What kinds of concerts do you like the most?  One of my favorite kinds is the coffeehouse small concert. That a group will come to the local Starbucks (or better yet, the local small independent coffeehouse), is just outstanding.  I think they generally like it more.  Ok, they don’t make as much money, but if they really like music and like being with their audience, they wont have a problem with coming out and performing. Sometimes they actually talk with the visitors and so on.  Anyway, it’s always just a much more personal, human atmosphere than in a big stadium or whatnot. It’s not quite so fun, to me, if you’re one of 20,000 people.

Lee Murdock has been doing his Christmas Ship Concerts for many years now. This year is the 17th anniversary and he will be returning to the site of the original Christmas Ship Concert, at the Historic Maple Street Chapel in Lombard, Illinois. The Christmas Ship was a ship in the 1800s in the Great Lakes which took pine trees from the woods up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and up in Wisconsin and brought them down to Chicago as Christmas trees.  Murdock wrote a song about this and fashioned a whole program around it.  He is famous for this song, as well as numerous other songs about shipping, particularly on the Great Lakes. Check out his schedule.

Though his first album was pure brilliance and featured many inspired songs (such as the one that is him yelling out his own name for 20 seconds, followed by nonsensical jibberish), Kid Rock’s latest effort has displayed his true inability to put together a solid song. You wouldn’t think that one could sample both Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and produce a song that sounds like the auditory equivalent of a large, post-digestive Taco Bell meal, but Rock was able to ruin two perfectly good songs. Let’s just stop paying him attention and hope he goes away. If you like him, then here’s a good site for all his insightful thoughts and ideas.

Dave Matthews has been out working for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama this fall.  Last weekend, he played a concert to encourage people in Virginia to go out and vote for the Democrat on Tuesday.  Previously, he’s put out press releases as well as announcing it in concerts that he supports Obama and hopes that his fans will too.  His support isn’t a surprise, though.  He has been working for different non-profit organizations that are predominantly dealing with causes on the left.  His support will probably not make a huge difference, but perhaps he will get some more younger people voting, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Slate magazine had this article about AC/DC this week, where they talked about how the band has changed over the years and how impressive they are doing.  A local newspaper reports that they have already sold 780,000 copies of their new album Black Ice.  Thus, Slate does seem to be right.  And it’s not hard to understand why.  AC/DC has tried to be punk rockers.  But they are a special kind of punk rock.  Not always upset about life and with a very particular sound that people like.  No one else can do AC/DC.  If they try, they aren’t just doing something similar, they are, in fact, playing AC/DC.  It is an interesting article, check it out!

The Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1937 by Glenn Miller himself.  After his disappearance, the band kept playing, under the direction of different leaders, and has continued on to today.  The band still plays regular dates these days, mostly in the eastern half of the country, several shows a month.  The band still plays the old hits, of course in the same great style that we originally heard from the old days.  Today, it continues under the direction of Larry O’Brien, who plays trombone with the band.  One of their most famous hits is “The Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, which comes right from the original director.  Their tour takes them mainly to smaller venues, from high schools to local theaters. They are very popular with the swing music/dancing crowd and people who see them are reminded how much they like those hit songs from the 30s and 40s.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is at the beginning of their 2008-2009 tour, which will bring them to many locations throughout the US.  Their shows are divided into two halves, the first with the story and songs from Christmas Eve and Other Stories and the second half presents a mix of other Christmas songs, as well as several of their most famous non-Christmas songs. The shows are also known for their use of pyrotechnics and lasers to go along with the music.  The orchestra is also in the process of producing another album, called Night Castle.  There are rumors that the album will be released next summer, but no one’s sure.

Thousands of iPOD wearing, blackberry carrying, civic driving, new age hippies were recently thrilled to hear that the mega-jam band of our time has announced tour dates for the first time in four years. Phish, the modern day version of the Grateful Dead, has let whatever bygones there were be bygones and are set to play a three day set of shows to hometown crowds at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. Talks of a reunion tour had been circulating since mid September when singer/guitarist Trey Anastasiomet with his former mates. Now, fans can only hope that this reunion tour does not merely end at Hampton. Check out their website to stay up-to-date with Phish news and tour dates.

After a 23-year stint without front man David Lee Roth, Van Halen decided to regroup and go back on tour. Wrapping up their year-long tour at the beginning of June, Van Halen proved that their bombastic style can still pack the house and then tear it down. This Van Halen tour was the highest grossing one in the band’s history, bringing in a revenue of roughly $93 million. Though they have taken a break after this long and brutal tour schedule, don’t expect them to stay inactive for long. Checkout Van-Halen.com to learn more.