At last weekend’s annual Summer Camp Music Festival, Buffalo groove-rock quartet Aqueous delivered two top-notch late-nights sets. In particular, their first set on Friday, May 25th, created quite the buzz in their circle, in turn rippling out into the broader circle of jam fans.
In addition to dusting off a cover of Eric Johnson’s instrumental “Cliffs of Dover” for the first time in 324 shows, the band debuted a new cover that knocked Summer Camp off its feet: “Pseudo Suicide”, the ominous opus by the short-lived supergroup trio, Oysterhead, comprised of Trey Anastasio (Phish), Les Claypool (Primus), and Stewart Copeland (The Police).
With Dave Loss providing the Claypool portion of the vocals, Mike Gantzer handling Trey’s portion, and bassist Evan McPhaden and drummer Rob Houk powerfully recreating the song’s thumping rhythm section, Aqueous imbued their rendition with the same energy that Oysterhead lent it once upon a time. The Oysterhead cover—which they appropriately extended into nearly twenty minutes of dark, ethereal improv—was a thrilling callback to a brief, strange, and experimental moment in the careers of the three groundbreaking musicians who comprised the original trio. Notes Gantzer:
Having been inspired by The Police, Phish, and Primus, when Trey Anastasio/Stewart Copeland/Les Claypool formed Oysterhead and released The Grand Pecking Order, we were all floored by its epic weirdness! It’s been on our radar for a few years to cover one of those tunes, but we needed a context that would allow us to drop that kind of darker, high-energy vibe that “Pseudo Suicide” carries. When we saw that both of our Summer Camp sets were at 2 am this year, we knew it was the perfect crowd and context to bust this one out for! Special shout out to one of our diehard AQ fans who pestered the band to cover Oysterhead, too.
Typically, these late night festival sets remain the stuff of legend, but thanks to Bitz Productions, everyone can now relive Aqueous’ “Pseudo Suicide” cover in HD, pro-shot splendor. Watch the “epic weirdness” unfold below:
Aqueous – “Pseudo Suicide” [Oysterhead cover, Pro-Shot]
[Video: AqueousBand]
Setlist: Aqueous | Summer Camp Music Festival | Chillicothe, IL | 5/25/18
Set: Cliffs of Dover [1] > All In, Aldehyde > Underlyer [2] > Pseudo Suicide [3] > Origami [4]
NOTES: [1] 324 show gap | [2] XXXplosive teases (Dr.Dre) | [3] Oysterhead Cover, First Time Played | [4] Alternate ‘Slowgami’ version
On Saturday, June 9th, Aqueous will head to Denver, CO’s storied Bluebird Theater for a headlining performance featuring support from Colorado’s own Evanoff. To grab your tickets for this landmark show, head here.
