This is the Bluefields, one of Dan Baird's many side projects, covering "When the Levee Breaks". You may remember Dan from the Georgia Satellites or from his more current work with the Yayhoos or Homemade Sin. The Bluefields, in addition to Dan (bass and vocals) are Warner Hodges (Jason and the Scorchers, Homemade Sin) on lead guitar and Joe Blanton (The Royal Court of China) on lead vocals and guitar. Here, they're joined by Audley Freed (Cry of Love, Black Crowes, etc.) on guitar and Steve Gorman (Black Crowes) on drums. More living and breathing evidence that rock n'roll is not dead. Not even fuckin' close to it.

Considering this thread is now 78 pages long, I'm wagering a guess that this particular clip has been posted before, perhaps even more than once. Taking that into consideration, I'd like to post it again given that this interview with Plant (which originally aired on Friday Night Videos back in 1983) was conducted by Denny Somach, author of Get the Led Out: How Led Zeppelin Became the Biggest Band in the World, which comes out on October 7th.

The latest from Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires from their album There Is A Bomb in Gilead.

Inside Neil Young and Crazy Horse's New Album And Tour Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, Billy Talbot, and Neil Young of Neil Young and Crazy Horse C Flanigan/WireImage

From REMHQ.com: Projekt R.E.M.: Slovenian Musicians Pay Tribute To the Band and Raise Environmental Awareness A new U.S. Embassy music project will pay tribute to the songs of R.E.M. and will highlight environmental issues in the process. The U.S. Embassy in Slovenia will follow last year’s popular Bob Dylan music project with Projekt R.E.M.: Pure Energy Music, due out on September 8. Projekt R.E.M. features 16 songs by 15 popular artists, all covering classic R.E.M. songs. The project will be dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues, and will highlight the work of many Slovenian environmental groups. A major, free concert at Kongresni trg on September 8 will coincide with the release of the project’s music CD. Once again the U.S. Embassy has put together an all-star cast of musicians... this time to interpret R.E.M. songs. The line-up includes Siddharta, Elvis Jackson, The Tide, N’toko, Vlado Kreslin (backed by Croatia’s The Bambi Molesters), Zoran Predin paired with Massimo Savič, Melodrom, Severa Gjurin, Murat & Jose, Narat, Lollobrigida, My Buddy Moose with Chris Eckman, Polona Kasal, Mia Žnidarič and Steve Klink Trio, The Toronto Drug Bust, and several more surprises. Songs will range from the early 1980’s right up to material from last year. In addition many of the above vocalists came together for a “super session” to record a version of We All Go Back To Where We Belong, R.E.M.’s swan song from Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982 - 2011. The video for the song focuses on environmental awareness and features performances by Kjara’s Dance Project, Slovenia’s preeminent modern dance company. The video will premiere on MTV Slovenia in late August. Events connected with the project will be designed to highlight environmental issues, and will coincide with a two-month environmental photography exhibition sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and Slovenian NGO Ecologists Without Borders, in conjunction with National Geographic magazine, in Tivoli Park’s Jakopičevo sprehajališče, in September and October. The September 8th concert will feature a “green exhibition,” allowing environmental groups to promote their activities and recruit volunteers. At the same time, the 72-page CD booklet is loaded with activities that anyone can do to reduce their carbon footprint. The environmental theme will be front and center, but the cultural component of the project will highlight one of America’s greatest bands. “R.E.M. is the greatest latter day band in America,” said U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer and project team leader Christopher Wurst. “They defined indie music in the 1980’s, captured the world’s attention in the 1990’s and have continued to record important music and put on great live shows right up to their break up last year” continued Wurst. Over the years, R.E.M. has played several shows in Slovenia, both in Ljubljana and Isola. Their most recent concert was opened by Vlado Kreslin, and they were later joined onstage by Kreslin and Chris Eckman, both of whom are on Projekt R.E.M. As with last year’s Bob Dylan Project, the U.S. Embassy, while working with local partners, has financed the entire project, and all of the aspects of the project—from the CD to the concert—are free to the public. The CD will be available to Slovenes, especially Slovenian volunteers, youth groups and to help promote local environmental NGOs. For more information, visit slovenia.usembassy.gov. Projekt R.E.M.: Pure Energy Music Artist (Song) N’toko (It’s the End of the World as We Know It…) Polona Kasal (Drive) Toronto Drug Bust (Man on the Moon) Narat (The One I Love) Severa Gjurin (Oh My Heart) Siddharta (Imitation of Life) Lollobrigida (Shiny Happy People) Melodrom (Star Me Kitten) My Buddy Moose, feat. Chris Eckman (Driver 8) Elvis Jackson (Losing My Religion) Mia Žnidarič in Steve Klink Trio, feat. David Jarh (Find the River) The Tide (The Ascent of Man) Vlado Kreslin & Bambi Molesters (Texarcana) Murat & Jose (I’m Gonna DJ) Zoran Predin & Massimo (Everybody Hurts) “The Super Session” (We All Go Back To Where We Belong) For more information from REMHQ.com, click here.

Yes, I did but it was mainly to educate myself more about Joy Division since I have a few friends that are fans and because they are generally so highly regarded. If you're familiar with their story at all you'll know it's not the most uplifting of subject matter but you may still find it worthy of viewing. Speaking of which, there's also a Joy Division documentary out there as well as a movie called 24 Hour Party People which apparently focuses a good bit on their story as well as other bands from their region. By the way, Control is on YouTube if you want to give it a looksee: http://youtu.be/xO2wBG4m-xg

This didn't turn me into a Joy Division fan but at least I know a little more about them than I did before which, admittedly, wasn't very much.

I've never really cared much for Joy Division either but that doesn't mean I wouldn't watch that documentary about them.

I always wanted to buy Frente's album but never did get around to it. As for New Order, I know they're beloved by millions but their brand of synth music (no matter how sophisticated or intelligent) never really appealed to me. Same thing for Depeche Mode and similar electronic and/or industrial type bands. That's not meant as a slight against those that are fans of that type of music, it just never did much for me.

According to this report from Rolling Stone, when they toured together in Europe last year Knopfler also sat in with Dylan as a band member just as he's done in the past. Knopfler has a new album (Privateering) coming out just before Dylan's Tempest so it would make sense that he's also opening the shows. I guess we won't know for sure if Knopfler is going to actually be performing in Dylan's band until the tour (with Knopfler) kicks off in October in Canada.

As mentioned I've seen Dylan in concert three times. The first time was with Santana back in the early 90's. They were apparently flipping a coin to see who would go on first each night. On the night I saw them Dylan did the opening honors. His guitar playing and backing band were sublime, his singing was not. At least not to me. He was halfway through "Lay Lady Lay" before I even realized what song he was singing. However, a friend of mine that had seen him a number of times with the Dead around that same time period said, "that's the most coherent I've ever seen Dylan". The next time was when Dylan was touring with Paul Simon shortly after his heart scare. Dylan closed and was the most the most animated and jovial that I'd ever seen him. He even placed a phone call to Elvis Costello from the stage that night which was hilarious. The third and last time I saw him was on the Love and Theft tour. He and his band were both in fine form that evening with Dylan even dancing around the stage occasionally. With all due respect to the man, if I never see him in concert again I can die happy knowing I saw him while he still retained a good portion of his charisma and stage presence. I've heard some really horrific stories about some of his more recent performances and I'd rather not experience that firsthand if I don't have to. Still, seeing him with Knopfler would probably be a once in a lifetime experience and a real treat, especially since I've never seen Knopfler in concert at all.

Never have been a Springsteen fan (though I have come to appreciate him more over the years) but I have seen Neil (2x) and Dylan (3x) in concert a few times. However, it hasn't been recently. Neil was through here a year or so ago in support of his Le Noise record with Bert Jansch in the support slot but the price of tickets were far too rich for my blood. I know he's Neil and that Neil does what Neil wants but if prices remain that high I'm going to have to continue to miss his shows and just be glad I've seen him in concert before. As for Bob, he's out on the road with Mark Knopfler as of the 14th. I wouldn't mind seeing that tour but so far there haven't been any dates announced in NC. I know he can be hit or miss performance-wise but I'm still looking forward to his new record that's coming out next month. It's getting rave reviews already and it hasn't even been released yet. It'll be interesting to see if it actually lives up to the hype.

The clip Reggie was trying to post, another new song that was played at Red Rocks:

To Tyler's credit he's no longer on American Idol. Surprising, given the friction that obviously created in Aerosmith, even Joe Perry came around. So much so that Aerosmith actually performed on the show. Hell, even I didn't see that coming and I strongly suspect none of them did either. Goes to show that Tyler was effectively able to juggle two very high profile careers at once. How this will parlay into their next album remains to be seen. The one song I've heard sounds like a step in the right direction but it's still a far cry from how they sounded in their prime. Then again, can any band that's been around as long as they have and have somehow managed to maintain the same line up for so long truly go home again? Both Aerosmith and ZZ Top have been threatening to do so for years but don't always succeed in hitting the mark.

I haven't used the words "selling out" at all but to my ears there was a very noticeable change in their sound circa Eliminator and it's one that they've pretty much adhered to ever since. Whether that was a conscious decision on their part or a natural evolution (or a combination of the two), I don't know. They've done some stuff since then that I really like (including some tunes from Eliminator, no matter how overplayed it is) but my preferences lie with the records they did up to and including El Loco. Same thing with Aerosmith except the cut off point for me would be Rocks. I liked Draw the Line and Night In the Ruts but there was clearly some sort of artistic decline taking place. Once they regrouped I liked a few songs here and there but stuff like "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" was the sound of a once great rock n' roll band scraping bottom. While ZZ Top never sunk to such depths I can't help but think they must have been affected somehow by their rise to popularity via MTV as well. They found a sound that sold well and they stuck with it. Every band has to make bank but I'll take "Have You Heard?" any day of the week over "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and I actually like that song. I just prefer the early material but then again, that's pretty much true of every artist I'm a fan of, it's not unique to just ZZ Top and Aerosmith.

Even though I've been a ZZ fan since I first got my hands on a copy of Tres Hombres back in the 70's I've only seen them in concert once and that was around 2003 or so when they headlined a triple bill in Raleigh that also included Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the Nuge. As great as they were, they seemed dwarfed by that huge ass stage. The whole time they were playing I couldn't help but think how kick ass it would be to see them in a hot n' sweaty bar (think the VH show at Cafe Wha? from earlier this year). I've got my fingers crossed that the new stuff is going to be less post-Eliminator and more pre-El Loco. I definitely liked what I heard on that Texicali EP they released a couple months back.

A one man band take on The Clash's "White Man In Hammersmith Palais".

Wolfgang's Vault is currently streaming R.E.M.'s concert from October 12, 1984 at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ in it's entirety. The quality is so good it makes one wonder why this show wasn't included on the 25th anniversary edition of Reckoning that came out a few years ago rather than the one from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago that they included instead. On the Document tip, the folks over at The R.E.M. Timeline page on Facebook have recently uploaded a couple of Work tour era gems from '87. Apparently they've come upon several old tapes from this tour (which appear to be few and far between) that they're cleaning up and are going to be uploading to The R.E.M. Timeline page leading up to the 25th Anniversary reissue of Document on September 25th. Here's a couple of the tunes they've uploaded so far: "Unknown Song" 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA September 3, 1987 "Fireplace" Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC October 3, 1987

Nice photos but I can't imagine how painful it must have been to have to sit through 3 Doors Down and Retchin' Wilson. When I first saw that the name of this tour was "Gang of Outlaws" those are the very last bands I expected to see sharing the bill with the Top.

Speak of the devil. Q & A: Michael Nesmith On His Surprising Return to the Monkees (Rolling Stone)