If you go
› What: DeadPhish Orchestra at Riverfront Nights.› When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6; Rare Coalition opens at 7 p.m.› Where: Ross’s Landing, 201 Riverfront Parkway.› Admission: Free.› Phone: 423-756-2211.› Website: www.riverfrontnights.com.
In the broadest sense, fans of DeadPhish Orchestra know what to expect when the Colorado quartet takes the stage - songs pulled from the arsenals of the Grateful Dead and Phish, "the granddaddies and daddies of the jam band scene."
But not even the musicians are completely sure where those mega jams might take them. The band formed after the longtime friends got to wondering what would happen if they tried to merge the music of the two bands.
"While these two bands have their surface similarities, most fans realize that their actual musical styles are quite different," the DPO bio explains. "The Grateful Dead are an earthy, folky, bluesy band where Phish is sharper around the edges - funky and more aggressive. But both bands have an improvisational approach to their live shows, and it is in that spontaneity where the magic really happens."
With the merger of two styles as their challenge, DPO setlists end up with segues that look like "Divided Sky" into "Morning Dew" and back to "Divided Sky." Or "Help" to "Slip" to "Frankenstein." Or "Mike's Song" to "Stella Blue" to "Weekapaug Groove" or, even stranger, to "My Friend, My Friend of the Devil' or "It Must Have Been The Roses" to "Free."
Between gigs that will take them to Knoxville for a Jerry Garcia Birthday Bash and to Winter Park, Colo., for Leftover Salmon's SolShine Festival, the DeadPhish orchestra will stop in Chattanooga on Saturday, Aug. 6, as the headliner of the Riverfront Nights concert series.
Opening the show at 7 p.m. is the Rare Coalition Band, a seven-piece ensemble that plays R&B, funk, rock and Latin songs from the '60s to the present.
All shows are child- and pet-friendly. A Pup Tent will feature a VIP area for dogs and their human companions. Gates open at 6:30 p.m.
A Wild Trails Running and Paddling Fitness Challenge precedes the music.
Participants in the paddle trip leave at 4:30 p.m. from beneath the Olgiati Bridge to be shuttled to Chickamauga Dam for a return trip on their boards.