I don't really think Jewel has much singing (or yodeling) ability. In fact, I don't think she has much talent at all (though she is easy on the eyes). On the other hand, Alison strikes me as an superbly gifted musician and vocalist. Her singing in O Brother, Where Art Thou? with Emmylou and Gillian Welch during the sirens scene was a match made in heaven. Given such an opportunity I have a huge sinking feeling that someone like Jewel would have just fucked it up. T Bone knew exactly what he was doing and picked the perfect vocalists for the job, Alison included. Jewel simply would have been out of her league in such a situation.

Yes, all due respect to Jewel but what she does is cookie cutter "folk" compared to the works of true artists such as Iris Dement, Gillian Welch, Mary Gauthier and similar female performers.

From her recent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman:

U2 Reissue, Expand First Three Albums U2 will follow the trend they set with the 2007 reissue of possibly their most beloved album, The Joshua Tree, by remastering, expanding, and reissuing their first three full-lengths, 1980's Boy, 1981's October, and 1983's War. The reissues will come in three formats-- single CD, double CD with a bonus disc of rarities, and vinyl-- on July 22 via Universal. All contain new packaging, new liner notes, rare photos, and full lyrics. In other U2 news, Billboard.com reports that the band is currently working on a new album, rumored to be released later this year on Interscope. Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois are in the producers' chairs. And they will probably be coming to a Live Nation venue near you sometime in the near future. To see the complete tracklistings click here.

Good to see another Gourds fan here. We seem to be few and far between in these parts. One of my favorite shows this year was when they rolled through Raleigh a few months ago. Unfortunately I was running late and missed Shinyribs (aka Kev Russell) as the opener. I understand he did a killer version of TLC's Waterfalls...

Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and mine is that Jewel doesn't have nearly the same amount of talent as Alison Krauss and that's coming from someone that's never even been a particularly big Krauss fan. Plus, Alison doesn't have the irritating habit of yodeling or the wiggly tooth.

I do love me some Gourds. Too bad most folks only seem to know them from the Gin n' Juice cover.....

Krauss has tired of Plant and now wants to work on a record of nothing but remixes of Gin n' Juice with Snoop Doggy Dogg.

I have. Rick Cornell, a DJ at WXDU in Durham, NC regularly plays tunes by Jim Ford during his Border Radio show which airs Sunday nights at 10 pm. He also has a Soul show called Soul City that airs immediately after Border Radio at 11 pm. If you're interested you can find out more information here.

It was a Robert Plant and Alison Krauss show, were you expecting them to play the entire Zep catalog? I fail to get this comparison. It's as if you know nothing about T Bone Burnett AT ALL. I'm a longtime Zep and Plant fan but I have no desire to see Plant return to work with the Strange Sensation (I have no idea who the fuck the "Mighty Rearrange group" is) or Jimmy Page (with or without Led Zeppelin) at the present time unless that's what he wants to do. What I would like to see is for Plant to continue to follow his muse whether it be with Alison Krauss, a return to his solo career or whatever he chooses to do. It's not up his fans to choose his career path, it's up to Plant himself. As long as it keeps the fanbase as riled up as it has I hope he continues to work with Alison Krauss for a long time to come.

Plant and Jewel? I hope the fuck not. She was recently on an interview show where she explained she hasn't as much "gone country" as found a format fitting for her type of music. Back in the 90s when she was new, the most wide open, accepting format was Modern Rock radio which played everything from Metal to Folk music similar to Jewel's such as the Indigo Girls, Natalie Merchant and other "Lilith Fair" type artists. These days the format that embraces her most is Country radio. Having heard a song or two during the course of the interview I can say her music isn't that much different than what she was doing in the 90s.

True but Zeppelin had a definite hard rock side that the Grateful Dead didn't. Either way, they're both prime examples of not judging books by their covers.

The fellow you quoted made lots of "strange" comments and was eventually banned only to come back here under a variety of screen names and was banned again under each one so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

"Energy Dome" was actually coined by Devo, not McDonalds.

You do realize there is a war going on now don't you? Having grown up in the 70s I can honestly say you didn't miss out on much. Yes, there was lots of good music in the 60s and 70s but there was also lots of good music in the 80s and 90s. And, believe it or not, there's tons of it today but you have to seek it out. It's just like it's always been there's lots of crap clogging the airwaves but there's also lots of good music to be found.

I may be in the minority but I don't try to dress like my favorite musicians.

Which was?

"Dad"? I was curious as to exactly what you were expecting at the Plant/Krauss show, a question you haven't answered. So, why were you so disappointed? From what I've seen and heard their live show doesn't differ drastically from the record or their performance on programs such as CMT's Crossroads.

If it's "all good" why did you post in this thread complaining about the Plant/Krauss concert you attended?

Description Big Brother occupies a significant place in the history of San Francisco psychedelic rock, as one of the bands that best captured the era`s loosest, reckless, and indulgent qualities in its high-energy mutations of blues and folk-rock. Big Brother are primarily remembered as the group that gave Janis Joplin her start, but that is not the whole story. There are not many Big Brother gigs featuring Janis on tape. The music on Disc 2 has been released in various forms by less than reputable record labels, although it is presented here in its first official release. Disc 1 is the Holy Grail for Big Brother fans. 12 unreleased tracks presented here for the first time, recently discovered by the surviving members of Big Brother. Not only is the sound pristine, the performances show remarkable maturity for a group developing their trademark sound at hyperspeed. Back in '66 right after Janis joined the band, Big Brother & The Holding Company were habitually blowing people`s minds; each and every time they performed in front of an audience.

All of which is beside the point since the discussion is about Plant and Krauss, not Zeppelin, Plant solo or Page and Plant. What does that have to do with anything? Plus, how would you know what I would or would not be posting about? Not to even mention that statement has nothing whatsoever to do with the discussion. From your posts I gather you were disappointed by the Plant/Krauss concert because you were expecting something other than what you had heard on the record or seen during any of their various television appearances.

I get the impression this person is totally clueless as to who T Bone Burnett is. Same for what was to be expected at the Plant/Krauss concert.

"Two other preachers"? You lost me there. I'd also say there is far more to Alison than just a "country folk singer". I'd add fiddle virtuoso for starters. I fail to see any sort of accurate comparison between either of these two and T Bone. I consider T Bone not only one of the finest players around but also one of the very best producers working today. Because of his past work and his recent work on Raising Sand he's got tons of people wanting to work with him, most recently pedal steel whiz Robert Randolph. Did you go two go in expecting some sort of reincarnation of Led Zeppelin? Or hadn't you heard Raising Sand or seen any of Plant/Krauss' various television appearances? I'd say all of those things would provide a very accurate representation of what to expect from their live show. What exactly were you expecting to see?

What I was expressing wasn't an opinion but the reason behind Unplugged. It doesn't mean Clapton had anything to prove. If you look at some of the early episodes you will see there were a lot of hard rock/metal type acts. Clapton didn't do the show until years after it's inception. Looking back on it, I believe Tesla were actually the inspiration for the show with their acoustic record that featured a remake of Signs.

TED LEO + PHARMACISTS/PEARL JAM @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NYC 6/24/08 Our friend Matthew Perpetua (Fluxblog) is a big Pearl Jam fan who hasn't seen the band live in over ten years. Last night we sent him to Madison Square Garden. Here is his review. Photos by Maria Tessa Sciarrino. If you need to know anything about this concert, it's that Pearl Jam's audience is very, very intense. The Garden was at maximum capacity, and about 96% of the people in the building were flipping out from the beginning of the show all the way to the end of it, about three hours later. I feel like I've been in a lot of good crowds over the past ten years or so, but leaving this Pearl Jam show left me wondering if the people at all those other gigs even liked those bands at all. In my experience, I've found that arena rock shows tend to attract a lot of fairweather fans -- for example, I saw R.E.M. at the same venue last week, and there were certainly a lot of people just standing around waiting for the big hits -- but the unanimity of enthusiasm for Pearl Jam was remarkable, and on par with only a handful of acts that I've seen in much smaller rooms. At certain points in the evening, the crowd was louder than the band, and very often it seemed like the entire audience was following a specific choreography that I wasn't aware of due to the fact that I hadn't seen them play in a decade. A lot of the time it seemed too good to be true, like some perfect fantasy of an arena audience. It was very inspiring. To read the remainder of the review click here.