Stuff of Legend
Yes, they encored with “Tweezer Reprise”
Deep in the Colorado mountains last week, 500 or so audience members got something many diehard Phish fans spend decades chasing: a full theatrical staging of the band’s rarely performed Gamehendge saga. There was one notable twist, though: Nederland, Jamestown, and Gold Hill Elementary Schools Present: The Helping Friendly Book was performed by kids from kindergarten through fifth grade, with a live band, handmade props, and a set list made entirely of Phish songs. (The schools’ pre-K kids sat this one out, except for one five-year-old entrusted with the serious late-show responsibility of bubble-blowing duty.)
The kids were backed by a five-piece band led by music teacher Kirk Kubicek, who — though he’s only a part-time employee — ends every year with a major production. The players: every enrolled student in the school district. Previous shows have included an ode to the Beatles and a tribute to the town’s famed Caribou Ranch, where U2, Elton John, and the Beach Boys all recorded. As that show was letting out last year, a student approached Kubicek. The educator recalls to Rolling Stone: “He said, ‘Mr. Kirk, are we gonna do a Phish show next year?’ Almost as if it was a rumor or something.”
