With sincere thanks to all of the 195 professional and amateur concert photographers who entered the 2008 Jamtopia Concert Photo Contest, I'm very pleased to announce the finalists.

I must say it was nearly impossible to pick just 12 finalists from the more than 330 great concert photos entered, but without further ado, here they are…

Franki Doll || Feb 21, 2008
Photo by Roger Krueger

Die Mannequin || Apr 24, 2008
Photo by Reinier Asscheman

Grace Potter || Apr 25, 2008
Photo by Greg Homolka

OK Go || May 16, 2008
Photo by Tasha Schalk

Boris || May 29, 2008
Photo by Nathan Wind

Ratdog || June 1, 2008
Photo by Matt Beauchemin

Eating Glass || June 8, 2008
Photo by Ben Hajdukiewicz

Radiohead || June 9, 2008
Photo by Samuel Dietz

Anthrax || June 22, 2008
Photo by Jazmin$Million

Pearl Jam || July 12, 2008
Photo by Jeff Kravitz

Paramore || July 25, 2008
Photo by Cody Mulcahy

Gogol Bordelo || Aug 19, 2008
Photo by Alexandre Pinabel for Collectif ISO

Want to see the winner? Come back on November 1st for the big announcement.

Every once in a while, a website comes along that is so frivolous and absurd that it somehow morphs into pure genius. That's exactly what's going on over at MoreCowbell.dj, where you can miraculously add more cowbell (and a little Christopher Walken) to any song on your hard drive.

As this post is useless without an example, I hereby present you First Tube, modified to include 62% more cowbell — and about 37% more Walken, just for good measure.

Humor aside, MoreCowbell.dj actually uses some pretty sophisticated software under the hood. Specifically, they're tapping in to the The Echo Nest Analyze API, which generates an XML file describing a track's structure and musical content (including rhythm, pitch, and timbre) accurate to the sub-millisecond.

Glad to see all that technology going to good use!

Attention UM fans — here's your chance to see Umphrey's McGee for free in New York City!

Jamtopia is giving away three (3) pairs of free concert tickets for the UM show on October 14th, 2009 — when Umphrey's kicks off a three night stand at the 650 person Blender Theater at Gramercy in New York City.

Each pair of free concert tickets (that's two tickets, btw) is worth at least $60, so if you win you'll have plenty of extra cash for a shirt or beers or, well, whatever you can buy for $60 these days.

Here's how to enter in two easy steps:

• Step 1: Find your favorite Umphrey's McGee concert video on YouTube
• Step 2: Come back here and post a comment below with a link to the video on YouTube and a brief description of why it's your favorite

Here's the fine print:

• You MUST include a real email address in comment submission form so we can notify you if you win
• You MUST be available to pick the tickets up at will call on the day of the show
• You MUST post a direct link to an Umphrey's McGee concert video on YouTube
• You MUST include a brief description of why you like the video you posted
• You MUST enter before midnight Eastern time on Sunday, October 12th

Three lucky winners will be randomly selected from all qualified entries the morning of Monday, October 13th and will be notified by email immediately.

That's about it. Hoping to see some great Umprey's McGee concert videos!

Update (October 8, 2008): Want another chance to win? Visit the Hidden Track Umphrey's Ticket Giveaway where they've got a pair to all three Blender shows for one lucky fan.

Search thousands more concert tickets with the Jamtopia Ticket Finder.

Search for Phish Hampton Tickets… Any Night | Friday 3/6 | Saturday 3/7 | Sunday 3/8

Just a few days after the Phish reunion at Brad Sands' wedding I heard from a reliable source that Phish had booked the Hampton Coliseum for a March 2009 reunion, but in light of the mild uproar from the Steve Lillywhite reunion album rumor I was reluctant to post it.

Well now the cat's out of the bag.

The Phish reunion is official, starting with three nights at the Hampton Coliseum — March 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2009.

Here's how the announcement went down…

Early in the afternoon yesterday (Sept. 30) the folks over at Merry Swankster were first to publicly nail the venue and tour dates, in a post that was quickly picked up by Relix. Props for that.

Then, shortly after dusk last night, the Hood blimp was spotted on a reconnaissance mission at the venue (see photo above).

Next, at about 11:45 PM Eastern tonight (Oct. 1) a PTer named tourphish started a 3AM EST Phish Announcement Thread, the content of which would later prove him to be either (a) connected to someone with inside knowledge, or (b) able to predict the future. I'm guessin' he's connected.

Finally, at about 3:15 AM on the East coast Phish.com was updated with a cool time-lapse video shot overhead while an artist paints a large Hampton Coliseum-themed painting announcing the tour dates. My heart was racing right along with the background track. There's was also an official announcement as well as information about how to get Phish tickets.

Meanwhile, if you haven't already booked a hotel room on Coliseum Drive Strip for the Phish reunion you're shit outta luck. All the “good” hotels are already overbooked that weekend.

But perhaps the best news of all was saved for last, at the very end of the official announcement on Phish.com… the band intends to announce additional 2009 tour dates early next year!

Who's got my extra?

Update (October 1st, 3:40 AM): Scotty B over at Hidden Track has a real nice Hampton Reunion post with an archive of Phish Hampton setlists and videos plus some Phish Hampton stats. Nice work Scotty. I've also added links to more Phish reunion coverage to this post.

Update (October 1st, 6:00 PM): Wow. Phish tickets are already showing up on eBay despite not even really being on sale yet. Given that, you can now use the Jamtopia Ticket Finder to research Phish ticket prices and find cheap Phish tickets for Hampton — or at least find the cheapest Phish tickets on eBay at any given time.

Update (October 19th): The onsale date has come and gone, and like most of you I worked both the phones and Ticketmaster.com and have nothing to show for it. Well, almost nothing. I did learn a number of Ticketmaster tips which I'll be sharing in a subsequent post. Meanwhile, the near impossibility of getting these tickets has inspired at least a few rants, including the simply titled “I Hate Ticketmaster” chronicling one fan's attempt to beat the odds.

Learn more about the 2008 Jamtopia Concert Photo Contest.