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The Best of Phish Tour 2010 and How Mike Gordon Gets That Cactus Sound

Monday, July 19, 2010

Posted by: Will Cady | Posted in: Artist / Heroes

"Play it cactus!"

 

I remember being at a Phish show when was about 17 years old and hearing guitarist Trey Anastasio scream into the microphone what I thought was "play a cactus!" to bassist Mike Gordon.  Immediately afterwards, his bass took on a spindly, thick and bouncy sound that led right into "Boogie on Reggae Woman" by Stevie Wonder.  I still have a tickle in my brain where my mind was blown that day by what, to me, remains an absolute truth that this is precisely what a cactus would sound like.  As it turns out, Trey was saying "play it Cactus", which is a nickname for Mike possibly alluding to his stationary stance on stage.  Regardless, I've always wanted to know what was behind that cactus sound and now here at Source Audio, we've had the incredible opportunity to help manufacture it.

 

For many fans of Phish, this years summer tour has been one of the best in their over 25 years of performing together.  Seasoned, relaxed and grooving, Phish is combining old tricks and fresh ideas in a way that has kept their fans in a state of elated anticipation for what's next.  Standing at the center of this new energy is Mike Gordon who, by all acounts has been playing really, really well lately.  Having always been recognized as a key cog in the Phish machine and as a top-notch bass player, Mike is now becoming as much an attraction for Phish fans as his long heralded guitarist counterpart Trey Anastasio.  In preparation for this tour, it's quite clear that Gordon hit the woodshed and got his chops in shape big time.  At Source Audio, we've also become acutely aware that Mike prepped for this tour with some serious gear acquisition.  Having done some research into the bass effects market, Gordon and his tech approached us at Source Audio at the start of Phish's summer tour back in June to take our line of bass effects pedals for a test drive.  Ever since, Mike has included in his stage rig our Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion and our upcoming Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter and we've got to say, he's been positively ripping them up.

Below is a great photo of Mikes 2010 rig from Pro Audio Stars wonderfully detailed article:

Mikes Effects

 

We've kept our ears to Phish's performances this summer to look for signs of Mike and his Source Audio pedals and we are hearing some incredible music making from this quartet.  At times it can feel like Phish's on-stage synergy is something a national treasure and we are absolutely delighted to have our pedals be a part of that magic.  To celebrate, here are some of our favorite videos from their 2010 summer tour to date.

 

6/23/2010 - The night that we brought Mike an updated model of the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter, Phish tore through a cover of Robert Palmers 'Sneaking Sally Through The Alley" that featured a righteous jam at the end that let the BEF shine.  Bonus:  see Mike stomp his BEF, which sits on the floor for this show, at about the 2:54 mark during their Doobie Brothers-esque vocal jam.

 

6/25/10 - Phish plays a tasty as tasty can be rendition of '2001'  (Deodatos funky 'Sprach Zarathustra' from the 1979 film Being There...that's top notch nugget of Phish trivia right there!).  This time, they peppered in some Michael Jackson and Mike Gordon brought the house down with what sounds like the Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter set to a 2 Pole Filter setting.

 

6/29/2010 - Phish delivers 'I Am The Walrus' to their fans for the first time.  Their performance is fantastic and spot except for some gaffes climbing that scale during the outro.  Great Audio in this video...sounds like the mixer feed off of LivePhish.com

7/1/2010 - Hear that cactus sound in Phish's version of the Stevie Wonder classic 'Boogie on Reggae Woman'.  Previously, Mike used the Akai Deep Impact and the Lovetone Meatball to get this sound and they are both still in his set-up.  However, the high end in this tone sounds to my ears like a low-drive singleband octave setting on the Soundblox Pro Multiwave Distortion.  No one knows but the man himself...and maybe his tech.

 

7/2/2010 - Watch yourself and make sure you don't blow those speakers with the thundering bass this camera captured for Phish's seminal classic 'You Enjoy Myself'.  This is clip comes from the end of the epic jam with a little Soundblox Bass Envelope Filter solo (sounds like it's on a Triple Peak envelope filter setting) that gets Trey to try out his dancing shoes.

 

7/3/2010 - Any Phish fan can find something to appreciate in this close up of Trey Anastasio as he practices his sorcery during 'Bathtub Gin'.  The man exercises his Will on huge masses of people on a near nightly basis.  You can witness the headspace he gets in to make that happen with this video.

 

 

7/4/2010 - Phish celebrates the Fourth with some Rage Against the Machine.  Love it.  Also, enjoy the history lesson from the Harpua intro.

 

 

For more details and dates for their Summer 2010 tour, check out Phish's website.

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