Today we look back to January 16, 2007…

moe. cruise Sails Home

The second annual moe. cruise set sail on Norwegian Cruise Lines Jewel on Sunday, January 7 from Miami and returned to port the following Sunday. The nearly 800 moe.rons were treated to eight sets of music over the course of the week long voyage which made stops in Puerto Rico, Antigua and St. Thomas (weather prevented a scheduled stop in The Bahamas).

The plush 1000-person Stardust Theatre played home to three full shows while the pool deck, which was open to all passengers, played host to two sets. The top-floor Spinnaker Lounge saw the band go acoustic for two largely request-filled sets which proved to be some of the most memorable (each set saw different audiences as fans were divided into two groups). Half-way through the first set, bassist Rob Derhak announced that the band would attempt to segue between whatever the next two requests were. The band nailed Meat > Sensory Deprivation Bank. The final song of the set was a loose take of Tori Amos Cornflake Girl which Derhak sang lead for. The next set segue challenge saw another precise execution: Johnny Lineup > Interstellar Overdrive. Also of note were two covers. One, an attempt at The Rolling Stones Under my Thumb (one verse only) and the second, Iron Maidens The Trooper which saw percussionist Jim Loughlin playing bass and taking over vocal duties. Derhak also announced that it was the last time theyd be doing Tijuana Donkey Show. [You didnt hear it from us that you should now shout this out at every available opportunity at whatever moe. show you next attend after having consumed a few alcoholic beverages for the right tone inflection]. Relix executive editor Josh Baron will be posting his experiences as a moe. roadie on the cruise later this week on relix.com.

The band has the week off and resumes touring on January 25th at Boulders Fox Theatre .

Phish Releases The Headphones Jam

In 2004 Phish began work on its final studio album, _ Undermind_, with producer Tchad Blake. Before the quartet began tracking _ Undermind_ they recorded an extended improvisation alternately referred to as The Headphones Jam and the Monitor Jam. It was mixed on the fly in The Barn and named because it was recorded while the monitors (in this case headphones) settings were dialed in for the session. Three tracks from the Headphones Jam have surfaced: ‘Maggie’s Revenge’ appeared on _ Undermind_, ‘Tiny’ was released as an iTunes bonus track, and a third untitled segment of the jam was played on a 2004 From the Archives radio show on The Bunny radio station at Coventry. The rest of the complete jam had never been heard outside the band until the Barn Tour Contest in 2006.

The Jam was presented in November 2006 to the winner of the Phish / Sirius Live In Brooklyn Barn Tour Contest along with a guided tour of The Barn and autographed copy of Live in Brooklyn. The contest winner was given the option to hold onto the contest track or share it with the rest of the community. The winner decided to make this jam available to the public and asked LivePhish.com to help distribute it with the request that proceeds be donated to a designated charity. In that sense, it follows in the charitable tradition of other LivePhish.com efforts like ‘New Orleans Relief’ and support of the Mockingbird Foundation.

Jim James Talks Coffee

Jim James will perform a special solo set at Birminghams Alabama Theater on February 17. The acoustic gig will celebrate the 10-Year Celebration of Regs Coffee House and will also feature Patty Griffin, Matthew Perryman Jones, and Stoll Vaughn.

Proceeds from the show will benefit the Greater Birmingham Humane Society . James and My Morning Jacket recently completed a west coast tour. On a number of occasions the group was joined onstage by the Deerland Horns, who also enhanced the group on New Years Eve. My Morning Jacket will perform next at Langerado in March .

Dispatch Add Third MSG Performance

Dispatch has added a third night to its reunion run at New Yorks Madison Square Garden . After the groups original performance, scheduled for July 14, sold-out in 30-minutes during a pre-sale, the group confirmed a second performance on July 13. That gig also sold-out in less than 24-hours, persuading the group to add a third night to its Garden run on July 15. Tickets for the July 15 show will go on sale to the public on Saturday, January 20th at 9 AM. Profits from all three-nights will go towards fighting disease, famine, and social injustice in Zimbabwe.

String Cheese Incident’s Winter Carnival

The String Cheese Incident will stage its final Winter Carnival with Bill Nershi this March. The sextet will perform at Denvers Fillmore Auditorium from March 22-24 and Vails Dobson Ice Arena from March 26-27. As is tradition, the group will invite a special guest to open each of its Winter Carnival performances (previous Winter Carnival openers have included everyone from Dr. John to Tre Hardson). Since String Cheese Incident offered a complete version of its first album, Born On The Wrong Planet, for Thanksgiving and its second studio release, ‘Round The Wheel, before New Years Eve, chances are the group will offer a complete rendition of its 2001 disc, Outside Inside, during one of its upcoming Colorado performances. Nershis final performance with the String Cheese Incident will likely take place in Colorado this summer.