Review and Photos by Lori Sky Twohy
What can I say about getting to attend an intimate Mike Gordon show at the famous Orange Peel in the beautiful Appalachian city of Asheville, North Carolina, where even Mike himself admits is his favorite city on the east coast.
We here at JBO are die-hard Phish fans. Our site was inspired by the Phish reunion of 2009 and was built as a dedication to them in the first place, so of course we are going to attend and cover as many Phish shows as possible, as well as the shows of each members side projects.
So far we are noticing some awesome debuts on this tour, but I have been obsessed with Ogogo ever since its release in 2017 and we got a few of those songs too including the catch and funky ‘Crazy Sometimes’ where Scott Muraski had a good time teasing Frankenstein and some classic TV show theme songs throughout the jam portion of the song.
Mikes band is so fresh and funky (of course it’s going to be funky, its Mike Gordon playing bass here after all) and they had the whole room, and I, moving the whole night.
I’d say his sound is a combination of funk and electronica, with and old school alternative vibe.
Mike also had a fun way of sharing his vision as a visual performance artist, with him and guitarist Scott Murawski playing instruments that glow in the dark to the beat of the music. It was a perfect vibe for the EDM era that we are now living in.
The show was fun, upbeat, uplifting and there were smiles and booty shaking in all corners of the venue. There is a set list below of the original tunes played and the unique choice of covers, but holy crap…the Ruby Soho (by Rancid) encore is what made the whole night!
The crowd went nuts, and if they were just dancing kind of hard the rest of the night, then for this, we all put down are drinks and just straight up threw down. There is nothing like ending an already great show with the kind of energy I witness.
To top off the specialness of the night, Mike hung around at the merch table after the show and signed autographs and talked to his fans, which you never see at a huge Phish show and that’s another reason side projects of Phish members, in small clubs, is a great thing to us.
SET 1
- Victim
- Put Down The Phone*
- Angatta
- 555
- Looking For Clues
- Yarmouth Road
- I Am Random*
- Go Away
SET 2
- Whirlwind
- Jones
- Steps
- My Favorite Mistake*
- Sugar Shack
- Surface
- Crazy Sometimes
ENCORE
- Ruby Soho
For more info about our beloved “Cactus,” and dates for the rest of the tour click here: http://mike-gordon.com/tour/
Mikes current (and hopefully permanent) line up of consists of long time friend and guitarist Scott Murawski, Craig Meyers on percussion, Robert Walter on keys and John Kimock on drums.
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