Mike Gordon Joins Bob Wagner and Friends at Nectar’s

Photo by Kristen DeTroia

On Thursday night, Mike Gordon made a surprise appearance with Bob Wagner and Friends at Burlington, VT’s famed Nectar’s. The night as billed, which benefited Phish’s WaterWheel foundation, also featured bassist Josh Weinstein (Kat Wright), drummer/keyboardist Jano Rix (The Wood Brothers), drummer/percussionist Corey Wilhelm (Bombino), drummer Dan Ryan (Madaila), trumpeter Connor Young and saxophonist Jake Whitesell. Gordon, who celebrated his 60th birthday earlier in the week, emerged just over 45 minutes into the show for covers of JJ Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze” and Jon Cleary’s “Got to Be More Careful.” Kat Wright also made a surprise appearance during the concert.

Wagner and Gordon have shared the stage in several jam and all-star benefit settings over the years. Last month, Wagner also played guitar in a new version of Gordon’s solo group during a show in New Orleans, though the Phish bassist has indicated that he made continue to tweak the project’s lineup at different shows. This incarnation of the Mike Gordon band performed both “Call Me the Breeze” and “Got to Be More Careful” during their recent New Orleans gig. Gordon also famously joined Cale for the former song when the noted musician opened for Phish at Berkeley, CA’s The Greek in 1993.

Thursday’s show was also notable since Nectar’s is slated to close for the summer in the coming days. While the venue’s owners have indicated that they plan to reopen the space, they have not confirmed when they will start hosting concerts again. Of course, Phish played their first club show at Nectar’s upstairs space in 1984 and hosted a residency at the venue for several years.