DVD Releases   

Phish Dry Goods has just announced their latest and greatest concert DVD — Phish at Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC on July 22, 1997 — a show that quickly became a spectacle as the band played through, and along with, a furious storm accented by the lighting genius of CK5.

The 2-DVD set features over 2½ hours of 5-camera footage with 5.1 Dolby Surround or optional stereo sound.

As an added (and hilarious) bonus, everyone who preordered the DVD also received the “Left Nuts” bonus CD featuring over 75 minutes of previously unreleased music from Phish's past performances at Walnut Creek.

In case you didn't get the joke, the CD's title is in reference to Trey's quote to Rolling Stone — “ at this point in time I would give my left nut to play [YEM] five times in a row every day until I die.”

In true Dry Goods fashion, there's a handful of high-margin packages you can buy…

• Severe Thunderstorm Warning Package (pictured above) including the DVD, two t-shirts, and a mail-order ticket replica magnet
• Summer 1997 Vector Logo on Serene Green Package includes the DVD plus the Phish logo t-shirt and ticket magnet
• Summer 1997 Pollock Appliance on Stone Blue Package includes the DVD plus the Pollock design t-shirt and ticket magnet
• Walnut Creek DVD & Pollock Mail-Order Ticket Magnet which comes with just the DVD and ticket magnet

And if you're saving your money for the inevitable Phish reunion, you can buy the Phish Walnut Creek '97 DVD all by itself.

I have no trouble at all rating this a basic Kickass Mike's Groove.
— Charlie Dirksen

To help get you psyched in advance of the DVD's August 5, 2008 release, head on over to Phish.net where there's plenty of reviews of the '07 Walnut Creek show. And if you need an immediate fix, you can shop for more Phish Concert DVDs right here on Jamtopia.

UPDATE (July 12, 2008) Thanks to Phish for posting some sample on YouTube, you can now watch samples of Taste, Mike's Song, and Weekapaug Groove from the Phish Walnut Creek '97 DVD.

UPDATE (August 1, 2008) Preorders are now closed and the Walnut Creek '97 DVD is in stock and shipping from Dry Goods.

UPDATE (August 5, 2008) On sale now! Buy Phish Walnut Creek '97 DVD at Amazon.

The Disco Biscuits' Progressions: New Years Eve 2006 was named Concert DVD of the Year at the 7th Jammy Awards on Wednesday May 7th, 2008.

Filmed in high definition video, Progressions chronicles three sold-out shows culminating with Bisco's New Years Eve performance at New Jersey's Tweeter Center. The 2-disc set includes band & fan interviews and never-before-seen rehearsal footage.

The other nominees were...

• Immagine in Cornice: Picture in a Frame Pearl Jam
• JamCam Chronicles Jam Cruise 5
• Keep on Marchin' North Mississippi Allstars
• Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth Bernie Worrell
• Years in Your Ears... a story of Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon

Break out your wallet and head over to Amazon because you know you want to buy Electric Apricot: The Quest for Festeroo on DVD!

The mockumentary, from National Lampoon and first-time director Les Claypool follows Electric Apricot as they rise from obscurity to eventually play the mother of all festivals, Festeroo.

Making a film... it's a non-stop kick to the testicles.
— Les Claypool

In the spirit of Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind, Electric Apricot offers an “endearing and twisted look” at the jamband scene.

The Electric Apricot DVD doesn't come out until May 13, but if you're looking for an immediate fix, buy the Electric Apricot soundtrack. It's on sale now and includes “Hey Are You Going to Burning Man” plus 4 more original Electric Apricot songs and music by Bob Weir, Gov't Mule, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Stiff Dead Cat, Henry Thomas, and Larry LaLonde.

Buy
Wetlands Preserved
at Amazon

On September 15th, 2001, the Wetlands Preserve rock club closed it's doors after 13 years as New York's venue of record for the burgeoning jamband scene.

Now you can learn all about the club's legend and history with Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club, a new concert DVD by first-time director and Phishing Manual author Dean Budnick.

I'll remember Wetlands Preserve as a beautiful flower growing in a crack of concrete.
— John Dwork, Dupree's Diamond News

Wetlands Preserved traces the influential and progressive club's rich history through vintage footage, original recordings and new digital animation featuring the accounts of musicians, staffers and clubgoers.

The film includes performances by Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Phish, and Pearl Jam, as well as the music of Disco Biscuits, Warren Haynes, The Roots, Ani DiFranco, Sublime, Ben Harper, moe., 311, Spin Doctors, Bob Weir, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, KRS-1, Joan Osborne, Fishbone, Agnostic Front and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Your heart will dance, your eyes will pop, your ears will buzz.
— Dean Budnick, Director

The Wetlands wasn't just a great music venue — it was a unique medium for social change. As part of founder Larry Bloch's business plan, each month a percentage of the club's proceeded were to be donated to a non-profit Center For Social and Environmental Justice. And so it was. A fund-raising success story by any measure, the “eco-saloon” often donated more than $100,000 to the cause each year.

A unique workplace and environment for compelling music and social change.
— Dean Budnick, Director

Although the venue is closed, the spirit of The Wetlands lives on thanks to the Wetlands Activism Collective. The Collective fights for human, earth, and animal liberation through protest, direct action, street theater, political advocacy, and public education. Visit the Wetlands Activism Collective website to read about their campaigns, learn how you can donate or volunteer, and to see some great Wetlands flyers and concert posters.

The Wetlands Preserved DVD (official site) is now on sale.

Well it only took a little over 2 1/2 years, but on April 1st you'll be able to relive the 20th Anniversary Farm Aid show that took place September 18th, 2005 at The Tweeter Center, Tinley Park, Illinois.

This is just one disc, but it's packed with over 2 1/2 hours of music from a range artists including Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp (all of whom are on the Farm Aid board of directions) plus Widespread Panic, Wilco, Buddy Guy & John Mayer, Los Lonely Boys, Emmylou Harris and more.

Farm Aid started as a benefit concert in 1995, but has since become a larger aid organization that works to increase awareness of and lobby for the importance of family farms, in addition to the annual concert.