Update – Watch The Flaming Lips Rehearse Their New Year’s “John Lennon Set” – Widespread Panic, Phil Lesh, Gregg Allman, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Phish, Lips, more Streaming NYE Shows

Like many bands, on New Year’s Eve The Flaming Lips set their gearshift to high. They rang in 2010 with their premier performance of Dark Side of the Moon (featuring Stardeath and White Dwarfs), debuted The Soft Bulletin live in its entirety the following year, and in 2012 played a set of songs by John Lennon (with his son Sean, Wilco’s Nels Cline and a little help from their friend Yoko).  So when it was announced in August they would play the last two night’s of 2013 at Aspen, Colorado’s Belly Up fans began to speculate what surprises were in store.  The Lips have already played special sets this year – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots live in its entirety for the first time at SXSW; The Terror the next day at the largest show in SXSW history (a month before its release); and three separate 30th anniversary sets (in May, July and August) chronicling every stage of their career, including a few long-overdue live debuts from their back catalog.  That’s in addition to their Halloween Blood Baths with Tame Impala, and twice jamming with Yoko Ono.  Would they play Yoshimi or The Terror again for New Year’s fans wondered?  Or maybe they’d concert debut the full Transmissions from the Satellite Heart album to commemorate its 20th anniversary?  It turns out they have announced a set of Lennon-penned Beatle tunes for New Year’s Eve (and are rumored to play a fourth 30-year career-spanning set on December 30th)  Expect to hear “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Come Together,” “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “Across the Universe,” “Dear Prudence,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”  Best of all, the second night will be broadcast on SiriusXM Radio Jam On (more details on when and how to listen are below).

UPDATE – December 29th
Watch The Lips rehearse all of the aforementioned Lennon classics in the below video, followed by the spacey 6-plus minute “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” tease they posted today:

The Lips will be in good company spending NYE in Colorado – Umphrey’s McGee is playing Denver’s The Fillmore Auditorium, String Cheese Incident will be at at Boulder’s 1stBank Center and Yonder Mountain String Band will be at Boulder Theater.  Other New Year’s shows around the country include Stardeath and White Dwarfs premier performance of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in OKC, a Primus reunion in Oakland, The Breeders last Last Splash in Austin, Patti Smith and Dean Wareham sharing the night in Boston, a Vetiver/Sun Araw/The Fresh & Onlys triple bill in San Francisco – and Widespread Panic, Janelle Monáe, Washed Out and STS9 all playing Atlanta.  As usual, many of the hottest performances are in New York.  Besides Miley Cyrus, Blondie, Icona Pop and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ televised Times Square appearances, Phish return to Madison Square Garden for their annual New Year’s run, Thurston Moore is playing two special shows (one with John Zorn, the other with Mike Watt), Gov’t Mule will again team with The Doors’ Robby Krieger (as they did on Halloween), and Billy Joel takes on Barclays Center with Ben Folds Five.  A fuller list of highly anticipated NYE concerts is below.

Being that the last few days of the year are usually among the most exciting for fans of live music, SiriusXM Jam On (channel 29) has scheduled numerous exclusive broadcasts, including Widespread Panic live from Atlanta on New Year’s Eve and The Flaming Lips’ NYE set later that night from Aspen.  Both shows will also rebroadcast on January 1st and 2nd (air times are listed at the bottom of this page). The members of Widespread Panic will also guest DJ on the channel throughout December 31st – Dave Schools at 10am, JoJo Herman at 2pm and John Bell at 7pm (all times EST).
Additionally Jam On is airing special episodes of Feel Radio with Eric Krasno (Soulive/Lettuce), Jamtronica with Marc Brownstein (Disco Biscuits) and Brad Serling’s Jam of the Year Countdown, as well as The Disco Biscuits: LIVE in the SiriusXM studios, and  Kung Fu and Railroad Earth album previews. There’s also a 1992 HORDE Tour special hosted by Dean Budnick (author of The Phishing Manual and Jambands).  For show times check here; to register for a 30 day free trial subscription click here.

Other free New Year’s concert streams include moe. and Bruno Mars, as well as Sirius broadcasts of Gregg Allman, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr, Pitbull, Gavin DeGraw, Five for Fighting, and others (full schedule at the bottom of this page). Pay per view webcasts are also available for Phil Lesh & Friends Terrapin Crossroads homecoming run, all three String Cheese Incident shows from Colorado, both nights of Umphrey’s McGee and Phish’s four (sold-out) Madison Square Garden gigs (December 28th-31st – pre-order here).  The String Cheese run celebrates their 20th anniversary with a different guest every night – Bootsy Collins, The Flaming Lips and the Del McCoury Band on NYE.  As for TV, Blues Traveler will be featured on Fox News’s All-American New Year special at 9 pm ET and Ryan Seacrest hosts ABC’s annual Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special at 8 (Miley Cyrus, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Icona Pop, Blondie).

Phish also ring in the new year with their gearshift in the high gear of their souls  – both musically and through their annual gag after midnight (like last year’s golf and “Garden Party” themed spectacle – watch here, or above).  2013’s four-night stand at “The World’s Greatest Arena” marks the band’s fourth consecutive New Year’s run at the Garden (previously playing it on NYE in ’95, ’97, ’98 and ’02 – they’ve played the venue 27 times total since December 1994).  Read the skinny on Phish’s past NYE sets at JamBase. (Trivia: Which song has been played the most after “Auld Lang Syne“? Survey says, “Down with Disease”)…

The Doors’ Robby Krieger joined Gov’t Mule this year for both “Mule-O-Weens,” October 30 in Los Angeles and Halloween in Oakland. The guitar legend teamed with the jam kings for full sets of Doors classics including “Break On Through, “Five To One,” “Peace Frog,” “People Are Strange,” “Wild Child,” “Light My Fire,” “The End,” “Riders On The Storm,” “L.A. Woman,” “Roadhouse Blues,” “When the Music’s Over” and others.  For their NYE set at the Beacon expect similarly faithful and inspired covers as on Halloween.  Beside Phish and Gov’t Mule, Patti Smith is the other fixture on the New York NYE concert scene.  This year she’s playing her annual New Year’s run at Webster Hall December 29th-30th, but relocating to Bean Town to ring in 2014 with Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna) as First Night Boston’s headliner.  If past years are any indication, expect passionate performances of songs from across Patti’s entire catalog and some special covers after midnight.

UPDATE Patti got in gear for her New Year’s run with a Long Island show on December 27th.  Watch her full set below:

The Breeders end their 20th anniversary Last Splash tour on New Year’s Eve at Austin’s Mohawk. This is their only Texas show on the tour, which features them playing their classic 1993 album in full.

Tim “Herb” Alexander will reconnect with Les Claypool and Larry LaLond at this year’s Primus NYE set, their first show together since 2008’s Outside Lands Music Festival. In addition to a full Primus set, the band will be joined by the Frog Brigade Ensemble “for a psychedelic and whimsical journey through the music of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” that the press release promises is “a Primus show like you’ve never seen before.”

Thurston Moore’s residency at The Stone kicks off with two New Year’s Eve shows, the first with the venue’s artistic director John Zorn at 8. The second show at 10 PM is two sets. Thurston plays in a trio format (with The Minutemen’s Mike Watt and SST designer Raymond Pettibon, Greg Ginn’s brother) at 10, then with Chelsea Light Moving at 11:30. Tickets for both shows are available at the door, the first $25, the second $50 – and space is limited to just 75 people (good luck). Thurston’s residency continues through January 5, with guests including Chelsea Light Moving bandmate Samara Lubelkski (Jan 2), and Sonic Youth brothers Steve Shelley (Jan 3) and Lee Ranaldo (Jan 4).

The Flaming Lips “Lennon set” is particularly anticipated.  There’s intimacy (Belly Up is 450 capacity), mystery (will a special guest join them?), and history (they live debuted “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” at their last visit to the venue, jamming it for 16 minutes – watch here).  Something else that happened the last time they played Belly Up – the show before their New Year’s Eve 2011 Freak Out – Wayne Coyne popped his space bubble against the ceiling stage lights when he tried to do his (then standard) walk-over-the-crowd intro bit, causing a small explosion (notice Wayne jumping away from the sparks in the upper left corner of the above photo).  That’s how small Belly Up is!  Named this year as one of the best clubs in the country by Rolling Stone, it’s an “oasis in a ski-town concert scene” – and thus an ideal setting for the Lips’ to debut more of their favorites by John.  With the recently re-psychedelicized Midlake opening, both nights at Belly Up look promising.

In addition to the two Belly Up Midlake/ Lips Freak Outs, Weird Destiny Productions is hosting a “Christmas on Mars Film Tribute Live Experience” in Austin on New Year’s Eve Eve (December 30th) with live music by New Fumes, original artwork, and a screening of The Flaming Lips holiday sci-fi flick. More details are here, and the facebook event page is here.  New Fumes is also continuing the annual OKC Freak Out NYE tradition the following night by opening Stardeath and White Dwarfs’ full album re-working of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars (featuring Chainsaw Kittens’ Tyson Meade). The event page is here.

A list of all the most anticipated NYE 2013-14 concerts is below, followed by the broadcast schedule for Widespread Panic and The Flaming Lips.

Concerts

New York, NY (and surrounding areas)
Miley Cyrus/ Blondie/Icona Pop/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Times Square
Phish – Madison Square Garden
Thurston Moore – the Stone (first show with John Zorn, second with Mike Watt, Chelsea Light Moving)
Billy Joel, Ben Folds Five – Barclays Center
moe. – Palace Theatre (Albany)
Gov’t Mule with The Doors’ Robby Krieger – Beacon Theatre
The Disco Biscuits – Theater At Madison Square Garden
Delta Spirit – Brooklyn Bowl
Icona Pop – The Standard
FELA! Band – Knitting Factory
Gogol Bordello – Terminal 5
Andrew W.K. – Irving Plaza
Jill Scott – Radio City Music Hall
Punch Brothers – Bowery Ballroom
Jim Jones Revue – The Bowery Electric
DIIV – Baby’s All Right
Perfect Pussy – The Acheron
Clutch – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Murphy’s Law – The Trash Bar
Antibalas – S.O.B.s
The Bad Plus – Village Vanguard (2 shows)
Deadmau5 – Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale)
Dark Star Orchestra – The Paramount (Huntington)

Boston, MA
Patti Smith, Dean Wareham – Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Atlanta, GA
Widespread Panic – Philips Arena
Janelle Monáe – Underground Atlanta
Washed Out – Terminal West
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) – The Tabernacle

Chicago, IL
Roky Erickson – Beat Kitchen
Bernie Worrell Orchestra – Reggie’s Music Joint
Death – Reggie’s Chicago
Black Joe Lewis – Metro
Los Lobos – City Winery Chicago
Jimmy Eat World, Smoking Popes – House of Blues
Motion City Soundtrack – Bottom Lounge

Minneapolis, MN
Har Mar Superstar – International Market Square
Dawes – Varsity Theater

Nashville, TN
Old Crow Medicine Show – Ryman Auditorium
Diarrhea Planet – Exit/In
Bassnectar – Bridgestone Arena

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Stardeath and White Dwarfs, New Fumes – Bricktown Music Hall

Austin, TX
The Breeders, Imperial Teen – The Mohawk
Willie Nelson – ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Nick Waterhouse – Empire Automotive

Dallas, TX
Old 97’s – House of Blues

Houston, TX
Girl Talk,George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, more – Sam Houston Race Track

Aspen, CO
The Flaming Lips – Belly Up Aspen

Denver/ Bolder, CO
The String Cheese Incident – 1stBank Center
Yonder Mountain String Band – Boulder Theater
Tea Leaf Green, Mountain Standard Time – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
Big Head Todd and The Monsters – Paramount Theatre
DeadPhish Orchestra – The Donkey OT / New Speedway Burger
Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom

Las Vegas, NV
Diplo – Wynn Las Vegas
Britney Spears – Planet Hollywood
Celine Dion – Caesars Palace
Bruno Mars – The Cosmopolitan
Common – The Bank Nightclub at Bellagio
J. Cole – 1 Oak Nightclub at Mirage
Miguel – TAO Las Vegas
Lil Jon – Tryst

San Francisco, CA (and surrounding Bay Area)
Vetiver, Sun Araw, The Fresh & Onlys – The Chapel
Primus – Fox Theater (Oakland)
Phil Lesh and Friends – Terrapin Crossroads (San Rafael)
Calexico – Fillmore
Thievery Corporation, Rob Garza, many more – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
The Melvins, Red Kross – Great American Music Hall
Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express – Starry Plough

Lake Tahoe, CA
Snoop Dogg, Cut Copy, more – Snowglobe Festival

Portland, OR
Built to Spill – Mission Theater
Surfer Blood – Mississippi Studios

XM Broadcast Schedule

Flaming Lips – Jam On (channel 29)
Wednesday 1/1 at 2am ET
Wednesday 1/1 at 5pm ET
Thursday 1/2 at Noon ET

Widespread Panic – Jam On (channel 29)
Tuesday 12/31 at 9pm ET
Wednesdat 1/1 at Noon ET
Thursday 1/2 at 7am ET

Gregg Allman – Deep Tracks (channel 27)
Tuesday 12/31 at 11pm ET

Willie Nelson – Willie’s Roadhouse (channel 56)
Wednesday 1/1 at 1am ET

Hank Williams Jr – Prime Country (channel 58)
Tuesday 12/31 at 11:53pm ET

Capitol Cities – Alt Nation (channel 36)
Tuesday 12/31 at 9pm ET

Gavin DeGraw, Five for Fighting, Christina Perri -The Pulse (channel 15)
Wednesday 1/1 at 12am ET

Pitbull- 20 on 20 (channel 3) and La Mezcla (channel 148)
Tuesday 12/31 at 10pm ET

SiriusXM will also re-broadcast Arcade Fire’s secret “Reflektors” warehouse Brooklyn gig from October on New Year’s at midnight on channel 35, and launch 5 limited-run party music channels on New Year’s Eve:

New Year’s Nation (channel 3)
The biggest, upbeat party hits from genres across SiriusXM’s music platform.
Tuesday, December 31 at 12 Noon ET—Wednesday, January 1 at 12 Noon ET

Classic Rock Party (channel 25)
Classic rock party songs by artists like The Beatles, Bon Jovi and more.
Tuesday, December 31 at 12:01pm ET—Wednesday, January 1 at 11:59 am ET

New Wave Dance Party (channel 33)
New wave music from the ’80s dance clubs by artists like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran.
Tuesday, December 31 at 12:01 pm ET — Wednesday, January 1 at 11:59 am ET

Red White & Booze (channel 58)
Music of country-themed bars and honky tonks across America by artists like Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band, Jason Aldean, Kid Rock, Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Tuesday, December 31 at 12:01 pm ET — Wednesday, January 1 at 11:59 am ET

Punk Party (channel 41)
Party punk rock from every era and genre including early pioneers like the Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash, and recent punk practitioners Green Day, Blink 182 and New Found Glory.
Tuesday, December 31 at 12:01 pm ET — Wednesday, January 1 at 11:59 am ET