On September 1 the Black Crowes will release their new studio CD, Before the Frost... and mark the occasion with an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. A few days earlier on August 25, the band will appear in Vienna, VA at the Wolf Trap Center for the Arts to open their Stuck Inside Utopia tour. The Crowes will travel across the country, with steady performances through December 6, culminating in a five night run at San Francisco's Fillmore.

Phish has placed an announcement on its website, encouraging fans to "Save The Date" for a three day event. The band indicates that a festival will take place on October 30, October 31 and November 1 but no addiotnal information is provided. Three states pop out of the map following the announcement: Idaho, Oklahoma and West Virginia but it's not clear what (if anything) this represents as rumors had pointed to a West Coast run.

Phish is set to begin its late summer tour on July 30 at Red Rocks.

Although officially billed as a private party, in what was something of an open secret, the String Cheese Incident returned to the stage last night in the group's home stage of Colorado. Denver's Ogden Theater hosted what the band described as a "Soundcheck" but included two full sets of music along with two encores. Fans stood outside the Odgen for much of the afternoon with fingers in the air, hoping to secure entrance to the former vaudeville house which typically seats just over 1000.

As for the performance, SCI opened with "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" and then delivered a first set that focused on some of the band's older material, moving from "Lost" into "Rhum 'n' Zouc," followed by "Just One Story," "Panama Red," "Whiskey for Breakfast" and a segued run that began with "Jellyfish," led into "Birdland," continued into "Johnny Cash" and then back into "Birdland." The second set had a bit more of a latter-era feel, consisting of "Rivertrance," "Piece of Mine," "MLT," "Sometimes a River," "Barstool," "Black & White," "Land's End" and "Search." The band then returned for an "It Is What It Is" encore before being coaxed out again for "I Know You Rider."

The String Cheese Incident is slated to perform two sets at Rothbury, next Friday, July 3rd.