Phish’s Gordon to perform at Bluebird Nightclub

Mike Gordon is in the mood to get funky, and he said there is no better place to do so than a small, intimate venue.

“I love playing bars because you can really get a tight and funky sound when the walls are close and the ceiling is low,” he said.

Luckily for Gordon, who came to fame while playing bass with the popular jam band Phish, the Bluebird Nightclub is the perfect location to embrace the fun in being funky.

After 27 years playing with Phish, Gordon said he has developed a telepathic groove with his band mates, but there aren’t many differences between touring with Phish and his backup band now.

“I only had three days coming off the last Phish tour onto this one, so there wasn’t much time for practice at the beginning,” Gordon said of preparations with his band for the current tour. “But for what we lacked in the beginning we have certainly made up for on the road.”

To also make up for lost time, Gordon said the band has put in the extra work at sound check.

“We work hard on our sound to find the perfect creative control,” he added.

Gordon’s enthusiasm about how this tour is shaping up was apparent, and he said he is excited about bringing high levels of energy to every show.

“My new album is very bass-oriented, so listeners will have a good chance to hear a lot of different and interesting sounds they may not have heard me play before, and that’s very exciting to me,” Gordon said.

While he is fairly new at designing set lists, he said the audience’s vibes are always something he keeps in mind while performing.

He said he varies his set list each night to keep things interesting.

“If they’re dancing, I might avoid the slower songs for a while,” Gordon said about feeding off the audience. “But it’s got a lot to do with trying to make connections with them and supplying an infinite sameness with infinite variety.”

Mike Gordon
WHEN 9 p.m. Friday
WHERE Bluebird Nightclub
ADMISSION $20
MORE INFO Mike Gordon, who came to fame while playing bass with the popular jam band Phish, will perform on stage with his own backing band.