Today we look back to October 11, 2006…

Page McConnell Aids an Ailing Al Schnier

As reported yesterday, Al Schnier is currently suffering from tendonitis in his right hand and, as a result, will not play guitar with moe. this week. While Schnier provided vocals last night at South Burlington, VT’s Higher Ground, moe. enlisted the help of a few additional instrumentalists throughout the evening. Page McConnell, who recently joined moe. onstage at moe.down, played keyboards with the group for most of its first set, including Blue Jeans and Pizza, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Mexico, Happy Hour Hero, and Buster. For the second night in a row, Assembly of Dust guitarist Adam Terrell and veteran Vermont pedal steel ace Gordon Stone also joined moe. for much of its performance.

moe. opens a three-night stand at Buffalo, NY’s The Town Ballroom, likely, with some more special guests.

Particle’s Triple Threat

While performing at Richmond, VAs Canal Club Friday, the power went out during Particles set (including the groups bass, guitar and keyboard rigs). The band played on however, inviting the Bridge beatbox master Kenny Liner and saxophonist Gordon Jones out for an extended jam. The members of Particle also offered a series of vocal jams, before segueing back into Triple Threat. Particle will next perform at Hollywood, CAs Fonda Theater on Friday.

Matisyahu’s Chanukah Run

It may not yet rival Yo La Tengos annual eight nights of Chanukah gigs but Matisyahu is celebrating the holiday with a series of shows in his native New York City. Hammerstein Ballroom will be the locale for three performances that will take place on December 16, 17 and 19. A different opening act will be on hand for each gig, in which Matisyahu will be backed by his band Roots Tonic (and for the record, Hammerstein is quite a bit larger than Maxwells where Yo La Tengo does their thing, so Matis is spreading Chanukah goodness to many folks in his own right).

Soulive Cancels Australian Tour Due to Eric Krasno’s Medical Concerns

Regrettably, we now offer our second man down story of the day. Soulive has announced that it will cancel its November Australian tour. The band had been selected to support the Cat Empire but Soulive will not make the trip due to the health of guitarist Eric Krasno. On the group’s web site, Soulive has announced that During the bands recent trip to Japan and South Korea, Eric Krasno was hospitalized twice with what has become a chronic condition that is exacerbated by travel. On a more positive note, Kraso is scheduled ‘to undergo surgery in November to rectify the problem.’