If you walked in to the Abbey Pub for Terrapin Flyer’s Wednesday night jam on May 8th, you may have noticed something strange after the first couple of songs.  If you stuck around for the second set, and were well-versed in Grateful Dead history, you surely would have put the pieces together and realized that the band was “recreating” the storied 5/8/77 Barton Hall Grateful Dead show on the occasion of its 36th anniversary.

The idea of the band adding a “theme” for a night during this residency wasn’t new.  They had used previously Wednesday nights to build sets around classic Dead Albums (Workingman’s Dead and Wake Of The Flood have both gotten the treatment), that even utilized additional guests on horns, harp, and lap steel to fully represent the sounds of those albums.

The band began their weekly residency earlier this year, and are beginning to explore more creative ways to keep the experience fresh for the audience.  ”People like to have a reason to go out and we are trying our damnedest to give them one,” explains Terrapin bandleader Doug Hagman.  ”We are trying to show people we are working hard to give them a reason to come and to see what we’ve got going on.”

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The strategy seems to be working, as crowds are getting noticeably larger for some of the Wednesday gigs.  The late spring and summer will remain a fertile period for experimentation, and in the most crowd-friendly way possible: under the unsubtle branding of  FUMR, the band will play Free Until Melvin Returns, eschewing the door charge until Melvin Seals rejoins the band in June.

Each FUMR show will have a unique flavor.  Tonight’s gig will be a tribute to the Grateful Dead of the 80s.  Next Wednesday will tackle the 90s (an interesting proposition for a band who cut their teeth playing with Vince Welnick).  During the last week in May, in the midst of the Stones’ three-show Chicago run, Terrapin Flyer will offer an all-Stones set on May 29th.

The following Wednesday (6/5) falls in the middle of a four show swing through the Midwest with Melvin, and JGB will be front and center that night as they run through the beloved Jerry Garcia Band double live album with the guy who supplied the organ on those tunes.  They will also play a weekend (Saturday June 7) gig at the Abbey with Melvin.

Later on in June, Mark Karan will rejoin Terrapin Flyer and Melvin for its first ever East Coast run.  Plans for July, include recreating the Live/Dead with original player Tom Constanten.

What’s next for the residency?  Doug suggests theming nights around specific Grateful Dead years (1972 and 1985 come to mind) without the DSO-like recreation of actual shows.  Perhaps a Bob Dylan night will be in the cards.  Hagman muses, “Hopefully, we can take it a lot further with something way outside the GD mainstream.  Wavy and I have threatened doing a Devo night!”

After hosting for over a decade at Vasa Park in Elgin, Mr. Blotto shocked fans by moving their 2012 festival to the Illinois-Iowas border.  The Iron Horse Campground in Sabula, IA was the scene for the band’s most recent full album cover encore, The Allman Brothers Band’s Eat A Peach, as well as other cover and mash-up fun.

This year, they’re switching things up again, but bringing the party closer to home.  The 14th edition of Blottopia will take place back on the Fox River, 7/26 & 7/27, 2013 at Hideaway Lakes Campground in Yorkville, IL.

As usual, the festival admission will include on-site camping and two stages of music, with Saturday’s supporting bands to be announced (stay tuned here for info when it becomes available).  We expect another set length “encore” cover album. The only trick will be handicapping this year’s front runner.  With big albums by huge classic rockers (Beatles, Stones, Who, Floyd & Zeppelin), cult favorites (Marley, Talking Heads) and jammers (The Dead, Phish, Allmans) all off the table, this year could be a shocker.

They could stick with the classics and tackle Clapton (Derek & The Dominoes’ Layla, Cream’s Disraeli Gears), Credence, Hendrix or Traffic.  The Aerosmith choice in 2011 leaves the door open for hard rockers like Van Halen (which you know Mark could pull off) or AC/DC (Paul’s licking his chops).  But perhaps we’re ignoring the obvious: is a Bob Dylan album in the works?  There are more than enough candidates.  Or maybe this is the year a Widespread Panic album gets the treatment —  with Tall Boy being such a longtime staple in Blotto’s repertoire, stranger things have happened.

In any case, Hideaway Lakes has become a fast favorite for regional music festivals (it also hosts this year’s edition of Whippersnap Festival).  The facilities feature food and merchandise booths, hot  showers, and permanent restroom facilities with running water.

The campgrounds will open at noon on Friday for fans with advance tickets only and 4:00pm for gate purchasers.  Tickets are on sale now ($57-85), but sales end a week before the festival.

We had a ball at last year’s Whippersnap Festival, a fine mid-summer destination which married great regional talent with an emphasis on improv with some top notch national headliners.  The festival is back in 2013, though moving closer to Chicago, at HideAway Lakes campground in Yorkville, IL.  The lineup was released over the weekend on their facebook page.

Future Rock and Orchard Lounge topline the event, and Umphreys’ keyboardist Joel Cummins will mark his second year at the fest (this time with Cosby Sweater), but like last year, we’re also really excited about the undercard.  Yes, you read correctly, this is the first announced date for Barn favorites Strange Arrangement since their hiatus last fall.  That news comes with equal parts excitement and relief.

We’re also heavily tracking Main Squeeze (who we wouldn’t be surprised to see headlining fests like this by 2014) and have recently been indoctrinated into world of Brothers Rage.  So pleased to see friends like Fresh Hops, Paul Abella Trio and Goose Doctor round out a bill that features a metric ton of regional talent.

And unlike last year, there’s no danger of missing your favorite acts.  A tweaked format allows for two large stages for electric bands and a late night stage that with acoustic music after midnight.

The festival takes place the weekend of August 8th to the 11th.  The new facility promises…

Hot Showers, Laundry Facilities, Flushing Toilets, Free WiFi, Tons of shaded camping w/ electrical outlets available at many sites. A range of RV spots from primitive, basic electric and full hook ups w/ electric, water and sewage. The park has many water features.. 2 lakes that can be fished without license w/ a bait shop on site, 5,000 ft. of frontage on the Fox River and our personal favorite, a spring fed Olympic sized swimming pool that has views of the main stage. We take great pride in catering to those with children and our Lil Snap fun zone will feature a playground complete with slides, swings and monkey bars. There is a camp store for all your needs, craft beer vendors and food options will be available for the carnivores and vegetarians alike.

The promoters have promised a handful of lineup additions in coming weeks, so stay tuned.

This is the second edition of the The Barn’s These Are Your Jams series.  To see what this is all about, check out Volume One and for more jams check out our entire My Jams series.

1. There are some interesting trends in this installment, including lots of different takes on the singer-songwriter and moving that sound forward.  This guy had a front row seat on how do it from the best.  Discovering it in my stream on This Is My Jam, I actually really enjoyed this tune before I discovered that Harper Simon is the son of legend Paul Simon so I think that qualifies for succeeded on his own merits.  This tune is called “Bonnie Brae”.

2. Kurt Vile funnels a lot of lo-fi psych rock influence through his singer-songwriter filter.  The result,  “Waking On A Pretty Day”, is both hummable and pretty in that slightly unsettling and extended way.

3. Yellowbirds pour on the fuzz for a much more retro/60′s effect on “No Need For A Leader”

4. Phosphorescent is one of those “bands” that’s just code word for one guy, Matthew Houck.  His style is used to great affect on “Ride On / Right On”, with hints of his Southern roots coming through in sophisticated sonic layers and urgent vocals that give the tune a cohesive feel that belies its origin.

5. Chile seems like an unlikely place weird music.  But joining previous Chileans Holydrug Couple, on one of these lists is Follakzoid, with a tune that embodies the term “heady”, as if composed fully formed in the mind’s eye during a wild psychedelic night.  After viewing the darkened-night-drive-via-strobe music video its almost impossible to think of anything else while listening to “Trees”.

6. Jason Molina passed away on March 16th and I was remarked about how little I knew about this artist — especially given the reaction of the music community.  It was so disappointing that it was tragedy that inspired me to dive deeper into his catalog, but I was soon reminded about what had inspired so much grief amongst my peers.  This tune, “Transmission Failure” from his band Songs: Ohia popped up on my TIMJ timeline soon after, and its melancholy Neil Young-like feel was the punctation on my mini-immersion into Jason’s music.

Esteemed members of our 5 Bands That Should Be Bigger List, Snarky Puppy, played a pair of shows at Reggie’s over the weekend.  We so regret not being able to swing either show, but luckily, some of the magic of Saturday’s shows was captured on video and uploaded to youtube.

The first contains some advanced audience interaction techniques…

The second features an explosive solo by Shaun Martin

And a third… “Binky”

We’ve been tracking the evolution at Northerly Island since before it was even a project.  Now, in addition to the cool artists renderings, some photos are starting to emerge that give an idea of just how dramatic the “new” venue configuration will be.

This is great, since in the time since news broke of Phish gracing this new and improved (much bigger!) stage this summer, we’ve learned that we’ll also two incredible mutli-band bills at Northerly Island.  Black Crowes, Tedeschi Trucks Band and London Souls will arrive on 8/14 and a few days later Umphrey’s McGee ans STS9 will join forces on 8/17.

See if you can looks beyond the construction and the rubble to picture what these summer nights might offer.

Here are the photos (via PT userwhatrtheysayininYEM).

From the back of the lawn…

From behind the (in-progress) bleachers with nice Soldier Field view…

From the lawn

Some new signage

View back to the lake

Umphrey’s McGee front men played a set in-between two sets of Barn favorites Zmick at the Cubby Bear. The show was billed as a Summer Camp Festival warm-up.

Setlist (via thebort)

Brendan Bayliss & Jake Cinninger
Cubby Bear Wrigleyville
Thursday, May 9th, 2013

One Set: Puppet String > No Comment, The Linear > Glory, August > Cut the Cable > August, Soul Food I > The Girl Is Mine > Jane Says > The Girl Is Mine, Syncopated Strangers, Alex’s House, Pork Chop Pie, Black Water, In The Kitchen > Mediterranean Sundance > White Pickle > In The Kitchen, Susanah, Mail Package, Two Dips, Hajimemashite > Puppet String

Encore: Night Moves, Hangover[1] > Ride Wit Me[2] > 40′s Theme[3]

[1] unfinished
[2] Nelly; one verse
[3] with Layla (Derek and the Dominos) tease

Notes:
Summer Camp pre-party with Brendan and Jake
with They Love Each Other (Grateful Dead) tease before Pork Chop Pie

Here’s a vid that gives you a feel for being in the crowd…

Photo via @Soundcarreser Instagram

Note: I originally started writing this last year for this show’s 15th anniversary, but couldn’t squeeze it out on time.  Alas, here it is a year later.

This post is to commemorate an anniversary, but the anniversary that was on my mind on May 8, 1997 was the 20th birthday of one of the most celebrated Grateful Dead shows of all time.  In fact, the Maxell XLII of that show was queued up on my Walkman as I rode my bike around Chicago on unseasonably warm spring day prior to my first Widespread Panic show that evening.  Thinking back on that day, sixteen years later, I think it’s appropriate that these two shows will be forever linked in my mind.  The experience was an incredible introduction to the band, and the show is one that stands the test of time and should be considered among their best.

First, it should be known that this was no ordinary show.  It was the add-on free concert at the Vic (the public show was the next day at the bigger Aragon Ballroom) to celebrate yet another anniversary: the 25th year of Chicago’s finest rock radio station 93.1 WXRT.  Today, contests and ticket giveaways are coordinated mostly through a websites and social media outlets.  In 1997, there were a variety of options, all of them required a bit more work than just clicking a link and typing your address.  There was a mail-in component, call-in contests and my personal favorite the “Panic Attack”, where the station would sound an alarm and announce a random location in Chicago… it was up to you to get your Panic-loving ass to wherever in the city the radio station had designated to claim your free tickets.  Also, it seemed, the band had given away a bunch to friends and family.  The result — the audience here was hardcores — and the band was primed to deliver for them.

So what was I doing at this special gig for my first show?  In the mid-nineties I was in the midst of a self-directed jamband immersion program.  I had been a fan of Panic’s recordings, but their prior visit to Chicago (on Halloween) found me nearer to their home base, in Atlanta for Phish.  Therefore, I was just determined as hell to get into this show.  Some friends and I had scored some tickets after carpet bombing XRT’s mail in option.

I was also hoping to enter other brave new worlds.  The week prior I had taken shipment of my first piece of field recording equipment, and this was primed to be my first show as a taper (actually, a “patcher”) with a Sony D8 DAT machine, and was dying to give it a test run.

So for a first show, you couldn’t ask for a better set of cover songs.  Anchored by Traffic’s “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” and Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain”, these are the perfect combination of superb , under-the-radar choices  that really suck in a newbie, and finding out that they weren’t exactly heavily rotated WSP tunes was icing on the cake.  Of course it didn’t hurt that “Maggot Brain” segued so nicely into what remains one of the crown jewels in Panic’s repertoire, “Chillly Water” and that the whole sequence (and even more in the second set) featured frequent collaborator David Blackmon on the rock fiddle.

But from a pure musical perspective, the pre-drums segment of  ”Tie Your Shoes > Sleepy Monkey > Tie Your Shoes > Vacation” is the essential core of this show.  The whole sequence just seemed to emerge fully formed, with languid Mikey leads and dynamic JB vocals taking turns yielding to each other.  Of course, I had no way of knowing that these were three of the most underplayed originals in the Panic repertoire, but it is definitely something that draws me back to this recording again and again.  That run of tunes served to elevate a second set that is bookended by more pure Panic classics and capped off with the punchy, crowd pleasing “She Caught The Katy” as an encore.

My second show was the very next night and also had some nice highlights, but this one stands out, all these years later as one of the band’s finest.  I’ve long since turned in the DAT gear and that first tape is God-knows-where, but it wasn’t hard to find this remastered soundboard recording which makes revisiting that night even more worthwhile.  Have a listen….

The Stream

Download Entire Show (.zip mp3)

For a time, I had the craziest vision of the scene at the three Rolling Stones shows scheduled for the United Center later this month.  The shows were announced with the usual hype and all-out media blitz, but the winds of excitement quickly died down soon after the initial on sale.

The public was more outraged / indifferent than pumped when the price list was revealed for tickets to see these rock legends, even though it (this time for real) could be their last time mounting a huge tour. Mick Jagger even cheekily noted to journalist Greg Kot that he’d like to think there were tickets priced for everybody.  The reality: the majority of the arena was priced at well over $600 per ticket and thus the 300 section, “reasonably” priced at $150-250 per seat, sold out in minutes, leaving much of the rest arena relatively empty — blocks of 6 or 8 tickets in a row remained available on the floor and in the lower bowl long after the initial onsale.  My crazy vision: a tightly packed nosebleed section while the band played to a large nearly empty swath of seats down below.  Those who have been to the UC know how ridiculous of a prospect this seems.

Despite this, the second and third Chicago shows were quickly added to the tour roster with the first being far from a sellout.

Then, quietly, the Stones announced that a more affordable option would accompany the many tickets still available at face value. They would give fans the opportunity to purchase $85 tickets that would be randomly allocated to various parts of the arena, even the $1500 general admission Tongue Pit.  The catch? Fans would have to put in an advance request for these ducats and would be notified if a pair of these ‘limited’ seats would be available on the day of show, getting the location only after showing up at the venue.

The result of this offer?  Blocks long lines to claim $85 seats for their LA show opener, eventually resulting in a sell out.

@lefsetz how right you were… Look at the $85 ticket line at Staples for Rolling Stones. Slashed everything last min twitter.com/WesBrodsky/sta…

— Wesley Brodsky (@WesBrodsky) May 4, 2013

So, what initially appeared to be a blatant gouging of their fans may in fact turn out to be a shrewd business move and actually at least semi-fan-friendly.  Why?  It’s clear that the Stones would have no trouble selling out an NBA arena, even for three nights, at $85 per seat.  However, if  all seats were offered to the public at that price point, thousands would be snapped up by scalpers and speculators, forcing fans into as situation where they’d be forced to engage a scalper if they really wanted in.

As it played out, the Stones have effectively scalped their own tickets — and they did it right in the open instead of some shady back room like most bands do. And while some people ended up paying exorbitant prices, that revenue went to the band and the promoter instead of some scummy middleman who adds limited value in the process. And the people that did buy face value tickets?  Obviously they thought there was value at that price point, could afford it and wanted to guarantee entry.

Further, those $85 tickets are scalper proof. Locations won’t be divulged until you show up, with ID, at the arena. These are going to people who are willing to drop everything and see the Stones on a moment’s notice — a true fan. Can’t stand the uncertainty?  You can always pony up for a fave value ticket… if you think it’s worth it.

Still, there are elements of this scheme that are pretty shitty. Clearly, $85 ticket holders will have better seats that anybody who quickly snatched up seats in the 300 level, thinking that this might be their only affordable option.  It would be nice of those folks who shelled out got an option to upgrade seat locations or refund for a chance at an $85 seat.

In any case, this may very well be a glimpse at the future of ticketing.  What would you think if your favorite band decided to go this route?

If the size of venue and price of Rolling Stones tickets have soured you on the 50 and Counting Tour, here’s a chance to see some of the same guys bringing it to the United Center in a more intimate and slightly tweaked format.  In their (*ahem*) advanced age, the Stones have scheduled a few off nights during the three night Chicago run.  As in years past, sax-man Tim Ries will be taking this opportunity to bring his Rolling Stones Project to Martyrs on May 29th.

Tim has recruited his fellow side men, including vocalist Bernard Fowler and bassist Darryl Jones  and additional guests to interpret the Stones’ music in a jazz setting.  For the Chicago gig, Ries is getting even more ambitious, recruiting the DePaul University Big Band and promises even more special guests into the fold.  The show starts at 8pm and tickets will be a reasonable $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Check out this video to see what this “project” is all about.