Oysterhead

Oysterhead
Oysterhead
Genres	Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia
Years active	2000–2001, 2006, 2019–present
Spinoff of	Phish; The Police; Primus;
Members	Stewart Copeland; Les Claypool; Trey Anastasio
Website	www.oysterhead.com

Oysterhead is an American rock supergroup featuring bassist Les Claypool of Primus, guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police, with both Claypool and Anastasio providing vocals. The band's eclectic sound has been described as "alt-funk fusion".^[1]^[2]

In April 2000 Superfly Presents asked Claypool to assemble a band to perform during New Orleans Jazz Fest. Claypool contacted Anastasio and together they agreed on mutual hero, Copeland.^[3] Oysterhead was originally intended to be a singular live performance at New Orleans Saenger Theatre^[4] on May 4, 2000. The band compiled a set of almost entirely original material for the show, practicing at Muskegon's Frauenthal Theatre. Tickets were scalped for up to $2,000 each; audience members included Francis Ford Coppola and Matt Groening.^[3] The band toured in 2001 and was scheduled to tour in 2020. Both times it has toured it has been interrupted due to significant disasters, in 2001 due to the September 11 attacks and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oysterhead played at The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA in July 2021.

The Grand Pecking Order

In 2001, Oysterhead reformed to record and release an album entitled The Grand Pecking Order, which featured nine new tracks in addition to four songs originally debuted in New Orleans.^[5] The album was released on October 2, 2001, and was supported by a North American tour, spanning from October 21 to November 18, 2001, accompanied by North Mississippi Allstars, Drums & Tuba, The Cancer Conspiracy, Lake Trout, Mark Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos and New Orleans Klezmer Allstars.^[6]^[7] Two pre-tour warm-up shows had been booked at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut for September 14, 2001 and the Irving Plaza in New York City, New York (as part of CMJ Music Marathon) for September 15, 2001, but were cancelled in the wake of the September 11 attacks.^[7] Oysterhead's 2001 tour saw the debut of the Matterhorn, a guitar played by Trey Anastasio featuring a full-size deer antler. On November 15, 2001, the band performed the song "Oz Is Ever Floating" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.^[8]

Reformation at Bonnaroo

On June 16, 2006, Oysterhead reunited to perform a two-hour set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. The band performed music from The Grand Pecking Order during the set.^[9]

Reformation in 2019

In October 2019, Oysterhead created social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter and announced they would play two reunion shows in February 2020 at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

While the band went on to schedule additional 2020 tour dates in California and at several US festivals, only the two Colorado dates were performed before the other dates were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] Oysterhead resumed touring in 2021.^[11]

When asked in March 2022 if the band planned to record a second album, Claypool said it was unclear: "We always talk about it when we're sitting around, but all three of us are so busy. We haven't really found the time to do it. It's an undertaking. You've got three guys that are all alpha dogs in the same room. It's more of an undertaking I think, but who knows. I've been talking to Stewart lately about trying to get together and just start jamming on some shit and see what happens."^[12]

List of performances

^[13]^[14]^[15]
Location	Venue	Date
2000
New Orleans, LA	Saenger Theater	05/04/2000
2001
New Haven, CT	Toad's Place	09/13/2001
New York, NY	Irving Plaza	09/15/2001
Westford, VT	The Barn	09/15/2001
Seattle, WA	The Paramount	10/21/2001
Vancouver, BC	Orpheum Theatre	10/23/2001
Salem, OR	Salem Armory	10/24/2001
Berkeley, CA	Greek Theatre	10/26/2001
Los Angeles, CA	Hollywood Palladium	10/27/2001
Denver, CO	The Fillmore	10/30/2001
Denver, CO	The Fillmore	10/31/2001
Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom	11/02/2001
West Lafayette, IN	Elliot Hall of Music	11/03/2001
Ann Arbor, MI	Hill Auditorium	11/04/2001
Cleveland, OH	Cleveland State Theatre	11/06/2001
Toronto, ON	Massey Hall	11/07/2001
Utica, NY	Utica Memorial Auditorium	11/09/2001
Lowell, MA	Tsongas Arena	11/10/2001
Camden, NJ	Tweeter Center	11/11/2001
New York, NY	Roseland Ballroom	11/13/2001
	Roseland Ballroom	11/14/2001
	Studio 6A, NBC Studios	11/15/2001
Washington, DC	DAR Constitution Hall	11/16/2001
Asheville, NC	Asheville Civic Center	11/17/2001
Gainesville, FL	O'Connell Center	11/18/2001
2006
Manchester, TN	Bonnaroo Music Festival	06/16/2006
2020
Broomfield, CO	1stBank Center	02/14/2020
Broomfield, CO	1stBank Center	02/15/2020
Berkeley, CA	Greek Theatre	04/17/2020
Stanford, CA	Frost Amphitheater	04/18/2020
Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom	04/22/2020
Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom	04/23/2020
Atlanta, GA	Centennial Olympic Park	04/24/2020
		04/25/2020
		04/26/2020
Manchester, TN	Bonnaroo Music Festival	06/13/2020
Scranton, PA	Scranton Peach Festival	07/04/2020
Manchester, TN	Bonnaroo Music Festival (1st reschedule)	09/26/2020
2021
Berkeley, CA	Greek Theatre	04/17/2021
Manchester, TN	Bonnaroo Music Festival (2nd reschedule)	06/18/2021
Scranton, PA	Scranton Peach Festival	07/03/2021
2022
Atlanta, GA	Centennial Olympic Park	05/01/2022
Key
Canceled due to September 11 Attacks
Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic
Make-up show
Television only
Private performance