Story of the Ghosts: Seek and Ye Shall Find

The Talking Heads, Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, CA, 12/18/1983 – Psycho Killer

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When Byrne walks out, pops in the tape, and starts the groove to Psycho Killer, he looks svelte like Rex Manning. Fast forward a few songs; holy shit, it’s David Byrne, only he is three times his normal size. Byrne returned to the stage in the big suit and looked superhuman.

Barry Bonds’ rookie card

Sound familiar, Barry Bonds circa 1999? The big difference is that Byrne’s body was reminiscent of a mechanical pencil, while Bonds’ looked more like a pugil stick from American Gladiators.

Phish, Coventry, VT, 8/15/04 – Mikes Song

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What seemed like it could only lead to an amazing musical night for fans, Mike’s Song was the perfect opener to the band’s final gig ever (for now). Unfortunately, the boys progressed into mediocrity and ultimately played pretty lousy, leaving fans disappointed and crying in their drug and alcohol fueled depression. Recall Devin Hester’s sensational kick return to open Super Bowl XLI. Hester’s crafty play raised Chicago fans’ hopes to the moon, only to later shatter them with lackluster play. Dude, I wasn’t crying. I just some got mud in my eyes. [See also: 2007 Detroit Lions]

Dire Straits, Hammersmith Odeon, London, 7/22/1983 – Once Upon a Time in the West

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A reflective piece, looking back on the way things were back in the old west, Knopfler starts the show (from the live release, Alchemy) with a seemingly introspective, thoughtful number, but before long he and the band are at full steam. Everyone knew that this show would get heated up before too long but didn’t expect them to jam it out from the get-go with this song as an opener.

Sounds like this season in the NBA to us. With the big Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Piece tri-force in Boston, a strengthened Detroit team and Orlando tearing it up in the Eastern Conference, the NBA Western Conference has got to be asking where they went wrong. Just last year, the West looked like they would be highly dominant for years to come, now they can just look back at how it used to be and wonder.

SCI, Sheraton Ballroom, Steamboat, CO, 2/13/1998 – 100 Year Flood

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Not to continually poke fun at Bears’ fans or String Cheese “fans.” However, you’d be hard pressed to decipher the differences between Rex Grossman (one time Bears QB) and the Cheese. Both are a little erratic, both could be a little brilliant at times and both you kind of talked yourself into liking at one point. “Hey, this guy ain’t so bad, we can win with him” or “Geez, these guys are pretty good, I don’t miss Phish at all.”

It all eventually turned, however, and both experiments and incidents headed south. Sexy Rexy shit the bed in the big game, and the Cheese’s crowd became the “tour rat” leftovers from the Phish parking lot. Rex’s career in Chicago has all but come to a screeching halt, and the Cheese hung it up this past summer after realizing that tiny guitar can never rock out like a Hendrix ax. [See also: Bo Jackson and his 1989 homer in the 1st inning of the All-Star game]

Widespread Panic, Asheville Civic Center – Asheville, NC, 4/13/2007 – Second Skin

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This song would have to go down for me as the sleeper of WSP’s most recent tour. Sure, I dug the studio version and felt it had a chance to become a tour staple, but I was never expecting it to be the dominant show stopper it became in 2007. An eerie beat and delicate funky noodling from Jimmy Herring solidified this jam as the sleeper cut of 2007,. And this would be much like the sleeper team that pops around every single March in the NCAA Tournament. You’re always thinking about that one team that has the potential to make waves for a “special” 2-3 week stretch, but you never could imagine it actually came into fruition.

Tea Leaf Green, Tugboat, Steamboat, CO – Who Am I (What’s my Name)?

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Yup, Tea Leaf Green busted out this epic “funky-in-yo-face-bad-ass-mofro” Snoop Dog cover on several occasions, this time for a second set opener. However, you may find this specific version to be just a notch above the rest. It’s one of those “I’m one bad ass mutha fucka anthem” jams that just makes you scratch your head and say “Them is some cool ass hippies.” Well, when it comes to the cool of cool and the bad-ass of bad-ass in sports, Randy Moss pretty much hits that nail every time. Much like TLG’s rendition of this Snoop classic, Moss is smooth, cool, confident and oh yes, cocky. Any and all Moss-Mathis comparisons are highly encouraged.