TimmyB

I'm going to try and make it to this. Thanks for reminding me Marc.

I heard the Royal Albert Hall shows will be four gigs in May.

So if it's late May Cream would just have to hope on a plane and fly over to Manchester, TN to play bonnaroo on either 10,11 or 12 of June. If this is real I could see Baker, Bruce and Clapton playing a short tour at stops like NYC, Chicago and/or Los Angeles inbetween the bonnaroo show.

Damn, I'm so excited at the possibility of this happening!

Where did you read that Steve?

If it this rumor comes to fruition, it will save me a lot of cash for a flight to England to see Cream at the Royal Albert Hall.

"I think [the jam band scene] is going to play itself out," says Garrison. "[The] Bonnaroo [festival] has been slowing the scene down, helping it maybe gain a wider acceptance in the country and in the music business but it's definitely killing a lot of bands as far as touring revenues and that kind of stuff."

Wise words from someone who has seen it all happen...

I agree 100%

I agree with what Greg Garrison says as well. And this is why I feel that bonnaroo and other similar large festivals are hurting the "jam band scene," four words "bang for your buck."

I've seen between 14 and 20 artists sets at all three bonnaroos. Of those sets 10 to 15 were complete full shows.

The ticket price for bonnaroo is around US $150. To see just the headliners and the previous act on the main stage for all three nights would cost you well over $150 to see those artists headline their own shows.

Unless their is some kind of huge tragedy or important family related event going on in my life on the weekend of bonnaroo I'm not ever going to miss one of these festivals.

Actually this year I'm going to go to Field Day in July and I'm going to try and finally make it to a moe.down on Labour Day weekend. I might even try and make another festival as well if I have the time.

Why pay $50 to see one to three acts when I can pay $150 to see 14 to 20?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ALL!

Now bring on the concerts for 2005!

I love these two acts and I hope that they tour together in 2005.

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. December 22, 2004, 3:30 PM ET

Harper, Blind Boys Pairing Spawns Live DVD

Following a collaborative CD that resulted in a trio of Grammy nominations, Ben Harper and the Blind Boys Of Alabama are planning to release a concert DVD early next year. The film was taped at a one-off performance at New York's famed Apollo Theatre in October in support of "There Will Be a Light," the first full-length release by the modern day troubadour and the seminal inspirational vocal group.

"I'm excited to put that out, something live, as far as a celebration of this record," Harper tells Billboard.com of the DVD, which is due in the spring via Virgin.

Backed by Harper's band, the Innocent Criminals, the show found the Blind Boys and Harper performing all 11 tracks from "There Will Be a Light," which debuted in October at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart and No. 81 on The Billboard 200. The set has sold 98,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Additionally, Harper employed the Blind Boys' talents on the inspirational tracks that have graced such albums as his 1995 release "Fight for Your Mind" ("Excuse Me Mr.," "People Lead," "Give a Man a Home"), 1997's "The Will To Live" ("I Want To Be Ready," "I Shall Not Walk Alone," the latter covered on the Blind Boys' 2002 release, "Higher Ground") and last year's "Diamonds on the Inside" ("Brown Eyed Blues," "Temporary Remedy").

At deadline it was unknown if the DVD would reflect the full show, which included three encores, or selected performances.

"There Will Be a Light" earned Harper his first solo Grammy nomination for "11th Commandment" in the best pop instrumental performance category. With the Blind Boys, he was nominated for best gospel performance slate for the title track, while the album was listed in the best traditional soul gospel album field.

"It's something that's still so new that I'm still taking it in," Harper admits when asked for his reaction to the nominations. "It's amazing and my family's really excited and I'm beyond excited. I'm just kind of taking it in stages. I wake up and I say, 'What? Is this...? It can't...' You know, I'm waiting for somebody to give me a swift kick and wake me up."

Although he says he and the Blind Boys have an "organic and natural connection," and that he's open to future collaborations with his friends, there are no plans at present to record another album in the vein of "There Will Be a Light."

"This was something so special I'd almost not want to try," Harper says. "I mean, of course I would, but at the same time, of course I wouldn't. Because, this record was something that just happened to us, as much as from us and to try to do that again, it's possible, but it would have to sort of just once again happen."

The album has also prompted offers to collaborate with several other artists Harper politely declines to identify, while his participation in October's Vote for Change tour has fellow activists pining for his talents and help in influencing the country's political direction.

Although he'd jump at the chance perform with the Blind Boys during February's Grammy Awards ceremony if asked, in the short term Harper is taking a self-imposed indefinite break from his career and committing to spending time with his family. "Being a grown-up is an extreme sport!" he says emphatically with a laugh. "That's just the bottom line. Being a grown-up is just full on.

"I mean, that's where I am -- there's no middle ground for me," he explains. "I have devoted so much, the scales are so unbalanced with music and the rest of my life that it's time. I've got to completely do a 180 [degree turn] towards the rest of my life at the moment."

Even in his down time Harper is writing songs every day and says reconvening with the Innocent Criminals is a foregone conclusion. "I just don't know when. Probably it'll end up being sooner than later, but possibly later than sooner," he says with a laugh.

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

Another Hiatus! I'm really getting sick of that word.

I've only seen Leftover Salmon once at the All Good Music Festival in 2000. I thought the show was great, though I never saw them since. Partly because they don't often play in this area.

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. December 22, 2004, 10:05 AM ET

Leftover Salmon Going On Hiatus

With the last show of its upcoming four-night stand (Dec. 28-31) at Denver's Fox Theater taking place exactly 15 years to the day after its first concert, the members of Leftover Salmon have announced the jam band is taking an extended hiatus, which leaves the future uncertain for the veteran touring outfit.

"I think this is probably the most positive thing that ever happened for the band," bassist Greg Garrison tells Billboard.com. "Just this opportunity to take a break and do some other things musically; I think [guitarist/mandolin player] Drew Emmit has been wanting to kind of explore his own music and explore bluegrass a little bit more. So for him, I think it's been coming for a long time."

"Then also, when Mark Vann, the original banjo player died in 2002, we kind of kept touring out of necessity for people," he continues. "Because it happened so quickly, nobody had a chance to plan and figure anything else out to do."

After eight albums and countless live shows by the "real blue collar working class band," Garrison says the group decided to leave behind the burgeoning jam band scene, which now includes contemporary acts such as moe., the String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band.

"I think [the jam band scene] is going to play itself out," says Garrison. "[The] Bonnaroo [festival] has been slowing the scene down, helping it maybe gain a wider acceptance in the country and in the music business but it's definitely killing a lot of bands as far as touring revenues and that kind of stuff."

Garrison says since the sabbatical decision was made, Leftover Salmon has never sounded better, which he believes bodes well for the future of the band. As for his future, he plans on joining band mate Emmit's bluegrass project.

With Phish having officially called it quits and Leftover Salmon seemingly up on blocks and out of commission, where will loyal fans of the improvisational-friendly genre turn for the next good time?

"What's next? Who knows," says Garrison. "I know [Widespread] Panic is going to be back in March, so people will have something do to at least. But I don't know."

-- John Benson, Cleveland

Unless I'm mistaken I think we saw him play Funky Bitch with Phish at Oswego in 1999. Can anyone else confirm this?

Yes you did, unless you possibly missed some music at Oswego (I wrote that Son Seals played their above).

I remember Son performed two songs of his with Phish, the made famous by Phish "Funky Bitch" and "On My Knees."

Happy Birthday Jhamie,

I hope you have a great day and a great year!

PS Don't listen to Marc he can be a prick sometimes.

PPS It's cool that you share your birthday with Frank Zappa!

May you rest in peace Son Seals.

I've been to several blues festivals and concerts in my day though I never Son Seals at any of those.

Luckily I did get get to see Seals with Phish in 1999 at Oswego (As I'm sure many more people here did as well).

from www.billboard.com

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. December 21, 2004, 3:30 PM ET

Bluesman Son Seals Dies

Noted blues guitarist Son Seals died yesterday (Dec. 20) in Chicago of complications from diabetes. He was 62.

Born Frank Seals in Osceola, Ark., he started his musical career by mastering the drums by his early teens, taking over guitar and leading his own band before reaching his 20s. Moving to Chicago in 1971, Seals played regular gigs on the city's South Side with such legendary artists as Junior Wells and Buddy Guy.

Seals made his recording debut in 1973 with the "The Son Seals Blues Band," released by Alligator Records, which in 2002 issued a career retrospective, "Deluxe Edition."

Among many honors, Seals was the winner of W.C. Handy Blues Awards in 1985, 1987 and 2001. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1980 for his participation in the live compilation "Blues Deluxe," recorded at the Chicagofest event with Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor and others.

Seals, who made his last public performance appearance in October in California, is survived by a sister and 14 children. At deadline, funeral arrangements had not yet been announced.

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

May your life together be full of love and happiness, until the end of time on this marble we call earth.

I went today to see the Raptors vs. Nets at the ACC. If the score of that game is any indication of how well the Raps will do (they won 110-99) then they look like they will improve without Vince Carter being a constant distraction.

Let's face it the Raptors have already won three games verses some of the toughest opponents in the NBA without Carter in the line-up. At home vs. Spurs (Carter was in that game though he only scored 4 points and didn't play in the fourth quarter), in Miami vs the Heat and at home to the Timberwolves.

I love basketball and so I will support the Toronto Raptors no matter what as I hope my childrens grandchildren get to watch the NBA in Toronto.

Okay I'm rambling now, if it isn't already clear yes I'm happy Carter is gone.

I just discovered on a Rolling Stones message board today that the Bernard Fowler & Blondie Chaplin (both are backing vocalists in the current Rolling Stones touring band) concert celebrating Keith Richard's birthday was happening again! I found out after 9PM so I rushed from Hamilton to Toronto to get to Stones Place before they got on stage.

Let me just say that compared to last years Bernard Fowler & Blondie Chaplin concert this one was far superior in nearly every way. The band performed better and played more songs and the crowd was way more into the show (How about that guy with the Velvet Underground And Nico Tshirt? He was doing a crazy Mick Jagger impersonation all over the place).

Here's the setlist from the show. I'll see if I have time to write more tomorrow.

BERNARD FOWLER & BLONDIE CHAPLIN

STONES PLACE

SATURDAY DECEMBER 18, 2004

Start time 11:11PM

Set I:

1. Might As Well Get Juiced

2. Dance (Pt. 1)

3. Sparks Will Fly

4. Little T & A

5. Happy

6. Love In Vain

7. Street Fighting Man

8. Honky Tonk Woman

9. You Got The Silver

10. She Was Hot

End Set I 11:57PM (46 minutes)

Set break 55 minutes

Start time 12:52AM

Set II:

11. Slave

12. You Don't Move Me

13. Can't You Hear Me Knocking

14. Before You Make Me Run

15. Cherry Oh Baby>Little Drummer Boy>Cherry Oh Baby

16. Wild Horses

17. Jumpin' Jack Flash

18. You Got Me Rocking

End Set II 1:38AM (44 minutes) (Bernard & Blondie never leave the stage)

19. The Worst (Acoustic- duo)

20. Dance Little Sister (with band back)

End show 1:48AM (54 minutes)

(Total time 1 hour and 40 minutes)

What a setlist! Could you imagine seeing the Rolling Stones perform this set? Songs like "Dance (Pt. 1)," "Little T & A," "She Was Hot," "Slave," "You Don't Move Me," "Cherry Oh Baby" and "Dance Little Sister" are songs I have never seen the Stones perform live and probably never will.

Happy 61st Birthday Keith Richards,

May you have many, many more in health and happiness. Who am I kidding you're going to out live us all!

I can't wait to see the Rolling Stones again in 2005 and/or 2006!

Last year I celebrated Keith Richards 60th Birthday at Stones Place in Toronto where Rolling Stones backing vocalists Bernard Fowler & Blondie Chaplin performed a concert in celebration of Keith's 60th.

Seeing members of the Rolling Stones touring band perform Stones songs on Keith's birthday was a lot of fun. Especially since they performed a lot of rare Stones songs I might never see live.

Here was the setlist from that memorable night.

Bernard Fowler & Blondie Chaplin

Thursday December 18, 2003

Stones Place

Set I: 11:17PM

1. Sparks Will Fly

2. She Was Hot

3. Jumpin' Jack Flash

4. Cherry Oh Baby

5. Love In Vain

6. You Got Me Rockin'

7. Street Fighting Man

8. Might As Well Get Juiced

9. Dance Little Sister

10. She's So Cold

12:14AM (57 minute set)

Set II/Encore 1:16AM

11. Wild Horses

12. Dear Doctor

13. The Worst

1:33AM (17 minute set)

From www.billboard.com THIS DAY IN MUSIC December 18, 1943

1943 - Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is born in Kent, England.

Hey Marky,

I've marked the date on my 2005 calender for this show.

Great job getting Dickey Betts to perform his first solo concert since his departure from the Allman Brothers Band!

Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago!

I'm a little disappointed that rumor about Jimmy Herring playing the tour with them hasn't come true yet.

Why would Jimmy Herring have to also be in Widespread Panic? Herring is becoming like Warren Haynes, they have to be in every jamband on the planet.

WP has George McConnell now, whoI've seen twice since Michael Hauser passed on (may he rest in peace). WP sound has changed, but they McConnell is a great player in his own right. And he is now a significant part of their group dynamic.

I'm glad I got to see WP perfrom with Hauser at the inaugural bonnaroo. I saw them the next bonnaroo with McConnell and went to a great gig on 07/16/03 at Harbor Centre, Portsmouth, VA.

It is unfortunate that WP doesn't cross the border. The Detroit gig looks like it will be the closest gig to Southern Ontario this year unless they perform Upstate New York in the summer. I think I'll be trying for both Detroit and Cleveland.

Happy 46th Birthday Mike!

May you have many, many more in health and happiness.

I hope I see you at Field Day or maybe even bonnaroo in 2005.

Coincidently I just returned from work to find the "leaving new york" CD1/2 singles at my place, which has on CD2 a live version of "These Days" from the September 30, 2001 show in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre that I attended. Of all the days to get these CD's I get them on Mike Mills birthday! It definitely made my day.

from www.billboard.com THIS DAY IN MUSIC December 17, 2004

1958 - Mike Mills of R.E.M. is born. The group's best selling album is 1991's "Out of Time," which sells more than 3 million copies.

I'm a huge fan of Queen and I also grew up with Free, Bad Company, the Firm and Law, so I'm happy about Paul Rodgers being apart of this reunion of sorts.

I obviously never saw Queen with Freddie Mercury as they stopped performing live in 1986 and I was only 11 at the time. Though I was lucky enough to see Brian May open for Guns N' Roses at Copps Coliseum on March 12, 1993. I also have seen Paul Rodgers three times over the years.

Yes the reunion does have a Doors of the Twenty-first Century feel to it, especially with one living member in both groups not performing and both having to replace a dead vocalist, but I also saw the Doors when they came in 2002 and I thought it was still a lot of fun.

I heard that the Queen musical "We Will Rock You" will be making a run in Toronto, so hopefully they will come here to perform to promote the musical.

Hey Pablo Sanchez,

I was just wondering what night Les Paul played his weekly residency in the Big Apple? Thanks for posting it here.

I will be going to New York City to see Wilco and the Flaming Lips for their New Years Eve gig at MSG, but unfortunately the show is on the Friday and I have to be back on the Sunday.

Damn, I was hoping that maybe the great Les Paul performed on Wednesday or Thursday which I could have made work, but Monday's no good.

THE FLAMING LIPS "Clouds Taste Metallic" - Can't wait for New Years Eve!

PAUL McCARTNEY "Run Devil Run" - December 14, 1999 was the anniversary of McCartney's first performance at the Cavern Club since the Beatles in the early sixties.

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD "End of the World Party (Just in Case)" - Since the world is going to end in 100 years this album is more significant now.

VORCZA "Maximalist" - Really enjoyed their gig at PJC last week.

U2 "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" - Another great album by those boys from Ireland and soon to be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Who's excited about this one? I hope it comes to North America.

from www.rollingstone.com

Queen Reunite for Spring

Rockers re-form with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers

Queen is mounting their first tour since the death of frontman Freddie Mercury from AIDS in 1991 -- with former Bad Company and Free singer Paul Rodgers at the helm. The veteran hard rockers will be playing several European dates next spring, and the shows will feature both Queen and Rodgers material.

The inspiration came this September at the Fender fiftieth anniversary bash, where Queen guitarist Brian May and Rodgers -- who joined the Firm with Jimmy Page in the mid-Eighties and reunited with Bad Company in the late Nineties -- performed the classic Free song "All Right Now." "We were both so amazed at the chemistry that was going on," May writes on his Web site, "that suddenly it seems blindingly obvious that there was 'something happening here.'"

Queen and Rodgers also played together last month when Queen was inducted into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame. According to May, the positive reaction from that performance led to more specific tour plans.

Queen's last shows with Mercury were in 1986; afterwards, the band stopped touring due to Mercury's illness. Since his death, the surviving band members have reunited for a handful of special occasions -- such as the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, their induction into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and most recently at the 46664 AIDS benefit concert in Cape Town, South Africa. May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor have also been busy as the musical directors of We Will Rock You, a musical featuring twenty-five Queen songs which has been a success in London and is currently playing at the Las Vegas theater, Paris Las Vegas.

About the idea of touring again after such a long hiatus, May writes, "It's very exciting . . . suddenly the Queen Phoenix is rising again from the ashes."

DAVID CHIU

(Posted Dec 14, 2004)

saw pics on Tony Levin's site a while back of them all recording in Trey's barn preparing for a new release, thought there was tenative talk of touring even then

don't let those phish kids get to ya Tim

Don't worry paisley, those phish kids are all right with me.

From one of Tony Levin's official websites www.papabear.com This is only goes further to confirm what Ray Paczkowski told me last week in Hamilton.

CURRENT DIARY

Dec. 7, Bath, England

Working on an album at RealWorld Studios here in Bath. I'm finding that the dollar is very low in relation to the English pound - hence I'd better stick around the studio, and not shop for books in Bath, like I usually do.

This studio, which I've worked in a lot though the years, with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson, is much the same as always, but there are some new "statues" embedded inside the double windows. I put the word in quotes, because they're a bit unusual - they seem to be of Peter and me, and I think they may have been photographed for the last tour program. Anyway, I couldn't resist putting a photo up (on right.) Pretty odd, looking at this as I play!

The artist is a young girl, doing her first record. Her management doesn't want me putting up photos of the session, as is sometimes the case, so I'll hold myself to the Peter and Tony constructions from the window (and our dogs, back home, getting ready for the festive season.)

Next week I'll be in Vermont, recording again with Trey Anastasio (and Jerry Marotta on drums). Should be a snowy drive up there this time (last trip was in the famous Autumn foliage period) and I'll hope they've got a fire going in the fireplace. Looks like we'll be doing a lot of recording together - hopefully some live playing too.

Then, if I can get back in time for it, I'll proudly watch my daughter Maggie's directing debut - her own adaptation of Nightmare Before Christmas, in Woodstock's Bearsville Theater. It's a wild experience watching one's child grow up and enter the adult world. Maggie's first band, Hideous Underwear (the name was not run by Dad for approval) broke up last year, and she's been solidly pursuing her love of drama writing and directing. (All those tours I had her out on when she was little - I wondered if she'd be in a road crew by now!)

More soon.

I believe I scored passes to this show, so I'll likely be there on Thursday.

from www.rollingstone.com

U2 to Enter Rock Hall

The Pretenders, O'Jays, Guy, Sledge also to be enshrined

Their cross-promotional campaign with iPod has reestablished U2 as the planet's biggest rock band. Now, capping an already huge commercial season for the anthemic Irish foursome, Bono and his bandmates will join the all-time greats in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Also scheduled for induction at the institution's twentieth anniversary gala on March 14th are the 1970s soul group the O'Jays, U.K.-based New Wave group the Pretenders, blues guitarist Buddy Guy and R&B veteran Percy Sledge.

From their earliest days in post-punk Dublin, U2 -- whose latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, debuted last month at Number One -- have been a rock band with a purpose. Beginning with the 1987 blockbuster The Joshua Tree, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year, the band became one of the first alternative acts to achieve classic-rock status, building a following that spans generations. Guitarist Dave "The Edge" Evans' frantic, chiming style has influenced countless successors, and singer Paul "Bono" Hewson has created a larger-than-life celebrity persona for himself, singing with Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti and making international news for his activism on behalf of reducing third-world debt.

The Pretenders, contemporaries of U2, were formed during the punk movement in England in 1978 by the American-born former rock critic Chrissie Hynde, who once worked in Malcolm McLaren's infamous boutique, Sex. Despite the drug overdoses of two of the group's founding members, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon, the group went on to log six Top Forty hits, including "Back on the Chain Gang" and "I'll Stand By You."

The O'Jays, the long-running soul group formed in Canton, Ohio, in 1958, had a Number One hit in 1972 with "Love Train." Favorites of the Philadelphia production team Gamble and Huff, the group had a total of nine Top Forty hits through 1980, including "Back Stabbers" and "I Love Music."

Buddy Guy is the torchbearer of the electric blues style epitomized by his mentor, Muddy Waters. Guy, an acknowledged inspiration to such rock legends as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, runs a popular nightclub on Chicago's South Side.

Alabama-born Percy Sledge, sometimes called "The Golden Voice of Soul," is best known for his enduring 1966 classic "When a Man Loves a Woman."

Set to be inducted in the non-performer category are Frank Barsalona, a pioneer in rock & roll promotion, and Seymour Stein, the astute Sire Records founder who signed Madonna, the Ramones and Talking Heads.

Approximately 700 music-industry figures vote each year on eligible nominees. Among the list of first-time candidates who did not receive enough votes for induction were Randy Newman, the J. Geils Band, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Past nominees who were again passed over this year include the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Stooges. Artists are eligible for induction to the Rock Hall twenty-five years after the release of their first album.

JAMES SULLIVAN

(Posted Dec 13, 2004)