This year marks the 20th anniversary of JamBase. Part of the yearlong celebration includes the 20 For 20 series featuring 20 lists focusing on 20 notable topics and events of the JamBase era. The lists were compiled by current and former JamBase staff members and contributors, music industry professionals and other experts. Stay tuned for more, as the series continues throughout the year and we look back at two decades of encouraging fans to Go See Live Music!
Previous 20 For 20 Lists include Standout Debut Albums By Jam Acts, Pranks & Gags Played By Jam Acts, Festivals We've Lost, Memorable Reunions, Farewells Of The Past 2 Decades, Longest Jams & Standout Improvisations, Fan Sites, Memorable Halloween Concerts, Bands Covering Phish, Post-Grateful Dead Bands, Holiday Songs, Supergroups, Memorable Live Collaborations, Jam Acts Covering Jam Acts, New Concert Venues, Memorable New Year’s Eve Concerts and Memorable Television Performances from the past 20 years. Next up is a look at 20 Notable Bust Outs.
You may be thinking, what exactly is a bust out? While the term lacks a strict definition, in general, a bust out is when a song is played for the first time after having not been played for a significant period of time. Bust outs are measured both by the number of shows held between performances and the timespan (years) between setlist appearances.
This list presents notable song bust outs of the past two decades. In most cases, the entries are the biggest known bust outs performed by each act that made the list, and each act was allowed one spot. There are plenty of selections from the jam scene alongside a few rock ‘n’ roll legends and others. What they each have in common are rarely played songs that went years — and in some cases decades and thousands of concerts — between live performances.
The Allman Brothers Band | Wasted Words
The Allman Brothers Band‘s “March Madness” runs at The Beacon Theatre in New York City gave the legendary group plenty of opportunities to dust off songs they hadn’t played in years. One such occasion took place on March 13, 2003, when the ABB kicked off that year’s 13-show residency with the return of “Wasted Words.”
The Allman Brothers Band had last performed the song back on August 24, 1974 according to the group’s official website. Gregg Allman wrote “Wasted Words” for inclusion on the ABB’s 1973 studio album Brothers & Sisters. Dickey Betts played slide on the track which was the first song the Allmans recorded for the LP and is one of the last to feature original bassist Berry Oakley.
The Allman Brothers Band debuted “Wasted Words” live on New Year’s Eve 1972 as per the group’s website. “Wasted Words” was played regularly through 1974 and then disappeared from the band’s repertoire. In 1989, the ABB reunited for a tour that turned into the final 25-year chapter of their acclaimed career. However, it took nearly 15 years before “Wasted Words” returned.
The lineup of Gregg Allman, guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, bassist Oteil Burbridge, percussionist Marc Quinones and drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe lit into “Wasted Words” at the Beacon on March 13, 2003. “Wasted Words” would be played four more times over the course of the 2003 residency.
The song was in regular rotation through 2007 and then went missing again until March 10, 2009. Additional versions would follow on March 13 and 20, 2009 as well as on March 19, 2010. Once again, the ABB shelved the tune but thankfully played it once more on March 14, 2014, at the Beacon during their final “March Madness” residency.
Phish | Skin It Back
[Video Credit: LazyLightning55a]
According to Phish.net, between its live debut on October 15, 1986 and the band’s show on July 29, 1988, Phish covered Little Feat‘s “Skin It Back” 10 times. The song written by the late Little Feat guitarist Paul Barrere appeared on the influential rock band’s 1974 album, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now.
On July 3, 2012 — Barrere’s 64th birthday — Phish played their biggest bust out to date when they opened their show at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York with their first official performance of “Skin It Back” in over 1,417 shows. The surprise opener caught many off-guard and some initially heard another Little Feat classic, “Spanish Moon.”
The bust out broke the band’s previously set longest gaps between performances that occurred on July 2, 2010, when they played their original “Fuck Your Face” for the first time since April 29, 1987 — a span of 1,413 shows. That night at Jones Beach also featured another significant bust out in the form of the first cover of The Beatles’ “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” since The White Album show on Halloween 1994 (a 658 show gap).
Since the bust out in Wantagh, Phish has performed “Skin It Back” an additional three times, most recently on October 21, 2018 at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.
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Dave Matthews Band | Little Thing
[Video Credit: ChesterCopperpot5]
“Bust out” is not used by 20 For 20 Fan Site DMBAlmanac, which houses an extensively detailed Dave Matthews Band setlist database. The devoted DMB fans instead use “Liberation” as their prefered nomenclature.
According to DMBAlmanac Liberation Guidelines, the ground rules state:
- A song joins the list when it goes 1000 days without being fully played live by the full band, and it is “liberated” when it is fully played live by the full band. Our definition of “full band” is fairly loose but generally includes a minimum of Dave, Carter, and one other member of the current touring band.
- A song qualifies if it has been fully played live by the full band five or more times. The exception is that officially-released, Dave-penned studio songs qualify as long as they have been fully played live by the full band at least once (e.g., Baby Blue, Let You Down).
- A song is disqualified if it has not been fully played live by the full band five or more times or if it is in the Defunct category (e.g., #36, Leave Me Praying).
DMB “liberated” “Little Thing” to open their concert on July 7, 2012, at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. Once again, here’s DMBAlmanac on “Little Thing”:
During the 4.30.96 performance of this song, Dave refers to the common story spoken over the intro as occurring in January of 1996.
This was released as An’ Another Thing on Dave’s solo release Some Devil with a string background. Current versions are still labeled as “Little Thing,” and this isn’t moved to defunct because a.) when played on 1.14.04, the official road page labeled it as Little Thing, b.) there was no structural change with the name change, c.) a post-Some Devil release, Live Trax volume 4 (4.30.96) still had it labeled as “Little Thing,” and d.) all post-Some Devil stage setlists for which we have scans list it as “Little Thing.”
In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal on March 6, 2013, Dave was asked which song of his he secretly loves, and he responded, “Little Thing, which is the only song I have recorded that has no words.”
The chorus was borrowed for the bridge in “Dreams of Our Fathers.”
Because the structure of this song is so fluid and has no set lyrics, it’s difficult to categorize performances into “tease” vs. “partial” vs. “full.” For our site’s purposes, we call any performance with four or more significant sections (verses or choruses) a “full version,” and any performance with fewer than two significant parts a “tease” (“significant” here is still fairly subjective, but it means at least 15 seconds’ worth of that part’s guitar riff).
While the 5,912 days between performances of “Little Thing” is the largest span for Dave Matthews Band, their song “#34” went 1,214 shows between performances (March 23, 1993 to July 9, 1995), topping the 1,166 shows between “Little Wing” performances, but during a span of just 5,172 days. “Little Wing” remains a DMB rarity having last been played on November 7, 2015.
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moe. | Canned Pastries
[Video Credit: NYCJamGal]
Over the course of a 30-year career moe. has played hundreds of songs including covers and originals. So, it’s quite often they’ll insert bust outs into their setlists. Many span just a few years and occasionally they’ll reach back to the late-1990s and early-2000s. However, the biggest bust out of them all came at the 2014 installment of their moe.down festival at Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin, New York.
On August 31, 2014 moe. dusted off one of their earliest songs, “Canned Pastries.” The instrumental hadn’t been played in a whopping 1,949 shows according to 20 For 20 Fan Site Phantasy Tour.
moe. had last performed “Canned Pastries” way back on August 25, 1994 before busting it out 20 years later to end their penultimate set at the festival. The quintet reworked “Canned Pastries” to incorporate a vibraphone solo from Jim Loughlin.
Jim was moe.’s drummer back in 1994 and rejoined the group in 1999 as a percussionist. “Canned Pastries” continues its status as a rarity as moe. only played the song six additional times since moe.down 2014.
The most recent version took place at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 5, 2017.
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The Who | A Quick One, While He’s Away
[Media Credit: Scott Ferguson]
In November 2014, The Who began their The Who Hits 50! Tour with their first Middle East concert. The show that night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates saw Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend lead their band mates through the first The Who live performance of “Squeezebox” since 1982.
The second show of that tour was a few days later in Glasgow, Scotland. That night featured an even bigger bust out than the “Squeezebox” from opening night when Roger and Pete pulled out “A Quick One, While He’s Away” for the first time since 1970.
Released on The Who’s 1966 sophomore LP A Quick One, “A Quick One, While He’s Away” was written by Townshend and is made up of six parts: “Her Man’s Gone,” “Crying Town,” “We Have a Remedy,” “Ivor the Engine Driver,” “Soon Be Home” and “You Are Forgiven.” The nine-minute track foreshadowed Townshend’s later work writing rock operas like Tommy and Quadrophenia.
According to The Who Concert Guide, “A Quick One, While He’s Away” made its live debut during The Who’s landmark set at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival. The song was played regularly in subsequent years but went absent from The Who setlists following their concert on February 15, 1970.
After its 2014 bust out, “A Quick One, While He’s Away” appeared consistently in The Who setlists through mid-2015. It was last performed by the legendary rockers on June 23, 2015.
The Disco Biscuits | The Unspoken Rhyme
[Video Credit: Ticranium]
The Disco Biscuits took the opportunity of a rare New Year’s Day concert to play a set loaded with rarities. Their show on January 1, 2016, at the Playstation Theater in New York City saw the return of a “Spin The Wheel” set which led to a significant bust out.
Bisco introduced the “Spin The Wheel” concept in Atlantic City on October 25, 2002, and it was revived again in February 2007. When announcing the return of the wheel on January 1, 2016, tDB described the logistics of the wheel, writing:
Invariably, one of the most exciting and off the cuff things we have ever done is to spin the wheel. As such, we are going to resurrect the wheel, fill it with our favorite songs and let the fans spin to decide what gets played next throughout one of the sets this New Years.
The second set of the band’s four-night New Year’s Run in Times Square featured the game-of-chance-based song selection onstage as fans were brought up to spin the wheel. Here’s how JamBase covered the scene that night in NYC:
Keyboardist Aron Magner served as host for the “Spin The Wheel” performance on Friday. The Disco Biscuits busted out “Mario Star Jam” for the first time since 2007 in the first set which foreshadowed the bust outs to come in the second set. Just the fifth “Floes” since 2011 kicked off the “Spin The Wheel” second set. “Lunar Pursuit” came next and led into the return of “Sweating Bullets” after over five years. Then it was time for the biggest bust out of the run as the wheel landed on “The Unspoken Rhyme,” which was last played April 10, 2001. As Jambands.com pointed out “Rhyme” is an original written by Magner and former soundman Jon Lesser during the “Triscuits” era when bassist Marc Brownstein had parted ways with the band. Another “Mario Star Jam” then gave way to an “Above The Waves” set closer.
According to 20 For 20 Fan Site Phantasy Tour, the bust out “The Unspoken Rhyme” came after an 862 show absence. The song has not been played again live by the Disco Biscuits since that fateful spin.
Neil Young | If I Could Have Her Tonight
[Video Credit: M. Steiner]
For a veteran rocker like Neil Young, 50+ years of songwriting affords the possibility for massive spans between live performances of songs. One of the aspects of Young’s partnership with , which began in 2015, has been the revisiting of long lost songs from Young’s extensive back catalog.
Younng and POTR kept the rarities coming in 2016, dipping back nearly half a century to bust out a mega rarity, “If I Could Have Her Tonight.” Here’s a portion of JamBase’s coverage from 2016:
Young & POTR have kept the [bust out] trend going in 2016 as last night they dusted off a song Neil last played a whopping 48 years ago and a tune the Canadian rocker hadn’t performed since 2009 as part of their show at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England
“If I Could Have Her Tonight” appears on Neil Young’s self-titled debut studio album, which came out in 1969. Only one documented performance of “If I Could Have Her Tonight” took place, way back in 1968, per [20 For 20 Fan Site] Sugar Mountain, until last night. Neil and his band featuring Lukas and Micah Nelson busted out the tune in the middle of their main set in Leeds on Friday night.
Young and Promise Of The Real had one more treat in store for the Leeds faithful as part of the encore. Neil kicked off the closing segment of the show with the Promise Of The Real debut of “When You Dance I Can Really Love.” The guitarist first recorded “When You Dance I Can Really Love” for 1970’s After The Gold Rush and hadn’t performed the song since April 30, 2009 before last night. Neil & POTR then ended the show with “Fuckin’ Up.” Friday’s show also featured the 2016 debut of “Cowgirl In The Sand.”
Neil Young & POTR played “If I Could Have Her Tonight” a few more times in 2016 but the song has not been played by Young since.
David Gilmour | Great Gig In The Sky
[Video Credit: David Gilmour]
David Gilmour‘s concert held on July 7, 2016, was a venue bust out of sorts as the Pink Floyd guitarist returned to the ancient Roman theater in Pompeii, Italy where the famed concert film, Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, was recorded in 1971. Gilmour was touring in support of his 2015 solo album, Rattle That Lock.
The musical bust out, which was repeated at the same site the following night, was Gilmour’s first public performance of the Dark Side Of The Moon classic “Great Gig In The Sky” in a decade.
Here’s JamBase’s coverage of the performance which featured vocalist Louise Clare Marshall and Gilmour on lap steel guitar:
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour returned to the site of one of his old band’s most famous concerts tonight as Gilmour brought his tour in support of Rattle That Lock to the ancient Anfiteatro Romano amphitheater in Pompeii. The big news from the show was his performance of “Great Gig In The Sky,” a Dark Side Of The Moon classic he last played in 2006 and has only performed a handful of times since Pink Floyd broke up.
Unlike Pink Floyd’s iconic 1971 performance in Pompeii that was documented for a famed 1972 concert film, this time around Gilmour is playing in front of an actual audience. David has mixed Pink Floyd and solo gems throughout Thursday night’s show, his first of two at the historic venue, including “Wish You Were Here,” “Money,” “Faces Of Stone” and “5 a.m.”
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Gov’t Mule | Just Got Paid
[Audio Credit: Taped by boedi-taper/ Via Chris from Jam Buzz]
Gov’t Mule‘s ever-growing live repertoire is vast and varied. Formed by guitarist Warren Haynes in 1994, Mule concerts tend to be a mix of blues and classic rock covers alongside similarly styled originals.
Gov’t Mule’s concert on June 11, 1994 at Rivalry’s on Cherry in Macon, Georgia, billed as the band’s “World Premiere” following a pre-premiere performance the month prior, was comprised of two sets constructed of early-originals and the aforementioned blues and classic rock covers. The first set the night of their “first” show closed with a cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid.”
In 1994, Gov’t Mule also entered Tel-Star Studios in Bradenton, Florida to record their first demos. After the band was signed to a record label, the Tel-Star recordings were eventually shelved in favor of others made with a heftier budget and released on their 1995 self-titled debut album. One of the songs the band tracked at Tel-Star was “Just Got Paid,” which ZZ Top originally released on their 1972 album, Rio Grande Mud.
In 2016, Gov’t Mule issued The Tel-Star Sessions, which was culled from those initial recordings made in Bradenton 22 years prior. That year also saw ZZ Top and Gov’t Mule team up for a joint run of fall tour dates. Mule issued an animated video for “Just Got Paid” as well.
“I’ve played with Billy [Gibbons] and Dusty [Hill] a few times,” Haynes said in a 2016 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “We’re looking forward to this tour that we’re going to do together. I think it’s kind of a nice full-circle thing. I’m glad to see them still doing it all of these years later and keeping what they do alive as part of the overall picture. ZZ Top has reinvented themselves a few times, and very few bands have that opportunity. But everything they do still has the blues as the core of it.”
The summer leading up to the ZZ Mule tour saw Gov’t Mule on tour with Blackberry Smoke. Their stop at Saranac Brewery in Utica, New York was noted for Mule’s busting out of “Just Got Paid” for the first time in 11 years. Though the song was once a staple of early setlists, at that time it had not been played since April 21, 2005.
The Rolling Stones | Ride ‘Em On Down
[Video Credit: MARCOS MOURA]
At the risk of stating the obvious: a band can only have a 50+ year bust out if they have been performing together for more than a half-century. At the risk of further stating the obvious: The Rolling Stones are one of the few qualifying rock bands in the half-century club.
In late-2016, The Stones released Blue & Lonesome, a new studio album of covers that was billed as the legendary rockers’ “return to the blues.” Frontman Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood and drummer Charlie Watts, along with longtime bassist Darryl Jones and keyboardists Chuck Leavell and Matt Clifford laid down songs by the likes of revered bluesmen Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Lightnin’ Slim, Little Johnny Taylor, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Eddie Taylor.
The Rolling Stones’ first documented concert took place on July 12, 1962, at the Marquee Club in London, England. The British band played a set made up entirely of songs by American bluesman, including a few of those just listed. Among the songs covered at their debut performance was Jimmy Reed and Eddie Taylor’s co-write, “Ride ’Em On Down.” While records from the group’s early gigs are sparse, that first night’s take on “Ride’Em On Down” is the only confirmed performance from that era.
Weeks before the release of Blue & Lonesome, The Rolling Stones performed at the Desert Trip music festival at Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California where Coachella is held. Early into their “Oldchella” set, The Stones covered “Ride ‘Em On Down,” which was originally released by Taylor in 1955. The Stones have gone on to play “Ride ‘Em On Down” over 20 times since Desert Trip.
Widespread Panic | Paranoid
[Video Credit: Widespread Panic]
Widespread Panic‘s run of shows leading up to their Halloween 2016 concert at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, presented a series of encores featuring Black Sabbath covers — several of which were bust outs themselves.
Their three-night stand in Milwaukee on October 21 – 23 saw encores with such classic Sabbath selections as “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Sweet Leaf” and “Children of the Grave,” the last of which coming after having only been performed once before, 607 shows prior on Halloween 2007. Widespread Panic debuted “Electric Funeral” during their encore in Minneapolis on October 25 and kept the Sabbath streak going with “Warning” during the encore the next night in Ames, Iowa.
Panic’s Halloween Run 2016 consisted of shows at 1st Bank Center on October 28, 29 and 30. Opening night’s encore began with the band’s first-time cover of The Doors’ “The Changeling.” They followed the debut with a bust out of “Black Sabbath,” having only played the hard rockers’ namesake song once before, on Halloween 1992, making it an impressive span of 2,105 shows between performances.
The middle night’s encore again consisted of The Doors and Black Sabbath covers. First up was a 1,464 show bust out of The Doors’ “L.A. Woman” that had only been performed before on Halloween 1997. A 311 show bust out of Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” last played on Halloween 2011, closed out the second night.
Widespread Panic’s October 30, 2016 concert presented a “Heaven” themed first set and a “Hell” themed second set. Both sets featured a number of bust outs of songs from previous Panic Halloween shows, but the band saved their biggest bust out for the end of the concert. The night saw two encores, with the first again following the pattern of the prior two nights and The Doors and Black Sabbath covers, the latter coming 29 years after its WSP debut. Here’s JamBase’s coverage from 2016:
The first encore started with a bust out of The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen” which had only been covered once before on Halloween 2000, marking a 1,140 show gap. For the eighth night in a row, Panic then covered a Black Sabbath song as part of their encore, choosing to break out “Paranoid” for the first time since it was debuted 2,809 shows ago on Halloween night in 1987. The two songs were followed by WSP returning to the stage for a second two song encore, closing the night and the run with “Postcard” and “End Of The Show.”
Ween | Mango Woman
[Video Credit: L Ron Jesus]
In 2016, Ween ended a hiatus that started after their December 31, 2011 concert by performing three shows at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. That opening three-night stand featured 93 different songs played by the group led by guitarists Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo.
Ween, which includes keyboardist Glenn McClelland, drummer Claude Coleman Jr. and bassist Dave Dreiwitz, performed 23 shows in 2016. The band played 130 different songs that year, reaching number 130 at their final show of the year held on November 27, 2016, at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York when they busted out “Mango Woman.”
“At Cat’s Cradle” is a recording of Ween’s show on December 9, 1992, at The Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Though the show that night — with the classic Gener/Deaner/DAT machine backing track setup — contained such now-classics as “Buckingham Green,” “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy),” “You Fucked Up” and several others, for decades the concert touted the lone live performance of “Mango Woman.”
Ween’s “Mango Woman” 658-show bust out came near the end of their main set in Port Chester. It was prompted by Deaner telling the audience that they had “something special” for them and added that no one there had likely seen them play it before. After the bust out, Deaner responded to the cheering crowd by stating, “Let the record show, we played ‘Mango.’”
The record also shows, via 20 For 20 Fan Site Brownbase.org, that “Mango Woman” has only been performed one time since The Cap bust out, on St. Patrick’s Day 2017.
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Radiohead | I Promise
[Video Credit: noise_jam]
In 2017, Radiohead celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of their landmark album OK Computer with the release of an expanded edition, OKNOTOK. The anniversary reissue came with the original album, eight B-sides and three previously unreleased tracks.
Among the previously unreleased tracks was “I Promise,” a song recorded during the OK Computer session that the band performed live a few times in 1996, but was abandoned at that time. Prior to releasing OKNOTOK, Radiohead shared a video for “I Promise.”
Five days after the video came out, Radiohead held a concert at Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. Frontman Thom Yorke addressed the audience before the start of that evening’s encore. Yorke said:
Normally, I don’t think we’re the sort of people to look back – but, it was interesting, when we did, what a bunch of nutters we were and probably still are. One of the things, one of the crazy things we did was not release this song, because we didn’t think it was good enough.
Yorke and his band mates then busted out “I Promise” for the first time in 21 years. Radiohead played “I Promise” two additional times that summer, but the song has not been performed publicly since 2017.
Trey Anastasio Band | Sidewalks Of San Francisco
[Aduio Credit: Fatah Ruark’s Live Music Archive]
Trey Anastasio Band‘s Fall Tour 2017 opener at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas was notable for a variety of reasons. The show began with the TAB debut of “Over The Rainbow,” which was covered a cappella by Anastasio, Jennifer Hartswick, Natalie Cressman and James Casey while Trey held a candle in recognition of the victims of the mass shooting that occurred weeks early at the Route 91 music festival in Las Vegas.
TAB’s concert that night also saw the debuts of “Set Your Soul Free” as well as “Soul Planet.” The latter song would be played for the first time by Phish months later at their New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The other standout aspect of the Brooklyn Bowl Vegas tour opener was the resurrection of the instrumental “Sidewalks Of San Francisco.” The significance of the bust out was explained in JamBase’s 2017 report:
Early in the first set, the Trey Anastasio Band performed the long-lost instrumental “Sidewalks Of San Francisco.” TAB debuted the funky track at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston on February 21, 2001 – the first show of the project’s second-ever tour.
“Sidewalks” was a staple on Winter Tour 2001 as well as following runs including a pair of performances as part of TAB’s Spring Tour 2003. The song then went missing until Friday’s tour opener. Anastasio and his troupe had last played “Sidewalks Of San Francisco,” which was featured on Trey’s 2007 studio album The Horseshoe Curve as well as the accompanying The Lucius Beebe EP, way back on June 4, 2003.
Trey Anastasio Band performed “Sidewalks Of San Francisco” once more in 2017, not at all in 2018, and then a few more times in 2019.
Robert Plant | Hot Dog
[Video Credit:Roger Spence]
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has maintained a successful solo career since the dissolution of the legendary rock band in 1980. He joined Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page for mid-1990s tours, later turning his attention to the folk idiom with projects like Band Of Joy, Priory of Brion and Alison Krauss. He also has led rock outfits Strange Sensation and his current group since 2012, the Sensational Space Shifters.
Plant kept many Led Zeppelin in his live repertoire over the years, though some only scarcely. While on tour in support of his solo album, Carry Fire, Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters made a summer 2018 stop at Virginia Credit Union Live! At Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. That night, the Zeppelin classic “Hot Dog” made it into one of Plant’s solo setlists for the first time in 24 years.
Check JamBase’s original coverage of the bust out:
Robert Plant led his ensemble through “Hot Dog” to start Sunday’s encore. Plant hadn’t played the country-tinged song from Led Zeppelin’s 1979 album In Through The Out Door since January 28, 1994 as per Setlist.FM’s records. Guitarists Justin Adams and Liam Tyson, drummer Dave Smith, keyboardist John Baggott, fiddler Seth Lakeman and bassist Billy Fuller do a fine job of backing Plant on the long-lost gem.
The band went on to end the show in Richmond with a medley that incorporated parts of “Bring It On Home,” “Whole Lotta Love” and “Santianna.”
The “Hot Dog” bust out in 2018 and previous performance in Mexico in 1994 remain the only two known instances of Plant playing the song in public.
Bob Dylan | Moon River
[Video Credit: Adger Ross]
In 2016, Bob Dylan was given the Nobel Prize In Literature, becoming the first American to receive the honor since author Toni Morrison in 1993. The prestigious recognition joined Dylan’s prior bestowed Grammy Awards, Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Pulitzer Prize, inductions into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Those awards simply reinstate Dylan’s stature as one of — if not the — greatest songwriters in the history of popular music. The songs written by the folk icon are among the most well-known and influential and have inspired countless others to create art of their own. The 78-year-old Dylan continues to bring his songs to audiences around the world on his Never Ending Tour.
Given Dylan’s massive catalog of revered original songs, when he decides to cover someone else’s song, that in and of itself is an honor. Over his 50+ year career, Dylan has recognized many of his fellow songwriters by covering their songs both in concert and in the studio.
In 2015, he released the album Shadows In The Night, followed by 2016’s Fallen Angels and 2017’s triple LP, Triplicate. Each release was recorded by Dylan and his touring band and was made up of standards selected from the Great American Songbook. All three releases featured Dylan’s arrangments of songs co-written by Johnny Mercer.
Dylan covering a Mercer co-write dates back to at least August 27, 1990, and his concert that night at the Holiday Star Music Theater in Merrillville, Indiana. Dylan dedicated a performance of “Moon River” to Stevie Ray Vaughan, hours after the guitarist died in a helicopter crash. Mercer wrote the lyrics to “Moon River,” which was composed by Henry Mancini and was originally sung by star Audrey Hepburn for the 1961 feature film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. “Moon River” went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, as well as Grammys for Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year.
Dylan’s Never Ending Tour made a stop at the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah, Georgia on November 6, 2018. The encore that evening began with Dylan’s classic “Blowin’ In The Wind.” The legendary songwriter then honored his fellow legendary lyricist at Mercer’s namesake theater by closing the show with a bust out cover of “Moon River.” The 1990 and 2018 concerts are Dylan’s only known covers of the Mercer/Mancini standard.
Umphrey’s McGee | Stop
[Video Credit: shinepigeon]
In 2003, Umphrey’s McGee made their first appearance at the Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, Illinois. The band has been on each subsequent Summer Camp lineup and joined moe. — who topped the first two years’ lineups — as co-headling hosts in 2006.
Among the traditions at the Memorial Day Weekend event held annually at Three Sisters Park are late-night sets in the site’s Red Barn. One of UM’s six sets at the 2019 edition of Summer Camp was an after-hours performance in the Red Barn. Those who stayed awake to catch UM in the barn got to see the band – who often champion the bust out – play their biggest bust out to date.
Here’s the JamBase report on “Stop!”:
Umphrey’s McGee performed a cover of Jane’s Addiction’s “Stop!” on Thursday night at the Summer Camp Music Festival that was the biggest bust out in the band’s 21-year history in terms of shows between plays. Last night’s “Stop!” was the first since June 9, 2000 – a span of 2,251 concerts.
The massive treat came during UM’s late-night performance in the Red Barn within Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. Drummer Kris Myers handled lead vocals on a cover that was last played before he joined the band. Founding drummer Mike Mirro, who left UM in 2002 and passed away in 2014, sang all previous versions of the song from Jane’s Addiction’s 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual.
Last night’s Umphrey’s set began with the pairing of “1348” and “2×2.” The sextet then worked “Comma Later” into “Domino Theory” before performing “Attachments.” Next up was the classic “Example 1.” Bassist Ryan Stasik announced, “The next one’s a good one, that’s all I’ll tell you,” and then Myers greeted the crowd and advised they would be in for a “bust out” as an intro to “Stop!” After the cover, guitarist Brendan Bayliss called Myers “the hardest working man in show business.” Finally, “Dump City” brought the set to a close. “Much Obliged” and “Kula” served as the encore.
UM stopped covering “Stop!” after busting it out in the barn.
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Tedeschi Trucks Band | Don’t Do It
[Video Credit: nugs.tv]
In summer 2007, Susan Tedeschi and her husband Derek Trucks joined forces for the Soul Stew Revival tour that was the couple’s first tour in which both guitarists performed together with the same band. The Soul Stew Revival also performed at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve that year. Another Soul Stew Revival Tour occurred in 2008 and the ensemble again rang in the new year with a concert at The Fox on December 31, 2008.
The Soul Stew Revival planted the seeds for the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band to make their debut on April 1, 2010, at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia. That year saw the group ring in the new year with a December 31 show at the Florida Theatre in the couple’s hometown Jacksonville, Florida.
By the time New Year’s Eve 2011 arrived, sporting a shortened name and expanding lineup Tedeschi Trucks Band celebrated the end of a successful touring year with a concert at The Warfield in San Francisco. The opening song that night was a cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It,” which was an interpolation of the 1964 Marvin Gaye single co-written by the famed Holland/Dozier/Holland writing team, “Baby Don’t You Do It.”
“Don’t Do It” didn’t return to a TTB setlist until their 2019 Wheels Of Soul Summer Tour stop at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. The band enlisted Charlie Starr and Richard Turner of that tour’s companions Blackberry Smoke for the bust out, which, like the last time it was played, opened the band’s show at the majestic outdoor amphitheater.
Since the Red Rocks bust out, “Don’t Do It” has appeared in a handful of Tedeschi Trucks Band setlists.
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The String Cheese Incident | Rhythmess
[Audio Credit: Cheese Cadet Audio]
While JamBase celebrates our 20th anniversary, veteran jam outfit The String Cheese Incident has been performing together for 25 years. SCI marked their silver anniversary with a home state two-night run at Denver’s Mission Ballroom, which also served as the band’s final shows of 2019.
SCI added a third set to their November 30 show, which followed their debut at the newly opened venue the night before. Upon taking the stage the second night, guitarist Bill Nershi explained that the first set would represent what might have been played by SCI during the band’s early days in Telluride, Colorado.
Nershi and his band mates then delivered a set comprised of old-school classics, some of which were recorded in 1995 at a studio in Crested Butte, Colorado and distributed by the band on cassette. The early recordings were later made available digitally as the 2014 release, Aged Cheese.
One of the Aged Cheese songs, “Rhythmess,” is credited on the cassette label to “P-Funk.” A song on the legendary funk group Parliament’s 1976 album Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein closes with a song called “Funkin’ For Fun,” which features the same lyrics and close instrumentation as “Rhythmess.”
Though several of the songs that were on the cassette soon became and continued to be SCI live staples, “Rhythmess” went missing following the band’s July 18, 1996 concert in Aspen, Colorado. Whether or not another 23 years will pass before The String Cheese Incident goes “Rhythmess” again remains to be heard.
Spafford | Franklin’s Tower
[Audio Credit: Moricle]
San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall is one of the Bay Area’s storied music venues that has hosted concerts for more than a century. Originally opening its doors in the Tenderloin district as Blanco’s in 1907, the space was later known as the Music Box before reverting back to Blanco’s.
By the 1950s, the venue was in decline and the building came close to be razed. In 1972, Tom Bradshaw purchased the building and, following renovations, reopened the 470 capacity venue under the name Great American Music Hall.
On August 13, 1975, Great American Music Hall hosted a concert by the Grateful Dead. The show, which was recorded and released as the live album One From The Vault, was one of four shows played by the Grateful Dead in 1975. Following a memorable introduction by Bill Graham, the Dead opened the concert with the debut of the now treasured trifecta of “Help On The Way” into “Slipknot!” into “Franklin’s Tower.”
The performance was also the Bay Area-based band’s lone concert at GAMH. Despite having only played their once, the Dead’s One From The Vault association with Great American Music Hall — along with many shows held there by Jerry Garcia — makes it hallowed ground for Deadheads.
Arizona-based jam quartet Spafford made their Great American Music Hall debut with a pair of shows in November 2018. The following year the band returned to GAMH for two more shows, which took place on December 30 and New Year’s Eve. In a likely nod to the storied ground they stood upon, Spafford followed their midnight rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” by busting out a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower.”
According to 20 For 20 Fan Site Spaffnerds, the NYE rendition of “Franklin’s” was Spafford’s first since 2012. The bust out, which came after 473 shows, was only the band’s third live performance of the Grateful Dead classic.
