:: Neil Young ::

:: Magness Arena :: April 27, 2009 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Photos by Lisa Siciliano/dogdazephoto.com

It was hotter than hell in the Magness Arena, and the floor was packed soild, but the rest of the venue was open enough to find some good sitelines, although the sound from those vistas was less than stellar.

Magness wasn’t designed for concerts and never will sound as great as some of the venues we’re spoiled with around here. On this night it could have sucked worse, and even if it was nearly inaudible, the show would have still been one of the great nights of the year. Continue — Read more »

Phish

Hampton Reunion Concerts: March 6-8, 2009

Live Phish Downloads

4 out of 5 stars

Release Dates: March 6-8, 2009 [via digital download]

If time has shown us anything one can guess the longer the wait, the higher the urgency and demand.  Nothing better illustrates this point than Phish’s three-night run at Hampton Coliseum on March 6-8, 2009.  These were some of the most sought-after concert tickets in recent memory and to this day I still don’t directly know anyone that received tickets through Phish’s lottery.  For the lucky 13,800 people who were able to be there each night they witnessed nostalgia at its peak and a band that was still dusting the rust off their extensive catalog.

After taking nearly 5-years off after their official “breakup” in 2004, rumors of a reunion had been swirling since mid-2008, when three of the four Phish members shared the stage at the Rothbury Festival in Michigan.  Rumors only intensified as the band reunited for three songs in September at the wedding of their former road manager Brad Sands and videos of the short set surfaced on YouTube.  By October the rumors became reality as the band announced a three-night stand at one of their favorite venues in Virginia, Hampton Coliseum.  By March 2009 they had announced 11 dates for their summer tour in June including a headlining slot at Bonnaroo 2009 and 12 additional dates in July and August, including a four-night run at Red Rocks (their first shows at the venue in nearly 13 years) and a two-night stand at The Gorge. The 25 show summer tour is the band’s most ambitious since 1999.  Let’s just say Phish are back.

This brings us to Phish’s March Hampton shows. Barring the Live Nation ticket debacle which left thousands of Phish-heads unable to even log into the ticket site due to crashing, the 240 arrests, $68,000 in cash and $1.2 million in drugs being seized at the venue itself, the shows went off without a hitch.  The three shows themselves were good and all had great moments, but I guarantee once this tour is over, Phish-heads won’t be listening to tapes of these three Hampton shows, rather listening to shows from mid-summer when the band finally hits its stride.

Taking into account the sheer demand for these shows Phish decided to offer free downloads of all three shows within 24-hours of each shows completion—a very generous gift to Phish-heads who couldn’t score tickets.  The downloads, in high-quality mp3 format, sound utterly fantastic.  Much cleaner and more balanced than the Live Phish Downloads of the past.   These recordings sound fully mixed, unlike the live 2-track soundboard recordings they released on their 2003 pre-hiatus tour.  The absence of longtime Phish front-of-house engineer Paul Languedoc is not noticeable on the live downloads in any way.  The downloads sound like official releases.

Phish spent the better part of a month rehearsing for the Hampton shows and their dedication to rehearsal shows as they plowed through a staggering 84 different songs totaling nearly 10-1/2 hours over the three-night stand.  March 6, 2009, the opening night, had the best setlist of the weekend and saw Phish busting out 28 gems, playing for over 3 hours and 40 minutes.  The first set was extremely strong as the band opened with 16-minute “Fluffhead” and followed with “The Divided Sky” > “Chalk Dust Torture” > “Sample In A Jar,” and “Stash.”  They clearly came out with guns blazing and the opening 5-songs of this night’s first set are one of the high-points of the weekend.  The second set wasn’t as strong although it opened with a strong new song “Backwards Down The Line,” a mid-tempo Alt Country tune heavy on piano and harmony vocals on the chorus. Phish false-started the second set closer “You Enjoy Myself,” completely falling apart and having to restart. After cheers from the audience Trey responded “We’re starting this song again and this time it is not going to be like the last time we started the song.  So there!”  After the restart they got through it fairly clean and the audience showed their appreciation in applause.

The second night, March 7, 2009, featured 27-songs, clocking in at 3 hours and 30 minutes.  Phish opened the first set with a slow shuffle version of “Back On The Train” and the first set also featured the first Phish performance of “Beauty of a Broken Heart” from keyboardist Page’s McConnell’s self-titled solo release.  The first set saw some filler as the band included “Mexican Cousin” mid-set.   The second set however was full of exploration as Phish opened with a 12-minute “Rock and Roll” which slowly morphed into “Limb By Limb” followed by “Ghost” > “Piper.”  Near the end of the second set they confidently pleased with “Mike’s Song” > “I am Hydrogen” > “Weekapaug Groove.”  The encore was one of the stronger Phish performances of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life.”

The third night, March 8, 2009, had more of a to-the-point setlist featuring no seamless transitions between songs in the first set although 10-minute versions of “Bathtub Gin” and “Maze” were played well.  One of the highlights of the third night was the second set opener, a 22-minute “Down With Disease,” where the band drifted off into space for nearly 15-minutes, never finding their way back to the “Down With Disease” guitar refrain they often reverted back to in the past.  Other second set highlights included the “2001” > “Moma Dance,” and the set closer “Slave To The Traffic Light.”  The final song of the weekend was the only repeat of the three shows, “Tweezer Reprise.”  In all they played more songs on the third night that the previous two but the sets seemed more of a test to get through the songs rather than explore them.

If anything, these Hampton shows were to show that Phish are indeed back and if ticket sales are any indication, the general public are eating Phish up.  Tickets for their entire summer tour are selling out in minutes and if the Ticketmaster mistake of releasing 4-day packs to Red Rocks  was any indication, their 4-night stand at Red Rocks will have all the energy of the Hampton shows, but will hopefully feature a  band that is a fine-tuned machine by the time they get here.

:: Thievery Corporation ::
 :: Fillmore Auditorium :: April 16 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

Fourteen years ago, in the then brand new, hip and trendy 18th Street Lounge in Washington D.C., a mutual friend set up a meeting between one of the lounge’s co-owners, Eric Hilton and a young producer named Rob Garza. That meeting went much better than anyone could have imagined and gave birth to one of the most innovative bands of the last 20 years, Thievery Corporation.

“We started talking about the kind of music we were into and we both had all these common influences. I think at that point I was very into Brazilian and Indian music,” said Garza in a recent interview with The Marquee as he prepared for the group’s Spring tour. “So, we decided to put our equipment together and create a studio to see if we could make any sound. The first week we got together we made two songs that were on Sounds from The Thievery Hi-Fi.” In the years since, their loungy, chilled-out take on world music has influenced a whole scene of younger artists.

Though Thievery rarely performs at the club any more, Hilton’s 18th Street Lounge is still actively supporting the thriving downtempo scene in D.C. South of the border, Garza is doing his part as co-owner of a club called La Santaera in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. “The club is kind of lo-fi and artistic. It has great vibes and we bring in DJs from all over the world. It gets going around three in the morning and winds down around 7. It’s a crazy scene,” Garza said.
Continue — Read more »

:: Everest ::

:: Supporting Neil Young ::

:: Magness Arena :: April 27 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

The L.A. band Everest has all the hallmarks of a true rock and roll success story — a meeting of the minds of hardworking musicians who came together not because some producer thought they would make a good band, or because they needed the money, but because they were friends who truly loved to play music together. Across the board their resumes read like a who’s who of the indie music scene, but each was still searching for the pinnacle of their careers. In a very short time the band has surpassed even the most lofty goals they had set for themselves. Not even a year after releasing their first album on Neil Young’s Vapor Records, Everest is about to embark on their third tour supporting the legend.

“Neil’s manager Elliot Roberts co-owns Vapor Records and he was excited about our album and got Neil to come out to a show. Neil was really, really positive about it, welcomed us to the label and has been nothing but supportive ever since,” said lead singer Russell Pollard, speaking with The Marquee as he drove the band’s gear up to Neil’s trucks so they could haul it clear across the continent to St. John’s Newfoundland for the first shows of the Spring tour. “When the record came out I think we thought it was an honor to be on his label and that was good enough. We weren’t really expecting to get his attention the way that we have.” Continue — Read more »

:: Los Campesinos ::

:: Bluebird Theater :: April 7 ::

By Derek Wright

From the outside, Spillers Records doesn’t look much different than any other record store. The windows of the Cardiff, Wales establishment are checkered with album covers. Super Furry Animals. Stereophonics. Feeder. Tom Jones. Manic Street Preachers. John Cale. Funeral For a Friend. Dave Edmunds. Duffy. The Pooh Sticks. The acts don’t have to be Welsh, but they all could be. The coastal country has a rich tradition of guitar pop, and the little independent store located at 36 The Hayes has heard most of it. Yet the store has been around for more than just the duration of rock and roll’s relatively short lifespan: it’s been there for 115 years, to be exact. And during that period, the quaint shop that took its founder’s namesake in 1894 has gone on to Guinness Book of World Records status as the oldest record store on the planet. Music didn’t start in Wales, but selling it to obsessive collectors did, and generations of local college students who would rather scour the store for rare imports than waste time sitting in class, owe a great deal to Henry Spiller.

Los Campesinos lyricist Gareth Campesinos was one of those students. “I buy too many records. Besides playing soccer, it’s pretty much all I do,” said the Spillers Records regular, who — like his six bandmates — favors his group’s moniker over his real surname. “Really, I’m nothing more than a music geek. All of us in the band are. So when we get to play shows with all these other bands, I find myself still in a bit of shock that I’m standing next to them when I used to have to go out of my way to hear their music. It still amazes me that some of the people I used to look up to and envy now are my friends. And it’s even weirder to think that there might be people out there who think that way about our band,” said Campesinos in a recent interview with The Marquee. Continue — Read more »

:: The Kills ::

:: Fox Theatre :: April 22 ::

By Derek Wright

Jamie “Hotel” Hince is inside what seems to be a stone warehouse in Birmingham, England. “I can’t fucking hear a fucking thing,” the British half of The Kills said as he hopped back on his cell after it dropped the first call mid-conversation. “This place is so fucking loud. Everything is echoing, and my tour manager is running around trying to set up more fucking interviews, and the connection is fucking quiet and sounds like shit. I can barely hear in this fucking place.”

Suddenly, the guitarist pauses to collect himself, takes a breath, and his tone returns to being as tempered as it was before this brief outburst. “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding almost embarrassed. “I just want to make sure you get what you need. What was I talking about, again?” Continue — Read more »

:: West African Highlife Ensemble ::

:: Mackey Auditorium :: Fri - April 17 ::

By Ryan Lappi

As an American, it can be difficult to understand just how fundamental music is to African culture. Such terms as “world music” or even “African music” betray a fundamentally Western viewpoint which often links music to entertainment. But as Kolby Morris, senior member of the University of Colorado’s West African Highlife Ensemble, points out, the American penchant for categorization is often lost in translation when one becomes immersed in a culture where rhythm is as common as the seasons.

“In Ghana, there’s no specific word for ‘music,’” Morris said in a recent interview with The Marquee. “It doesn’t translate because music is so ingrained in daily life. Music is life. It’s inseparable.”

Professor Kwasi Ampene, who founded, directs and choreographs CU’s ensemble, explains that even a term like “West African music” is misleading. “There are over 50 languages in Ghana alone,” Professor Ampene recently told The Marquee. “So if people have a distinct language, that means they have a distinct culture from their next door neighbor. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand about Africa. It is so diverse.”

Continue — Read more »

 :: Bluetech ::
 :: Divine invasion Tour ::
 :: with EKSMO, Shen and Kilowatts ::
 :: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom :: April 17::
 :: with Welder and Shen :: Hodi’s Half Note ::
  :: April 18 ::

By Lisa Oshlo

Not many artists on the electronic music scene can boast a musical comprehension that rivals that of Evan Bluetech. Classically trained from a young age, Bluetech’s compositions contain a depth and diversity not often found in today’s digital music age.

The Marquee caught up with the artist on a remote Hawaiian beach to discuss his new album and what specifically informs his art.

“I think it’s impossible to get away from the classical background,” Bluetech said. “I always write melodically, even with minimal technology I find that it always ends up melodic. There is an aesthetic sensibility and attention to detail which I feel is strongly informed by my experience with classical music.” Continue — Read more »

Last month I traveled to Atlanta to see what was supposed to have been Ryan Adams and The Cardinals final show, which took place at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. (It was amazing, the theatre is beyond grand, and no, I don’t think Adams is done for good…maybe for a bit, but not for good).

While I was there, I saw something that I have NEVER seen in our area, and it made me envious.
Everywhere you go in Atlanta, or I guess I should say, everywhere I went in Atlanta, there was a fervor that was palpable about Atlanta’s hometown boys Mastodon. In grocery stores I saw local publications featuring Mastodon. On the streets I saw posters and flyers. In record stores I saw huge displays of CDs. Even in a weirdo toy store, I saw a Mastodon merch display that took up an incredibly significant portion of real estate. It got to the point that when I walked past a church, I was almost expecting to see Mastodon posters in the windows (sorry to say, there weren’t any).

It dawned on me, that it’s been a LONG DAMN TIME since the Front Range has had that — a band that everyone gave a shit about, even if it wasn’t their style of music. Maybe it’s because we’re spoiled here with a lot of really good acts, but when was the last time you remember our whole region really getting behind a hometown band?

Yeah, we’ve had big successes in the past. Most recently, we’ve seen acts like Flobots and 3OH!3 blow up in a huge way, but even still, we haven’t for years, seen a rally like what I saw in Atlanta.

That’s a little bit embarrassing.

Now granted there are a million different pieces of different puzzles (not to mention a boat load of cash) that came together to show off Mastodon the way I saw it, but why aren’t those puzzle solvers doing that here in Colorado?

We have, and will continue to be, an important stop along the way on national tours, but if we can’t rally our own region to get behind our local musicians, what chance to do we have at ever being a prime market that every band is dying to play in?

I’ll tell you, I’m not a musician and I want to play in Atlanta, after seeing their love. We got a bunch of hippies around here, can’t we muster some love for our peeps?

See you at the shows.

Editor’s Note: In last month’s Marquee, a photo of Hot Rize by Tim Timberlake was not correctly credited. The Marquee regrets the error.

U2
No Line On The Horizon

Interscope Records

3.5 out of 5 Stars

In an era when arena rockers are on the endangered species list, U2 still reigns supreme as the T-Rex of bands. They have sold 145 million albums worldwide and have been an arena band in America for the better part of three decades. Their latest effort, No Line On The Horizon, is the album that is supposed to once again crown U2 as the kings of pop rock. But No Line On The Horizon is no masterpiece, rather it’s a hit and miss album that will still get the job done for most U2 fans.

It has been nearly five years since U2’s last studio effort, 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. In July 2006 they enlisted producer Rick Rubin to start work on their new album at Abbey Road Studios and in the south of France. The sessions didn’t yield much, as U2 didn’t come to the table with completed songs. Rubin, known for his “get the whole band in a room and play completed songs live” approach, didn’t mesh well with the group’s need to write new material and the two ended up parting ways in late 2006 before the sessions ever gathered steam.

Back at square one, U2 shelved their material recorded with Rubin and enlisted the team of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who were the production team behind two of U2’s most enduring albums The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby. U2 gave Lanois and Eno an open door allowing them to be involved in the songwriting efforts for the album and the duo ended up sharing songwriting credits on seven of the album’s 11 tracks. The album has a few gems, but no comparisons should be made to the band’s greater past work. As a complete album the songwriting on No Line On The Horizon is not their strongest and the sonic experimentation doesn’t hold a candle to 1993’s Achtung Baby. I actually think 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind is a stronger album in comparison. In the greater spectrum of U2’s entire catalog I would place this somewhere towards the middle. Make no mistake; U2 fans are going to like this album. After all it debuted at #1 in 30 countries — 30!.

Album highlights include “Magnificent,” a love song that one could easily hear Coldplay’s Chris Martin singing instead of Bono, “Moment of Surrender,” “Unknown Caller,” the most structurally interesting song on the album, and the hushed final track, “Cedars of Lebanon.”

— Jonathan Keller

Drag The River
Bad At Breaking Up

Suburban Home Records

4.5 out of 5 Stars

For a band that parted ways in 2007, Drag The River sure is a bunch of prolific little bastards and their newest release describes them near-perfectly, as Bad at Breaking Up.

In fact, not long after the Front Range heard that Drag was calling it quits, little shows began emerging here and there with the two core members, Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price, and it obviously didn’t take long for full-band shows to start happening again.

While this album has a triumphant return type of title, there are, in fact, no new tracks on Bad At Breaking Up. Instead, Drag The River opted to put together an assemblage of all of their old 7” and splits, many of which are long out of print and impossible to find.

The result is probably a lot better than anyone expected. Taking these songs — some of which were early takes of songs that later got polished up for proper releases — and putting them into one package, gives listeners a short, wikipedia-like description of the band’s career in audio.

Hauntingly quiet in some areas, and blow-your-speakers loud in others, Bad at Breaking Up finds itself a comfortable soundtrack on Sunday morning AND on Friday nights. Drag’s whiskey drenched tales, twangy Teles and phenomenally fitting vocals from both anchor points of the band, show a group that has a wealth of material that is beautiful in its simplicity and intricate beyond explanation.

The band has yet to officially reunite, but if their hiatus continues to mean new releases and occasional shows, we’ll take it. Hell if they truly break up, maybe we’ll get a full boxed set?

— Brian F. Johnson

Jon Snodgrass
Visitor’s Band

Suburban Home Records

4 out of 5 stars

Half of Drag The River’s songwriting core is Jon Snodgrass, who has used Drag’s recent lax schedule to get some of his notebooks uncluttered.

Visitor’s Band is Snodgrass’ debut solo effort and it’s genre-wise exactly what you’d expect from a guy with punk and country bands in his history. The surprise, however, lies in the quality of these tracks and their presentation — which Snodgrass repeatedly nails throughout this 10 song album. As stated before, it was sad when Drag The River announced a hiatus, but for those who dig their music, it’s actually been a blessing.

—  Brian F. Johnson