“Good things come to those who wait.” Oysterhead, the three-piece supergroup featuring Les Claypool (Primus), Stewart Copeland (The Police) and Trey Anastasio (Phish), proved that axiom’s viability last night in Broomfield, CO during their first live show since a one-off performance at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. The trio wasted no time picking up where they left off, opening the show with the Claypool/Anastasio composition “Little Faces”, the first track from their 2001 studio album The Grand Pecking Order. While the song selection may not have varied much from the setlists used during their inaugural 2001 U.S. tour, last night was the first Oysterhead show to feature the familiar two-set format that Phish fans have grown accustomed to. The musicianship of the trio was in stellar form as all three including the 67-year-old Copeland played musical circles and kept the improv levels high and tight, with peak jams and Anastasio, in particular, playing with a rock abandon.
The band stuck to the The Grand Pecking Order’s song-list for the first two sets, playing 12 of the album’s 13 tracks over the course of the evening. However, the encore was a welcome surprise as it marked the first time Oysterhead has performed material from any of the member’s individual projects. Starting with the funky “Voices Inside My Head” from The Police’s legendary 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta, the band then segued into Phish’s arena-rocker “46 Days” before capping the evening off with Oysterhead’s “Owner of the World.”
Oysterhead returns to the 1st Bank Center this evening to complete their two-night comeback run.
Oysterhead – 2/14/20 – 1st Bank Center – Broomfield, CO
Set 1: Little Faces, Mr. Oysterhead, Polka Dot Rose, Radon Balloon–>The Grand Pecking Order, Rubberneck Lions
Set 2: Jam–>Shadow of a Man–>Army’s On Ecstasy, Wield the Spade, Birthday Boys, Oz is Ever Floating, Pseudo Suicide
Encore: Voices Inside My Head*–>46 Days*, Owner of the World
