Live music is finally back and as bands return to the road, we’re officially declaring it a No Bummer Summer. What makes a ‘No Bummer Summer’? High temps, hard rock, mesmerizing jams, blazing bluegrass, and crowds of fans singing along to name a few. To get fans in the #NoBummerSummer mindset, we’ve put together lists featuring our favorite summer shows streaming in the nugs.net app starting with Rock n’ Roll. These legendary shows from Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, Pearl Jam, Metallica, The White Stripes, and Stone Temple Pilots will have you amped up and ready to rock the moment summer hits.
As music lovers everywhere get ready for summer shows, we’re highlighting our favorite summer concerts streaming in the nugs.net app. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, fronted by one of the greatest performers and icons in rock ‘n’ roll history, are providing fans across the globe with a virtual front row seat to their unparalleled live show. The band is streaming their epic 2018 performance at Hellfest, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe held annually in Clisson France, exclusively on nugs.net. Available now as audio and video on-demand in the nugs.net app, the epic concert features a career-spanning set filled with monster hits and fan favorites, including “Bad Reputation,” “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll,” and more.
Standing in the crowd at a Pearl Jam concert in the summer of 1998 was one of the most exhilarating experiences of a lifetime. You can feel that rush for yourself with this classic performance from Los Angeles’ Great Western Forum. It’s filled with hits from ‘Yield’, ‘No Code’, ‘Vitalogy’, ‘Vs’, and ‘Ten’ including everything from “Alive” to “Wishlist.” After 10 minutes with this show, you’ll be transported right back to ‘98 with your CD player and your shoulder-length hair. With two encores and a “Baba O’Riley” finale, this is a must-listen.
Enter a sprawling 1994 summer mosh pit with this vintage Metallica performance. Part of the ‘Summer Shit’ tour, this concert is a rager from start to finish. The sound of metal clashing from Lars’ drum kit will light a fire in your soul as James’ voice belts out to the mystified audience in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Light up this show and scream along to legendary Metallica tracks including “Master of Puppets,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Fade To Black,” and a wild five-song encore. Unleash your wild summer spirit with this legendary show.
The raw kinetic energy of any given White Stripes show is unmatched, but the band’s final show was truly something to behold. Playing to a roaring crowd in Southaven, Mississippi outside Memphis, The White Stripes laid down a definitive performance for the ages under a hot July Delta sun. It’s a bold, intense performance, and most importantly it’s LOUD. Just listen to the extent that Jack White leans into “Wasting My Time” and you’ll understand why this is one of the greatest rock performances of all time. It’s impossible to listen to this show and not be hyped for the next big summer rock concert. It won’t be long until we’re standing in a packed amphitheater braving 90-degree weather again.
“Flies in the vaseline we are” – Get stuck in this high octane performance from Stone Temple Pilots featuring original vocalist Scott Weiland. The London, Ontario concert from summer 2011 is the perfect music to open your sunroof, roll down the windows, or put the top down as you ride around through town. The show includes a perfect live performance of their mega-hit, “Plush,” with the screaming crowd singing along. You’ll be singing along too.
Get ready for wild summer concerts to return with these shows and tons more legendary rock performances in the nugs.net app.
The weekend had been a whirlwind…the slightly odd outdoor college gig on the Columbus campus of Ohio State at dusk on Friday night followed by the third time in nine months that the Stripes were onstage at Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky on Saturday evening…pretty sure it was the first run of gigs in the brand new 2001 model Dodge van that Jack and Meg had bought from the dealership for straight cash. I sold merch out of the back of the van in Columbus, Weezer’s “Green Album” was listened to on the drive, the band goofed on the Gories’ “Rat’s Nest” on Friday night…these are the few memories that are still retrievable two decades on.
We made our way back to Detroit with a tad bit of urgency, as there was an interview with Ralph Valdez on WDET radio on Sunday night followed by this performance at the Garden Bowl Lounge, booked under the name “John Gillis” with hopes of notifying some people while not tipping off ALL people.
In my memory, Brendan Benson was doing sound or at least some approximation of it. There may have even been a newly purchased PA for the occasion, but still, that room is a hard one to get the sound just right. Compared to previous Jack White performances in this spot, it felt a hair more subdued…no other musicians, no feral screaming, still that same electric hum, but more a calming exercise than some attempt to prove something or win folks over.
Jack first played the Garden Bowl Lounge, solo, in November 1998 and in the intervening three years he would play there no less than five additional times in various configurations. The June 3rd, 2001 show is, seemingly, the last time he’d play this intimate setting where he’d spent so much time, both socially and on stage, that time and the experience gained used to propel himself from local up-and-coming musician to internationally renowned ROCK STAR.
That being said, I am hard-pressed to find or recall ANY set by Jack White, in any incarnation or band, that is as varied and unique as this Garden Bowl gem. A layover, stopoff, way station…in my eyes, something that just had to be done as a means to get to the better things in the not-so-distant future. The metaphorical closing of one door so that fifty more could open.
All these years later, I’m legitimately surprised to find out that this evening is likely the first-ever live performance of “I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman.” The take here is charmed…almost as if Jack had never even tried to tackle it without the beating heart electric piano that pumps throughout the recorded version…having to find his footing on the fly but never tipping his hand to the struggle.
Coupled with an early live outing of “We’re Going To Be Friends” and solid runs through tried-and-true (at least in Detroit) songs “Hotel Yorba” and “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known” along with “You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket” a good two years before the band would record it and those are the only de facto White Stripes songs shared this evening. The majority of the set is a phalanx of covers which almost reads as a road map as to where the future would lead.
Like “Rated X”…the Loretta Lynn-penned polemic here is plain but pointed, the live from the Hotel Yorba version would be recorded within a week and end up as a b-side from the Stripes come November.
Or “Cold Brains”…on this evening all contemplative and compelling, while just over a year later and an hour up the road Jack would perform it live with its writer Beck at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.
Or “Baby Blue”…the 1958 Gene Vincent rockabilly gem, which soon after this performance found its way into Stripes sets and in seven weeks time would wrap up, on a lark, their first ever session for John Peel, as earlier that evening Peel had mentioned his appreciation for Vincent in passing.
“Who’s To Say…” had been a staple of Two Star Tabernacle’s sets during their brief 1997-1999 existence. The song was written by White’s Two Star bandmate Dan Miller and would see its debut release via Miller’s group Blanche on a 7-inch on my imprint Cass Records. Released “summer 2003” (I’m terrible with non-Stripes timelines) and complete with a stellar guest guitar solo from White, the Stripes’ version would follow close behind as the flipside to their “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” single in September 2003.
“Fragile Girl” was originally written by Dean Fertita and performed in his group the Waxwings, who joined the White Stripes on their West Coast tour in July 2001. Fertita would later perform with White in the Raconteurs and then as bandmates in the Dead Weather. White’s pre-song anecdote speaks to his endearing mishearing of the lyric “to unveil a vision” as “television” and its ability to break up a couple or bring them closer together.
The middle of the set is thick with blues and folk covers. White’s tackling of “Dying Crapshooter’s Blues” is arguably the highlight of the entire performance. The daft deathbed storytelling is accompanied by insistently accelerating guitar…from slow, to trot, to rollicking…as the listed litany of last requests piles up, the specter of impending death is palpable, as if there’s a rush to get all these thoughts out before Death wields its mighty scythe.
The folk standard “Black Jack Davey” tells its tale with an austerity of words, which would later make an appearance as the b-side to “Seven Nation Army” in roughly two years time.
“In My Time Of Dying” likely shows up on White’s radar via Zeppelin’s 1975 version. In the context of his performance here, both Blind Willie Johnson’s 1927 original (titled “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed) and Dylan’s well-known take from 1962 seem to figure prominently.
White’s version barely hits the ninety second mark when, right before the start of the third verse, he pivots into Blind Willie McTell’s “Lord, Send Me An Angel.” Curiously, the first word of that third verse is “Lord” and I can’t help but think this was a purposeful connection between the two done on Jack’s part.
For me, being in the crowd for this performance was a treat…these were all songs that kinda felt like they’d just been floating in the ether for the past couple years. Things that’d be goofed on, messed with, maybe never fully explored yet. In the spirit of that, at approximately 3:14 mark of “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known” you can hear my distant voice yell “Hypnotize!” from the bar.
Jack had written the song roughly three years earlier as a “gift” to local band the Hentchmen. He’d come up with the idea that was vaguely in their musical wheelhouse, recorded a demo where he played all the instruments, and then shared it with them to ultimately…end up having the White Stripes do a version for “Elephant.”
Having heard that demo at the time and likely nothing of it in the intervening three years…I was just hoping to hear it again. My request went unanswered and I’d end up waiting another eight months or so before the Stripes started playing it live.
A recording of this show made by taper Brian Rozman seemed to be available in trading circles pretty quickly after the performance. The quality is solid. A few years back when gathering disparate master tapes for our vault, a DAT of this show recorded by Brendan Benson landed on my lap. Having been previously in the dark about its existence, I was happy to hear it was even better quality than the respectable audience tape…yet failed to capture the entirety of the performance.
So with the help of our crack mastering engineer Bill Skibbe, we stitched those two recordings together and gave the whole thing a proper mastering clean up for the audio you listen to today, just two weeks shy of its twentieth anniversary.
The Garden Bowl Lounge looks largely unchanged now from how it was back in 2001. There’s a new coat of paint on the walls, the random black and blue linoleum flooring has been replaced. But if you get in the cozy little nook where Jack was set-up on that calm Sunday night in 2001 and look up, you’ll see the same checker pattern black and white ceiling tiles, having held that spot for Lord knows how long.
It’s the second Wednesday of the month and that means new concerts from Snarky Puppy are now streaming on nugs.net. Alongside this month’s releases, we spoke to Justin Stanton, a man who wears many hats with Snarky Puppy. Read the full interview below and check out Justin Stanton’s Picks, a free playlist in the nugs.net app featuring his favorite tracks from this month’s releases.
nugs.net: Your name is synonymous with the term multi-faceted musician. From keys to horns to composition you clearly have a wide range of talents. Has your approach to each instrument changed at all during your time with the very vast lineup that is Snarky Puppy?
Justin Stanton: Playing in Snarky Puppy has most certainly rearranged my priorities as a musician. Before, I had always considered trumpet my primary instrument and piano a secondary instrument. My first gigs with the band in 2006 were on trumpet when I subbed for Jay. Some months later, Mike asked if I would be interested in playing keys in the band. I tried to politely decline, saying I didn’t think I was anywhere near the level needed to play the gig. In true Mike League fashion, he said, “You’ll be fine!” For a few years, I was the only keyboard player on most of the shows. I definitely wasn’t ready for the responsibility at the time, but I’m glad I was given the opportunity and I’m glad I took it. Of course, the band has evolved so much since those days, and so many great keyboardists have played (and still play) in the band. I’ve learned tons of lessons – musically and personally – from each one of them, and I’ve learned a lot about myself along the way, too. There were a lot of growing pains along the way overcoming insecurities about my musical worth. Rather than comparing myself to my fellow musicians against the yardstick of what made them great, I had to find within myself what was unique about what I had to offer and develop that. I think most musicians would consider themselves multi-faceted. I am enjoying this stage in my development, but I’m excited about how things will evolve as new opportunities present themselves.
nugs.net: When you get back on the road, do you plan to switch up your touring rig? Are there any new pieces of equipment you have been experimenting with during the year off you’ve had?
JS: For years now, there has been a strong preference toward an “analog” sound in the band. We’ve had the good fortune to play a lot of really great instruments not only in the studio but onstage as well. Depending on who else is on keys when we tour, I might be playing Fender Rhodes, Sequential Prophet 6, Minimoog, Mellotron, Clavinet, Nord Stage, or Korg Kronos. Right before the pandemic began, I traveled to Lisbon to visit my girlfriend before a Snarky Puppy tour. Of course, the tour got canceled – along with all of my subsequent obligations in the US. I ended up staying in Lisbon, and I had only packed a suitcase with some clothes. In order to continue working from Lisbon, I had to completely rethink my setup since all of my gear was in New York. So, over the past year, I’ve taken a deep dive into VSTs. It’s been a great learning process, and I’ve found some really powerful instruments. I’m really excited to incorporate them into the fabric of the music going forward because it allows a greater degree of control and accuracy of achieving the sounds from the records. There is an aspect of excitement that stems from the spontaneity of dialing up sounds on the fly on an analog instrument that doesn’t have the capabilities of presets, but I think there’s room in the music for both worlds to exist, so I’m looking forward weaving the new sounds into the mix.
nugs.net: How has the inability to tour affected your ability to compose? Have you felt more or less inspired to write?
JS: Inspiration comes and goes like it always does, but being at home with a constant setup has provided a consistency and grounding that makes the work of composing much easier. It’s not impossible to write on the road, but conditions are inconsistent, and the tools for writing are usually makeshift. Whereas on tour I might find an empty dressing room to tuck away with my laptop and two-octave MIDI controller, all I have to do at home is walk into my room where everything is set up exactly as I left it. I have a nice Yamaha U3 upright piano that’s inspiring to play, a Soyuz microphone to record trumpet and vocals, and an 88-key controller that’s programmed to work seamlessly with my software instruments. It’s not a high-end recording setup by any means, but the consistency and dedicated space make sitting down to work on music a joy.
nugs.net: What four words describe life on the road with Snarky Puppy?
It has been some time since the Live Archive series revisited Bruce Springsteen’s 1992-93 World Tour in support of Human Touch and Lucky Town. This chapter in his live performance history can be tricky to contextualize, in part because it’s a rare full-band tour that does not list E Street as its home address. As such, there’s no point comparing “Born to Run” played by the 1992-93 band to an E Street Band performance from any year, because there is simply no comparison. That’s okay. It was never their mission.
The selection of Boston 12/13/92 is driven by a setlist that features 16 songs from Human Touch and Lucky Town, many of which never graduated to the Reunion era. Bruce assembled his new, expanded band with that recent music in mind, not “Darkness on the Edge of Town” (though, to be fair, they play the latter rather well). The one constant from E Street to the new crew was Roy Bittan, with whom Springsteen co-wrote “Roll of the Dice” and “Real World” for Human Touch.
I’ve always viewed the 1992-93 band as an attempt to mix roots-rock with gospel-influenced soul music and reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s 1986 True Confessions tour, which saw him backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers augmented by the Queens of Rhythm backing singers. In fact, it was the late Debbie Gold, a mutual friend of both Dylan and Springsteen, who encouraged the former to work with Petty and helped the latter assemble his 1992-93 touring musicians.
If anything, Bruce was tipping that mix toward soul. The catch was that much of his new music featured heavy synthesizers and keyboards. Synthesizers and classic soul can mix marvelously (see Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love”), but it requires very particular attributes. There are many words one could use to describe the extraordinary talent of Roy Bittan as a keyboard player, but funky is not one of them.
Boston 12/13/92 effectively captures the strengths and stretches fundamental to the 1992-93 tour. Listening anew proves refreshing, as several HT/LT songs and other arrangements are distinct from the many E Street Band performances that followed. As fluent as many of us were in the sound of that tour at the time, hearing it now is an entertaining time tunnel to a unique period.
Jon Altschiller’s multitrack mix puts Bittan first chair on the bandshell, and you’ll hear the Professor loud and proud as the show starts winningly with “Better Days,” “Local Hero,” and “Lucky Town.” The aforementioned “Darkness” follows, with Roy hard right channel, guitarist Shayne Fontayne hard left. It isn’t a classic version, but a compelling one just the same, with intriguing vocal rephrasing from Springsteen, a frequent event this night. The song ends not with Bruce’s voice but a gorgeous vocal run from Angel Rogers.
“The Big Muddy” gets an infrequent airing here. It’s a kind of swampy, narrative cousin to “Atlantic City” that rides a big Bruce vocal and sinewy synth work from Bittan. “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)” taps television news audio a la U2’s Zoo TV tour, but the attempt to graft the social issues of a post-Rodney-King-verdict America on to a humorous ditty about modern media remains a difficult sell.
Things get back on track with an excellent version of “Trapped” that showcases the powerhouse voices Bruce assembled as his choir. I love the way he biblically tweaks, “good conquers evil, the truth sets you free.” “Badlands” is highly credible, too, filled with small arrangement changes that pulled me into a song that has been played the same way by the E Street Band forever.
The emotional heart of Lucky Town is the life-affirming “Living Proof,” written by Sprinsteen after the birth of his first son. Boston gets an excellent performance, vocal nuances reinforcing that Springsteen is in the moment. The same can be said for “If I Shall Fall Behind.” I prefer this arrangement to the Reunion edition, with lush harmonica and dark synthesizer tones along with a robust Bruce vocal. Listen for how the harp and keyboards play off each other at the end.
Bruce makes the title literal in “Leap of Faith.” We can clearly hear when he enters the crowd, with a funny “Whoa, oh!” soon followed by a surely deserved “Yikes!” The backing singers are at their church-choir best, lending the song gospel gravitas. Bobby King moves front and center for “Man’s Job.” Beneath those period synths a classic soul song is fighting to be heard, one that could have been the uptempo A-side to a “Back In Your Arms” B-side in a parallel universe where Bruce cut singles for Stax.
“Roll of the Dice,” carried by Roy’s memorable piano melody, is the signature sound of Human Touch and in its live incarnation brings out the best of this band. It also provides another showcase for the talented Mr. King—when Bruce says, “Take me to heaven, Bobby,” the singer responds by holding a long, sweet vocal note.
From the sublime to the, er, stretches. “Gloria’s Eyes” is a slight and underpowered set opener, there’s no getting around it. The fact that Springsteen never played the song again after this tour, solo or band, seems to validate that characterization. “Cover Me” gets the second set properly ignited. While it is a synth-soaked arrangement, Bruce does some excellent and distinctive guitar soloing. “Brilliant Disguise,” featuring special guest Patti Scialfa, sounds just like it should, in a pure and emotive reading.
Next comes the vexing case of “Soul Driver,” a fine song in search of the right arrangement. “Soul Driver” debuted at the Christic Institute shows in November 1990 in a memorable, vocal-led acoustic reading. The studio incarnation on Human Touch is an odd, lilting number with a massive snare sound. In Boston, a keyboard sound from somewhere in the marimba/kalimba neighborhood starts the song, then a wailing guitar joins, but no drums or rhythm part to speak of. The result is superior to the album version and paced more like the Christic, but “Soul Driver” remains an unrealized if tantalizing prospect.
The pairing of “Souls of the Departed” into “Born in the U.S.A.,” however, is fully realized. Where “57 Channels” struggled, “Souls” blossoms, news audio setting the stage for the show’s most powerful performance as Springsteen’s lyrics and a hard-hitting arrangement tap into the American darkness of 1992. It was a masterstroke to connect “Souls” to “Born in the U.S.A.” with Jimi Hendrix-inspired strains of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The second set rounds the bend into another arrangement challenge, “Real World,” and the outcome is even more confounding. Again, the stunning solo piano debut performance of “Real World” at the Christic shows in 1990 is the lens through which all other versions are viewed. As on the studio version, synthesizer carries too much of the load in Boston, losing the majesty the piano reading has in spades.
But the instinct that this song could be a showstopper—an uplifting, full-band anthem—is understandable. In the end, Bruce and the band give “Real World” everything they’ve got, and through sheer willpower and commitment, the song does transcend the arrangement and dated synth sound in an otherwise overlong performance. Ah, what could have been.
The set ends with the good fun of “Light of Day,” and everyone on stage gets the chance to shine. Zack Alford feels especially at home on this one, clobbering his drum kit to drive the “Light of Day” train to the station.
The encore opens with a sharp “Human Touch,” again featuring Miss Patti Scialfa, and manager Jon Landau straps on an axe for “Glory Days,” earning a funny introduction by Springsteen in the process (“The master of managerial disaster”). The 1992-93 arrangement of “Thunder Road” has aged nicely, with Bruce on acoustic guitar and Bittan offering sweeping organ accompaniment. Bittan’s keyboards also fare well on “My Beautiful Reward,” a lovely coda to the show and to the entire Human Touch/Lucky Town body of work. But maybe there’s time for just one more.
It was only 37 degrees at showtime (“I came thousands of miles through some real shitty weather just to get here,” Bruce points out out during “Light of Day”), but it did make the bonus gift of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” that much more fitting.
It’s been 28 years since Springsteen toured with the “other band,” but their soulful mission lingers; the Boston 12/13/92 set is unique to the Live Archive thus far for being centered around the songs he packed especially for their journey. While the 1992-93 experiment wasn’t always successful, Springsteen’s attempt to explore a different sound offers refreshment to ears so accustomed to hearing a beloved but familiar style of performance. It is worthy of a deep relisten.
