Allman Brothers and Elephants

Fun night last night! Started off having dinner at Citrus and then went to the Beacon Theater for the Allman Brothers Band. Great show--Mark Quinones was particularly fired up the whole night, wailing away on the percussion. Warren and Derek were as fantastic as always and Gregg's voice is still pristine.

The first set saw Col. Bruce Hampton and Audley Freed come out for Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" with the Colonel on lead vocals and Audley ripping up some guitar licks. Seeing the Col. on stage always puts a smile to my face. "But just a little spoon of your precious love will satisfy my soul"

The first set ended with "Les Bres in A Minor" (I have a penchant for songs that have time or key signatures in their names--like "The Eleven"). A quick set break gave us a chance to rest our legs and grab a drink. The second set started with some familiar cords so we ran upstairs to see what it was--sure enough, it was Kevin Kinney and Susan Tedeschi sitting in with the Brothers singing Dylan's classic "I Shall Be Released." Check out the video I shot with my new camera :)


Solid second set (though I'm not going to lie--I just don't ever need to hear the Brothers play "Drums" or listen to Oteil scat over his bass. Seems that the entire Beacon loved both, but not me. Just doesn't tickle my fancy, not one bit.) A tight Statesboro Blues brought the energy up and a solid "One Way Out" encore closed the night out. We hightailed it down to 34th street to meet Renee and some of her friends to watch the elephants march to the circus.

Tons of people lining 34th street. We waited for about 45 minutes and then sure enough, roars from the crowd and everyone jumped up to look at the exit from the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Unfortunately, my pics didn't come out all that great (not enough light) (or should I say, not enough skills!) but here are a few. Enjoy!

The Curse of Lono and some damn good food

Great weekend--probably the best eating I've done in a while (and if you know me, I tend to always eat very well). Started off on Friday with a nap after work and then ran up to Jordan's place (Chez Kahn) to hang out before the Gene Ween show at the Gramercy. Walked down 23rd the 3 blocks to the new venue and had a great time.

The venue is good. It needs some more wall dressings to help absorb the sound and drinks were too expensive. That and the seats in the back are not designed for people taller than 6 feet. Great sight lines (well, it's just a large room with no columns, so good stuff), good downstairs chill area and it wasn't too crowded. Gener was awesome, as always. But damn, his fans need to mellow out--we saw 4 people get carried out for puking or passing out. Ugly.

Left during the encore to run uptown with Jack for Sushi Seki. Best sushi in the city. Hands down. The spicy scallop rolls are simply the best ever. The blended eel on top of avocado is unreal. The red snapper with sea salt is divide. Damn, I love that place. Cabbed it back to Brooklyn and got some sleep.

Saturday I woke up too early and watched the Constant Gardener. Went to the gym and sat on the promenade for a while. Met Rachel for a glass of wine and panini in Cobble Hill and then went into the city for another pre-concert sesh at Jordan's place. Russ and Beth came down from CT. Found out Adam and Carmen are also pregnant!!! So exciting!

Went down to Irving for UMelt and Tea Leaf Green. UMelt packed the place in for their opening set. And they tore it up. Every person was completely into the music--the band nailed a cover of Once in a Lifetime and then closed their set with a strong, upbeat song. People LOVED it. Tea Leaf came on and played their usual high energy fun jam rock. It was a whole lot of fun. Went down to Deanna's and got some sleep.

Sunday morning was spent brunching at Clinton Street Baking Company--far and away the best brunch spot in the city. The food was top notch. Went back to Brooklyn and started reading the massive hardcover Curse of Lono. Deanna got this for me for my bday a few months ago and it's insane. The Taschen edition has full color plates by Steadman, letters between HST and his editors, great side bars and other goodies.

Got a few chapters into it and it's your typical Hunter S writing. Covering the Hawaiian marathon in 1980 with Ralph. Expertly written, as expected. Looking forward to finishing it tonight.

Dined out with Steph in Ft Greene last night at Luz, our "L" restaurant. Fantastic South American fair. Some damn good ceviches and white sangria. Very yummy--highly recommended. On to "M" next...

The Heartless Bastards have won my heart

So I've been in LOVE with this album "All This Time"

Go out and buy it right now. Seriously--this album will be in my top 5 records of 07. Without a doubt.


Here's a track off their new album. Take a listen. And then imagine it with good studio production. Soooo good.

Do yourself a favor and get this album.

New picture galleries added

Check out the right side and scroll down to my picture gallery links. I added a bunch of ofoto galleries--Summer Camp, Jammys & Green Apple, High Sierra, South America, Camp Bisco, Southern California, Jam Cruise and Langerado. Enjoy!

Langerado!

Sorry for the delay this week... it's been a busy one. Just bought our plane tickets to Peru for vacation in August. Yeah, that's right--Peru. Can't wait to see Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley and some Amazon jungle goodness.

So Langerado last weekend was just about as perfect as festivals go. Ideal weather, great music, all the best people (save a few who didn't make the trip down--their loss!), and smiles all around.

The weekend started with an afternoon flight down to Ft Lauderdale. Waited with Moose and Slade until Adam and Cole landed. We hopped in the Relix van with Benjy and Jenny and drove to the sight in Sunrise. Set up the Relix booth and saw some good familiar faces. Went back to the hotel, checked in and got settled, then drove down to Revolution to see Trey. Met Sage and went inside.

The show was eh, as it tends to be these days. Decent "Jibboo", "Tuesday" and "Mr. Completely" but he just doesn't move me like he used to (with Phish). The highlight of the show was Matisyahu passing out on the couch two feet behind me and Ethan. And he went down hard. Went to the airport and picked up Deanna and drove back to the hotel and got some sleep.

Friday morning we got to the festival bright and early. Made a lap to say hi to everyone and saw some tunes. New Monsoon, Tea Leaf Green and the Assembly of Dust were all great morning music. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings blew us away in the Swamp Tent. That chick knows how to boogie! And she's got soul. The Hold Steady were fun as expected, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks rocked my world. Love the female rhythm section. The new songs are badass--Baltimore especially.

Left during Trey to go back to the hotel, clean up and order some room service. Deanna passed out early and I went to Revolution for the Disco Biscuits. Love the outdoor space there but I wish they wouldn't oversell each show so much. Great time had by all. Too bad we left with 30 minutes left in the second set, when they really went into overdrive.

Saturday we started off with Apollo Sunshine, who was just too loud for a weekend morning. Toubab Krewe was amazing, as always--afrobeat is the perfect midday music. The Slip was on point, but the highlight of the afternoon was Fourtet with Steve Reid. Sick beats with perfect fills and breaks. PGrove tore it up in the tent and My Morning Jacket closed out the night in perfect fashion--they're simply the best band on the planet. Hands down. The best.

After we got back to the hotel and cleaned up, we walked to eat some sushi and followed dinner up with several hours of margaritas and trivial pursuit at Flanigans. Now I know what you're thinking--isn't it called Bennigans? Yes, but everything in Florida is just a little off. Go figure. Great night though.

Sunday saw us celebrating Marcus's birthday with a phenominal brunch in Lauderdale by the Sea. All you can eat raw bar and fantastic seafood. The whole crew was there--me and Deanna, Marcus and Meredith, Russ and Beth, JOSH AND ORF (what a great surprise!!), Bobby D, Sarah B and Kelly G. Some of the best people in the world, bar none. We got to the festival in time for some Taj Mahal and Los Lobos. Perfect Sunday festival music.

And I spent a good hour watching college basketball (which we won't talk about, as my Terps lost yesterday, sniff sniff) courtesy of the MLB setup. Toots and the Maytals were great and Cat Power just rocks my world. Explosions in the Sky were incredible. I definitely need to see them again.

Sunday night was dinner at Cheesecake Factory then late night PGroove. Perfect way to the end the festival. Happy birthday, Marcus, Cole and Jared!

Here are my pictures from the weekend.


Here's all of us posing at our name's letter. Enjoy!

I can't wait for spring!

Great weekend--Friday was dinner at Damien's bar then went up to the Nokia to see Keller Williams. A blast as always--Butthole Surfers' Pepper, Moondance, Shakedown Street, Burning Down the House and some other fun covers.

Saturday morning we woke up early and walked from my apartment to Tom's Diner--traversing Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus Heights (yeah, I didn't make that up), South Slope, Park Slope and finally Prospect Heights. Had an EPIC meal at Tom's and then went to Josh Baron's new apartment, which is a great spot in PHeights.

We followed that up with a great afternoon in Prospect Park--chilling at the new Audubon Center on the lake, hiking up the hill to the waterfall and strolling through the Great Lawn. Did some shopping at the Atlantic Terminal and went home to rest up before the night.

Met Jack and Ellie for a very yummy dinner at Lamb and Jaffy in Greenpoint and then saw the Dub Nomads, featuring Dave Smith on trombone. They were pretty damn awesome and I will definitely see them next time they're playing.

Music Notes:
The new Wilco album is good. Download a copy of it and enjoy. Very heavy on the Nels influence but there are some gems in there.

Travel Notes:
LANGERADO!!!!!!!! Be there or be super lame. 'Nuff said.

Fear the Turtle!!

We took down #5 UNC and then we took down #14 Duke last night. We're rolling strong into the ACC tourney and should be getting a solid 5 seed for the NCAA tourney. LET'S GO TERPS!