Fishy event planned in San Diego

  • 2026-05-28
One of the most unusual tribute bands now performing is coming to San Diego.

Pink Talking Fish (PTF) is a tribute band that intertwines music from three iconic groups: Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish. Each group is markedly different from the others, but somehow their music works when combined with the output of the other two.

That is exactly what Pink Talking Fish does—they fuse the groups’ works together to create something new, blending Phish’s fun with Pink Floyd’s emotion and Talking Heads’ funk. This mash-up shouldn’t work, but it does, to the delight of fans of the original bands as well as PTF itself.

PTF’s current lineup comprises guitarist Cal Kehoe, drummer Zack Burwick, keyboardists Stephen Learson and Richard James, and bassist Eric Gould. All are expert musicians and huge fans of the original bands, who created the group to call attention to the iconic bands they love.

Much of the fun of a PTF concert comes from identifying the bits of music that the musicians have woven together. They have dropped “On the Run” by Pink Floyd into the middle of “You Enjoy Myself” by Phish and made it work. These improbable blends are the soul of PTF, and because they can draw on so much material, their concerts are always changing.

Pink Talking Fish will be at the Music Box in San Diego on June 11. Shows like this benefit from the support they receive when organizers use poster printing to advertise them.