
Show #64, Release date: 2. August, 2006
Since the "Covers" podcast, I've had many people ask about Phish's
performance of Dark Side of the Moon.
So I decided to whip up a
quickcast of this performance in its entirety recorded
on 2. November, 1998. Maybe we should call these special, shorter podcasts of Brain
Damage, "Brain Stroke?"
Here's the story of how it all came about from Phish.com.
"Over the years, the band has been known to play particularly
exceptional shows in order to make otherwise under-attended or
remotely-situated gigs more unique. On November 2nd at the E Center in Salt Lake,
they decided to keep the Halloween "musical costume" tradition alive
for another show - that afternoon, the band requested a copy of Pink Floyd's
Dark Side of The Moon CD. Backstage in their practice room, they began to learn
the recording, note-for-note. The show began and the first set was full of
energy and well-played. Trey was especially talkative with the crowd, and
thanked some of the participants from the Dead Goat Saloon. Set two opened with
Down With Disease which was followed by The Mango Song, a tune that had been
played rarely in recent years. You Enjoy Myself followed and segued into an
even more uncommon Harpua. The narration section consisted of a story told by
Trey about the main character in the song, Jimmy, and his cat Poster Nutbag,
and their journey through the desert to a sold-out show in the hectic city of Las Vegas. Trey
referenced the band's first performance in Las Vegas
(December 6, 1996) which had also featured the song Harpua, that time with a
guest appearance by yodelers and multiple Elvi, and continued with Jimmy
getting a ride to Salt Lake City.
According to the narrative, the driver of Jimmy's godsend car was listening to Dark Side of The Moon at which point
Phish front-of-house engineer Paul Languedoc began the taped effects that kick
off the Pink Floyd CD and the band proceeded to perform the album (which they
had learned earlier in the day) in its entirety. Having taken the audience on a
most unexpected journey..."