Three songs deep, Nathaniel Rateliff began urging the capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre crowd to lay their midweek worries aside and party with him on a Wednesday night. His rhetorical question was met with an enthusiastic roar as the collective energy of ten thousand people rolled down the storied venue’s steps and flooded the stage with positive vibes. And party they did.

Hot, dry summer winds buffeted a sold-out audience at the Vina Robles Amphitheater in Paso Robles on Saturday, August 14th. The mostly older audience gathered early at the venue, one of the most beautiful in all of California. The occasion was a night of Latin flavored rock featuring the Los Angeles-based Los Lobos and the Miami flavored Tejano group, The Mavericks.

What can I say about the Faux Paws? Well, the new album takes you through the countryside down to the heart of the jazz scene and back to the serene Katy Hill. It’s got all the clever charm of an indie rom-com, all the allure of Kermit the Frog, and all the hot fun of New Orleans wrapped into one tiny bluegrass package.

Phish and their dedicated followers descended into Atlantic City, NJ last night, and took over the famed boardwalk for a night of chock full of jams on the Atlantic City Beach. Located on the north side of Playground Pier between Arkansas and Kentucky avenues, the venue had capacity for 40,000, which is the largest on the summer tour. The band is in town for the weekend, and will play three nights at this unique and special venue in the Garden State.

Following the success of their latest album Long Lost, Lord Huron brings yet another visual masterpiece to their fans with their new music video for "Love Me Like You Used To." Released on July 26, the music video already has over a quarter of a million views on YouTube with hundreds of comments submitted by fans raving over the quality and beauty of Lord Huron’s latest work.

The inaugural Days Between Festival, celebrating the legacy of late-Grateful Dead patriarch Jerry Garcia and the musical score he left embedded in our soul, was upbeat and a resounding success in northern Mendocino County, California on August 6 and 7, even amidst the rage of north-state wildfires and Covid-19 pandemic 2.0. Proof of vaccination or a negative, very-recent Covid test were required for entry.

Despite an evening full of weather events, Phish delivered almond joy at HersheyPark Stadium last night in steamy Hershey, Pennsylvania, as the smell of chocolate filled the air. Fresh off a stellar run at Deer Creek in Indiana, the band continued crushing jams and playing sweet songs that reminded fans why they love this band so much.

The highly anticipated Hella Mega Tour (Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day), postponed from 2020 came to Boston’s historic Fenway Park on August 5th 2021. Unfortunately Fall Out Boy had to miss the NY and MA show because of sickness in their crew.

I don’t know what normal is anymore. So, I am still a little dumbfounded when people say we are getting back to normal. Or, their slightly more pessimistic counterparts, who assure me that this is the new normal. Tuesday night, seeing Billy Strings play at The Champlain Valley Expo outside of Burlington, VT felt like it landed right between those two paradigms; seizing on the optimistic return to what was, and infecting what is with that same sense of buoyancy.

Bluegrass guitar virtuoso Billy Strings has been one of the hottest artists in both the bluegrass and jam band communities since prior to the covid-19 pandemic. In addition to winning a Grammy in 2019, he has continued to build a dedicated following by releasing new songs as well as live streams to audiences that were stuck at home. On September 24th, 2021, his new album Renewal will be released.