At their show in Boulder, the jam greats gave the Wu-Tang mastermind a shout out during their cover of the Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless”
Wu-Tang Clan mastermind RZA celebrated his 56th birthday this weekend far from the chambers of Shaolin, at a Phish concert in Colorado.
On Saturday, July 5, the jam giants played Boulder’s Folsom Field, and in the middle of their cover of the Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless,” drummer Jon Fishman yelled out, “Happy birthday, RZA!” Trey Anastasio then wove in a mid-jam refrain of “Happy Birthday” then capped it off with a hearty, “Wu-Tang forever!”
Later on Instagram, Phish shared a couple backstage photos of their meeting with RZA, including some shots of RZA playing one of Anastasio’s signature Paul Languedoc guitars. The post was captioned with a slightly altered RZA bar from the Wu-Tang Clan’s “7th Chamber”: “Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah jam is fatal/Quick to stick my Wu-Tang Jedi guitar right through your navel.”
It appears that RZA was able to catch Phish’s show in Boulder after the Wu-Tang Clan played their own gig just outside of Denver on July 4. It’s unclear if this is RZA’s first Phish show, or if he’s been quietly following the band for years; Rolling Stone has reached out to RZA’s reps for more details.
Trending Stories
Wu-Tang Clan are currently in the middle of their “Final Chamber” farewell tour, which picks back up Monday, July 7, in Chicago. Further dates are scheduled through the middle of the month, with the run wrapping July 18 in Philadelphia.
As for Phish, they released their most recent album, Evolve, last year. Their summer tour continues July 9 in Columbus, Ohio and wraps with a trio of shows in Hampton, Virginia, Sept. 19 through 21.
