“The reason why Oysterhead is so exciting for us is because it’s not our primary focus, it’s like school’s out for summer when it’s Oysterhead time,” drummer Stewart Copeland tells PBS in a November 2001 broadcast, just weeks after the release of the band’s debut The Grand Pecking Order. “…We don’t have any future. We’re making this up as we go along.”

Now, as the experimental trio celebrates their 20th year (their debut was on May 4, 2000 at New Orleans’ Saenger Theater), that sentiment remains as true as ever.

2020 somehow saw both the return of Oysterhead and their suspension of touring once again (due to coronavirus).

However, at their February reunion run (marking their first shows since Bonnaroo 2006), Copeland, guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Les Claypool were sure to make a splash at Colorado’s 1stBank Center, running through their own material and debuting covers of Phish, The Police, Primus and Cream.

As Copeland confirmed to Relix in 2017, “With Les [Claypool] and Trey [Anastasio], I discovered that setlists are for wimps and material is for wimps. [Laughs.] With the jamband experience, the audience wants to have never heard it before, and for no one to have ever played it before.”

To celebrate 20 years of Oysterhead, enjoy the band’s PBS spotlight below, with selections from their October 27, 2001 show at the Hollywood Palladium in California.

Songs highlighted include “Little Faces,” “Polka Dot Rose,” “Shadow Of A Man,” “Radon Balloon” and “Psuedo Suicide.”