For years we’ve heard about Jim James’ long-in-the-making debut solo full-length LP and this morning we finally have an official announcement. The My Morning Jacket front man’s Regions of Light and Sound of God is due for a February 5th release on ATO Records.

The nine-track album features Jim playing every instrument and was even engineered by James. The Kentucky native talked about the new release in a just-issued press release, “I wanted the album to sound like it came from a different place in time. Perhaps sounding as if it were the past of the future, if that makes any sense—like a hazy dream that a fully-realized android or humanoid capable of thought might have when it reminisces about the good old days of just being a simple robot.”

You can download the album’s first single Know Till Now, here…

And here’s the full tracklisting…

01 State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U)
02 Know Til Now
03 Dear One
04 A New Life
05 Exploding
06 Of the Mother Again
07 Actress
08 All Is Forgiven
09 God’s Love to Deliver

Head over to James’ new website for a variety of pre-order options.

[Pitchfork via CoS]

Gary Clark Jr. and the London Souls @ Brooklyn Bowl, November 6th

What can you say about an evening which opens with the London Souls (and Tash Neal) triumphantly returning to the stage, continues with Gary Clark Jr. ‘s jaw dropping performance in front of a packed house at Brooklyn Bowl and ends with President Obama’s triumphant victory over a bitter rival. Simply Wow. For many, it was their first introduction to the Austin guitarist and boy did he impress. Combining his hard hitting blues of When My Train Pulls In and Don’t Owe You A Thang with the ballad Please Come Home, he left the crowd cheering after almost everything song.

[All Photos by Jeremy Gordon]

Clark even brought out singer Bilal during his set before returning to his debut full-length album with Black & Blu and Bright Lights. As the band left the stage, the screens surrounding the crowd announced President Obama had won a second term and the cheering slowly turned into a joyous chant of “Four More Years!” For a city racked by the destruction of Hurricane Sandy it became a beautiful moment to join together as one.

Here’s a full gallery of photos from Brooklyn Bowl…

It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned the name Give Us The Money Lebowski around these parts as the band’s guitarist (and HT contributor) Nick Setteducato currently resides in New Zealand, but we’re excited to see GUTML will make their triumphant return, complete with “special guests,” on January 4th at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The gig is a fundraiser for the Rocking Out Cancer foundation, an organization founded by GUTML guitarist and cancer survivor Chris Cartelli which aims to raise funds which support clinical trials in cancer research through live music events. GUTML always peppers their set with plenty of covers and in the past they’ve torn through Godzilla, First Tube, Psycho Killer, Carini and Helicopters among other rock staples. Tickets are available here.

Here’s a look at six other stories of note this Monday…

• Rush will issue a deluxe version of 2112 next month
• INXS may have played their last show this weekend
• Stanley Jordan sat in with Phil & Friends last night
• Def Leppard will play entire Hysteria LP in Vegas run
• Jeff Ament chats with Glide for the mag’s My Roots
• Dog Gone Blog announces late-night New Year’s shows

You can always count on Keller Williams to make contest winner announcements interesting. Such was the case for the one-man-band’s contest to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Nashville to watch K-Dub perform with The Travelin’ McCoury’s. Watch as Keller, aka The Lone Ranger, picks the winner…

On a recent episode of The Office, Broccoli Rob (played by Stephen Colbert) yells “Why don’t you ask Trey Anastasio about my pipes?” A response is still forthcoming, but while we’re at it, let’s ask him how he has spawned so many amazing duos. The latest is Soule Monde, a band comprised of a couple TABers from the way back: Russ Lawton and Ray hard-to-spell-his-last-name Paczkowski. Their band name sounds like an exotic sex position, but it’s actually Lawton’s middle name combined with the lopped off end of Paczkowski’s first.

Like the Billy Martin and Wil Blades’ release Shimmy, Soule Monde features two locked-in players who start, end and center each other’s musical sentences. Lawton provides reactive, always in the pocket drums, and Paczkowski unearths a repository of moves heretofore only foreshadowed in his work as a sideman. Paczkowski demonstrates a thorough understanding of players like Jimmy McGriff, Art Neville, Jimmy Smith and Herbie Hancock. The grammy-nominated Lawton’s beats and fills push the melodies along a tightrope. Each tune started as an improvisation but was developed into a full composition: a recipe that can lead to some self-indulgent stinkers. But there’s nothing thrown together or haphazard or indulgent about this album. It’s a fully risen soufflé for the body and the mind.

After hearing Miss Miriam, I kinda want to meet Miss Miriam. She seems like a swell gal. She has some adventures, but even though she doesn’t always understand what’s happening to her she doesn’t get sad. The tune sounds like a space party version of Duke Ellington’s 1935 composition Reminiscing in Tempo with a few of the sections cut out. Ellington described this early masterpiece as beginning “with pleasant thoughts, then something awful gets you down. Then you snap out of it and it ends affirmatively.” Miss Miriam follows a similar narrative path. Bootsy Bonham draws inspiration from the failed blaxploitation detective movie franchise that teamed Bootsy Collins with a tough but lovable partner, John Bonham.

I don’t understand how the duo can get Slide B to hit like it does without Chris Wood in the band. Throughout this album, Paczkowski’s bass lines provide a solid basis for his clavinet and Lawton’s energetic rhythms. The Story starts off dark and dirty, but quickly adds a layer when Paczkowski transitions from clavinet to Hammond B3. It’s worth repeating that there is a narrative quality to a lot of these tunes–something I didn’t expect at all when I first heard about this band. The hint of Wilson in The Story will cause many folks to think of that other band that successfully turns spur-of-the-moment jams into epic tales full of peaks and valleys. If the first minute of Tango doesn’t cement Paczkowski as this generation’s Billy Preston, then grits ain’t groceries, eggs ain’t poultry and Mona Lisa was a man. If this album doesn’t elevate Soule Monde to a national tour and 17 more albums, I’ll be surprised. If anyone ever tells you instrumentals don’t tell a story, point them Soule Monde’s way.

While full album shows have become something of the norm in recent years, we haven’t seen too many bands outside of My Morning Jacket attempt to do what Deer Tick will do with their upcoming three-night residency at Brooklyn Bowl next month – tackle their entire body of recorded work.  Over the course of three Wednesday nights, the raucous bar-rock band will tackle almost all of their studio output – LPs and EPs – in their entirety sans their much-beloved debut War Elephant. The run will kick-off on December 5, with the pairing of Born On Flag Day and More Fuel For Fire, followed by The Black Dirt Sessions and Holy Sh*t It’s Christmas (12/12) and wrap with their most recent records Divine Providence and Tim (12/19). Tickets for the individual shows are currently on sale, as well as three-night passes for all the hardcore TickHeads.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

If you’re not into a night with John McCauley & Co., then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…

• Jeff Mangum: Winter Solo Acoustic Tour (1/9 – 2/16)
  
• Sigur Ros: Spring North American Tour (3/24 – 4/17)
  
• Jackson Browne: West Coast Acoustic Tour (1/19 – 2/16)
• moe.: February U.S. Tour (2/1 – 2/10)
• Yonder Mountain String Band: Winter Tour (1/10 – 2/2)
• Coheed & Cambria: Winter Tour (2/4- 3/16)
• Soundgarden: Winter U.S. Tour (1/18 – 2/16)
• The Darkness: Winter North American Tour (1/10 – 2/2)
• Shabazz Palaces: Winter Tour (1/18 – 2/1)

Trey Anastasio has usually avoided making music videos, but since his recently released LP Traveler was such a sonic departure, he’s made an exception. Rolling Stone has just premiered the animated video for Valentine which takes us perhaps a little closer than we ever wanted to be to Trey’s beard.

Take a psychedelic journey with Trey in the new video for Valentine…

[via Rolling Stone]

Back in September HT faves ALO made their Farm Aid debut during the 2012 edition of the long-running series of benefit concerts at HersheyPark Stadium in Hershey, Penn. The Californians were only given three songs, but they made each one count. All three tunes – Dead Still Dance, Speed of Dreams and Storms and Hurricanes were from their fantastic new(ish) album Sounds Like This.

Yesterday, pro-shot clips of all three songs surfaced on Farm Aid’s YouTube channel…

ALO @ Farm Aid 2012 – Dead Still Dance, Speed of Dreams, Storms & Hurricanes

Now that Steely Dan has been touring off and on for the past 20 years, it’s easy to forget that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker famously withdrew the band from the road in 1975 to focus on writing and recording. After reforming in 1993 the pair, and a variety of extremely talented backing bands, have toured the world a number of times; generally with a different setlist for each excursion.

Steely Dan soundboards have been few-and-far between, so we were thrilled to see a user named “buttmanos” on The Trader’s Den website [registration required] share a batch of crystal-clear recordings from throughout the “reunion years.” There’s four soundboards of note that all Danfans need to add to their collections. We’ve compiled links for them below…

“Dallas 1994 First Night” – September 2nd, 1994

Buttmanos’ Notes: Here is a fantastic soundboard recording from the 94 tour. The quality exceeds that of Irvine ’94 as that show is lacking in the bottom-end department. This one more than makes up for it! Indeed, we have a great stereo spread and a crystalline, transparent capture — this may be the best sounding Steely Dan ROIO ever. It is certainly in the upper echelon. Plus, we have a great backing band and an even better setlist.

• Where To Download: FLAC / MP3

“The Second Theater We’ve Blown up this Year” – June 25th, 2000

Buttmanos’ Notes: STEREO SOUNDBOARD A++ Uncirculated. By far the best sounding recording from the 2000 tour. 

• Where To Download: FLAC / MP3

“Touring 2K” – September 10th, 2000

Buttmanos’ Notes: SOUNDBOARD from CD Silvers

• Where To Download: FLAC

“Shuffle Diplomacy – Twenty Eleven” – July 22nd, 2011

Buttmanos’ Notes: A STEREO SOUNDBOARD Recording – with a beautiful wide stereo soundscape. Quality A++

• Where To Download: FLAC / MP3

The rate at which the quality of TV screens has increased over the last several years has been absolutely phenomenal. Screen size has been on an explosive growth both in terms of  physical size and resolution. At the same time, manufacturers are figuring out ways to produce these incredible quality pictures in thinner and thinner sets with smaller and smaller bezels. Unfortunately, one thing that simply hasn’t improved, and in many cases has actually regressed, is audio quality. With less physical room for the speakers, or awkward positioning necessitated by the lack of a bezel, many TV’s now have mediocre sound. This is not any concern of course when the TV is part of a home theater system. However, when space, budget or other personal considerations preclude hooking up your TV to an amplifier and speaker system, a sound bar can be an excellent way to dramatically increase audio quality.

This week we’ll take a look at a great budget sound bar: the Yamaha YAS-101. After recently participating in a small Google research project, I was rewarded with a $250 gift certificate to spend on literally hundreds of online stores. I figured it was a perfect time to finally get the sound bar that I had been itching to buy to upgrade the sound on my TV. There are scores of sound bars in the $200 – $300 range and I figured they’d all give a pretty decent sound and major upgrade to the horrendously under powered, tinny, small sounding speakers in my TV. Boy was I wrong. After purchasing and returning two, I nearly gave up before finding a superior product with excellent sound.

[Yamaha YAS-101 Sound Bar]

Normally, I am pretty good at reading reviews and doing research before dropping coin on a gadget, device, speaker or anything electronic. Yet, with the “free money” that I received from Google, I neglected to do much research and just bought one of the first sound bars that I came across on Crutchfield.com. Sadly, the first sound bar that I picked out and received was quickly boxed back up and returned. The LG NB2420A ($179.99) seemed to offer a lot: 160w offering decent power, six speakers including four mid-range and two tweeters, Bluetooth connectivity and plenty of other connection options including analog, digital and optical. Yet the sound was horrible. It sounded muffled, muted and as if it was coming out of a pair of tin cans. Not only didn’t it offer much, if any, upgrade over the existing speakers in my TV, it actually made it worse. The sound bar blocked the IR sensor for my TV making it difficult to use my remote for simple things like turning the TV on. Not only that, the remote for the sound bar itself was very unresponsive and difficult to adjust the volume unless the remote was precisely pointed at the exact spot needed on the sound bar. So despite a quick connection (just power cord and optical cable for sound), and sharp looks, this sound bar was a total failure and returned the following day.

My next purchase was Samsung’s HW – E551. This sound bar was a little different from the LG that I had just returned. Like many budget sound bars now, the Samsung had a subwoofer unit to provide additional bass. But while the sound was more impressive than the one I had just returned, I still felt that it was lacking “oomph” and it still left me craving better sound. The volume was better than my TV but I was having a difficult time justifying the more expensive price of $297.

Sound bars, like speakers or most other pieces of audio equipment, range all the way up the many thousands of dollars. I figured that the sound I was craving was much deeper into the price category than the roughly $250 I wanted to spend. Yet, I decided I’d give one more a spin before giving up. Thankfully, patience was a virtue.

Technology Tuesday Pick for Budget Sound Bar: Yamaha YAS-101 [$249]

Wow!

After failing at picking out two previous models, I didn’t expect much but was I sure blown away. The sound is spectacular and a major upgrade to my TV’s speakers. Not only is the volume impressive, but the clarity, “punch”, bass, and overall tone is fantastic. Streaming YouTube music videos, concert videos or movies with a decent soundtrack through this sound bar made a REMARKABLE difference from what I was accustomed to. Additionally, voices have much more clarity and I find myself not having to hit the rewind button anymore with a “what did he just say?” moment.

[YAS-101 Side Angle]

Here’s a few things I really love about this sound bar:

• There is a sub-woofer but it is built right into the bar itself not requiring a separate unit taking up more space.
• It has an infrared “pass through” that allows your TV remote to work normally if the bar is positioned in a way that would normally block the TV’s remote sensor. This is incredibly handy and overcomes  a major inconvenience of many sound bars that are not wall mounted and simply sitting in front of the TV.
• Fantastic overall sound. Again, even $5,000 sound bars are never going to replicate the true experience of surround sound, but this sound bar gives a great imitation offering full room sound and great stereo separation. Concert videos, movies, TV shows and everything else I played through it had immensely better sound than both the previous sound bars I tested as well as the existing speakers on my TV.
• The sleek, clutter-free design of the front panel is very attractive and simply looks great.
• The learning function allows you to use your existing TV or Cable remote for easy operation. This makes a HUGE difference in convenience without having to reach for a separate remote every time you want to change volume. Without either a universal remote that could handle a sound bar or this learning function built into the YAS – 101, I frankly would not even want to have a sound bar.
• Quick and Easy set-up. Without a separate sub-woofer, or anything else to configure, simply power on, connect to TV, and you are off and running in 30 seconds.

A couple of Drawbacks:

• Some sound bars, including the LG I tested, have Bluetooth connectivity so you can not only use with your TV but stream audio from a tablet or MP3 player. Similarly, some have USB ports so you could stream music from a flash drive. I have enough devices to listen to music and would never want to listen through a sound bar but if you do, that would be a consideration.
• Fewer connection options. There’s no HDMI or Analog input options. You’ll connect your TV with one of the two optical inputs that most HD TV’s offer or the coaxial input. You won’t be able to directly connect devices like game consoles that only have analog connections. (Though of course you can always connect to TV first and then use the digital input from TV). So again, not a major short coming but worth mentioning.

Bottom Line This sound bar is an outstanding choice for those wishing to markedly increase the fidelity, clarity and overall sound of their flat screen TV without the expense or hassle of running wires and installing a traditional surround system. The sound bar is stylish, will work with your existing remote and is easy to use right out of the box. There’s tons of sound bars in this price category but some of them offer mediocre sound and don’t warrant the investment at any price. The Yamaha YAS-101 will not disappoint and offers fantastic sound.

Yamaha YAS-101 $249 Amazon

MSRP $299
___________
We had yet another give-away last week in our review of great earphones from British company RHA. Congrats to John Vantine (@w00t) who was randomly picked. Feel free to get in touch with me with the email below to get shipping info.

________________________________

Hidden Track Technology Tuesday

email: parker@glidemagazine.com
twitter: @tmwsiy
voice-mail:  (781) 285-8696

Have an idea for an article?

Product, app, or web service you are passionate about? Feel free to get in touch with me.

“Which one of these doors leads to where I belong?” inquires lead singer JP Biondo on Doors, the addictive first track on the new album, Leap from Ropeadope Records’ bluegrass outfit Cabinet. Doors mirrors a band not afraid to persevere against the odds while taking calculated risks in an effort to breakthrough. A seasoned group of musicians, having already released three live albums Eleven, Covers and Set I, this LP marks an exciting and fresh chapter for the Pennsylvania band, displaying their prowess on a number of contagious cuts.

Comprised of JP Biondo (mandolin/vocals), Mickey Coviello (guitar), Pappy Biondo (banjo/vocals), Dylan Skursky (bass), Todd Kopec (fiddle) and Jami Novak (drums), the band reworked many classic tunes that hard core fans will recognize from tour rotation, as well as unleashed some songs not previously performed before. A jam juggernaut, part bluegrass, rock and country, Cabinet features a distinct variety of lasting flavors that even the most distinguished music connoisseur will find something new in their sound. Leap is an assemblage of quality songs that harken back to the older times, where each song’s monster melody and gyrating groove segues into the next, leaving one consistently satiated after each cut.

Although naturally compared to similar acts in the genre like Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth and Cornmeal, Cabinet’s music jumps out with a flair and texture all its own. Intricate fast tempo and toe-tapping tracks like Susquehanna Breakdown and Eleanor further establish Cabinet as possessors of impressive instrumental chops that they weave among layers of distinctly professional musicianship. The songs are filled with luscious harmonies, grand and euphoric in scope and sound, the depth of which are accentuated with the powerful banjo picking by Pappy and finesse fiddle mastery by Kopec. With descriptive and soulful lyrics delivered with the exquisitely clear and comfortably haunting voice of JP Biondi, a world of moonshine and playful mayhem develops from track to track.

[Photo by Jim Gavenus]

The album was recorded over four days at the Windmill Agency outside the band’s home in Scranton, Penn. Allowing loyal local fans access to the recording process, the band sold 20 tickets to each of the album’s recording sessions, raising half of the funds needed to pay the recording costs. Leap is an example of what a band can deliver through confidence, perseverance and determination. Cabinet sets an indelible mark with an impressive album reflecting the American bluegrass tradition. With Leap, due out on Nov. 20th, they are successful in releasing an effort which will create a lasting impression to music lovers of all genres.

The video for the upcoming holiday collection from the Polyphonic Spree gets the yuletide season off to a spirited start. It’s a short whimsical story about some North Pole elves making presents, whereby one elf misplaces his sandwich and sends it down the assembly line. Hopefully, the kid who receives that particular present likes Arby’s. The album, entitled Holidaydream: Sounds Of The Holidays Vol. One, contains holiday standards, a pair of originals and a cover of Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War is Over).

Life I love you, all is groovy…

Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro: Look Around the Corner

Quantic is Will Holland, British producer and groove merchant now residing in Columbia. This album featuring a full band and Alice Russell on vocals is a barrel full of boogaloo. Punctuated equally by funky rhythms, popping bongos, flutes and even lush strings this feels simultaneously throwback and forward looking. This album is an open bag of Doritos: to take one is to devour the whole lot of it. Dare you not to love this.

Spotify: Quantic & Alice Russell – Look Around the Corner (with The Combo Barbaro)
MOG: https://mog.com/m#album/65672269
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B007MSQ692
Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/quantic/album/look-around-the-corner-tru-thoughts-records

Erik Deutsch: Demonio Teclado

Erik Deutsch is one of those classic under-the-radar musicians that’s spent a good deal of time making other people’s music sound better. Here he spearheads an ultra-funky, Rhodes-heavy album rife with interesting compositions and great playing. The title of the album translates to “keyboard demon” which suffices to describe Deutsch’s work. It’s the little things that elevate this album, though, flashes of pedal steel, killer backing band and a perfectly (and ironically) grooved-up cover of Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down.

Spotify: Erik Deutsch – Demonio Teclado
MOG: https://mog.com/m#album/64427955
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B0079DH4B4
Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/erik-deutsch/album/demonio-teclado

Third Coast Kings: Third Coast Kings

Unabashed, old-school funk music, Third Coast Kings play the real deal. Updated James Brown-style grooves are the starting point, and the Kings take that sound through all sorts of different exercises and experimentation. Through and through, this album swings. This is music to move your body to. Enjoy.

Spotify: Third Coast Kings – Third Coast Kings
MOG: https://mog.com/m#album/63256051
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B006XDSLWC
Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/third-coast-kings/album/third-coast-kings

moe. @ Capitol Theatre, November 9th

Words & Photos: Nick Irving

The Capitol Theatre, and moe. were a perfect match of top notch rock and world class sound this past Friday night.  First time patrons couldn’t stop buzzing about the new venue, especially the lights, the humongous balcony area, and friendly, hassle-free staff.  For their part, moe. delivered a highly enjoyable show that pleased both the hyper-critical vets, as well as newer moe.rons. In a testament to the overall experience. at the end of a monster three-song segued encore (Seat of My Pants, Zed Naught Zee > Spaz Medicine > Zed Naught Zee) the packed floor held their ground, unable to let the night draw to a close. Clearly nobody wanted to go.

I: Rainshine, Don’t Fuck With Flo > The Pit > Shoot First, Lazarus, Jazz Wank > Buster
II: Smoke > (nh) Threw It All Away, Suck A Lemon, Time Ed > Y.O.Y. > Spine Of A Dog > Time Ed > Spine Of A Dog > Plane Crash

Enc: Seat Of My Pants, Zed Naught Z > Spaz Medicine > Zed Naught Z

setlist via moe’s facebook

Here’s a full gallery of photos from moe. at the Capitol Theatre…

South Florida music videographer Adam Firtel and his krewe at CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS were on hand for this past week’s Bear Creek Music & Art Festival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. The veteran videographer offers up his TOP 10 moments, on video, from the 5th annual, funk-filled, North Florida fall festival. For more information and highlight videos, check out CHeeSeHeaDPRoDuCTioNS on Facebook or adfirtel on YouTube.

1. From Day #1, Thursday, November 8th, New Haven, Conn. based Kung Fu on the Amphitheater Stage performing God Made Me Funky…

2. With a buzz still in the air from the Kung Fu set, NOLA based Khris Royal & Dark Matter performed up the hill from the Amphitheater Stage on Uncle Charlie’s Porch Stage…

3. Day 1 ended with a rousing late night set from the visually stunning, stilt walking, circus-like, 25-piece March Fourth Marching Band inside the Music Hall. This is a cut from their early Friday afternoon set in the Amphitheater…

4. With the sun setting on Friday, South Florida based jamband The Heavy Pets offered up a rager of a set on Uncle Charlie’s Porch Stage which featured a silk aerialist performing on stage with the band. This is their encore with The Lee Boys’ Roosevelt Collier sitting in on Jackie Bones…

5. With the funksters rolling in steadily throughout the day, Friday evening at Bear Creek is always a special time. And while Umphrey’s McGee was melting faces with their two-set performance on the Amphitheater Stage, Daptone Records offered up a Super Soul Revue out on the Purple Hat Stage featuring the likes of Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and The Budos Band. This is Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings teaching the kids a thing or two about some dance moves from the past…

6. The beautiful fall weather and stellar lineup of this camping based festival brought in a Saturday crowd estimated to be about 7,000. This is Zach Deputy doing his one-man dance party on the Amphitheater Stage with a stage full of costumed dancers.

7. The Purple Hat Stage on Saturday featured A Royal Family Affair with the likes of Nigel Hall & Alecia Chakour, The Alan Evans Trio, Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 and Soulive. This is Lettuce opening their evening set to a revved up crowd with Madison Square…

8. Followed late night with The Royal Family Dumpstajam featuring Dumpstaphunk with guest and master bassist George Porter Jr., here covering Neil Young’s Down By The River…

9. With the festival winding down on Sunday and the funksters getting in their last minute fix, George Porter Jr. & Runnin Pardners offered up a special guest laden set on the Amphitheater Stage. This is their finale with guests Eric Krasno, Skerik and Ike Stubblefield…

10. With the sun setting on the festival and so many new memories and new friends on hand, The New Mastersounds grooved out on Uncle Charlie’s Porch Stage. Here are the boys from across the pond, with guest keyboardist Robert Walter who sat in throughout the weekend due to a Visa/travel issue with Joe Tatton, the band’s regular keyboard player. Well, by the end of this one there were four keyboardists, along with guest Will Bernard, filling Tatton’s shoes…

Big thanks to Paul Levine and the krewe at Bear Creek for always bringing the funk. Here’s over 60 more videos from various sets. See you next year at The Creek!

Last week we told you about the “12-12-12” concert on December 12, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in NYC that will be put together by the team that organized the post-9/11 Concert For New York. Today we have our first artist announcement and it’s insane – Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Roger Waters, Kanye West and The Who have all signed on to perform with more artists to be announced soon.

Ticketing information will be revealed in the coming days. All proceeds from this special one night only live music event will help provide assistance to the millions of people throughout the tri-state area who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

In less than a week the long-awaited Led Zeppelin concert film Celebration Day comes out on Audio, DVD and Blu-ray featuring all of the band’s reunion gig from 2007. Last week Kashmir from the film surfaced on LZ’s YouTube channel and today they’ve shared the ferocious Black Dog. Take a look…

Led Zeppelin – Black Dog

The latest leg of Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Alchemy Tour kicked off this past weekend in Seattle, but the first real bust out of the leg took place on Tuesday in Calgary. When the legendary rocker and his longtime backing band returned to the stage at the Saddledome for an encore, they lit into a revved up version of the 1970 classic Helpless.

[File Photo by Lee Fenyves]

While Neil has performed Helpless at Crazy Horse shows in the past, it was usually played during his solo, acoustic portion of the show. According to a commenter at Thrasher’s Wheat, Tuesday’s performance marked the first electric Crazy Horse take on Helpless since 1976. After hearing so many pretty, downtempo versions of Helpless, we dig this more fast-paced, hard-edged take…

Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Helpless

The Alchemy Tour moves on to Winnipeg, Manitoba tomorrow night.

[via Trasher's Wheat]

Los Angeles’s Flogging Molly and London’s Mumford & Sons share this weekend’s episode of Austin City Limits on your local PBS station. The former offer hits from throughout their illustrious career while the latter make their ACL debut in this repeat from last season.

Friday, November 16 [All Times ET]

• AC/DC – Live at River Plate [AXS TV 1:50PM]
• Wilco, DMB and Flaming Lips – Hangout Fest ’12 [Palladia 3PM]
• Divine Fits on David Letterman [CBS 11:35PM]
• Vampire Weekend on Jimmy Kimmel [ABC Midnight]

Saturday, November 17

• Flogging Molly / Mumford & Sons – Austin City Limits [PBS]
• Stone Temple Pilots – Live From Chicago [Palladia 11AM]
• The Civil Wars on Unplugged [Palladia 3PM]
• Maroon 5 on Saturday Night Live [NBC 11:30PM]

Sunday, November 18

• U2 – Saturday Night Live [VH1 Classic Noon]
• Queen – Rock Montreal [Palladia 3PM]
• Ladies and Gentlemen – The Rolling Stones [VH1 Classic 6:30PM]
• Fountains of Wayne – Special Performance [AXS TV 9:35PM]

It’s quite possible that over the course of the last 40 years, on every college campus across the country the following question was posed late one night between two stoned kids in their dorm room – “Hey man, what if the Dead covered Stairway?” Well, while Jerry & Co. never attempted to put their stamp, on arguably one of the most iconic tunes in rock history, last Sunday night at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom, Phil Lesh & Friends finally answered that question when they ignored the sign hanging backstage, and dropped their take on the tune in the midst of their most iconic tune – Dark Star.

With the help of Stanley Jordan on guitar and vocals, Lesh and his latest iteration of his rotating & Friends band, laid downed a very Dead-inspired on the classic Zep tune. Let’s check it out…

Phil Lesh & Friends continue their New York City-area tour tonight, with a gig at the recently reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

In 1994, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival, the event’s promoters threw another huge festival featuring many of the top acts of the day as well as a handful of bands that played the original Woodstock to a large field in Saugerties, New York. An estimated 350,000 music fans attended Woodstock ’94, aka Mudstock, which saw sets from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, The Band, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan and Metallica over the course of its three days.

Primus was at their commercial peak in 1994 having recently released Pork Soda which debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top Albums chart. Les Claypool, Larry “Ler” LaLonde and Tim “Herb” Alexander performed a 10-song set at the second day of Woodstock ’94 that featured a sit-in from Alice In Chains’ guitarist Jerry Cantrell on Harold of the Rocks and a cover of Master of Puppets by Metallica. Though the most unforgettable moment of the set was when the crowd started pelting the band with mud during…you guessed it – My Name Is Mud. Claypool stopped playing and told the audience “Well I opened a big-ass can of worms with that one, didn’t I? The song is called ‘My Name is Mud’, but keep the mud to yourselves you son-of-a-bitch.” So check out the entire Primus performance from Woodstock ’94 as this week’s Full Show Friday selection…

Primus – Woodstock ’94

Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
Bob 6:51
My Name is Mud 11:29
Jerry Was A Racecar Driver 17:32
Seas of Cheese 21:40
The Air is Getting Slippery 22:28
Nature Boy 25:16
Harold of the Rocks 34:09
Master of Puppets 45:18