Talented rock trio plays a smoking show October 23, 2001 - The Seattle Times By Patrick MacDonald The veteran rockers of Oysterhead are adept at throwing musical curveballs, to the delight of their new, smoke-enhanced following. It was the first show in the first tour of the temporary trio, made up of guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish, bassist Les Claypool of Primus and drummer Stewart Copeland, formerly of The Police. All are superb rock musicians, which is why they were able to sell out the Paramount only weeks after releasing their debut album, "The Grand Pecking Order." There was no need for stage smoke at the premiere Oysterhead concert Sunday night at the Paramount. The show took place inside a cloud of pot smoke, as many in the capacity crowd openly lighted up throughout the jam band's two-hour set. Claypool was the most playful, singing mostly silly songs in a pinched, nasal voice. He created myriad sounds with his bass, thanks to special-effects gizmos he controlled with his feet. For "Shadow of a Man," a song about a troubled Vietnam vet that was part of the encore, he wore goggles with bright lights instead of lenses. Anastasio, whom Claypool kept calling "antipasto," shared lead vocals, but delivered his tunes in a more conventional singing voice. He played outstanding guitar, making even some of the thinner, more repetitious songs listenable. It was good to see Copeland in concert again. He's been concentrating on film scores in recent years and has seldom been seen on stage, but he showed that he's still one of the best. Playing with white gloves, he worked two kits, one a conventional sit-down model, the other a collection of percussion instruments he played standing. The show opened with "Oz Is Ever Floating," a Beatlesque rocker with a hook about Dr. John C. Lilly, a recently deceased psychoanalyst who studied dolphin brains. The band played most of the songs from "The Grand Pecking Order," but stretched them out with improvisations. Their signature song, "Mr. Oysterhead," about a mythical figure who serves as their inspiration, was a goofy highlight, as was the spacey "Radon Balloon" and the wacko "Owner of the World." The closer was a rousing cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" that had the whole place shaking. North Mississippi Allstars, a young, five-member band steeped in the blues, opened with a fine, rousing set of blues rock. Frontman Luther Dickinson was impressive on guitar and vocals.