08/24/08 Agents of Mayhem (Molitz, Gutwillig,Travis & Hann)/EOTO/DJ Logic @ Spiegeltent, New York, NY

This jamband supergroup concocted by Particle's Steve Molitz featured Disco Biscuits shredder Jon "Barber" Gutwillig along with String Cheese Incident offshoot EOTO (Michael Travis and Jason Hann). DJ Logic spun intermittently and joined in several jams. The venue was the magical circular Spiegeltent inside Spiegelworld on the north side of South Street Seaport. It was the traveling beer hall's final NYC season.

The Agents of Mayhem was a nod to Yippie Abbie Hoffman's prankster ways. The band fittingly pranked the entire crowd when Barber was "arrested" onstage. Much of the crowd scattered after Barber got led off stage in handcuffs. Someone yelled, "If they got Barber, no one's safe!"

Those who remained began chanting "Fuck the police!" Our collective jaw dropped when the "cop" came back, guitar in tow. Barber explained, "He's a Biscuithead." The officer then led the group through a appropriate and rousing rendition of "Come Together".

They also covered the hit song of the summer, MGMT's "Time To Pretend".

11/10/06 Particle/The Bridge @ Knitting Factory, New York, NY

Set 1: 7 Minutes Till Radio Darkness > Fight The Power, Triple Threat, Howl At The Moon > Ed + Molly > Eternity > Conrol/Escape, The American Dream, Robots > Egypt , Egypt > Robots > Six Long Weeks, Crash And Burn > Ed + Molly
E: Shoe Goo1
1w/ Fight The Power tease

Particle seemed to blow up and burn out pretty quickly. At this stage in their tumultuous career, they had dropped their original guitarist in favor of Ben Combe.

This was actually a very enjoyable show. Ben Combe added a dose of rock and roll to Particle's trance cocktail.

The show started several hours late, evidently because keyboardist Steve Molitz required a sandwich from the deli around the corner.

We passed the time downstairs catching Baltimore funk outfit The Bridge.

09/19/05 Particle @ Irving Plaza, New York, NY

This was a very late night show in conjunction with the CMJ music festival that takes over NYC every fall and features hundreds of bands in venues of all shapes and sizes throughout the city.

Particle seemed to have come out of nowhere and at this juncture in its career was beginning to come back down to earth after hurdling through the stratosphere of the jamtronica universe.

The late night show was highlighted by a cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Suck My Kiss" and a take on the Beverly hills Cop theme aka "Axel F."

I went to this show with one of my best friends visiting form Israel. Unfortunately, for a short spell in the Holy Land, he had fallen in with the wrong crowd and taken to harassing seminary students. One of the kids he had rumbled with was at the show and we had to leave a bit early to avoid confrontation.

I also met my erstwhile AIM buddy, as well as future (and current) roommate, at this show for the first time in real life.

04/22/05 Hydra (Particle + Mickey Hart) @ Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY

04/22/05 Roseland Balroom, New York NY
Set 1: Stellar Particles, Heart Of The Hydra, Wavemaker, Fire On The Mountain
Set 2: The Glow > Ed & Molly, Creature Of Comfort, We Are The Planet > Milestone >
We Are the Planet
Encore: Luminiferous Ether

Five years ago today, I celebrated Earth Day with yet another supergroup combining the livetronica forces of Particle with the world percussion of Rhythm Devil Mickey Hart.

Unfortunately, the sum was not greater than, or even equal to, its parts.

The highlight was a funky rendition of the Dead classic "Fire on the Mountain" and even that left me pining for its usual partner, "Scarlet Begonias."

I also saw notable Deadhead and oft-injured basketballer Bill Walton aka Big Red.

My friend was there handing out free condoms and information for the AIDS awareness organization LifeBeat, with which I would later volunteer.

Towards the end of the night, when she had finished her duties, we did a little dance and I regret not completing that lyric. I made the wrong choice of moving my car instead of piling into a taxi with her and her equally nubile lady friends.

Then I got shut out of a Phish cover band at the Lion's Den and failed to reconnect with her for the rest of the evening.