By GEOFF BOUCHER, Times Staff Writer > >
Phish says they were inspired to create an extravagant
show after seeing
a performance of Cirque du Soleil's "O" at Las Vegas'
Bellagio Hotel.
"It changed my life and my entire way of thinking
about performances on stage." Trey Anastasio, whisking
along last week in a limousine en
route to a recording session, was not talking about
the upcoming solo
album or the power trio "Oysterhead" that he formed
with bassist
extraordinaire, Les Claypool and former Police
drummer, Stuart Copeland. Instead, the epiphany
arrived two years ago as fellow
bandmates sat in a Las Vegas casino. And, it turns
out, the moment may also reshape the life of the
evolving entertainment scene in the
high-rolling desert city.
Phish, who stepped away from the public
concert stage in October of 2000 to begin an
indefinite hiatus, has
agreed to an unprecedented pact that will see them
perform five nights a week for 40 weeks a year over
three years at Caesars Palace.
The deal is worth a reported $100 million and will
also see the
casino resort build a $95-million, 4,000-seat theater
to house the production. The shows, scheduled to begin
next March, will mix the band's music and an
elaborate theatrical production on a vast,
22,000-square-foot stage. Phish becomes the only
contemporary rock
band to make such a lengthy commitment to any venue.
For Las Vegas, it may lead to an era of rock stars in
residence, the way country singers have become house
acts in Branson, Mo. The path to this unlikely
commitment and destination began when Trey Anastasio,
Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman, sat captivated in the
audience of "O" at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. "O"
is the production that channels 1.5 million gallons of
water and six dozen performers into the trademark
surrealism and acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil, the
French Canadian theater company. Phish saw in
the show a way to create a backdrop to match their own
often epic music.
"I knew I wanted to perform and have a visual show
like this and have, like,60 performers on stage with
us and make every song look like a visual experience,"
Gordon said during a cell phone interview from the
car. "It's kind of impossible to travel with a show
like this; the effects and the decor and the whole
thing makes it technically impossible. We would have
to have a base. And we found that in Las Vegas.
=====
Dave Z.
http://db.etree.org/dziglar
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