WNEW | Where Rock Lives

Time to Celebrate: WNEW's 1000th Post!

We've reached a milestone here at WNEW.com - our 1000th post. In a little under nine months, since our launch in April 2008, we've brought you a thousand posts on all things rock 'n roll, old and new, and other stuff we felt like posting. By way of a look back, here are some of our favorite things from the first 1000 posts:

• Interview gems featuring Scott Muni, Dave Herman and other favorite voices from the WNEW-FM archives, talking to the top artists of the day like Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, The Who, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie.
• Festival coverage from venues far and wide, from Tennessee to Oregon, Colorado to Michigan and even New Jersey.
• Incredible studio sessions with legends like Richie Havens, Phil Lesh, Bela Fleck, Warren Haynes, Donna Jean and more.
• Performances and interviews with newer artists like the Rumble Strips, Noah and the Whale, Illinois, Kings of Leon, Michael Franti, Chris Barron, Vampire Weekend, Grace Potter and many more.
• Rock commentary of the highest order from our outstanding roster of writers: J.A. Bartlett, Alex Young, Fusion 45, Bill Melville, Paul Rhodes, Kevin Phillips, Chris Clancy, our hardworking Archivist, big winner Mari S. (go Cards!) and the rest of the many awesome contributors we've had so far.

There have been a lot of great moments captured in these first 1000 posts - here's a look at the posts you've clicked on the most:

• Mike Gordon Fans Flames of Phish Reunion (w/Audio)
• Live Dead: Phil Lesh & Jackie Greene Visit the WNEW Studio
• Warren Haynes Visits WNEW Studio for Acoustic Session
• Cardinals (w/Ryan Adams) Rock Houston: Setlist, Photos
• Chopping Block: The Cure
• Kanye's Bonnaroo Troubles
• All Points West Festival: Photo Show
• WNEW Archived Interview: Mick Jagger 1979

Thank you kind reader for hanging in there with us throughout our early days. We've had a great time bringing you these posts and we've particularly enjoyed the conversations (and controversies - sorry Cure fans!) that have resulted. We hope you'll still be with us when we hit our 10,000th post - this time I promise I'll bring cake.

A.M. Nuggets: Conscious Alliance Feeds, Inspires Art, Sets World Record

You've probably seen them around before - they're the ones collecting cans of food at the front gates of Bonnaroo, or Langerado, or at places like the Fillmore in Denver. Conscious Alliance organizes food drives and raises money to feed the hungry, in particular impoverished people at Native American reservations in the western U.S. In just the last few years they've created quite a legacy not only helping others but also by inspiring great art.

Conscious Alliance enlists some of the best graphic artists working today and sets them loose creating posters for festivals and bands like STS9, Phil Lesh & Friends, and Umphrey's McGee. These pieces become instant collector items and have gathered quite a following in the music community (and around here at the station).

So we were happy to get the news that Conscious Alliance succeeded in their attempt to set a record for the world's largest canned food sculpture. The Guinness Book of World Records has certified that the structure put together on July 4th at the Rothbury Festival, made up of 45,725 cans of food donated by Whole Foods Market, was indeed the largest ever assembled. Congratulations guys.

Check this page for a look at some of the great posters created for this project.

• BONUS NUGGET: Insane Rothbury panoramas by Revolutionary Views. How do they do it?

Photo Review: Final Look at Rothbury 2008

The first ever Rothbury Festival is now in the books, and it will no doubt go down as one of the greats. WNEW was on the scene bringing you live updates throughout the 4th of July weekend, a four-day affair that saw performances from Dave Matthews Band, Primus, STS9, Rodrigo y Gabriela (pictured), Taj Mahal and so many more. Then there was the near-reunion by three members of Phish, and a virtual wonderland of non-music attractions like the Sherwood Forest and Think Tank panel discussions. Rothbury also propelled forward the idea of a "green" festival, achieving a near-zero carbon footprint and utilizing some basic but ingenious methods for reducing the environmental impact of the festival.

Join us after the jump for a look back through photos at this truly singular musical experience.

From the Front Row: John Mayer at the Rothbury Festival

Despite a festival lineup that included such non-jamband names as Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse and Ingrid Michaelson, John Mayer's name still stood out. Many people may only know Mayer by his radio hits, like the sugary-sweet Grammy winner Daughters and the ubiquitous Your Body Is A Wonderland. If those were your only John Mayer reference points you could be forgiven for thinking him an odd choice for this jam-heavy festival.

A.M. Nuggets: Rothbury By The Numbers

With the inaugural Rothbury festival now in the books, let's take a quick look at the numbers:

• Attendance is estimated at 35,000 people, representing all 50 states and at least a dozen nice folks from Japan (who I ran into at every turn throughout the weekend).
• Over 2,000 waste stations presenting you three options: Compost, Recycle and Landfill.
• According to festival organizers over 80% of the trash collected at Rothbury was composted, recycled, or otherwise reclaimed instead of becoming landfill.
• 3 out of 4 members of the band Phish
• 1 percussion-powered monkey carousel (more on that later)

Check back here later today and throughout the week for in-depth reviews of what was an amazing weekend in "the mitten."

Live From Rothbury: Dave Matthews Band Shines, honors LeRoi Moore

Rothbury had too many 'main events' to call any one performance the show of the weekend, but going by crowd size nobody surpassed the Dave Matthews Band Saturday night on the Odeum stage. Matthews played for over three hours, starting while the sun was still up and playing fans into the darkness before handing them over for more late-nite madness.

Tribute was paid to saxaphone player LeRoi Moore, who is recovering from last week's ATV accident. Jeff Coffin sat in on sax and shone brightly throughout the set, which included many DMB standards like  So Much To Say, Too Much and Ants Marching. More on the whole show later - for now enjoy some photos from Rothbury Saturday.

A.M. Nuggets: Rothbury Festival Closes With John Mayer, Mini-Phish Reunion

Trey Anastasio played solo, and with some old friends; John Mayer brought his band and brought the blues, and both put forth sublimely crowd-pleasing sets to put the cap on a beautiful weekend on Lake Michigan at the Rothbury Festival.

Live From Rothbury: Hot Sun, Hot Fun

Saturday brought a 'dry heat' to this swath of Michican farmland, and lines for showers, ice and water refills grew long early.

The music started out hot too, with Dead Confederates screaming it out on the Ranch Arena stage, and the Emmit-Nershi Band drawing in members of the String Cheese family for a noon-time string jamboree at the Sherwood Court.

Live From Rothbury: Night Time is the Right Time

The sun doesn't set until almost 10:00 at night around here, but once nightfall finally came on Friday the full potential of this unique Rothbury venue started to be realized. A triumphant 4th of July fireworks show capped two driving, powerful and fun sets by Widespread Panic on the main stage.

Midnight fireworks were only the beginning with a late-nite lineup that included Primus, Thievery Corporation, and DJ sets by Bassnectar, Pnuma Trio and more.

Live from Rothbury: Jakob Dylan, Snoop Dogg, Modest Mouse

Friday at Rothbury was a diverse day to say the least. Jakob Dylan (pictured) got things started early with his band the Gold Mountain Rebels. Dylan's music was easy going - a peaceful sort of rock 'n roll that matched the mood of the still sleepy crowd. Vocally Dylan sounds more like his father than ever before, with a rasp that was instantly identifiable.

A.M. Nuggets: Happy 4th of July from Rothbury

Happy Birthday America. Time to get the BBQ fired up, split open that watermelon, and if you're lucky see some great live music.

Michigan's Rothbury festival is already well underway on the shores of Lake Michigan. Last night saw performances by the Mickey Hart Band, Perpetual Groove, and Zappa Plays Zappa.

Check out some photos after the jump, and stay tuned here for shots of today's performers, including Jakob Dylan, Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse and the one everybody's waiting for - Snoop Dogg.

A.M. Nuggets: 4th of July Festivals; WNEW Live at Rothbury

The big long weekend is almost upon us, and if you're like me your mind is already turning to thoughts of cookouts, swimming, frisbee and fireworks. Depending on where you'll be this fine weekend your thoughts may also be turning towards seeing some live music in the great outdoors.

WNEW will be celebrating America's birthday in Michigan at the Rothbury festival, enjoying performers like Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and Brett Dennen. But there's a lot more music going on this weekend - hopefully somewhere near you. Here's just a sampling of what this weekend has to offer:

• California's pride and joy, the High Sierra Music Festival, has Bob Weir & Ratdog, Gov't Mule, Mike Gordon and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
• New York City has the annual Carifest C.A.R.E.S., featuring Matisyahu and Lee Scratch Perry.
• Floyd, VA has the Wine Down the Music Trail festival with the Subdudes.
• The Superdome in New Orleans plays host to the annual Essence Music Festival with Jill Scott and Chris Brown.
• The legendary Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Garrettsville, OH throws down this weekend with Rhymefest/4th of July featuring moe., Mickey Hart Band, George Clinton & P-Funk, and "Guinness world record attempting fire stunts."