Trey Anastasio Jams With Jack Johnson for All Points West Finale

With Ellis Island clearly visible from All Points West's Liberty Park, Trey Anastasio took time to salute his Italian grandfather on Sunday, who came to America through that very gateway in 1910, with a celebratory rendition of "Drifting" early in his set. Given the abundance of Phish T-shirts on site, it would have been obscene for him not to revisit some catalog classics and the first notes of "Gotta Jiboo" gave the green light to almost 15 minutes of pure, tie-died ecstasy.

"One of our favorite things about festivals is the musicians backstage," explained Jack Johnson's keyboardist Zack Gild, and it was no empty statement as Johnson humbly shared his big APW moment with Trey Anastasio and Matt Costa. The Phish man arrived onstage having just finished his own set moments earlier and threw down an apparently improvised guitar part on "Mud Football." Costa meanwhile added his much subtler input to "Fall Line" before seamlessly segueing into his own song "Sunshine," helping to add a collaborative finale to APW's inaugural event.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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