oh kee pah

On second thought, how great is Phish? How ambitious, how audience-centric, how highly conceptual, how dedicated; in other words, how anti-indie rock. How anti-“just got hyped to the gills based on one show at SXSW.” How anti-“their first album was so much better.” How anti-“playing music to sleep with chicks and launch my acting career.” This is a band that plays other bands’ entire albums in tribute, that takes hayrides at 3 a.m. during its own festival, that has never depended on the corporate recording industry to play maître d' to its artistic vision. This is a band that loves what it does so much it just couldn’t stay retired. Read more

The upcoming three weeks in South Florida are pretty much heaven on earth for "phans" and other chilled-out festival-loving types. Phish's four-night stand at the American Airlines Arena begins on the 28th, and, of course, kicks off on New Year's Eve, with a bunch of other livetronica-type afterparties going on at nearby downtown venues.

Then comes Sound Tribe Sector 9 at Revolution on Jan. 2. Then there's the Jam Cruise from Jan. 3 - 8. Then the festivities wrap up on land on the 8th with shows by Karl Denson's Tiny Universe at Culture Room, Zappa Plays Zappa at Revolution, Holy Kimoto (EOTO plus Steve Kimock) at White Room, and then Galactic with JJ Grey and Mofro at Revolution on the 9th. That should leave enough residual good vibes to last us through the rest of the month -- until the late January/early February shows by Gov't Mule, the Yonder Mountain String Band, and Keller Williams. WTF is in the water? Read more

Just as soon as a few new festivals have emerged, an ol’ favorite is calling it quits… for now.

As promoter Randy Leys recent announced, the Detroit Lakes, Minnesota based 10,000 Lakes Music Festival will be on an “official hiatus until further notice.”

“We want you to know we have heard your voices as a community and the 10,000 Lakes Festival wants to deeply thank all of our fans, artists and attendees for seven amazing years at Soo Pass Ranch,” Leys wrote in the statement. “While 10,000 Lakes will be on hiatus for 2010, we believe that the music never stops. It can’t, you make it possible.”

Speaking with the Morris Sun Tribune, Leys explained that, after seven summers, the festival had been unable to grow to “financial success.”

“At the end of the day, not enough people bought tickets,” said Leys. “After seven years, you either build a big enough audience that you can surmount your mistakes, or you don’t.”

Leys did add, however, that he hopes to reinvent 10,000 Lakes so it could return in the future. “If the opportunity is there to resurrect the show under a business model, I think that can work,” he added.

Since forming in 2003, 10,000 Lakes has hosted the likes of The Flaming Lips, Dave Matthews Band, Phil Lesh, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Trey Anastasio, and Wilco among others. We’ll of course update you as more information becomes available.Read on

This was performed at the first Phish show I ever attended with my wife. Too bad she bailed at set break to sleep in the car and missed one best guest sit-ins in Phish history.