These are the thoughts I had as took the 2 hour trek from La Crosse to Madison, WI for a night of musical venture for a tribute band blending together some of the finest tunes of 3 of the most influential bands in rock history: Pink Floyd, The Talking Heads, and Phish.
Those who were in attendance of PTF’s Soulshine Tent performance at Summer Camp 2015 know what comes next: a set list weaved out of the musical nerd’s wildest imagination. Picture the comic book fanboys’ enthusiasm when Marvel brought together some of the greatest heroes in history to assemble the Avengers all in one issue. A Pink Talking Fish show is just like that.
Set One: In the Flesh > Punch You in the Eye > Life During Wartime, Money, Gumbo > Another Brick in the Wall > Psycho Killer > Another Brick in the Wall, Mike’s Song > Take Me to the River > Simple > Sheep > Cities > Weekapaug Groove
Encore: Nobody Home, First Tube
I happened to miss the first tune of the night, a take on Pink Floyd’s In the Flesh, but grooving my way into the venue to Punch You in the Eye is the best way I could have imagined entering the show. Punch You in the Eye has always been my favorite Phish show opener, and the favoritism increased tenfold after my very phirst show when it was used as the opener (Alpine Valley ’09). Dave Brunyak proved himself as more than capable of tackling the difficult task of masking himself as musical legends David Gilmour, David Byrne, and Trey Anastasio. He was spot-on accurate at hitting the notes while also showcasing his own pizzazz, a clear transcendence of Byrne’s flair and Anastasio’s goofiness. This created a party atmosphere that got the crowd funking around during an upbeat Life During Wartime. The first Pink Floyd track came with a flawless Money, sang by keyboardist Richard James. He also added some of his own improptu narrative towards the end of the song.
The middle portion of the show kept rolling right along. A funky Gumbo started off a sandwich that riled the nearly sold-out crowd through the roof. Another Brick in the Wall flowed right out of it before a crowd-driven sing along chorus of Psycho Killer before PTF finished off ABITW. The show finished off with a mighty epic Mike’s Groove: Mike’s Song > Take Me to the River > Simple > Sheep > Cities into a scorching Weekapug Groove to close the set. The encore featured what seemed to be an especially slow and dramatic Nobody Home, before absolutely slaying First Tube.
Fun Fact: Pink Talkinf Fish bassist Eric Gould is also a founding member of Particle
Check out my YouTube playlist of the show! In hindsight, it seems like I thought the Phish covers were most important to capture…
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJXPfISgeSzYCG7dEFBRs3qP3T4gtgWqU]]>
