Jaimoe

Is channel 208 HD? And will there be a fries deep-fryer hour amongst the 24? Them chips be tasty little 'hors.

Hey Jakis, I got gooned on too many Sierra Nevada IPAs at the EELS concert at the Fillmore in San Fran last September. Good IPA. I'm trying this new Pale out from Muskoka right now (it's pretty good; not very hoppy compared to American-styled Pales, but it has a good finish):

Their full-band experiment should work out fine in a big venue. Nice choice on Cage the Elephant as openers.

Don't answer the door for a candygram:

He's no fucking Greg Rusedski either.

The thing that i find most puzzling is the fact that so many people I know' date=' and with whom I tend to share general musical tastes, just love these guys. I remember when I was at the first Vegoose and my buddies went to see Arcade Fire instead of Widespread Panic, I thought that they were nuts. but hey, mileage varies. I did think that the make your own video for the Suburbs was kind of cool. but the song just didn't catch on with me. no hate here. but they still suck (I group them with Broken Social Scene. I really love much jamband music, and have always been into "alternative" music as well, but these are two bands that do absolutely nothing for me. and hey - more tickets for you who do like them, and more room for me to dance at a widespread panic show!) [/quote'] Your Vegoose friends made the right choice. I think the same regarding WSP. I find them numbingly boring (I've tried for years to get into them, even during the tail-end of the Michael Houser era). I'm with you on BSS. I've tried to like them, but their albums are uneven and their newest release is a snoozefest. I do find their live performances really good though.

Somewhere Booche has a copy of Robert Nighthawk's Live On Maxwell Street. I gave him a copy some 10-15 years ago. Nighthawk scares the bejesus out of me, in a good way. I'm glad you brought up those bluesmen. White loves Son House. Son House and Charlie Patton kick ass. Although he wasn't an electric Delta player, Tommy Johnson was amazing acoustic Mississippi Delta musician too.

The Suburbs didn't grab me at first, or second, either. However, it really fucking grew on me. I think its every bit as good as their other two albums; kind of a mix of both, but more in a concept structure.

Yeah, Mumford put on a great show last night, as did the Avett Brothers.

I was pissed at those fucking distracting bike-riding pinko commies driving all over the stage during the first Arcade Fire performances - plus those punishing strobe-lights were an assualt to the senses and would cause seizures to the feignt of heart. I enjoyed the impromtu "Ready to Start", that is, until the director started to roll the billboards and credits in mid song. Still, for once, the best album actually won for Best Album.

I had several Stone IPA pints when I visited Santa Monica in September. Great American-styled IPA!

Not unless you are a southpaw and were throwing a jab (if so, you need to keep your left guard up).

Great reads - and pictures - Todd! I travelled the Deep South a few years ago - but not as extensively as you are doing - and wrote a piece for Jambands. I loved Nashville and Clarksdale, Greenwood MS. We found two "burial" sites for Robert Johnson. The Delta Blues Museum and some of the shops and juke joints in Clarksdale are cool (at Clarksdale's Ground Zero, I wrote "nero rules!" on a wall near the bar). I liked some of Memphis, especially visiting Graceland, Sun Records, Stax, staying at the Peabody Hotel and its awesome lobby bar with its famous duck walk, the mighty Mississippi River (where Jeff Buckey drown)and the inspiring Civil Rights Museum, but the town itself is sketchy/dead, other than the overrated Beale Street. I'm gleefully envious and inspired and re-inspired by your trip and can't wait to travel more extensively in the South - related to music - soon. BTW, you hit that Ali heavy-bag like a champ.

Hmm... I bet there'll be a couple of guests. If I were in Ottawa tonight, I'd drag the Bouchards out for this one... and I mean Nathaniel and Lynn.

For those not familiar with Cuff, their songs are often unpredictable; some branch-off into different directions, often with swelling guitar jams. It's quite thrillng, especially in concert, plus the songs are memorable. I've seen Cuff 5 times over the years and they remain one of my favourite Canadian bands, and live bands for that matter. The John Henrys/Cuff bill was ideal, but I'm sure you'll have a good time tonight regardless. It'll be certainly better than watching the Senators game. Oh, and one "special guest" will probably be Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor.

High-end alt-country/roots rock band; they should be bigger (same with The John Henrys). Cuff haven't written a bad song - great guitars too.

Hey Andre, nice description. Dig deeper into your current Muddy Waters fixation and we'll discuss further when I get to Ottawa in a few months. Raw electric blues has never been done better than by Mr. Morganfield, with all due respect to the Wolf, R.L., Junior Kimbrough and John Lee Hooker. Certainly Jack understands all of this and pulls it off better than any of his contemporaries.

The Stripes don't have any bad albums and Icky Thump was a great "final" studio effort. Their live album and DVD are terrific too. Whatevs. I'm looking forward to some new Dead Weather, unless they broke up too?

Well, their Under The Great White Northern Lights doc is newish and both the companion live album/DVD came out last year, so it's a high enough note to end on, especially for Canuck fans.

Well done Todd. I know some of Son House's story and knew about his Rochester connection. I'll eagerly await your next log. Where are you visiting? Are you planning on "finding" Robert Johnson's graves near Clarksdale, Miss? I found two, and none were near The Crossroads.

Hey Bob, Stop Making Sense is great, but Gimme Shelter, The Kids Are Alright and the two films mentioned above are better. So is A Hard Day's Night and several others (Woodstock etc...). And I prefer this recent doc too:

And I prefer early nero

Exactly. Ringo would suck in other bands - he was perfect for the Beatles. A good analogy I think. Well to each their own to be sure' date=' but I disagree. I don't give a shit about chops or how flashy a drummer is, as long as they can keep time. In my opinion, she has bad time and I can't get past it. Even on some studio tracks. When I saw them live, there sure were a lot of guys captivated by her.....moves.[/quote'] Do you think the Stripes would be the same without Meg inspiring Jack to write the songs? Almost all the songs were in some part inspired by Meg and/or their relationship. Sub in Terry Bozio for Meg and you get a whole lot of shit. Anyway, Meg played a lot like what I hear in early Muddy Waters records, plus her drums acted more as a bass guitar.

White is more of a Muddy Waters meets Jimmy Page mix, with Troggs/Blue Cheer garage. Dan from the Keys is even more bluesy, but less accomplished (but oddly, more polished). I love those bands and we are all lucky to have them producing records and touring in our lifetime - and if ou haven't done it yet, get out and see the Keys before they inevitably implode.

Suddenly The Black Keys have become the garage/ blues-rock torchbearers by default, although I love them too.