Lake Trout Fans Win After Ravens Tough Loss

Saturday night 1/16/10 Ottobar Baltimore, MD: Ravens and Lake Trout fans filled the upstairs bar for the pre-concert playoff party on the big screen. Fans decked out in purple, packing their pot luck dinners and desserts, one optimistic fan even donning a trumpet. I'm sure you know how the game ended up by now. I was bored within the first fifteen minutes of the game. The first strike of a note I heard through the floor I headed downstairs to secure my spot and check out some new music. As I like to say "you can find your new favorite band in the opening act."  Sal Bando, Avec , and LandSpeedRecord all three from Baltimore, kicked off the show. This was originally a triple bill for the new album release from LSR. Lake trout was added later as a make up date for the snow storm in December. I wouldn't say the openers were my new favorites, but they all brought some great energy to the room and got the crowd primed up for Lake Trout. Had they not been the closers, I definitely still enjoyed the show and would recommend checking out all three opening bands. It wasn't long after this, that I started to see the purple jerseys come downstairs one after the other. There was a major set back to their evening. Most of them started to stay downstairs, going once in a while to see if some miracle had happened. Now the party was indeed full on downstairs for the rock show about to take place.

The mood started to change for the better when Lake Trout took the stage. There were no sore losers in this crowd. Welcoming their other hometown favorite with a huge applause to their old stomping ground Ottobar for the first and only scheduled appearance in 2010 (for now hopefully). The anticipation has been building for sometime now, and now FINALLY at midnight it's off to a killer start. The set started off with what was listed as "Thingy" The crowd was way into it, I got the vibe that the band was even way more into it . There was no sign that their favorite team had just lost in the playoffs. Ed Harris' fancy footwork and really digging into it made me get into it more. I really enjoy when a musician really shows interest and really gets into it. Watch the videos posted, you'll see what I mean, he ROCKS. Then you have Michael Lowry's sometimes tribal sounding, un-traditional beats, rapid fire wrist action, and entirely creative drumming done flawless and seemingly effortless . I dare any drummer to try and replicate his work. Sometimes playing with mallets, sometimes one stick and one mallet, sometimes one shaker on the floor tom and one stick doing something else, sometimes two sticks. Unbelievable drumming. Lake Trout sound is like no other band. For the past two weeks I've been trying to think who they exactly sound like. I can't really pin it down. Their sound is unique to them. Sometimes grungy, sometimes trippy, sometimes just straight up rock n roll.

The set continued to rock into Riddle, Say Something, New Thingy. Then in preparation of All Day and Queens, Ed Harris and James Griffith switched up instruments. Ed now on bass and James playing Ed's guitar. They are making it count for this one time, one hour and 15 minute show. Woody's commanding voice on Stutter, harmonizing with Ed's guitar and Matthew on the keys is one of my faves of the night. "It's the little things that mean a lot".
I don't want to forget to mention the often times that Matthew picks up the flute in lieu of his keys and adds another sound that you just don't hear in other bands.  This was an awesome concert. Lake Trout is an awesome band and you should go check them out if you're into rock music. After the song Pill, the band left the stage leaving the crowd chanting for more Lake trout Lake Trout Lake Trout Lake Trout. Of course returning for an incredible encore jam to finish off the night. I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for a lot of people in saying I wish they would announce more shows. The Vibes will be the first to let you know if it happens.

Follow the link below for some great video footage provided by Anthony Biedenkapp

Lake Trout Ottobar You Tube Links



Also check out the links below to my photos from the evening. It was my first show with my new Nikon P90. I also have a piece of advice for any aspiring photographer. Bring two batteries. I learned the hard way.

Avec

LandSpeedRecord

Lake Trout

and some free music from the band

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Weekly Vibes: No Rothbury, Starscape Date, Tea Leaf Green 1/30 930 Club

Apparently the lack of available talent due to touring and recording schedules has postponed Rothbury Festival 2010 until 2011. Rothbury management put out a statement earlier this week. Too bad, I have heard this is an awesome festival

Starscape festival announced their dates and ticket sale dates for this years 12th annual festival being held June 5th at Fort Armistead Park in Baltimore MD. The line up will be announced on February 19th. Check back here at the Vibes or check out Starscape website for more details. Be prepared to stay up all night and watch the sunrise on the Chesapeake Bay for this one.

Featured show this week is Tea Leaf Green at the 9:30 Club in DC Saturday night. An amazing rock n roll jam band from San Fransisco. It's going to be a killer show and they're playing a bunch of new tunes. It could possibly sell out, they did last year. Tickets are still available now. I'll see you at the show. I have been issued a photo pass thanks to the band, so stay tuned for some hopefully great pictures.

Shows this week courtesy of Jambase

DC

Baltimore

Peace and spread the GOOD VIBES

2010 Mountain Jam At Hunter Mountain NY

Head up to Hunter Mountain NY for Gov't Mule's 6th annual Mountain Jam  June 4-6 2010. It looks like the line up at MJ is getting more eclectic every year touching on a number of genre. The headliner will of course be two nights of Mule, I assume two sets each night. Gov't Mule is out supporting it's latest album By A Thread.  Derek Trucks' (Allman brothers Band) new band with his wife Susan Tedeschi featuring a little funk, soul, roots, rock will also play. You can probably bet that anything with Derek on guitar is going to be awesome. It would be safe to assume that Warren will be out there with Derek or vice-versa, as well and many other jams among different bands.

Other bands playing the festival will be Michael Franti and Spearhead, The Avett Brothers, Les Claypool, Toots And The Maytals, Yonder Mountain String Band, Lettuce, Alo and more to be announced in the future. Tickets are available Monday 1/25/10 at 10:00 AM. Early bird tickets are $141.50 or $161.50 with camping. I have not been up to the Mountain Jam yet, but this years line up is pretty solid and I've heard nothing but good things about the jam on the mountain.


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Faith No More, Gorillaz, Jay-z To Head Line Coachella 2010

No Soundgarden reunion in the desert , but the line up looks sweet at Coachella festival this year including the newly formed Them Crooked Vultures consisting of John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. Head liners to round out each night are the recently reunited Faith No More, Gorillaz, and Jay-Z. The line up also includes LCD Sound System, Muse, MGMT, Flying Lotus, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, Deadmau5, Spoon and much more strecthing many genre. The 3 day camp out festival will be held at Empire Polo Field in Indio CA. on April 16, 17, and 18 the site of all previous Coachella and the most recent Phish 8 festival. More line up and ticket info can be found HERE 

Stay tuned for my pictures and review as well as some video from the recent Lake Trout show at The Ottobar in Baltimore.  I'm still working on it

Also check out La Coterie @ Jammin Java tomorrow Jan 20th 8PM

Other shows for the week in the DC/Baltimore area can be found below courtesy of  Jambase

DC Shows

Baltimore Shows

2010 Festival Updates

The first part of festival season is heating up, with dates and line ups coming out just about every day now. Wakarusa festival announced their initial line up and dates yesterday. The festival will be held June 3rd through the 6th at Mulberry mountain in Ozark Arkansas. The line up looks pretty sweet with STS9, The Disco Biscuits, John Butler Trio, Zappa Plays Zappa, Railroad Earth and many more.

The Allman Brothers Band announced their annual Wanee Festival for April 16th and 17th with an extended kick off party starting at 3pm on the 15th. The festival will be held in The Suwanee Music Park in live Oak Fla. The line up includes Allman Brothers both nights, Widespread Panic both nights, Gov't Mule, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Bob Weir, the list goes on. Visit the website for more info.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival is expected to release their initial line up on Tuesday January 19th. The line up is rumored to include a reunited Soundgarden, a return of  the Beastie Boys after their cancelled tour last summer,  Faith No More, Wilco, LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Spoon, Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Devo, The Dead Weather, Passion Pit, She & Him, The Big Pink, and The xx. Visit the Coachella website for more info or come right back to the vibes for the latest on all the festival news.

The last thing I want to pass on is that Furthur is having a 70th birthday bash for Phil Lesh at The Bill Graham Civic Center in San Francisco, CA on Friday March, 12. Visit the Furthur website for more details about tickets and times.

2010 Festival Update and Lake Trout @ OttoBar 1/16

Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival 2010 has announced it's initial line up to include Ivan Nevilles Dumpstaphunk, Soulive, Lettuce, Toubab krewe, John browns Body and much more. The festival will be held at Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fl. Nov 12-14 2010. Tickets are on sale now at a discounted rate of $99 until February 17th.

I also wanted to mention that there's a great rock band from Baltimore called Lake Trout playing at Ottobar this Saturday night. This show is rescheduled from the canceled snow storm show. Tickets that were purchased or won for the original show will be honored at the door. If you won them I suggest printing out the email that says you won them. The band hasn't been on somewhat of a hiatus not playing out much at all, only two times last year. In fact Saturday is the only show that I see listed on their website, so I suggest you come out and rock out to some Lake Trout while you can. It's one I've been looking forward to for a long time, it's going to be a good one. Stay tuned right here for pictures, set list, and possible audio/video from the show.

Hope to see you there.

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Weekly Vibes: Shows, Del Fest, All Good and Floyd Fest Info

Area shows for the week of 1/12>1/1 courtesy of Jambase

DC area

Baltimore Area


Also yesterday was the last day for early bird tickets for the 3rd annual Del Fest Memorial Day weekend in Cumberland MD. Tickets are still available at a discounted rate through March 1st, then they will go up again. I highly recommend this festival for a chill, family, bluegrass vibe. This years line up is awesome. It's a great time, I promise.

Floyd Fest 9 is being held on July 22nd through July 25th. So far the line up looks sweet including Levon Helm Band, Railroad Earth, Soulive, Cornmeal and much much more. Tickets are on sale now at the link provided. I recommend the Souvenir Package, which allows you to park inside the venue at your campsite.

The 14th annual All Good Festival will be held July 8,9,10,11 at the beautiful Marvins Mountain Top in Masontown WV. This year I will be making my 8th year in a row to the mountain top. I cannot wait until July 8th. Stay tuned to the vibes for ticket and line up information I'm sure to be coming soon.

Also stay tuned for more on the national festival scene right here as line ups, dates, and ticket information are announced.

Soundgarden To Reunite For 2010 Shows

Front man Chris Cornell says he'll re-unite his band Soungarden for a 2010 tour. Via Chris' twitter page he said the following "The 12-year break is over & school is back in session," Cornell wrote. "Knights of the Soundtable ride again!" Rumors are adrift of an appearance at the 2010 Coachella festival in Indio CA.

I say this is a great day for grunge fans (including myself) who have been waiting for this for a long long time. The line up will consist of all original members including Matt Cameron (drummer) now of Pearl Jam. Matt will keep his commitment of dates with Pearl Jam through the spring and summer of 2010. Look for dates in the near future. Stay tuned right here to the vibes for the latest updates on tour and ticket information.

It's about time Chris. Thank you

Weekly Vibe: DC/Baltimore Live Music 1/03> 1/09

Shows

DC Sunday 1/03


Gogol Bordello 9:30 Club 7PM This Show is sold out.

The Northeast Groovers Club Elite, Temple Hills MD $10 before 11pm


DC Monday 1/04


Fools And Horses @ Dragonfly Studios Haymarket VA. playing there MON-FRI this week


DC Tuesday 1/05

Brian Fanke @ Irish channel DC playing there TUES - FRI this week

Spelling For Bees @ Velvet Lounge DC $5 show time 7:30 PM



Baltimore Tuesday 1/05


Edwin McCain @ Rams Head On Stage Annapolis MD $32 8 PM


DC Wednesday 1/06 

La Coterie @ Asylum in DC $5 9 PM doors

Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody @ DC9 $10 8:30 PM

Edwin McCain @ Birchmere in Alexandria VA $27.50 7:30 PM

Jason Dolan @ Whitlows On Wilson Arlington VA call venue for time and $


Baltimore Wednesday 1/06

Gregg Allman @ Rams Head On Stage $125 8 PM

The Octagon @ Metro Gallery $7 8 PM

DC Thursday 1/07

City And Color @  9:30 Club in DC $10-$20 7 PM doors

The Octagon @ Black Cat in DC $8 8:30 PM

Allie Moss @ Ebenezers Coffee House  201 F Street NE DC 7:30 PM

Asylum Street Spankers @ Jammin Java in Vienna VA $17 8 PM

DC Friday 1/08

La Coterie @ Ej's Landing in College Park MD $3 9 PM


Rene Moffatt @ Ebenezers Coffee House 201 F Street NE DC 7:30 PM

Elite Force @ Muse at 717 6th St NW DC 21 and over

Blind boys Of Alabama and Preservation Hall Jazz Band @ Warner Theatre in DC $28-$58 8 PM

Ricky Skaggs @ Birchmere in Alexandria VA $35 7:30 PM


Baltimore Friday 1/08

Charlie Mars @ Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis MD $22.50 8 PM

All, Off With Their Heads @ Ottobar in Baltimore THIS SHOW IS POSTPONED check venue for updates



DC Saturday 1/09

RJD2 @ 9:30 Club in DC $10-$20 8 PM Doors

National Symphony Orchestra @ Kennedy Center in DC 8 PM

Ricky Skaggs @ Birchmere in Alexandria VA $35 7:30 PM

The Billy Triplett Trio @ Dogwood Tavern in Falls Church VA.

Lotus and MSTRKRFT Light Up The Electric Factory

Lotus and MSTRKRFT raged in the new year at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia to a sold out energetic (to say the least) crowd. Every time I see Lotus they turn it up another notch. They were unbelievable at Sonar for their Halloween show last October. In fact I went to the new years eve show with a bit of skepticism thinking, how could they top Halloween? Well they absolutely topped it. It was definitely their best performance I've seen, with at least a half dozen or more Lotus shows under my belt. I'm not sure if it was the vibe of the hometown sold out crowd, the fact that it was new years eve or if they are just getting better as they grow as a band and play more shows.

The night started rough after being turned down at the door with my new digital camera. As far as the venue was concerned it was considered a professional camera. Meanwhile my friend Tony was having the same problem. We had to take a cab back to the hotel so I could get my smaller point and shoot camera and he could put his away. This was a small bump in the road causing us to miss the first set. We were back in thirty minutes for the rockin Dj set from MSTRKRFT and our girls having picked what I thought were the best seats in the house over looking the entire scene. The place was jumping like I've never seen a place jump before. Two thousand people or so throwing their fists in the air to the beat. It was definitely bedlam down on the floor. After MSTRKRFT counted down to the new year, they were off to Webster Hall in NYC for a 3:30 am set. Lotus came out for their second set and totally tore the place down with snippets of recognizable popular cover songs mixed into their electronic jams and an amazing laser light show making for an exceptional new years experience with a couple thousand music lovers at a legendary venue.

Please enjoy some photos I was able to take at the event.

Here is a link to the sound board audio download of the show Lotus NYE Electric Factory

The setlist was as follows courtesy of DanOh

Lotus - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
Set 1

Grayrigg
Dane Jeer Us > Da Funk1 > Dane Jeer Us > electronic jam >
Jump Off
Simian
Wax > Day Tripper2 > Wax
Blacklight Sunflare
Tip of the Tongue > Seven Nation Army3 > Tip of the Tongue
------------
Spiritualize > Kids4 > Spiritualize
Tarasque > The Ocean5 > Tarasque
Bellwether > Enter Sandman6 > Bellwether >
Dowrn
128 (with Dubstep jam)
Hammerstrike
Sunrain >
Flower Sermon > Crazy Train7 >
Flower Sermon >
Sunrain

1 Daft Punk
2 The Beatles
3 White Stripes
4 MGMT
5 Led Zepplin
6 Metallica
7 Ozzy Osborne

Here is a link to Jambase's round up of other new years extravaganzas from around the country