a second reunion show at the Live Earth concerts, Roger Waters has dismissed any possibility of this happening. Waters basically dismissed these rumors by stating that while he cares about saving the planet, the rest of Pink Floyd is too selfish (while Waters didn't say this explicitly, in the context of nearly three decades of bitch-fighting with the rest of the group, he clearly meant to imply it).

For more things Floyd, the current Rolling Stone has a pretty good article about them spanning from the formative years to the group's reunion at Live 8, or you can watch a bunch of totally sweet Pink Floyd shows at Pink Floyd TV.

The Mule Live at Roseland Reissued

Gov't Mule is reissuing their "Live at Roseland Ballroom" album, recorded by the group's founding lineup on 12/31/95. The reissued album will be available 5/16/07. Click here for the track listing and pre-order information.

This performance could quite possibly be the second best NYE 95 performance; the best being, well, kind of obvious.

Guns 'n' Roses Nostalgia

Remember back in the day when GNR would have to cancel a show because Slash accidentally injected piss into his arm or because Axl accidentally drank a whole bottle of rubbing alcohol?

According to Livedaily, "Guns N' Roses, who were due to launch a world tour in Japan...have postponed the kick-off due to an injury...bassist Tommy Stinson...accidentally fell down a flight of stairs"

I guess that the new GNR just doesn't compare to the original GNR's music or antics. Personally I think Slash should show up to all of GNR's dates, force himself on stage, and blow them new GNR imposters out of the water.

(Not the) Bonnaroo Artist Additions (We're Waiting For)

Bonnaroo announced its next round of underwhelming artist additions today. The evil geniuses at Superfly Productions decided to further increase the anticipation surrounding possible additions to the festival by announcing their Cafe Tent Artists.

Intended to showcase "many exciting regional and soon-to-be nationally known performers from all over the country" the Cafe tents allow festival goers the choice to take a break from some of the more crowded, high-profile shows and discover new music that they would not have heard otherwise.

Click here for a complete list of the Bonnaroo Cafe Artists.

Honestly, I am really starting to question if Superfly is trying to put on the best festival possible or if they're just waiting to see if tickets sell out quickly enough with the current lineup so that they don't have to pay anyone else to play. While I was initially very neutral about allowing Widespread Panic to close the 'roo; the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that Superfly just wants to see how quickly they can cash in on another Vegoose or Langerado-style spreadhead invasion. I've resisted the anti-Bonnaroo bandwagon for a while now; but if and when Bonnaroo announces yet another round of Port-A-Potty Artist Additions, I might have to jump ship.

What about the real additions? The last time I checked, Page, Umphrey's, Bisco, and moe. (the only group to perform at every Bonnaroo festival) are all free that weekend.

Snoop joins Trey for the 2007 Probation Tour!

According to Billboard, Snoop pleaded no contest to felony gun possession and felony drug charges today, allowing him to avoid what could potentially been several years in prison. The rapper was arrested last November when police found marijuana, cocaine, and a firearm on him upon being searched at NBC Studios while leaving "The Tonight Show".

Snoop agreed to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service. Fortunately, probation won't kill Snoop: since all of this took place in California, Snoop can still smoke weed as long as he obtains a medical permit to do so.

Snoop still faces separate felony charges after a security screener found a collapsible baton in his computer bag at John Wayne Airport (which was nothing more than a music video prop, according to Snoop and his attorneys.)

Lollapalooza 2007 Lineup

The Live Music Blog (of increased notoriety since being the first to post the Bonnaroo lineup a day early) now claims to have the Lollapalooza 2007 lineup a day early. Highlights include Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Ben Harper, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, The Roots, Silverchair (the same one from a decade ago?), Yo La Tengo, Stephen Marley, STS9, Sean Lennon, !!! (which I still don't know how to pronounce), Polyphonic Spree, The Wailers, Soulive, and the Cold War Kids.

Here is the complete (rumored) lineup.

Lollapalooza will take place from August 3-5 in Chicago's Grant Park.

I don't know about livemusicblog's source, which seems to be nothing more than a message board with links to other music blogs, clearly not as impressive as them catching the Bonnaroo folks' in the act of uploading the artist lineup before they had a chance to put a password on it.

If the lineup is accurate this looks like an amazing festival and I will surely be kicking myself when the time comes because I already know that I can't go.

Update: Livemusicblog is officially the first place to find internet leaks. The Lollapalooza lineup posted their earlier today has been confirmed by Rolling Stone.

Disco Biscuits to headline Starscape Festival

The Disco Biscuits will headline the ninth annual Starscape Festival in Baltimore on June 9. Unlike the usual 3-4 day music festivals that take place in the woods in what might as well be the 3rd world, Starscape is a 16 hour non-stop party which promises to deliver "an audio visual assault on the senses".

The festival will be divided between two stages and two tents. The Main Stage will feature The Brazilian Girls, RJD2, and Brothers Past in addition to the Disco Biscuits. The Beach Stage will feature live music until midnight when the dj's takeover until morning. The bigger of the tents, the Buzz Area, will primarily feature electronic dance music while the smaller tent, the Drum 'n' Bass tent, will feature "a bass heavy sound system sure to make your insides shake." If the sound is even half as sick as the festival seems to be advertising, this should be a pretty fun day/night/morning.

For those who want to test their endurance and make a full weekend out of it, the Disco Biscuits will also be playing Baltimore's Sonar Lounge the previous night, June 8.

D.U.M.B.(er)

The Disco Biscuits and Umphrey's McGee have expanded their plans to share the stage beyond the D.U.M.B. Trancegression Festival in Colorado this summer.

The D.U.M.B. summer-run (so far) is:
6/27 Charlottesville, VA (Charlottesville Amphitheatre)
6/28 Portsmouth, VA (Ntelos Wireless Pavilion)
6/29 Raleigh, NC (Lincoln Theatre Street Stage)
6/30 Atlanta, GA (Masquerade Music Park)
7/1 Pompano Beach, FL (Pompano Beach Amphitheatre)

The first question that comes to mind is obviously: who opens? who closes? both groups can't share the stage for the entire show, can they?

Obviously the question of who opens will not be as divisive for UM or tDB as say, David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar; but it's still a good question. Jambands.com is reporting that "in order to figure out who will close the tour's final stop, there will be a pre-show poker game between members of each band on stage at the four preceding gigs. The winner of this poker game will play the closing set in Pompano."

In other D.U.M.B. news there have been several additions to the Trancegression Festival. Additions include Galactic (late night), Greyboy Allstars (late night), Hot Buttered Rum, Zilla, Lotus, Pharcyde, and Blackalicious.

Phil Returns!

After bad to lukewarm reviews of Phil Lesh's first performance back since his battle with prostate cancer last night, it seems that tonight's show was a massive improvement, largely thanks to the presence of John Molo on the drums.

Phil Lesh and Friends 4/10/07 SOB's
Tonight's friends were Larry Campbell, Larry McCray, Steve Molitz (Particle), Christina Durfee (Trey Anastastio band), and John Molo

Set 1: Franklins Tower > Friend of the Devil > The Weight > Ship Of Fools*& > Blow Away*% Cold Rain and Snow*

Set 2: Jam* > Viola Lee Blues* > Jam* > Viola* > Candyman% > Watchtower > Cryptical Envelopment > Other One > Particle Jam > Terrapin Station$ > I Know You Rider

E: Next Time You See Me

*With Warren Haynes
&Warren Haynes Vocals
%Larry McCray vocal
$aborted early and restarted for guitars being retuned

Phil Lesh and Friends 4/10/07 SOB's
Tonight's friends were Larry Campbell, Larry McCray, Steve Molitz (Particle), Christina Durfee (Trey Anastastio band), and Jaz Sawyer.

Set 1: Bird Song > Althea > Big River > Built to Last > Jam > Let It Ride

Set 2: Shakedown Street > Deal > Loser > Tumbling Dice > Gentlemen Start Your Engines > Particle Jam > St. Stephen > Not Fade Away

E: Lovelight

Update: more good reviews of Tuesday's show, apparently Molo was indeed the key.

Live Earth...

The highly anticipated lineup for the U.S. leg of the global Live Earth concerts that will take place 7/7/07 at Giants Stadium, New Jersey, was released today.


Personally, I think that Gore should take a hint from Nancy Pelosi and just hire the "your house band" to headline the events, or at least make them interesting. I am about as excited for this Al Gore-creation as I was for his movie. At first I thought that there was a actually a chance that the movie could actually be more exciting than the concert! Though with Bon Jovi, Fall Out Boy, and Kelly Clarkson headlining the event, clearly I have been proven wrong. If you didn't pick up the sarcasm, redirect here.

But seriously, other than the possibility of Roger Waters opening the show with the entirety of Dark Side with a Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-1,000,000) transition into the entirety of The Wall (meaning that there would not be enough time for the other performers) my expectations for this show are pretty low.

Maybe the Smashing Pumpkins will surprise everyone and rock out the way they did between Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, though the half-of-the-original-band reunion never seems to go too well.

Maybe the Police will rock, though I am unwilling to make any predictions/opinions about this until I have the chance to see them at Bonnaroo.

One interesting tidbit is that the concerts will be streamed live at LiveEarth.MSN.com.

Umphrey's: Live at the Murat

I was fortunate enough last weekend to get up to Indianapolis to spend Easter seeing Umphrey's Mcgee play two shows at the Murat Theatre. I could not be happier that these two shows are scheduled to be released as a double-live album.

Night 1: 4/6/07
Set I: Push the Pig> Jimmy Stewart (lyrics)> Push the Pig> Out of Order, Nothing Too Fancy> The Fuzz> Nothing Too Fancy, Plunger
Set II: In the Kitchen*, Miss Tinkle's Overture, Believe the Lie, Get in the Van, Roulette, Ringo> Hajimemashite> Ringo
Encore: Partyin' Peeps
*First Half Acoustic

Night 2: 4/7/07
Set I: Atmosfarag, Liquid> White Man's Moccasins, Hurt Bird Bath, Higgins, Padgett's Profile
Set II: Ocean Billy, 40's Theme, The Triple Wide> Alex's House, JaJunk, Eat, Bridgeless
Encore: Mulche's Odyssey

Personally I thought that Night 1 was slightly better than Night 2, although the second night's dueling guitar battles that eventually peaked with guitarist Jake Cinninger on his knees shredding on the floor in a manner almost reminiscent of Hendrix will not be forgotten by this writer. Details on the release of these shows is still forthcoming, check back for updates.

On a side note, seeing Umphrey's this weekend as well as their St. Patrick's Day show in South Bend has convinced me that right now is a GREAT time to catch them...anywhere you can.

For the Umphreaks still reading this post, here's a pretty recent Jambase interview with Jake Cinninger.

A Cheesy Farewell

The String Cheese Incident officially announced their farewell tour dates yesterday. They include a stop at Bonnaroo June 15, a Beacon run from July 12-14, a Berkeley farewell July 21 and 22, a three night run from July 27-29 somewhere in Oregon, the Big Summer Classic in Missouri August 3-5, and a Red Rocks grand finale August 10-12.

Tickets go on sale through SCI ticketing May 8 at 10:00 A.M. (Mountain Time).

In this writer's opinion this will be more of a hiatus than a break-up, and there will be more incidents to come in the (not-too-distant) future.

Trey Gets a (Court) Deal

Not really any surprises here, but at least Trey's next solo album won't have to be "Live at Whitehall Prison"