eggs's blog

Going into New Year's Eve, there was no other show as anticipated as My Morning Jacket's first trip to New York City's Madison Square Garden. To play at this famed venue is a sign of taking that next step in the music industry. If you can sell out the Garden, then you've made it, and MMJ did just that. Jim James and the boys brought along white tuxedo's, capes, balloons, and a couple of their favorite friends and cover songs to the stage in the course of their multi-hour, two set show. Especially pleasing was Nicole Atkins second set guest appearance on Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands In The Stream," which is featured in this YouTube clip below.

Check out the rest of the setlist, stream the entire show and watch some videos after the jump

New Year's Eve featured a fair share of prominent shows around the U.S. We plan to bring you video and setlists from several other NYE sets over the next few days, but first let's start with one from The Avett Brothers' performance at Charlotte, NC's Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. As usual, their setlist was impressive, but the true standout has to be this piano-laden cover of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

Check out The Avett Brothers full NYE setlist after the jump

What a great year for album releases. Many of the bands that I knew would be in my top twenty (My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend) made the cut, but this year's list prominently features bands that I started listening to in 2008. There were many great albums that I didn't have room to include this year, but that was bound to happen with the number of great releases that hit shelves in 2008.

Take a look at what albums have had the biggest impact on me this year after the jump

As we continue with BOT's year in review, I now offer my thirty favorite songs of 2008. Both new and older bands grace this year's list, though it mostly draws from new discoveries rather than past favorites. Take a look at what I've been listening to over the last year after the jump.

Phish (minus Page) at Rothbury
I'm not going to be the guy to tell you if this is true or not, and I'm not really one for spreading rumors, but according to Rolling Stone, Phish are set to headline two nights of 2009's Bonnaroo. Say what you want about this, but I'd be more than glad to have them headline the Tennessee festival. I haven't been back to Bonnaroo since its third year, but this might just be enough for me to return. What do you all think?

The 40th anniversary line-up for the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was announced today, bringing out several favorites and familiar faces. The first weekend of the festival, set to take place April 24-26, will feature headliners Wynton Marsalis, Dave Matthews Band and James Taylor, with the daytime slots being filled by the likes of Wilco, Earth Wind & Fire, Spoon, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Avett Brothers, Kinky, Del McCoury Band and a host of others.

The second weekend of the festival, April 30-May 3, has Aretha Franklin, Ben Harper & the Relentless 7, and a slot for a TBA performer on top of the bill, with Kings of Leon, Tony Bennett, Bonnie Raitt, Common, Buddy Guy, Toots & the Maytals, Doc Watson and more holding down the daytime.

As always, the festival leans quite heavily on the music from its host city. New Orleans is well represented with The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Galactic, The Meter Men: Zig, George and Leo, Dr. John and about four hundred more Crescent City artists on the bill.

Check out the full line-up after the jump

With the onslaught of winter finally hitting us here in Texas, bringing temperatures down to the mid 30's, here is another bit of festival news to get your mind off of the snow currently hitting your window.

Two of my favorite summer destinations just collided today with the announcement of Wakarusa's new location and dates. Taking place June 4-7, 2009, Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival is set to go down at one of the US's premier camping festival sites, Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, AR. If you are a regular reader of our site, you might remember our great experiences on the Mountain this past September. You might also remember our not-so-amazing time at Wakarusa last June. The much needed move by Wakarusa to private land will build upon what was created in Lawrence and make it even better. We shall see how many people turn out for the first year in a new site, in a new state, but you can rest assured that come June, at least two members of the BOT crew will be in attendance!

Check out the press release after the jump

We experienced the 2008 edition of Bonnaroo through iClips and text messages instead of actually attending – not quite the same, we agree. But perhaps now we can more closely approximate the wook foot extravaganza: several of our favorite acts have been documented on a new 'Roo DVD. Though the film was originally intended only for festival ticket purchasers, a limited number is now available to the general public for the low price of $16.95. Featured on the DVD are tracks from Pearl Jam, Metallica, The Raconteurs, Broken Social Scene, The Avett Brothers and My Morning Jacket among many others.

Check out a sneak peek of Live from Bonnaroo 2008 as well as the DVD's track listing after the jump

Langerado Music Festival announced a few months back that they were again switching their location, this time moving from the swamplands of Big Cypress to Bicentennial Park on Biscayne Bay in the concrete jungle of Miami. This relocation is accompanied by a parallel change to the style of the the festival's line-up. While the festival has always featured a variety of styles of bands, it's always leaned quite heavily on the jamband realm. This year's artist listing features a wide array of popular indie-rock, hip-hop, dance, punk and reggae acts that you would probably expect to find at Lollapalooza rather that Langerado. Topping the bill are Death Cab For Cutie, who have been gaining steam since the recent release of their album Narrow Stairs, as well as Snoop Dogg, Thievery Corporation, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Public Enemy and The Pogues.

Check out who else is playing Langerado after the jump

If it weren't for Q-Tip, hip-hop wouldn't be what it is today. The evening's opening acts, The Cool Kids and The Knux, both were directly influenced by the rhymes of Abstract, which was evident in all three sets of music that we witnessed at Warehouse Live on Friday, November 21st.

Read all about it after the jump