Welcome to the inaugural edition of ‘Straight From the Fans’! We love reading about fans’ experiences about both attending and listening to shows – and it’s those transcendent moments of joy and revelation shared that keeps the music discovery going! Each month we’ll curate a list of ten of our favorite fan reviews left in the nugs app, showcasing the best of recent shows and archival releases from the month.
Want to be featured in the future? You’ve got the mic. Share your show-going and listening experiences with us on any live recording in the nugs.net catalog when you subscribe or purchase a download. From any show page in the app or the web player, just hit that “+ Add Review” button and drop your thoughts.
Without further ado…Straight From the Fans: January 2024!
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, nugs.net radio – SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring professionally mixed recordings from Goose, Carlos Santana, Railroad Earth, Umphrey’s McGee, and more. Paid nugs subscribers may be eligible for 4-months of SiriusXM All Access (App Only), see your account page to take advantage of this offer. Offer Details apply. Subscribers can stream this week’s tracks from the #WeeklyLiveStash, only in the mobile app.
Bust-outs, covers, costumes, guest sit-ins, tricks and treats…a Halloween show just hits a bit different. Explore some of our favorite Halloween concerts from years past, all available to stream with a nugs.net free trial. There’s a lot more out there too, so do some discovery and find the show that’s sure to shake your bones.
The Wizard of Oz themed three-night run concluded with debut covers of the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Elton John, and more. Billy was dressed as the Scarecrow.
‘Away from the Shire’ was a three night celebration of The Lord Of The Rings, culminating with special-guest drummer Duane Trucks of Widespread Panic and tributes to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Black Sabbath.
From one of the most well-regarded tours in the band’s history, and their last Halloween concert to-date, this show has long been hailed a classic and every performance is a highlight.
Dressed as different eras of Elton John, Eggy went undercover and performed nine songs by Elton John, while welcoming special guests from Doom Flamingo to join on keytar and vocals.
This was the first show Dead & Company played together after the passing of lyricist Robert Hunter, and the first two sets featured songs that Hunter had co-written. The show began with the four original Grateful Dead members performing an emotional rendition of “Ripple,” one of Hunter’s many masterpieces.
By 1977, Frank Zappa’s Halloween shows were already the stuff of legends, and this special night capped off six historic shows over a course of four nights
One of the many special Mule-O-Ween’s, this 2013 show featured Robby Krieger of The Doors for all of set 2, with a setlist focused on The Doors catalog reimagined.
The band returned from set break in full costume, inspired by the 1984 rockumentary Spinal Tap. Warren Haynes and co. then ran through tunes from the classic film, with seven debuts and help from The Levee Horns.
In a venue where the Grateful Dead spent many nights, Greensky Bluegrass went with a Dead themed Halloween set at The Warfield, dressing as the band had in white garb for their 1980 album cover of Go To Heaven.
After three months off the road due to health issues, Jerry Garcia was welcomed by a crowd of 17,000 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, CA. He greeted the crowd with a heart-felt “How Sweet It Is” as his first song back on stage.
Dubbed “Protein Pills in the Labyrinth”, members dressed up as several David Bowie characters including Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke, and Jareth. The band performed 8 Bowie songs that night.
A “Halloween Star Wars rock fest” with the band members dressed as the movie characters and the show was comprised of Star Wars songs, altered themed lyrics, puns on moe. originals, and never before played covers.
The final night of a four-show run at the Spectrum, a massive double encore where in the final set the band came out dressed as Devo and performed live debuts of “Whip It” and “Sweet Lew”.
The “Talking Radioheads” show featured mashup of originals weaved in and out of songs by the Talking Heads and Radiohead. Members of Dogs In A Pile joined throughout the night to add to the fun(k).
First Time Played: Peace Train (Cat Stevens), Rock The Casbah (The Clash), I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag (Country Joe), Rockin’ in The Free World (Neil Young), Revolution (The Beatles) & Take The Power Back (RATM)
Dressed as Presidents, a VP, and a First Lady, Umphrey’s McGee threw down in Maryland for a Halloween show for the ages where UM fans got to vote on a full set of covers for an ‘All Night Wrong’ set II.
The band debuted 4 covers including “Dooley”, “The Fishin’ Hole”, “Have A Cigar” and “Young Lust”. Fiddle Player Nicki Sanders joined the band on stage for several songs.
Donned in Wizard of Oz costumes, the show pulled from the film’s storyline with a heavy dose of Ozzy and Black Sabbath covers intertwined. In total we heard seven debuts, ranging from Ozzy tracks to Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Talking Heads and more.
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, nugs.net radio – SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring professionally mixed recordings from Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident featuring Goose, Kitchen Dwellers and more. Paid nugs subscribers may be eligible for 4-months of SiriusXM Streaming, see your account page to take advantage of this offer. Offer Details apply. Subscribers can stream this week’s tracks from the #WeeklyLiveStash, only in the mobile app.
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, nugs.net radio – SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring professionally mixed recordings from Widespread Panic,Umphrey’s McGee featuring moe.,Dead and Company and more. Subscribers can stream this week’s tracks from the #WeeklyLiveStash, only in the mobile app.
Proud Mary Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
(w/ Daniel Donato, the St. Paul & The Broken Bones Horns, Ron Holloway, and friends)
5/26/23 Martinsville, VA
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, nugs.net radio – SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring professionally mixed recordings from Billy Strings, Gov’t Mule featuring Peter Frampton, Dead & Company and more. Subscribers can stream this week’s tracks from the #WeeklyLiveStash, only in the mobile app.
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring soundboard recordings from Goose’s Red Rocks debut, John Mayer’s Rise for the River Benefit, Billy Strings, Gov’t Mule and more.
Peach Fest celebrates its tenth anniversary this year after a two-year hiatus, and we’re thrilled to livestream select sets from the Allman Brothers Band-founded festival for free, exclusively for our subscribers!
Check out the full schedule of festival livestreams June 30–July 3.
Every Friday at 5 pm ET, nugs.net founder Brad Serling hosts “The Weekly Live Stash” on nugs.net radio, SiriusXM channel 716. Tune in to hear his selections of the best new live music, and check out this week’s playlist below featuring soundboard recordings from Dead & Company, Umphrey’s McGee, and more artists currently on tour.
Welcome back to every live music lover’s favorite time of year: it’s summer festival season. It’s time to pack up the camping gear, load up the car with friends and family and heed the melodious call of live summer music.
The 2022 summer music festival season marks the triumphant return of many of the music festivals we all missed out on during the worst of the pandemic. There is nothing quite like the sense of community inherent in enjoying great live music as a collective. There are memories to be made, people to meet, and most importantly, great music to enjoy. The music, the sunshine, the food…it all adds up to a fantastic time. If you’re a music fan, there’s no better way to spend your time than at one of these unique summer music festivals in 2022.
For the Jamband Lover: The Peach Music Festival
The Peach Music Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary with a much-anticipated return from its two-year hiatus! This summer music festival is a good choice for the festival attendee who wants to enjoy a stellar line-up of the best improvisational guitar music. The Allman Brothers founded the Peach Music Festival in 2012. It features a heavy-hitting lineup, a camper-friendly atmosphere, and a fantastic community ambiance amongst festival-goers.
When and where: The Festival will be from June 30 through July 3 at the Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, PA.
Hog Farm Hideaway is making its long-awaited debut at the Black Oak Ranch during the 2022 summer music festival season. Festival-goers will enjoy an intimate setting for the summer festival and a beautiful backdrop of sprawling meadows and majestic oak woodlands. The Black Oak Ranch is home to Hog Farm, one of the oldest communes in the country. They have a long history of involvement in music festivals, most notable among them being Woodstock in 1969. Hog Farm Hideaway is named in their honor and is billed as a musical treat for the entire family. The lineup is a fun mash-up of different styles of jam. The festival will feature an area for children, a healing sanctuary, an activist alley, and visual arts center. Hog Farm Hideaway is an excellent choice for festival-goers who are hoping to enjoy music and community in a family-friendly environment.
When and where: Hog Farm Hideaway will take place from June 10 through June 12 at the Iconic Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, CA.
If you’re looking to experience something transcendent, then look no further. Electric Forest is nothing short of a magical experience. The festival is nestled in the Sherwood Forest, a gorgeous wonderland of art installations and twinkling lights. This summer music festival is the first of its kind, as its lineup is a fantastical blend of jam bands and electronic dance music that will have anyone on their feet. Electric Forest is a delight to the senses from the moment you step on the festival grounds to the moment you leave.
When and where: Electric Forest will light up the sky from June 23 to the 26 at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, MI.
Bourbon and Beyond is a four-day summer music festival that features an eclectic lineup of indie rock, soul, country and southern rock. This festival features an impressively inclusive lineup that highlights some of the most talented emerging artists in the world of soul, blues, country, and some of the biggest names in indie rock. It also showcases an impressive amount of food and beverage vendors offering the best libations that Kentucky has to offer. This festival is a great choice for attendees who are passionate about good food, great music, and excellent whiskey.
When and where: The Bourbon and Beyond festival will take place from September 15 through the 18 and will take place at the Highland Festival Grounds at The Kentucky Expo Center.
If you’re looking to see your favorite artists while surrounded by the majesty of nature, then High Sierra is the festival for you. High Sierra is celebrating 30 years of music nestled in the beauty of the Sierra mountains during this year’s summer festival season. This festival features an eclectic lineup, optional VIP packages, daily costume themes, and a family area. High Sierra is a great place to experience the beauty of the surrounding mountainside while enjoying the beating pulse of great summer music.
When and where: High Sierra will take place from June 30 through July 3 at the Plumas County Fairgrounds in East Quincy, CA.
For the Banjo Strummer: TellurideBluegrass Festival
This legendary bluegrass festival has a reputation for spotlighting only the best emerging artists in the bluegrass and indie-folk space. It has been a part of the summer festival season since 1974 and anticipates over ten thousand yearly visitors. Telluride Bluegrass Festival is a unique experience that celebrates music, comedy, and circus performances. It features an annual battle of the bands and songwriting competition, as well as a family-friendly atmosphere. Telluride Bluegrass Festival is the perfect summer music festival for the attendee that wants to hear great bluegrass in the majesty of the Colorado wilderness.
When and where: Telluride Bluegrass Festival kicks off its 49th festival in Telluride, CO from June 16 through the 19.
If you can’t make it to a festival this summer, nugs.net has you covered. Start a free trial to listen to live soundboard audio, watch full concert videos, and livestream exclusive shows.
By Photographer and Writer Joshua Huver(Must Have Media)
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Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA 2/14/20
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Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA 2/15/20
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The Baltimore, MD based funky foursome of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong marked their fifth overall SF Bay Area appearance over Valentine’s Day weekend on February 14 and 15.
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The two-night extravaganza was a little different from the typical two-night stand. Instead of setting up shop in one venue overnight, guitarists Greg Ormont and Jeremy Schon, bassist Ben Carrey, and drummer Alex “Gator” Petropulos performed at different venues each night.
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In doing so, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong follows a recently growing trend for jam bands visiting the SF Bay where bands will play a smaller, more intimate venue before moving into a larger spot to accommodate more fans. In recent years STS9, The String Cheese Incident, and Umphrey’s McGee have all followed a similar model. For P4, this meant they got cozy on Valentine’s Day at the Great American Music Hall and finished SF at The Regency Ballroom which holds about 1,000 more people only a few blocks away.
These two San Francisco dates fall right in the middle of the band’s 13-date trip West and they have brought Connecticut-based bird band Goose along for support on each bill. Goose deliver hard breaking grooves and patiently spaced, hard-rocking jams underneath a vocal harmony that you just don’t normally hear in the jam band community. The love and camaraderie between bands was full tilt, evidenced by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong giving Goose 60-75 minutes as an opening band each night and opting to only take a single 2 hour set themselves on the 15th.
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But on Valentine’s Day P4 delivered a rowdy two-set show with on-theme covers and unrelentingly high energy all night long for their debut at the historic San Francisco venue. They opened with “Walk Outside”, from 2016’s Pleasure, a song that had been cut from the encore of the previous night in Santa Cruz. That was followed by two tracks that appear on their most recently released record, Presto: “Avalanche”, which delivered a mountain of funk for the audience to dance their way out ofand “Fortress”.
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From 2017’s Pizazz the band delivered a major “Porcupine” sandwich featured a transition into “Penguins” and a cover of the Deee-Lite track “Groove is in the Heart” mashed into it before wrapping it back up with the end of “Porcupine”. Playing into the maritime relationship of the Bay Area, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong took a “Water” break before finishing the set with an ode to the Greek water god, “Poseidon”. Ormont and the band had one more Ace up their sleeves, dealing out a totally unexpected cover of “Daddy Wasn’t There” from the third Austin Powers film, Goldmember.
“Henrietta” gave the second set a solid standalone start before Gator took the spotlight ahead of “Bad For You”. Carrey’s thunderous slap-pluck bass technique rolls in slowly, and before long the song is off. Definitely don’t skip ahead and wait out the segue into “Live It Up” – it’s worth it.
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They followed immediately with a second pair of back-to-back tracks. “Kiwi”, another carryover that was nixed from the night before in Santa Cruz came third in the set and spilled into the psychedelic party vibes of “Yo Soy Fiesta”.
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At the midway point of the second set, the lights dropped onto Carrey for a bass solo that signaled the beginning of what may be the Pigeons Playing Ping Pong brand-equivalent of Help! > Slip > Franklin’s, or, “Spacejam” > “The Hop” > “F.U.”. If you like getting lost in the signature screaming leads of Schon and some intense disco beats, strap yourself in.
One of their earliest tracks and only from their 2010 debut album Funk E P, “Landing” turned the funk up to 11 and into a monster jam that melted into the Doobie Brothers’ classic “Long Train Running” to close the set. For the encore, they went for a single standalone take on “Ocean Flows”.
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For the Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s return to The Regency, it was obvious that they felt comfortable and at home. What was supposed to be another two-set show as fans of the band and other jam bands are accustomed to and expect turned into a single mega long set with no break. The energy that reciprocates between P4 and their fans gets palpable, and they certainly know how to read the room.
Saturday’s show opened with a pair of standalone songs beginning with High As Five”, the third and most recent single from the 2020 release Presto. That was followed by the Pleasure track “Bad For You”.
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Pizazz’s “Something For Ya” kicked off a massive head-bobbing dance party that accelerated through “Skipjack”, the final song off of Presto.
The first cover of the final night saw the band revisit their ‘Dead Hot Sgt. Peppers’ themed Halloween weekend from 2018 for one of George Harrison’s most memorable contributions to The Beatles’ catalog, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, which elevated into a wild and raucous segue of “Burning Up My Time” > “King Kong”, another single from the new albums.
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After a brief rendezvous onstage, the four band members called an audible and opted to continue riding the energy out and skip the set break. They continued with a standalone take on “Too Long” before entering “Whoopie” sandwiched around the Prince classic “1999”.
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A pair of tunes from the bands’ sophomore release Psychology followed. Beginning with “Lightning”, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong invited fellow bird band members Rich Mitarotonda and Peter Anspach of Goose to sit in on guitar and keyboards, respectively.
One of the overall highlights of the weekend, it was the first time the bands had crossed paths musically onstage since beginning the tour almost a full week prior. “Lightning” was tailed by the band’s live music meta-opus “Horizon” before finishing the marathon set with “The Liquid” – an appropriate reference to the full melt the audience was in the throes of.
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Even after all that, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong mustered up the energy for a one-two encore punch. They started with a new (less than one year and 15 plays since its debut) song called “Distant Times”, followed by the lead single from Presto, “Dawn a New Day.” In full-circle fashion, long time San Francisco flockers will remember that the band debuted “Dawn a New Day” during their second SF stop in October of 2017.
Jam Cruise is always an epic experience. From pool-side acoustic daytime sets to 4 AM super jams in the Jam Room, the boat creates an atmosphere unmatched by any other festival. Truly, nowhere else, can you be sailing the high seas with the certainty that the set you are listening to is a once in a lifetime experience. We asked a multi-year patron about what the vibe of the boat was this year, and she simply answered, “The boat was incredible. If you don’t leave there feeling better and more positive than you didn’t smile at enough strangers.” It’s a beautiful thing, being side by side with colorful costumes and expert musicians, braving a storm in the middle of the Caribbean ocean, all while dancing your way through a cruise ship. Whether you’re trying to recover from your fear of missing out or wishing to relive your best vacation of the year, nugs.net has you covered!
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Check out our list of select soundboard audio from Jam Cruise 2020, now available to stream and download below:
Steve Kimock Featuring John Kimock, Robert Walter, Reed Mathis, and George Porter Jr.
