British tabloid The Mirror has reignited the Led Zeppelin/Bonnaroo rumor, by posting this newest article today, 12/31. The Bonnaroo promoters only said that the initial reports in the fall of BOTH Led Zeppelin AND Metallica appearing in Tennessee were false, so they did not deny that either band could appear without the other. I'm sure that there will be a flurry of additional "leaks" and "rumors," and possibly a full confirmation coming soon.Led Zep for festival
Legends to headline music festival in new year
31/12/2007
Looks like Led Zeppelin's appetite for rock is well and truly back.
We can exclusively reveal that the legends - who staged a triumphant "one-off" gig at the O2 this month - will be the headline act at the Bonnaroo festival in the US next year. The festival runs from June 12 to 15 in Tennessee - and if all goes smoothly they may even hit the road and tour.
An insider told us: "This is the news that will drive their fans absolutely wild. "They have been bombarding their website to get back together for good but only Robert Plant wasn't keen to commit. "Now he's had a change of heart and if it goes well they are also talking about touring." The band have a huge following and continue to influence today's young bands - sometimes in very mysterious ways.
What do Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart, Mike Mussina, The Indigo Girls, and The WeightStaff all have in common? That's right...we're all fans of crossword puzzles. 
Website, Culture Catch, has posted a lengthy conversation with Bob Weir from his home in Mill Valley, CA. Bob discusses his near death experience at the hands of whales and a run in with mosquitoes at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. There's also some other talk about some band he was in."I want CultureCatch to be your vid and podcasting site to experience provocative, insightful, entertaining and often-irreverent discussions and reviews about 21st century smart culture. Moreover, I want our content to appeal to ravenous pop culture junkies and savvy scene-stealers everywhere.And I hope that my in-depth interviews with smart culture individuals dissecting art, comedy, fashion, film, music, politics, television, theater, even cooking will leave you craving for more. I’m not interested in the hype created by high gloss spin-doctors. I’d rather encourage the artists to wax poetically and passionately about their craft, not their next project."
For the past few years, Eric Clapton has been taking us, and himself, on a journey through his past. He has lined up gigs with the artists that he played with throughout his legendary career and he has also revisited much of his back catalog in a way that he has not done before. It began with the reunion of 60s super group Cream, with original members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in May of 2005. Since then, Eric invited guitarist Derek Trucks along for a tour that featured many of the classic songs of Derek and The Dominos. Just recently Clapton announced a three night run at Madison Square Garden for February of next year with his Blind Faith band mate Steve Winwood. So what do you think Eric will do next? Maybe play with the one of legendary guitarists who replaced him in the Yardbirds? Wouldn't that be cool? Well my friends, it's already happened....last month in front of a crowd of just 200 in London.What next? There is John Mayall, who Clapton backed up in the Bluesbreakers. Jimmy Page is another ex-Yardbird who joined after Clapton left. Bobby Whitlock, the other principal songwriter and piano player of Derek and the Dominos still performs live and now calls Austin, TX home. I think Delaney and Bonnie and some of their friends are still alive too.On 29 November, Eric Clapton was Jeff Beck's surprise guest during Jeff's run of shows at Ronnie Scott's. The famed club, which can play host to only 200 people, is located in London's Soho. Eric stepped out at the end of last Thursday's show to jam on the Muddy Waters' songs, "You Need Love" and "Little Brown Bird." All of the shows were filmed for DVD release. Jeff's current band features Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Jason Rebello (keyboards) and Tal Wilkenfeld (bass).
No I'm not talking about myself. Ha, ha, very funny. Jerk. The famed Virgin Megastores that grace both Union and Times Squares in Manhattan may be no more in the not so distant future. As a real estate professional by day (and blogger by day also actually, you think i actually work without clicking on this site!?!) I always jump at the chance to meld my two worlds.
High Hopes. Everybody at one time or another has them. Have yours dimmed? The song that always gets me thinking about the past, the future, and my own present is 'High Hopes' by Pink Floyd. Enter the recently released David Gilmour DVD and this post. High Hopes is on the setlist on the disc, as it also was a part of the set that I saw at Radio City. I first heard the song in 1994 when the Division Bell album dropped and I was still learning the ways of the classic rock titans. This song was my Stairway to Heaven, my Terrapin Station, my You Enjoy Myself, which is to say my not-exactly-radio friendly epic opus that was always on repeat and had me growing up in my cultural leanings. If you think that's sad, hey, I was 15 so cut me some slack. Every damn time I hear the song now I do a reassessment of my life. Some people do that after they attend weddings or even funerals. The full life check-up. I don't know why but mine happens to occur when 'High Hopes' is on.
Through a conversation with an American dentist on the ferry between the North Island and South Island of New Zealand, who had travelled to many concerts in his day, including seeing the Grateful Dead and Phish (he took his wife and kids to Big Cypress for NYE!), I received a first hand account of attending Merlefest, the bluegrass/americana festival held in western North Carolina each year. He raved about it and recommended that I check it out.
It is my pleasure and honor to write that The Band has been announced as one of this year's recipients of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Sure the Grammys have lost most their credibility over time, but this is still something to be celebrated. It will be interesting to see who shows up to receive this award. Could Robbie share the stage with Levon again? It is just about guaranteed that Levon will be in attendance considering that his first new studio release in 25 years, Dirt Farmer, is nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album this year.
I used to love SportsCenter on ESPN. Middle school mainly, early high school. Back when sports trumped music and I knew Chuck Knoblauch and Lenny Dykstra and had never heard of John Bonham or Lindsey Buckingham. Wasn't Bonham a center on the Bucks and Lindsey was that hot chick in my homeroom?
What do you get when you cross Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, some whiskey, a keg, and songs about college girls, drinking, growing up, religion, good times and bad times? The answer is Corey Smith. And, yes, this is a good thing.
This article from Blabbermouth is either further evidence that Led Zeppelin will in fact play Bonnaroo this June, seeing as how Plant will be on the festival grounds already, or this may be what contributed to the rumor in the first place and Jimmy Page won't be there to join him. What do you think?According to Nashville's NBC affiliate WSMV-TV, LED ZEPPELIN frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass star Alison Krauss will perform at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee next June to promote their collaborative CD, "Raising Sand". In addition to the "Raising Sand" material, they'll perform songs from their catalogs — including LED ZEPPELIN's "When the Levee Breaks" and "Black Dog".
Plant has told Rolling Stone magazine that he plans to hit the road in early 2008 with Krauss.
According to Billboard.com, Plant and Krauss first performed together in 2004 at a Leadbelly tribute at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, but it took several years before they found time to team up in the studio with Burnett in Nashville and Los Angeles.
I have a problem. I can't control these urges. And I'm ashamed. It happens every time I go into a Virgin Megastore, or a Best Buy, or a Circuit City. I have to buy at least one concert DVD. Sometimes even more. Its so humiliating. Some of these purchases are even still in their shrink wrap because the mood has passed.
One of my favorite music trivia questions involves Radiohead and which act they opened for in the U.S. back in August 1996. It was for a short 13 show tour and the headliner was known to cover 'Fake Plastic Trees' in '95 at their own show. So it's true that Radiohead, arguably the biggest band in the world, was subservient enough to be a proverbial side show to increase their fan base. So obviously they would have hitched their ride to U2, maybe Pearl Jam, or even the Chili Peppers, right? Not exactly.
I would like to thank Pandora for turning me on to yet another fantastic artist. This time it is Dustin Bentall, a Western Canadian twenty-two year old alt-country/folk/rocker that channels Jeff Tweedy, Jay Farrar, and Neil Young with his own authentic style. I've so much enjoyed getting to know the music of The Felice Brothers over the last week or so, but I am also now just as excited to discover Dustin. I have yet to hear anything by him that I don't consider to be excellent. Here is a short segment of a bio I found on SeeMagazine.com:Dustin hails from North Vancouver BC and it seems an unlikely place to nurture such a rustic troubadour. It seemed like an unlikely country for Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel or Neil Young to be from… until people took a closer look. Up here you'll find as deep a frontier spirit and hard luck charm as any nation. You'll find a reverence for the tales of everyday life and loss and you'll find a lot of people who have time to woodshed and learn their craft. Spinning songs by Young, the Band, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Tom Petty, and Steve Earle Dustin found the heart of that music and placed it under his own landscapes. "The narcotic cowboy thing definitely comes from my love for cosmic American music. I got into Gram Parsons and never looked back. "GP/ Grievous Angel" was the first time I ever sat down listened to a record and thought, holy shit! music can sound THAT good. And that there are songs out there that are THAT good. I found it so beautiful, honest, true and real. I had always listened to tons of Dylan growing up and loved it. I listened over and over in my room because I understood the music and it made me feel good …but with GP I had to listen to it over and over just to figure out why I knew that this is the kind of music I wanted to create."
Gnarls Barkley will release a new record next spring, according to limited comment in the New York Times. The follow-up to their number one smash debut St. Elsewhere doesn’t have a name yet, but Danger Mouse had this to say about it:
"It sounds like we're more comfortable with each other and just as uncomfortable with everybody and everything else."
Revealing stuff. Work is expected to begin on the new record at the start of 2008.
So I head over to Starbucks on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan as much to get out of the office as to get a 'lil caffeine fix. And not surprisingly, about 20 people ahead of me in line also had the same work break/caffeine issues. So with my unbelievably short attention span (damn Internet addiction side effect), I can't really contemplate standing around with no stimulation for the five minutes in line. So I whip out my iPhone, remember Starbucks is a WiFi/Apple friendly zone, and peruse the iTunes WiFi Store which immediately appears once I set foot in the store. Looking through the new releases, I saw that the new WuTang single called 'The Heart Gently Weeps' is available which samples 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' with Dhani Harrison, George's son, supplying the "sample". I hit the buy button, popped in my iTunes password, and within 15 seconds the song was residing in my 'Purchased' playlist with the album cover art and all. Amazing!
The Rolling Stone [Wood] said: “I’m looking through about 5,000 hours of Faces footage. Stuff we shot on hand-held cameras, us messing around. It’s hopefully getting a release next year.”Read the full article.
Wood’s comments add to speculation that the Faces might reform in 2008. There are already plans to release re-mastered editions of the band’s four studio albums, and UNCUT believes the surviving former members – Wood, Rod Stewart, keyboard player Ian MacLagan and drummer Kenny Jones – have recently been in negotiations to reform for live dates in 2008.
Rolling Stone brings you the 50 greatest songs over seven minutes long. Elizabeth Reed, I'm looking in your direction. And they only are considering studio versions, so Deadheads relax. They didn't inlude that 94 minute Dark Star you love but cut them some slack.
Q: What do Stewart Copeland and John Paul Jones have in common?
The Bridge
I love Charles Barkley. Here is his quote regarding the safety of Isiah Thomas's job as the coach of the NY Knicks if they lose again tonight:
Authenticity. The word gets bandied about in regards to new music releases these days, specifically the lack thereof. (Actual talent is also missing these days, but that is for another post.) Ultimately though, isn't everything these days derivative of preceding bands and therefore lacking in authenticity. Well, I must remind myself there is a difference between authenticity and originality. The Felice Brothers are not originals. But with all of the crap being released today, isn't a great derivative band worth writing about (and listening to). And with chops like theirs, authenticity does not seem like a problem for them.
Kurt Cobain just smiled. That is what drove me to write this post while watching the recently released Nirvana MTV Unplugged DVD. The man, who is now remembered as being a brooding individual uninterested in fame and ultimately uninterested in living, is cracking jokes with bandmates on MTV of all places. He is chatting in between songs. He is, well, an artist clearly relishing the spotlight (although he wouldn't have admitted it) and projecting a maturity in his music that does not appear to support the tortured soul theory very well. Ultimately what is really so great about the DVD is that all of the MTV editing and commercials have been eliminated and the uninterrupted essence of the concert bleeds through with a tiny glimpse at what it would have been like to attend this show.
Jon Fishman has been added to the the Del McCoury Band and Friends New Year's Eve Concert, December 31st at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Tickets are on sale now at ryman.com or at the Ryman Box Office. For more information, please click here. Other guest performers include Ronnie Bowman, Drew Emmitt & Vince Herman (of Leftover Salmon) and Steep Canyon Ranger.
Call me crazy, but cost aside, I would probably go to this show. It would sure be one hell of a spectacle. Do you think this could actually happen? Dangle a few million in front of Michael and I believe he'd be in. The man behind Michael Jackson's Off The Wall tour in the late 1970s and early 1980s - admits he has been in touch with the infamous Jackson family to discuss reforming for a number of live dates. And Rowe claims Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon have already confirmed their involvement.Read the full article from music-news.com
The new head of Great Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, the country's top intelligence body, Alex Allan, is a "Deadhead" by his own admission. Allan maintains a personal website fully devoted to the Grateful Dead where one can find information on all their music, concerts etc.Read the article from the UK's The Independent here.
Allan who is 56...has been British High Commissioner to Australia and private secretary to both Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair. On his website Allan writes, "I first saw the Dead in the mud at Bickershawe in 1972, and was so knocked out I went to all the Lyceum concerts after that. I have been a Deadhead ever since, and saw them whenever they came to Europe, but sadly never managed a U.S. tour."
Hi there.
