John Mayer Names Songs For Dead & Company To Debut This Summer
Last weekend, the Grateful Dead SiriusXM show Tales From The Golden Road had a very special guest, as Dead & Company guitarist John Mayer made an appearance on the program. This was Mayer’s second time on the show, and he spent the majority of the session discussing the plans for the group’s upcoming tour.After discussing his appearance on the Chappelle Show and rehashing how he discovered the Dead, he spoke more in-depth about some of the plans Dead & Company has for the future. Among the conversation was a list of songs not yet performed by the Grateful group, including “Dire Wolf,” “Throwing Stones,” “High Time” and “Foolish Heart.” Fans can expect some of those when Dead & Company hit the road this summer.Mayer also spoke about how he loves playing the riff of “Althea,” and the encore songs like “Brokedown Palace” and “Ripple.” He also said that he prefers a slowed-down tempo for “Truckin’,” so he can catch up with the vocals, and thinks “Jack Straw” was slightly slower than it could have been in some previous performances.Dead & Company kick off their summer tour on June 10th. Full tour dates can be seen here.[H/T JamBase]
Colorado-based jammers The Magic Beans are heading out West the first leg of their “Wet Hot American Summer Tour,” bringing their danceable, multi-genre blend of music to California, Oregon, and Nevada. The first leg will all culminate in June at the band’s festival, Beanstalk Music & Mountains Festival; featuring bands like Electron, the New Deal, The Main Squeeze, Without a Net (Todd Stoops, Marcus Rezak, Haley Jane, Reed Mathis), RAQ, Orgone, and New Elastic Time (featuring 3 members of String Cheese Incident and Jamie Shields of the New Deal).The Beans are fresh off the release of their single, “As You Like It”, which premiered exclusively via L4LM, and they’ll be releasing more new music in the near future. This group has been gaining recognition everywhere they go with their relentless touring schedule, so there’s no reason to miss out!For more information about the band, head to their official website. You can also check out some of their music, for free, via Bandcamp.The Magic Beans Tour Dates5-11 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s5-12 Nevada City, CA – Crazy Horse Saloon5-13 Crystal Bay Casino – Crystal Bay, NV5-14 San Francisco, CA – Boom Boom Room5-18 Portland, OR – The Goodfoot5-19 Bend, OR – McMenamins5-20 Williams, OR – Apple Jam Festival6/10-12 Westcliffe, CO – Beanstalk Music Festival6/30 Ozark, AR – Highberry Festival….much more TBA
When the beloved Bear Creek Festival announced its forthcoming relocation from Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras World this coming fall, the reincarnation of the festival in the funk capitol of the world had fans thrilled. The new collaborations, once-in-a-lifetime superjams, and special tribute sets that have always defined Bear Creek and set it apart from other festivals did not disappoint, as Bear Creek Bayou impressed with a diverse and unique lineup.Today, Live for Live Music is excited to announce a funky late night for the ages, to ensure fans keep the party going, NOLA style. On Friday, September 30th, the official Bear Creek Bayou late night party will see funky live electronic duo The Floozies join forces with an all-star live band lineup at Republic NOLA to present Funk Court featuring John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood), Skerik, Ryan Zoidis (Lettuce), and Jesus Coomes (Lettuce). Tickets are available here.Having previously reworked Lettuce’s “Do It Like You Do”, The Floozies, consisting of brotherly duo Matt and Mark Hill, are more than familiar with the prominent funk band’s catalogue and look forward to putting their new age electronic spin on the high-energy tunes. Check them out performing the hit remix at Bear Creek in 2014 (courtesy of Funk It Blog):When the future-funk pioneers team up with a heavy roster of Bear Creek veterans and New Orleans regulars for a superjam for the ages, there’s no telling where the night will go.Tickets for this late night rager are available here and expected to go quickly! Bear Creek Bayou tickets and info can be found here.
The Firefly Music Festival is returning to the Woodlands of Dover, DE from June 15th – 18th, and they’re bringing a stacked lineup for the occasion. The festival has revealed hundreds of artists for this year’s events, including five great headliners in The Weeknd, Muse, Twenty One Pilots, Chance The Rapper and Bob Dylan.The full lineup includes Flume, Weezer, The Shins, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Franz Ferdinand, Glass Animals, Tory Lanez, Phantogram, O.A.R., Busta Rhymes, OK GO, Bob Moses, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Nahko and Medicine For The People, Stick Figure, Big Wild, Lawrence, Andy Frasco & The U.N. and so many more.Check out the full lineup and announcement video, below. Tickets and more information can be found on Firefly’s website.
If you’re into fresh, eclectic music, with a tasty spoonful of psychedelic West African influence, the new Barika album When the Time Comes will instantly make you turn your head and drop what you’re doing. Barika is a funky 6-piece group, led by Craig Myers on the ancient African instrument the N’Goni, also a long-time member and percussionist in Mike Gordon’s band, and founding member of the multi-dimensional ensemble Rubblebucket. Leaving his hometown of Burlington, Vermont in the mid-2000’s and traveling through different parts of Africa learning and observing various communities and styles of drumming has led Craig to new heights and boundaries with the work he has accomplished with Barika. When the Time Comes is a rare album; it allows the human mind to take a step back from the trials and tribulations in our daily lives, and provides a space to dig deep culturally and musically through the creativity that Craig Myers and the rest of Barika have created.Every track on the album besides “Dreams” is written by Myers and co-produced by Myers and Caleb Bronz, impressively displaying the heart and soul that was poured into the conceptualizing of this album, and bringing it to life. Opening song, “When the Time Comes,” starts off with some groovy string-work on the N’Goni, and as the beat builds, a powerful horn section enters, demonstrating exactly why Craig Myers has coined Barika’s sound as “funky, dubbed out, psychedelic West African flavored music.” The beautiful combination, of the N’Goni, horns, drums, and percussion, comes to a brief halt mid-way through the song, with faint, dubbed out tribal lyrics, and then smoothly flows back into the heavy-hitting groove that gets the album rolling.When the Time Comes sets itself on a unique path from Barika’s previous music, featuring several guest artists and vocalists such as Kat Wright, Stephanie Lynn Heaghney, Daby Toure, Mathew O’Brian, and Craig Mitchell. Track “Find My Way” featuring guest Craig Mitchell, starts off with a political tone, quickly encompassing the vision of every nation coming together as one, and eliminating division and social injustice that exists in our world today. As some would call aspects of the music political commentary, it more importantly provides a portal to connect with others through music on a universal level.Barika has big plans for the upcoming year, both live and in the practice room, kicking it off with the highly anticipated album release party of When the Time Comes. The famous Burlington, VT venue Nectar’s is the perfect place to release this masterpiece on February 17th, and kick Barika’s year off in style with a hometown-throw down. If you are able to make it out to Nectar’s the third Friday of February, you are indefinitely in for an eye-opening and pleasurable evening!You can pre-order your copy of the album here, and find out more about the band on their official website. Barika’s full tour schedule can be seen below.Upcoming Shows2/17, Album Release Party “When the Time Comes” w/ The Fritz @ Nectar’s, Burlington, Vermont3/9, Nublu, NYC [presented by People Time]3/10, Funk ‘n Waffles Downtown, Syracuse, New York *3/31, Positive Pie, Montpelier, Vermont4/22, Rockwood Music Hall / NYC4/28, Portland House of Music and Events, Portland, Maine **4/29, Nectar’s, Burlington, Vermont *** w/ Joe Driscoll** w/ Richard James and The Name Changers[Cover photo via Brian Jenkins]
Umphrey’s McGee is currently on tour, with their most recent stop at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta, Georgia last night. Following a crazy two days at Peach Music Festival, the Chicago rockers are two shows deep into their next slew of summer dates–which will bring them to LOCKN’ on Thursday for their highly anticipated UM > String Cheese Incident > UM > String Cheese Incident play.Umphrey’s McGee is known for their rock-heavy performances and complicated compositions, with a catalogue so expansive, you’ll never know what you’ll get. Their rabid fanbase lives for the setlists and the collaborations that result from the progressive rock band’s 20 year career. On Friday night, the six piece opened their set with a rare “Flamethrower,” a song performed only 26 times since its debut in 2012. The old-school rock anthems continued for the first set, with a “JaJunk” and “Miami Virtue” both jamming over the 12-minute mark. “Roulette” also made an unexpected appearance after a 161 show gap from 1/21/16. This led into another surprise visit from “Words,” which hadn’t been played in almost exactly a year, with a 92 show gap. The first set came to a close with a monstrous “Utopian Fir” that lasted over 16 minutes, leading into a “Glory” finale.Members of Umphrey’s McGee & Aqueous To Perform Green Day’s “Dookie” At Brooklyn Comes AliveThe second set opened with a cover of David Bowie‘s “Fame,” another huge bust-out for Umphrey’s McGee, only having performed it 11 times since 2004 and last time played during their Beacon Theatre run in 2016. The “Fame” jam continued into “Much Obliged,” which eventually invited moe. percussionist Jim Loughlin to join the stage for a 15+ minute “Ocean Billy.” With moe. on their indefinite hiatus, it was great to see Loughlin perform with his fellow rock mates. We will see moe. perform with Phil Lesh in place of bassist Rob Derhak, who is currently seeking treatment for oropharyngeal cancer, at LOCKN’ next weekend.From “Ocean Billy,” Umphrey’s kicked into “Den,” a song debuted in 2012, that’s been played only 26 times and never made it onto a studio record–though it earned a place on the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 from a 11/1/14 standout performance. The next big jam of the evening occurred with a “Phil’s Farm” into “Mail Package” deluxe. The set closed with “August,” before the band returned to the stage for “The Triple Wide” encore.Thanks to taper NSL, you can listen to the full show below:Setlist: Umphrey’s McGee | Chastain Park Amphitheatre | Atlanta, GA | 8/18/17I: Flamethrower > JaJunk, Roulette > Words > Miami Virtue > Cut Off, Utopian Fir > GloryII: Fame > Much Obliged > Ocean Billy*, Den, Phil’s Farm > Mail Package, AugustE: The Triple Wide*w/ Jim Loughlin (Moe) on percussion[cover photo from 7/23/17 by Phierce Photo by Keith G. (Instagram: @PhiercePhoto)]If you loved seeing Jim Loughlin sit in with Umphrey’s McGee, don’t miss moe.’s Al Schnier and Vinnie Amico at the upcoming Brooklyn Comes Alive with Joel Cummins and Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), set to take place across three venues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on September 23rd – 24th. The unique homegrown event puts the focus on the musicians, curating dream team collaborations, tributes, and artist passion projects for two full days of incredible music both new and old.The 2017 lineup is set to include hand-selected band lineups featuring all-star musicians like John Scofield, George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits), Mike Greenfield and Jesse Miller (Lotus), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident), Alan Evans (Soulive), Cyril Neville (Neville Brothers), Henry Butler, Jon Cleary, Reed Mathis (Electric Beethoven), Michael League, Nate Werth, Chris Bullock, Robert “Sput” Searight, and Bob Lanzetti (Snarky Puppy), Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band) and so many more!For a full list of artists, head to the event’s website. Two-day GA and VIP tickets are available now.
Phish’s thirteen-night Baker’s Dozen run at Madison Square Garden is officially in the past. After wrapping up earlier in the beginning of August, many Phish fans have their eyes set of the Vermont foursome’s Colorado tour closer at Dick’s Sporting Good Park next weekend. However, while we’re beginning to look to the future, many of us are still wrapping our minds around the historic run. As a fan or not, Phish’s Baker’s Dozen is the stuff of legends, and the group has a banner raised in MSG to prove it.DJ Logic, Members of Disco Biscuits, Break Science, & New Mastersounds To Play Post-Phish Dick’sIf you’ve been wanting to relive some of the magic of those sweet, sweet thirteen nights, then you’re in luck. A hero by the name of Simon Goetz has created a brand-new website that contains audience recordings of each night of the run, so we can enjoy the audio from the entirety of Baker’s Dozen for free. Not only that, but the aesthetics of the website are pretty on point. Take a look and a listen for yourself here.Donut Sampler: Relive Phish’s Baker’s Dozen By Rewatching These Free Pro-Shot Videos[Photo:Christian Stewart]
Parliament-Funkadelic brought out every weapon in their arsenal for their headlining spot at Augusta’s Major Rager Music Festival—a music festival on April 6th that coincides with the kickoff of the annual Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Course—under the direction of the funk commander general George Clinton. With a funk-heavy line up for this year’s edition, the Rager wisely chose the iconic P-Funk to cap their party, and the band did not disappoint. Luckily for the festival, the whole affair is held outdoors so there was no roof for the band to tear off, but that didn’t stop them from getting down and dirty after well-received sets from Dumpstaphunk and the James Brown Band earlier in the day.In his half-century of leading bands, Clinton has seen his projects progress from doo-wop singing groups to space-age funkateers to a wild mix of elder statesmen and fresh-faced players. The simple visual dichotomy of a silver-haired guitarist nailing classic riffs from Atomic Dog and other classics juxtaposed against the frenetic spinning multi-colored dreadlocks of his decades-younger backing guitarist told the tale visually as well as musically. Clinton’s strongest suit has always been his eye for talent and P-Funk’s current line-up is more than capable of honoring the past while taking their brand of jams boldly into the future!The crowd lined up hours before the doors open, clearly ecstatic to hear some funk classics played by the quintessential group that had crafted them. Though there was no shortage of young faces the crowd, like P-Funk, the Major Rager audience was a welcome mix of ages with fans who’ve been grooving to P-Funk since their heyday well represented. You can check out some of the magic in our three-part playlist below, starting with a 23-minute medley that features snippets of many of their classics and their trademark outrageous stage presence. Enjoy!<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span><span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>
[Video: Coy Combs] Yesterday, Cincinnati celebrated “Les Claypool Day,” a new honor that was bestowed upon the eccentric and beloved bassist, Les Claypool. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley declared that June 12th would serve as Les Claypool Day, with the announcement coming ahead of Primus’ show with Mastodon and Jjuujjuu at the nearby PNC Pavilion at Riverbend later in the evening.A number of official music ambassadors from Cincinnati’s government came out during Claypool’s performance at the PNC Pavilion, bestowing him with the Mayor’s official proclamation for Les Claypool Day. One of the members read it aloud to the crowd before passing it to Les, with highlights noting thatLes Claypool has demonstrated an incredible range of creative and musical output working with a wonderfully diverse range of musicians including Larry LaLonde, Tim Alexander, Trey Anastasio, Bernie Worrell, Sean Lennon, Stewart Copeland, Brian “Brain” Mantia, Jay Lane, Todd Huth, Tim Wright, Jeff Chimenti, Tom Waits, Fishbone, Hank III, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Alex Lifeson and Gov’t Mule, just to name a few.With another famed bassist, Bootsy Collins, on hand for the special ceremony during the show, after naming additional collaborations, including that he “jammed with Metallica on Isley Brothers tunes,” the speaker went onto explain that Claypool “even served as a guest lecturer and professor for Bootsy Collins’ Funk University.” The proclamation continued,The City of Cincinnati encourages Mr. Claypool to further engage with Cincinnati artists like Bootsy Collins to help us celebrate our rich musical heritage in King Records, and to make new music in sacred music locations. … The City of Cincinnati is proud to welcome Les Claypool back to the city as he performs as Riverbend with his band Primus, and leaves a standing invitation to always come back.You can check out a video of Les Claypool receiving his Les Claypool Day honor below, plus check out an Instagram post from Les, which shows him and Bootsy hanging out plus a full picture of the proclamation.
On Wednesday night, Dead & Company headed to Hartford, Connecticut, performing at a mid-week stop at the XFINITY Center ahead of the band’s upcoming two-night stand New York City’s Citi Field this weekend. From the opening “Hell In A Bucket”, the band was on, offering up a show of fan-favorites and particularly fiery improvisation.The opening “Hell In A Bucket” allowed for John Mayer to slowly build into his blistering lead solo on guitar, making for a celebratory start to the show. From there, the band landed in “Next Time You See Me”, a blues tune by Junior Parker, marking the band’s first performance of the number this tour. “Ramble On Rose” came next, followed up by Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, a gem of Hartford’s first set and a song last performed in November of last year in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Cumberland Blues” gave Jeff Chimenti to shine, laying out a rip-roaring solo on the keys. A stand-out “Black Muddy River” came next, with Dead & Company ending out set one with an explosive “Don’t Ease Me In”.“Hell In A Bucket” “Next Time You See Me”[Video: Matt Frazier]“Cumberland Blues”[Video: Matt Frazier]“Don’t Ease Me In”[Video: Matt Frazier]While Dead & Company offered up a lot of fan favorites during set one of the night, set two is when the band truly stepped out and shined. After a groovy set-opening “Feel Like A Stranger”, the band brought out “Viola Lee Blues”, much to the delight of the crowd. However, the band had something special prepared for the Hartford crowd, laying out the first two verses on the song before transitioning into an energized “China Cat Sunflower”. A particularly on-point transition led in “China Cat” into its beloved partner “I Know You Rider”, highlighting how much Dead & Company’s improvisational capacities have progressed over the years.“Feel Like A Stranger”Up next, the band laid out a tight rendition of “Man Smart, Woman Smarter”, marking the third time the group has performed the number since its debut at Bristow’s Jiffy Lube Live in June of last year (the band also performed it this fall at Madison Square Garden). From there, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart were given license to do their thing, with a particularly captivating drum section ahead of the re-emergence of the band for “Space”. With huge response from the crowd, the band crawled out of the ambient din of “Space”, making for a triumphant arrival in the third and final verse of “Viola Lee Blues”, completing the fan-favorite song that was started earlier in the set.“Space” > “Viola Lee Blues Reprise”[Video: Matt Frazier]By all accounts, the tour debut of “Looks Like Rain” in Hartford was the band’s best performance of the song to date, with other noting that it was the most powerful rendition of the song they’d heard in years. The standout song and true climax of the second set, Bob Weir’s soulful vocals and the mournful tune also laid a path for the set-closing rendition of “Not Fade Away”. With the contrast between the two songs so apparent, the crowd rejoiced with the emergence of The Crickets’ cover, singing the song’s refrain long after the band had exited the stage. After a brief break, Dead & Company returned, performing a gorgeous, moving take on the lyric “Brokedown Palace”.“Looks Like Rain”[Video: Jamey Klein]“Not Fade Away”[Video: Jamey Klein]“Brokedown Palace”[Video: Jamey Klein]Setlist: Dead & Company | Xfinity Center | Hartford, CT | 6/13/2018Set One: Hell in a Bucket, Next Time You See Me, Ramble On Rose, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Cumberland Blues, Black Muddy River, Don’t Ease Me InSet Two: Feel Like A Stranger, Viola Lee Blues (verse 1 & 2) > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Man Smart, Woman Smarter > Drums/Space > Viola Lee Blues (verse 3), Looks Like Rain > Not Fade AwayEncore: Brokedown Palace