News
Edited by Staff
11/19/99
Phish to Take a Year Off?
The latest edition of Rolling Stone reports that Phish may be taking "at
least a year" off after the summer of 2000. Guitarist Trey Anastasio talks
about the fact that the band hasn't had an extended break since 1987 and that
the time off is crucial to the future of the band. There is the possibility
that Trey would tour with his solo trio, which last year included bassist
Tony Markelis, of the Unknown Blues Band and drummer Russ Lawton, of the
Gordon Stone Band. "Hopefully with Trey, we'll do something again soon,"
Lawton told Jambands.com in September. "I saw him back in July at the Great
Woods shows and he said 'you sure you wanna do this again?' and I was like,
'You know it man.' He knows I love him. I had too much fun on that tour.
So, hopefully we'll do it again." The latest edition of Phish's newsletter,
The Doniac Schvice, reports that the band plans to spend the first couple
months of 2000 finishing their new studio album and then hopefully return to
Europe and Japan before embarking on a lengthy US summer tour.
Blues Traveler Hires New Bass Player
Blues Traveler has announced that Tad Kinchla will be the band's new bass
player. Kinchla is the younger brother of Blues Traveler guitarist, Chan.
Tad will be replacing the late Bobby Sheehan, who died from an accidental
drug overdose in August. "As painful as the situation has been for us," says
Chan, "having the opportunity to play with a great musician and my brother
makes me excited for the future." The band has not yet announced any plans
to tour.
Jorma, Warren & Phil Jam with Dylan
Last night's Phil & Friends set, at the Mullins Center at UMASS, Amherst, was
the last performance of the tour with Bob Dylan. Phil Lesh, Warren Haynes
and Jorma Kaukonen joined Dylan and his band on stage. Haynes was the first
to emerge, and sat in on a blistering "All Along the Watchtower." Next Dylan
busted out the rare "Highlands" (which was only the fourth time he has ever
played it). To round out the set, Jorma and Warren came out to jam on
"Highway 61 Revisited." For the encore, Dylan played "Love Sick" and "Like a
Rolling Stone" before Lesh joined him for "Friend of the Devil." Next, Jorma
and Warren came out and Phil remained for "Not Fade Away" and "Alabama
Getaway." After leaving the stage, Dylan and his band came back out for
"Blowin' in the Wind" and "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35."
Lesh also joined Dylan for encores of three other shows on the tour: "Friend
of the Devil" and "Not Fade Away" on 11/8, "West LA Fadeaway" and "Not Fade
Away" on 11/10, and "Alabama Getaway" and "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" on
11/13.
11/18/99
Jeff Sipe to Sit in with Jazz is Dead
Original Aquarium Rescue Unit members Jeff Sipe and Jimmy Herring will play
together tomorrow nigh at the Somerville Theater during the Jazz is Dead
show. Sipe has confirmed that he will sit in after playing with Leftover
Salmon earlier in the night at the Paradise in Boston. Sources say Jazz is
Dead will play two sets and then Sipe will join them for a "New Year's style"
extended encore. Since Jazz is Dead drummer Rod Morgenstein is left-handed,
a right-handed drum kit will be provided for Sipe and both drummers will play
together. Oteil Burbridge, another original member of ARU will be a special
guest of Soulive, at the nearby Middle East in Cambrige tomorrow night.
There is still no word on if he'll join Sipe and Herring at the Somerville
Ominous Seapods to Open "moe.llennium"
moe. has just announced that the Ominous Seapods will be the supporting act
for their New Year's Eve show. This will be part of the band's two-day
"moe.llenium" celebration, being held at the Mid Hudson Civic Center in
Poughkeepsie, NY. No opening act has been announced for December 30. For
more information, visit http://www.moe.org/
11/17/99
Ratdog, Mickey Hart and
Hot Tuna to Play Warfield on NYE
Ratdog, Mickey Hart's Planet Drum and
Hot Tuna will perform at the Warfield
in San Francisco on New Years Eve. The official announcement should be made
within the week. Hot Tuna's Jorma Kaukonen joined Phil & Friends Monday in
Ithaca, NY and will play the tour's final shows, tonight in Durham, NH and
tomorrow night in Amherst, MA. Jorma will then tour with Hot Tuna starting
November 22 in Maryland and concluding December 8 in Portland, OR.
Meanwhile,
Mickey Hart is on the road signing copies of his new book, Spirit
into Sound: The Magic of Music and
Ratdog is touring nationally until
December 2.
Wife of Los Lobos Guitarist Still Missing
The wife of Los Lobos guitarist, Cesar Rosas remains missing today. Sandra
Ann Rosas was last seen more than three weeks ago in her Los Angeles home.
The LA County Sheriff's Department said Rosas' half brother, Gabriel Gomez is
the prime suspect in her disappearance. "It doesn't look very good that
she's still alive," says Detective Mike Scott. "We believe (Gomez) is the
party responsible. As long as we have him, it gives us more time to do a
complete investigation." Rosas was reported missing on October 23 when her
daughters returned home to find the family van missing. There was glass in
the driveway, the front door of the house was left open and their mother was
gone. One of the daughters then called her mother on a cell phone and
overheard a conversation in which Gomez was making threats on Rosas. "I won't
go into the threats, but from our standpoint, it's something that's not
good," says Detective Scott. Gomez was arrested on kidnapping charges
October 24 after the van was recovered next to a bar that he frequents in La
Puente, CA. The District Attorney's office decided not to file charges
against him at the time. He remains jailed on an unrelated parole violation.
Los Lobos has canceled all of their remaining November shows including:
11/17 San Diego, CA
11/19 Chicago, IL
11/20 Chicago, IL
11/21 Minneapolis, MN
More cancellations may follow.
11/16/99
Page and Sofi McConnell: It's a Girl
Sofi McConnell, wife of Phish keyboardist, Page, has given birth to a baby
girl named Delia Edna McConnell. She was born over the weekend. Fans may
remember a very pregnant Sofi joining Phish on stage this past summer and
fall, to perform the "Meatstick Dance." Congratulations Sofi and Page!
Work For Phish on NYE
Fans that are having a hard time coming up with the $150.00 for a ticket to
Phish's millennium celebration may now have another option. Eden Staffing Services
is looking for more than two hundred people to work for Great Northeast
Productions at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation December 27 - January
2. Positions include ticket-takers, parking attendants, food servers and
clean up crew. In exchange for a free wristband that will get you into the
show, employees must work a minimum of twelve hours. You must be at least
eighteen years of age and have two valid forms of identification. Although
Eden Staffing has received an overwhelming response since making the
announcement late last night, a few positions remain. For more information,
contact Julie or Dana at 561-330-2525.
High Sierra Music Festival Finds a New Home
The High Sierra Music Festival has announced that after six years in Bear
Valley, it will relocate to the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy,
CA. The move comes as a result of changes in the use of property at the
original site. "It was getting harder and harder for us to keep the festival
in Bear Valley," says High Sierra President Rebecca Yudenfreund. "In order
to do that it would mean sweeping changes to the structure of the festival.
We look forward to coming to a community that really wants the event, and is
willing to commit in the long term. Quincy (75 miles NW of Reno) is a great
place for the festival. There's a swimming hole nearby, an Olympic sized
swimming pool adjacent to the festival site, on-site late night music, and
access to town. The year 2000 is our tenth anniversary, and we're looking
forward to presenting a really memorable event." Bands featured at the July
and October High Sierra festivals in 1999 included Widespread Panic, Bela
Fleck & the Flecktones, String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Deep Banana
Blackout, The Slip, Zen Tricksters, KVHW, Calobo, Foxtrot Zulu and the
Radiators. Next summer's tenth anniversary show is scheduled for June
30-July 3. Discounted "early bird" tickets go on sale December 1 through the
festival office and website. For more information, visit
http://www.hsmusic.net or call 510-420-1529.
11/15/99
moe.'s NYE Festivities to Include a Hockey Game
Among the list of events taking place at moe.'s two-day New Year's Eve
celebration, dubbed "moe.llennium," is a hockey game, of all things.
Organized by a group of fans, the game will take place at the Mid Hudson
Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on December 31.
Although fans are urging members of moe. to participate in the game, nothing
has been confirmed. However, moe. manager Jon Topper does plan to lace
up his skates. All fans are invited to attend, but to play you must be at
least 18 years of age, sign a release and wear hockey gloves, skates and a
helmet. Sign up is limited to 40 players and the cost will be based on the
number of participants, but will not exceed $15.00. There will also be open
skating from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, please contact
jefflisa@frontiernet.net.
In other moe. news, the band will be multi-tracking four shows this month for
an upcoming live album. Audience taping will not be allowed at the following
concerts: November 19 and 20 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA and
November 26 and 27 at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Jorma, Haynes and Trucks to Play with Phil Tonight
Phil and Friends fans will be pleasantly surprised when three guitarists walk
out on stage tonight at Barton Hall in Ithaca, NY. Word is that Jorma
Kaukonen of Hot Tuna will be playing with Phil and Friends for the last three
shows of the Bob Dylan tour. Although it was rumored that last night would
be Derek Trucks' final show with Lesh, sources now say he will play tonight
as well. Trucks joined the tour on Halloween, filling in for the departed
Steve Kimock, and will head to Ontario Tuesday to tour with The Derek Trucks
Band. Phil Lesh's Friends for the last two shows (11/17 Durham, NH and 11/18
Amherst, MA) will include Warren Haynes and Kaukonen on guitar, John Molo on
drums and Rob Barraco on keyboards.
Possible ARU Reunion?
By total coincidence, original Aquarium Rescue Unit members Jeff Sipe, Oteil
Burbridge and Jimmy Herring are playing in the Boston area this Friday night
- at three different venues. Sipe is playing drums with Leftover Salmon at
the Paradise in Boston, Oteil is playing bass with Soulive at the Middle East
in Cambridge and Herring is playing guitar with Jazz is Dead at the
Somerville Theater. Speculation of a partial ARU reunion is the buzz around
town.
"Leftover Jazz aint Dead and ARU Soul lives in Boston on Nov 19!" proclaims
Andrew Stahl, owner of Gamelan Productions who is promoting the Oteil/Soulive
show. "I'm trying very diligently to get at least three of the five original
(ARU) members in the same room and I'm gonna try to get them on stage
together, but it depends on when the (tour) busses leave town. There's a
slight chance it could take place at the Somerville Theater, but a better
chance it could happen at the Middle East." Here's where things get tricky.
The Leftover show starts at 8:30 and will end sometime before the Paradise's
strict 11 p.m. curfew. Jazz is Dead's set time is still up in the air, but
it should start between 8:30 and 9 in Somerville and Soulive's set with Oteil
kicks off at 11:45 p.m. in Cambridge. Alex Wise of Planetary Groove
Productions is promoting the Jazz is Dead show and has extended invitations
to both Sipe and Burbridge. "In each artist's case it is not known for
certain if the extended members of the ARU will jam together, despite their
known propensity to do so," says Wise. "However, after Jeff accepted our
invitation to come over after his gig at the Paradise, the management for
Jazz is Dead has inquired as to whether we can provide a right handed drum
kit, (Rod Morgenstein is lefty) so they 'can reprise their two drummer
magic.' We are starting no rumors here - we are merely sharing the facts as
they stand currently. We will bend over backwards to make possible any
special reunion jam."
11/14/99
Marathon Shows: Past, Present and Future
As New Year's Eve approaches, a number of bands have already
pledged to offer their fans epic evenings. Phish intends to begin playing
at midnight and continue until dawn. Leftover Salmon's Mile High
Millennium begins at 6PM and will end many hours later. The String Cheese
Incident/Zen Tricksters/Keller Williams show will offer extensive
festivities. The moe.llennium gig will wind down well into the year
2000. The Disco Biscuits have promised to perform four sets until 8AM.
Rumors from the Deep Banana Blackout camp suggest that they may attempt
to break the Guiness record for the longest show at their Wetlands show.
DBB. Recently (as if to affirm that they can go deep on any evening) some
bands have taken the stage and flat-out refused to leave. The Roots
performed non-stop for four and a half hours at the Wetlands a few months
back. This past weekend Uncle Sammy, commanded the downstairs lounge for
five consecutive hours, without a setbreak ("Well that's not
entire true." Wetlands Talent buyer Jake Szufarowski jests "I may have
seen them stop for forty-five seconds at one point.") Much more marathon
millennial madness is expected as the countdown to 1/1/2000 continues.
[editor's note: this story was conceived and written by Dean Budnick-
since the News editor, Jeff Waful is the manager of the aforementioned
Uncle Sammy]
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