Hello all,

Well after 13,000 miles, 7 weeks on the road, countless hours of driving and gallons of gas (too many on both counts), many nights of sleeping in hotel rooms and crashing on people's floors - 21 disco biscuits shows, 1 phish show, 7 Slip shows, 1 band rescue (not *really* a rescue, more like a kidnapping ;) 1 speeding ticket, 1 parking ticket, one other moving violation, 4 new tires and some cool stories to tell, a couple of near death experiences and most importantly -one hell of a good time...I am happy to report that I am home again (for however brief that may be)!!! Just a little background info for you: A few months ago, I was given a little severance package from my former employer (the evil empire known as Fleet Bank who aren't really all that evil or they would not have given me the time of my life, right?) Anyhow, instead of making like the responsible adult that my birth certificate says I should be, looking for a new job, paying some bills and using the package to get ahead (if you will)...I decided that I'd rather throw caution to the wind, and embark on a trip westward (and eventually eastward). It was meant to be. I mean come on now, the Slip just happened to be going out west when I wanted to, and low and behold, the disco biscuits were starting their tour around the time the Slip was done with their west coast run. Coincidence? I think not. Surely the gods were giving me a sign...go west young man...so I did. It is not wise to ignore the gods ;) In retrospect, I would not have had it any other way. I won't bore you all with the details, only to say that I met and reacquainted myself with some wonderful people, and caught some fantastic shows on my little escapade. I highly suggest you all get fired (with severance of course), and see some of what this land has to offer...preferably you can incorporate the two most important things on your journey...good music and good people. Oh yes, I should mention that the section is a bit light this month...sorry. Until next month. -Tony

Editor's note: I'd like to point out that, yes...I know I sound a bit sappy! ;)

NEW ENGLAND BAND LINKS?

Well, I've been mulling over the idea of adding a REGIONAL (NEW ENGLAND ONLY) band links section to which I think would go nicely with our calendar section, which is finally up and running again! Anyhow, if you are in a band, publicist, mgr or even friend of a band that is both - from New England (i.e., currently calls New England home) and has a website - then please feel free to send me the URL for their site. Please verify the URL if you could, no use listing broken links. Also, please include the state they are from. That would be helpful. I would really like the focus of this to be on the many smaller bands that never even get out of New England and are mainly known to their local fans. These are the bands that would benefit most from this. I've received a few of them and you will see them in the appropriate section. Feel free to send in ones you don't see yet. I'd also like to ask that the band be true to the particular genre that this site caters to. Really, it's a pretty wide label - Jambands - and basically, if a band does some improvisation and the focus is on the live experience, then they would qualify for this. I look fwd to getting your submissions and hope this proves to be helpful to the bands and fans alike.

FREE REVIEW PRIZE: (Analog or CD-R)

Well, since it seems this Y2K crap came and went without the impending doom many feared, I figured why not make my offer Y2K compliant, spread some good music, or at the very least make it FREE. I will think of it as a sacrificial offer to the millennium gods or quite possibly as a way to get more reviews. Either way, I'm happy...new, updated info below: Just a reminder, I will pick one review each month with the winner receiving a FREE show from my dat (analog tapes) or from my CD-R list. A show will likely be limited to 3 cds or tapes, and since I enjoy spinning analogs from my dats about as much as I enjoy hangovers, this will for all intent in purposes be a CD offer, though I may be willing to spin analogs from my cds. I won't necessarily pick the most well written review; in fact, the winner will be somewhat random (I am a bit partial to new reviewers though)! Reviewers, please check this section to see if you have won. This month's winner is Donny Grieco...Congrats! and get in touch with me for details of the offer.

NOTE FOR PAST REVIEW "WINNERS": I've returned to the nest, and with my return...I hope to catch up with all the past winners and get their cd's out in time for the holidays! So, if you've won the review prize in the past and have not received your discs...send me a little reminder {preferably just return the e-mail which I sent you that had some lame excuse as to why I have yet to burn them ;) } and I will get to burning. Again, sorry for being such a procrastinator.

Looking forward to more great reviews in the coming months.

* NEWS FROM NOWHERE * NEWS FROM NOWHERE *

Announcement: New Miracle Orchestra album, "Forks, bends and Spoons," available in stores everywhere as well as at www.homegrownmusic.net, www.amazon.com and www.towerrecords.com. The album is one of the first releases by "Grapeshot Records," who have also released a Bob Moses album and have a Club D'elf album on the way. Check out their website at www.grapeshotmedia.com. Don't miss the Boston CD release party at the House of Blues on November 15th.

-Bill Garrett Geoff Jared Thacher

Announcement: Boston Area Show Discussion List A Onelist email group called beantownshows has been started. Check out: http://www.onelist.com/community/beantownshows for more info.

Head's Up - The following is written by Max Marantz who is throwing another one of these little electronic/jambands crossover parties. This one is the day before Thanksgiving, so why not take in some music before you stuff yourself with Turkey? ;) Hey y'all, Just wanted to inform you of a night-before-Thanksgiving bash being put on by Maxx Haze Productions.

Here are the details:
Location: Bill's Bar, Lansdowne St., Boston
Date: Wednesday, November 22nd
Acts: Three Percent, Loop Dreams, DJ Kid Ray
Also: Doors @ 9:00, Price $8

This is a pretty big show for everyone involved, yet another concoction in Livetronica. Kid Ray's going to open things up and spin throughout the night, bridging all of the gaps to make a continuous flow of ear candy. Chris (Kid Ray) was a headliner at the sold out "Bounce" rave in September, and his slick grooves are perfect for keeping the night meshed. Once the atmosphere has been sufficiently chilled, Boston prodigies Loop Dreams will take the stage. These guys have held their own the last couple of weeks opening up for the New Deal at Synergy and the Ozric Tentacles at the Wetlands. Not only did they measure up against these epic bands, but showed that they have a truly unique style of live electronica and will be at the forefront of that movement. Ambient yet driving, this is definitely a band you should see.

Following this set and a DJ interlude, headliners 3% will take the stage. 3% is a jam-band that's moving into the electronic direction. Unlike other acts that have been featured at past shows, these guys have earned a reputation for organic folky jams that are a staple of the jam-band scene. However, they'll be playing with Kid Ray, and will be breaking into live electronica from a completely different angle than any of these other bands. For anyone that was at the underground party, this was the band that tore it up from about midnight to three in the morning.

I hope to see you all there.

Maxx Haze

Editor's note: Though I've not seen the other artists on the bill, I've seen Loop Dreams a couple of times and they have improved every time (always a good sign)...definitely worth checking out.

SHOW REVIEWS: REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS!

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

I pretty much accept anything as far as reviews go, as long as they pertain to jambands. Really, this is a very broad category, and I give a lot of leeway on this too. Of course, I reserve the right to not use anything or to edit them as I see fit. You will get full credit for reviews and I generally take a hands-off approach to editing, meaning I don't want to change the feel of your review. After all, YOU were there, not me. Some important things to keep in mind. Deadline! Our deadline is the 5th of the month. This may change in the future, but for now, that is it. You can still send me your review if you miss the deadline; I "may" be able to get it in, if not; it will be used in the next issue. Please run "Spell-Check" before submitting your reviews. Also, if you are referring to song titles, please put them in "quotations". When e-mailing them in, it's best to just put them in the body of the e-mail or mail them as .txt. If you send something else there may be a chance that I won't be able to open it because of software incompatibilities. The best way to get a feel for what the reviews are like is by reading past ones. Remember you don't have to be a journalist or professional writer, you just had to be at the show. If you have any specific questions just send me an e-mail: ne@jambands.com I promise to be gentle. I guess that's it for now. Looking forward to getting some new reviews and reviewers in the coming months.

p.s. I've added reviewer's e-mail addresses, so feel free to contact them if you like their reviews or even if you don't...feedback is always welcome.

REVIEW: The Slip 11/03/00 - Somerville Theater - Somerville MA

by Donny Grieco

setlist: (courtesy of Jim Crichton)

Set 1: work in progress intro>Wolof, Untitled (Tune in 9), Don't Foil the Mohel>Ambrosia, Jimmy's Song*, Fast Blues Set 2: Autobody Experience>Dogs on Bikes tease>Lucky Dragon, Take a Beetle to the Badlands, Yellow Medicine, Andrew's new Steel Drum song** E: 54-46 Was My Number** * Jimmy Trapello wrote the lyrics and sang them **w/drums, trumpet and trombone from John Brown's Body

I had a great time on Friday at my first BAM (Brad, Andrew, and Marc for the uninitiated) Somerville show. As these guys keep expanding their fanbase and reputation, they are finding themselves at nicer and better venues, leaving the dive days behind hopefully. This was my second time seeing John Brown's Body. the first at the Cambridge Street Festival this past summer. Not bad if you dig reggae. Lead guy reminds me of Kid Rock. BAM went on at 10:15 to a near sellout. We couldn't get any closer than the second to last row. Way to go guys!

1st set Highlight was Mohel>Ambrosia. Ever since I got the moe.down set, I've been really digging Mohel. I figured they would play some newer stuff since this was a hometown throwdown and they all sound great. Very jammed out set.

Set 2: Autobody Experience>Dogs on Bikes tease>Lucky Dragon, Take a Beetle to the Badlands, Yellow Medicine, E: 54-46** * Jimmy Tropillo(sp?) on vocals **w/drums, trumpet and trombone from John Brown's Body

Very spacey set, got very quiet at some points, which was apparently more than some people could take as half the crowd left before the show ended. I can't for the life of me understand why. I was offended. For those of us who stayed we got a real treat with the 3 members from JBB playing with Andrew on the steel drums. And how about them getting so into the final song that they completely lost track of time and had the house lights turned on (second time for me this year, Martha's Vineyard!). They kept playing for another 4-5 minutes despite the lights being on. I love getting more than my moneys worth.

Editor's Note: Unfortunately, I still have not figured out how to be two places at once, so I was unable to attend a Slip show- minutes from my house no less - which is quite ironic when you consider I spent the latter half of September seeing them all over the west coast. However, I am happy to mention that by all reports (from the slip list and from my housemates) the band did put on quite a performance for the *home* crowd. Bravo.

NEW ENGLAND SHOW CALENDAR

Editor's Note: The Calendar, as mentioned earlier, has vanished again...stolen by the Grinch?... who knows? It should make a return right around the time the snow does. Patience.

If you would like to add a show that you don't see on the calendar listing please e-mail Armand at armand.turcotte@bigfoot.com. You can also e-mail him if you'd like to receive it as a once a month e-mail. Please be aware that Armand puts this out on a monthly basis (the first of the month) so he needs sufficient time to update it.