My Morning Jacket & the Boston Pops on Letterman

Last night My Morning Jacket played with the Boston Pops on the Late Show with David Lettermen. I thought this performance was absolutely magical. Although I did laugh seeing Jim in a tuxedo. MMJ will play two shows with the Boston Pops next week.

Gnarls Barkley on the MTV Movie Awards

This video is awesome! The clip they have on Pitchfork has nothing on this. Chewbacca on drums?

Jam on the River @ Penn's Landing Day 2

Last week before I got sick and before I celebrated my birthday I headed down to Philadelphia for the Jam on the River Festival . I was mostly interested in seeing Ween but the whole day was fun. I arrived at Penn’s Landing at the very end of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s set. Penn’s Landing is a great venue. It faces out towards the Delaware river and is made up of a series of steps providing a great view from anywhere. Next up was the Secret Machines who I have found myself listening to more and more since their concert at the Hiro ballroom a few weeks ago. The Secret Machines seem to have really turned up the energy levels when performing live. Their set at JoTR may have been the best set all day.

After the Secret Machines played I wondered around for a while killing time before Ween came on. On stage during this time was Railroad Earth. This was my first experience with Railroad Earth and I wasn’t very impressed. Their sound had too much of generic jamband sound to it and not enough bluegrass.

I had been really excited for Ween’s set but it left me a little disappointed. The major problem was that it seemed as though the sound was turned down for Ween’s set. Also the set was very short lasting only about an hour and a half. Normally Ween plays for close to three hours. Although I may not have thought it was their best set the crowd was certainly having a great time. I often wish New York City could import crowds from other cities.

Catfish Haven @ the Knitting Factory

Catfish Haven were definitely one of my favorite discoveries at SXSW. I have found myself listening to their EP “Please Come Back” a lot. I will often listen to the song “Still Hungover” over and over again. I am happy that I have gotten the chance to see them twice in NYC during the last few months. The first time was when they opened for Cold War Kids at Pianos and last night at the Knitting Factory . Their set last night was great as usual. George Hunter’s vocals are just so perfect for their southern-fired blues-rock and Miguel Castillo’s bass playing just drives this band. Their set last night featured mostly of the songs from “Please Come Back” as well as a few new songs that will appear on their upcoming full length album. They are playing again tonight at South Paw and will also be Lollapalooza. Check their website for all other dates.


See a few more photos from last night here.

Deadboy & the Elephantmen @ Mercury Lounge

I almost skipped Deadboy & the Elephatmen's set last night at the Mercury Lounge but I am really glad I did make down to their early show. I have been listening to "We are Night Sky" a lot lately and it was really cool to hear these songs live. The duo were joined by a bass player for their entire set which lasted just over 45 minutes. Overall I was very impressed with their set. However I did find their cover of the Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation" to be a little lack luster. I will definitely try to catch their sets at the Siren Festival and at Lollapolooza.

Mike Gordon & Ramble Dove @ Irving Plaza

Last week Mike Gordon brought his new band, Ramble Dove, to Irving Plaza . Earlier in the day Mike announced that Trey Anastasiowould be coming by to jam at the show. This made me even more excited for this concert. But first I would have to make it to the concert. As the day went on I began to have a slight pain in my stomach. Being busy at work and anxious for the concert I just ignored the pain.
After work I headed home to change my clothes and get ready for the show. On my way home I ran into Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Jim was in town because MMJ were opening for Pearl jam at Continental Airlines Arena. We spoke briefly about what MMJ was up to and then we went our separate ways. I decide to take this chance meeting a good omen and continue onto the concert even though the pain in my stomach was growing increasing worse. This was the right decision.
The show at Irving plaza last week was beyond fun. If you look up the word fun in the dictionary it will tell you to go a Ramble Dove concert. Mike and company did everything right. This style of music is right up my alley. Ramble Dove play a sort of funky honky tonk part Gram Parson part Phish and definitely country.
The first set started with just Mike and Ramble Dove on stage. The crowd was definably enjoying themselves. But it wasn’t until Mike welcomed Trey to the stage the crowd erupted. By this point in the concert I was having such a good time that I wasn’t even thinking about the pain I was in I was just rocking and stomping to the music. Trey fit into Ramble Dove’s sound perfectly. The second set was just more of the same, opening with a version of “Cocaine Blues” and featuring a great country version of the Phish song “Possum”. By the end of the show I had heard some great tune, learned of a great new musician named Grace Potter (I will have a review soon), met some new people and even wished another Gemini a very happy birthday. Unfortunately this was also the last good time I had last week. The next morning I would awake in so much pain that I would make a brief stop at work followed by a long trip to the ER.



To see all my photos from the concert go here