Pork Tornado to storm Pig

By Chris Kula

Daily Arts Editor

If you're a nationally-known musician who tours for the majority of the year, what do you do with your time off?

If you're anything like Phish drummer John Fishman, you jump right back on the road.

When he gets a break from performing with his high-profile Vermont-based jamband, Fishman plays with several other Burlington musicians in the all-star bar band called Pork Tornado.

The group is currently touring select clubs along the East coast and throughout the Midwest, including a Sunday night stop at the Blind Pig. According to fan reviews, recent concerts have been wild affairs, with girls jumping onstage to dance along to 20 minute versions of "Disco Inferno."

The band, which is comprised of Fishman, keyboardist Phil Abair, bassist Aaron Hersey, guitarist Dan Archer and saxophonist/vocalist Joe Max Moore, specializes in the kind of dirty, funky tunes that are the stuff of cover band legend. However, in addition to its standard James Brown covers, the Tornado is also performing selections from "The Century Turns," Abair's new solo release.

The album features each of the Pork Tornado players on various tracks, further establishing their collective - and respective - prominence in the Burlington music scene. Abair is a versatile keyboardist who's appeared as a session musician on albums by a number of area bands, most notably Strangefolk, while Archer owns and operates White Crow Studios, the place where Phish recorded its 1991 album, "A Picture of Nectar."

Speaking of those hippie-rock kings, the Pork Tornado tour offers phans the rare opportunity to see Fishman perform in intimate venues - a stark departure from the huge amphitheatres and arenas that Phish now frequents.

Because of Fishman's large appeal among the jam-happy masses, several clubs hosting Pork Tornado shows have reported quick and thorough sellouts, a probable fate for the 250 person-capacity Blind Pig.