Reuben

With Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Umphrey’s McGee set to kickoff the Northeast leg of their co-bill tour tomorrow we figured we’d preview the shows with a review of last week’s Midwest run by Reuben of Partyin’ Peeps. You can catch the STUM9 tour at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC tomorrow night, Philadelphia’s Festival Pier on Friday and in Boston at the Bank of America Pavilion on Sunday.

It is 4:06 a.m. on Sunday here in the windy city and we just got back from STS9’s late night show at the House of Blues. I just want to start out by saying what a fantastic time these last five days have been. I don’t know about you guys, but I spend most of the year stuck inside boring law school classrooms counting down the days until Summer and daydreaming about weeks like the one I’ve just had…

…It is now Wednesday and I think that I’ve recovered enough to share some thoughts about the last week. Our run consisted of five days, five shows, nine sets, 1085 miles, and only one encore. We saw Umphrey’s McGee and STS9 in an amusement park in Cincinnati, a state park in Indianapolis, an old airport in Chicago, and a White Castle in Columbus. Over the course of the week I was not only impressed every single night at the level that Umphrey’s McGee is playing at, but I also was made a believer by STS9, a band that I had always secretly thought was only slightly above average. READ ON for more about STS9/UM tour…

We’re honored to welcome Reuben of Partyin’ Peeps to the Hidden Track team for the occasional post. He’s done a phenomenal job posting interesting news, reviews and opinions on Partyin’ Peeps, so be sure to add his site to your daily reading list. Reuben caught moe. and Keller Williams at the Encore Park Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia on Saturday night and filed this report…

We were greeted by perfect concert weather as we arrived at the brand new Encore Park Amphitheater. This place has everything you could ask for in a live music venue: great sound, a capacity of 12,500, reasonably light security, parking and $5 beers. Did I say $5 beers? I meant $10, but who’s really counting? We bought tickets from the box office when we got there, avoided the outrageous ticketbastard charges, and somehow scored 8th row center!

Keller Williams the one-man-band opened the show, and I have to say, he impressed the hell out of me. The guy really is a perfect opener, something about his eclectic combination of bluegrass, whistling, looping, covers, and all around goofiness really got the crowd excited. The show opened with Heart’s Barracuda and then right into crowd favorites Best Feeling and Fuel for the Road. My favorite part was in the middle of Fuel for the Road when Keller changed the tone of his instruments so they would sound like a piano and a trumpet before looping them together to create a mini little jazz odyssey. Then there was some more goofiness, a new song, a whistling cover of Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,”and of course, Freaker by the Speaker. I love Keller, but I was ready for some moe.

READ ON to find out what Reuben thought about moe.’s two set show…