MTV News Online's Robin Rothman reports on Phish's Las Vegas concerts, where the Vermont band jammed with Kid Rock on songs by Grand Funk and the Sugarhill Gang.
Eat your hearts out, Kid Rock fanatics: Hippies had Detroit's
pimp daddy all to themselves on Friday, September 29, when he graced the stage of Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center with Vermont jam band Phish.
Rock had been standing in the wings throughout the band's set, barely visible through the haze of smoke, but recognizable by his signature hat and drink in hand. Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, who accompanied the "American Bad Ass" during his Saturday Night Live appearance, asked Rock to join the band for the final two songs of an hour-long second set.
Rock nailed the first verse of the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" before he was joined by drummer Jon Fishman, who added nonsensical lyrics and got down on his knees to imitate Rock's tiny cohort Joe C. After repeating the same verse twice, Rock finally turned to Anastasio and asked, "Can we play some rock 'n' roll now?" The band obliged with a set-closing cover of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."
Returning with the band for the encore, Rock, who had been spotted earlier in the parking lot signing autographs, thanked the crowd for "making me feel at home," then asked, "Who here is from America?" before jumping into Grand Funk's "We're an American Band." Kid Rock offered some impressive free-styling during his stay on stage, but he received the biggest response for his line "All the hookers at the Mandalay Bay [Hotel]... are going home with Trey."
The second night of the two-night Vegas run, which marked Anastasio's 36th birthday, found the crowd in rowdy form. Hundreds of balloons that read "Hippy Birthday Trey" were distributed by a group known as "the Phamily" and the audience sang an overwhelmingly loud "Happy Birthday" as the band returned to the stage for its second set.
Surprisingly, no guests appeared on the second night, though anticipation was high that Primus leader Les Claypool, who was performing at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay, would sit in. Anastasio had jammed the night before with Claypool and Police drummer Stewart Copeland in a reunion of the one-off New Orleans Jazz Fest trio Oysterhead, but Claypool was a no-show the following night.
Anastasio took a rare narrative opportunity during the concert to clarify any misunderstanding about the upcoming extended hiatus Phish plan to take following this tour. The group intends to write new songs and recharge for "another 17 years." He did not specify exactly how long the break would be, however.
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