Pink Talking Fish Delivers One-Two Punch With Sold Out New Hampshire Shows

Pink Talking Fish brought their full bodied experience to New Hampshire over the weekend. The hybrid tribute fusion band, which performs the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish, is comprised of Eric Gould on bass, Dave Brunyak on guitar, Zack Burwick on drums, and Richard James on keys.  Friday night experienced a sold out crowd at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, with Saturday’s sold out performance at the Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center in Plymouth. Both shows simply ripped the audience to shreds from dancing their asses off during the blistering performances.

The crowd was packed at 3S Artspace, and the band started off the night with a banging version of The Talking Heads “Nothing But Flowers” before flowing into Phish’s “Mike’s Song.” Brunyak went into a spacey jam, taking the audience on a magic carpet ride of majestic tones that wouldn’t quit, as Gould provided a solid backdrop of bass dynamics. Without hesitation, Pink Floyd’s “Time” reared its head, with Burwick lending deep drums as the song was introduced onto the set. James positioned gentle keys into the tune, building it up ever so slowly.

The endless melodies streamed into a catchy “Simple” before cooling off the soaked venue with “Fearless.” James eased into a psychedelic “Psycho Killer” which quickly prompted full blown audience participation, as many of the lyrics were blasted out with arms raised in the air. Tinges of guitar, coupled with bass that lingered for days, held the flow together, as Burwick retained a solid beat in the back end.

“Wish You Were Here” was teased before flowing into David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The playful back and forth between the two songs amazed the audience, not knowing when the next flip flop in the mashup would occur. It was a masterful performance with the two melodies before closing out first set with “Weekapaug Groove.”

After a quick set break, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” brought fans back in from the cool night air, as teases of Black Sabbath and “I Want My MTV” were sprinkled in with the opener before rolling into “Maze.” “Found A Job” teased “Dove” by Cymande. If you weren’t paying attention, it was easy to miss.

“Hey You” rolled in and out of “Golden Age” and “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel,” which teased “Runaway Jim.” The hits kept coming as “Pigs (3 Different Ones),” “Sand,” fan favorite “This Must Be the Place,” and “Harry Hood” filled out the rest of second set. Encore featured a bluesy “Seamus,” with James on vocals, followed by Phish’s “Sleeping Monkey,” bringing the show to a close.

Night two of their New Hampshire run was to a sold out crowd at the Flying Monkey. Before the band took to the stage, frisbees and flying monkey sling shot stuffed animals were thrown out to the crowd, getting the venue amped up for the evening’s performance. The band opened with “Possum” before edging into Pink Floyd’s “Breathe,” which cooled off the high energy swirling around the theater. Filling in for keys on Saturday was Jordan Giangreco of The Breakfast.  He added a touch of multicolored, deep tones, and held down the vocals for the song, before the notes morphed into Phish’s “Cities,” with Brunyak taking over on vocals. The Phish theme continued with an extended steamy “Stash.” Jazzy tones danced around the melody and the crowd provided full audience participation with belted out lyrics.

Throughout the show, visual imagery splashed around on a huge screen behind the band, creating a heady experience for the crowd. Pink Floyd cropped up with “Have A Cigar” before busting into an electrified, bass heavy “Making Flippy Floppy” that teased Phish’s “Rift” before sliding back in to wrap up “Making Flippy Floppy.” The surprises continued as they slammed into a full on “Rift.” “Run Like Hell” got down and dirty with slinking keys, throbbing bass beats, and tight drums that pulled the melody together. “Big Business” took listeners on a winding jam full of trippy vibes on the keys, which took the song wide open with exploratory tones throughout. The guys were clearly having a blast on stage, along with a pumped up audience, as first set came to a close.

After a quick set break,”Girlfriend is Better” woke the venue up again. A spicy jam was incorporated into the tune before they strolled into “No Men In No Man’s Land.” A tasty “Astronomy Domine” filled the air before an energetic “Life During Wartime” took over.

Another genius flip flop mashup commanded the set as they ebbed from “You Enjoy Myself” into “Dogs” and back and forth again. Crammed with nuggets of delicate tones, spirited, trippy vibes that circled around the venue, and splashes of keys that went on for days, fans were naturally going nuts. Brushes of cymbal, coupled with slight strums of the guitar, helped build up the energy during the never-ending jam. Brunyak had no fear holding the notes for an extended period of time, making the crowd go wild and begging for more. The Talking Heads “Crosseyed and Painless” creeped in as dancing images of David Byrne dashed across the screen behind them, bringing second set to a close. The immensely energetic evening encored with “Run Like An Antelope,” wrapping up one hell of a hot weekend run.

For more information on Pink Talking Fish, along with a full rundown of their tour dates, please visit their official website.

Setlist: Pink Talking Fish | 3S Artspace | Portsmouth, NH | 2/17/17

Set 1: Nothing But Flowers>Mike’s Song>Time>Wild, Wild Life>Simple>Fearless*>Steam>Psycho Killer**>Wish You Were Here/Space Oddity Mashup>Weekapaug Groove

Set 2: Shine On You Crazy Diamond***%>Maze, Found A Job%%, Hey You>Golden Age>Thank You For Sending Me An Angel%%%, Pigs (3 Different Ones)***>Sand, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody), Harry Hood

Encore: Seamus, Sleeping Monkey

*w/ Bug lyrics and melody blended into the end of Fearless
**w/ Exodus tease
***w/ Black Sabbath tease
% w/ “I Want My MTV” lyric
%% w/ Dove by Cymande tease
%%% w/ Runaway Jim tease

Setlist: Pink Talking Fish | Flying Monkie Movie House & Performance Center | Plymouth, NH | 2/18/17

Set 1: Possum>Breathe>Cities, Stash, Have A Cigar>Making Flippy Floppy*>Rift, Run Like Hell>Big Business

Words and Photography by Sarah Bourque.