This past weekend, Shadows Ranch, a wooded valley flanked by two steep mountain sides a stones throw away from Georgetown, Colorado was transformed from a tranquil hidden gem of the Rockies into what can best be described as an energy center. On paper Sonic Bloom is a music festival, but in the flesh (so to speak) it is a platform for expression and a point of dissolution of the boundary between artist and audience.

On August 14th and 15th, 2010 Phish played their 12th and 13th shows at Alpine Valley Music Theater - all 2-night stands since 2003. "Alpine" as it is affectionately known, is a steeply-sloping amphitheater with a big lawn and raucous crowd perpetually bursting with energy right in the band's faces due to the angles of the place. The angles all aligned on Saturday August 14th - the focus of the Alpine Valley DVD, which will be released in stores and for audio only download nationwide on December 14th.

This box set features the complete August 14th, 2010 performance on 2-DVDs, as well as 2-CDs, and bonus video featuring highlights from the following night, August 15th, 2010, including AC/DC Bag, Divided Sky and Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan. The three-song combination that opened set two of the 15th rounds out the bonus material with Ghost > Theme From The Bottom > Big Black Furry Creature From Mars. Alpine Valley 2010 combines into a four-hour DVD-CD collection of must-see and must-hear release from Phish at their current top form.

The nearly three hours of music was recorded that night using 57 channels of digital multitrack and carefully mixed and mastered in 5.1 Dolby surround and PCM stereo. The video was a 7-camera shoot (16:9 widescreen), recorded and post-edited in High Definition.

The box set is available for pre-order today at order from Phish Dry Goods.

If you order from Phish Dry Goods you'll receive "Phish: Wisconsin Edition" a free bonus CD compilation from Phish Archives, of past Alpine Valley highlights spanning fourteen years of Phish performances at this venue. In addition, Dry Goods is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $70, which can be applied to the new Alpine DVD.

Click here to watch Reba and/or Bug from Alpine Valley.

Also, be sure to read some previous Phish at Alpine Valley coverage.

Headliners Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure are among the 130-plus acts set for the tenth COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL at the beautiful Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, the same grounds where the COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL debuted in 1999.  Other artists confirmed for America's most critically acclaimed music festival include Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Franz Ferdinand, My Bloody Valentine, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Thievery Corporation, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (the complete line-up is listed below).

This marks the first ever U.S. festival appearance for McCartney who is currently supporting his latest release ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS.

"I have heard that Coachella is one of the greatest festivals in the world.  I'm really excited to get out there and rock!"  McCartney says.

The line-up for this year's COACHELLA (as of 1/30) is as follows:

FRIDAY APRIL 17:  Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Beirut, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, The Crystal Method, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Are Scientists, N.A.S.A., Patton & Rahzel, M. Ward, The Presets, The Hold Steady, A Place to Bury Strangers, Felix da Housecat, Buraka Som Sistema, Ryan Bingham, Bajofondo, Peanut Butter Wolf, Noah & the Whale, White Lies, The Bug, Alberta Cross, Los Campesinos!, Craze & Klever, Molotov, Switch, Gui Boratto, Steve Aoki, The Aggrolites, People Under the Stairs, The Courteeners, Cage the Elephant, Dear and the Headlights.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18:  The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Mastodon, TRAV$DJ-AM, Henry Rollins, Crookers, Turbonegro, Hercules and Love Affair, Superchunk, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the DBT's, Amanda Palmer, The Bloody Beetroots, Surkin, Para One (Live), Calexico, Liars, Bob Mould Band, Zane Lowe, Electric Touch, Blitzen Trapper, James Morrison, Drop the Lime, Glass Candy, Thenewno2, Gang Gang Dance, Billy Talent, Ida Maria, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Zizek, Cloud Cult, Tinariwen.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19:  The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K'naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.

Tickets for COACHELLA go on sale Friday, January 30 at 9:00 AM (PT) at all Ticketmaster locations.  Three-day weekend passes are $269.00 +$3 charity + $9 facility fee ($1 charity/$3 facility fee per day) and single day tickets are $99.00 +$1 charity + $3 facility fee.  The same layaway plan that Goldenvoice successfully implemented for STAGECOACH:  California's Country Music Festival will be available for weekend passes ONLY for this year's COACHELLA. Festival goers now have the option to purchase 3-day festival tickets and onsite camping tickets on a payment plan.

Layaway options (available online ONLY through February 28) are as follows.  50% down:  this payment option allows purchasers to pay a 50% deposit of the total order now, with the remaining 50% automatically deducted April 1; 3-payment plan:  purchasers initially pay 10% of the total order, with the remaining amounts automatically deducted in equal payments on March 1 and April 1.