Allman Brothers planning to webcast Beacon Theatre run in March

The Allman Brothers Band will take their annual New York City run online in the spring. The group will outfit the Beacon Theatre with a series of high-definition cameras, and every night of their "March Madness" residency will be webcast through the Moogis online community that drummer Butch Trucks has been putting together for a few years now. Trucks believes that Internet distribution is the way to go, and with the consent of his bandmates, he's using the Allmans as the test case that people will be willing to subscribe to a service that features on-demand material from jam bands of all types.

Before anyone has to spend any money, Trucks is asking people to vote on whether they'd be willing to support this kind of service. If you think you'd be into it, go to allmanbrothersband.com/beaconyes.html; if maybe, allmanbrothersband.com/beaconmaybe.html; and if not, allmanbrothersband.com/beaconno.html. The votes are being tallied simply as a way of measuring support for the plan.

The probable cost for Moogis will be $9.95 a month for unlimited usage, but people can take a yearly subscription now for $100, which would include the Beacon shows.

Trucks has big plans for Moogis, which include wiring some of the biggest "jam band"-friendly venues with multiple high-def cameras and digital audio recording gear, and there will also be a recording truck that will go to other places and make live recordings.