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So, this has nothing to do with design or art or anything other than the fact that I became a father this morning, September 9, 2013 at 10:12am. That’s all.

Amaya Marie Berndt. Welcome to the world…

Widespread Panic hit the stage last night at the Botanical Gardens in the sweltering Idaho heat to play a show that was short in length but filled with grooves and musical peaks galore. Just after 7:00, the boys came out firing with a rockin’ cover of the Talking Heads’ ‘Papa Legba’, a crowd favorite for years. The rest of the set didn’t let up much either, with a great ‘Blackout Blues’, a little psychedelic rock with ‘Bear’s Gone Fishin’, and a raucous ‘Conrad The Caterpiller’ to cap it off.

During set break, the sun began to slowly go down, and the occasional breeze kept the crowd happy and not-too-overheated. After a nice start to the set, including a powerful ‘North’, Panic brought out Danny Hutchens and Eric Carter from opening band (and fellow Georgians) Bloodkin for a 2-song collaboration. The first tune was the WSP debut of Tom Waits’ ‘Clap Hands’, with JB’s scruffy vocals filling Waits’ shoes perfectly. Next up was ‘Quarter Tank of Gasoline’, which has been quietly sneaking into the rotation more and more this year.

After the guests left the stage, it was back to business with a non=stop end to the show consisting of ‘B of D’ > ‘Papa’s Home’ > Drums > ‘Papa’s Home’ > ‘Proving Ground’ > ‘Chilly Water’. Whew! Sandwiched in between a melodic, groove-oriented ‘Papa’s Home’, ‘Drums’ was short and sweet, and paved the way for the ending ‘Proving Ground’ > ‘Chilly Water’ sequence that ended the night on a high note. On a lower note, however, the show was stopped precisely at 10:00, due to the venue’s strict curfew, causing us to (apparently) miss out on a scheduled ‘Ballad of John & Yoko’ encore, and JB didn’t even say ‘Goodnight’! All in all, a great Panic show as usual, and even though it was a little warm out in the open field near Boise, the crowd all left wearing a big summertime smile. Enjoy the photos below!

It’s hard to believe that Leftover Salmon was here on the EXACT SAME DAY last winter, but it’s all true, and they rocked Boise’s Knitting Factory once again last Saturday night. With an absolutely unrelenting 2-set, almost 3-hour show, the boys from Boulder threw down like they meant business, and the crowd let them know they appreciated the effort.

Picking up right where last year’s show left off, the band tore up a great opening set, including a couple of Idaho-specific tunes to keep the Boise crowd happy. ‘Idaho Spud’ was a clever take on Johnny Cash‘s ‘Tennessee Stud’, sung with alternate and appropriate potato-themed lyrics. For their debut song of the evening, we were treated to a fast-paced slamgrass version of the Skynyrd classic ‘What’s Your Name’, which was met with a roaring crowd approval.

The second set upped the energy of the first, with the band playing superb music throughout the rest of the night. A band-to-crowd call and response during ‘Hot Corn, Cold Corn’ really connected everyone in the venue, before they wound things up with a stunning ‘Hey Joe’. A surprise ‘Friend Of The Devil’ encore was most enjoyable, and they left the stage with the entire room singing “…Rise Up, Gonna Wake and Bake…”. A great end to a fantastic evening in Boise.

I’d also like to give a little shout out to our new friend Joe, who grabbed a drink with us before the show, then proceeded to put on a dazzling display of lights to accompany the music. It’s always a great time when Salmon comes to town, and 16 years after I saw them for the first time, they’re playing tighter and better than ever. Well done, fellas, we’ll see you soon!

3-2-2013 – Knitting Factory – Boise, ID

Set One: Voodoo Queen, Steam Powered Aeroplane, Mountain Top, Woods, Idaho Spud*, Shame & Scandal, What’s Your Name?**, Bird Call, Meet Me In The Morning, 6 Days On The Road, Keep Drivin’

Set Two: The Other Side, Liza, Whiskey Before Breakfast > Over The Waterfall, Get ‘Er Rollin’, Lonesome Dave’s Lovesick Blues, Whisper’ Waters, Keep on Truckin’, This Is The Time, Stay Away Monday, Bosco Strumble, Hot Corn Cold Corn > One Love > Hot Corn Love Corn, Hey Joe

E: Going ‘Round The World > Friend Of The Devil > Wake & Bake

* sung to “Tennessee Stud” by Johnny Cash
** live cover debut – Lynyrd Skynyrd

(don’t forget to follow @LeftoverSalmon on Twitter!)

Boulder, Colorado’s own Big Gigantic took the stage last Saturday night in Boise for one of the best sets of “jamtronica” witnessed at the Knitting Factory in Idaho. A mix of sampling, electronic beats, hip-hop, live drumming and live sax made for a vast array of sonic textures over the course of their 2-hour show, not to mention the ridiculous light show to add to the mood and feel of the evening.

Dominic Lalli‘s mixing and jazz-and-latin-influenced saxophone playing added great lead runs to a smokin’ electronic backdrop, while drummer Jeremy Salken was absolutely relentless on the kit, as his longest break of the evening was roughly 16 seconds, if memory serves. These guys have been getting bigger and bigger on both the electronic and jam band scenes over the last few years, and from the sounds of it, they are not planning on letting up any time soon…

Last night, after waiting for about 13 years, I finally got to see one of my favorite bands, Wilco. Hailing from the great city of Chicago, I just kept missing them every time they played a show close (or not so close, as it were) to where I was living at the time. Finally, they decided to come through Boise again for the first time since 2008, and it was a great experience all around. I hadn’t even heard their latest album until yesterday, and I have to say it is pretty rad. Their style manages to change slightly with each record, while still keeping their famous sound on each new musical adventure.

The setlist last night had a great mix of oldies and newies(?), and lots of stuff in between, as you can see. (thanks to setlist.fm for the info!)

Jeff Tweedy was fairly subdued during the first half of the show, but started to open up in the latter portion. He made fun of the people who were up in the hills listening to the show for free, and said he wouldn’t have paid 50 bucks to see Wilco, either. He called out a guy who was smoking a doobie in the front row, and when the guy raised his hands to let everyone know who he was, Tweedy said, “Dude, put your hands down, you’re gonna get arrested.” He thanked the crowd on several occasions, and kept remarking about how beautiful Idaho was (“We’re going to play some depressing songs in a beautiful environment”) and how the crowd was great.

As usual, I had the iPhone camera on the ready – here are some images from last night’s spectacular show…

The weather was perfect, nice and sunny with a cooling evening after the sun went down, the band was on fire, the crowd was raucous, and the surroundings were gorgeous (as always at the Botanical Gardens here in good old Boise, Idaho). Thanks again, Wilco, for a great time. Don’t wait 4 years to come back again…