How often is it that you will drop $25 to see a band that has been around for less than a year? If you happen to pay attention at all to quality live music, chances are not too often. Bands usually start playing Tuesday night open-mic nights in scuzz-hole pisswater dives for a percentage of the bar tips. But here is a band, a keyboard trio, not together for even a year, and they have packed the Avalon, a room that represents the pinnacle of most bands' musical careers. And they have a professionally produced and marketed CD. And a national tour. And an audience. There, of course, is a logical explanation for all this.

Vida Blue is part of a larger phenomenon, as we all know, whether they like it or not. Because of the personnel involved, there is really no way to give Vida Blue a clean, unbiased start in the business. It was inevitable. We all knew it was inevitable. And for better or worse, it allowed them to market their album and tour the way they did. In Vida Blue's case, bias is an asset.

To be fair, I am a fanboy. My picture is in the Pharmer's Almanac, for god's sake. And like the majority of the crowd at the Avalon on July 26, I had no apprehensions paying the hefty entry fee because Vida Blue carries Phish collateral, perhaps the most valuable card to play in live music today. But for me, at least, that is where I made efforts for it to end. Page McConnell, Phish keyboardist and centerpiece of Vida Blue, is not Phish. Any member of a band in isolation is not that band. Again, it was inevitable, but I tried mightily to take in the music as it was presented to me, and not in any past context. And for the most part, I believe myself successful. While it may have been Phish that got me in the door, it was Vida Blue that kept me there.

Vida Blue was a solid adherent to the organic trance movement in rock music, borrowing heavily from electronic influences and striving more for a steady-state groove with a solid bass and drum backbone. At points, their sound broke down to a very flexible backbone, provided by bassist Oteil Burbridge and drummer Russell Batiste, with McConnell doing texture work over the top. The trio used sound sparingly and preciously, recognizing the importance of negative space in emphasizing the notes they did play. At other points, Vida Blue would strive for a more Rock n' Roll sound. Burbridge would occasionally pop up on the neck of his 6-string Modulus and play mid-range melody in guitar-like fashion. To balance the original trance-type grooves, Vida Blue threw in several rock covers such as "Sheep" (Pink Floyd), "No Quarter" (Led Zeppelin), and "Manic Depression" (Jimi Hendrix).

Note that two of these rock covers, "No Quarter" and "Sheep," are themselves are highly trancelike, and represent a wonderful combination of the rock feel and Vida Blue's aptitude for mesmerizing grooves. However "Manic Depression," slotted in the setlist at song #2 behind "Some Events Aren't Planned," was to me the only questionable call on the night. A band with no guitar covering Hendrix? And they are playing it straight? Unless there is a total restructuring of the song (see MMW's cover of "Hey Joe" on their live album Tonic), my recommendation is to leave Jimi to the guitarists, and then only to the guitarists who are able. I did thoroughly enjoy the rest of the cover tunes on the night, especially the "No Quarter" encore. This song especially was an excellent choice for Vida Blue to cover, and they played it well, complete with McConnell's already-established Robert Plant imitation with a flange effect.

Fun covers aside, the trio's bread-and-butter at the Avalon was their ability to grow quieter, and tap into introspective grooves. Although McConnell has said that he wanted a rock feel with this ensemble, he could not escape what, in my mind has made him such a wonderful musician. Remember that he was raised on the likes of Ellington, Joplin, and Monk. Remember his role in past ensembles: he has proven to be a subtle, elegant, and poised keyboardist. Even though he toured with Vida Blue sans grand piano, McConnell could not escape this. Yes, he placed himself in the captain's chair and therefore was required to contribute more to melody than to texture work; yes, he was the one who pushed many moments to heights they wouldn't reach otherwise, but Page never Raged. To provide some reference, think Siket Disc. Think Squirming Coil. Think Set 2 of Fukoka, 6/14/00. And that's what I have always liked about him, and appreciate for his vision for Vida Blue.

Take, for example, "Some Events Aren't Planned." What starts out as a hard-edged, sampler-laden, almost dirty groove breaks down five minutes later into a very subtle interplay, mostly between Batiste's snare drum and McConnell's Fender Rhodes. This, perhaps, is the quintessential Vida Blue tune, and for this reason, a wonderful show-opener. Much along the same lines, CJ3 begins with a more heavy-handed disco-trance sound, and from there meanders into a quieter, introspective mood. Other tunes played from Vida Blue's self-titled release such as "Electra Glide" and "Who's Laughing Now" were played as softer, quieter numbers. It should be no surprise, then, that these are both McConnell compositions.

Let us not make the mistake of thinking that Vida Blue is Page's band. The three musicians all carry a strong resume and contribute irreplaceable elements to the overall sound. Burbridge's trademark on the night seemed to be playing a lead melody and simultaneously vocalizing an exact copy of what he was playing. The sonic effect was akin to a talkbox run through a phaser, but it was nothing so complicated. This little trick demonstrated that Burbrige functions at a level far above simply running his fingers on the fretboard; he is so fluent in music that his brain speaks its language inherently. Burbridge also proved to be a wonderful listener in his sparing use of the low end, and his interplay with both Batiste and McConnell, most often when Page was using his synthesizers.

And the drummer Batiste (who, on behalf of the first three rows at the Avalon, I would like to personally thank for his kindness) was the glue between the two melodic players. Batiste managed to hold the groove and respond wonderfully to dynamic cues without droning. He was able to hold the downbeat without making it painfully obvious, which lended a degree of ambiguity and originality to Vida Blue's trance grooves. This was the successful ingredient in setting the trio's sound apart from electronic trance, whose loops and samples can drone and mellow, as well as the newer, instrumental "organic trance" in that other members of the group were equally as responsible for the downbeat. On top of that, Batiste brought funk when appropriate. Clearly his time with the Meters was put to use in his new ensemble.

The three musicians combined created a sound at the Avalon that I believe is not yet refined. Despite their individual talent, McConnell, Burbridge, and Batiste have only been playing together for under a year. Most bands at this stage are paying their dues in smaller circuits, and for a new band to jump into the national touring scene so quickly is a brave and maybe even preemptive maneuver. I say this not for our benefit, but for theirs. Vida Blue, however, has a lot of room with which to work in these days of genre-less contemporary music. Because they are so talented individually, because they have support, and an incredible musical credit rating, they have much room to grow if they so choose.

-David Taus

-Andrew Zarkowsky